Inspection

The following morning, as dawn broke, nearly a hundred enormous dragons of various shapes and sizes gathered in the "Central Court".

Although the official sign here reads "Central Administrative Center," the dragons still refer to it as "Central Court," following their custom of naming the Dragon Court.

The reforms to the administrative structure and the establishment of channels for issuing government orders are finally showing initial results. The emergency notice issued last night led to such a large-scale gathering this morning.

For dragons, whose sleep duration is generally long, it is truly remarkable that they can complete the summoning and respond in such a short time.

Zijin led this massive dragon army and quickly flew to the nearby Ruby Base.

In the central plaza of the base, Su Ming and Bowers had gathered about two hundred Final Bone Mad Machines and were explaining the mission details.

"Alright." Su Ming clapped his hands and commanded, "Two people per group, each group following one of the dragons, let's go!"

The necromancers quickly took to the air and paired up with the dragon. Then, the mixed force formed a wide fan-shaped formation and flew towards the vast area between Ruby Base and Dragon Gorge Port.

According to the mission plan, they will conduct an investigation, targeting the illegally imported goblin weapons.

This operation presents two challenges.

Firstly, production and construction at the Ruby Base and the Celestite Hydropower Station are in full swing. The amount of supplies gathering daily from all parts of Dragon Valley is enormous for this world.

This includes, but is not limited to, food, various plant or mineral raw materials, and building materials. The number of livestock vehicles transporting livestock on the road is never less than 10,000.

This is still under the condition that Su Ming's electric transport vehicles have partially replaced traditional transportation capacity.

Secondly, there's the issue of the inspection itself. Despite knowing the packaging characteristics of the "contraband," these goblins could easily replace it. Moreover, the fact that a single box weighs 3 tons doesn't mean that each weapon inside actually weighs 3 tons—disassembling them and mixing them into ordinary cargo for safekeeping wouldn't be difficult.

The strategy agreed upon by Su Ming and Zijin was to conduct a thorough, comprehensive inspection of all vehicles on the roads in the area, as well as the goods in the storage facilities, leaving no vehicle or building unchecked. Although this method was laborious, it was undoubtedly an effective measure.

Fortunately, their current mobilization capacity is sufficient to support an operation of this scale.

The most troublesome part of these tasks is not the inspection itself, but the organization and coordination during the process, as well as marking the areas and vehicles being inspected. To this end, dozens of staff members in the rear are also involved in the work, using three Rainbow Drone that provide communication relay at high altitudes to fully direct and coordinate the movements of each team at the front.

The morning went smoothly, but the target object was not found.

However, the other achievements are remarkable.

Aside from a small amount of "lightly" prohibited goods, the most frequently seized items were imported "smuggled" goods without tax invoices. These goods, as always, bypassed customs at the port, but unexpectedly, they were caught in an unprecedented inspection in the Dragon Race territory.

Because the number of such violations far exceeded expectations, Zijin had to adjust the punishment standards, only requiring violators to pay the outstanding taxes and fees, plus a fine equal to the amount owed.

This approach of not burning "violationers" to ashes has drawn complaints from many dragons, and some have even started to engage in underhanded tactics.

"They're just committing economic crimes!" Zijin brandished her staff, slamming it hard against the head of a Blue Dragon with a loud thud. "You can't break their bones for that!"

"I—I just accidentally stepped on it during the search," the Blue Dragon stammered, trying to explain.

"Liar!" Zijin exposed him mercilessly, then smacked him again. "If it really was an accident," they should have been a pile of minced meat, not just a simple fracture!"

"I'll be more careful next time," the Blue Dragon immediately admitted its mistake.

In his view, this kind of "mistake" was so easily remedied!

"Tread on one and you'll be fined 10 gold coins!" Zijin understood his intentions perfectly well, and added coldly.

