The Trap

You should trust me.

Iron Son's square, steely face exuded sincerity and reliability.

"..."

Generally speaking, when someone offers you a deal and solemnly declares "trust me," they are most likely untrustworthy.

My son has been acting a bit strange lately.

Kang De glanced at Horus a few times and said, "You want me to find you a wife?"

Horus's electronic eyes shrank, its body trembled in fright, and it made a crackling sound. It seemed that it had not expected Kang De to say such a thing. After imagining the situation for a moment, its entire mechanical body shook, and its processor instantly overloaded, emitting a series of unintelligible electronic sounds.

Then, in a hesitant tone, it said, "No! Father, why would you think that?"

When Kang De saw his Iron Son's expression, he immediately perked up and said sarcastically, "Oh dear, my son's grown up, he's become sensible, he has his own thoughts, he's even getting shy now..."

However, what he didn't expect was that Iron Son was also growing up extremely fast in terms of being sarcastic and eccentric.

The unfilial son immediately retorted, "No, Father, I don't think so. A sensible son shouldn't ask for a wife in front of his father. I'm prepared to remain single forever."

... Hold!

Kang De was furious inside, but he couldn't show it on his face. After all, getting angry meant losing. He still smiled and said, "Filial piety, very filial. But it's alright, I'll conjure it up for you first. You two can cultivate your relationship. The wedding can be postponed. No delay, no delay..."

Iron Son snorted, "Father, it's easier said than done."

That's the truth.

By combining the power of the Fire Thief with the Element of the White Mist World, Extraction inanimate objects, awakening their intelligence, and creating the mysterious and powerful mechanical life form, Iron Son —this was the only time they succeeded.

After successfully creating Horus, did Kang De not attempt anything else?

No, it has been done many times.

The thought of cars immediately brings to mind Transformers. According to the Fire Thief's two-fold Fantasy Enchantment principle, Kang De has tried countless times, but failed countless times. The cars on the streets around his neighborhood have all suffered his wrath countless times, all failing to be enchanted and turning into a bunch of silly idiots.

He even took out some guns and swords, hung up portraits, licked them for a while, enchanted them, and kept calling out to his wives, but his wives obviously didn't recognize him, none of them recognized him, and all of them chose death.

Ultimately, the earlier guesses were correct.

Horus was created that night because of perfect timing, location, and emotions, which were at their most intense, allowing the machine spirit to awaken and its Man of Steel to descend to earth.

Simply put, we need to nurture our relationship.

However, with Iron Son serving as both a means of transportation and a henchman, Kang De had no need to cultivate a relationship with another vehicle, especially now that Horus had unlocked flight mode, making it superior to any other vehicle. In other words, the preliminary steps for activating the creation of mechanical life forms would be difficult to achieve.

If a car won't work, how about something else? Besides a car, what else can you spend every day with, take care of, and develop a bond with? Weapons, like guns or axes, what do you think?

--Of course not!

Damn it, if I were to meticulously maintain, care for, cherish, sleep with, and kill with these weapons, and eventually imbue them with such affection that they transform into beautiful girls—you wretched creature! Would you even have a chance then?! That's your mother!

Kang De pondered for a moment, then noticed the Iron Son's sneer. Regardless, he had to remain defiant. He said calmly, "It didn't work before, but with Tacitus and the new Crimson Scroll, it might not be so bad... Let's give it a try. Even if we fail, there's nothing to lose, isn't there?"

Although it was just nonsense, the electronic eyes of the Iron Son did shrink slightly.

Kang De then poured another bucket of oil on the flames. "Anyway, we're free now. Let's go to the White Mist World. You pick a wife you like, and I'll get to know her inside and out, then I'll reshape her, carefully cultivate our feelings, and mold her into my shape. Then you can have love..."

Iron Son coldly replied, "So, you mean I'm also in the shape of my father?"

"..."

"..."

The father and son locked eyes, their expressions a subtle yet chilling mix of dread and disgust.

They remained silent for a long while.

Then Kang De spoke up, "... Those disgusting words should be thought through before you say them in the future."

Iron Son didn't argue any further. "I was wrong..."

The verbal sparring between father and son came to an end, and Kang De said, "In short, what do you want me to do?"

"I haven't decided yet, we'll talk about it later."

"... You'd better think it over quickly, before the fight starts. Otherwise, if you throw the match and then make another request that puts me in a difficult position, I might just renege on my promise."

When to fight?

"I don't know, but considering that every day of delay affects the order, things on Dragon Island definitely need to be done as quickly as possible. I'll ask Santos in a bit."

"Okay, let me think. It should be something that happens in the next day or two."

