Fish That Slipped Through the Net

The spider spirit was blasted to death by the lesser fireball, and Groz trembled violently all over, suffering a not-inconsiderable backlash.

Taking advantage of the fact that Garos had not yet noticed him, he scuttled away on all fours, ducked into the alchemy workshop, and gripped the communication stone with trembling claws, wanting to activate it to communicate with the caravan.

Bang!

The roof of the workshop was abruptly blown off, exposing the night sky above.

And the red iron dragonet, looking down with a cold and dangerous gaze.

Garos saw the communication stone Groz was holding in his hand.

Fortunately, the runes on it were not lit up, and it had not been activated yet.

"Great dragonkin, I am willing to offer up everything. Please spare me."

Groz trembled, uttering a few clumsy phrases of the dragon language as he begged Garos for mercy.

Dense flames answered him, swallowing his ugly body full of pustules, and along with the communication stone in his hand, it was burned to charcoal almost instantly.

Garos swept low over the goblin tribe, spitting flame dragon breath from his mouth.

The raging, burning fire quickly submerged the Gnawrock Tribe, the lizard skulls hanging from the vines charred and cracked, and the entire tribe turned into a sea of fire with not a single goblin escaping.

The bright fiery light lit up the night, and the goblin tribe was burned to the ground.

He soared and circled in the night sky.

Garos looked at the fire below, feeling a hot, stinging pain in his throat—this was the sequela of breathing fire for a long time. The duration of a hatchling dragon's breath was very short, and the time he spent breathing out flames in one go had far exceeded that of a normal hatchling dragon.

The alchemy items on this planet are too advanced. I must be extra cautious when dealing with intelligent races.

Garos thought earnestly to himself.

Back in the past when alchemy standards were not high, only noble spellcasters, or a handful of extremely expensive magical items, were capable of long-distance communication.

But now.

Even a tiny goblin tribe could have an alchemy item like a communication stone.

Even those who could not use magic could operate it.

The level of alchemical magic on this planet far exceeded even the technology of the world Garos belonged to in his previous life, and they had even built spaceships capable of exploring the universe.

It's rather rare for that last goblin to speak the dragon language.

Groz's begging for mercy at the end had actually surprised Garos a little bit.

A goblin who could speak the dragon language, and was also a shaman, who apparently even knew a bit of alchemy, possessed no low intelligence and had a certain value.

At the very least.

By taking him as a thrall, Garos could have him attack himself with shamanic arts to adapt and increase his resistance in this regard, and his considerable intelligence also made him suitable to be driven.

Yet Garos ultimately breathed out his dragon breath without any hesitation.

He did not want to waste his own vital essence to use dragon vein conversion on the goblin at the cost of delaying his own growth, nor did he possess the spell-like ability to enslave living creatures, and thus could not guarantee the goblin's loyalty.

Unlike the vast majority of demonic beasts and ferocious monsters.

Intelligent creatures like goblins were craftful and full of hidden motives.

Under the condition that loyalty could not be guaranteed, they might just sell him out.

Besides, no matter how special it was, it was ultimately just a goblin—dispensable to Garos and hardly worth mentioning.

Garos blinked his eyes, his dragon wings flapping, and his body disappeared among the clouds in the night sky as if he had already left.

Roughly two hours later.

Only a heap of ashes remained of the Gnawbite Tribe, along with a few lingering embers still burning.

Cough, cough, cough!

A scrawny, dust-covered little goblin crawled out from an imperceptible crack in the ground, its blackened face filled with terror and hatred.

The tribe was destroyed.

All its kin were killed.

The hatred in its heart was etched into its very bones, and terror could not overshadow the burning malice in its eyes.

Stumbling with unsteady steps, it emerged from the edge of the wall that had already burned to ashes. The scrawny goblin swore in its heart that it carried the hatred of all its kin, and no matter what the price—even selling its soul to the devil—it would definitely exact vengeance upon the damned dragonkin.

Thinking thus in its heart.

There was a sudden heat on its back.

As if the breath of some behemoth had fallen upon its body.

Its steps stiffened, and the scrawny goblin slowly turned around, its movements sluggish and rigid like a machine that had rusted for decades.

Black-red dragon scales layered and bulged, and a dragonkin that looked as if cast from steel appeared before it.

"Oh, as expected, there is a fish that slipped through the net and hid away."

Slap!

Garos brought a claw down, smashing the scrawny goblin to pieces.

After inspecting once more to ensure that not a single survivor remained inside the goblin tribe, he picked up the unrecognizable wreckage of the giant-arm miner and soared into the sky, flying back toward the iron fir hills.

Not long after.

A ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, shining upon the huge slab of rock on the hills.

Garos lay here, his claws pawing at a spherical object that was somewhat warped and had many pipes inserted into its surface.

"My dear brother, what is this thing?"

Samantha blinked curiously and inquired.

Because of the replenishment of food, and after just a good night's rest, the injuries on her dragon wings had improved, and her originally listless energy and spirit were gradually filling out.

"An alchemy golem's engine."

This was also the only thing on the giant-arm miner that was still somewhat intact.

Garos picked up the alchemy engine and observed it closely.

It was very crude, the frame cast from pig iron, the engraved runes lacking fluidity, all the riveted joints retaining the indentations of a forging hammer, the seams unpolished and revealing black rust formed by oxidation, and the unplated gear sets meshing directly, emitting a sharp noise similar to grinding teeth when pawed and turned.

One could tell.

This was a shoddily made alchemy engine of extremely low quality.

Even so, it could still support the operation of the eight-meter-tall giant-arm miner.

In a ground battle, if it were to be exchanged for a hatchling dragon like Samantha, she might not necessarily be able to defeat the giant-arm miner.

There is some alchemy knowledge within the inheritance, but it requires self-study, and it is very profound—unable to be quickly mastered overnight.

Garos thought silently to himself.

On Bernardo Planet, the vigorous development of alchemy had only occurred within these past few centuries, and the alchemy knowledge recorded within the dragon inheritance was not very much, nor were there many experiences left behind.

Studying alchemy consumed a great deal of mental focus and time.

Garos weighed and pondered for a while, shook his head slightly, and abandoned the intention of studying alchemy.

Alchemy could not be converted into combat power for a long time, nor could it provide effective help for Garos's survival, and he also did not wish to rely too heavily on external objects.

In this world where alchemy was advanced.

Garos would not refuse to use alchemy items, nor did he intend to delve deeply into alchemy.

However, if he could master alchemical spells, it would indeed provide a lot of convenience.

Mm, it doesn't necessarily have to be mastered by myself either; more accurately, as long as there is an alchemist by my side, I can reap the dividends of alchemy—smelting ores, black oil, and forging alchemy items.

He glanced at Samantha and grinned, showing his teeth.

"Is there something on my face?"

Samantha tilted her head and stuck out her tongue to lick the fine scales on her face.

"Samantha, do you want countless treasures and one day become the wealthiest red dragon?"

Garos asked pleasantly and amiably.

Red dragons possessed a pure fire attribute, were suited for studying alchemy, and their magical talent was not low. As long as they were willing to delve into study and research, they would inevitably attain profound accomplishments in the path of alchemical spells.

"Of course! This is one of my lifelong pursuits!"

Samantha's gaze lit up, and her tail wagged excitedly into the air.