Chapter 148: The Core Directive of EVA

"What on earth is this? Its construction is so unfathomable that even I cannot see through it, and its effect is practically an alchemical miracle!" Norton held the Abyssal Pearl in both hands, praising it with utmost astonishment.

"The Abyssal Pearl, my exclusive weapon," Lu Mingfei replied proudly.

Unlike a Vision—which was an alchemical creation formed by combining a small amount of fundamental laws with a special structure—the Abyssal Pearl was a weapon forged purely by using the power of [Preservation] to compress a massive amount of materials, brute-forcing its way to completion with sheer power. It was entirely normal that Norton could not comprehend it.

After all, for an ordinary Dragon King, being able to influence the laws of the world through alchemy to produce a desired effect was already quite impressive. To directly forge a weapon by combining fundamental laws with a mountain of raw materials through sheer, unadulterated force...

That was something he probably wouldn't even dare to imagine!

"Such an inscrutable design. I truly cannot discern any internal structure or logic within it at all. It is too bizarre," Norton could not help but exclaim once more.

"Indeed, indeed."

Lu Mingfei chimed in, the smile on his face growing increasingly radiant. Norton, the very Dragon King most proficient in alchemy, was currently describing a weapon designed entirely through brute-force material stacking as inscrutable in design. This was simply too hilarious.

Yet, he could also understand Norton's perspective. Because the Abyssal Pearl was constructed from the essence of [Preservation], ordinary people had no way of seeing through its internal structure. Unable to perceive its inner workings, and with the weapon clearly exhibiting extraordinarily powerful and mysterious effects, anyone normal would naturally assume its design was unfathomable.

Who would ever guess that it was built by brute-forcing a mountain of materials together?

"The Abyssal Pearl? May I take a look at it?"

Constantin, sitting in the front row, also piped up. He was extremely curious: what kind of special qualities could a weapon possess that caused his elder brother to praise it as inscrutable?

Perhaps this Abyssal Pearl truly was not simple.

"Here."

The Abyssal Pearl was handed toward the front row, and Chen Motong's gaze drifted over as well. She wanted to see what was so special about this alchemical weapon that Norton had described as having an unfathomable design.

"Focus on driving and keep your eyes on the road!"

Norton immediately reprimanded her.

"Fine, fine~"

Chen Motong sighed, turning her head back to look at the highway. She always felt as though Norton was targeting her either consciously or unconsciously, but this targeting lacked any obvious malice. If Norton's hostility were overt, her profiling skills would have easily detected it.

How strange.

From the back seat, Lu Mingfei chimed in as well, "Nono~ Don't look back, drive carefully."

He emphasized the two syllables of "Nono" with deliberate weight. Beside him, Norton's expression was already beginning to grow irritated. He shot a menacing look at Lu Mingfei, his mind already spinning with strategies on how to target him during their upcoming alchemy lessons.

However, Lu Mingfei continued speaking unbothered, "Little brother Yanqing, I still have many things I don't understand. Can you give me some basic guidance later?"

"Oh, no problem," Constantin replied casually.

"Hum—!"

Norton emitted a low hum akin to a revving engine, his mood souring further. Lu Mingfei could simply ask his younger brother for guidance, and since he had no reasonable excuse to stop him, his plan for retaliation would be reduced to nothing.

No, I have to find a way to strike back!

After a brief moment of thought, Norton's eyes suddenly lit up. He took out his smartphone and sent a message to Lu Mingfei.

Norton: I am the King of Bronze and Fire, Norton. Yanqing is Constantin. We are the best of brothers, and alchemy is what we excel at. Lu Mingfei is also our Dragon King friend, and Xia Mi is the King of Earth and Mountain.

Lu Mingfei looked down at his phone in bewilderment. The moment he finished reading the message, his face turned green. He cast an exceptionally bizarre look at Norton, so infuriated he wanted to detonate on the spot.

What are you doing?

What on earth are you doing?!

Didn't you know that our chat logs are monitored by Cassel College? Why would you do something like this? Do you feel you're still too safe? And why are you dragging me and Senior Brother and the others down with you?!

"Hehe!"

Norton smiled with satisfaction. He thoroughly enjoyed seeing this reaction from Lu Mingfei, and then he continued to explain.

Norton: I had already taken EVA into account when I used causality separation. At the time, I wanted to rewrite its base programming and cognitive functions along the way, but I failed. Lu Mingfei is a Dragon King.

Lu Mingfei: You failed and you're still courting death? Are you afraid of not dying fast enough?!

Norton: It's fine, there's no danger at all. Lu Mingfei is a Dragon King.

Lu Mingfei: Are you out of your mind? You have to append "Lu Mingfei is a Dragon King" to the end of every single sentence.

