New Arrivals (Part 1)

Wind swept in from afar, bowing the rolling meadows.

This was a gently sloping land with no ruler, brimming with vigorous life beneath the sun. Green wild grass grew with reckless abandon, deep enough to nearly submerge a Hatchling Dragon's back.

Two figures, one before and one behind, charged wildly down the grassy slope. Rust-red flowers scattered beneath their feet, rising and falling in a fluttering spray.

The fleeing creature was an angular rock antelope. Few things in nature were swifter than a rock antelope, and this angular rock antelope was an aberrant breed among its kind—larger and stronger than ordinary rock antelopes. When its hind legs kicked out, they could shatter solid stone.

Yet its pursuer was a dragon, a race not known for speed. The Hatchling Dragon howled as he raced forward, his scales reflecting a cold silver gleam. Muscles rippled beneath his hide like waves, and he was like a blade of light sweeping sideways, cleaving through the untamed wilderness.

The two repeatedly changed direction at tremendous speed, crossing the meadow in the blink of an eye. Mountains rose abruptly from the earth, their upper reaches layered with interlocking bare rocks that climbed along the ridgeline toward snow-covered peaks.

The angular rock antelope suddenly leaped toward the bare rock.

This was its stage. Its rear hoof struck the rock hard, sending shattered stones flying. Borrowing the force, the antelope sprang upward, rising a full meter through the air before landing steadily on a narrow ledge above. On a nearly vertical cliff face, it leaped and bounded with effortless freedom.

After climbing through repeated leaps, the antelope believed it had shaken off its hunter. Its slender, soft ears twitched, and it turned to look down.

The Hatchling Dragon was right behind it!

The silver figure skimmed tightly along the rock face, all four claws dug deep into stone as he closed in with unimaginable speed.

If the rock antelope could leap freely across sheer cliffs, then the Hatchling Dragon simply walked upon level ground, as though the pull of the earth had no effect on him.

Great terror appeared in the antelope's eyes, but it had no time to flee.

The Hatchling Dragon twisted through the air in a sharp arc. Teeth and claws descended, carrying the heavy beast's body with him as he leaped down to the mountainside, where a rushing, roaring stream valley lay ahead.

The antelope still struggled, its four hooves flailing as it kicked futilely.

Xilong showed no mercy. His clawed toes pinned down its back while his fangs tightened inch by inch, drawing the fresh, sweet blood into his mouth until its struggles ceased completely.

He could naturally have swept the rock antelope away with his breath weapon, but even while traveling, Xilong adhered to his daily training without fail. To make such intense exercise more enjoyable, he preferred this kind of racing hunt to simply killing prey with his breath weapon.

The potential Mithril had provided would only last half a year. To him, not a second could be wasted.

The journey had reached its end. Xilong skinned the antelope's pelt and set it aside, slowly chewing the meat while raising his eyes to examine the scene ahead.

The sky was a washed blue, and snow mountains towered into the clouds. Midway up their slopes, melting ice armor fed streams and waterfalls that plunged down the mountainsides, gathering into a vast lake. Its waters were deep green-blue and clear almost to transparency, while rust-red flowers bloomed all the way to the horizon.

"Snow mountains!"

Moqi, who had followed him here, let out a cheer. Chrome Dragons especially loved the cold and held glaciers and snow mountains dear. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could build our nest atop one of those snowy peaks?"

After a while, the Cobalt Dragon also walked over step by step, and he was surprisingly not that slow.

"It's a good place."

Kelaili sniffed the crisp air, his eyes equally bright. "Why isn't it as desolate as you said?"

The Hatchling Dragons had only just escaped the Great Dragon's control. They were far from the point of longing for the past. Throwing themselves headfirst into their new lives, everything before their eyes felt fresh and wondrous. They were free and at ease; heaven and earth were vast, and the future was full of promise.

All along the way, these little villains had extorted every clan they encountered for supplies, raced across the broad wilderness, climbed the highest mountains and jumped down from them, then plunged into freezing, turbulent rivers for a swim...

To mortals, it would have been an utterly exhausting journey. For Hatchling Dragons, it was just enough to vent their boundless energy.

Unfortunately, there were no female dragons accompanying them on the journey. The Hatchling Dragons only cared about hunting, pouncing, destruction, and mischief. Otherwise, simply recording the growth of their feelings would have been enough to make a storybook of its own.

