Chapter 305: Greenland's Past, Fingal's Sorrow
Finkel von Frings, Kassel College Class of 2001, Head of the News Department, and Administrator of the Night Watch Forum...
He has many identities, but to this day, everyone's impression of him can be summed up in two words - loser.
If Lu Mingfei is the biggest joke in Shilan Middle School, then Finkel is the biggest joke in Kassel College.
When he entered Kassel Academy, he was a powerful A-level student who surpassed all the freshmen. Everyone believed that he would become a banner of the new generation of the secret party, but in the end, even graduation became a luxury for him.
He fell from being a favored child of heaven to being a stepson of heaven, a man who was not loved by his father and mother and was whipped by his uncle from time to time. All the students who had admired, respected, or regarded Finkel as a strong enemy felt sorry for him and ridiculed him for his self-degradation.
This feeling is like the white moonlight that you could never get in your youth falling into the dusty land, and you have to greet with a smile those people you never even bothered to even look at in the past. While lamenting the impermanence of the world, you still can't help but sneer or despise them.
Of course, they still come to patronize Fingle's business.
After all, he is the biggest intelligence dealer in Kassel College. No matter whether it is useful or not, he has whatever you want. If he doesn't have it, he will find a way to cheat and deceive to get it.
That’s why he can owe tens of thousands of dollars in credit card loans without worrying about being harassed for debt.
When the last student who had witnessed his glorious past graduated and left, Finkel completely let himself go, lived a dissolute life, and no longer had the pride he once had.
He deceived a lot of people. Teacher Guderian often lamented that he might never become a tenured professor in his lifetime. Executive Minister Schneider occasionally regretted that the most experienced student specialist of the executive department had passed away. The chairman of the disciplinary committee, Manstein, was busy arresting people who violated rules and regulations, spread rumors, and attacked the news minister of the campus network from time to time. Even the principal had to sigh when he saw him that the bottom line of Kassel College had been broken once again.
He thought his disguise could fool everyone, just like Caesar would subconsciously ignore the fact that the News Department was actually his propaganda weapon. Chu Zihang would never think of him as "worthy of a fight" when he saw him.
But the person sitting in front of him now is Lu Mingfei, an expert in pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger, who has been hiding since he was a child and whose true identity has never been discovered by anyone.
This young man, who once disguised himself as a loser like him but no longer hid himself after learning the truth about the world, ruthlessly exposed his exquisite loser shell, trying to ignite the flame of revenge hidden in his chest with deafening words.
Finkel bit the straw, the cold cola stayed in his mouth, dense bubbles kept emerging and bursting, stimulating his tongue to feel slightly numb.
He wanted to laugh it off and avoid the topic as he had done in the past when facing other people's questions, but looking at Lu Mingfei's eyes that exuded coldness yet seemed to be burning with blazing fire, he could not bring himself to admit that he was a loser.
After all, he had never considered surrendering or admitting defeat.
He had been looking for the dragon and the "prince" who lured them to the Greenland Sea, and vowed to mourn their fallen companions with their bones and blood.
But they hid too deeply. Even though he had the support of the Secret Party and Kassel College, and possessed one of the top supercomputers of the time to assist him, and secretly had the North American mixed-race leaders to provide various resources, he still could not find those two bastards.
So, is this young man who killed a god in front of him his hope for successful revenge?
Fingel didn't know, but Hilbert Jean Ange, the world's strongest dragon slayer, had been searching for the enemies and traitors who caused the annihilation of the first generation of Lionheart Society for over a hundred years to no avail. There were many factions within the secret party. The people at the bottom were willing to sacrifice their lives to slay the dragon, while the top leaders only thought about their own ambitions and wanted to gain more power.
After seeing through it all, he found Han Gao, the leader of the North American hybrids. Han Gao was the lifelong enemy of the secret party leader. He had shot him in the back when he was young, causing the latter to never like people talking behind his back until now.
Henkel is a capable and courageous man, but the North American mixed-race group is even worse than the Gattuso family. At least in the profit-seeking Gattuso family there is a weirdo like Caesar, while the high-ranking children of the North American mixed-race family are all trash without exception.
Because Kassel College is in North America, they have taken charge of all the incidents such as the revival of the dragon race, Deadpool's rebellion, and dangerous hybrids killing people. The North American hybrids who sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor are as irresponsible as their own country. They only want to wait for the secret party and Kassel College to kill all the dragons, and then they will ascend the throne as the new dragon race and rule the world.
