Since We're Here, Might as Well Take It!

The towering giant dragon was like a mountain rising from the earth and floating in the sky. Its form swayed at the very crown of the heavens before gradually stabilizing.

Lightning was Its crown, and dark clouds were Its mantle. It spread Its wings, blotting out the sky and sun, faintly shrouding the entire Atlan Megacity and the surrounding sea.

"What's going on?!"

"Why did such an enormous True Dragon suddenly appear inside the breeding grounds?"

"Wait, this True Dragon..."

After their brief shock upon discovering the phantom of the Terra Dragon, the garrison of Atlan Megacity immediately had some quick-witted people realize, "Could this dragon be that absurdly gigantic dragon corpse in the restricted zone..."

The core researchers and breeders of Atlan Megacity all knew very well that while the city was indeed rich in Origin Matter, what truly made it a treasure land suitable for breeding all kinds of magical beasts was not the city itself, but the enormous dragon corpse located in the restricted zone beneath the city!

It was the dragon corpse's power that nourished all things, allowing Atlan Megacity to become one of Terra's foremost breeding grounds!

And through a simple chain of cause and effect, the garrison realized something was wrong. "Could that Glazed Dragon that appeared earlier be connected to this?"

It was a bit of a stretch, but it was not entirely wrong. At the very least, without Ian's tacit permission, Farshore Island could not have broken into the restricted zone and awakened the phantom of the Terra Dragon.

"Hahahaha, do you see it now?"

At this moment, out at sea, Dark Vortex laughed heartily. Faintly visible were enormous tentacles stirring the tides in the deep ocean. The Farshore Island powerhouse's tone was steeped in mockery. "Such immense power lies hidden in the deepest reaches of your Atlan Breeding Grounds. If it were extracted and developed, the Empire's fourth Fifth Energy Level powerhouse might have appeared long ago."

"But what happened instead? Your emperor turned it into a pig farm, and as the manager of this place, you probably do not even know the origins of that dragon skeleton, do you?"

"Oh?" Winter Marquis merely glanced sideways at the phantom of the Terra Dragon before turning back expressionlessly. "You mean the Terra Dragon?"

"Idiot. We learned Its identity back in the previous emperor's era."

With a snort, Winter Marquis spoke with a trace of contempt. "Your goals and actions are simply shallow compared to those of the previous emperor and His Majesty—one could say they are the most boring and meaningless choice possible."

"Still, you have accomplished something we could not... You awakened that honored one's remnant image."

Having said this, Winter Marquis turned around. Countless black ice clouds formed a barrier, blocking Dark Vortex's attack.

He even turned his back on his enemy and ignored the attack. The marquis condensed a platform of ice in midair, then knelt on one knee toward the Terra Dragon and performed the grand salute reserved only for emperors. "Terra Draker, we descendants have abused Your revered remains for our own selfish desires. It is truly disrespectful."

The white-haired marquis spoke sincerely, his expression solemn and resolute. "But I swear upon the Valenti Family and the glory of the Empire that this will be the last time."

"We will restore our glory, even if the price is everything in this world!"

Ian noticed it as well.

"They activated the residual power of the Terra Dragon within the dragon bones?"

He raised his head. Though the Glazed Dragon had no expression, the surprise in his eyes was unmistakable. "This requires bloodline resonance... Just like Anfa and the Blazing Star-Hanging Dragon at the Xenobiology Research Institute... Farshore Island has a 'descendant of the Terra Dragon'?"

That was not particularly surprising. As the True Dragon that had cooperated most deeply with Pre-Epoch Civilization and a native dragon of Terra, the Terra Dragon had surely left behind the greatest amount of power and flesh tissue. If the Blazing Star-Hanging Dragon could produce a 'child' like Anfa, then the Terra Dragon certainly could as well.

However, the activated power was not much compared to the Terra Dragon at Its peak.

That was because the power remaining after the Terra Dragon had resisted Skyfall had already been returned to the entire land, to the whole planet of Terra.

The energy remaining around Atlan Megacity was merely residue from that return. Yet even such a small amount of power permeating the land and sea had transformed Atlan Megacity into the almost Gaia Planet-like, hyper-adaptive region it was today.

But... Ian could not quite understand what Farshore Island was trying to do.

The Blazing Star-Hanging Dragon had voluntarily left Anfa behind, which was why Anfa could obtain Its inheritance in the past. But the Terra Dragon had long since perished. Even if bloodline resonance awakened fragments left within the dragon bones, much of Its memory would surely be missing, and there would be little power to gain.

