Zijin's Challenge

"Wow, this is so much bigger than the previous ship!" a young Silver Dragon couldn't help but exclaim.

"This deck is so spacious! We could even roll around on it," another dragon whispered in agreement, its eyes filled with wonder.

The Silver Dragon dragons continued to descend, landing one after another. Su Ming stood on the deck, looking up at these enormous, sky-covering figures as they slowly descended onto the aft deck area.

If these dragons are coming to attack, what weapons should be used to fight them off? Unconsciously, Su Ming began to think on a tactical level.

Even ignoring the slender Dragon Tail, the Silver Dragon's massive 20-meter-long body is incredibly imposing when observed at such close range. Its height even surpasses that of the full-size Gundam models Su Ming has ever seen on Earth.

As one silver behemoth after another landed, the Pansy's waterline visibly sank, and the ship tilted to some extent. Su Ming immediately unfolded his tablet, glanced at the real-time data from the sensors, and discovered that the ship's displacement had actually increased by 900 tons!

Fortunately, the Pansy is currently not fully loaded, and its buoyancy reserves are still sufficient.

"Bridge, adjust the ballast tanks to maintain longitudinal balance!" Su Ming pressed the communicator button and issued the command.

"Receive!"

The expanded flight deck could barely accommodate this enormous group of visitors. Su Ming looked at the aft deck, which was almost completely filled with silver behemoths, and couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.

Su Ming wondered to himself how the Temple of Light's 5,000-ton Jade Sea and Tang Valley managed to cram all those dragons inside.

****

Stacy patted the scales on Yin'er's back heavily and then lightly jumped off the dragon's back.

She walked towards Su Ming and Zijin, and as she passed them, she lowered her voice and said quickly, "Yinfei is suspicious. We'd better keep these Silver Dragon under our noses."

The three exchanged glances and nodded slightly.

Because she had been among the dragons, Stacy found it inconvenient to communicate with Su Ming via communication. Furthermore, the Silver Dragon ' hearing and senses were extremely acute, making it difficult to ensure the privacy of their communications.

It was the unicorn Qiluo, after entering the effective range of the spell, quietly established a mental connection, allowing her to tell Su Ming and Zige what she had learned on Shining Island.

Feeling uncomfortable from looking up for so long, Su Ming simply unfolded his "Gossamer Wings of Darkness," causing his body to float into the air and rise to a height where he could see the dragon at eye level.

"Welcome, Wings of Order, to the Pansy." Su Ming greeted them, about to bow, but then hesitated, "[Zijin, what form of greeting should I use?]"

"I'll handle this." Zijin flew to Su Ming's side. "Yin'er, let's have a fight!" she said, full of fighting spirit.

"[--What kind of etiquette is this?]" Su Ming's mental connection was filled with helplessness.

Yin'er's enormous eyelids twitched. He had long heard that this Faerie Dragon lady had a fiery temper, but he never expected her to be so direct!

However, their initiative to visit was indeed because they had asked for a favor first. On the Pansy, there were many post-battle cleanup tasks, making it difficult to spare manpower specifically for transporting medicine.

The infected Silver Dragon were already restless and eager to come and get the medicine themselves.

Especially when Qiluo vividly described to the Silver Dragon that this huge ship had an equally enormous hot water boiler that could spew out enough boiling water for an entire dragon to take a comfortable bath, they could no longer contain themselves and urged Stacy to bring them here immediately.

In addition, there was another important reason. With the defeat of the Temple of Light fleet, their original supplies were cut off. If they were on land or in another season, they might have been able to find a way.

However, this place is already on the edge of the Arctic Circle, and the island's surface is covered with thick ice and snow, with no vegetation growing. The biological resources in the nearby waters are also extremely sparse and barren.

Even if the Silver Dragon were willing to endure the biting cold and dive into the icy waters to search, the meager catch they painstakingly obtained might not be enough to compensate for the exhaustion expended during the search.

Moreover, even someone with the sharpest senses would understand that soaking in highly saline seawater would only exacerbate their skin ulceration.

"I wonder what the meaning of Bay Owl's words is?" Yin'er replied calmly. Among dragons, a challenge is not considered impolite, but the reasons and rules need to be clearly defined.

Force is one of the principles recognized by the Dragon Race.

"You've been used as pawns by the Temple of Light, severely squeezing our strategic space. How are you going to settle this score?" Zijin questioned bluntly.

Although the Silver Dragon Guard ultimately did not launch an attack, their presence was like a sword of Damocles, bringing many restrictions and inconveniences to their own tactics and strategies.

Moreover, the "Rainbow Two" drone and the sea-skimming Hawk Chicken missile were shot down by them.

"The responsibility does not lie with us," Yin'er replied crisply. "Our mission was to uphold the spirit of mutual assistance among the Dragon Race. The mishaps were all due to Elder Yinfei's misleading information, and she should bear the responsibility."