Finkel disdains to associate with such fools, nor does he need to associate with them.
Before he came to Kassel College, he wanted to make his impoverished family great again, but after the Greenland Sea incident, all he wanted was revenge.
In a sense, he and Ange are actually the same kind of people.
They are all avengers who have done everything.
The only difference is that he is of humble status and can do things more thoroughly, even if it means abandoning the dignity and pride that he regards as his life.
Finkel looked at Lu Mingfei. There was no shame on his face after his scar was revealed, nor was there any embarrassment after his disguise was exposed. He just continued to bite the straw, maintaining his detached attitude, or in other words, his heartlessness.
"How did you know that?"
"Use your eyes to see." Seeing that Finkel did not talk about other things, Lu Mingfei also slightly restrained his momentum. "You are a student of Kassel College in 2001. Considering the bloodline-only theory of this Japanese diving plan, it is not difficult to imagine that you must have witnessed the Greenland Sea incident."
The educational policy reform of Kassel College was due to Operation Greenland Sea, and even with the reform, freshmen like Chu Zihang would still be thrown into the battlefield, and with Finkel's excellence, it would be impossible for him to escape.
"How dare you be so arbitrary about something that is just hearsay?" Finkel laughed, "Junior brother, you have a talent for being a paparazzi.
Why don't you come to Kassel College? When I graduate, I'll pass on the position of Minister of Information to you."
Even at this point, he still did not forget to complete the task assigned by the principal.
He really made me cry.
However, facing Lu Mingfei's oppressive gaze, Finkel still failed to liven up the atmosphere. He bit the straw and nodded in self-abandonment, his voice inexplicably hoarse:
"Okay, okay. I did participate in the Greenland Sea operation, but I was powerless and could only be a yes-man."
“But the Yes-Man made the dragon bleed.” Lu Mingfei was very sure that Finkel’s bloodline was so powerful that it was a little unbelievable.
Caesar, the proud young master of the Gattuso family, is like Lu Xian walking alone in front of him. Maybe he can rely on the range to play tricks in front of the numerical monsters, but once he is caught, he will be killed in seconds.
As for Chu Zihang, he might be a mechanical monster dancing on the edge of a knife. If given enough room for growth, he can show off everything. However, it is still a bit too difficult for him to fight with numerical monsters without the passive skill (turning on the blood rush).
"That's a long story." Finkel spit out the straw, opened the lid, and drank the Coke as if he was drinking wine.
"Eri takes at least half an hour to take to bathe. Your story shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes to tell."
"Junior brother, this is considered as leaking other people's privacy, right? Is this something I can listen to?"
“If you keep talking nonsense, I will tie you up, strip you naked, take photos, and then post them on the Night Watch forum using your account.” Lu Mingfei glared at him fiercely, “And I will pin it to the top of the page!”
"Wow, we are brothers after all, how can you be so cruel." Finkel drank the iced wine instead of the melancholy that had covered his face. Seeing that Lu Mingfei had already started to pull the packing strap out of his backpack, he immediately sat up straight as if he was giving an academic report.
"It was the fall of 2001. A guy with the ID 'Prince' posted a message online saying that his tugboat had caught strange bronze fragments in the depths of the Greenland Sea." Finkel spoke slowly, and his thoughts were instantly pulled back to that icy and snowy haunted place back then:
"Those bronze fragments have complex ancient texts. After repeated confirmation, the academy determined that these fragments are completely consistent with the 'Ice Sea Copper Column Table' that the academy has secretly collected, and both record the history of the dragon clan.
Minister Schneider, who was only an assistant professor at the time, contacted the other party anonymously and purchased these fragments from the "Prince" in the name of an ancient writing research institute.
Many people were interested in these fragments at the time, but surprisingly, despite the high price offered, the prince insisted on donating the fragments to us free of charge, and also gave us the fishing coordinates. "
He took a big gulp of Coke, and the ice cube was broken by his hard teeth, just like the floating ice on the sea that year hitting the icebreaker with the waves:
"The academy immediately organized an elite team to go to that area and scan the seabed with sonar, but they did not find any pillar-shaped objects, but instead captured a strange heartbeat signal."
Lu Mingfei widened his eyes slightly when he heard this. This plot seemed so familiar.
