The Eldest Brother-in-Law Arrives

The morning mist had yet to disperse when the air over the Swamp of Sorrows was already thick with the pungent stench of chemical agents—but to the Dragonborn, the smell now felt strangely comforting.

"The third batch of Fertilizer! Load it up! Move!" A Dragonborn overseer covered in bluish-gray scales stood atop a wooden platform, cracking his whip as he shouted. The tip snapped sharply through the air, yet always remained a safe distance from the workers' backs—ever since the "performance pay system" had been introduced, the overseers had discovered that gold coins worked far better than whips.

Six burly Dragonborn carried bulging burlap sacks toward the docks in synchronized strides. Their newly acquired leather shoulder guards gleamed in the morning light, bought from Goblin merchants with last week's bonuses. With every step, the clumped Fertilizer inside the sacks rasped against itself.

"Watch the Reactor!" Onyxia's rebuke came from the acid-fume-filled shed. In her elven form, she floated in midair, pouring sulfur powder into a huge cast-iron vessel. Her dark-red hair was casually tied with a copper wire, several strands plastered to her neck by sweat. Suddenly, an odd gurgle came from the container, and she sprang back three steps like lightning—

Boom!

A cloud of yellow-green smoke burst from the observation port, corroding the freshly painted anti-rust coating on the roof into honeycomb-like holes. Several Dragonborn apprentices expertly grabbed spare neutralizing agents and splashed them over it. The foam hissed so sharply upon meeting the toxic fumes that it made teeth ache.

"Thirty-seventh formula improvement failure." Onyxia wiped the soot from her face and pulled out a parchment notebook from beneath the workbench to make a record. When she saw "Material Loss: 2 Gold Coins, 15 Silver Coins," her dragon tail unconsciously slipped out from beneath her skirt and slapped the ground in agitation.

The clanging of construction echoed from the newly built residential area on the eastern side of the swamp. More than twenty Dragonborn were putting up the sixth row of wooden houses. The sight of them curling their tails around hammers to drive nails made them look like a pack of giant lizard tailors. One young Dragonborn held up a newly bought gilded mirror and admired himself from every angle, only to let it slip and shatter it—his companions immediately cried out in sympathetic agony.

Deren crouched atop the newly built watchtower, a crude feather pen clenched between his teeth. His ledger was densely packed with numbers:

March 17:

Dragonborn wages paid: 47 Gold, 32 Silver

Goblin express shipping: 8 Gold

Jaina's land tax: 5% of net profit

Onyxia's fourth broken thermometer: 1 Gold, 50 Silver

Suddenly, a commotion rose from the beach. The captain of the Goblin merchant ship Gold Coin waved his gold-trimmed tricorne hat. "Mr. Deren! The Sandbox has placed an additional order for three hundred tons! Deposit paid in cash!"

When the iron chest full of gold coins slammed onto the pier, the entire swamp fell silent. Every Dragonborn's pupils narrowed into thin vertical slits.

"Extra dinner tonight!" Deren announced, planting one foot atop the swaying chest. "Whole roast cattle! All the dragonfire barbecue sauce you can eat!"

The cheers startled the vultures from the swamp. At some point, Onyxia had appeared behind Deren, and her claw, stained with chemical reagents, suddenly settled on his shoulder. "Does this mean overtime?"

"There's overtime pay!" Deren replied without changing expression.

Evening descended over the swamp. The acid mist was dyed a magnificent purple by the sunset, and cooking smoke tinged with sulfur drifted from the new chimneys. The Dragonborn passed barrels of alcohol around the bonfire, Early the next morning, the morning mist was ripped apart by a sudden blast of wind pressure.

The Dragonborn were carrying sacks of sulfur toward the Reactor when they collectively shuddered—it was an instinct etched into their blood, like an antelope hearing a lion's footsteps. The solution in the Reactor rippled for no reason, while tiny stones on the ground began to tremble.

"Is it going to rain?" A young Dragonborn looked up at the sky, and the shovel in his hand clanged to the ground.

