A Shadow Dragon That Knew the Times

"This place was still too small."

Qin Chuan felt somewhat regretful.

At a distance of fifty meters, even with Sniper God at LV2, the boost was only tenfold. He could not deal million-level damage.

If it were one hundred meters, two hundred meters, or even farther away, Qin Chuan felt he could kill the Shadow Dragon with a single throwing knife.

However, it did not matter. The Shadow Dragon only had five million health. A few more Shadow Throwing Knives would be enough.

On the other side, compared to Qin Chuan's slight regret, the Shadow Dragon's feelings were far more complicated.

It had originally thought the loosening seal was a good thing.

It thought some fool had accidentally broken the seal, and that Lord Scripps would soon regain its freedom.

Reality proved that it had been overthinking things.

The other party had broken the seal not to let it out, but to come in and slaughter it.

Damn it! Didn't that white-bearded mage who sealed me back then say that this seal was his life's work, and ordinary people couldn't possibly break it?!

The Shadow Dragon roared inwardly.

Crafty humans! They actually deceived the innocent Lord Scripps!

After raging in its heart for a while, the Shadow Dragon accepted reality and said sincerely, "Outsider, you have earned Scripps's friendship. Please help me break the seal, and I will offer you all my wealth."

No matter how good a mountain of gold was, it was useless if one was not alive to enjoy it.

Shadow Dragon Scripps very sensibly chose its own life.

It knew that humans had a custom.

Spending money to avert disaster.

Qin Chuan's voice drifted through the air. "Has it occurred to you that if I kill you, your wealth will still be mine?"

The Shadow Dragon repeatedly shook its head. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Lord Scripps's wealth is hidden in..."

The Shadow Dragon immediately realized its mistake and fell silent.

If it did not say anything, it still had room to negotiate.

Once it said it, death would truly be its only path.

Qin Chuan was somewhat surprised.

This Shadow Dragon had been imprisoned for so long, yet its mind was still quite sharp. It had actually not revealed the location of its treasure.

But it did not matter.

He knew where it was.

As Qin Chuan moved, he slowly said, "Your treasure is all on Black Stone Mountain, guarded by the Black Iron Dwarves, right?"

Shadow Dragon Scripps shouted, "How did you know?!"

The moment the words left its mouth, it realized something was wrong and hurriedly tried to remedy it. "What are you talking about? Lord Scripps knows nothing."

Qin Chuan did not respond. He threw out a Shadow Throwing Knife, then activated Shadow Stealth.

He had been waiting for the skill's cooldown while exchanging a few words with the Shadow Dragon.

Now that the skill had cooled down, it was time to get serious.

When it saw the second Shadow Throwing Knife flying toward it, the Shadow Dragon knew that the other party did not care about its treasure at all. He only wanted its life.

After taking several hundred thousand damage again, the Shadow Dragon was beside itself with rage.

In a fit of rage, it got even angrier.

It could not hurt Qin Chuan at all. Other than getting angry for nothing, what else could it do?

"Outsider, tell me. What exactly do you want?"

"Can we talk this out? Hey, I'm asking you, can we talk this out?!"

"Fighting and killing won't solve anything. Let's sit down and have a proper talk. Whatever it is, let's put it on the table."

"My lord, please spare this little one's life. I will serve you like an ox or horse without a word of complaint!"

Under the threat of death, Shadow Dragon Scripps fully exercised its initiative and lowered itself completely.

Qin Chuan had not wanted to listen to its nonsense, but the system notification that popped up surprised him.

"Ding, you have triggered a choice quest. Please choose carefully."

"Choice One: Accept the allegiance of Shadow Dragon Scripps. Reward: Special mount, Shadow Dragon Scripps."

"Choice Two: Kill Shadow Dragon Scripps. Reward: Feiyun City Reputation +100."

Qin Chuan had not expected the Shadow Dragon to be so straightforward.

