On the mountain path, Moqi and In Tas sat watching the scene unfolding in the Shattered Stone Grounds below.
Ferrum had gone looking for trouble with the Nickel Dragons. As his companions, they naturally could not stand by and watch.
But Ferrum had insisted on acting alone, so Moqi and In Tas could only wait here, thinking that if Ferrum were besieged and unable to fend them off, they would immediately go down to help.
Yet in the end, no one had expected the Shattered Stone Grounds to turn into such a scene. This was not a fight between Dragon Hatchlings at all, but a bloody slaughter.
In the end, only the Chrome Dragon remained standing alone, lifting his head to breathe as he looked around and strode slowly.
Ferrum returned at an unhurried pace, still walking upright, his hooked claws held at his sides. His entire body was covered in Nickel Dragon scales, skin, and sinew.
The blood and grime had painted the Chrome Dragon a savage blackish red, carrying a heavy stench of blood.
At first glance, he truly gave off the feeling of a demon.
In Tas looked at him, uncertainty and alarm flickering in his eyes. He opened his mouth, yet could not say a word.
Seeing his expression, Ferrum raised a brow scale. "Did I scare you?"
In Tas froze for a moment, then nodded hesitantly.
"Good. You should be scared."
Ferrum smiled, lowered his head to look at his bedraggled body, then hurriedly shook his head. "We can talk about that later. I need to wash up quickly, or I'm going to stink."
"Let's go."
Moqi was as carefree as ever. His tail swayed as he cheerfully led the way toward Bay Lake.
He stayed very close to Ferrum, utterly unconcerned by the bloody smell, as if Ferrum were not covered in flesh and blood, but merely splashed with a few ordinary drops of mud.
If Ferrum was a demon, then he was a little demon. There was no difference at all.
Bay Lake, nestled deep within Ochre Valley, lay calm and unruffled.
Ferrum waded deeper into the water, and the fish that had been leisurely swimming about immediately scattered in all directions.
The lake water gradually submerged his back. Black filth spread outward, bloodstains, chunks of flesh, and that sticky reek of blood all slowly faded away beneath the washing of the lake.
Ferrum rolled over in the water. Amid the splashing sounds, his steel-gray scales shone again, bursting with tiny flecks of light beneath the sun.
On the opposite shore, several female dragons that had come to drink were secretly watching this way. They looked at the swimming Chrome Dragon, then at the spreading bloodstains, huddling together and whispering among themselves about something unknown.
In the end, they frolicked away.
Only after quite a while did Ferrum leap back onto the shore, landing on all fours and returning to In Tas and Moqi.
In Tas looked at Ferrum. Before he could speak, Ferrum bared his fangs and violently shook his head, sending great sprays of water flying in every direction.
In Tas took two steps back. Moqi, caught completely off guard, was suddenly drenched from head to toe and hurriedly dodged aside while yelping.
With that shake, Ferrum suddenly no longer seemed like a demon. He had turned back into the Chrome Dragon from before, standing on all fours with bright eyes, light and cheerful, clearly still an immature little fellow.
"They deserved a beating in the first place."
After fooling around for a while, they gathered together again.
"We Chrome Dragons may enjoy doing bad things too, but we do our mischief openly and aboveboard."
Moqi said, "Nickel Dragons are different. Those guys have two faces. They say one thing and do another in public, then show a different face behind everyone's backs. At first, they even sweet-talked me into playing with them and made a fool out of me too."
As he spoke, he even gave a self-righteous snort, as though Ferrum had been venting his anger for him. To him, the Nickel Dragons seemed even more hateful than Leijieduolei, who had beaten him up.
Moqi did not care in the slightest about that slaughter, but In Tas was different.
Even though Ferrum had returned to how he had been before, the Thunderclap Dragon still looked hesitant, continually recalling the scene in the Shattered Stone Grounds.
Ferrum lay beside In Tas, licking the wounds on his body. Seeing the Thunderclap Dragon's expression, he knew that something had troubled him.