After chatting for a while longer, Kang De prepared to leave, but before departing, he cautiously asked, "You don't have any ulterior motives, do you?"

Iron Son innocently replied, "What conspiracy? I am your son, how could I harm my own father?"

"... Hmph, I hope so."

Kang De pointed at Horus: "Otherwise, I really will find you an iron lady to teach you a lesson."

After saying that, he left.

Horus watched his father leave, the purple e-cigarette swirling towards red. The data processing center was scrolling through video files taken over the past few days; his father's threats were completely harmless.

Because the mutual confirmation and destruction mechanism has been established.

After waiting a while, the sensors confirmed that the father had indeed left and had not been eavesdropping or peeping. Horus then said, "You can come out now."

A Xing's head peeked out from behind the flower bed on the other side.

The Platinum Ape crept over, her animal instincts alerting her to something.

Looking at the Transformers in front of her—no, it was a relationship guru, a master of emotions offering invaluable advice—A- A Xing's voice held a hint of hesitation and wavering. "You... what do you want Kang De to do?"

Horus turned his head, smiled, his steely face as reliable as ever. "What do you think?"

A Xing's tone was a little unnatural. "... I can't exactly expect Kang De to strip naked and crawl into my bed, can I?"

"It's not impossible," said Iron Son. "If you won't do it, then your father will have to."

A Xing's face flushed red, and he stammered, "I... of course I won't do it! That's too weird!"

"What's strange? Haven't you ever slept with your father before?"

"Yes, but it's different from this!" A Xing huffed and puffed for a while, then said irritably, "Sleeping together with your clothes on is as weird as shaving all your fur off! It's so ugly, I don't want to!"

This is why Horus's first attempt at romantic advice failed.

Originally, he was trying to figure out his father's mindset, following the formula of many books, picture books, and animations. As long as A Xing took off his clothes and crawled into Kang De's bed at night, then a hug and a kiss would lead to a qualitative leap in their relationship, even if they didn't open the door that night. After all, practice makes perfect.

But A Xing refused.

Miss Platinum Ape, who broke free from her seal in her ape form and returned to human form, still retains her beastly memories, but not her memories from before she became a beast. In other words, she now maintains a strange blend of old and new values, and has even formed a strange state of mixed shame and confusion, making her very difficult to deceive.

So he settled for second best. You think clothes are just skin and fur? Then wear them. Based on my extensive research of pictures and texts and my father's collecting preferences, I've compiled a set that's more exciting to wear than to not wear at all. This morning, he asked Kang De to take him back to the White Mist World. Organizing equipment and ammunition was just an excuse; his real purpose was to get some clothes for A Xing.

"Is it okay now?"

Speaking with the tone of a seasoned emotional expert and someone who's been through it all, it said, "You and your father are so familiar with each other that you don't even have any intimate thoughts. It's a sad, thick barrier, but it can be broken. However, you need to take the first step and make your father stop seeing you like an ape..."

A Xing had an expression that said, "I don't know what you're talking about, but it sounds amazing."

Her face was flushed, but she listened attentively and nodded slowly.

But I still felt some resistance.

She couldn't explain why, but she just felt she didn't want things to be this way.

But she didn't know what to do. She couldn't figure it out. She didn't quite understand why "love" had to be so complicated, why it couldn't be as simple as it was on the island. She didn't understand why so many people wanted to compete with her, why the Big Goldie was so greedy—no, those guys on the island were greedy too, but she always managed to keep Kang De, and Kang De treated her the best. Why was she able to do that back then? And what should she do now?

"In short, let's discuss revising the details and get this done, either tonight or tomorrow. After all, Princess Tina's side is incredibly powerful, and you at least need to balance things out..."

Iron Son said, "Otherwise, given the princess's efficiency, you might be out of the picture in a few days... Here, cram for these exercises today, and watch all these animations. I'll design a set of lines for you, and you must recite them accordingly. It'll definitely work, trust me."

"Oh oh."

A Xing hesitated before speaking, but he vaguely felt that something was still not right.

At the same time.

In a heavily guarded warehouse belonging to the Taidariel Family, a chilling magic circle held the piled-up corpses of dragons, and a high-quality amount of Magic Power still lingered there. The dragons' immense Magic Power was rapidly leaking out because they had been cut too many times.

"That's impressive."

Santos stared for a while, then stood up and covered his nose with his handkerchief.

Dragon Island has been in the mercenary business for many years and has suffered several setbacks. The "Dragon Blood Declaration" has been cited several times. Every time a dragon dies in battle, the Dragon Defense take it very seriously, holding staff meetings, summarizing lessons learned, improving systems, issuing reports afterward, and engaging in self-criticism—a whole series of procedures.

