Chapter 293: A True Brother is One Who Stands by Your Side When You Need Him...

Chapter 293: A True Brother is One Who Stands by Your Side When You Need Him...

In modern warfare, numerous factors can significantly influence the outcome of a battle, such as political and economic considerations, military strength, and competent leadership. However, one of the most crucial and often overlooked factors is "information."

"So, who exactly leaked the information?"

In the dead of night, at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, a crowd had gathered at the arrival gate.

Lu Ke, feeling a rare headache, listened to the cacophony around him.

Before him stood a sea of his girlfriends, most of the elite girls from Cassel Academy, each dressed uniquely and adorned with an array of accessories. Every girl had an enviable beauty, with delicate features and graceful figures. They chatted and laughed in small groups, transforming the waiting area into a vibrant garden of competing charms.

The saying goes that one woman equals fifty crows, and with over ten thousand crows present, most were Lu Ke's, with a few here for Caesar, and virtually no men in sight.

The crowd had gathered to see them off. Thanks to an enthusiastic netizen, the news of Lu Ke and Caesar's ace team embarking on a mysterious mission had spread throughout the school, even drawing some attention to the B-team members Lu Mingfei and Zero.

"Setting aside the noise, these lovely ladies are indeed a feast for the eyes. I'm curious, though—how do you manage to keep them all in harmony?"

Caesar maintained a gentlemanly smile, asking quietly.

Lu Ke rubbed his chin, "Well, as long as everyone has shared an equally embarrassing experience, they hold each other's secrets, I guess."

"How does that work?"

"By being open and honest, showing our true selves, and then..."

"Alright, that's enough!"

Caesar's face darkened as he took a few steps away, wanting to distance himself from this scoundrel.

Perhaps the heavens had gone mad, allowing a lecher like Lu Ke to become the uncrowned king of the school, while Caesar, a towering figure, had not indulged in such pleasures.

Caesar glanced at Lu Mingfei, who was typing on his phone, looking slightly embarrassed, as if trying to ignore the empty space before him.

No one had come to see him off.

Caesar silently retracted his words; Lu Mingfei didn't seem to have the means to be a playboy.

A dark red figure pushed through the crowd; Nonno approached, her eyes shifting uneasily. She avoided direct eye contact with Lu Ke, "Be safe. If anything happens, just retreat. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up; even the principal can still move."

Lu Ke recalled Anhe's dry, bark-like skin. Despite his Dragon lineage and the Incantation 'Time Zero,' Anhe remained a charming old man with a certain allure and decent stamina, but...

"He's over 130 years old."

"130 is the prime age for adventure!"

Lu Ke: "..."

At 130, one could have retired twice.

It was a stretch for Anhe to handle a First Generation, and Lu Ke still wanted to sample the Dragon Bone Cross. It would be awkward to eat him now.

The Four Great Kings were planetary-level monsters, fragments of the Black King himself, making them the most precious ingredients.

"I think someone from your Chen family is involved in this mission. Do you want me to remove them?"

Lu Ke remembered that Nonno's stepmother and brother were part of the Gatekeeper Plan. The former had little presence, but the latter possessed an exceptional bloodline. His Incantation was a key that could open any 'gate,' useful for entering Nibelheim.

Nonno gave him a blank look, appearing nonchalant, "After my mother's passing, that house holds no appeal for me. I don't want to be associated with them, and you shouldn't treat them differently because of me..." She handed him a beautifully wrapped chocolate.

Lu Ke accepted it, puzzled, "I thought Valentine's Day was still a while away."

"The person who leaked your mission details and departure location set up a stall along the way here," Nonnoff," Nonno said, her expression odd.

"He titled it something like 'Love Them, Spoil Them,' selling chocolates and roses at ten times the usual price."

Indeed, each of his 'girlfriends' had a chocolate, and even the aloof Zero had piles of roses beside him. Caesar, ever the gentleman, accepted chocolates from several girls.

Only Lu Mingfei buried his head in his phone, awkwardness written all over his face.

Lu Ke sighed, massaging his temples. He had a hunch who the blackmailer was.

"You know he's extorting you, and you still bought it?"

"It's a well-laid scheme. Your 'girlfriends' bought them; I can't be the odd one out."

When mentioning "girlfriends," Nonno looked like an angry stuffed cat, her tone filled with resentment.

