Dragon Returning to the Nest

Dragon Returning to the Nest Roar—

With a resounding roar, the Red Dragon beat its Wings and swept over Stone Fortress.

The Ogre guards on the ground immediately waved their clubs and cheered, while the Wyverns stationed on either side of the gate stretched out their necks, raised their heads, and let out long cries, welcoming the master of this nest.

When Keosius returned to Giant's Maw Cave, even the Chimera came forward respectfully to greet him, not daring to show the slightest neglect.

"Lang Pu, how have things been these past few days while I was away?"

The Ogre Mage before him had somehow acquired a pair of delicate silver-rimmed spectacles, likely looted from somewhere. The tiny glasses struggled to stay perched on his massive head, making for an utterly ridiculous sight.

Lang Pu deliberately adjusted his glasses, unfurled the scroll in his hand, and said as he carefully read through it, "Ember Nest currently has thirty-eight Ogres, four hundred and thirty-five Goblins, twenty-six Worgs, twenty-seven Bugbears, one hundred and twenty-one Kobolds, and fifteen Wyverns."

He paused deliberately before continuing, "Three days ago, Hobgoblin leader Dolo sent twenty-seven Dire Wolf Cavalry to Lost Mine. They suffered heavy losses. Only six riders returned alive, three of them wounded. The other twenty-one Dire Wolf Cavalry are all missing."

"Where is Dolo?"

"He's still over at Goblin Camp. Goblin Camp overlaps with the Kobolds' nest, and he's leading people to tear down those little dogs' den." The Ogre Mage gave a chuckle, a sly gleam flashing through his eyes.

"I understand. Go on studying your spells." The Red Dragon's tone revealed neither anger nor pleasure.

"Lord Dolo, you can't tear this down. We need to hatch eggs here." The Kobold leader with gold teeth plastered on a smile as he looked up at the towering Hobgoblin.

"Get lost, you stinking little dogs. Don't get in our way." Dolo waved a hand, his face full of impatience.

Gold Tooth hesitated for a moment, but still stood in front of the Hobgoblin. "My lord, we specifically reported this to Steward Lang Pu, and he already approved it. If you change it now, wouldn't that be rather hard to justify?"

To Hobgoblins who revered war and strength, these weak Kobolds were worthless—not even qualified to serve as cannon fodder. Worse still, their intelligence had indirectly caused him to lose dozens of Dire Wolf Riders, earning him several rounds of mockery from Lang Pu.

The more Dolo thought about it, the angrier he became. His already reddish-brown face reddened further as he kicked the Kobold aside and spat fiercely at him.

"Lang Pu, Lang Pu, always Lang Pu! What the hell is an Ogre?"

"If you hadn't shown your face before the master and gotten yourself remembered, sooner or later I'd—"

Just as he was about to kick him again, he suddenly realized that his shadow had been swallowed by an enormous dark silhouette. The Kobold on the ground also looked as though he had found a savior.

"Sooner or later, you'd do what?" The Red Dragon's tone was cold.

Dolo's expression made an immediate one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. His face instantly filled with a fawning smile as he turned around and said ingratiatingly, "Master, you're back! I was careless just now and failed to greet you at the gate. Instead, I was wasting time here."

Gold Tooth dropped to his knees, tears and snot streaming down his face as he cried, "Master, you must uphold justice for us Kobolds! Lord Dolo may mean well, but without a nest, how are we Kobolds supposed to—"

Dolo shot him a vicious glare, then turned back with a flattering smile. "You misunderstand. I was supervising the construction progress at Goblin Camp. When I saw these Kobolds causing trouble, I merely—"

Keosius could no longer stand this farce and cut him off directly. "Enough, Dolo. Leave some space for the Kobolds. Don't stir up any more trouble."

Gold Tooth was thoroughly satisfied, and flattering words poured endlessly from his mouth, his tongue moving so fast it nearly left afterimages.

"Great Master, none can compare to your mercy and fairness, your might—"

"Go on and build your nest."

The Red Dragon paid little attention to Gold Tooth and merely said to the Hobgoblin, "Bring those Dire Wolf Riders here. I'd like to see what could have inflicted such terrible losses on them."

When Dolo heard the Red Dragon mention the Wolf Riders, he immediately became somewhat uneasy. But seeing that the Red Dragon was not enraged, he let out a breath of relief and went to carry out the order.

Amid wave after wave of wolf howls, several Worgs carrying Goblins galloped out from the barracks and submitted before the Red Dragon.

The six Goblins before him looked terrified, most of them wounded. One had even been carried out on a Worg's back, covered in blackened burns and wrapped all over with medicinal herbs. It looked as though it would not survive much longer.

Dolo gripped a whip and commanded harshly, "Tell the great master what you experienced."

"Th-that was a terrifying monster," one Goblin said.

"It ate everyone," another Goblin added. "It... it was a shadow."

It was the same account as the Kobolds had given before: a monster capable of devouring everything. Its appearance could not be seen clearly in the dark mine, only a vague black shadow, though it could be inferred that it was extremely massive.

"Is there not even a single useful piece of information?" the Red Dragon demanded.

Seeing that the Red Dragon seemed somewhat displeased, Dolu immediately cracked his whip with sharp snaps and roared, "Your cowardly flight has already brought shame upon the master. Now that you have a chance to redeem yourselves, can't you be of even the slightest use?"

Though the Goblins feared the whip, ignorance was ignorance. Their muddled brains could not even come up with a convincing lie.

Dolo looked up at the Red Dragon, instantly changing his expression again. "Master, please trust me one more time. I'll make these trash prove useful. Next time, next time, definitely—"

Just as Keosius was beginning to feel disappointed.

The Goblin lying on the Worg's back barely opened its eyes and forced its mouth open. In a weak, broken voice, it said, "I... I saw it. Lightning. It... it... it could use lightning. Blue lightning."

This Goblin's mind was already somewhat muddled.

But clearly, the lightning had left a deep impression on it.

Lightning?

Blue lightning? Could it be a Blue Dragon? But Keosius immediately shook his head. Blue Dragons preferred to live in deserts rather than dark, deep mines. Their pride would not allow them to hide in darkness.

Moreover, Blue Dragons were famously territorial. It would never allow Kobolds and human smugglers to enter its domain.

I still need to go there myself and investigate.

Given the current situation, sending more followers there would be nothing but a needless drain on his own forces. Judging by the Wolf Riders' descriptions, even sending Wyverns would likely only result in feeding them to the monster.

And Keosius would never let a gold mine delivered straight to his doorstep slip away.

That ridiculous review deleted more than two hundred characters. Do Goblins fit the system's XP?