Lu Mingze

* Donghua
* Novel
* Game
* Game (Z)
* Manhua (1)
* Manhua (2)

Lu Mingze (路鸣泽) is a being of unknown nature that communicates with his "brother" Lu Mingfei through dreams and visions. He is known by many names, primarily Lu Mingze and Zero, or **Ming·Z·Lu** and **Z** in the game adaptation.

Little is known about his true origins; he claims to have lived for thousands of years and knowing Lu Mingfei for just as long. His current story begins in Herzog's research facility in Black Swan Bay, where he was found by Renata, a fellow orphan. Since Herzog kept him locked in "Room zero", he adopted "Zero" (Usually shortened to *Z*) as his name. He became friends with Renata and they attempted to escape the facility together, making an oath to stay by each other's side.

After Herzog abandoned the facility and it was bombed by the Russian air force, Renata sacrificed herself to save Z. Seeing his friend die because of him, Z brought her back to life and promised that he would never abandon her. They left to locate her parents in Moscow, where he learned that they sold her to Herzog when she was three years old, so he killed them and made a new deal with Renata. Based on his own nickname, he changed her name to "Zero" and made her his personal servant.

They attempted to reach China, but they were ambushed by the Secret party. He fought and killed many of their top agents, until they led him into a trap: a user of the Rhine Yanling. Protecting Zero from the blast, he was captured and impaled with a Gungnir lance by Lu Lincheng, then he was submerged in mercury and hidden from the world.

Using his Dreamland Skill, he managed to communicate with the outside world through visions, and with the help of Zero, they started a multi-national organization usually called "The Mingze Faction", working in the shadows.

In 2009, he contacted his "brother" Lu Mingfei, and started calling himself 'Lu Mingze' (which was also the name of Mingfei's human cousin). He started manipulating him with the sole purpose of gaining control over his body and life through a series of four deals. Three of them were made, resulting in the defeats of Norton, Fenrir and Izanami. During the return of the White King, he fused with Mingfei and temporarily gained his original form back.

## Appearance and traits

Lu Mingze appears to be 13 or 14 years old, with dark hair and a cute face. Zero once described Lu Mingfei as "looking almost identical to *Number Zero"*.

Known names
 The Devil in Room Zero / Number Zero / Zero

## Biography

### Background

Very little is known about Lu Mingze's origins, he once mentioned that he has known Lu Mingfei for thousands of years.

Near the end of the 20th century, he was a test subject in the Black Swan Bay facility that was kept on isolation. He had an entire room dedicated to experimenting on him, which was labeled "Room Zero". The nurses would tell scary stories about the room to the other orphans and threaten them with the possibility of being locked with the "devil" that lived inside if they misbehaved.

The boy once mentioned that he used to cry in the past, but he stopped at some point, he was the first to undergo Herzog's pontine split surgery, which divided his personality in two. These personalities usually held conversations and arguments against each other in his mind. One voice was kindhearted and benevolent, while the other was violent and ruthless. The boy expressed them with his own voice in a loud manner and he could be heard from the outside of the room when both personalities had arguments. His violent outbursts granted him permanent solitary confinement, he was held to a metal chair with a straitjacket and couldn't move. Herzog administered big doses of hallucinogens to him, but the boy never manifested his abilities to the doctor.

He started to make use of his Yanling skill, *Dreamland*. It allowed him to create convincing visions and explore the world around him while his physical body remained imprisoned in the room. He would share this ability with his pet dragon snake, whose body laid dormant under the ice. After a while, a fellow orphan named Renata got entangled in these visions while she cried for her mother, a vision of the dragon snake showed up to her aid. Since then, Renata considered the snake to be her friend.

Renata's own skill called *Mirror Eyes* allowed her to temporarily obtain the skills of other hybrids and she unknowingly used it when the snake visited her, granting her the ability to create visions of her own. She used this talent to explore the orphanage and read forbidden books in the library while her real body slept in her bed.

