allendalepharm Chapter 37 Words of Power. Rhine
Chapter 37 Words of Power. Rhine
Some powers can be acquired without trading. Because they belong to you, dormant deep within your bloodline, waiting for the right moment to be awakened.
And now, the time has come.
Under the threat of death, under the phantom gaze of his mother and Nono, and driven by the undying rage deep within him—
Lu Mingfei raised his head and, facing the dome of the Bronze City, uttered his first truly meaningful dragon script chant.
It wasn't taught to him by Lu Mingze, nor did he learn it from anywhere; it was instinctive, emerging from the depths of his blood.
The syllables were ancient and majestic, each word seemingly carrying weight, striking the air and resonating throughout the entire Bronze City. The reliefs on the walls began to glow, the alchemical matrix on the ground began to operate, and the lava river boiled and churned.
Samson's movements stopped.
For the first time, fear appeared in its burning golden eyes.
It recognized the power of the word.
This phenomenon, which has only appeared a handful of times in the history of the dragon race, brought destruction and disaster each time—
Word of Power: Rhine.
Serial number 112, high risk, devastating level.
Effect: Triggers a high-energy explosion in a designated area, similar in principle to nuclear fusion, but on a controllable scale. The releaser usually dies during the process because their body cannot withstand such a massive energy output.
This is a word of power that leads to mutual destruction.
An extremely crazy choice.
Lu Mingfei was unaware of any of this. He was simply chanting, chanting instinctively. He could feel power gathering within him, like a volcano about to erupt, like a tsunami about to strike. His blood vessels were bulging, his bones were cracking, and fine beads of blood were seeping from his skin.
But he doesn't care.
All he wants is to win.
Even if the price of victory is death.
"roar--!"
Samson finally recovered from his shock. He let out a desperate roar and charged at Lu Mingfei, trying to kill him before he could finish his chant.
But it was too late.
The last syllable of the chant fell.
Lu Mingfei opened his eyes.
Those eyes, which were always droopy and lacked any sparkle, were now burning with golden flames, as dazzling as the sun.
He raised his hand and pointed at Samson.
He said a single word softly:
"burst."
---
Beyond the Golden Screen: The Real World - The Deck of the Moniach
When the explosion occurred, the Moniach was violently rocking in the middle of the river.
The storm had reached its peak, with gale-force winds whipping up waves seven or eight meters high, and rain lashing the deck almost horizontally. Professor Mans, Ye Sheng, Aki, and the others stood on the ship's railing, wearing raincoats, staring at the river, trying to find a clue in the murky water.
It had been a long time since Lu Mingfei's voice had come through the walkie-talkie.
The signal was completely cut off after he entered the Bronze City. The sonar indicated violent energy fluctuations at the bottom of the river, but the specifics were unknown.
"Principal," Professor Mans turned to look in the direction of the command room, his voice hoarse, "forty-five minutes have passed. According to the plan, if there is no news within an hour, we should activate the emergency plan."
In the command center, Angers stood in front of the monitor screen, leaning on his cane, his face expressionless.
Caesar stood beside him, his expression equally grave. He had originally only wanted to see what was so special about Lu Mingfei, but now he truly felt the cruelty of an SS-level mission—it wasn't a game, it wasn't an exercise, but a real, deadly adventure.
"Wait another fifteen minutes," Angers said.
Just then, something unexpected happened.
First, the river surface suddenly calmed down.
It wasn't that the wind had stopped or the rain had lessened; rather, the entire river surface was as smooth as a mirror, without even a ripple. The giant waves vanished into thin air, the raindrops hung suspended in mid-air, and time seemed to stand still.
Then, the river began to glow.
It wasn't reflected light, but a dark golden glow emanating from the depths of the riverbed. The light grew brighter and more dazzling until the entire river surface turned a dark gold, like molten gold.
"What is that..." Ye Sheng muttered to himself.
The next second, an explosion occurred.
There was no sound—or rather, the sound was swallowed up by some more powerful force. In the middle of the river, a huge, dark golden sphere of light, at least a hundred meters in diameter, rose from the water. Wherever the sphere touched, the river water instantly vaporized, revealing the black silt and rocks at the bottom.
The sphere of light continued to rise and expand.
Everything that came into contact with the edge of the sphere of light—water, mud, fish, aquatic plants—disappeared instantly, not blown apart, not burned, but directly…annihilated.
"Everyone! Hold on tight!" Professor Mans roared at the top of his lungs.
The ball of light exploded.
It doesn't expand outwards, but contracts inwards, shrinking into a single point, and then—
The real explosion was about to happen.
This time there was sound.
It was an indescribable sound, like the deafening roar of the creation of the world, like the mournful cry of a star's destruction. The shockwave of the sound arrived first, and the Moniach was thrown into the air like a toy, tumbling several times before crashing heavily back onto the river.
This was followed by an energy surge.
A dark golden halo emanated from the point of explosion, spreading in all directions. Wherever the halo passed, the river water was diverted, exposing the riverbed, and the mountains on both banks began to collapse.
Before the halo arrived, the Moniach was propelled away by an invisible force—Angers.
At the last moment, the controller of Time Zero activated his Word of Power. Not to protect himself, but to protect the entire ship. He created a field centered on himself, where the flow of time was extremely slow, redirecting the energy of the shockwave in other directions.
Even so, the ship still suffered severe damage.
Steel twisted, glass shattered, and equipment exploded. People on deck were thrown about by the shockwave, and several crew members passed out.
The shockwave lasted for a full ten seconds.
Ten seconds later, everything returned to calm.
The storm stopped, the dark clouds dispersed, and sunlight streamed through the gaps in the clouds, shining on the river.
In the middle of the river, a massive, bottomless whirlpool appeared. Over five hundred meters in diameter, the water at its edges spun wildly, emitting a thunderous roar. At the center of the whirlpool, the riverbed could be vaguely seen—not silt and rocks, but… bronze.
Large, broken bronze structures.
The ruins of Bronze City.
The explosion ripped it from the riverbed, revealing only the tip of the iceberg.
The Moniach floated on the river, listing and billowing black smoke. The deck was a mess, littered with debris and wounded men.
Angers was the first to stand up.
His suit was torn, and there was blood on his face, but his eyes remained sharp. He walked to the ship's railing, looking at the enormous whirlpool and the bronze remains at its center.
"Lu Mingfei..." he said softly.
Professor Mans struggled to his feet and shouted into the walkie-talkie, "Medical team! Rescue team! Quickly!"
Ye Sheng and Ya Ji also got up. Both of them were injured, but they didn't care about themselves and began to check on the injuries of the other crew members.
Caesar stood there, staring at the vortex and the bronze remains, his face filled with disbelief.
Is this... Lu Mingfei's power?
That loser, that seemingly useless boy, the one Nuonuo cares about so much?