Chapter 36: Nibelungen? Interesting, let me, Old Lu, take a look at how it is

Lu Mingfei almost couldn't help but clap his hands and cheer.

It was so spectacular; as someone witnessing it firsthand, he felt the plot twists and turns were as dramatic as a movie!

Indeed, what kind of person was Senior Brother Chu? How could he lose his composure just because the stakes were high?

"One who has thunder in his chest but a face as calm as a lake" describes him perfectly; even if the sky were to collapse, Chu Zihang would surely handle everything that needed to be done in an orderly fashion, then silently go and hold up the sky!

"I am also very curious."

Chu Zihang had finished recovering, but he was in no rush to make a move. His eyes were slightly lowered, his hand already gripping the hilt of his blade.

"You killed your own biological parents and younger brother, 'ate' them, and after falling into a Death Servant, you also killed a homeless person who had absolutely nothing to do with you... Killing is not a burden to you."

"Correct."

"But you let my mother go. The tracker records show she left by car just before I arrived. Her vital signs were normal; she was not frightened or held hostage. If that is the case, the other aunts should be safe as well."

Chu Zihang raised his eyes, and confusion inevitably surfaced within his burning, eerie Golden Pupil.

"Why?"

Since he had already installed a tracker, installing a few other things naturally wasn't a problem.

In fact, besides secretly installing a large number of trackers, Chu Zihang had also specifically given his mother a Smart Watch.

It was something he had requested from his mentor, Schneider, and entrusted the head of the Equipment Department to oversee its development.

Waterproof and fog-proof, with functions like positioning, vital sign monitoring, and temporary calls, it was all-inclusive, and it had a long battery life, needing to be charged only once a week.

For Cassel College, which mastered the world's cutting-edge technology, researching and producing such a watch was naturally no problem.

His mother liked it very much; at Chu Zihang's request, she didn't even take it off when sleeping, wearing it wherever she went.

In reality, even if Chu Zihang hadn't made such a request, his mother wouldn't have let this watch gather dust; after all, no matter how expensive a watch was, how could it be as rare as one specifically given by her son!

A famous watch is at most something to show off for a while, and others might even feel jealous. But if it was a gift from her son, no matter how cheap it was, others would only envy her; no amount of showing off would be too much.

Of course, under the powerful request (threat) of his mentor Professor Schneider, the Equipment Department did cancel the self-destruct function that was standard for their developed products on the Smart Watch... It is said that the lead researchers were very unhappy about this.

"Jianghu rules."

The Death Servant spoke, "Disasters do not extend to family."

The scene suddenly went quiet, with only the torrential rain remaining.

For a moment, Chu Zihang thought the person standing opposite him was Lu Mingfei... What kind of ridiculous Jianghu rules were these!

If you have this kind of persistence, why are you still committing murder and breaking the law? If you have the ability, go turn yourself in at the police station!

"Have you rested enough?"

The Death Servant suddenly laughed, a hideously cruel laugh. The desire for flesh and blood in its eyes was almost overflowing; it stared at Chu Zihang, drooling.

"Your bloodline... is too wonderful. If I 'eat' you, I can become an existence of a higher rank!"

Chu Zihang stopped speaking.

The questions he wanted to ask had been asked. He didn't believe the reason the Death Servant gave; after all, it was simply too absurd. But it didn't matter if he couldn't get an answer; for some things, as long as the result was good, that was enough.

What remained was only a life-and-death struggle!

The Death Servant was the first to lose its patience.

Not yet deeply fallen, it still retained some sanity; not only could it speak, but it could even set traps. But a fall is a fall, and the bloodthirsty nature and rage originating from its bloodline finally boiled over, uncontrollable.

It lunged forward fiercely, its momentum savage, like a wild beast pouncing on its sure-fire prey. Its thick scales were equivalent to wearing steel armor; it didn't need other weapons, as the sharp bone spurs protruding from its body were enough!

Chu Zihang drew his Samurai Sword.

The blade's light flashed; raindrops were neatly split in two before the high-speed passing blade, the speed so fast it was appalling.

This was a precise and unadorned slash, its difficulty roughly equivalent to the first lesson of a primary school fencing class at a youth palace.

Yet, this simple slash successfully repelled the Death Servant's beastly pounce. Even a wild beast would fear injury, let alone a blow that could be fatal, while its own attack would at most severely wound the undefended Chu Zihang.