After a moment of thought, Ian cast aside this doubt. He did not think the people of Farshore Island were fools. They had a very clear objective, and since they had awakened the Terra Dragon, they would certainly intend to gain something from It.

And Ian could hide himself and join in as well.

As for now.

Ian turned to look at the magical beast material warehouse of Atlan Megacity, whose gates had already been opened.

He smiled. "This is what I need most right now."

The material warehouse resembled a gigantic freezer, but it was not cold inside. Rather, a psionic field that suppressed molecular movement filled the place.

Within this cubic space, flames could barely burn, explosions were almost impossible, and even steam engines would stop operating due to insufficient steam power.

All magical beast materials were stored within. In a sense, time flowed more slowly in this space... This was the ultimate method of preserving matter: slowed-time preservation.

Activating Precognitive Vision and Star God's Gift, the Glazed Dragon swept his gaze over the counters and categories before him.

His targets were simple: magical beasts with dragon, electromagnetic, and gravitational attributes.

Such magical beasts could not even be found outside. Either they were basically impossible to spot, or even if one did spot them, one could not defeat them—any magical beast with such abilities could not possibly be weak.

But in the Empire's ranches, after long years of accumulation, there were always plenty of surprises.

"Radiant Feathers from Dawn Birds."

Ian looked toward a storage cabinet. His gaze pierced through the lead-alloy protective cabinet that should theoretically block all external radiation and fixed upon the white feathers inside, dotted with red points. "Third Energy Level materials from anomalous individuals. The white feathers are essentially ordinary Origin Matter essence biomass, but those red points are room-temperature superconducting magnets capable of storing unimaginable amounts of energy..."

"Merely by flying, Dawn Birds can illuminate the dark night, hence their title as messengers of the sun. They are also one of the supplementary medicinal ingredients required for the bloodline advancement of the Sun God Bird, and the same goes for Aurora Titan True Form... Mm, I should take more. I do not need this much myself, but Ethan, Scott, and Sha Sha will all need it."

Without hesitation, Ian removed every material related to Dawn Birds and swallowed them into his body for storage.

Good lord, every one of these materials was perfect material, and they possessed the exceptionally rare electromagnetic superconducting attribute. Their value far surpassed that of ordinary Third Energy Level magical beast materials. Each was probably worth more than several hundred thousand Taler. Taking over a dozen at once amounted to a fortune approaching ten million Taler. Just calculating it roughly made Ian feel a little breathless.

No matter how much one developed agriculture, it could never compare to robbery!

Then Ian turned to his next target.

"Devouring Cores from Nethercrown Sandworms."

It was a black-silver metallic dodecahedral core that released a strange distortion field. Nethercrown Sandworms were among the most dangerous magical creatures in Ganterigum's underground ecosystem. Unlike ordinary sandworms that built quicksand nests on the surface, they made their nests above underground passages.

Normally, Nethercrown Sandworms did not move. Only when prey appeared would they suddenly unleash their power, reverse gravity, and swallow all their enemies into abdomens filled with subspace energy to digest and crush them.

The Devouring Core was the organ Nethercrown Sandworms used to control gravity, a rare sublimation wonder that utilized aether.

There were very few of these. Even the Empire's warehouse held only five Devouring Cores, and their price could not be measured at all. They were priceless treasures, industrial mother-machine materials used in Ganterigum to manufacture flawless metal crystals in zero-gravity environments. They were strategic resources and could not be regarded as ordinary Magic Potion materials.

Ian was not an evil person, after all. After thinking it over, he took only three and left two for the Empire. "Consider this payment for my services. Later, I'll drive those Farshore Island people away."

"I'm already quite a powerful Fourth Energy Level expert. It's only natural for my appearance fee to be a little expensive, right?"

Besides those, there were many more.

Suspension Leaves from Floating-Cloud Grass Rings, Electrode Fangs from Silverlight Wolfbeasts, Formless Bones from Deepsea Octopuses, Blazing Light Sacs from Flamebreath Dragons, Fission Furnaces from Moltenlight Coral, Magnetic-Wave Pearls from Tidal Giant Clams...

Ian examined them one by one, and he could not help being astonished by the completeness of the materials in the Atlan Breeding Grounds—many of these materials were difficult for Silverpeak Domain to obtain with its current power and resources, impossible to buy even with money.

One had to know that even for Sublimers, purchasing materials with money was extremely difficult. Many things, especially materials around the Third Energy Level and above, were essentially priceless. Money simply could not buy them; they could only be exchanged through barter.

Sublimers built with money generally reached no higher than the Second Energy Level. That was the reason.

