"So we must solve the problem of energy not being able to participate in the magic array…", Leon came to her side, slowly squatted down, and observed those few energy storage crystals with her.
After thinking for a bit, Leon said, "You just said, reversing Ravi's space magic… right?"
"Yeah, because Dad, you were sent here by his space magic at the time."
Leon: "But Ravi's space magic was out of control at the time, wasn't it? And the reason it got out of control, was Ravi's Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale—"
"Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale!", Aurora suddenly raised her head, excited like she had grabbed a life-saving straw, "The reason the energy crystals didn't work is because their energy properties are different from Ravi's space magic."
"The space magic that sent you here back then included the power of Ravi's Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale."
"So we must use something similar to Ravi's Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale to successfully operate the current reverse magic."
Leon smiled in relief, while admiring how quickly his daughter grasped the point, he had to raise the next critical issue,
"Then where can we find a similar Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale…"
Aurora was stunned, scratched her head, "Normally, dragons need at least over a hundred years to slowly form a Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale, but the three of us sisters added together are not even a hundred years old…"
"And according to what Little Light just said, even if we have a Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale, its energy properties definitely won't be the same as Ravi's."
Noah said, "We are originally Silver Dragons, while Ravi is of the Star-Wanderer Dragon Clan, the power source is different."
"Yeah, big sis is right."
Aurora sighed deeply, both hands digging into her messy pink hair, "Ah~ then where can we get a Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale similar to the Star-Wanderer Dragon Clan's! And it has to be one at Ravi's Dragon King level!"
"I actually received a reliable piece of intel a while ago."
Noah said calmly, "There, we might be able to find the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale we need."
Leon looked at her, "Where?"
"The Empire."
"Why would the Empire have a dragon's Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale?"
Leon paused, then added, "And I still don't understand what exactly this Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale is? It's not exactly a detonator, and calling it an organ that stores final energy doesn't seem right either."
"The Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale is very important to dragons."
Noah explained, "Its function isn't as simple as it appears, like storing energy and then detonating it at the moment of mutual destruction. The Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale is actually more like a 'safety device'."
"A safety device?"
"Mm."
Noah said, "Dragons with Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales can control their power more perfectly, because the blood of pure-blood dragons flows with a craving for violence, and in battle they can become reckless. The Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale is meant to prevent dragons from being consumed by their own power at critical moments. Of course, it also has many other functions."
"For example, it enhances a dragon's vitality, or can be used as a detonator in key moments, like the Radiant Star Dragon King, Stana, once did."
Leon pondered Noah's words, "Safety device… consumed by power…"
As if something occurred to him, he turned back to look at Rosweisse in the crystal, "The reason your mom fell into a coma after going all out, could it also have something to do with the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale?"
Noah nodded, "Great-grandmother said Mom's Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale was very strange. It clearly existed, but its function was very small, so when she unleashed that miraculous power at the end, the dragon scale didn't activate, which led to Mom falling into a coma."
"Of course, the dragon scale may not be the only reason. After all, many factors could cause someone like Mom, with a Dragon King-level body, to fall into a slumber, and the scale is just one of them."
Leon let out a thoughtful "oh," and didn't continue discussing the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale further.
So the topic returned to the original question, "Why would the Empire have a dragon's treasure?"
Noah shrugged, "I'm not too sure about that. The person who gave me the intel only said that there are a lot of Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales stored in the Empire."
Leon raised an eyebrow, "And this person who gave you the intel is?…"
Noah chuckled, "Not telling you."
"Pfft, keeping secrets from your old man now," Leon pouted.
Cool Sis made a tongue-out face and still didn't say more about the informant.
Leon didn't really care about the informant's identity, he cared more about, "Is this person reliable?"
"Very reliable, extremely reliable, there's absolutely no one in the world more reliable than her."
Alright, Leon retracted his previous comment, his curiosity was thoroughly piqued.
Who could possibly make the suspicious and cautious Noah say "very reliable" without hesitation?
But Noah still seemed intent on keeping the secret.
Leon didn't dwell on it either.
"Besides the Empire, do we have any other way to get a dragon scale with similar power properties to the Star-Wanderer Dragon Clan?", Leon asked.
"Ravi only fell twenty years ago, the Star-Wanderer Clan probably hasn't elected a new qualified Dragon King yet," Noah said.
The transfer of the Dragon King position in any tribe is a very long and locked process.
Confirming a candidate, investing resources, slowly nurturing them, internal evaluation from the tribe members, elder ability tests, and finally the Dragon King trial. It's a time-consuming process.
A few years at best, longer… it's hard to say.
And that's assuming the previous Dragon King died normally of old age.
If it was a sudden death like Ravi's, then things get even more complicated.
Is there a candidate within the tribe? Are there clear winners in the internal faction battles?
Or other internal factors, all can affect the succession of the next Dragon King.