Yes, Chu Zihang had no defense.

He was a man who carried out the principle that "offense is the best defense" to the end. Hidden beneath his icy, expressionless face was an oil and natural gas well, just five words—

Highly flammable and explosive!

This kind of life-for-life fighting style was something even the Death Servant couldn't accept.

Hey buddy, who exactly is the Death Servant here? I feel like you're more reckless with your life than I am!

If it were a completely fallen Death Servant, it might have been able to use Chu Zihang's fighting style to trade its life for an injury and severely wound him.

But the Death Servant didn't want to die; it still wanted to "eat" Chu Zihang to achieve evolution. If it couldn't do that, what was the point of all this?

The disadvantage of not having fully fallen manifested: having sanity meant it could feel fear, and being able to feel fear meant it would dodge. But when facing Chu Zihang, whose technique was superior to its own, once it dodged, it lost the upper hand and would only be pursued and comboed to death!

The more the Death Servant dodged and parried, the more alarmed it became.

Chu Zihang hadn't used any high-level techniques at all; every move and style was as simple as a primary school student's hacking, straight and direct.

Yet, this kind of offense was pressing it until it couldn't catch its breath. Besides every blade being able to precisely find its flaws, there was the most important reason—

Whether in speed or strength, Chu Zihang was no worse than it, and even faintly surpassed it!

"No, how is that possible!"

Another panicked parry; the sharp bone spurs shattered against the long, sharp Samurai Sword in Chu Zihang's hand, and even the scales that had just grown back were slashed open, reaching deep into the iron-blue flesh, barely blocked by the bone.

The Death Servant retreated, the immense shock overpowering the already faint pain. It roared, seemingly unable to believe it.

"Two days ago you weren't this strong; I could have severely wounded you and then escaped! But now I have received the god's gift... How could you still be stronger than me?"

"The god's gift?"

Chu Zihang's eyes narrowed slightly, and some of his inner doubts were finally explained.

This sudden, torrential rain that couldn't be observed from the outside was so strange that it certainly wasn't some extreme weather natural phenomenon; it could only come from some kind of Spirit Speech unknown to him.

This Spirit Speech shouldn't have been possessed by the Death Servant before him, because Chu Zihang had witnessed its Spirit Speech; it was a visual illusion that was hard to detect in a rush.

During their first encounter, caught off guard, he was hit and fell into a disadvantage, forced to trade injury for injury, and suffered severe wounds.

But this time, the illusion had clearly been upgraded, even capable of manipulating mobile phones to simulate voices. And this torrential rain...

A divine gift? If it were said to be from the God-King Odin, then everything would make sense; a god should be omnipotent, let alone a God-King!

But what is Odin trying to do by giving this Death Servant a gift?

The curtain of rain grew thicker, almost enough to obscure one's vision.

Chu Zihang suddenly realized something was wrong; if the Death Servant's remaining intelligence was high enough to set a trap, how could it only use methods as common as a beast to deal with him?

When a hunter sets a trap and waits for the prey to enter, they naturally wouldn't deal with the struggling prey with their bare hands; at the very least, they would bring a shotgun loaded with bullets!

Suddenly jolted awake, Chu Zihang discovered that the rain curtain becoming thicker was no illusion; they were being manipulated, limited only to the area around Chu Zihang, but this process was very slow, so slow that it was hard to detect during the battle.

The streams of rain were lined up side by side, intending to form a water cage surrounding him from all directions, above and below!

Just like a few years ago.

But Chu Zihang was no longer the cowardly child from a few years ago; now, his body and mind were both as hard as iron!

His Golden Pupil grew brighter, until it pierced the darkness. Chu Zihang's breathing suddenly deepened, his heart beating like an increasingly rapid drumbeat, a massive amount of blood being pumped to all parts of his body, the power hidden within the blood being awakened.

Lionheart Society secret technique—Blood Rage, releasing the Heart of the Lion, temporarily elevating his bloodline, gaining an all-around amplification of his physical constitution and Spirit Speech!

Blood Rage, First Degree.

Without the need for the previous lengthy preparatory chanting, flames surged up on Chu Zihang's body almost instantly, the intense high temperature instantly vaporizing the rain on his skin and even within a meter of his surroundings!

But the water vapor could not disperse, because the cage of rain had already closed in; suddenly encountering the cold, they could only liquefy into visible water vapor, only to be evaporated by the flames again.

