Duanmu Huai was very interested in the Aether Dragon, but not because of its combat prowess.
Although the Aether Dragon was indeed quite powerful in the game, as it had shown before, it had no shields and relied entirely on its armor. Its tendency to fall apart once its structure was damaged was really difficult to put up with. In the game, some player factions had obtained Aether Dragon Hatchlings by chance, only to be killed by other guilds when they found the opportunity.
After all, Aether Dragons were merely difficult to kill, not impossible to kill. Bringing one onto the battlefield was purely a matter of having more money than sense. Only the wealthy would do such a thing.
With the Inquisition Fleet's strength, having an Aether Dragon was merely a nice bonus, not a necessity. In terms of firepower, an Aether Dragon was indeed stronger than an ordinary battleship, but there was only one of it. As for battleships, Duanmu Huai could build hundreds of them with resources to spare.
The difference in cost-effectiveness was obvious.
The reason Duanmu Huai was interested in Aether Dragons was simple: they had a certain trait.
They were extremely sensitive to relics.
Just like dragons in fantasy worlds always loved collecting treasure, though few people ever stopped to wonder how dragons knew where the treasure was.
According to Gureiya, the Dragons of Manaria mainly relied on magic power to distinguish treasures. After all, if an object contained a large amount of magic power, it was definitely something good. They would simply take it home without a second thought.
But the Aether Dragon's ability was on another level. It could sense relics hidden by civilizations throughout the universe, including many precious artifacts left behind by extinct civilizations.
As for how Aether Dragons distinguished