With death imminent, it actually abandoned even its dignity and volunteered to become his mount.

Qin Chuan admitted that he was a little tempted.

Having a dragon as a mount would be incredibly cool.

Although killing the Shadow Dragon would grant him the Dragon Blood Factor and Shadow Force.

The previous battle had already shown that Shadow Force could not compare to Shadow Power.

At least, it had not met Qin Chuan's expectations.

After all, he had thought there would be a fierce battle.

He had not expected it to be this easy.

As a result, his evaluation of Shadow Force dropped considerably as well.

As for the Dragon Blood Factor, there were other ways to obtain it.

If necessary, he could just find another dragon to kill.

But a dragon as sensible as this Shadow Dragon would be difficult to find a second time.

If he missed this chance, obtaining a dragon mount later would not be so easy.

Even when Qin Chuan had reached the ranks of the world's top ten experts in his previous life, he had never obtained a dragon mount.

It was not just him. No one on all of Blue Star had succeeded.

Even across the entire Apocalypse World, there were only a handful of such cases.

There was no helping it. Dragons were too proud. They would rather die in battle than submit.

Therefore, Qin Chuan hesitated.

What child had not dreamed of becoming a Dragon Knight?

Besides, subduing Shadow Dragon Scripps was not merely cool; it also offered tangible benefits.

Special mounts could participate in battle.

With the Shadow Dragon's attributes, Qin Chuan would not need to make a move in ordinary battles. One breath of dragon fire from it would end things immediately.

Even if Qin Chuan did not need the Shadow Dragon's combat power, he could station it at the guild base to prevent sneak attacks by petty scoundrels.

It could be considered killing several birds with one stone.

When it discovered that it was no longer being attacked, Shadow Dragon Scripps was overjoyed. It had made the right bet.

Becoming someone's mount was embarrassing, but when its life was at stake, what was the point of saving face?

Besides, Lord Scripps was only submitting temporarily. One day, it would definitely make a comeback!

Scripps struck while the iron was hot, forcing a fawning expression onto its ferocious dragon face. "My lord, having a dragon as a mount is so impressive. It is something countless humans dream of."

After pondering for a moment, Qin Chuan dispelled his stealth and revealed himself.

He was not worried that the Shadow Dragon would launch a sneak attack.

Shadow Leap had already cooled down. If the Shadow Dragon had even the slightest ill intent, it would be the only one to suffer.

The Shadow Dragon understood this as well.

Indeed, when it saw Qin Chuan appear, it had considered launching a sneak attack, but immediately gave up on the idea.

Without absolute confidence, this outsider would never have revealed himself voluntarily.

The Shadow Dragon straightened its posture. "My lord, may I know your esteemed name?"

After thinking for a moment, Qin Chuan said, "Just call me Shadow."

When traveling the world, one could never have too many aliases.

The moment the Shadow Dragon heard that, it was stunned.

It was actually Shadow!

Uh.

It did not seem to have heard of him.

But Shadow was not a title just anyone could use.

Thinking of the methods Qin Chuan had displayed earlier, the Shadow Dragon's blood began to boil. Suppressing its delight, it asked, "Lord Shadow, may I ask something presumptuous? Have you mastered..."

It did not finish the rest of its sentence.

As a member of the dragon race, its bloodline inheritance had taught it not to speak too much about gods.

Not even about the forms their power took.

Careless words could bring disaster. If a god sensed it one day, that would be quite a problem.

Qin Chuan answered frankly, "I wouldn't say mastered. I've merely gotten started."

The Shadow Dragon sucked in a sharp breath, raising the temperature in the cavern by several degrees.

Shadow Power, which had vanished without a trace for so long, had reappeared. This world was about to become lively.

And it, as Lord Shadow's chief mount, would also be remembered by the world.

What?

You said it wanted to make a comeback?

What a joke. Shadow Force had always been an inseparable part of Shadow Power.

I, Scripps, was born to serve Lord Shadow!