The male youth with a black face and pointed horns lay like a dead fish on the hood of the Mercedes-Benz, one hand weakly resting on the steering wheel, the other dangling in front of the headlights. Two broken umbrella-handle spikes were impaled in his head and chest respectively.
Zero stood obediently in the rain, still expressionless, as if this matter had nothing to do with her.
Liu Tongchen didn't even have a chance to act; that mutating Death Servant was already dead. Such a small body actually contained such immense power.
Liu Heguang's hand, resting on the sword hilt, slowly dropped. The weapon at his waist was merely a ceremonial object, not very lethal, prepared solely for receiving Lu Mingfei.
If he were to insist on using this longsword to kill an enemy, it might take a bit more time, as it wasn't a sharp weapon carefully crafted by the Family.
Perhaps it would be five or six seconds slower than Lu Mingfei?
Liu Heguang pondered carefully. He wasn't skilled with longswords either. Without using a Rune, that was probably the case.
He still had to praise the quality of Kassel College students. The S-rank was well-deserved. The young girl accompanying Lu Mingfei was probably an A-rank within the College.
"Tong Chen, contact the people on the Moniyahe to confirm the deceased's identity," Liu Heguang said, then turned to Lu Mingfei, "It seems we can't go back for now."
"It's fine, I'm not in a hurry," Lu Mingfei nodded. The ribbon under the rain curtain was slowly being reeled back by him. The blood color was completely absorbed by the ribbon, and it now looked no different from when it was taken out of the ice cellar.
Half an hour later, on the Moniyahe.
Lu Mingfei sat at the end of the conference table, facing the cold-faced Liu Heguang. The incandescent lights in the conference room lit up, and he saw that the expressions on everyone sitting at the table were not good.
Everyone looked at the photos Liu Tongchen had taken on the screen, silent.
Liu Heguang's fingers tapped lightly on the edge of the table, each tap seeming to strike at the hearts of the people present.
Everyone present knew his identity: the young master of the Liu Clan, the head of the Liu Clan, one of the candidates for the Family's spokesperson. No matter which identity, they couldn't bear the blame if it fell on them.
Liu Tongchen hadn't seen Liu Heguang like this in a long time. The last time was when a berserk mixed-blood killed 14 Family members, and the Family had no clues for 48 hours. Liu Heguang had to personally act, spending half an hour chasing and killing to bring the culprit to justice.
"He's not from our ship," someone said.
"He's a stowaway, but we didn't find anyone underwater during the morning search," someone offered a more astute answer.
"He attracted a group of underwater Dragonborn, but his insufficient strength led to him being corrupted and evolving into a Death Servant, or perhaps he actively chose this path to escape, but there's a way to break free from Death Servant transformation afterwards," someone offered his insight.
"When our esteemed guest slew him, he was indeed halfway through his Death Servant mutation. We've preserved his blood sample, and we'll have results later," Liu Heguang said softly from the end of the conference table, stopping his tapping on the table's edge.
"The incident occurred at 1:23 PM, in an uninhabited area upstream of the Yangtze River. There were no unrelated personnel nearby."
"What about the battle process? Would the commotion arouse suspicion from ordinary people?" someone asked.
"The esteemed guest acted swiftly and decisively. The underwater group and the Death Servant were cleared out within ten seconds, with no resistance," Liu Heguang said.
So everyone turned their gaze to the other end, where Lu Mingfei and his partner Zero sat.
"Instant kill?" Many people imagined such a scene. The esteemed guest hadn't brought any weapons when he arrived, so to accomplish such a feat, he must have used a powerful Rune.
"An alchemical weapon, easily wielded and incredibly sharp. After a few passes, all the mixed-blood Dragonborn were dead," Liu Heguang recreated the scene.
The simplicity of the steps was even less than putting an elephant in a refrigerator, but one detail was worth everyone present pondering.
A powerful alchemical weapon must require an extraordinary bloodline, and to use it so effortlessly, the user's bloodline must be far superior to the alchemical weapon's requirements.
"Is he an S-rank?" Someone looked at Lu Mingfei and asked.
Lu Mingfei nodded to him, "Kassel College, Lu Mingfei, S-rank student."
"Such a talent, so extraordinary at such a young age. He will surely be a dragon-like figure in the future," that person said to Lu Mingfei with a smile.
Liu Heguang glanced at the speaker, "Now is not the time for flattery. I don't want to hear such words a second time during the mission. Today, we are here to discuss the matter of the stowaway."
The air dropped a degree.
"But Clan Head, this matter isn't within our scope of responsibility. Stowaways are the responsibility of those outside," someone couldn't help but say, then received two kicks from the person next to him.
"Yes, but this person was targeting the Moniyahe," Liu Heguang nodded. "At this time, appearing just upstream of the Yangtze River not far from the Moniyahe, there are only two possibilities. One is for the ancient bronze city beneath our feet, and the other is for the personnel arrangements on the Moniyahe."
"The specific target depends on whether the other party wants to confront us in the bronze city or after we leave the bronze city."
"Are we the passive party?" Someone frowned.
"The enemy is hidden, we are exposed," Liu Heguang said.
"So, are there any preventive measures? There's still half a month until the mission officially begins," someone in the conference room asked. This was an agreed-upon matter, and rashly breaking the plan would surely damage the Family's credibility.
"Tong Chen, you tell them what to do," Liu Heguang said to the person standing beside him.
"We need to dive early to search for the ancient bronze city. The other party has already taken action, so we must accelerate the implementation of the plan and simultaneously strengthen the search for suspicious personnel underwater and on the shore," Liu Tongchen said. "Knowing there's an enemy, unnecessary arrogance will only lead to failure. If necessary, we can abandon the Family's pride and start the plan early."
"Mingfei, what do you think?" Liu Heguang looked up. "This is my solution. The underwater operation needs to start as soon as possible. You might not be able to wait for your partners from the College."
Lu Mingfei understood and heard that the situation was urgent, but he needed some preparation time. He had promised his senior brother that he would return alive from the Kui Men Plan, and he would not make such a rash mistake.
"Zero and I haven't trained together in this water area yet, so we need a bit of time to get used to it. Also, the Principal is the guiding professor for this plan. We can wait until tonight to discuss the specific decisions together."
He paused, "Before that, Zero and I need to familiarize ourselves with the environment here. The weather here is strange, isn't it?"
"Okay," Liu Heguang's face remained calm, and he agreed.
He then cast an indifferent gaze over everyone present, then rose and left the conference room.
The entire conference room was silent.
Lu Mingfei and Zero also rose and left.