"If it's not a Dragon King-level Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale, then we probably still can't successfully activate the reverse magic array."
Aurora said, "We don't have many chances left to try and fail. Only three months left. Next time… we must succeed."
The four of them looked at each other. In the end, they all looked at Rosweisse inside the crystal.
The silver-haired beauty lay there, peaceful and beautiful.
But Leon wanted to see that cunning and sharp-tongued Silver Dragon Queen. For her to be trapped in an unending dream without ever waking, was without a doubt the cruelest punishment.
After a long time, Leon slowly spoke, "We… go to the Empire."
———
Leon never thought he'd return to the Empire for a reason like this.
Back when he cleaned out the traitors and left this place, he thought if he ever returned again, it'd be to seize that damn emperor's throne.
But times changed, and different troubles and problems arose one after another, leading to the situation today.
Leon had no choice but to return to this homeland he both loved and hated. For the sake of saving his wife, and his family.
In the forest a few kilometers outside the Empire, Leon was already very familiar with this place.
He pointed to a certain high ground and looked back at Aurora, "Here, is where Little Light was born."
"Dad, are you already senile at twenty-three?"
Aurora mercilessly roasted him, "I was clearly born on Silver Dragon territory, okay? That's what Mom told me."
"I meant, your name was given by me right here."
At this point, General Leon's mouth corners curved up more than an AK, "Ah, back then, your mom held me here, begging me not to leave, crying like crazy with tears and snot, it was so touching. Eh eh where are you all going! Wait for me!"
The three sisters walked toward the exit of the forest, clearly not interested in listening to their old man's nostalgic ramblings.
The four came to the outer wall of the Empire, hiding behind a slope to observe the situation.
At the gate were passing caravans and various task teams.
Civilians rarely entered or exited the city, because the procedures were complicated, and by the time it's done, the day is over.
Judging by the current scene, this hasn't changed in twenty years.
"Any way in?"
Noah asked, "My informant said the Empire's city wall is now covered with sensing barriers, invisibility magic doesn't work anymore. We can only enter through the main gate."
"Dad was a wanted man twenty years ago, not sure if the bounty has been lifted or not."
"Whether it has or hasn't, we can't just stroll in openly," Leon said.
Luna listened carefully to Dad's analysis, trying to learn more practical infiltration techniques.
But the old man's next sentence made Little Luna break into cold sweat.
He said seriously, "A handsome guy leading three beautiful girls through the streets, it's just too eye-catching."
Luna & Noah & Little Light: "..."
That's enough.
Why does this old man's face get thicker the closer we get to his hometown?
Aurora sighed, asked, "So, handsome Dad, what's your brilliant plan?"
Leon set his sights on the passing merchant wagons.
An excellent warrior won't be defeated by the same move twice;
But the Empire's security guards definitely will.
"Now, let's see if you've all been training your bodies properly."
Leon said, "Especially things like planks."
———
Merchant wagons entering and leaving the Empire had increased a lot compared to before, which greatly lowered the difficulty for Leon and his group to infiltrate.
If there were only a few scattered merchants, the guards might actually inspect them one by one.
But now with wagons in a long line, if they were to inspect each one, not many would make it in by the end of the day.
And that would seriously affect the officials' money-making and tax-collecting speed, unacceptable.
Turning a blind eye is good enough.
But new security guards who hadn't yet been tempered by the world didn't think so.
"Captain, is it really okay for us to work so carelessly? Isn't this just slacking off?", asked a newbie who had just joined the imperial patrol team.
The man called Captain leaned back lazily on a wooden chair, holding a tobacco pipe, puffing away, "Kid, how much is your monthly pay?"
"Twenty gold coins," The newbie answered honestly.
"Exactly, twenty gold coins should be worked for like twenty gold coins. You take twenty gold but worry like it's two hundred, that's overstepping."
The captain spoke like someone who'd been through it all, slowly.
But the newbie still didn't get it, "But what if something really happens?"
"Something really happens? Kid, the Empire's been peaceful for twenty years. Ever since that guy named Leon Casmodeous disappeared, no one dares stir trouble in the Empire."
"Leon… Casmodeous?"
"Never heard of him? Heh, well, makes sense, it's all old news now. I'll tell you more after the shift."
"Oh…"
The captain continued to puff lazily.
Twenty gold coins a month wasn't bad.
But not good enough to have them check under every wagon.
"Damn, back when I rose to become the top of the Dragon-Slaying Army, I only made a hundred a month. These guys now make twenty just as security, and they don't even risk their lives. If I'd known, I'd have gone into security too. Would've saved twenty years of hardship."
"But if you went into security, you wouldn't have met Mom, right?"
"Eh, not necessarily, sweetheart. I never said I had to be a guard in the Empire. I could've been a guard at the Silver Dragon Sanctuary and still met your mom, right?"
"Emmm… The Silver Dragon Queen marrying a tribal security guard—sounds kinda sci-fi."
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