Chapter 114: First Meeting with Anjou

"Based on previous data, theoretically, there are three hours and forty-two minutes remaining until the return of Kingdom leader Liu Tian. Factoring in retreat time and unforeseen circumstances, there is one hour of safety margin."

The familiar voice of the artificial intelligence, Eva, came through the miniature earpiece. Anjou breathed a sigh of relief—Eva's calculations had never failed. Since she had provided a time limit, as long as they retreated before it, it would be safe. He still had plenty of time to persuade Lu Mingfei.

After all, a willing tool is always better than one that is constantly looking to rebel.

But no one could have predicted that in just a short time, Liu Tian had grown significantly stronger—a power that felt like a qualitative transformation.

Was this something Liu Tian, who had intentionally made a scene earlier to be captured by satellites displaying his abilities, had anticipated?

"That's right, I sought your parents' consent for this long ago." Anjou did not attempt to cover up the facts. Since Lu Mingfei had noticed and raised the question, it proved he had gathered sufficient evidence and was deeply convinced.

Lying here would be meaningless. Besides, since he had already obtained the consent of Lu Lincheng and Qiaoweini, as long as Lu Mingfei had not discovered the deeper truths, admitting to the surface-level facts was acceptable.

After all, a relative truth is a good means of concealing the ultimate truth.

"Do you know about dragons?" Anjou asked, observing Lu Mingfei's expression, though he could not see it clearly as the boy kept his head low.

"I do." Lu Mingfei kept his head down, his hands tucked into his pants pockets, his body motionless. Since his previous question, he had maintained this posture, like a silent volcano.

"Brother Tian told me about them. They are those giant Western-style dragons, right? I've seen pictures."

"He also told me about something called human-dragon hybrids. Is that why you've been monitoring me?"

"This should have been confidential information, but now, it probably won't remain a secret for much longer." Sensing something different, Anjou did not act rashly and proceeded to explain, "We categorize hybrids based on the percentage of dragon blood genes in their bodies, using S, A, B, C, D, and E grades. Both your father and mother possess S-grade bloodlines."

"And so?" Lu Mingfei played the perfect straight man, asking.

"The maximum amount of dragon blood genes a human body can withstand is 50%. Once this threshold is crossed, the hybrid exhibits significant 'dragonization.' At that point, they resemble dragons more than humans, and dragons are the mortal enemies of humans and hybrids alike," Anjou said calmly. "Usually, a hybrid's dragon blood purity is not very high, and children born from such unions remain in human form. However, in extremely rare cases, when two hybrids with high dragon blood purity unite, a 'purification effect' can occur, causing the offspring to exceed this limit."

"Both your father and mother have very high bloodlines, approaching the critical threshold. If a purification effect were to occur, it would easily exceed that limit. Therefore, we must monitor you to ensure you are a high-bloodline hybrid, and not a dragon."

"..." Before Anjou could finish, Lu Mingfei suddenly lunged. Golden pupils ignited in his eyes, and the bones throughout his body tightened in an instant. "Ten Percent Power: Whale-Slaughtering Tyrant Fist!"

It was a perfect surprise attack; it took less than a second to go from absolute stillness to extreme speed. Lu Mingfei took one step, covering the distance of barely three meters. Before the fist even landed, the intense wind generated by the strike blew Anjou's graying hair back, and the air whistled as it was torn apart. A strike of this magnitude would have shattered a concrete wall.

It was hard to imagine that just a few hours ago, Lu Mingfei was an ordinary high school sophomore capable of such immense power and naked killing intent.

But for this 'old man' who excelled in high-speed combat, Lu Mingfei's speed was still too slow!

The moment the fist approached his hand, Hilbert von Anjou vanished instantly. Lu Mingfei’s full-force punch hit empty air. Immediately, a cooling sensation came from the top of his head—a feeling that told Lu Mingfei he had been shaved bald.

"That punch just now was indeed impressive." Anjou reappeared in front of Lu Mingfei, as if he had never moved. A 20-centimeter folding knife flickered in his hand, reflecting cold light in the glow of the lamps. "Whale-Slaughtering Tyrant Fist? Did the Kingdom teach you that?"

"No, it was the Killer Whale Oga," Lu Mingfei retracted his fist. Since the surprise attack had failed, his superhuman senses told him there was no chance of winning now.

However, being unable to win was not a reason to lose his will to fight. A pitch-black dot appeared in the very center of Lu Mingfei's forehead, and then, with that point as the origin, a thick black diagonal slash appeared on both the left and right.

Battle Mark!

This was the mark of entering the realm of a martial artist. Although he was far from reaching that level, by relying on the spirit gifted by Liu Tian and his own seemingly endless potential, Lu Mingfei had naturally awakened this feature.

Perhaps due to Liu Tian's suggestions or his own nature, upon realizing he had been under constant surveillance and manipulation, Lu Mingfei's battle mark looked almost identical to the dark mark of the Asura Path he had just comprehended. At the same time, he realized two peculiar abilities.

One ability was simple and brutal: the Dark Cycle, which increased his perception a hundredfold.

The other was a power he named the Asura Reverse Blood Art—a technique to invert dragon blood, forcibly fusing it with human blood while amplifying all his natural talents.

"What is that on your forehead?" Anjou asked, seemingly unconcerned by Lu Mingfei's previous attack. "Is that some new role-playing trick?"

Having received a key piece of information, the AI Eva frantically searched through its database. It quickly found the source of Lu Mingfei's current state from the term "Killer Whale Oga."

However, this source nearly caused Eva's personality matrix to collapse—in an instant, every change over the past four years seemed to have an unscientific, yet logical explanation.

To confirm her deduction, Eva did something rare: she began operating at full capacity. Countless data points were compared, and the power consumption of Cassell College spiked.

"But, having thrown that punch, your anger should be abated, right?" Anjou sighed. "I know the previous monitoring was a very unpleasant experience for you, but it was necessary. You will understand our actions in the future."

"Come with me." Anjou put away his folding knife. "You are the most outstanding student since Cassell College opened. Your parents would be proud of you—they have planned for years to attend your graduation ceremony, just waiting for you to graduate from Cassell and put on your cap and gown."

"Why?" Ignoring his bald head, and even more so the parents Anjou spoke of, Lu Mingfei simply said, "Why can some people lie without even changing their expression?"

"Brother Tian? Are you there?" Roaring with his last ounce of strength, Lu Mingfei made his final struggle. "I want to cash in my favor. I want to join the Kingdom..."

What?

Although he had not sensed Liu Tian's presence at all, his instinct, honed on the edge of life and death countless times, caused Anjou to instantly activate Time Zero. In a flash, the world slowed hundreds of times before his eyes. It was because of this that he could see an index finger, growing larger and larger.

! A master!

Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!

Without stopping to ponder why Liu Tian would suddenly appear here, and relying on his absolute speed, intense electrical current erupted throughout his body. In an instant, Anjou surged to eighteen times the speed of sound, smashed through the wall, and vanished without a trace, moving at a speed far exceeding Liu Tian's.

"Huh," Liu Tian tilted his head. "Strange. Although his speed is so fast, his power, physique, and defense haven't kept up. Is this the rumored Spirit: Time Zero that can slow down time?"

"No wonder he's called the strongest hybrid; he certainly has some tricks."

"A pity. This is my territory. Consider yourself lucky. I'll let you off this time."