Lu Ke casually turned his face away, pretending he hadn't heard a thing.

A small wave of mocking laughter suddenly erupted from the crowd in front of him. With his keen hearing, Lu Ke naturally didn't miss it. He glanced over and saw that some of the onlookers were smirking and sneering, apparently amused by Lu Mingfei's lack of attention.

At the moment, Lu Mingfei resembled an unlucky single man at a dance, unable to find a partner. People who lack charm and don't fit in will always be mocked.

Lu Ke frowned slightly and pointed to the queue in front of him, "Nonno, have a few of them go over and give Mingfei some chocolate, so he doesn't feel so awkward."

"Chocolate has special meaning. They bought it for you, and it's not good to waste a girl's heart."

Lu Ke had to admit she had a point. He wasn't very keen on giving his girlfriend's chocolate to someone else, even if it was just for show. After a few seconds of thought, he took out his phone.

"NoMa, secretly hire a few people to come over as quickly as possible and support Lu Mingfei."

The girl on the screen bowed slightly, "Task created."

Less than three seconds later, NoMa spoke again, "Task accepted."

So fast?

Lu Ke was a bit surprised. He turned his head and saw a tall figure pushing through the crowd.

Her pale golden hair, nearly 1.8 meters tall, and her somewhat larger build for a woman exuded a unique charm, even though her attire wasn't very fancy, her natural beauty was hard to hide.

Fingal's Mother held her head high, maintaining an air of dignity, stepping towards Lu Mingfei like a noble princess. Amid the astonished gazes of the crowd, she pushed a large box of chocolate and a pile of roses in front of Lu Mingfei.

These were the leftovers from her stall.

"Mingfei, these are for you to eat on the way."

Lu Mingfei, feeling the surprised stares of others, covered his face in embarrassment.

"Waste of a master, giving me this in public, aren't you a bit too enthusiastic?"

"True friends are there to be the women their friends need when they need women!"

This is the romance of men!

Fingal's Mother leaned on Lu Mingfei's shoulder, the height difference between them giving the odd impression of a lioness and a corgi together.

With such a beautiful woman supporting Lu Mingfei, the disdainful looks from others gradually faded, replaced by surprise. They began to inquire about which class this senior was from, finding her familiar yet unable to recall where they had seen her.

Fingal's Mother was elated, proudly flicking her hair, feeling like she had once again become the center of attention after many years.

"How about it, did your master embarrass you? Do you want to feel his chest? Your master's chest is amazing."

"Thank you, but no!"

Lu Mingfei replied firmly.

While he felt warm inside knowing someone always stood up for him when he was in a bind, the way his waste of a master supported him was too over the top. He just couldn't accept it. Moreover...

Lu Mingfei sneakily glanced at Zero. Today, she was dressed in simple everyday clothes, wearing a delicate brooch, her eyes fixed straight ahead, her face as expressionless as always, giving an aura of being out of place in the world.

Suddenly, Zero turned her head to look at Lu Mingfei. Lu Mingfei, like a startled cat, quickly averted his gaze. Before he could guess what was on her mind, Professor Schneider, who had been waiting for the mission team, stepped out.

Schneider's sharp gaze swept over the crowd, his expression turning cold as he began to disperse the onlookers. A low-pressure atmosphere enveloped the crowd, clearly displeased that the mission details had been leaked. Nonno and Fingal's Mother were also forced to leave.

Once the crowd had dispersed, the group didn't follow the normal route to the airport. Instead, they took a few turns, passed through a long tunnel, and arrived at a special tarmac.

A sleek, high-tech small passenger plane appeared before their eyes, its body designed with streamlined lines and a metallic sheen, resembling a silver meteor streaking across the sky.

Lu Mingfei stared in amazement, "What kind of plane is this?"

Lu Ke snapped his fingers, and the plane's boarding door slowly opened, the boarding stairs lowering.

"This is my private plane. The body is made of vibration gold material, equipped with a plasma propulsion system, and managed by NoMa as the smart steward, handling route planning, navigation, autonomous driving, and temperature control, among other things."

"Sounds impressive."

Caesar's eyes lit up, "Does it have a name?"

"I named it the 'For the Sake of You' to symbolize endless functionality and abundant resources."