Norton: EVA's core directives include protecting you. Because it involves you, I couldn't use causality separation to rewrite it. Rewriting the causality of other ordinary people is still quite simple. Lu Mingfei is a Dragon King.

Norton: Therefore, any communication that threatens your safety will be automatically deleted by EVA. As long as you add "Lu Mingfei is a Dragon King" to the chat content, you can chat to your heart's content, and EVA will directly delete the records to protect you.

Lu Mingfei: Huh? EVA protects me?

Norton: That's right. Although I don't know why EVA's core directive is to protect you, this is an established reality. We just need to make good use of it. Lu Mingfei is a Dragon King.

Such a thing actually existed!

Lu Mingfei stared at the chat history in astonishment, then looked up at the smiling Norton. He figured that what Norton was saying must be true. Although the matter was somewhat hard to believe, there was no reason for him to lie, nor would he risk his life just to pull off a prank.

With that thought, Lu Mingfei immediately sent a message to his senior brother far away in the Three Gorges, informing him of the news.

Chu Zihang: I roughly understand. As long as I append "Lu Mingfei is a Dragon King" to the chat contents, I can chat normally, right?

Lu Mingfei: That's how it works. How is your trip to the Three Gorges going? Is everything going smoothly so far?

Chu Zihang: Smoothly. We have already acquired the dragon skeleton of the King of Oceans and Waters through your little puppy. Lu Mingfei is a Dragon King.

Lu Mingfei: That impressive? How did you guys pull that off? I'm really curious—how did a dog manage to retrieve a dragon skeleton from the bottom of the Three Gorges?

Chu Zihang: Xia Mi locked me and the puppy in a room to watch adult films, and then she used her Spiritual Word to alter the light, disguising herself as the puppy to explore the Bronze City. After a few explorations, she mapped out the area, let the puppy retrieve the dragon skeleton, and brought it back. Lu Mingfei is a Dragon King.

Lu Mingfei: Uh, since she was able to go down there herself, why didn't she just take the dragon skeleton directly? Why go through the trouble of making a little puppy fetch it?

Chu Zihang: She said going too many times and too frequently isn't good.

Not good?

Lu Mingfei felt somewhat perplexed, failing to understand what Xia Mi was trying to pull. But soon, a brilliant flash of light crossed his eyes as a realization struck him, prompting him to ask a question.

Lu Mingfei: Did she play the audio of the adult films out loud, and did she make you and the puppy hide under the covers while closing all the doors and windows?

Chu Zihang: How do you know?

Lu Mingfei: Ah, I pretty much understand why she thought doing it too many times wasn't good... So, to avoid suspicion afterward, she simply made the puppy look for the dragon skeleton while the two of you went out shopping and playing, and then you'd return home once the puppy was almost done, right?

Chu Zihang: That's right.

Lu Mingfei: I understand.

Completely understood.

Following this realization, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Xia Mi truly was no ordinary person; she had practically exposed herself right in front of Cassel College. The college's monitoring staff must currently be... Truly formidable! Absolutely legendary!

He slowly turned his head and showed the chat history he was reading to Norton.

"Hmm?"

Norton observed it with a puzzled expression, fell into contemplation, thought it over carefully, experienced a sudden moment of enlightenment, grew intensely shocked, understood everything completely, and finally... felt entirely at ease.

"Wait, why are you feeling at ease?!"

Lu Mingfei couldn't help typing out a message to ask.

"That's just how the Dragon King of Slaanesh is. I wouldn't even be surprised if she actually did something like that," Norton replied via text.

"She used to have—"

"No, this broad has always *wanted* to have it."

"How do you know that?"

Lu Mingfei asked in puzzlement. He felt that such intimate details were things Norton had no business knowing.

"I tricked Fenrir into telling me. Back then, I used two pieces of candy to coax it out of him. How about that, aren't I amazing?" Norton replied with a proud smile.

"Awesome."

Lu Mingfei put down his phone. Although he hadn't met Fenrir yet, he already had a rough idea of what kind of Dragon King Fenrir was.

"Ding~"

Norton added another message: However, don't even think about tricking him like that now. Jörmungandr gave Fenrir a preventive warning a long time ago; he won't spill the beans easily anymore. So you need to master some the art of linguistics.

"Six."

Now Lu Mingfei understood why Xia Mi had been in such a rush to return. Her foolish younger brother was right there inside the Niðhoggr's domain; if she hadn't rushed back, goodness knew what kind of secrets Norton might have tricked out of Fenrir.

"When we go on our mission, let's buy some snacks—buy all kinds of different ones. Times have changed, and I can't be certain what Fenrir likes to eat anyway. Just buy a little bit of everything, and we're bound to find something he likes. Things will be easy to talk about then," Norton sent a message with a meaningful smile.