Su Ming was quite surprised by the swift and clear severance he had made from Elder Yinfei. He quickly glanced at the expressions of the other Silver Dragon around him and found that they showed no surprise or opposition to Yin'er's statement.

[Silver Dragon, isn't he on their elder's side?] he asked immediately.

[Dragons are few in number, so their internal "clan" consciousness is not strong.] Zijin explained, [This incident was caused by a major error in the information provided by Yinfei. The Silver Dragon clan always judges the matter objectively, not the dragon itself, so there's no need for them to unconditionally protect her.]

[That's a good thing.] Su Ming silently agreed in his heart.

****

"Then may I ask, where exactly is Elder Yinfei Crimson Dragon now?" Zijin pressed.

Yin'er's massive head slowly shook, the silver scales on its neck shimmering like ripples. "We probably know less than you do." His tone carried a hint of helplessness and honesty.

Although this dragon appeared somewhat rigid due to his racial habits, his intelligence was by no means lacking. He had already keenly noticed the four captured ships floating in the surrounding waters, among which were the two magical warships that the Temple of Light was so proud of.

The fact that the Temple of Light suffered such a heavy loss in this battle suggests that while the opponent's strength was certainly a factor, they must also possess considerable skill in intelligence control and information manipulation.

"The virus that has infected us originated from you," Yin'er's deep, resonant voice rang out again, "And you have a duty to eradicate it completely!"

Zijin was silent for a moment, her brown eyes narrowed slightly, and then she Stacy a wink.

Stacy nodded and then began to coordinate and direct. A large number of trainees quickly sprang into action, using their Magic Power again to modify the structure of one corner of the deck, creating a shallow pool about twenty meters square. Another group of trainees began laying large hot water pipes from the boiler room to this temporary "medical area."

"These Silver Dragon seem quite reasonable," Su Ming said.

[Silver Dragon are mild-mannered and rigid, Blue Dragon are picky and fussy, Red Dragon are irritable and easily angered, Green Dragon are rebellious and eccentric, Gold Dragon are arrogant and conceited, and Faerie Dragon dragons are kind and gentle.] Zijin responded, summarizing the general characteristics of the various dragon races.

"Wait a minute!" Su Ming immediately complained, "Why are you using only derogatory terms for other dragon species besides the Faerie Dragon?"

So much for having a weak sense of clan division!

[Hmph!] Zige rolled her eyes at Su Ming. Speaking up for her clan, she was perfectly justified!

[Then why are all the ones who came this time Silver Dragon?] Su Ming immediately followed up with another question, [Isn't it because of Yinfei, which makes it easier to command its own kind?]

"[That's simply because the Silver Dragon are the most cold-resistant of all dragon species, besides the Blue Dragon,]" Zijin explained. "[The group that participated in the pursuit of us at sea wasn't theirs.]"

Meanwhile, Stacy had already begun to methodically arrange for the dragons to line up for treatment. The medical team operated powerful water guns, using high-pressure hot water to carefully wash away the dander and dirt accumulated in the crevices of the dragons' scales. Subsequently, another group of trainees used spray equipment to evenly spray diluted salicylic acid solution onto the affected areas, and for some areas with particularly severe symptoms, they applied a strong-smelling coal tar ointment.

"[Could we... use 470-degree superheated steam to fumigate their entire bodies?]" A glint suddenly appeared in Zijin's eyes. "[Maybe it could clear out the virus immediately—I could definitely write a pretty good paper!]"

Su Ming had noticed that ever since the group of Silver Dragon appeared, Zijin had been eager to try it out, her hands itching to get involved.

[You're pretending to write a paper, you just want an excuse to beat them up, right?] Su Ming said.

"Yes!" Zijin replied crisply. "Since they've come to my doorstep, of course I'll treat them well!"

****

The logistics team dragged out a large pile of ingredients from deep inside the ship's hold. Su Ming then summoned a giant square frying pan that was over ten meters long and wide.

A group of chefs immediately got to work, cooking an astonishing amount of seafood risotto on the deck.

Although he felt a pang of heartache seeing bags and bags of food being dumped, Su Ming was more curious about something else. "[Miao Xin, why were they able to provide a big pot immediately when I wished for it? Are these people Doraemon?]"

"That's just a common leaching tank used in factories," Miao Xin replied calmly. "The main difficulty is that the size you requested is too small; it took them quite a while to find it."

"Sure enough, I shouldn't have tried to guess the size of Industrial Cthulhu!" Su Ming sighed inwardly.

Watching the orderly and bustling scene of treatment and cooking on the deck, Yin'er's tense nerves finally relaxed, and a huge weight was lifted from his heart. Judging from this, the psoriasis problem that had been troubling the clan was clearly no longer a concern. Although food supplies remained a potential problem, if the Bone King and the Bay Owl were willing to lend a hand, it would no longer be an unsolvable problem.