The death of every dragon mercenary is a major event, as it means exorbitant compensation, insurance pay, and a decline in commercial value. It's not just about lost orders; it also means the loss of all the value that the dragon would have created afterward. These are real losses that are deeply painful for the dragon.

"Damn it, this guy could fight for at least another eight hundred years, what a huge loss."

--These words came from His Majesty the Dragon Emperor of our time.

In keeping with this corporate spirit, the entire company takes every operator's death in battle very seriously. Santos's visit this time was not just about retrieving the dragon's remains, but about talking to Kang De to see if there was any way to resolve the crisis in the Dragon Defense. However, this was not the only important matter.

There is another matter that is just as important as this one.

That is, to investigate Kang De's background, understand his methods, and figure out how he did it.

Dragon Defense Company, that's still Dragon Clan, they can't just be slaughtered like chickens in the sky.

Santos stared at the two dragon skeletons for a long time, but still couldn't figure out what had happened.

"Information is extremely scarce. Even the eyewitness testimonies are based on observations from the ground, which is inherently a high-altitude battle, making it difficult to see clearly. The only certainty is that the alchemical weapon was incredibly fast, unexpectedly fast, like the wind, like thunder, like lightning."

Santos stroked his chin. "Could it be that the blade was propelled at supersonic speed, slicing through the dragon's body?"

Both dragon skeletons died in the same way, cut into several large pieces, so much so that they couldn't even be pieced together to resemble a dragon. Fortunately, the chief marketing officer was very skilled and knew the structure of dragon bodies like the back of his hand. After a few glances, he knew exactly where each piece was, and that the pieces were just the right size.

The question now is, how did they do it?

One-Punch Dragon Girl, also known as the assassin dragon named Lily, observed carefully for a while. "It was cut by a sharp blade, and at an unimaginable speed. It requires a sturdy material and an explosive speed beyond my comprehension. But how exactly it was done, I don't know. I lack information."

"And also..."

The Dragon Girl extended her slender, jade-like finger, touched a scale on a dragon's body, and rubbed it between her fingers. "There's still fire... I can smell the intensity of the fire. What killed the dragon was fire and sword."

But the analysis can only go this far.

They lacked intelligence and a complete intelligence and logistics team. If they wanted to learn more details, they would have to rely on the skills of the old dragons in the tactical logistics department of the Dragon Defense, who were skilled in detection, clairvoyance, and time-travel magic, in addition to inquiring from Kang De.

Santos said, "It seems that the third dragon skeleton is the one that can tell us the answer. That's why Kang De didn't want to return it to us—not because it was destroyed by the Forbidden Spell, but because it would expose his secrets and weaknesses..."

Lily glanced at him. "You're not planning to keep it?"

"They've made it clear they don't want to give it, yet they've offered enough sincerity and a plan. I have nothing more to say. Otherwise, we'd have to fight, which is the worst-case scenario, because the outcome and losses are unpredictable, and we'd be used as pawns by the elves and the empire. The dragon race can't do such a losing proposition."

Santos's eyes were bright as he slowly said, "If we can't get the dragon remains back, we can try to find a way to make excuses and fool them. We don't know Kang De's methods, so we can slowly extract information from him. It's a foolish choice to rush into a fight without understanding either of these things. What the company needs to do now is to salvage its reputation and stop the losses. Kang De is so sensible, we have to give him face, otherwise how can we open for business?"

The Dragon Girl didn't say anything, and started writing and drawing in her notebook again.

Santos asked suspiciously, "What are you writing?"

Lily said calmly, "Inspiration."

The chief marketing officer immediately sensed something was wrong and went to check on her, but the girl simply raised her head, raised her delicate little fist, and waved it in front of him.

Santos immediately cowered, then realized he couldn't be so cowardly, and said sternly, "Tell me, what exactly are you here for? Provoking the Phoenix King, stirring up trouble and lying to Kang De, and trying to get close to him—Sir, Your Excellency, Your Majesty, please don't do anything reckless! This is a matter of great importance concerning everyone's purse strings, and His Majesty the Dragon Emperor takes it very seriously. If he didn't have other important matters to attend to, he might have come directly here..."

Lily glanced at him. "You think I'm useless and don't do anything?"

"... I wouldn't dare, just please don't cause any trouble."

"Then I'll go get to work."

Santos asked uneasily, "... What are you going to do?"

"Didn't you just say that Kang De's methods are unknown, and we can slowly extract information from him? If His Majesty the Dragon Emperor asks about it later, I'll just say that you sent me to extract information from Kang De."

Lily blinked her innocent big eyes and asked, "So, how do you put it on, and where do you put it?"

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PS1: Update... Time for bed, have to go out tomorrow... Goodnight.