Blue Dragon immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, muttering under his breath, "I just wanted to teach the criminals a lesson so that it wouldn't happen again—"

"Don't think that you can eradicate illegal activities once and for all by using this method." Zijin opened the communication channel, her voice clearly reaching all the enforcers, "To truly curb these activities, we, the Dragon Clan, need to improve our own law enforcement standards and conduct meticulous, long-term supervision to change this trend!"

"It's like the Zijin is leading a bunch of giant babies," Bowers couldn't help but exclaim to Su Ming.

"That's already quite good," Su Ming said, his gaze sweeping over the massive figures who, though somewhat unwilling, were still diligently carrying out orders. "These dragons are much more obedient than we initially expected."

This is quite different from stereotypes. These dragons, regardless of age, do not seem to have much stubbornness in their bones. Over the long years, they have experienced too many shocks, such as waking up to find that the changes of those "little people" have been earth-shattering, not to mention the almost insane upheaval brought about by the Final Bone Mad Machines recently.

The number of topics they update in a single month exceeds that of the previous century.

Faced with such a rapidly changing tide, they really have no reason to be stubborn. Whatever you say goes!

In the afternoon, a group of dragons discovered a group of humans and goblins who were furtively dragging a large quantity of goods to the riverbank to soak and then dry them on the surface, intending to increase their weight upon delivery for profit.

Enraged by this act, the dragon flapped its wings violently, throwing the group into the water. By the time they were finally pulled ashore, four had already drowned.

"Four... that's alright." Su Ming looked at the corpses on the drone screen and genuinely thought it was quite good.

Perhaps we can reward these inspectors with some meat tonight as a sign of appreciation.

****

Botuni stood not far from the riverbank, coldly observing the scene unfolding in the river.

This group of greedy kin, accustomed to their usual cunning and scheming, were completely unprepared for the Dragon Society's investigation.

As originally planned, Botuni was to meet the caravan here and receive some of the supplies.

The caravan itself did not carry any contraband, only ordinary food and basic supplies, as resupply for the action team.

Unexpectedly, while waiting for Botuni and his party to arrive, these "diligent" compatriots were unwilling to waste a single second and came up with the idea of adding water to increase the weight.

Although they were mixed with goods intended for both humans and dragons.

In short, this unexpected incident means that the plan has fallen through!

However, for the action team, the lack of this supply was not an insurmountable problem.

A goblin, soaking wet and nimble in movement, quietly returned to Botuni's side and whispered, "They've all drowned!"

The caravan's leader and deputy leader, who knew a small part of the inside story, were a potential threat. Fortunately, the chaotic scene provided excellent cover, Botuni sent his men to silence them.

He nodded expressionlessly, no longer looking at the ravaged riverbank, turned and waved, leading his squad to continue towards their designated location.

Four days ago, the weapons successfully entered the country through Dragon Gorge Port. For security reasons, the technical personnel in charge of handling the weapons, led by Botuni, entered the country through another passage on the border of Dragon Valley, and will eventually meet at the ambush site.

The transportation team knew very little about the mission's secrets, only handling the logistics. However, the team personally led by Botuni, including himself, consisted of rigorously selected and determined professional soldiers.

Outsiders only know that goblins are cunning, but they often overlook the goblins' inherent pragmatism and strong sense of community.

These dragon neighbors, relying on their individual strength, had oppressed them for countless years.

This only ended after the goblins established a strategic advantage in alchemy.

The Gray Ridge Goblin Kingdom has never let up. Through unequal trade, secret economic infiltration, and even smuggling, they have continuously extracted various precious raw materials from Dragon Valley, striving to keep the dragon economy at a sluggish and primitive level, thereby ensuring that Gray Ridge's strategic advantage can be maintained.

Until the day comes when the gap in strength accumulates to the point where it can break through the barrier!

Therefore, if dragons were to also begin to form highly centralized state apparatuses and systematically develop manufacturing and various technologies—then the goblins could fully foresee the terrible fate that awaited them!

That's why this decapitation operation must succeed no matter what!

