socalfunplaces Chapter 16 One Day of Freedom
Chapter 16 One Day of Freedom
The library was deathly silent.
Masashi Fukuyama, clutching the bottle, was panting heavily, his glasses askew. Professor Guderian was pale, while Fingel stood there, camera in hand, oblivious to the shutter.
Lu Mingfei still had his hand outstretched, his fingertips icy cold.
"What... just happened?" He heard his own voice trembling.
Masafumi Fukuyama and Professor Guderian exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and disbelief in each other's eyes.
"Bloodline summoning..." Professor Guderian murmured, "Only bloodlines of extremely high purity can awaken a dormant dragon embryo. Lu Mingfei, you just... established a mental connection with it."
"Me?" Lu Mingfei looked at his hand blankly. "I just... touched the bottle."
"It wasn't just a slight touch." Masashi Fukuyama carefully placed the bottle back in his briefcase and locked it. "You unconsciously released your bloodline pressure, stimulating its dragon instincts. If the bottle's protection level had been any lower, if the formaldehyde concentration inside hadn't been high enough..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear.
The awakening of a dragon—even a cub—in the Kassel Library would be a disaster.
"This proves one thing." Professor Guderian took a deep breath, his gaze towards Lu Mingfei becoming incredibly complex. "Your bloodline purity may be even higher than we anticipated. S-rank... perhaps it's not just pending confirmation, but certainty."
Lu Mingfei slumped back into his chair, feeling as if all the strength had been drained from his body.
Bloodline summoning? S-rank? Awakening the dragons?
These words were heavier and heavier, making it hard for him to breathe.
He just wanted to go to college, to find out the truth about his parents, and to become stronger... Why did all this get involved?
"Alright, that concludes today's cognitive education." Masafumi Fukuyama closed his briefcase, his expression regaining its professional calm. "Mingfei Lu, you need time to digest this information. Professor Guderian, the rest is up to you."
"No problem." Professor Guderian nodded. "Lu Mingfei, let's go. I'll show you around the college and then arrange your dormitory."
Lu Mingfei mechanically stood up and followed the professor out of the library. Fingel also packed up his camera and notebook and silently followed behind.
The sun was still shining brightly, and the lawn was still green, but the world in Lu Mingfei's eyes was different.
The dragon is real. The hybrid is real. The blood flowing in his veins can awaken a sleeping dragon.
What is this? A superpower? A curse?
he does not know.
Professor Guderian led him on a walk around the campus, pointing out the various buildings: "That's the teaching building, that's the laboratory building, that's the clock tower—the vice-principal lives there, a rather interesting old man. Oh, over there is the gymnasium, with a standard swimming pool and an indoor running track underneath. And over there, that's the Amber Hall of the Students' Council, and the Norton Hall of the Lionheart Society…"
Lu Mingfei listened absentmindedly, his gaze sweeping over the exquisite buildings, but he couldn't retain any impression on them.
Finally, they arrived at a building that looked relatively modern. It had white exterior walls, large glass windows, and a sign that read "New Student Service Center" hanging at the entrance.
"This is where you complete the enrollment procedures." Professor Guderian pushed open the door and entered. "You'll fill out some forms first, and then I'll give you a course selection sheet. By the way, I'm your advisor; feel free to ask me any questions."
The service center was quiet, with only one student on duty dozing off. Professor Guderian took a stack of forms from the counter and handed them to Lu Mingfei, along with a pen.
Lu Mingfei sat down at the table in the corner and began filling out those tedious forms: personal information, family background, education, health status... Every column made him feel uncomfortable, especially the two items: "parents' occupation" and "whether there is a history of contact with dragons".
He looked up. Professor Guderian was talking quietly with the student on duty who had woken up, while Fingel leaned against the door, scribbling in a notebook and glancing up at him every now and then.
The world has become quiet again.
The silence was suffocating for Lu Mingfei. He missed the days when Nuonuo was by his side; at least then, he could feel he wasn't completely alone. But now, he'd been thrown into this completely unfamiliar world, told he was special, and forced to accept truths that shattered his understanding…
What is he? An experiment? A pawn? Or something else entirely?
After he finished filling out the form, Professor Guderian handed him a printed course selection form: "This is a course schedule based on your bloodline rating and basic knowledge level. Take a look, and you can adjust it if there are any problems."
Lu Mingfei took the course selection form. It listed a row of courses: *Introduction to Dragon Genealogy*, *Fundamentals of Alchemy*, *Introduction to the Study of Words*, *Practical Training in Cold Weapons*, *Use and Maintenance of Firearms*, *History of Dragon Culture*, and so on.
Every course felt like it had been taken straight out of a fantasy novel.