"Do you think I shouldn't have done that?" Ferrum asked calmly.
"I..."
In Tas hesitated. He hated the Nickel Dragons too. Ferrum giving them a lesson should have made him feel satisfied.
But for some reason, after watching that scene just now, he felt as though something were lodged in his heart. He had something he wanted to say, yet could not say anything at all.
"You think it went too far?"
Ferrum seemed thoughtful as he softly asked, "Was it a little too bloody?"
In Tas thought for a while, then settled on what was troubling him and nodded.
Those scenes in the Shattered Stone Grounds had indeed left quite an impact on a Lesser Dragon who had only just been born.
Usually, when Dragon Hatchlings fought, they could be savage and vicious too, with heads cracked and blood flowing. But no one was like Ferrum, casually tearing off a hatchling's membrane wings, cutting off its claws, even gouging out a piece of its skull.
That kind of coldness and brutality made one's whole body shudder, even from far away, even without experiencing it firsthand.
"It wasn't excessive at all."
Moqi came closer and calmly explained, "It only looked a little bloody. It's not as if he really did anything to them. In this world, there are only dragons with damaged minds, never dragons with damaged bodies. Broken wings and severed claws will grow back after a while. Maybe they'll even grow back tougher."
He truly did not care at all. No matter his personality, Moqi was, in the end, still a Chrome Dragon.
Even if there was no predetermined good or evil, shaped by the knowledge and memories within his inheritance, Moqi still retained a cold, ruthless undertone in his heart. His stance was entirely the same as Ferrum's.
"Let me explain."
Ferrum stopped Moqi and turned toward In Tas.
Chrome Dragons could understand Chrome Dragons, but Thunderclap Dragons were different. Ferrum knew that In Tas was still a child, easily confused and troubled, and that he ought to explain things to him.
If he never explained his actions, showed no concern for the Thunderclap Dragon's thoughts, and simply ignored everything and let things drift as they pleased, then they would only be companions in name. In private, he would be treating the Thunderclap Dragon as a subordinate, as a tool.
Ferrum could not do such a thing.
"I can't read minds, so you still need to speak first. Starting with those words about it being bloody and excessive, In Tas, whatever is on your mind, you can say it."
Ferrum looked calmly at the Thunderclap Dragon. "Don't worry if you're clumsy with words. If you can't explain it clearly, just speak slowly. We're companions. There's nothing we can't say. Besides, it's already done. From here on, we're just chatting nonsense."
"I think..."
In Tas organized his words. "I hate what the Nickel Dragons did too. Going to the Shattered Stone Grounds to teach them a lesson was right. It could also show our attitude, draw a clear line, and give them a warning afterward. Those were all good things."
"But... Ferrum."
His tone quickened slightly. "Why did you have to tear off their membrane wings, cut off their claws, and even gouge out pieces of their skulls? That was much fiercer than I imagined, even a little... brutal."
"What's brutal about that? We Chrome Dragons aren't like those enormous Iron Dragons and Cobalt Dragons. We're only so big, and we only have so much strength. We can't fight like Iron Dragons do, knocking enemies flying, dragging them around, grabbing, swatting, and smashing them down. We don't have that kind of ability, understand?"
Moqi leaned in again, clicking his tongue. "Ferrum is the best Chrome Dragon. This is how we fight: cutting and piercing. Didn't Hidorivi end up miserable after that fight too? I heard Jelierion was furious to death, but in the end, the Iron Dragon didn't say anything."
"Let me explain."
Ferrum was truly a little helpless. He grabbed Moqi by the horn and pulled his head to one side. "I just defeated many with few and am exhausted beyond measure. Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could eat a few Stone Crabs right now?"
"You thrashed around in the water just now and scared away every Stone Crab. If you want to catch some now, you'll have to dive deeper."
Moqi moved his body about. "Is it time for me to display my secret art again? How many do you want to eat?"
"Five Nickel Dragons, five crabs."
"A quarter of an hour."
Without the slightest hesitation, Moqi leapt into the water with a plop.
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