Under the Red Dragon

The empire was operating smoothly within its increasingly perfected system, with each aspect governed by its own regulations.

In the early part of the last month of the year, nearing the annual Festival of Rest, the Central Military Department of the Golden Empire initiated the orderly process of troop rotation and posting. Orders were issued and dispatched via the communication channels established throughout the empire, reaching major border towns.

The skirmishes and conflicts across the empire subsided, transitioning into a state of maintaining stability and fortifying the borders.

While the defenses of Baystream City were sufficient to repel beasts and some monsters, it now faced the renewed threat of giant attacks.

The First Independent Battle Group—Crimson Lament, originally stationed in the central region for recuperation, was deployed south to garrison Baystream City and maintain stability.

Meanwhile, the Lizardfolk Legion, which had submitted to the empire and been temporarily reorganized, was able to return with its entire tribe from the remote western frontier to the empire's heartland, settling the tribe in designated areas for rest and recuperation.

Raleigh, the Lizardfolk leader, led eight hundred Lizardfolk warriors escorting spoils obtained from hunting various powerful beasts and monsters, presenting them to the imperial center as a sign of submission and reverence.

Although most of the items brought by the Lizardfolk were of little value to the empire, they included a significant amount of unique spider silk produced by the Ettercaps, humanoid spider-like monsters inhabiting the forests.

This silk was incredibly resilient, resembling fine silver threads, and was frequently used by the Ettercaps to create various weapons and devices—lassos, nets, snares, etc.—demonstrating its load-bearing capacity and powerful utility.

Fafnir, the personal treasurer responsible for managing the expenses of the ancestral red dragon's private treasury and overseeing the flow of the dragon hoard, as well as a senior clerk in the Imperial Treasury, was ecstatic about this.

The Ettercap silk could significantly supplement some of the empire's high-end application materials. Many magical experiments required large quantities of similar materials, which were constantly in short supply.

Even if the Ettercap silk were woven into fashionable clothing, demand would still exceed supply. The silk was strong enough to withstand ordinary swords without damage, had excellent force dissipation and transmission properties, and was lightweight, making it a highly sought-after material by many nobles.

In Fafnir's eyes, it was also the most suitable close-fitting inner armor lining for the empire's loyal and brave warriors.

Most importantly, the Lizardfolk had confirmed that a large number of Ettercaps lived near the frontier forests, enough to form a large-scale breeding ground for the empire.

These Ettercaps not only produced silk themselves but also guarded, fed, and cared for spider colonies like shepherds.

The spider colonies raised by the Ettercaps could also produce large quantities of high-quality silk, and the Ettercaps' strength, in the eyes of the empire's warriors, was equivalent to long-haired sheep waiting to be harvested.

This was arguably the second greatest joy for the ogre, who was single-mindedly trying to reap wealth for the ancestral red dragon, causing the corners of the mountain-climbing ogre Fafnir's mouth to twitch with suppressed joy.

As for the greatest joy, Fafnir looked up towards the towering Dragon King's Court. Two massive creatures coiled before the palace steps: an ancestral gold dragon sitting like a golden statue, and a hydra whose size seemed even larger than that of the ancestral gold dragon.

The central head of the hydra was lazily resting on the ground, dozing, while the other eight heads aimlessly swayed and looked around, seeking opportunities to argue with Obiraj, the gold dragon beside it, to pass the time.

Although the ancestral gold dragon Obiraj had been severely injured by the ancestral red dragon Karun Goggmora, it was not a fatal injury for an ancestral dragon. It only needed to nap for a while to recover.

After pretending to sleep for two months, the ancestral gold dragon Obiraj could no longer tolerate this self-deceiving situation and woke up.

However, even though this ancestral gold dragon's authority of arrogance had been extracted by Karun, it did not seem to affect the gold dragon's arrogance.

As the most beloved dragon species of the platinum dragon god Bahamut, the ancestral gold dragon could be kindred spirits with cloud giants, perhaps because of its innate arrogance, proclaiming itself the emperor of true dragons. Even if its attitude was gentle, it was only the favor of an emperor.

Seeing the ogre Fafnir gradually approaching, the hydra hurriedly wagged its tail, and the central golden head also opened its eyes, excitedly approaching the ogre.

All nine heads spoke in unison, saliva splattering, and loudly asked, "How is it, how is it? Is the magic ritual ready? I can't wait to become your soulmate."

