The MAGEO (Mana Adaptation and Genetic Evolution Organisation) is the scientific organisation that has been studying mana evolution for the whole of mana history to date.
Every discovery they have made has been shared with the public for the betterment of the nation.
"Why a hidden facility?" Jayden muttered. His heart was pounding at the frightened discovery.
"That answers it", the dragon said in his mind, "for all the years I've been kept in the MAGEO's custody, I have never noticed any dragon activity. This must be where they run everything"
Jayden exhaled a deep breath, "Judging from the mana concentration, yes. But according to the MAGEO, the dragon experiment had been concluded and there were only 25 rebirths"
"Don't be so stupid, do you think humans and their optimum knowledge would only be able to create 25 dragons out of four massive dragons?" The dragon purred in his mind
Jayden remained silent, watching the arena for several minutes. It was a two-story building situated in the centre of a well-cleared area, clearly the work of a tractor.
At each side of the fenced building stood two dung beetle soldiers each. They were just insect tamers, but when it came to resisting mana poisoning, their hard exoskeleton gave them an upper hand, making them fit for the job rather than wasting high-ranked first or third-generation tamers for such a job.
'Does the president know about this? Wait, if he knows, does that mean Dad also knows? Dad is the president's personal bodyguard, so he's bound to know.'
Jayden's mind was racing with a multitude of thoughts.
"But it only makes things easier for us" the dragon said.
"How the fuck does it make things easier? That we've been living a future of beast taming in an organisation lies? That our president, who swore honestly, may be a partaker of these lies? Or that my father has another side I haven't seen?"
"No, Jayden. It makes our cultivation easier. If truly dragon activities are going on in there then the dragon parts we need to activate our elemental cores must be too"
"Ohhh, what was that again?" Jayden searched his memories for the dragon activation equipment list he had read from a cultivation book. "A fragment of an awakened dragon core and fifty elemental crystals, right?"
"Yes, but mine is double the number of crystals"
"Hmm... what elemental dragon are you?" Jayden asked with curiosity in his voice.
"The fuck, bro... don't tell you can't tell from the colour of your mana"
Jayden looked down at his body, glowing with golden aura, "Nope, I can't. It's normally either blue, grey or red. Never heard of gold."
"That's because I can use all four elements you fool"
Jayden's breath caught in his throat. There was a part of him that wanted to believe, but a stronger part reminded him how scientists were yet unable to put two cores in one dragon.
"That's ironically impossible" Jayden whispered with uncertainty, looking at his aura once more.
"Nigga stop thinking of me as some human lab rat. I was born a special dragon."
"Proof it" Jayden bit his lips
"In that case choose any random element and activate its core, then I'll prove it"
Jayden drifted into deep thought.
"If this dragon isn't a paid talker then I could be the strongest tamer after all the humiliation. If this is true then my father has just made his biggest mistake.
"How about an element we can cultivate in the dark, leaving everyone thinking I'm beastless or just an egg man. Then one day, BOOM, I humbled their pride. Something like Earth."
That was perfect since earth crystals could be found at depths like this, which were usually isolated from many eyes; it would serve as a good cover-up to level up while pretending to be weak.
"Then let's get the Earth's core. But I don't appreciate you hiding a prideful dragon like me," the dragon shrugged.
"But the problem is how we can get in with so many soldiers around!" Jayden placed a hand on his bare chin. "I want to understand what's really happening here and find good proof I can one day show to the masses."
"And above all, getting a fragment of an Earth core is a priority", the dragon added.
Jayden thought for some seconds then a faint smile lit up his face.
He turned and ran past the gator to the eggshell that had been laid. Picking up gravel from the ground, then popped two eye holes in the egg and wore it on his head.
"I guess I'm starting to like this egg man name" Jayden smirked
"That's a good cover, though", the dragon said.
"Okay to phase two", Jayden looted his cross bag by his side, pocketing the ATM card, the written address, the few changes he had and drank the whole can of water."
"Haaa... Reese, you're a lifesaver," he whispered as he felt the chill of the liquid spread through his chest. Then, with dragon-enhanced strength, he cut off the handle of the cross bag and flung the bag and the empty can into the river, not to leave any clues.
Jayden then went ahead to pick the serum from the ground, which would have been his deathbed.
"So why did you bond with me exactly?" He asked the dragon with humour in his voice.
"What? I should sit around and watch a boy be eaten by a seventy-two-tooth beast. Apart from that, I seek revenge on certain people."
"Huu? Like who?" Jayden raised an eyebrow.
"Don't you think your old man needs a beating, even that moderator at the ceremony, he sounded polite but deep with his heartless."
Jayden tied one edge of the rope in an adjustable circler pattern.
"Yeah, once we're strong enough, they'll all be beneath us." He took a firm stance and shot the serum into the gator's head with precision and dragon-enhanced strength.
The gator exhaled a raw, bitter growl, opening its mouth in pain, but that was just what Jayden needed.
He threw the circular end of the rope into the gators now and pulled it, causing the rope to tighten its upper maw
Jayden flipped the rope over his shoulder and turned towards the hole.
"Time for phase three."