A Shili River Dragon Suspecting a Gene Mutation Said He Couldn't Keep Lying Low Much Longer

Li Wei had long been mentally prepared for this day.

In fact, even if this day had not come, Li Wei had been planning to move his nest.

The Underdark was no kind place. Deception, schemes, and mutual conquest were its eternal themes.

The three years of peaceful coexistence had, first, been the result of his considerable patience and the balance of power among his surrounding neighbors. Second, seeing how capable he was at developing territory, they had all been watching to copy his methods of farming and cultivation, waiting for him to build up his domain before swooping in to pick the fruit.

The increasingly thriving Mycelial Mat along the riverbank and the countless fish in the river had already made many neighbors green with envy. And since they had yet to see any protective force here matching such prosperity, they were secretly itching for action, merely waiting for some fool to take the initiative and break the balance.

In Li Wei's view, if conditions allowed, he would naturally rather lie low in a safe environment until he reached adulthood and gained some ability to protect himself.

But the meager resources here were already beginning to fall short of his developmental needs.

His needs were not limited to food. As his body transformed and his long-term pica worsened, he gradually developed an interest in all kinds of ores and energy-rich substances. They did not taste like much, but they were satisfyingly crunchy, like snacks. More importantly, devouring these metals and gems offered considerable benefits to his physical development:

His scales, teeth, claws, and bones were all developing toward the hardness of alloys, while his mutated breath was becoming more and more like an energy cannon.

Of course, even without using that Negative Energy—which he had tentatively identified as Void Umbral Energy—he could still use frost breath like a normal Silver Dragon.

On the other hand, after passing the Young Dragon stage of development, his body no longer needed long periods of sleep to sustain its growth.

He remained awake for increasingly long periods, yet the severe consequences of revealing his identity as a Silver Dragon in the Underdark prevented him from venturing too far from his nest in his true form.

After all, the Underdark was the domain of Drow elves, Mind Flayers, Abyssal Fish, Formians, Red Dragons, Black Dragons, and Shadow Dragons. There was not a single decent sort among them.

And if they were to discover, to their astonishment, that a surface-dwelling Silver Dragon of the Good Alignment had somehow slipped into their midst...

It would be like a husky with an utterly mismatched Art Style suddenly appearing among a pack of vicious wolves.

Ummm... Li Wei could imagine with his tiny brain just how miserable his fate would be.

Thus, aside from endlessly eating, he spent his days watching those Slimes perform shameless reproductive acts. Or, every so often, he entered the Inheritance Dreamscape—now utterly unrecognizable and filled everywhere with "Black Technology"—to go "treasure hunting." But he could not guarantee he would enter it every time he slept, and even when he did, he could not understand anything, trapping him in an endless cycle.

What Li Wei found even more unbearable was that he had been transported to a Different World for over three years now, and there was still no internet.

"This is so damn boring!!!"

"And this fish meat—I've eaten so much of it I'm about to throw up!!!"

I've had enough! Anyway, I'll make myself a pot of Dog Meat Hotpot first. With that thought, Li Wei silently thanked Miss Sylvie, the Silver Dragon from his dreams.

The moment his body emerged from the nest, his snow-white scales gradually took on a lava-like crimson hue beneath the scattered Sunlight Crystals in the ceiling.

The upper layers of the Underdark consisted of a vast network of numerous small caverns. But as one descended deeper, the number of caverns decreased while their size increased. Large caverns near the surface might be composed of dozens of connected chambers, each several hundred feet long and dozens of feet wide. Yet deeper caverns could overturn any surface race's understanding of the word "cavern."

The area where Li Wei lived was a typical dome formation, spanning more than thirty li and standing three to four li high. Several enormous Rock Pillars stood within it. These natural Stone Piers rose high into the air, supporting the dome's ceiling.

Some of these dome formations had originated from the compression of unimaginably massive Continental Plates. Others were products of the Underdark's innate Wild Magic pouring forth without restraint. Still others had been created when Planar Nexuses collapsed and planar characteristics merged. But regardless of how they formed, domes were miniature worlds and the places underground most suitable for developing territory—provided the lord did not have excessive demands for mineral resources.

More than seven li from Li Wei's nest, atop a high slope, Doug the Dragon Cooker Sausage held his breath as he lay half-prone on the cold Barren Rock. He gazed from afar at the "army" advancing toward the riverbank, then turned to the aged Kobold crouching nearby with a Wooden Staff and said bluntly,

"Chieftain, their numbers far exceed our original estimate. I'm afraid we have no chance this time."

As the Chieftain, Salong was much calmer about this established fact. "It's alright. Let's watch a little longer. Sometimes unexpected changes can bring unexpected opportunities."

Besides them, even more Kobolds lay prone behind them. There were not only able-bodied adult Kobolds, but also many Female Kobolds and hatchlings traveling with their families. The relatively sturdy females carried bundles filled with odds and ends such as Beast Bones, Stone Knives, and small amounts of Fungal Jerky.

At a glance, it was obvious they had not come prepared for war.

In truth, they had intended to migrate their entire tribe to escape disaster.

The Kobold Tribe that had nearly cooked the newly arrived Li Wei all those years ago had clearly not been doing well these past few years.

The conflict between the Drow elves and Mind Flayers had begun to spill into their territory. The surge in surrounding predators and the ever-shrinking hunting grounds had gravely threatened the tribe's survival.

When they had accidentally discovered some time ago that this forbidden land, once overrun by Slimes, had transformed into a paradise, their tribe had carefully considered the matter and developed the idea of moving here.

Such an abnormal transformation in this region meant that it must have changed hands. But since its new owner could command Slimes and Koutao Fishmen, that suggested the ruler was not overly cruel. At the very least, he could guarantee his subordinates' basic needs.

And that was exactly what this Kobold Tribe desperately needed.

Even if the hidden Master of this land was unwilling to accept them, they could settle for making a trade request instead.

Over the years, they had gathered and stored plenty of dried furs, magical plants, and crudely sorted metal ores. Under normal circumstances, they could exchange these with human merchant caravans daring enough to venture into the Underdark for a little wheat, potatoes, dried corn, cotton-linen cloth, or even ale—watered-down ale included.

That precious alcohol was naturally not for drinking away in extravagance. Rather, Chieftain Salong had mastered a technique learned from the Duergar that could purify alcohol. The distilled "Pure Alcohol" could be used to disinfect wounds.

In the Underdark, where medical supplies were desperately scarce, this little bit of "Pure Alcohol" was a precious life-saving resource.

But ever since those damned Drow and Mind Flayers began their conflict, the merchant caravans had been raided several times, people and goods taken together. Not one had been seen since.

Gold Coins were still damnably alluring, but being captured and made into slaves because of them was far less appealing.

If one was seized by the Drow elves, aside from becoming a production slave, there was at least a chance of being selected as breeding stock and putting one's remaining usefulness to work before being drained dry.

If one was captured by the Mind Flayers' Psionic Slaves, having one's Brainstem cut away and becoming a Psionic Slave like them would still count as fortunate.

And if one was lucky enough to be selected as a Broodmother for Mind Flayer Larva tadpole parasites, the psychological shadow of having one's brain gradually devoured while clearly feeling one's body being taken over would likely persist until the moment one's soul fell into Barto Hell—assuming the soul could break free smoothly while the Cerebral Cortex was being consumed.

Just then, Doug suddenly said, "Chieftain, look! The Slimes and Koutao Fishmen by the riverbank are moving too!"

Salong gazed toward the broad riverbank beneath the dome and narrowed his eyes slightly. For some reason, a faint unease suddenly welled up in his heart, which had remained calm and untroubled even as the end of his lifespan approached.