"Damn it, although it looks more comfortable here than my snake nest, I don't want to stay here for a moment."

The ogre avoided the hydra's splattering saliva. The ogre's clothing had become increasingly conservative, seemingly gradually abandoning the habits of native monster species and developing human-like habits.

Fafnir pretended to furrow her beautiful eyebrows and sighed in distress, "I'm just a small maid of the master. How can I gather the materials for the magic ritual so quickly? It will probably take a while."

"But, then again," Fafnir raised an eyebrow, her delicate face with a hint of innocent doubt, asked, "Although I received the master's reward, giving you to me as a soul guardian, I also have some requirements."

Fafnir looked at the somewhat dejected hydra and said, "You don't look majestic enough now. I still like your unruly appearance back then!"

"Pui, pui, pui,"

Hearing this, the hydra spat out colorless and non-toxic saliva from all nine heads at the same time, showering the ogre's face, but it was completely blocked by the mental barrier that appeared on the surface of the ogre Fafnir's body, unable to fall on her body.

"I'm not like some fools," the hydra said in exasperation, "Clearly a prisoner, a watchdog, but still pretending to be arrogant to disgust others. When it comes to the source of blood, how are we hydras inferior to that golden-scaled fool?"

"Tch,"

The proud ancestral gold dragon Obiraj glanced over, its disdain overflowing. Even an ordinary human could discern the contempt on the dragon's scale-covered cheeks.

"Do you know why your future master has been perfunctory with you, a low-grade species with many heads but no brains?"

The ancestral gold dragon sat upright, unmoved, revealing the perfect posture of a gold dragon.

Just like the dragon's cadence, which was elegant and noble, it raised its head high, its golden whiskers slightly rippling like golden ropes. The gold dragon sneered, "That's because your master is infatuated with my demeanor,"

"Only by being perfunctory with you, and letting you stay here all the time, can she have an excuse to approach me openly," the ancestral gold dragon Obiraj said smugly.

"Ah, he's absolutely right," the ogre Fafnir said with a smile, looking at the large pieces of golden-carved scales on the ancestral gold dragon's body, her slender white thumb and index finger couldn't help but rub gently.

This was a habit that the ogre had developed while flipping through the financial records.

"Tch,"

All nine heads of the hydra simultaneously scorned, "Only you males will think about problems from this perspective every moment,"

"Oh," as soon as the hydra spoke, it quickly turned its head to look at the open hall, and hurriedly said, "Except for the great true dragon, Lord Goggmora,"

The corners of the ogre Fafnir's eyes curved into two bright moons. The hydra's performance reminded the ogre of herself in the past, when she was also arrogant, leading the ogre tribe to conquer the dragon group and take the master as her soul slave.

"As for now," the ogre shook her head. She had almost forgotten many things about her past in the ogre tribe. Her brain had been completely filled with huge financial flows.

"It seems that you will soon regain your freedom, just based on your excellent performance," the ogre Fafnir patted the golden head of the hydra comfortingly, and then turned and walked towards the depths of the corridor.

Only the hydra's mournful sighs were left, echoing in the deep corridor.

The corridor deep in the cloister led directly to the ancestral red dragon's back garden, which was sealed off by two doors.

One door was the space that the empire's mage group had opened next to the red dragon's back garden, which was considered the front courtyard of the garden, but in addition to flowerbeds growing various magical flowers, plants, and herbs, there were also several fixed teleportation portals.

These teleportation portals led to various secondary elemental planes and small material worlds opened up by the empire, including the world passage of the Green Wilderness Forest, which was exclusive to the dragon group.

The dragon group could enter the true back garden world of the dragons by opening those doors.

The world plane teleportation channel door that the black dragon lord Rosani lost was now in a closed state, because in the world of ice and fire, the area where the original world plane coordinates existed had become a desert of magic, causing the beacon of the world channel to also become invalid.

Now, many mages and scholars who specialize in plane magic are maintaining the plane channel in it.

Fafnir walked into the other door, which was the ancestral red dragon's exclusive back garden.

People don't come here often, and tranquility is the theme song of this garden.

Those bloodthirsty flowers that like to bark at the wind do not make a sound when creatures other than the ancestral red dragon arrive, but instead flaunt their sharp tentacles, very vigilant.

However, the ogre's aura was obviously quite familiar to these bloodthirsty vines. As a slave of the ancestral red dragon, the ogre Fafnir, like those maids, could freely walk in this garden.