Yet now, Ian had discovered enough materials here to create more than a dozen Third Energy Level Sublimers... Considering that Atlan Megacity was only a breeding ground, and many precious materials had been transferred to the Imperial Capital from the very moment they were acquired, Ian found it hard to imagine how much profit such a breeding city brought the Empire every year.

No... Something was wrong.

Ian frowned. He raised his head toward the defenses of the Imperial Capital and muttered, "This was deliberate—someone. Fine, it was Axel. He knew someone would raid Atlan Megacity, yet he still allowed it to happen."

"Why? I still do not know what the Farshore Island people want to do, but allowing a powerhouse with Terra Dragon blood descendants to obtain the Terra Dragon's bloodline inheritance... Even if it is inferior to the Terra Dragon Fireseed held by the Imperial Capital, they should not be allowed to take it so easily, should they?"

Unless the Terra Dragon Fireseed in Axel's possession allowed him to counter those who obtained the Terra Dragon's power... Otherwise, Ian could not think of why the Imperial Capital would stage such a self-inflicted scheme.

But if it was not a self-inflicted scheme, then it was even more unreasonable. Such an important breeding ground was actually guarded by fewer than ten Third Energy Level experts and one Winter Marquis? That was absolutely impossible!

"...It seems I really need to hide and figure out what the Farshore Island people are trying to do."

Letting out a deep breath, Ian focused his mind and stopped thinking about the matter.

He should just concentrate on taking his materials.

Very soon, the doubt in Ian's heart was interrupted by an extraordinarily rare material.

It was a pitch-black shadow. Rather than black, it was more accurate to say that it swallowed all light.

A rare material stored at the very center of the warehouse, protected deep within three layers of valves.

"The Subspace Well of an Abyssal Shadow... An auxiliary organ for a Fourth Energy Level Aether Furnace Core?"

Abyssal Shadows were monster-like magical beasts that lived in the abyssal canyons of the Skyfall Wasteland. On the surface, they looked like floating black spheres, and light itself warped around them.

They generally fed on highly concentrated Nature Psionics from field cores. They were powerful spirit-state material lifeforms that did not actively attack people, but anything attempting to approach them would vanish completely and be wholly devoured.

Ian softly recited the explanation from Star God's Gift, then could not help widening his eyes. "It twists space-time through aether, forms a gravity well, and assists the operation of an Aether Furnace Core, effectively reducing the overload caused when the Aether Furnace Core runs at full power—no, isn't this a gravitational material capable of warping space-time? Why is it called an auxiliary organ for an Aether Furnace Core?!"

After a brief moment of astonishment, Ian understood.

In a world like Terra, where methods of using aether were not particularly clear but were relatively widespread among the strong, warping space-time was not difficult. Void Realm creatures above the Third Energy Level could all use psionics to warp space-time and create subspaces, while Aether Furnace Cores were even more adept at distorting space. Later curvature engines and all sorts of light manipulation techniques were likewise distortions that defied physical laws.

No, such distortions were merely how humans from Earth saw things... In the Aether Universe, they were the most ordinary material phenomena!

Even so, from Ian's perspective, he had countless ways to make these organs do remarkable things... Not to mention that he already possessed the gravitational core of an earth-element True Dragon and an Aether Furnace Core.

As long as he proceeded step by step and integrated and mastered them, Ian fully believed that, as the Radiant Twins had suggested, he could organize an electromagnetic-gravitational combat system perfectly suited to his own needs!

Without the slightest hesitation, Ian used Star God's Gift to crack every key and directly took the Abyssal Shadow's Subspace Well without triggering a single alarm.

"Now this is truly a massive haul—I should have taken some rice from the Empire long ago. How much have I contributed to the Empire? These are all perfectly reasonable compensation!"

Suppressing his inner excitement, Ian turned back to examine the materials he had taken. He found that his preferences were a little too obvious, so he fairly and impartially took some materials of other attributes as well.

After all, he was still a child. Since he was already here, it would be a waste not to take them. Giving the Empire face by not taking everything was already generous enough.

Having settled everything, the Glazed Dragon beat his wings and flew toward the exit.

Then, at the doorway, he instinctively raised his head and looked toward the towering dragon shadow in the heavens.

And at that moment, the dragon shadow lowered Its head to look at him as well.

"It is good that you are here."

The broken phantom of the Terra Dragon transmitted Its voice softly. "It seems the civilization of this era still prospers, with seers guiding its path... Even new dragon descendants have developed, no less than they did a thousand years ago."

There was a trace of comfort in Its voice, along with an ethereal, illusory response. "Now, speak."

"Human descendants of later generations, what wish do you seek from Me?"