Harry had of course noticed NoNo's Profiling ability. And from the very beginning, he had never planned to deliberately hide anything, so it was perfectly normal that she would sense something was off.
Hearing her challenge now, he put on a mildly puzzled expression and explained at an unhurried pace, "Senior, I am Lu Mingfei."
NoNo's face immediately darkened, suspicion filling her eyes.
How could Lu Mingfei possibly look like this?
That timid, self-loathing, awkward Lu Mingfei was worlds apart from the calm, unbothered guy in front of her.
She stared at him again and pressed, "Lu Mingfei is absolutely not like you right now.
"In a situation like this, how could he hold me like it's nothing, and not even blush?"
Only then did Harry notice how mortifying her state was. Her clothes were in ruins, and what remained of her bikini barely counted as coverage at all. The scraps were so tiny they looked like three miniature pudding cups, only just blocking the most critical places.
Harry finally understood, his expression turning a little awkward.
"Sorry. I almost forgot about that. I'll fix it."
Before the last word had even faded, he lifted a hand and gently brushed across those three tiny pieces of fabric, murmuring, "Reparo."
In the next instant, it was like time rewound. Stray fragments of cloth appeared from nowhere and fused seamlessly with the remaining scraps.
In the blink of an eye, the bikini was restored, neatly covering her snow-pale skin and hiding what should be hidden again.
Harry looked at the repaired bikini, thought for a moment, then decided that under the circumstances, a bikini still wasn't exactly appropriate.
So he lifted his hand again and made a grasping motion, pulling a ribbon of water from nearby.
Then he cast Transfiguration on the stream, shaping it into a dress designed with a multiverse-fashion sensibility, complete with self-cleaning and a basic protective effect.
He guided the dress gently onto NoNo.
After that, he leaned back slightly and examined the girl in his arms from head to toe, looking satisfied as he nodded.
"Yeah. Now it's perfect. You look gorgeous."
NoNo was stunned into silence by the sheer speed of everything he'd just done. Eyes wide, she stared, her mind going blank.
She hadn't expected him to be this bold. Even for someone as daring and carefree as her, her cheeks heated up anyway, and even her ears turned red.
Her boyfriend was still up on the ship!
If Caesar saw this, there would definitely be a duel.
Normally, Lu Mingfei would be hopelessly outmatched against Caesar. But for some reason, looking at Lu Mingfei like this, NoNo was absolutely certain Caesar wouldn't stand a chance.
At the same time, she replayed the moment he turned a strand of river water into a dress, and the shock deepened.
That had to be some kind of insanely advanced alchemy.
Even Nicolas Flamel, one of the world's greatest alchemists, would probably struggle to do something like that without any assisting equipment.
And it wasn't even just alchemy anymore.
It was matter conversion.
NoNo even suspected that not even the Bronze and Fire King could casually pull off alchemy at that level.
So who was this person?
Why was he pretending to be Lu Mingfei?
What did he want?
NoNo fell silent. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing the storm of emotions down.
After a long moment, when she finally steadied herself a little, she tugged at the brand-new dress as if it could give her a shred of security.
Then she lifted her head and locked eyes with him again.
"Thank you for everything you did. But we both know you can't be Lu Mingfei, so who are you, really?"
Her gaze was firm now. She clearly wasn't letting this go.
This time, Harry didn't dodge the question.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking quickly. A moment later, he answered in a steady tone.
"No. In a sense, I really am Lu Mingfei.
"You can think of me as another personality of his. Whenever Lu Mingfei is in danger, I awaken."
NoNo: ???
Confusion splashed across her face. The answer was so absurd it smashed straight through the limits of her imagination.
She was convinced he was messing with her.
After tossing that explanation at the girl in his arms, Harry added a reminder.
"Get ready. We're going out."
Almost the instant he said it, the river water that had been surging around them cut off abruptly.
Then Harry burst through the surface with NoNo, stabilizing in midair as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Sunlight spilled over them, casting a blinding glow.
Harry lifted his eyes to the ship floating nearby and flew toward it without hesitation.
He had to be faster.
That giant lizard behind them was already closing in.
Thinking of that, Harry let out a small sigh. He couldn't believe he'd come to another world and still ended up having to slay a dragon.
…
On the surface, only one large ship remained afloat: the Monyach of Cassell College.