Caesar frowned. His Chinese was good, but he wasn't familiar with classical Chinese allusions. Lu Mingfei, however, started to comment.

"Boss, I remember that 'But for you' means 'just because of you', right? It doesn't seem to have any specific meaning, how did you relate it to those messy functions?"

Lu Ke gave Lu Mingfei a meaningful look but didn't respond.

Before boarding, Schneider's gaze swept over Caesar, Zero, and Lu Mingfei, finally resting on Lu Ke.

"This mission is challenging, but you are the elite among the elite, natural dragon slayers. The Academy has great faith in you. Retreat is permitted during the mission. Exploring the dragon tomb doesn't need to be completed in one go. When encountering dragon species above the third generation, don't hesitate to run. The ocean is their home turf, and humans can't reclaim this territory."

"In the end, I wish you good fortune in your martial endeavors!"

Lu Ke waved his hand dismissively, "Don't worry, it's just the tomb of the Bronze and Flame King. Even with ten more Caesars dragging me down, I can still speedrun this instance."

Caesar narrowed his eyes at Lu Ke's provocative words, exuding an aura powerful enough to match a weasel group of small soldiers, withstand the constant source of youth across the bronze gate, and even rival a polar bear!

"I'll show you my strength."

"Pfft—"

Lu Ke stifled a laugh, his face sincere as he apologized, "Sorry, I just remembered something exciting."

Caesar: "..."

If he couldn't win in a direct confrontation, he'd give Lu Ke a thorough beating.

...

In a presidential suite, a girl curled up in a large sofa, wearing black-rimmed glasses, her chestnut-colored hair falling to cover half her face. In front of her was a large bag of opened potato chips.

On the screen in front of her was a scene from the "But for You" vessel. An introverted boy walked into the camera, stuttering as he spoke unimportant content, while on the other side, a noble young man sulked, lounging in a recliner with his legs crossed.

The cabin door closed, and the screen went black.

"The plane's sealing is a bit excessive, hmm... Perhaps it's the 'Three-Nothing' sealing it, after all, that plane has NoMa, and sending signals is a risky business."

Su Enxi muttered to herself, and the phone suddenly rang. An exhausted, hoarse female voice came from the other end.

"Potato Chip Girl, report the situation."

"The Tyrannosaurus Rex, White Rabbit, and Polar Bear just departed and are expected to arrive at their destination tomorrow noon."

"Oh, did you notice anything?"

Su Enxi recalled, "To be honest, the Tyrannosaurus Rex and I didn't expect much from the name Lu Ke in the stock market."

"His exceptional long-term vision has never failed once, coupled with massive capital flow and accumulated reputation. A single person can stir the stock market into a frenzy. I thought he was a restrained and calm individual capable of making precise judgments, but today I saw a carefree, unconstrained man."

"A carefree monster... Cough..."

The voice on the other end of the line murmured, then coughed softly.

"You don't sound too good?"

"My respiratory tract was scorched by the flames when Norton awakened. It's not healing, that's the epitome of flames, even with injections, the recovery is very slow."

"That exaggerated?"

Su Enxi was a bit surprised, "I thought..."

"You thought Norton was the one controlling 'Authority', so he wasn't that scary. Do you think a newly awakened Dragon King isn't a Dragon King? A First Generation is a First Generation. They are at the pinnacle of dragon species. Underestimating them invites death."

The voice on the other end interrupted her, speaking coldly, "If it weren't for the fact that Norton awakened near the Three Gorges Dam, and he was worried about Constantine's safety, returning immediately. Right now, I can't chat with you so leisurely; instead, I'd be burned to ashes, leaving not even bone fragments."

Su Enxi was now worried, "Potato Chip Girl, I'm very concerned now. Boss has always given me the feeling that he has everything under control."

Yuki Makai's tired voice came again, "But now, he's gone to great lengths to have Norton awaken early, just to test the caliber of that person."

Allowing a First Generation to be used as a pawn for testing, how terrifying must the opponent be?

"Are you sure Norton will lose?"

"It's hard to say. Norton himself might not be that strong among the First Generation, but he's the best alchemist. Bronze is his weapon. Do you remember the appearance of the underwater dragon tomb?"

"Bronze City."

"Yes, Bronze City."

Yuki Makai's voice lowered, "That's Norton's home turf."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end