"It's the same as Takamagahara's heartbeat signal, right?" Finkel obviously knew what he was thinking of, and he pulled the corner of his mouth but couldn't laugh out loud:
“After several months of patient observation, the heartbeat on the seabed remained motionless, and finally someone began to suspect that it was a dragon embryo undergoing a long incubation.
The Secret Party has only ever obtained one third-generation embryo in its history, and the heartbeat on the seabed before us clearly belongs to a more powerful being."
“And then you dived?” Lu Mingfei was a little puzzled. Given the style of Kassel Academy, shouldn’t they have taken action as soon as they suspected it was a dragon? Why did they sit back and observe for several months?
"No, the Executive Department first used underwater robots to survey the area, but as soon as they approached the seabed, the embryo's protective field burned out their circuits.
Bioelectricity surrounds the embryo, and anything that tries to get close will be attacked. Anyone who steps into its territory will experience fatal hallucinations. Only the most powerful hybrids can maintain their self-awareness during the hallucinations.
The college wanted to observe it for a while longer, but the board of directors issued a mandatory order that they must dive down to confirm the target and not wait for the embryos to hatch. "
"So you and your companions were drafted into the action team?"
"Yes, the Executive Department was forced to formulate a strict plan. We bought the most advanced diving bell in Germany, wrapped our bodies with metal mesh, took sedatives orally, and equipped our underwater rifles with Philosopher's Stone bullets...
We made a lot of preparations, but accidents still happened.”
The expression on Finkel's face finally disappeared. He held the Coke cup with only ice cubes left in it, and there was only murderous intent in his iron-gray eyes.
At this moment, he finally looked a bit like the Silver Wolf Finkel in Lu Mingfei's memory.
"The weather was very good and the sea was calm on the day of the dive, so we went down in three diving bells.
Everything went smoothly at the beginning, but when the depth reached 170 meters, we were attacked.
That feeling was very uncomfortable, as if there were ten thousand needles piercing your head. I was in so much pain that I felt like I was going to die.
But my teammates didn’t, they saw a door.”
Finkel's voice became low and hoarse, and the squashed paper cup in his hand was like a tightly clenched knife:
“They began to discuss the door heatedly, completely ignoring Professor Schneider’s orders and moved towards it.
I realized something was wrong. It was pitch black outside the observation port of the diving bell. There was no so-called door at all. Only the dull heartbeat like thunder was ringing inside the diving bell through the sea water.
What they saw was not the door, but the embryo!
Although it has not yet fully hatched, it has already begun hunting, and its prey is those of us who have intruded rashly."
Lu Mingfei listened with a frown. He knew what would happen to a group of A-level hybrids when they encountered a Dragon King-level embryo. There would be no room for resistance at all.
Even if the other party has just emerged from the cocoon and is a weak larva.
“Before the dive, Professor Schneider told us not to leave the diving bell no matter what happened.
However, the team leader was attacked by hallucinations and shouted "Open the door! Open the door!" Then he opened the door of the diving bell and walked out through the static barrier of the diving bell.
I tried to wake him up, but for some reason I had lost the ability to speak and could not make any sound except for heavy breathing.
The moment we stepped out of the diving bell, the team leader seemed to regain consciousness, but he was still immersed in hallucinations. It was only his instinct that made him sense that danger was lurking ahead, so he panicked and told us not to go in and to leave.
Finkel sighed: "But it was too late. He escaped from the electrostatic barrier of the diving bell and suffered a horrible mental attack.
He fired his gun everywhere, but he couldn't hit the enemy at all and could only waste bullets.
His partner was also affected, and rushed out wielding a diving knife to cut the safety rope connecting the diving bell and the icebreaker.
At this point, he suddenly raised his head and looked at Lu Mingfei with his eyes that seemed to be covered with dark clouds all year round:
"Junior brother, you should know that the enforcement department's rules prohibit people who cooperate underwater from having a romantic relationship with each other."
"Of course." Lu Mingfei nodded. The ace duo Ye Sheng and Jiude Aki were forced to go solo because of this.
"One of the six people who went diving together was my girlfriend, Eva, who was a year older than me."
When Finkel mentioned this name, a hint of tenderness appeared in his iron-gray eyes. It was obvious that this girl was extremely important to him.
Just like Eiry is to Lu Mingfei, she is the anchor that anchors him to this world.
"In fact, only one diving bell was disconnected at that time, and the remaining four of us were able to call for emergency rescue, but the team leader's partner rushed over with a diving knife and tried to cut their diving bell safety line.