In this infinite cycle, the water cage wanted to continue shrinking, intending to suffocate or imprison Chu Zihang.

But Chu Zihang wasn't having it.

I was surrounded by you before Blood Rage, and I'm still surrounded after Blood Rage; then wouldn't this blood have been raged in vain?

Spirit of Words: Monarch Flame, erupt!

The sharp, bright flame, like an electric welder, erupted once more, the scorching high temperature instantly evaporating all the rain in a ten-meter radius, including the water cage that had finally managed to close!

Hundreds of tons of rain instantly evaporated into water vapor; the volume change caused by the transition from liquid to gas was like detonating a giant bomb, and even the seemingly endless rain was dispersed for an instant.

The air humidity instantly reached 100% relative humidity, countless white water vapors emerged—the product of water vapor that could no longer be contained being forced to liquefy—and the surrounding visibility dropped to less than ten centimeters.

Lu Mingfei was hiding well, and the construction quality of Xishan Villa was also quite reliable; the bridge corridor's main structure was still intact even now, only the glass on both sides had flown away, allowing him to observe the entire process from behind the railing.

Of course, this had a significant connection to him being far enough from the center of the battlefield... In the central area that directly bore the brunt of this shockwave, the remaining pillars and load-bearing walls of Lanyue Pavilion had vanished, and even the foundation was exposed.

Lu Mingfei watched with rapt attention.

To him, this battle was simply like watching a movie. That Death Servant was not a monster that only knew how to act recklessly, but was insidious and cunning, setting ambushes everywhere; yet Chu Zihang was still able to parry every move and break the situation multiple times!

However, looking at the current situation, the trap set by the Death Servant had already been broken by Senior Brother Chu with brute force, right?

It had a certain beauty of simple and direct violent numerical value; no matter how many schemes you have, I will break them with force!

He was about to heave a sigh of relief, but before his heart could settle back into his chest, it was once again in his throat due to a sudden change—

The sound of a horse neighing came from the thick fog and water vapor.

The hairs on Lu Mingfei's body stood on end from horror, and he even broke out in dense goosebumps.

He subconsciously felt that this was his own hallucination.

In this situation, where could a horse come from? And if it were a horse, whose horse could roar with such a huge and powerful sound, as if it had a thunderclap held in its mouth!

The thick fog dissipated at an incredible speed.

No, they were just gathering toward one spot, the space between Chu Zihang and the Death Servant who had long been prostrate on the ground.

The thick fog was compressed into a mass, yet it did not turn into water, as if some power wanted to maintain them in this state. And within that mass of white fog, the shadow of a horse, as tall and burly as a mountain, appeared flickering in the lightning, with a huge black shadow sitting upon it.

Chu Zihang looked at that blurred shadow.

The lightning flickered more and more frequently, and that mountain-like horse and the huge black shadow became clearer and clearer.

He finally understood what was going on—

This was a chain trap.

Odin probably couldn't appear directly in the real world, nor could he directly open the entrance to the Nibelungen. The conditions were very harsh, probably related to indices like water vapor and air humidity, and it had to exceed the limits that ordinary natural conditions could reach!

That was why He was able to open the entrance to the Nibelungen during that rare typhoon rainstorm last time and pull them in.

And this time, for some reason, He couldn't wait; in short, He had set an ambush.

Taking in a Death Servant who was already in the real world and still possessed intelligence, using mysterious means to enhance its strength, and even bestowing a new Spirit Speech... everything was to bring Chu Zihang here.

But a simple heavy rain was not enough, so the Death Servant needed to fight Chu Zihang; if the water cage could take down Chu Zihang, that would naturally be best, but if not, it didn't matter.

Because Chu Zihang could only break it through "Monarch Flame," the intense high temperature evaporating the rain naturally generated water vapor, and thus the conditions were barely met, and He was finally able to open the entrance!

That mass of thick fog seemed to form a "door," and Odin's figure was on the other side of the "door," not moving, just silently gazing.

He stared at Chu Zihang, the single golden pupil like a giant lamp, as if issuing a silent invitation.

Chu Zihang took a deep breath, you are looking for me, right? What a coincidence, I have also been looking for you!

"Senior Brother!"

Lu Mingfei's voice came from afar, weakened by the clamorous sound of the rain, but still barely audible.

"Run! That thing's entrance animation looks like a boss-level item, and it's playing so dirty, there must be a trap! Let's run away and level up first, then come back to grind him later!"

