Under the Red Dragon

Above a small, habitable planet, the dense atmosphere stretches for tens of kilometers, filled with a peculiar, untamed power that inherently repels all foreign species.

This planet seems as though it once birthed a Gaia consciousness, possessing an instinctive, all-encompassing awareness.

Or perhaps it serves as a trial ground for legendary, fated beings who travel the endless star realms, using planes and planets as experimental subjects to fulfill their will.

Or maybe this ancient, small planet once saw the rise of a world-ruling demigod, transforming the entire planet into their personal lair, imbued with the demigod's power and will, resulting in the current situation.

Within this thick atmosphere, besides a dense belt of fragmented planetary meteoroids, there are also numerous corpses of outsiders floating, as if in the vacuum of space.

Above this floating meteoroid belt, a massive black iron ship hovers silently, its immense iron shell resembling a dark, rectangular structure, filled with steel edges and a simple, rugged style.

"Regardless, the fact remains that an elite squad of the Empire has fallen on this planet. Now, we must await the instructions from the Imperial Central Military Department and the decree from the Dragon King!"

Paul Atreides, the Lion King of the Golden Lion Empire, whose once frail body is now exceptionally strong, is clad in golden Lion King armor, with only his head exposed, his solemn face bearing the marks of time and war.

The inflated armor expands and contracts with each breath of the middle-aged Lion King, as if possessing true life.

This golden Lion King stands with his back to an ancestral True Dragon statue carved into the iron wall of the steel ship.

The head of the ancestral True Dragon statue gazes forward, its massive iron claws holding down a statue model of a Mentat, a creation symbolizing the pinnacle of wisdom in the Dune world, representing the dragon's control over wisdom and civilization.

The ancestral True Dragon's right claw rests upon the golden Lion Throne, crossed with sword and scepter, symbolizing the dragon's control over power and barbarism.

Above the ancestral True Dragon's head is a half-body statue resembling a human, wearing a crown and with blurred features.

This symbolizes the True Dragon ruling the Golden Lion Empire as the Lord of Humanity.

After the Dragon Blood Angel Gabriel arrived in the Dune world, the Golden Lion King of Dune received strong support and assistance from the Empire's ogres and angels, conquering and pacifying the noble powers of three planets.

Persuaded by the ogre giants and the Imperial Think Tank, the Golden Lion King slowly reclaimed the Golden Lion Empire's territory.

With each planet conquered, the Golden Lion Empire rebuilds the civilization system.

Establishing a complete and perfect imperial system is not a task that can be accomplished overnight, but the result is that the Golden Lion King's rule gradually takes root on these planets, and the remaining old noble forces can no longer shake the Golden Lion King's order.

Under such circumstances, communication between the Dune plane and the Empire's main camp has become increasingly frequent.

Nevertheless, upon hearing that the Kings and the Emperor had disappeared in the vacuum of space outside the Empire's main camp, the Golden Lion King Paul Atreides led the Golden Lion Legion from the Dune plane to the Empire's main camp.

Having arrived at the Empire's main camp for the first time, the Golden Lion King had not yet had a good tour of the Empire before stepping into the war of conquering planes.

For the unprecedentedly vast project of the Space-Time Beacon, almost every Dragon King in the Empire has embarked on this path, and each commander has their own mission.

This is also the fundamental reason why the new generation of dragons in the Golden Empire began to step onto the stage of the Eka'nia world.

Ogre Fafnir stood beside the Golden Lion King, watching the projector in the spaceship with a cold expression.

The projector displayed the terrain and range of the planet beneath the steel creation, remotely detected by information waves and magical probes.

"This planet is rich in a natural creation called 'Spine Beasts'. The ruling class of the native kingdoms on the planet controls this rare natural resource, thus possessing power above all beings,"

Ogre Fafnir recounted the message sent back by the Imperial veteran squad earlier.

"This natural resource, Spine Beast, is similar to the rule derivatives of mind constructs. Those in the ruling class inject the Spine Beast into their bodies, gradually fusing it with their spine and bones over time,"

"This allows these natives to possess a strong physique and strength, as well as the blood-producing and regenerative abilities that come with strong bones. These natives pride themselves on their physique, so they worship themselves and despise everything else."