Eva is a good girl. Everyone in Kassel College dislikes her. Even when she was in danger, she still asked me to leave quickly and leave her alone.
But how could I bear to abandon such a good girl, so I kicked open the security door and rushed out.
But my swimming skills were average, and I was no different from a landlubber when I entered Kassel Academy, and I was unable to stop it before the safety line was cut.
Later, the safety line of the last diving bell was cut by my partner, and I was surrounded by three out-of-control teammates. The dragon controlled their illusions and turned me into their enemy.
I shouted at them to wake up, but all I heard was the roar of a monster, and they attacked me even more frantically.
Finkel threw away the crumpled Coke cup in his hand, fished out a bottle of beer from under the table, and with a slight force of his thumb, he sent the bottle flying. He took a big gulp to calm himself down before continuing:
"And like I said, Eva is a good girl, there's no way she would just watch me get into this desperate situation and do nothing.
The safety line had been disconnected, and without external force it would be difficult for us to successfully float up under the interference of the embryo, so she also rushed out with others. "
The bitter wine made his throat ache. Finkel had no idea how painful it was to uncover the scar with his own hands to expose the bleeding wound. As he said before, he had become accustomed to this kind of pain, and only alcohol could relieve the pain.
“Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of Eva and I, my teammates finally regained consciousness.
But at this time the safety rope had been recovered, and the temperature of the surrounding waters had dropped below zero degrees. If we moved slightly, the sea water around us would quickly freeze.
To make matters worse, the embryo suddenly hatched and attacked.”
He shook the bottle gently, watching through the dark green glass the liquor inside surging wildly, just like their situation.
"We were like being thrown into a washing machine, with no control over ourselves, while the dragon came and went as it pleased, playing with us at its will.
When the violent ocean current subsided, the diving bell and my companions were nowhere to be seen, and only Eva remained in my arms.
But she fainted in the turbulence, and I was the only one who remained conscious.
The special underwater rifle has long been lost, and without the bullets for the Philosopher's Stone, the only weapon I can rely on is a diving knife."
The dark deep sea, the hopeless situation of being isolated and helpless, and the dragons hiding in the dark and playing with their prey, just thinking about it makes one feel suffocated and desperate.
But Finkel could not be defeated by the heavy pressure of the mountains and rivers, because he still had to take his girl back to the boat.
"I was on guard against the dragon's attack, but it didn't seem to be in a hurry to kill its lingering prey. It just flew past and let out a low laugh from time to time.
Just when I couldn't bear it anymore, Professor Schneider suddenly appeared.
He was simply a lunatic. He had repeatedly warned us not to leave the diving chamber, but he dared to dive into the deep sea alone wearing a metal diving suit and a safety line. "
Finkel still remembered the scene of the professor falling from the sky, and a bitter look appeared on his face:
“Unfortunately he was not good at fighting, so the dragon played hide-and-seek with him.
Just as I was about to remind him, Eva woke up, so we decided to try to kill the dragon while its attention was drawn to the professor.
Eva's words are most effective in the sea, and thanks to them we were able to quietly get close to Professor Schneider.
Just when we were about to succeed, Professor Schneider somehow discovered that the dragon was behind him, and in a panic he turned around with his gun and shot.
At this point, Finkel couldn't help but show a bitter look on his face:
"At that time, the dragon, Professor Schneider and I were exactly on the same level. The moment I realized something was wrong, I used all my strength to chop at its body. It happened to raise its head to avoid the bullet, so the chop hit the back of its neck.
The knife shattered its scales and cut its flesh, and the hot blood spilled on my hands, but I was also hit by a bullet. In order to prevent making any noise when I got close, I took off the outer metal net and only wore a diving suit.
The resistance of the water greatly weakened the bullet's power, but I was still injured and was unable to make up for the subsequent attack in the first place."
He smiled bitterly and rubbed his strong pectoral muscles: "Then I was whipped away by the dragon's tail. The last thing I saw was that stupid girl Eva standing in front of the dragon."
Lu Mingfei listened to everything in silence. This was indeed a sad story.
"Eva is indeed a good girl. What happened next?"
"Later, everyone died except me and Professor Schneider." Finkel took another sip of wine, his voice terribly hoarse:
"Eva is dead, Professor Schneider has become a half-dead old man, the others have not been found, and I am the only one who is still alive and kicking."
(End of this chapter)
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