Is This Really a Hatchling?

"What on earth is going on?!" A hatchling stepped on the shattered rocks covering the ground, opened its sparkling eyes, and thrashed about in panic. Looking at the empty surroundings, a sense of panic mixed with a subtle state of mind completely filled Zheng Yichen's heart.

Looking at the shattered stones all over the ground and shaking the dust off his body, Zheng Yichen fell into a brief... contemplation. The shattered stones looked like they should be something like an eggshell, but who could explain what kind of oviparous creature popped out of a stone? The Monkey King?

No, no, the bigger problem was why he had appeared here, and even ended up in a fossilized egg? Could it be... did he transmigrate?

Feeling a slight itch on his back, Zheng Yichen couldn't help but move. A pair of rock-black wings completely unfurled from behind him, and lowering his head to look at his hands transformed into dual claws, he pulled back one of the unfolded wings on his back to inspect it—jet-black in color, with fine scales neatly arranged, the hue identical to that of the fossilized eggshell.

A dragon?

The hatchling, caught in a bizarre silence, simply lay down flat on the ground, staring with wide, vivid eyes at the rising morning sun. Regardless of anything else, what had happened had already happened, and in all sorts of senses, it felt... not too bad?

Anyway, let's sleep first; if it was a dream, he would wake up quickly, and if it wasn't a dream, he would accept reality.

Waking up from his sleep, the sun that had risen earlier was already beginning to set. Looking at that pair of claws that still weren't human hands, Zheng Yichen completely accepted his transformation. Patting his belly, a faint feeling of hunger filled his mind—which made sense, since after all he was a newly hatched cub, and of course he would be hungry if he hadn't eaten anything. Not only that, but who knew which irresponsible parents had abandoned this hatchling in such a desolate place.

His gaze inadvertently drifted to some fragments on the ground; these fragments were the "eggshell" left behind after Zheng Yichen had hatched. Staring at this fossilized eggshell, his desire to feed grew increasingly intense.

Whatever, as long as something could generate an appetite, it didn't matter even if it was a stone.

The crunching sound of chewing echoed in the dark night...

"Stay alert, that despicable dragon is nearby!" A middle-aged man carrying a greatsword and wearing mercenary gear vigilantly scanned his surroundings.

"Ugh, Uncle Sander, you don't need to be so nervous, right? That dragon hasn't hurt anyone so far anyway." A young man following the middle-aged man said somewhat casually. Compared to Sander's battle-hardened physique, the young man had fair and tender skin. Aside from a few other guards, several other young men and women were the same. "You just need to lead the way."

Useless teammates... Looking at the casual demeanor of these noble scions, Sander's heart was filled with powerlessness. How was one supposed to lead teammates like this? That dragon indeed hadn't hurt anyone so far, and precisely because of that, over time, the boldness of some youths had gradually grown.

Especially for these noble scions, if they could catch a glimpse of a dragon, that would be enough for them to boast endlessly to their peers at the academy.

It was just that the information these noble scions had obtained didn't seem very thorough when they posted the bounty at the guild; while that dragon hadn't harmed anyone, it robbed people!

Hatchlings were always looked after by mother dragons, and before this hatchling actively harmed anyone, many people turned a blind eye. If one started a fight for no reason, they would first have to answer to its mother—dragons in this world belonged to the very top of the food chain, and while dragon slayers existed, far more were the ones who got slain.

So a mischievous hatchling with no intent to harm was just left to do as it pleased. As for the robbery? They could just consider it the admission ticket to a zoo, and incidentally let those bold youths understand what true reality was.

Not only that, but years of mercenary life made Sander feel a creeping sense of being watched the moment he entered this forest near the Tot Mountains. A powerful creature was already eyeing them; no small animals were moving about nearby, and not even a single bug could be seen—what existence was eyeing them was already self-evident!

Even a hatchling possessed the coercion of a superior predator... commonly known as Dragon Aura!

Whatever, anyway, when he came here this time, he had anticipated all of this long ago and deposited all his valuables. The most valuable thing on him was just this greatsword, and considering the reward for this trip, losing a greatsword was acceptable.

Thinking of all this, Sander's vigilance naturally relaxed a bit. At that exact instant, a vine noose suddenly darted out from the woods, snaring him and hoisting him up.

"The despicable evil dragon that uses traps has appeared!!" Compared to Sander's predicament, those young men and women showed much more excitement.

A bunch of idiots... The hoisted Sander slightly opened his mouth. Do you really think giant dragons aren't dragons? Saying it's a despicable evil dragon right to its face basically covers the entire spectrum of insults toward that hatchling, and even its mother might hear it. Are you in that much of a hurry to die!?

A massive black shadow parted the obstructing trees and walked out, carrying the coercion of a high-ranking predator. Bright dragon eyes stared at those young men and women who were now rendered speechless, and two young girls couldn't withstand the pressure and simply sat down on the ground, their ultra-sharp dragon vision allowing Zheng Yichen to see the faint wet stains multiplying on their lightweight skirt armor.

The hoisted Sander's pupils slightly contracted. He stared in astonishment at this giant dragon that looked like a black dragon; it seemed that compared to two months ago, this hatchling's size had grown by several circles, almost catching up to some juvenile dragons. Do dragons grow this fast!?

"Stupid humans!!" He always felt that roaring like this at the start had a great vibe.

"..."

"San... Uncle Sander, is this Dragon Language?" The one among the three girls who hadn't been scared into sitting on the ground asked the hoisted Sander with a slight tremor all over, her gaze filled with pleading.

Sander shook his head. He was just an ordinary mercenary; how could he possibly know what Dragon Language was? Regardless of whether it was or not, they simply couldn't understand what this dragon was saying. Didn't dragons only seem capable of speaking after leaving their infancy? Was this thing in front of them really a hatchling?

"You guys... whatever." He extended a claw to flick away a guard's longsword, pointed at the ground beside them, grabbed a girl by the collar, and hauled her up. Amidst her screams, his other claw casually swiped across her, causing all the valuable items on the girl to drop to the ground. Zheng Yichen continued speaking in the Chinese they couldn't understand, "Now is robbery time..."