"And those who cannot tame the Spine Beast will have their consciousness and thoughts absorbed by the Spine Beast in their bodies, evolving into twisted monsters wandering in the wilderness,"

"According to the investigation of the Imperial veterans, the average physical quality of the natives on this planet even exceeds that of ordinary species in the Empire. Only the physical quality of monster species in the Empire can surpass those native residents."

"And those Spine Beast warriors who have fused with the Spine Beast have a vitality comparable to that of the troll species in the Empire, a physical strength comparable to that of the ogre species in the Empire, and a recovery ability comparable to that of the Dragon Blood Warriors in the Empire."

Fafnir said, "The power on this planet has its merits, but it seems that these natives do not like to communicate with outsiders."

The Golden Lion King nodded and said in a deep voice, "Such resources would tempt even me. No wonder the ruling class of those natives does not want the arrival of outsiders."

"With such abundant resources as a starting point, it is better than many ordinary people's tireless efforts."

Ogre Fafnir suddenly narrowed her eyes and said, "The people of the Empire are here!"

In the projector in the spaceship's core command room, the steel door was shown to have opened, and the fusion creations of machinery and magic extended a crossing gangway in the sky above the planet.

A small magic space-jump spacecraft, shaped like a mango fruit produced in the Empire's forests, landed beside the huge spaceship at this moment.

The iron door of the small spacecraft opened, and the sound of huge steel boots stepping on the steel bridge rang out.

Four dark heavy armors strode out of the small spacecraft, huge and flexible, with steel edges and a heavy but not clumsy posture.

Four different warriors were holding their helmets and stepping onto the deck of the main ship from the small spacecraft.

A tusked ogre, a handsome elf, a strong gray dwarf, and a two-headed ogre.

"It seems that the natives on this planet are finished,"

Ogre Fafnir announced the death of the natives on this planet with just one glance.

Because custom-made heavy armor means that these arriving Imperial veterans are the extremely few independent battle groups and the most elite established warriors in the Golden Empire.

And the armor worn by these warriors is a new generation of giant armor developed by the Golden Empire to deal with plane wars.

Each armor weighs tens of tons and is equipped with complete small-scale life support equipment to cope with various abnormal environments in different planes.

Especially the dual configuration of magic and technology allows these warriors not to worry about the heavy armor failing due to excessively harsh environments.

In addition to perfect life support equipment for reuse and recycling, these huge armors are also equipped with a complete offensive firepower system, and the 'War' intelligent mainframe loaded can freely control long-range firepower strikes under the will of the warriors.

And those warriors are all unstoppable people in the mortal world.

Especially the dragon skull badge worn on the chest of the giant armor of the ogre, that is an imperial medal that can only be obtained with the merit accumulated by killing thousands of enemies in war.

And the ring of dragon scales like a halo behind the elf armor, all cast from the scales of the Dragon King's molting, is a great weapon with the ability to bear almost unlimited Imperial power domain.

In theory, if the will of this elf warrior can have enough strong resilience, it can exert the power of the Imperial power domain halo comparable to that of the Dragon King.

Such a dragon scale halo can only be obtained by simultaneously achieving achievements in feats such as beheading generals, seizing flags, trapping formations, and being the first to climb the city wall, which are regarded as supreme glory among warriors.

Sure enough, when those steel warriors stepped into the spaceship command center, Ogre Fafnir's prediction became a reality.

"Legion Commander, Chief of Staff,"

The arm of the leading elf warrior in iron armor knocked on his heavy chest armor, which was a concise military salute.

"The Imperial Central Military Department Council has issued an order, ordering the Golden Lion Legion to destroy these natives who dare to defy the will of the Empire and harm the lives of Imperial warriors,"

"Daring to hinder the Empire's plan to establish the Space-Time Beacon, these natives should not survive in the world."

"The issuance of the Imperial Civilization Extermination Order has been signed by the ruling Dragon King Obirasch, and has been uploaded to the ship's main brain core through the war main brain. Please sign for it, deploy the corresponding combat plan, and complete this combat goal!"

The Golden Lion King's mind power connected to the ship's main brain, and countless information flowed through Paul Atreides' pupils in an instant.