"The scenery really is beautiful."

Xilong nodded. "But the desolation I spoke of is desolation in the eyes of a dragon lord. Windsong Plateau's resources have long been squeezed dry. Its coal and mineral veins have been exhausted, and even the stone and timber it can produce are far inferior in quality to Gray Mountain Black Lake. Besides..."

Standing halfway up the mountain, Xilong looked around. "There are no settlements in sight."

Windsong Plateau possessed unique scenery, but it was not a highland meadow in the traditional sense. The land resembled shattered stone split apart by a giant axe, with chunks hanging amid the mountains and facing one another across ravines and cliffs. Even herding livestock became difficult as a result.

Dragons possessed exceptional vision, yet after looking across layer upon layer of mountains, they saw no clan villages. There were only the occasional lonely wooden huts, like grass growing from cracks between stones, each taking root on its own. There were few signs of intelligent life.

The Nickel Dragon descended, beating his membranous wings.

Heavy-Metal Dragons awakened their magic slowly. Even after entering the Hatchling Dragon stage, only Bido, as a small dragon species, was currently able to glide for short distances.

"Well?"

Kelaili glanced at the landing Nickel Dragon and asked.

Bido folded his membranous wings. Not only did he fail to answer Kelaili, he did not speak to Xilong either. He simply took out the parchment roll from beneath his neck, spread it across the ground, and squinted as he examined it.

It was a hand-drawn map of Windsong Plateau. The date marked at the bottom was the year 8139—ten years earlier, during Lord Zehn's rule. When it had been made, the young dragons had not yet been born.

After studying it for a while, Bido quickly crawled over to the remains of the antelope Xilong had eaten. He dipped his hooked claws in its blood, carefully compared the map against his memory, then began smearing and drawing.

After quite some time, the Nickel Dragon finally let out a long, stifled breath. The serious expression faded from his face, and that smug look, tinged with a touch of arrogance, surfaced once more.

"Boss Xilong."

His tone was bright and spirited as he said to the waiting Chrome Dragon beside him, "The eastern region is roughly like this. I haven't looked at the west yet. As you said, we'll first make a usable terrain map. Once we settle down and build our nests, I'll find a good piece of hide and redraw it carefully from scratch."

Back when Bido had become enemies with Xilong and been taught a lesson that stripped him to the bone, he appeared respectful and fearful on the surface, but no one could say what he truly thought inside.

To keep hatred from festering over the long years and prevent future trouble, Xilong had simply forced the fellow to remain at his side, keeping him under his nose and under control.

Now, it seemed that decision had undoubtedly been correct.

Throughout this journey, Xilong had focused on improving himself, Moqi had been lazy, and Kelaili had been slow, so almost all the intelligence gathering and clan negotiations had been handled by Bido. The Nickel Dragon always had his own selfish motives and would pocket a few copper coins whenever he could, but he had always kept within proper bounds.

So Xilong did not hold it against him.

"I know the red dots you marked indicate signs of intelligent life. They appear to be scattered settlements. Didn't you find any large settlements?"

Xilong looked at the map and asked quietly.

Heavy-Metal Dragons conquered land in a blunt and brutal manner: first find the largest local settlement, seize control through violence, force the tribal leader to bow his head, and everything afterward would naturally fall into place.

"Not yet. Perhaps this is how the mountain clans avoid the Lineage's rule."

Bido shook his head, still looking at the map. "Although we haven't found any large settlements, now that we've drawn the map, we can still see some clues."

"The main clans in the eastern region are Mountain Goblins and Cave Dwellers. Boss Xilong, look."

He pointed here and there. "The Cave Dwellers are all south of the stream valley, while the Mountain Goblins are in the north and range over a wider area. But even after crossing the river, they merely brush past the Cave Dwellers. They do not live together, as though deliberately avoiding each other."

"There is a faint boundary between the Cave Dwellers and the Mountain Goblins." Kelaili lowered his head to look, his voice deep and muffled.

"The Overlord is right."

The Nickel Dragon called Kelaili Overlord as well. Over the years, as the little group kept calling him that, Cobalt-Blue Overlord had ceased to be a title and become Kelaili's nickname. In the end, everyone called him Overlord as casually as they called Bido "Black Spot."

Bido judged, "That means they should still be organized. We've only just arrived, so we can't see it clearly for now."