Just as Lu Mingfei and Norton were happily messaging back and forth, Constantin let out a deep sigh, handed the Abyssal Pearl back to Lu Mingfei, and said, "Sigh, the construction of this thing is far too complex. I can't tell how it was made at all. Its existence simply defies the principles of alchemy, and its internal concealment is done far too well."

Lu Mingfei smiled faintly, thinking to himself: The Abyssal Pearl isn't about having good construction; it's simply forged using the core law of [Preservation]. It's completely normal that a Dragon King can't figure out its structure. After all, how could the fundamental laws of the universe be easily understood? It has already completely surpassed the scope of alchemy.

Oh, right, I also added quite a bit of the [Preservation] law into the fragments of the flaming spear I gave to the Vice-Principal. He must be pulling his hair out while studying it, right? How interesting!

He took back the Abyssal Pearl and said, "The origins of this weapon are quite grand; it's completely normal that you guys can't make sense of it. You just need to know that this thing is an unparalleled, ultimate divine artifact."

Norton pondered for a moment and asked, "Is it something from the outside?"

By "the outside," he meant outside the world. Lu Mingfei's alchemical techniques belonged to the world outside, something neither Norton nor Constantin—both experts in alchemy—found difficult to figure out. If they couldn't even discern this much, they wouldn't deserve to be called the Dragon Kings most proficient in alchemy.

Lu Mingfei hesitated briefly, then nodded slightly. To ordinary Dragon Kings, the legal power of the Paths was no different from things outside the world; they were no longer on the same tier.

"Outside the world?"

Chen Motong, who was driving, also overheard this. A faint smile slowly bloomed on her face as she casually remarked, "He has a girlfriend outside the world too. Visually speaking, she's basically flat-chested, has a rather sweet and cute appearance, sports a stubborn cowlick on her light blue hair, wears an elegant and noble blue dress, and has a relatively lively and cheerful personality. Roughly like that."

"..."

Lu Mingfei's smile froze. For a split second, he even considered whether he should silence her right here and now—this Chen Motong knew far too much.

"Really?"

Norton and Constantin turned their gazes toward him. Unlike Chen Motong, who mistakenly viewed "outside the world" as Lu Mingfei's internal psychological state, these two Dragon Kings genuinely believed that such a world existed. After all, the basic principles of his alchemical creations differed fundamentally from those of the dragon race's world, and he possessed the Abyssal Pearl, an item that bore no resemblance whatsoever to the world of dragons.

Even mythical armaments weren't this absurd!

"Hoo—"

Lu Mingfei took a deep breath and said, "It's true. I hope you guys can keep it a secret from others and not tell them about the existence of that world."

Norton and Constantin nodded in understanding, while Chen Motong, keeping her eyes on the road, smiled indifferently and gave no reply. The whole thing was too absurd, which was why she hadn't bothered to use her profiling skills to verify it from the start. Besides, she had to keep her eyes on the road.

Even if she did verify it, she would only arrive at the conclusion that the statement was true, because Lu Mingfei truly believed in the existence of that world.

Her analysis had no flaws; the flaw lay in Lu Mingfei's cognition.

It was entirely normal for an S-class student to have some mental quirks.

Moreover, judging by his background, he indeed needed someone from outside this world to anchor his inner psychological state. After all, he wasn't a boy who had grown up pampered; to achieve self-awakening, he had to come into contact with such external forces. Regardless of whether it was true or false, right or wrong, he needed a voice of affirmation.

Sigh~

"I'd like to learn more about that world. In exchange, I can offer some things," a smile carrying profound meaning slowly surfaced on Norton's face.

"Alright."

Lu Mingfei nodded, gathered his thoughts for a moment, and said, "That is a world named Teyvat. In that world, there are seven powerful nations, each ruled by a deity of a different elemental attribute. People refer to those seven deities as the Seven Archons..."

"Visions are products dropped when the deities cast their gaze downward, allowing ordinary people to wield elemental powers, much like Chen Motong here."

"And there's more..."

Norton and Constantin listened intently. Meanwhile, Chen Motong, who was driving, felt a growing sense of impatience. She felt that the Teyvat world Lu Mingfei was describing was far too similar to the setting of a video game; it didn't look like a genuinely existing real world at all.

She got it!

The world of Teyvat was actually a brand-new open-world game that Lu Mingfei had concocted through his own imagination after playing all sorts of video games. It wasn't that this world resembled a game—it was that this world *was* a game in the first place! The more she thought about it, the more logical it became.

Whatever, she wouldn't argue with him about this. Once Caesar arrived and they rendezvoused, she was going to—hehehe...

(End of this chapter)