There were no storm clouds in the sky. Only an expanding patch of darkness, spreading like ink dropped into clear water. As that shadow swept over the swamp, every grain of sulfur began to quiver.

Onyxia was carving protective runes onto a newly delivered Reactor. Her dragon claw blade suddenly scraped a three-meter trail of sparks across the rock wall, and her dark-gold vertical pupils shrank to pinpoints. "...Nefarian."

The air exploded.

Dragon wings vast enough to blot out the sky unleashed a hurricane, sweeping twelve burlap sacks filled with Ammonium Nitrate into the air as though they were feathers. The roof of a newly built wooden house was ripped away with a crack, while some Dragonborn's newly purchased gilded toilet traced a glittering arc through the sky.

A Black Dragon even larger than Onyxia's true body crashed down, the swamp mud crystallizing into obsidian the instant it touched his claws. Nefarian gracefully folded his wings, every scale glinting with the cold sheen of laboratory tempering—the perfect defense forged from the blood and flesh of hundreds of colorful Whelps.

"Little sister." His voice was like lava flowing over granite. "Father is curious." His tail swept over the Reactor, making the specialized steel groan under the strain. "What kind of little game are you playing, managing this—" His nostrils flared, spraying sparks. "—Fertilizer workshop?"

The entire swamp fell deathly silent. A Dragonborn crushed the glass imitation jewelry in his hand into powder with a snap.

Onyxia's elven form seemed as tiny as an ant beneath the shadow of her brother's true body. Yet she stood perfectly straight, the dragon tail emerging beneath her skirt smashing three floor tiles with a bang. "Watch your wording, Brother." Dark corrosive magic glimmered at her fingertips. "This 'workshop' earns fifty thousand gold coins in annual profit."

A flicker of surprise crossed Nefarian's eyes—this sum was equivalent to the income produced by ten years of slave labor at Blackrock Mountain. His gaze swept over the shivering Dragonborn workers before abruptly settling on a human trying to hide behind the Reactor.

Dragon Awe descended like something tangible, and Deren's bones immediately began to creak. Yet he actually walked out under the pressure, still holding an open ledger in his hands. "Lord Nefarian, I have heard much of you. Allow me to introduce our projected revenue for the next quarter—"

The Black Dragon's breath, like a massive blast of hot wind, nearly scorched Deren's fringe. "Human, you carry the two smells I hate most." One claw pointed at Deren. "The stink of copper, and—" His nostrils contracted violently. "—the scent of my sister."

Three meters away, Onyxia stood in front of Deren, black flames gathering at her fingertips as she helped him fend off her brother's enthusiasm.

"Actually." Deren suddenly poured out a heap of gold coins from his Space Bag. "These shiny little darlings are the bond connecting me and Her Highness the Princess. Don't you find them rather adorable?"

"I had been wondering when I should pay a visit to Her Highness the Princess's brother. After all, you are one of the people closest to her. Now that Her Highness has found such a wonderful opportunity to make money, how could she leave out her own family?" Deren said leisurely, his fingers constantly fiddling with the pile of gold coins.

Nefarian's face twitched. His eyes remained fixed on the pile of gold. Though several hundred coins were not much to him, the thought that his sister had so much gold that she could casually entrust hundreds of coins to a mere mortal made his heart ache.

After choosing his words, he decided not to dwell on it. He put away his dragon form, transformed into a High Elf, landed before Onyxia, cleared his throat, and politely greeted his sister, as though they truly were the closest of siblings. Then he turned to Deren. "You are my sister's human pet, the Agricultural Advisor, Deren?"

Deren answered with utmost respect, "Yes, yes, yes. I am deeply honored that Your Highness has heard the name of a mere mortal like myself. Since Your Highness has graced us with your presence today, why don't we discuss how to cooperate and make this agricultural Fertilizer development venture bigger and stronger?"

Nefarian nodded with an expression that said Deren was begging him and he would reluctantly hear him out. Deren led him into a nearby wooden house and had the Dragonborn serve him fine tea. Nefarian watched the Dragonkin skillfully brew the tea, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.