"Do I have to learn all of these?" he asked.
"Of course." Professor Guderian adjusted his glasses. "The curriculum in Kassel is four years, but the course intensity is three times that of a regular university. Because we learn not only knowledge, but also survival skills. After all, our enemy is the dragons."
Survival skills. Fighting against dragons.
Looking at the course titles, Lu Mingfei suddenly felt the paper in his hand was as heavy as a thousand pounds.
He was about to say something when—
"Waaaaah—waaaah—"
A piercing alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire campus.
The sound was sharp and urgent, like an air raid siren or some kind of disaster warning. Lu Mingfei was startled, and the course selection form in his hand fell to the ground.
"What was that sound?" he asked in alarm.
Professor Guderian and Masafumi Fukuyama's expressions instantly turned extremely ugly.
"Damn it!" Professor Guderian slapped his forehead. "I forgot what day it is..."
He hadn't finished speaking.
"Bang!"
The sound of shattering glass.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A barrage of gunfire erupted from outside, like popping beans.
Before Lu Mingfei could react to what was happening, he saw a burst of blood erupt from the chests of Professor Guderian and Masashi Fukuyama simultaneously—red, viscous, blooming in the air.
The two men still had shocked expressions on their faces, but their bodies had already fallen backward and crashed heavily to the ground.
"Professor?" Lu Mingfei stared blankly at the two people lying on the ground, his mind completely blank.
died?
A person who was just alive and well suddenly...dies?
"Get down! Get down now!"
Fingel's roar pulled him back to reality. There he saw his disheveled senior brother, already sprawled on the ground, clutching his head, his movements so practiced they were almost heartbreaking.
Lu Mingfei did as he was told—or rather, his body reacted instinctively, before his brain could process it. He collapsed to the ground, curled up behind the table, and trembled all over.
The gunfire intensified. He could hear the "thud" of bullets hitting the walls, the crash of shattering glass, and the shouts and running sounds coming from outside.
What happened? A terrorist attack? A dragon invasion? Or...?
Through the gaps in the table legs, he saw a group of people dressed in black combat uniforms and wearing masks rush in. They carried strangely shaped firearms and moved swiftly and professionally, taking over every corner as soon as they entered.
"Cleaning complete! Safe!"
"Keep pushing! The target is the clock tower!"
The men in black combat uniforms swiftly passed through the service center, not even glancing at the "corpse" on the ground. Several military boots trod over Lu Mingfei, who bit his lip tightly, afraid to make a sound, even holding his breath.
Only when the footsteps faded into the distance did he dare to slightly raise his head.
Then, he saw her.
Her long red hair was tied into a neat ponytail, and her deep red combat uniform outlined her slender yet powerful figure. Holding a modified M4 rifle in her hand, Nono rushed in from the other doorway, her movements as agile as a cheetah.
She's still alive! Lu Mingfei was overjoyed and almost shouted it out.
But the next second, he realized something was wrong. Nono's expression was serious, her eyes sharp, completely unlike her usual lazy and carefree senior sister. She quickly scanned the room, her gaze sweeping over the "corpses" of Professor Guderian and Masashi Fukuyama on the floor, over the feigning-death Fingel, and finally—
The image was fixed on Lu Mingfei.
Their eyes met in mid-air.
Lu Mingfei, as if grasping at a straw, immediately scrambled to his feet, raising his hands high: "Senior Sister! Don't shoot! We're on the same side!"
His voice was distorted with fear, and his posture was stiff with tension, making him look both comical and pitiful.
Nono looked at him and suddenly smiled.
It was a strange laugh—not the usual sly, teasing laugh, but a gentle, almost indulgent one. She opened her mouth, her voice soft yet clear:
"Lie down."
Lu Mingfei was stunned. Lie down? Hadn't he already lay down? And now that he'd stood up, why did he need to lie down again?
But he instinctively obeyed Nono's words—just as he had grown accustomed to obeying her along the way. He bent down, ready to pounce again.
But it's too slow.
"Bang!"
A deafening, deeper bang than any of the previous gunshots.
Lu Mingfei saw Nuonuo's chest explode.
It wasn't blood—it was a blue, misty liquid that quickly stained her deep red combat uniform. Her body leaned back, the smile on her face not yet completely faded, but the light in her eyes had already dimmed.
She fell to the ground and stopped moving.
Like Professor Guderian, and like Masafumi Fukuyama.
died.
Lu Mingfei stared blankly at Nuonuo's "corpse," his brain completely shutting down.
Time seemed to stretch out. He could see the trajectory of each drop of blue liquid splashing in the air, the arc of Nono's long hair fluttering, and the dust that rose when she fell.
Then, the sounds of the world flooded back into my ears.