They gave themselves away! Those two really were behind this

He gathered strength in his hind legs and jumped!

He had barely left the ground, his wings not yet unfurled, when the rushing water engulfed him.

Glug, glug~!

On the riverbank, the hatchlings slowly lowered their claws and stretched their necks, watching the emerald figure swept into the deep pit by the rushing current.

All the hatchlings watched in silence.

The rushing water spun Green Hatchling around several times in the whirlpool. As the water accumulated, he gradually disappeared beneath the surface.

After roughly seven or eight minutes, the water in the pit rose to its highest level.

[Splash~!]

An emerald claw reached out of the river and onto the bank.

Agatha felt relieved when she saw that claw emerge from the water.

Although she knew being washed away by the current would never hurt Chaos, she still couldn't help worrying a little.

Fortunately, he seemed fine now.

He climbed onto the bank with a fish over a meter long in his mouth.

Chaos looked around.

Quite a few hatchlings lay on the bank, and many were watching him.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

A tall, crimson figure appeared before him. It was the big little girl.

Chaos shook his head, and the fish in his Dragon Jaws immediately began thrashing its tail.

He had gradually grown accustomed to the big little girl's inexplicable concern.

"Why didn't you call me?"

"We did, but the soil collapsed too quickly."

He believed her, but... there had to be more to it.

Some sneaky little troublemaker must have been up to something.

His gaze swept around. These hatchlings had already formed groups, which was clear from where they gathered.

Blue, blue, black, green.

Green, black.

Red, black, green.

Blue, blue, black.

That was roughly how things stood.

Chaos fixed his gaze on the green and black hatchlings gathered together.

Two familiar dragons: Green Dazed and the black coal ball.

He even remembered their names: Loya and An.

His gaze settled on the two hatchlings.

An, the black coal ball, showed no reaction, meeting his gaze expressionlessly.

But Green Dazed beside her was another story.

Loya shrank her neck back. This nasty fellow was pretty perceptive.

Was the nasty fellow planning to get revenge?

Her claws shuffled as she slowly turned around, pointing her rear at Green Hatchling.

They gave themselves away! Those two really were behind this!

Fine, fine, fine. I'll remember this. Just you two wait.

He silently added this offense to his mental ledger.

But now wasn't the time for revenge.

He walked over to the channel entrance beside the large pit on the riverbank and stopped, carrying the not-quite-dead fish, whose tail still flicked occasionally.

The pit had nearly filled with water, and the channel was gradually calming down.

With a thought, an emerald casting ring unfolded before his head.

Emerald motes fell onto the ground.

[Crack, crack, crack~]

Three emerald vines broke through the soil, each with an emerald eyeball growing at its tip.

With another thought, he sent the three vines stretching down into the channel entrance.

Three underwater views appeared in his mind at once.

He controlled the three vines, hiding them at the very bottom of the channel, one each on the left, in the middle, and on the right.

Done. Now all I have to do is wait for little fish and shrimp to enter the pit to feed.

As for bait, the green plants in the pit were the best bait of all.

"Is there anything else we need to do?"

"No. Let's wait a while first."

After answering the big little girl, Chaos walked toward the crab shell a short distance ahead.

White Chubby was still asleep. He needed to wake her up. It would soon be time to hunt, and time for White Chubby to pull her weight.

[Rustle~]

After taking two steps, Chaos heard footsteps behind him. He glanced back out of the corner of his eye. Agatha had followed him.

Whatever. Never mind her.

He kept walking. When he reached the crab shell, he bent his hind legs, gathered strength, and leaped easily onto the shell, which stood over two meters high.

Inside the crab shell, White Chubby was sleeping soundly, sprawled on her back with her round belly and round Dragon Jaws pointing upward, her big pink tongue showing. She slept like the dead.

[Slap, slap~]

The fish in his mouth started thrashing again.

This fish still isn't dead.

Wait...

Looking at the deeply sleeping White Chubby, Chaos suddenly had a good idea.

His Dragon Jaws opened, dropping the fish onto the crab shell. Before it could flop more than twice, a Green Dragon claw pinned its head down.

His sharp claw tips easily pierced the fish's head.

Perhaps sensing the pain, the fish began whipping its tail back and forth as though someone had fitted it with a motor.

Looking at the fish beneath his claw, Chaos grinned, glancing sideways at White Chubby, who was still snoring away.

He brought his claw close to White Chubby's head.

Slap, slap, slap~!

The fish's tail slapped wildly against her round head, striking hard enough to knock it from side to side.

Even this won't wake her?

Seeing White Chubby still sleeping soundly under the fish tail's assault, Chaos silently applied more force, driving his claws deeper into the fish's head.

The pain made the fish's tail thrash even faster.

"Humph-da!"

An angry, childish roar rang out. Her white Dragon Jaws opened, and in one bite she tore off the rear portion of the fish, tail and all.

He stared in astonishment at the fish, which had lost nearly a third of its body in an instant.

Then he looked at White Chubby before him, who stared blankly back with her glistening white slit pupils.

Chaos: ...

What a loss!

His emerald slit pupils narrowed. Without a moment's windup, he raised his claw and smacked White Chubby's round forehead.

The blow knocked White Chubby away.

Knocked flat onto the ground, White Chubby tasted the fragrant fish in her mouth. Her throat instinctively worked, and that movement made her swallow it all in an instant.

So fragrant. So delicious.

She propped herself up and brought her round head close to the Green Dragon's.

Nuzzle, nuzzle.

Chaos stretched out a claw and shoved the shameless White Chubby away in disgust.

If he had to do it again, he would definitely wake White Chubby with a smack of his claw.

White Chubby gazed at him longingly. That look clearly meant she wanted more to eat.

"There's no more. If you want food, get up and follow me."

"Humph-da~!"

White Chubby stretched her head forward to nuzzle him, but this time she met nothing. She lost her balance and fell to the ground.

Glancing sideways at White Chubby sprawled on the crab shell, he kept walking to its edge and leaped straight off.

White Chubby pushed herself up from the crab shell and hurried after him.

Lying beneath the empty crab shell, Agatha raised her head and watched Chaos land without saying anything.

But a white figure soon appeared in her field of vision again.

It was that White Hatchling.

White Hatchling slid off the edge of the crab shell. She had clearly tried to brake but failed, and her round body rolled across the ground several times before stopping.

What a dummy.

Agatha had no idea why Chaos had chosen this White Hatchling as an ally.

Naturally, she had noticed the hatchlings forming groups, but she had no need for that.

Partly because of her strength, and partly...