By now, the Monyach was sitting dangerously low in the water. Three watertight compartments had already flooded, and the waterline was less than half a meter from the deck.
Worse still, an enormous shadow kept ramming the ship from below. If they didn't find a solution soon, the vessel wouldn't last much longer.
Caesar grit his teeth. He knew they couldn't keep dragging this out.
He grabbed the first mate by the shoulder and demanded, "Is the torpedo still in the compartment?"
He was going to take the torpedo himself, dive down, and cripple the dragon under the water.
There was no time left. If they didn't deal with that ferocious monster immediately, everyone on board, including him, would die.
Just as Caesar tightened his grip on the torpedo, bent his knees, and prepared to leap into the sea, he caught something strange out of the corner of his eye.
The dragon that had been attacking the ship like a maniac abruptly stopped moving with no warning.
Its massive body turned and plunged toward the depths instead.
In Caesar's mind flashed the images of NoNo and Lu Mingfei trapped underwater, and a sense of doom swallowed him whole.
He couldn't hold back his fury anymore. He shouted at the sea, "Damn it!"
With the dragon's strength, if it locked onto NoNo and Lu Mingfei, they were both dead.
But then he felt it.
A vast elemental fluctuation trembled up from deep below, so immense it made his skin crawl.
The chaotic elements felt like they were about to churn the entire ocean upside down. Wherever that presence swept, the sea seemed to boil, roiling violently.
A moment later, two figures tore through the surface and floated in midair. After a brief pause, they flew straight toward the Monyach.
It was Lu Mingfei and NoNo!
Caesar looked up and saw Lu Mingfei carrying NoNo, both of them apparently unharmed. Joy surged through him.
They were alive. They were really alive.
But Caesar's excitement didn't blind him. As a hybrid with razor-sharp observation, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
His eyes locked onto Lu Mingfei.
The more he looked, the stranger it felt.
Lu Mingfei was different.
Lu Mingfei was holding NoNo as they approached the ship.
From the way they were flying, it was clearly Lu Mingfei controlling it. But Caesar knew Lu Mingfei hadn't even awakened a Yanling, so how could he possibly be flying?
And then Caesar noticed an even more critical detail.
NoNo was in Lu Mingfei's arms, her cheeks flushed. She kept glancing at him now and then, looking shy and… oddly affected, at least in Caesar's eyes.
As for Lu Mingfei, his appearance was still the same familiar mess—clothes disheveled, bloodstains making him look wretched.
Yet the aura he gave off was completely unlike before.
The Lu Mingfei Caesar knew always carried a timid, insecure vibe.
But now, there was an indescribable steadiness and calmness to him.
That drastic shift made Caesar's doubts pile up, a chill creeping up his spine.
Caesar recognized that kind of presence. It was the air of someone who had stood above others for a long time.
And Lu Mingfei's felt even purer, like he could treat anything with mild patience, and handle any crisis with effortless ease.
If it were any other couple approaching like this, Caesar would have genuinely thought, what a perfect match, like something out of a painting.
But this was absolutely not the time for that.
NoNo was his girlfriend.
So what was this?
Cucking him to his face?
When Lu Mingfei finally stepped onto the deck with NoNo in his arms, Caesar strode over at once, his expression grave.
"Lu Mingfei, why can you fly? And what is this supposed to be?"
The moment NoNo saw his face, she knew he was jealous. She was about to explain, but Lu Mingfei set her down first, then pointed at Caesar with a commanding air.
"You. NoNo's been scared. Arrange somewhere for her to rest. I'll be back later."
Being ordered around like that instantly irritated Caesar.
But what made it worse, and more humiliating, was that the moment he got close, he felt an overwhelmingly terrifying pressure rolling off Lu Mingfei.
Just being near him made Caesar feel like he wanted to shiver.
Damn it.
He was actually being intimidated by Lu Mingfei's presence.
NoNo stared at the scene in disbelief. She hadn't expected Caesar to take an order from Lu Mingfei without exploding, even if his face did look awful.
That didn't feel like Caesar at all.
As Lu Mingfei turned to leave, NoNo asked instinctively, "Lu Mingfei, where are you going?"
Harry turned back, looking at NoNo and the grim-faced Caesar. He flashed a bright, easy grin.
"Don't worry. I'm going to study the Bronze City… and slay a dragon while I'm at it."
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