"Lu Mingfei?"
The tall, expressionless black-haired man interrupted the argument between Lu Mingfei and Su Xiaoqiang.
Lu Mingfei had not expected anyone to recognize him in a place like this.
Su Xiaoqiang had not expected it either.
Both of them turned at the same time.
They exclaimed in shock, "Chu Zihang?"
Lu Mingfei stared at him, stunned. "Senior Brother Chu Zihang, you know me? And why are you here too?"
"It is probably because of the system," another voice said calmly.
The speaker was a man with sharply defined features, his face sculpted and severe. His golden hair fell to his shoulders, and his ice blue eyes carried a pressure that made weaker people instinctively avoid his gaze.
"Caesar."
He lifted his wine glass slightly toward them, offering no surname.
"It is rare to see young people on this ship. Most are not qualified to be here. You have done well."
He spoke as though judging contestants in an arena.
Lu Mingfei felt the weight of that gaze immediately. The pressure was so strong that it made him uncomfortable.
Chu Zihang, however, remained calm, his expression unchanged. "I did not come because of the system. I came to find an answer, and then kill a god."
His tone was sharp and decisive, even more severe than Caesar's.
Lu Mingfei suddenly felt completely out of place.
He was too embarrassed to admit that he had only come to escape the suffocating social atmosphere of school.
At that moment, it felt like everyone else had a grand purpose, while he was merely an accidental observer.
Then another presence approached.
"Lu Mingfei, Caesar, Chu Zihang."
The dashing elderly gentleman Angers stepped forward.
His silver gray eyes swept across the three of them. He reached out and patted each of their shoulders, stopping just short of Su Xiaoqiang.
"It is good to see you here."
A red rose was pinned to his chest, and he held a wine glass with effortless elegance. He carried himself like aged whiskey, refined, powerful, and dangerous.
"Mingfei, Caesar, I originally expected to meet you after your enrollment at Cassell. I did not think our first meeting would be here."
He turned toward Chu Zihang.
"And you, Chu Zihang. Norma informed me that you traced Cassell's existence on your own. That is remarkable."
Angers drained his glass in one motion, then raised it slightly.
"We are no longer merely mixed bloods. The true enemy still waits ahead."
With a faint smile, he turned away.
"The future battlefield belongs to the young. I look forward to seeing your performance."
He arrived suddenly and left just as quickly.
Lu Mingfei was left completely confused. Mixed bloods? Enemies? None of it made sense to him.
Caesar and Chu Zihang silently watched the old man depart, then exchanged a brief look.
"The Headmaster is right," Caesar said. "The battlefield belongs to us. Let us see who takes a Dragon King's head first."
He finished his wine, handed the glass to a nearby girl, and walked away confidently.
Chu Zihang nodded toward Lu Mingfei. "Get some rest. The real battle will begin soon."
"Wait," Lu Mingfei said hurriedly. "Can you at least tell me what Dragon Kings and mixed bloods are? Is there some mistake?"
The world around him felt unfamiliar.
Su Xiaoqiang's questioning gaze only made his headache worse.
"There is no need to understand them," a voice said lightly. "They will reach their end soon enough."
Four figures passed by.
A youthful looking boy and three girls, each with distinct traits.
The boy carried a long black saber at his waist, his hand resting casually on the hilt. He smiled faintly at Lu Mingfei before walking away.
"Enjoy your life outside of fate, brother. This time, I will not make a deal with you."
Brother?
Lu Mingfei could not make sense of it.
Everyone aboard the ship felt strange.
Still, one thing was clear.
Most of the people here possessed the same kind of system as he did.
Thinking about the frightening abilities he had seen within it, his earlier confidence faded quickly.
He and Su Xiaoqiang continued wandering through the YAMAL.
People from all over the world filled the ship. A red-haired woman dressed like a ceremonial attendant, a man wearing a paper bag over his head, and a golden-haired playboy openly flirting with a girl.
Lu Mingfei even encountered his online friend, Little Tang.
Little Tang brought along a younger boy he introduced as his brother.
The reunion was emotional.
That night, Lu Mingfei and Little Tang slept in the same cabin.
If satellite internet in the Arctic had not been so expensive, they would have played a round of World of Warcraft together.
As the night deepened, disaster struck.
In his sleep, Lu Mingfei felt his body jolt violently. He slammed into the ceiling.
When he woke up, the cabin was inverted.
Seawater poured in through cracks in the door.
He kicked it open, only to be slammed against the metal wall by rushing water. His new strength was difficult to control, but he was not injured.
Little Tang and his younger brother were already submerged, yet neither showed signs of panic.
The three of them escaped the cabin together.
Outside, bodies floated everywhere. The dark ocean had been stained black with blood.
In the depths, countless long shadows moved. They resembled serpents, yet their rigid bodies and jagged teeth were unnatural.
They surged forward in massive numbers, enough to strip flesh from bone.
Lu Mingfei reacted instantly. A powerful force erupted outward, blasting both seawater and creatures away. The swarm was torn apart in moments, reduced to drifting blood.
Little Tang raised his thumb in approval.
Lu Mingfei gestured for them to rise to the surface. He intended to find Su Xiaoqiang.
She did not need his help.
With her newfound abilities, she forced her way out of the wreckage and rescued her roommate herself.
When Lu Mingfei reached the surface, standing atop the water, he finally understood what had happened.
Dozens of survivors remained.
Some stood on the water, others hovered or swam.
Everyone else was gone.
The YAMAL had been struck by something massive and overturned, now sinking beneath the waves.
The cause loomed ahead.
"Leviathan," someone said.
The creature resembled a massive white whale, but it was no whale. Bone like spurs covered its body, and its heartbeat echoed like distant thunder.
Its cry was long and mournful, beautiful on the surface, yet devastating. The sound struck the body directly, causing several survivors to lose balance and sink.
At that moment, Caesar surged into the air.
"Even if you are a Dragon King, submit to me!"
His voice thundered across the sea as an overwhelming pressure swept through the battlefield.