Dragon Clan

"Hahahahaha..."

Just as the deity's words fell like a sentence of judgment, the Golden Dragon lying at his feet coughed up blood and laughed!

Every bone and sinew in Gilgamesh's body had been broken, leaving him utterly powerless to resist.

Yet his bearing was nothing like that of a defeated man. He was still that supremely proud king, the King of Uruk who reigned over all beneath heaven.

"Sun God, I acknowledge your strength. You are more like a God King than that useless God King Ur hiding away in the Divine Court."

Jiang Yang's golden eyes turned cold. He raised his foot and stamped down lightly on Gilgamesh's head.

"Gilgamesh, do not insult the God King. He nurtured you and was your guardian. Without him, without the Gods, you would have perished in the wilderness before you ever grew."

Not far away, Enkidu watched the golden dragon king bleeding profusely beneath the deity's foot, his heart wracked with pain. He dared not imagine what humiliation his ever-proud king was enduring now.

All the Golden Humans around them lay prostrate on the ground. They were terrified.

Casting a glance around him, the radiant deity continued.

"Those ferocious beasts, those evil monsters-which of them was not driven away for you by the Gods? Was this peaceful paradise not carved out for you by the Gods? Gilgamesh, surrender and come with me to the Divine Court to beg the God King's forgiveness!"

Hearing this, the golden dragon's head, which had just been stamped into the dirt, rose high once more in defiance.

He threw back his head and laughed long and loud, utterly disregarding the blood streaming from his gravely wounded body.

"I am a king! What king in this world bows his head? As for the Gods nurturing us, that is indeed true. But you Gods on high have never respected us. You merely treat us as cattle and sheep to be herded!"

Hearing these words, Jiang Yang froze.

Indeed, the New Humans were finished products cultivated through technology, using human genes selected from the gene bank for having undergone relatively little mutation under the apocalypse's influence, and then placed upon the barren earth.

At first, they had been ignorant and bewildered, and could only be taught by humans.

Even though a thousand years had passed, they had continued to reproduce, and that first generation of technologically created New Humans had long since died, most people of the old civilization no longer regarded them as equals.

They were indeed cattle and sheep, living beings created by humans.

And those who had once been humans had long since come to regard themselves as Gods on high.

Jiang Yang had only just awakened from his slumber, and had not yet had time to change his view of the Golden Humans.

But a thousand years had indeed passed, changing much.

Yet after a moment of distraction, his resolve firmed. He, too, was now a "God"!

He lowered his head, looking coldly into Gilgamesh's slit pupils with his golden eyes, and said icily.

"But we were the ones who won this great land for you!"

"So what? We are people, not cattle and sheep penned up by you! I, Gilgamesh, was born a king, and I will never submit!"

Gilgamesh raised his proud head, his eyes filled with determination.

Just then, a streak of light appeared in the distance, arriving beside Jiang Yang in an instant and taking the form of a tall, powerfully built middle-aged man.

It was God King Mar.

He looked with a sigh at the golden dragon king beneath Jiang Yang's foot and tried to persuade him.

"Gil, your mother was once a dear friend of mine, even though her talent was poor and she ultimately died when her lifespan ran out. But the blood of us Gods still flows in your veins. You can be one of us."

"No! I am the Human King, not a demigod! Besides, you Gods should also be ruled by the Human King! Hahahaha!"

The Golden Dragon roared. Golden light flickered over his enormous body as he transformed into a young man kneeling on one knee.

He had golden hair and red eyes, and his face bore an arrogant smile.

"Mar, look at me from head to toe. What part of me resembles you? I am human! And I would scorn to be a God!"

"I once heard murmured whispers in a dream. You are the dying embers of an old age, and should have long since vanished into the dust, rather than proclaiming yourselves Gods before people as you do now!"

"What?!"

Jiang Yang and Mar exchanged a glance, both frowning. They had never told any Golden Human these things. Even among those of mixed blood, their Old Human parents would never say such things.

Could there be other transcendent beings on Earth now? Or had that alien civilization never left?

"Gilgamesh, you should beg the God King's forgiveness, not spout madness and rebel against the Divine Court. Do you want to die?"

Jiang Yang stepped forward, his brilliant, dazzling aura surging upward, his boundless majesty like a God descending into the mortal world!

Yet Gilgamesh felt no fear, and laughed wildly once more.

"I never expected to be defeated by you today. But even in defeat, I will not surrender. Hahahahaha! I am the Golden King. Today, let me bestow every last drop of my blood upon my people!"

Having said this, to Jiang Yang and Mar's astonishment.

He once again exhausted the last of his strength to transform into that immense Golden Dragon, resplendent with golden light and magnificent beyond compare.

Then, with a sudden bang, his body turned into golden light that filled the sky, shining upon the Golden Humans who had just been drenched in his golden blood.

Soon, an inexplicable change occurred. All the Golden Humans drenched in golden blood let out agonized wails.

Their bodies began to swell, transforming into enormous winged creatures-smaller versions of the Golden Dragon, each about ten meters long.

Their colors differed, but all had the Golden Dragon's form.

The strongest among them, Enkidu, who had been closest to Gilgamesh, transformed into a green dragon nearly thirty meters long.

They all had imposing golden slit pupils and carried traces of a king's majestic aura. They were no longer Golden Humans.

With his blood, Gilgamesh had created a new race.

Perhaps they could be called the Dragon Clan!

"So this is what the emperor-rank second step can accomplish?"

Jiang Yang looked at the scene before him and sighed.

Gilgamesh, what a pity.

In the city, the white-clad man who had been watching all along reflexively adjusted his glasses and murmured to himself, "So this is how the dragons of myth were born."

Watching myth unfold before her eyes, the black-haired girl recited softly, as though entranced:

"An immortal epic passed down through the ages. In the most ancient era, the Gods ruled the world. The king refused to bow, and the Sun God took up his sword to fight, quelling him in a single battle!"

After a moment of silence, the white-clad man in glasses came back to his senses and spoke calmly.

"Let's go. We need to summon Gilgamesh's Heroic Spirit. We mustn't let him dissipate."

"Mm."