****

As the investigation continued, the total amount of taxes and fines collected had climbed to 40,000 gold coins. Although the windfall was substantial, the contraband weapons that were the target of this operation remained elusive.

Zijin rode her staff, surveying the sky high above. The setting sun painted the horizon a warm gold, and twilight spread across the sky like diluted ink.

She glanced at the time; it was already 5:30, so she simply gave the order to retreat.

"If only we had discovered the intelligence sooner," Zijin said through Su Ming's communicator. "Three whole days is enough time for those goblins to hide the goods over a very large area."

"Let's continue tomorrow during the day," Su Ming's voice came through. "Our large-scale inspection has certainly greatly reduced their room for maneuver."

Zijin pondered for a moment, "I'll go back to the Central Court first and dispatch a dozen or so Black Dragon to patrol tonight, in case the enemy moves out overnight!"

Nighttime lighting in this other world is extremely expensive, and the roads are mostly in poor condition, so vehicles generally don't transport goods at night. Therefore, if any transport activity is discovered, it's almost certainly a sign that something is wrong.

Black Dragon can easily hide in the night, making them the best dragon species for this task.

"This plan is acceptable," Su Ming said.

The dragons on each inspection line began to return. Most of them, after sending their necromancers back to the Ruby Base, couldn't wait to scatter and go in search of food or internet cafes.

Only a few dragons followed the direction of the Zijin, flapping their wings and flying towards the Central Court.

A Faerie Dragon with scales shimmering with a dreamy violet luster adjusted its flight path and drew closer to the Zijin.

"Misaila?" Zijin turned her head slightly.

In fact, Zijin had already caught a glimpse of Misaila when they gathered in the dragon ranks early in the morning. But with a whole day of busy and continuous tasks, she simply didn't have time to greet her.

Misaila fluttered her translucent butterfly wings and flew to Zijin's side, bowing slightly in acknowledgment. Zijin understood, put away her staff, and landed on Misaila's warm back.

"I'm just here to make some money." The Faerie Dragon's voice was considered "crisp" among dragons. "You've introduced quite a few useful things. I want to buy a nail clipper to trim Zisu's claws."

This mission was not voluntary; all participants received compensation, which was a major reason for the dragons' high enthusiasm.

"Misaila." Zijin sighed slightly, reaching out to stroke the soft scales of the dragon mother's neck. "If only you had taken care of me like this back then." She paused, then whispered, "I was even jealous of Zisu."

"I brought some of your favorite snacks," Misaila changed the subject.

"Zijin?" Zijin raised an eyebrow.

"No, they're nuts that humans can eat," Misaila said immediately. "I'm not so stupid as to get that wrong."

"That's more like it." Zijin's lips curved into a faint smile. "By the way, where's Little Zisu?"

"I gave it to her father to take," Misaila replied. "Hyacinth has been working on your hydroelectric power station construction site lately; his scales have almost turned blue from the sun."

In Zijin's mind, the image of her younger brother's once jewel-like scales, now darkened by the sun, immediately flashed before her eyes, and she couldn't help but chuckle.

"Zijin!" Red Dragon Hongyao's booming voice Hongyao out from the communicator, "I've spotted a group of goblins. I'll lead a team down to investigate!"

Following the sound, Zijin looked up and saw Hongyao's iconic, flame-like figure hovering in the air a little further ahead. Beside him were several energetic young dragons, playfully spitting out small, harmless breaths at each other.

I really don't know how these guys can maintain such high energy levels after a busy day.

"Received, be careful," Zijin replied immediately.

"I might be a little late for the meeting later," Hongyao added. He folded his wings, led his two young companions, and with a swift dive, descended into the dark woods to his right.

There were four elders leading the inspection team today. There will be a brief closing meeting later in the Central Court to summarize today's progress and findings.

"Understood," Zijin replied into the communicator. "I'll have everyone eat dinner while waiting for you to return."

"Hey! Make sure you save my share of the barbecue!" Hongyao reminded him worriedly.