Chu Zihang was stunned.

Blood Rage had side effects; while elevating the bloodline, dragon blood would also affect the user's personality and emotions. He had just been one step away from charging up with his blade, but Lu Mingfei's voice had directly woken him up.

Lu Mingfei was right; knowing there is a tiger in the mountain but heading toward the tiger mountain was a helpless choice when there was no other way, undoubtedly the worst possible strategy.

Now that he had guessed how to find Odin, he was naturally in no rush. Although he didn't know the reason, it was a fact that Odin couldn't come out so easily; the initiative was on his side!

The awakened Chu Zihang stared at the "door" formed by the mass of thick fog.

He took a step back, refusing the invitation.

But then his expression changed drastically, because the "door" moved; the cloud mass composed of thick fog and water vapor boiled and spread toward him, and some invisible force slowed his body, making him unable to escape.

Although Odin was riding a horse, He was not a knight; He did not abide by the so-called eight virtues of knighthood. Chu Zihang refusing the invitation did not mean He couldn't forcibly "invite" Chu Zihang in!

Come to think of it, could someone who could set up such an insidious ambush be a righteous and upright good person? He was just a pure villain and a bad seed!

But Chu Zihang, realizing this, was already too late to resist; he took a gamble, attempting to unleash the Blood Rage Second Degree he had not yet mastered, but failed.

The clouds and mist, writhing like countless tentacles, were clearly less than a meter away from him; in half a second at most, they would swallow him whole!

At the final moment, Chu Zihang turned his head.

He looked at Lu Mingfei, who was dozens of meters away, and with all his might, shouted the last word he had time to say.

"Run!"

Run fast, really.

An existence like Odin who doesn't play by the rules is the biggest thug of all; no one can stop him, and it's hard to say whether he might just sweep Lu Mingfei away along with him.

So, run quickly, don't look back!

At this final moment, Chu Zihang finally understood what his father had said to him. The meaning of "don't look back" was not just in the sense of Physics, but also "don't come looking for him again."

Unfortunately, it was already too late for him to tell Lu Mingfei this; the writhing water vapor of the clouds had already appeared in his field of vision, and they continued to spread, about to swallow him.

And Lu Mingfei, he finally moved.

His upper body leaned forward, his thighs tensed into a lunge, a very normal starting posture. He started running, and as he had said, his speed was truly fast—so fast that even with Chu Zihang's current physique under the state of Blood Rage, he couldn't see clearly.

Just that...

Wait, it seems like something isn't quite right!

Chu Zihang slowly widened his eyes, wanting to shout out—"You're running in the wrong direction!"

But before his vocal cords could vibrate to make a sound, he was stopped by the domain that had spread to where he was; time in this domain had been frozen... no, just slowed down to an unimaginable degree!

Lu Mingfei hadn't run in the wrong direction; he was charging straight toward Chu Zihang.

【Explosive Sprint】, activate!

Strange, it felt like there was no special sensation.

Lu Mingfei didn't have time to think too much; he kicked off, his two legs tensing and releasing rapidly like springs, propelling his body forward in the direction of Chu Zihang.

"Is this Explosive Sprint actually any good!"

He muttered to himself, then happily noticed that the strangely writhing mass of clouds and mist had somehow been slowed down.

It seemed like there was enough time!

Lu Mingfei desperately put in even more effort.

He didn't know what being swallowed by this mist meant, but he knew without thinking that the result was not something he could accept. Therefore, he had to pull Chu Zihang out from under these clouds and mist.

If that didn't work, being swallowed together was also acceptable!

They were on the same side, that meant they were brothers; brothers don't ask to be born on the same day of the same month of the same year, but they ask to die on the same day of the same month of the same year!

Lu Mingfei felt that he occasionally had a bit of heroic ambition; as a real man, of course, one had to stand up for one's brothers at critical moments!

Running with all his might, Lu Mingfei didn't even notice the changes in the surrounding scene—

Raindrops fell slowly in mid-air, the splashes he stepped on also rose slowly in mid-air, and even the space he collided with as he ran through the rain curtain formed steps with extremely small slopes.

It was as if the air had suddenly turned into some kind of special gel, and all "movement" was forced to require more time to achieve; even sound was inevitably slowed down!

Only Lu Mingfei was the exception; he was unaffected.

