MM Racing Chapter 31 The Kuimen Plan
Chapter 31 The Kuimen Plan
Standing under the shade of the trees, standing in the sunlight, standing in this beautiful yet unfamiliar campus.
Feeling as lonely as if the whole world has abandoned me.
"Lu Mingfei?"
A gentle voice came from behind.
Lu Mingfei turned around and saw an elderly man with silver hair.
Hilbert Jean Angers, the principal of the College of Kassel, the legendary dragon slayer, the master of Time Zero, a living fossil who has lived for over 130 years.
He wore a well-tailored gray suit, leaned on a black cane, and his silver hair gleamed coldly in the sunlight. He wore a gentle smile, but his blue eyes held something unfathomable, something Lu Mingfei couldn't understand.
"Principal." Lu Mingfei straightened up instinctively.
"Don't be nervous." Angers walked over to him and stood with him in the shade of a tree, looking up at the leaves overhead. "I just saw your 3E exam paper. It's amazing, kid. Absolutely amazing."
Lu Mingfei didn't know what to say, so he remained silent.
"Nidhogg devouring the World Tree, Ragnarok, the death of Fafnir, Saint George slaying the dragon..." Angers listed them one by one, his tone filled with admiration. "You're not painting the memories of the dragons, you're painting... an epic. A complete, coherent, narrative epic. This is the first time in the history of Kassel."
He turned to look at Lu Mingfei: "Do you know what this means?"
Lu Mingfei shook his head.
"It means your bloodline isn't just a simple inheritance, but... a resonance," Angers said. "You're not inheriting memories; you're conversing with ancient souls. You can hear their whispers from the other side of time, and see their reflections in the dust of history."
He paused, then added, "It's a gift, and it's also a curse."
Lu Mingfei remembered Lu Mingze's words about "the devil".
"Principal," he began with difficulty, "what...am I?"
Angers did not answer directly. He looked into the distance, at the clock tower, at the lake, and at the academy he had guarded for over a hundred years.
"Everyone has their own reason for being, Lu Mingfei," he said softly. "When you feel lost, you might as well stop and wait. Fate is something that is meant to be trampled underfoot. If you don't yet have the strength to resist it, just wait with courage."
He turned his head and looked into Lu Mingfei's eyes:
"There's an 'SS' level mission—Project Kuimen. Go to the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in China, dive down to the Bronze City at a depth of 180 meters, and retrieve the urn containing the bones of the King of Bronze and Fire and the alchemical weapon Seven Deadly Sins. I'll be going too."
Lu Mingfei was stunned.
SS-rank mission? The Kuimen Project? The King of Bronze and Fire? The Seven Deadly Sins?
Each of these words was like a bombshell, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.
"Why me?" he heard his own voice ask, its calmness surprising even himself, as if he were a completely different person. "Chu Zihang is a Super A-rank, with the Word Spirit Junyan, and is the president of the Lionheart Society; Caesar is an A-rank, with the Word Spirit Kamaitachi, and is the student council president. They are both excellent, so why send a good-for-nothing like me?"
He chuckled self-deprecatingly: "We can't exactly let freshmen experience free airlifts of corpses back to China!"
Angers smiled too. It was a complex smile, containing admiration, understanding, and a deep-seated sadness.
"My child," he said, "that's right, Chu Zihang and Caesar are indeed outstanding. Chu Zihang's 'Monarch Flame' can generate high-temperature flames instantly, and Caesar's 'Sickle Weasel' can capture all sounds—they are both born warriors."
He paused, looking at Lu Mingfei:
"But you're more like me when I was younger."
Lu Mingfei looked up in surprise.
“You don’t feel that way yet,” Angers continued, his voice soft, as if recalling something. “When you stand in front of your younger self, how much you wish that younger self could win, even just once! How much you wish he could be braver, more decisive, more… indifferent.”
Lu Mingfei stared at him blankly.
“I was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England,” Angers began, his tone as calm as if he were telling someone else’s story. “I suffered greatly in my childhood. But I was able to attend Cambridge University because of my amazing talent, where I met Meneke Cassel and joined the first Lionheart.
His gaze became distant, as if traversing a hundred years of time:
"Back then, we were young and passionate, believing we could change the world with sheer courage. We studied dragons, hunted killers, explored ruins... until the 'Summer Mourning' incident."
Angers' voice lowered:
"1900, Kassel Estate. The first generation of the Lionheart Society was almost completely wiped out. Menek was killed in battle, and my friends fell one by one before me. I crawled out of the pile of corpses, covered in blood, and looked at the burning estate, watching those familiar faces turn into cold corpses."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath:
"After that, the former Hilbert Jean Angers was dead. Now standing before you is a living dead, burning with rage. The flames of revenge have sustained me for over 130 years."
Lu Mingfei was speechless.
He looked at the old man before him, at his handsome face marked by the passage of time, and at the inextinguishable flame burning in his blue eyes.
More than 130 years.
One man, carrying the hatred of an entire era, lived for over 130 years.
All for revenge.
[We're not the same!] Lu Mingfei thought to himself, [You're a vengeful god, I'm a loser! How are we alike!]
But he didn't say it.
Because he saw something familiar in Angers' eyes.
That kind of loneliness.
That kind of loneliness where you feel like you're alone even when you're standing in a crowd.
That kind of loneliness where you feel no warmth even when everyone admires you.
That kind of... loneliness where your heart is forever frozen.
"I'm joining the Kuimen Project," Lu Mingfei heard his own voice say, calm, clear, and without the slightest hesitation.
Angers looked at him, nodded, and patted him on the shoulder.
"Very good. Go pack your things. Tomorrow's itinerary: at 8 a.m., we will go to Chicago to take a private plane to Chongqing, and then transfer to a helicopter to the Moniach."
After saying that, he turned and left, his cane tapping rhythmically on the stone pavement.
Lu Mingfei stood there, watching Angers' departing figure, without moving for a long time.
until--
"Click."
The sound of a camera shutter.
Lu Mingfei turned his head sharply and saw Fingel holding a camera and grinning at him.
"Junior, exclusive news!" Fingel waved his camera. "How about this headline: 'S-Class Freshman Lu Mingfei Accepts SS-Class Mission! Principal Angers Personally Invites Him!'? It's sure to make the front page!"
Lu Mingfei's face instantly darkened.
"Senior brother, you..."
"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll make sure you look good in the photos!" Fingel said, backing away. "Okay, I'm going to post this now! Remember to come to the freshman association president inauguration ceremony this afternoon!"
He turned and ran, as fast as a startled rabbit.
Lu Mingfei stood there, looking in the direction where Fingel had disappeared, and suddenly felt... that it wasn't so cold anymore.
At least in this world, there is still this carefree senior brother who will secretly take unflattering photos of him, make jokes about him, and hand him a can of Coke when he is sad.
Although he might have to pay for that can of cola.
But... it's a kind of warmth, I suppose.