Then the Golden Lion King nodded, "Then what are we waiting for? This is the moment I have been waiting for. Main brain, issue my order, the entire army descends, prepare for landing operations, and exterminate all the rebellious civilizations on this planet!"

Clang,

The huge steel sound rang out at the same time, and the four elite established veterans knocked on their iron armor towards the statue of the ancestral True Dragon,

"God bless the warriors!"

The short words fell, and the four powerful veterans put on their steel helmets at the same time, and the pairs of bright red pupils on the steel helmets lit up at the same time.

Above the planet's atmosphere, the huge steel creation suddenly descended.

On the earth, ancient and tall cities stand.

Many legion warriors and those Spine Beast powerhouses are now gathered around the bonfires outside the city, and the raging flames illuminate the heads hanging on the wooden stakes by these warriors.

The Golden Empire's regular legion veteran squads are generally a group of ten people, dispatched to each plane that needs to be explored as a vanguard dispatch team, collecting enough information to facilitate the Empire's follow-up plans.

But at this time, almost all of this Imperial veteran squad had their heads chopped off by these warriors and hung on wooden stakes, becoming proof for these natives to show off their martial power and drive away outsiders.

These natives even danced wild dances in front of the bonfire, singing wild songs. The blood that the Imperial veterans were still fighting with until death has now solidified into blood stains, fueling the arrogance of these natives.

But a strong air vibration sound came, and these natives could not help but look up.

Above the clouds in the high sky, a huge steel creation hovered above, and densely packed dragonfly flapwing machines flew out of the opened iron doors, and the roaring sound of the engine resounded through the sky.

"The army of those outsiders is here!"

"Pick up your weapons and kill all those outsiders!"

"Kill them, those outsiders are nothing more than that!"

The boiling sound resounded through the earth.

The native warriors were not afraid, and took up their weapons and actively greeted the steel machines that were about to approach the ground.

Some Spine Beast warriors even threw the spears in their hands, and the powerful force made these spears hit the falling flapwing machines like steel cannonballs, directly piercing several flapwing machines.

But there are countless steel flapwing machines opening their belly hatches, and densely packed airborne landing pods are falling from them.

One by one, the Golden Lion Legion warriors wearing iron armor and energy frequency shields stepped out of these airborne pods, and the laser and ion guns immediately bloomed with surging light in the hands of these warriors.

"Outsiders, you will all die in my hands!"

A Spine Beast warrior with tusks like an orc had a pair of fleshy wings piercing his body and suddenly unfolding from his spine. He ascended into the sky, and the long knife in his hand slashed at those steel creations.

Boom!

A huge armor fell from the sky and directly stepped on the head of this Spine Beast warrior, directly exploding the entire head of the Spine Beast warrior.

The brains and blood were dripping, but they were instantly burned to ashes by the magic energy particle flames ejected from the feet of this armor.

Then the entire body of the Spine Beast warrior was directly stepped into the earth by this armor, but even so, these Spine Beast warriors with strong vitality still did not die.

The spine in the body, like a living thing with its own consciousness, wriggled, trying to reorganize the flesh and blood and turn into the head of the Spine Beast warrior.

Bang,

The magic-powered steel claws that the gray dwarves are good at directly pierced the strong body of the Spine Beast warrior, grabbed the spine growing with small bone spurs and suddenly pulled it out.

The removal of the spine finally ended the Spine Beast warrior's tyrannical vitality, but the spine was thrown out by this gray dwarf as a heavy whip, directly blasting a native warrior who rushed up in the air.

"Trash,"

Driven by will, the gray dwarf's massive armor began to run across the battlefield. The sound of steel grinding against lubricated gears filled the air as the machine whirred to life, and the creation, weighing dozens of tons, advanced with unstoppable force.

A muffled, beast-like roar echoed from beneath the faceplate as the ogre's left gauntlet seized a native warrior's head and crushed it.

Simultaneously, his right-hand battle-ax went to work, cleaving several charging natives, along with their weapons, in two.

Meanwhile, the elf and the troll landed atop the most densely packed section of the city walls, commencing a massacre and wreaking havoc.

A powerful aura began to awaken beneath the city, carrying with it an ancient wildness.

In the sky, the eyes of Paul Atreides, the Golden Lion King, and Fafnir, the Gigantic Dragon, gleamed simultaneously.

