Black Dragon: O'Neal

Under the monsters' curious gazes, the three dragons made their way through the cave until they reached its end and arrived before a half-closed door. From within came the unmistakable decaying stench unique to black dragons.

Jose pushed open the door and entered, finding the black dragon—O'Neal—behind a stone table.

The black dragon was currently in a half-dragon humanoid form. He had a black dragon's head, a humanlike body covered in fine black scales, sharp claws, and a shortened dragon tail behind him. He looked somewhat like Shendu from Jackie Chan Adventures, though a little slimmer.

"Lord O'Neal, we have come to report as ordered. This is proof of our assignment." As he spoke, Jose handed over the parchment scroll.

Ever since the three dragons had entered, the black dragon's gaze had never left the Shaved Ice in Kashi's hands. He merely glanced at the parchment Jose offered.

Jose placed the parchment on the table. "That person told us that you enjoy sweets and ice, my lord, so we prepared a small gift."

Yaligris gave Kashi a shove. Only then did Kashi react and step forward to place the Watermelon Shaved Ice on the stone table before O'Neal.

"Mm, not bad. You lot are quite sensible."

O'Neal sniffed the Watermelon Shaved Ice and was just about to taste it when the door was suddenly pushed open from outside. A Goblin carrying a tray walked in.

"Lord O'Neal, the dessert you requested has arrived. Wah!"

The Goblin failed to notice the dragons in the room and crashed into the White Dragon. The desserts on his tray scattered across the floor. His face immediately went pale with fright, and he dropped to his knees, banging his head against the ground with loud thuds.

"Lord O'Neal, spare me... Spare me... For the sake of Old Cole serving you for so many years..."

O'Neal waved his clawed hand. "It's fine, Old Cole, my loyal servant. Just be more careful in your next life."

All color drained from Old Cole's face. He rose and tried to flee, but the moment he lifted a foot, his body froze stiff.

Then, under the three dragons' watchful eyes, Old Cole's entire body turned into a puddle of indescribable black, soft matter. The room filled with the rancid stench of a rotting corpse.

Jose noticed the black halo spreading beneath the black dragon's feet.

Corrosion Aura!

Corrosion Aura was a black dragon's innate ability. Within its range, a black dragon could instantly kill creatures far weaker than itself and corrode their corpses into dregs.

"Hmph! Clumsy trash!"

With a wave of O'Neal's hand, the remains that could no longer be called a corpse, along with the tray and scattered desserts, flew into a pile of garbage in the corner.

Even by dragon standards, O'Neal could be considered brutal.

Jose lowered his head. The Golden Dragon Loli scarcely dared breathe, while the White Dragon was already trembling all over.

Yet O'Neal acted as though he had done something utterly trivial and took a bite of the Watermelon Shaved Ice.

When he saw O'Neal's eyes light up, Jose knew that he was pleased with the gift. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not bad! Not bad! Very good! What is this called? Who invented it?"

"I'm glad you like it, Lord O'Neal. It's called Shaved Ice. This was also my first time making it."

"You made it?" The black dragon gave Jose a suspicious look. A Red Dragon inventing an ice-based dessert sounded like a joke.

He did not dwell on it for long. "How is it made?"

"It's very simple. Remove the watermelon seeds, mix the rind with pure water frozen into ice, then crush and stir them evenly."

"It does sound quite simple. I'm satisfied with your gift, but!" O'Neal's voice suddenly dropped several tones. He looked at Jose with a half-smile. "The mission must still be handled according to procedure."

Jose felt a toothache coming on, but he did not dare object. "Of course. Everything for the Matriarch."

"Everything for the Matriarch." O'Neal nodded and continued, "Your mission is to investigate the abnormalities in the forest, find the reason detection magic has failed, and resolve it."

As he spoke, he took a Crystal Ball from beneath the stone table. "This is your mission item—the Magic Sensing Crystal Ball. It can detect faint magical fluctuations and help you complete your mission more effectively. It will also record the places you have visited, so don't try to hide somewhere and slack off."

"Yes!" Jose accepted the Crystal Ball, feeling as though the icy sphere in his hand were a hot potato.

"Oh, right. Don't say I took your gift for nothing. Take this map."

Jose accepted the map and glanced at it. It was a map of the Northern Lands of Tydanore Continent, including the Karakoram Mountains, the Gloomy Forest to the east alongside the Karakoram Mountains, the great grasslands to the north, and finally the Northern Human Five Kingdoms to the south.

In a sense, trading one Watermelon Shaved Ice for a map of the Northern Lands was an enormous profit for the three dragons.

After all, this world had no satellites. Every map required major powers to spend immense manpower, resources, and money, sending their subordinates to measure mountains and rivers on foot before piecing together the information they collected. Only then could a usable map be made. Such maps held immense strategic value.

However, the three dragons had offered the Watermelon Shaved Ice in hopes of obtaining tangible support and reducing the mission's danger. What use was a map of the Northern Lands from the black dragon?!

They did not need to survey the entire Northern Lands!

From the standpoint of reducing the mission's danger, the map the black dragon gave them was utterly worthless.

Holding the Crystal Ball and map, Jose left the cave with his two companions and reached a safe area far from it.

"He just dismissed us like that?! That makes no sense!"

Yaligris sighed. "Haven't you noticed? Wolf's aura is exactly the same as O'Neal's."

"Wolf? Who's Wolf?" Jose froze as the Gnoll Overseer's mocking smile surfaced in his mind.

"Ruthless! Truly ruthless!"

Most of the middle-ranking positions in Red Nest were filled by dragonkin, but they were not exclusively the Red Nest Matriarch's dragonkin. Dragonkin belonging to other dragons could also hold important posts.

With O'Neal's status as commander of O'Neal Fortress, placing a powerful dragonkin under his command as an overseer in Red Nest would be easy enough.

"So be content. You offended his trusted right-hand man. The fact that O'Neal didn't make things difficult for us is already thanks to the Shaved Ice."

Jose turned to look at the Snowy Pine Forest on the distant mountain peak. "It seems we're not even worth making things difficult for. The danger in the forest is already enough."

Yaligris worried inwardly. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and she remained silent.

Kashi was silent as well, but his silence was fundamentally different from the other two dragons'. He simply had no idea what was going on and did not dare speak carelessly.

They remained silent for a long while.

"Before we carry out the mission, do you have any ideas?" Jose looked at the Golden Dragon Loli.

When it came to communicating with others, his identity as a Red Dragon gave him a natural advantage in Red Nest. But in combat and specific operations, the Golden Dragon Loli had received systematic training from her parents, making her opinion extremely valuable.

Thus, the three dragons had agreed that Jose would handle communication with others, while the Red and Golden Dragons would discuss and decide matters of action.

Yaligris took the map of the Northern Lands and examined it. "This map is too large-scale. It only has reference value for small areas. We need a guide familiar with the terrain."

Jose glanced toward the nearby Cannon Fodder Camp and spotted a familiar figure. "Let's pick him."