Having left Dragonborn Village, Ed headed east into the sunlight.
After glancing at the time, which was calibrated based on the real world, Ed confirmed that it was 10:00 AM.
Thanks to the selfless sacrifice of that large group of rats last night, he will not need to eat for a long time to come.
This allows you to focus your energy on getting things done.
Having finished his conversation with the village chief, Ed had finalized his plans: he would meet the dragon and make a deal with it.
In his original world, negotiation was not Ed's forte, but after coming to this world, everything except combat required the art of language, which allowed Ed to grow rapidly with Little Green's help.
Unlike the heartless plant symbiote, the simple-minded Dragonborn, and the player who can be easily fooled, the following interactions will be the real test of Ed's growth during this period.
Upon reaching the foot of the barren mountain, Ed saw several Aberration corpses that had not yet completely decomposed.
Perhaps because the dragon lived in the mountains, none of these dead mounts were coveted by any carnivores, and they could only rot away here.
Ed was even more certain that these were the monsters that the bishop and his men had ridden.
Looking at the corpses, Ed suddenly felt a longing, a yearning that came from his left eye, from the Little Green that moved without wind.
You want... these things?
"Yes, just a little bit, like before."
"Like before?" Does that refer to when collecting those plant Aberration? He had thought Little Green could only collect plants, or at least plant-like biological samples, but now it seemed that wasn't the case. This might be related to his level increase...
Ed didn't think any further. Looking at the corpse, which was already emitting a foul odor, he transformed a finger into a vine and stretched it out, tearing off a small piece of flesh. A notification then appeared before his eyes:
[Genes collected: [ Many-Footed Hoofed Beast ]]
"Great name! It immediately tells you it's a rideable monster!"
He muttered to himself as he walked into the cave, and with a flick of his finger, a seed the size of a bean landed in the center of the pile of bones.
"I suspect you're being sarcastic, but I have no proof. Hey, take the fire away from me!"
Little Green wanted to argue, but seeing Ed gather the scattered Psionic Energy and complete the creation of the finger torch once again, she quickly became cautious.
Alone and accompanied by a tree, Ed slowly made his way forward, arriving at the deepest part of the cave, where he naturally saw the inscription:
[Offer your flesh and blood, and you will see my Lord.]
This time, however, Ed didn't try to take advantage of Little Green, because the sampler-like device was too large; even if he plucked Little Green bald, it still wouldn't be able to fill it.
With no other option, Ed had to extend his Ignite arm, and after a moment of pulling, a lingering pain followed.
But this pain was nothing to Ed; tender green shoots soon emerged from the wound that pierced his palm, and then those shoots slowly turned the color of his skin.
Ignoring the pain in his hands, Ed pushed open the stone door in front of him and went inside.
The morning sunlight streamed through the cave at the top of the rocky mountain into the almost completely hollow cavern, then reflected off the gold coins, making it dazzling.
For a moment, Ed thought he had entered the Federal Reserve's underground vault.
Wow~
Two voices simultaneously echoed in Ed's mind, but thanks to his exceptional self-control, Ed didn't reveal any embarrassing flaws and quickly began to think:
The gold reserves here are clearly incomparable to those in his home world. Considering the high density of gold, Ed estimated that the gold coins in this cave alone would be enough to completely collapse the gold price in that other world.
Thinking of this, Ed suddenly felt somewhat relieved, because there was so much gold in this mountain alone, which meant that the precious metals in this world were either less valuable than those in the other world, or there were other powerful figures hidden outside of gold.
With such immense wealth, one wonders how many innocent humans the dragons here have slaughtered. It seems we must always remain vigilant against evil dragons, otherwise...
"Click."
Something shattered beneath Ed's feet. He looked down and saw a corner of a wooden sign peeking out from the ground, with some indistinct writing on it; the rest was mostly buried underground.
Ed instinctively tried to read the words, so he bent down and pulled out the chipped wooden sign.
Using the light reflected from the gold coins and Little Green's translation function, Ed began to read the text on the wooden sign:
[A century of reputation guaranteed, we sincerely accept all kinds of commissions:]
Fire Dragon Burns Warehouse - 5000 Gold Coins/time
Intercepting tax officials and governors - 10,000 gold coins/time
Kidnapping - 3000 gold coins/person + 20% of the total ransom (prices for royalty and royal family members are negotiable and do not include food expenses).
Money laundering - 1000 gold coins/time + 15% of the total amount in a single transaction (half of the deposit is required in advance)
Fool's Gold Refining and Processing - 1 gold coin/pound (includes labor cost only; materials must be provided by the customer or purchased separately)...
"..."
Ed admitted he shouldn't have viewed the yet-to-be-revealed dragon through the lens of stereotypes, but this...
While the world is always evolving, it's truly unexpected that the dragon had already pioneered a new path to wealth before the collapse of order.
Objectively speaking, compared to the traditional concepts of burning cities and providing foreign aid in war, these requests are clearly mild enough. After all, the other party is Red Dragon in a fantasy world, and it is unnecessary to demand too much of it by human standards.
Just as Ed was mentally ranting and raving, the surrounding light gradually dimmed, and a claw almost as tall as him shot into his line of sight like a drawn blade, then landed on the edge of the wooden plank in front of him.
Ed followed the claws and saw the dragon's claws covered in deep red scales, the dragon's head that blocked out most of the light, and the dragon's body that possessed an indescribable sense of power.
The owner of the treasure vault has awakened.
But instead of the expected exhale, Ed was drawn to a slow but rhythmic "tap-tap" sound.
He saw the dragon's claw, sharp as a sword, rhythmically striking the wooden board covered with otherworldly writing, much like the unintentional rhythmic tapping of a human's fingers while waiting.
A warm gust of wind carrying the smell of sulfuric acid swept in, Ed saw the huge, blackish-gold vertical pupil getting closer and closer to him, like a star falling from the sky.
Only when Ed could see his distorted reflection in those bulging eyeballs did a low, rumbling sound, like the friction of flint, finally occur:
"Human, what do you want with me?"