Once the Dragonkin had served the tea and left, Nefarian looked at his sister sitting beside Deren with a contemplative expression. Deren immediately began, "Your Highness, you see, Her Highness the Princess and I are developing Kalimdor Agricultural Development. The new agricultural Fertilizer we produce cannot keep up with demand. She earns tens of thousands of gold coins a year, and since it is an exclusive business, even the Goblins have come begging to cooperate. But Goblins—everyone knows what they are like. They recognize gold coins, not people. They have now begun choking off our raw material supply, hoping to demand greater concessions and better shares. Even with Her Highness the Princess's formidable deterrence, she cannot hold them back alone. It just so happens that her Brother has come to visit, so you must help her out. After all, her money is Black Dragon money too. Rather than letting the Goblins earn it, why not have her Brother help shoulder some of the pressure?"

Nefarian very much wanted to help his sister shoulder the pressure of earning gold coins. But he knew nothing about any of this. He asked curiously, "What can I do? I do not know much about making Fertilizer."

Deren explained unhurriedly, "I heard that the Burning Plains are your territory?"

Nefarian nodded. "That is correct. It is my base of operations."

"Excellent. I heard that place is full of volcanic lava, so there should be quite a lot of sulfur. Her Highness Onyxia's Fertilizer workshop happens to require a large amount of sulfur, and the purer, the better. The Goblins' prices are becoming increasingly outrageous, so why not have Brother become another raw material supplier? Give us a family price. Payment upon delivery." As Deren spoke, he rubbed the pile of gold coins on the table between his fingers. When he finished, he pushed several dozen gold coins across the table. "It is rare for Brother to honor us with his presence. A small gift, nothing worthy of mention. I hope you will accept it."

"This is far too kind of you," Nefarian said, even as he swept his hand and stored the gold coins on the table in his Space Bag. The smile on his face was nearly impossible to hide.

Onyxia snorted coldly. "Father sent you to investigate me. What are you going to do?"

"Everything is normal!" Nefarian declared decisively. "She is merely stirring up tensions between Goblins and humans, attempting to intensify racial conflicts through monetary bribery. Oh, and under the pretense of producing Fertilizer, she is attempting to pollute farmland across the entire continent."

Onyxia's eyes widened as she stared at her brother in disbelief at his solemn nonsense.

Deren calmly took out a ledger. "Come, come, come, Your Highness. Let's discuss the specifics of our business partnership."

Nefarian looked at his sister in confusion. "Your pet is making decisions for you?"

"Yes. He can decide matters of business." Onyxia answered with complete certainty.

"Fine." Nefarian gave the two of them a long look, feeling as if he had discovered something extraordinary. But what did it matter? As long as he could obtain a large amount of gold, his experiments could continue. As for his sister's affairs, who cared!

Afterward, the Black Dragon Prince discussed the terms of cooperation with a human. In the end, they agreed that Nefarian would receive a 10% share, while the sulfur had to be delivered to Onyxia's Swamp Factory. Dividends would be settled quarterly.

Nefarian was fairly satisfied with this outcome. They could put it into practice first and see. If it brought in fifty thousand gold coins a year, he would receive five thousand. All he had to do was send some of his lesser minions to gather the useless sulfur from the Burning Plains and deliver it to his sister. It was practically a business without any investment.

By the time the massive black dragon left the Swamp of Sorrows, his eyes had already turned into gold coin symbols. In his good mood, even his Dragon Awe had diminished considerably. Humming some tune under his breath, he took off and flew away.

Watching her brother depart, Onyxia could not help wrapping an arm around Deren's shoulders. "Pet, you did well. Even Brother cannot resist the magic of gold coins."

"Hehe, whether dragons, humans, or Goblins, who isn't a slave to these little glittering things? Of course, except for certain Orcs, who only know how to rob with brute force. But soon enough, they'll realize just how powerful the magic of gold coins is." Deren said expectantly.

"Don't forget our plan." Onyxia reminded him in a low voice.

"Don't worry. Everything is under control." Deren reached back and clasped a certain dragon's hand.

This was the third update today. There would be another chapter tonight. Once again, please vote and bookmark.