Money Over Life

After leaving the storage room, Zuo Si quickly inspected every room in the upper level and soon confirmed his suspicion.

There was no doubt that this Mage Tower had been abandoned by its owner.

Although he had no idea why Astar had given up his immense power and lofty social status within the Floating City Magic Council to vanish without a trace.

The missing gemstones, rare spellcasting materials, high-grade Magic Items, equipment, scrolls, potions, and the long-dead, mummified magical pet in the bedroom all proved that this Archlich had truly left.

Especially the act of abandoning his magical pet and leaving it to fend for itself. That was not something a normal mage would do.

Perhaps he had truly found a way to transform into a lich, which was why he had decisively severed all ties with everything from his life and embraced death and immortality.

Of course, that no longer had anything to do with Zuo Si.

Because he was already standing at the entrance to the room containing the spatial gate, staring at the enormous gem-encrusted metal frame standing in the center.

"Is this our destination?"

Vermes widened her eyes and stared fixedly at the precious metal coins piled around the room, gleaming with gold and silver light.

For an evil chromatic dragon, nothing could stir the greed buried deep in their soul more than a sight like this.

It's obvious that, to Astar, who had already decided to turn himself into an undead creature, these treasures worth a fortune in ordinary people's eyes were far less important than useful gemstones, spellcasting materials, Magic Items, and the like.

What was more, once he successfully transformed into a lich, he would probably hide away for a long time to adapt to his new identity.

Gold and silver coins, as a universal equivalent, were nothing more than a pile of cold, useless precious metals if they could not be spent on things he needed.

Having figured this out, Zuo Si immediately slapped his cheeks, forcing himself to wake from his mad obsession with gold and silver. Then he pointed at the monster-shaped statues around the room and said, "Did you notice those black statues? They are all gargoyles in disguise. Quite a few adventurers and merchants drawn in by the treasures piled on the ground fell to their surprise attacks."

"Gargoyles?"

The Red Dragon glanced at the scattered black statues near the piles of gold and silver coins, then immediately curled her lip in disdain.

"They're nothing but little worms I can crush with a casual swipe."

"Perhaps for you! But they're still quite deadly to me. These things are fast, and they can fly and jump. So clear them out for me." Zuo Si gave the order bluntly.

Although he still had several protective scrolls in his Scroll Case that could handle the current situation, he did not want to waste them on something unimportant.

Needless to say, the Forgotten Realms—Faerûn—was a typically dangerous world where Red Robe Mages were everywhere, liches, dragons, and all sorts of monsters roamed freely.

Controlling an adult Red Dragon did not give Zuo Si much Sense of Security.

So he had to save whatever he could and keep it for critical moments when it might save his life.

"As you wish!"

With a bang, Vermes squeezed through and collapsed the doorframe. Like a speeding cargo truck, she charged straight ahead, crushing every black statue in her path into fragments.

The remaining gargoyles realized they had been exposed and broke out of their motionless state, taking on forms somewhat like winged demons as they launched a coordinated attack.

Unfortunately, their attacks were little different from scratching an itch for an adult dragon.

In less than a minute, mangled wings, limbs, heads, and torsos were scattered all over the floor.

Since gargoyles were a typical Earth Elemental subspecies, their shattered limbs soon turned into hard chunks of stone.

After the last one was dealt with, Zuo Si immediately led the human soldier guarding his side to the giant frame and connected it to the Mage Tower's energy reserves with practiced movements.

Not only that, he released the power of his spark toward the center of the frame.

In an instant!

A murky gray Chaos Vortex appeared within the empty frame.

Soon afterward, the chaos gradually became clearer, revealing a hazy, indistinct image.

Although Zuo Si tried his best to stabilize the Teleportation Gate.

The problem was that the Imprisonment Magic surrounding the Floating City was simply too powerful, constantly interfering with and sabotaging it without pause.

Left with no choice, he shouted at the Red Dragon, who was frantically stuffing gold and silver coins into wooden crates and sacks, "Forget those damned gold and silver coins! Get over here now! The Mage Tower's energy reserves are nearly depleted. It can't hold on much longer!"

"Damn it! Give me one more minute! Just one minute!"

Vermes had clearly lost her mind, displaying a willingness to choose money over life. She opened her jaws and blasted the area ahead with deadly Fiery Breath, melting all the remaining gold and silver coins that had not yet been packed into containers into scalding liquid.

Then she clawed several grooves into the floor, allowing the molten precious metals to flow down them and eventually pour into a large jar she had found from who knew where.

Only after finishing all that did she, fully satisfied, carry the sacks, crates, and ceramic jars filled with gold and silver coins and plunge headfirst into the Teleportation Gate.

The moment the Red Dragon left, a violent tremor rose from beneath the Mage Tower.

Needless to say, activating and maintaining this Teleportation Gate had accelerated the depletion of the tower's energy reserves.

If nothing unexpected happened, those Undead Creatures outside would be charging in at any moment.

At the same time, the Teleportation Gate became extremely unstable due to insufficient energy, as though it might shut down at any moment.

The wildly flickering white light was the best proof.

"Let's go!"

At a time like this, Zuo Si did not dare linger any longer. He had the summoned human soldier beside him grab him and rush inside.

The next second...

His eyes were engulfed by white light, and he could not see anything at all.

He could only vaguely feel his body being squeezed and distorted by an invisible force, then spun wildly as if he had been thrown into a washing machine.

The moment his feet felt solid ground again, his Entire Person immediately lost balance. He fell to the ground with a thud and vomited mouthful after mouthful of stomach acid and bile.

"Master, are you all right?"

The human soldier in Chainmail hurriedly removed the waterskin hanging from his waist and handed it over.

Still feeling as though the world was spinning, Zuo Si instinctively took the waterskin. He first rinsed his mouth with fresh water, then drank a little, gradually recovering.

The moment he raised his head, he saw a white beach and an endless expanse of blue sea. He was completely dumbfounded.

"Where are we? And where is Vermes?"

"Judging by the temperature, climate, and vegetation, this should be an uninhabited island somewhere near the south. It's obvious that the dragon's landing point after passing through the Teleportation Gate was different from ours."

The soldier briefly surveyed the surroundings and quickly gave his assessment.

Although he was merely a summoned creature, he possessed IQ no different from that of a normal human, as well as a certain amount of common sense and survival skills.

Damn it!

Realizing his current situation, Zuo Si immediately offered warm greetings in his heart to every female member of the Red Dragon's family and her ancestors for eight generations.

If that bastard had not chosen money over life and wasted that precious minute, this accident would not have happened due to the Teleportation Gate's insufficient energy supply.

And now, after escaping the Floating City that was about to be destroyed, he had immediately entered survival-on-a-deserted-island mode.

The only fortunate thing was that this island lay in relatively warm waters, so it probably would not lack food or drinkable fresh water.