"I've found you," came the voice of Fafnir, the Gigantic Dragon.

"It's our turn," The Golden Lion King's massive frame unfurled a pair of dragon-scaled wings from his back. He leaped from his flagship, crashing to the earth.

...

Salaila wearily sank her beautiful form into the soft recliner. Even with the vitality of a young dragon, as vibrant as the morning sun, the green dragon Salaila felt fatigue creeping into her mind.

As an exchange student for magical knowledge and civilized wisdom between the Golden Empire and the Rumen Empire, one of the overlord empires of Middle-earth, the green dragon Salaila had been of immense help to the Golden Empire's magical development and plane exploration over the years.

For these high-level plane world nations, rather than expend energy and resources fighting against those nations in their own plane that also possess ancient power sources and bloodline inheritances, it is better to turn around and invade and conquer other low-level planes that are naturally limited in their development.

Although those low-level planes have upper limits on the level of life and power, that doesn't mean that low-level planes won't produce some wonderful resources.

The two overlord empires of the Central Continent were also able to possess the resources and hunting grounds to cultivate legendary Chosen Ones because they explored other planes.

The strong and the nation are interdependent and mutually supportive. Although those former legendary Chosen Ones have embarked on a journey to the astral realm, in the three thousand six hundred years of the empire's orthodox history, according to historical records.

No civilized nation in the world of Akania has ever had the intention or courage to wage war against the two overlord empires.

Even though the two overlord empires had been dormant for hundreds of years due to internal divisions and turmoil, no other country dared to underestimate them.

And while the Golden Empire and the Northern Kings were on friendly terms with the Fane Empire, they also maintained long-term relations with the Rumen Empire.

When dragons can truly calm down and focus on politics, they are no more clumsy than any human noble.

The Rumen Empire's sphere of influence radiated across the Eastern Continent and did not have direct conflicts of interest with the Northern Kings, so the two countries have been on good terms for more than ten years, communicating and exchanging ideas.

The green dragon Salaila is a representative of this.

An extremely handsome human brought a steaming cup of tea and placed it in front of the green dragon Salaila, and then very familiarly began to massage the shoulders of this beautiful and shapely girl.

Salaila simply lay there with her eyes closed, seemingly lost in thought.

"I heard that the new generation of Dragon King candidates of the empire, Caesar and Nero, the twin stars of the Golden Empire, recently arrived in Rose City in the Northern Territory and are discussing the ownership of the last noble kingdom city in the Northern Territory with Kane, the future king of the Fane Empire,"

The extremely handsome young man said softly, "Salaila, you are focused on the exploration of knowledge and wisdom, I wonder if you have heard this news."

Salaila slowly opened her eyes, her green pupils seeming to penetrate directly through the material body and project into the handsome human's heart.

"If you occupy a place in the empire through your own abilities, no one will say anything about you, darling,"

Salaila said, "But if you attempt to influence things in the empire through your relationship with me, then even if Caesar and Nero don't take action, I will personally kill you!"

The young green dragon's eyes were full of tenderness, but the words she spoke sent a chill down the handsome young man's spine.

The slender white hand stroking his face was like a lover's caress, but it carried a warning of instant death.

"True dragons should recognize the advantages of every race in the world, which is why I agreed to your passionate pursuit,"

Salaila said softly, "But don't disappoint me, darling. Your advantages and the characteristics that I like cannot cover my brain. I don't want you to die in my hands in the future."

The handsome young man nodded subconsciously and said slowly, "I just see you busy all day long, and I'm afraid you don't have time to pay attention to the empire's situation."

"That's good," Salaila said with satisfaction, putting down her hand and closing her beautiful eyes again.

A voice like a dream rang out.

"My leadership is not as good as Caesar's, my strength is not as good as Nero's, my stability is not as good as Achilles, my overall view is not as good as Derek's,"

"But the king of the empire is never achieved by simple strength or certain advantages,"

"They have their advantages, and I have my intelligence. Green dragons are naturally good at using their brains,"

"The dispute between me and them is only to compete for the laurel in the younger generation of the empire. This is a dispute between dragons and dragons, not conspiracy and struggle, darling, you must remember this!"

Salaila said softly, "Otherwise, you are just an insignificant plaything in my claws!"