Walking past the garden where many precious magical plants grew, the ogre Fafnir came to the center of the garden, in front of the World Tree standing in the mountaintop garden.

After being irrigated by the magical spring water of the Green Wilderness Forest, the World Tree was full of vitality and grew rapidly. Now it was more than 40 meters high and more than 30 meters thick. The dense canopy almost covered half of the garden.

Fafnir's footsteps stopped in front of the quiet World Tree. The mental power of the ogre in the mature stage was strong. Perhaps in the entire Golden Empire, except for the ancestral red dragon, even those archmages of the Holy Domain were only on par with the ogre.

And once the ogre fully squeezed her bloodline, her mental power would be even stronger than those archmages. Talent is more important than effort.

"Lord Ouwo, I am ready," the ogre Fafnir's mental power fluctuated, communicating with the consciousness of the World Tree Ouwo.

"Fafnir, your mental power is indeed pure enough. Even I needed three days to successfully master those knowledge back then. I didn't expect you to be able to master these knowledge in just two months,"

The World Tree Ouwo's flaunting voice sounded in Fafnir's ear. After the two Titan Magic Pythons left, Fafnir was the second existence that could communicate with the world.

Only Raven, the pixie who often came to the garden and actively became a diligent gardener of the red dragon's garden, could make the World Tree Ouwo actively have the idea of communicating.

And those maids who often weeded for the World Tree Ouwo were regarded as nothing by the World Tree.

"I am naturally not comparable to Lord Ouwo's noble existence," Fafnir bowed slightly.

"Haha, don't be modest. Daddy said that humility is a virtue, but too much humility will only make others think you are a weakling,"

The World Tree Ouwo said carelessly, "Fafnir, are you really ready? I have to emphasize it to you again,"

"Although this is just an attempt, using your mental power as a spearhead and cooperating with me, so that I can save more effort,"

"But if you have regrets and thoughts in the middle, if your will is not firm enough, your mental power will fluctuate, and the best result is that you will become a mindless idiot!"

The ogre Fafnir was silent for a long while, and then said softly, "It is my duty to do my best for the master."

…

Karun and the ocean dragon Nakson watched the super giant ship starting on the sea. The giant ship driven by the magic-powered furnace as the core of the engine slowly turned on the calm sea.

But the shaking hull was like being rolled by the storm surge on the sea, unable to form a stable posture, as if it might lose control at any time.

"It seems that it is difficult for the current batch of people to complete the energy transmission pipeline assembly and subsequent optimization and improvement work of the magic-powered furnace,"

Karun shook his head: "Even starting it is a problem, how can it sail on the turbulent sea, let alone cope with fierce wars."

"If that's the case, follow the previous example, there must be brave men under heavy rewards. Even if the empire is far away, in the face of high money, countless talents will bend over for wealth."

Karun turned his head and whispered to the official in charge of the shipyard workshop: "Post a reward announcement in the Golden City, and release the news of the reward through the empire's foreign exchange channels."

"Recruit relevant talents and ideas from within the Golden Empire and other regions, and provide a large amount of reward money. If talents can design a feasible plan in the direction given by the empire, grant ten thousand gold coins,"

"If you can complete the design of the ship's power system and improve and improve the empire's ships, grant 50,000 gold coins. The empire's promise cannot be changed!"

Hissss,

The eyes of the many officials present suddenly turned red, and even the ocean dragon Nakson felt a trace of coolness uncontrollably scurrying between his fangs.

The reward of ten thousand gold coins was also a large amount of wealth that was difficult to earn (rob) in the eyes of the dragon. Two thousand gold coins were enough for a silver dragon to act as a bodyguard, and ten thousand gold coins were enough to hire five adult silver dragons.

In the King's Capital, the default capital of the empire, even Steel Dragon Midir, who started inflating shop prices, only managed to sell the most expensive shop for a mere thousand gold coins.

Steel Dragon Midir's lifelong dream was to emulate his predecessors, buying up numerous shops and renting them out to earn money while lying down, and this reward was enough to fulfill that dream.

Moreover, the final reward was as high as fifty thousand gold coins; even the wealthiest dragon lords would find their personal vaults significantly depleted to come up with that sum.

The numerous officials and Foreign Dragon Nakson could already imagine the sensation this news would cause in the outside world.

Because Gogmora's promises are never changed!

Dear readers, Happy National Day!