#### Meeting Renata

In 1990, the boy was found by Renata while she looked for the dragon snake. When she asked to know his name, he told her to call him "Zero" (or Z for short), since the sign on the door was the closest thing, he had to a name. When he asked to be Renata's friend and she accepted, he demanded to share their secrets, since that's a thing that friends do. She revealed that she used to wet her bed and in return, Z spoke about the voices in his head.

He proceeded to ask Renata to free him from his bondage so he could help her avoid punishment from the incoming nurses, since she wasn't allowed to leave her room at night. Renata was suspicious of him, so she refused, but Z manipulated the girl with his golden eyes. As soon as Renata unbuckled the straps that held his arms to the bed, he immediately assaulted her, ripping off her clothes, staining her with his blood and biting her face. A group of nurses entered the room and separated the two, saving Renata from punishment but losing her trust.

That night, Renata was visited by Z and the black snake. While she was initially fearful of him, Renata still trusted the dragon snake. Z filled the room with Christmas decorations and made the snake dance for her. When she accepted to leave the room, Z grabbed her hand, and they ran through the hallways until she started to laugh uncontrollably due to the sudden feeling of freedom. The pair climbed to the top of the church, Z regularly chanted verses from the Bible's book of Revelations concerning the end of the world after his awakening. He demanded to exchange gifts with Renata, she gave him dried flowers and he promised to get her out of the orphanage in return. They made a vow to stay together until death.

#### Escape

Z gave Renata detailed instructions on how to prepare for their escape, including securing weapons and a sled. On the night of the Christmas dance, Herzog locked all of the children, guards and medical personnel in the annual dance and drugged them while he burned the installations in preparation for his escape. Z showed up at the dance to rescue Renata from the crazed drugged orphans, danced with her under the Christmas tree and vanished. When she escaped and found the orphanage in ruins, she discovered that Z was immobilized by the brain surgery and had to drag him away. The black snake produced a hiss that destroyed a wall, and it allowed them to escape. Renata hid herself with Z and the sled dogs under an ice sheet, but the location devices on the collar of the dogs gave them away. A fighter jet bombed them and the blast fatally wounded Renata.

After he managed to get back on his feet, he called for the corpse of his black snake, which had been buried under the ice for many years and was now being retrieved by Bondarev. The apparently dead dragon got back on its feet and flew up in the air, taking the fighter jets with ease. Z managed to get up as well and wings grew up from his back, he flew up and destroyed the rest of the jets.

He was surprised to see that Renata chose to die next to him rather than running away and she recited their oath. Feeling guilty, Z baptized her in the arctic waters, kissed her in the lips and healed her wounds. She molted her damaged skin like a snake in the following days and they set course to Moscow in search of her parents.

#### Zero and Zero

In 1991, during the fall of the Soviet Union, Z met Renata's parents, who feared their own daughter and were excited to sell her again to him. Angry at them, he killed them both with a military sword. He spent time in the streets, earning money and making plans, he took care of Renata and bought her beautiful clothes, but frequently badmouthed some of her physical features.

He was interested in going to China and he tried to convince Renata of coming with him, he realized that Bondarev's family could be after them, so he decided to travel by foot. Renata used her own Yanling to read his mind and figure out that he had killed her parents. Z didn't like to see her cry and made a new contract with her, declaring her to be "his thing" and changing her name to "Zero" in order to match his own. Renata accepted to stay with him, and they departed to China.

Soon after, they were ambushed by agents of the Secret Party, Z managed to kill plenty of them, but one of them released the Rhine Yanling, forcing him to shield Zero from the blast. He unwillingly protected Lu Lincheng as well, who pierced Z with an airdropped Gungnir lance. Z created a Nibelungen around him, but his captors surrounded him with mercury, which is toxic to dragon blooded creatures. He was tied to a cross and kept under strict containment. His captors later became a splinter group known as "The Doomsday Faction" and spend decades researching how to kill him. Through his Dreamland skill, he met with Zero again, and with her help, they built a complex underworld organization. Intending to gain his physical form back and reunite with her, he devised a plan to take control of Lu Mingfei's body and soul by exchanging pieces of his life in exchange for power.