However, in reality, it was not the whole world that was affected, only Lu Mingfei.

The effect of the entry 【Explosive Sprint】 was a temporary, massive increase in speed.

His physical state was accelerated after using 【Explosive Sprint】. From the inside out, including cells, blood, and speed of thought, everything was accelerated to two to the power of three—eight times speed!

What is the concept of eight times speed?

Originally, it took Lu Mingfei over thirteen seconds to run a hundred meters, but now, at his speed, it took less than two seconds; in one second, he could run more than fifty meters!

Thus, the distance of dozens of meters was covered in an instant.

That layer of space that had slowed Chu Zihang down was as nothing to Lu Mingfei; he didn't even notice that he had passed through such a thing.

The writhing clouds and mist seemed to sense something and accelerated, but it still wasn't fast enough. At the final moment, Lu Mingfei grabbed Chu Zihang's shoulders and pulled him into his arms.

He glared at the existence within the clouds that was now as clear as a silhouette, almost about to "materialize from the mist."

Never mind whether he could win or not, he had to put on a show of force first. Lu Mingfei felt that he was like a brave porcupine right now!

The next moment.

The clouds and mist, which had been like a bone-attached gangrene just a moment ago, struggled and retreated, spitting out Chu Zihang with a speed far faster than before, as if in "panic."

The silhouette also blurred rapidly; it was moving away from this place. The clouds and mist dispersed into the surroundings and vanished, hidden from sight.

Lu Mingfei was stunned; he subconsciously looked at the ground, and the Death Servant that had originally been crawling on the ground was also gone.

Only a mess remained all around.

Just... like that, it ended?

Was that BOSS scared off by a porcupine like him? It sounded a bit strange, but it seemed to be a fact!

The rain was still falling; winter rain was naturally icy, and as the bone-chilling cold struck, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but shiver, subconsciously hugging Chu Zihang a little tighter—the Senior's body was as warm as a stove.

Come to think of it, why wasn't the Senior reacting or saying anything?

Lu Mingfei looked down in confusion; Chu Zihang's eyes were clearly open, and his burning Golden Pupil was turning toward him, only... the speed was very slow.

Wait, the speed was very slow?

Only then did Lu Mingfei have the leisure to notice the situation around him: the slowed-down falling raindrops, the elongated and somewhat strange-sounding voices...

He finally realized what had happened.

【Explosive Sprint】 was not useless; on the contrary, this was probably the strongest of all the entries he had obtained so far!

【Explosive Sprint】, deactivated early.

The world that had been slowed down in his senses finally returned to normal, yet a sudden sense of exhaustion swept through his entire body.

The smile on Lu Mingfei's face stiffened before it could even bloom; he had forgotten that there were side effects after using 【Explosive Sprint】!

His hands loosened, and he went limp.

Just as he was about to fall onto the water-logged ground, a pair of still-strong arms grabbed him and lifted him up.

Chu Zihang lowered his eyes and met Lu Mingfei's gaze.

"Why didn't you run?"

"I did run, Senior Brother."

Lu Mingfei managed a weak smile, his voice listless. This state of exhaustion was a bit too severe; he felt as if he couldn't muster the slightest bit of strength in any of his muscles, and even speaking was extremely difficult.

"See, I told you, I run really fast, right?"

The torrential rain quickly turned into a drizzle after losing its control, a cold wind swept in, and sirens sounded in the distance, accompanied by the approaching voices of panicked people.

Chu Zihang didn't ask anything else; he carefully shifted Lu Mingfei onto his back, put away his Samurai Sword, and then left.

"Don't we need to clean up the aftermath, Senior Brother?"

Lu Mingfei asked listlessly; in fact, his mind was quite clear and he wasn't tired at all, he just couldn't exert any strength.

And this was even with the condition of ending Explosive Sprint early; if he had used up all ten seconds next time before ending it... he was afraid he wouldn't even have the strength to open his eyelids, right?

"There are specialized cleanup personnel; I sent them a message when I arrived, and they will finish the work."

Chu Zihang replied.

"I'll take you for a check-up first."

"Uh, no need, no need..."

"It's a specialized confidential agency, not a regular hospital."

"Actually, there's really nothing wrong, I'm just a bit exhausted..."

"Behave."

"... Oh."

Ten thousand words completed! Even exceeded it by over three thousand! Should count as today's, right? There should be another chapter tonight!

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(End of chapter)