"An exit!"
Cecilia shouted excitedly, her voice echoing through the vast underground lake.
"Shut up, you're too loud."
Caesar surfaced, shaking the water droplets off his dragon head. He then swam beneath the shaft and climbed up, his Shadow Claw gripping the decaying wooden pilings.
Cecilia followed him up, shaking her body vigorously on the wooden platform before reverting to her original Young Dragon form.
However, as the two dragons approached the shaft, a scalp-tingling 'rustling' sound reached their ears—
Caesar looked closely and saw that the abandoned wooden shaft was covered in a dense mass of countless black insects.
The insects looked like a cross between a cockroach and the pokémon 'Metapod.' Their black carapaces shimmered with an oily sheen, and countless tiny jointed legs scurried across the wood, making a faint scratching sound.
The sheer number and density were enough to make anyone with trypophobia die on the spot; even a Cantonese person would probably say they were'scared to tears.'
"So... so gross..."
Cecilia's germophobia flared up; she stopped at a distance in disgust, refusing to take another step closer.
Caesar used a claw to pry one off the shaft wall, and the System immediately provided a display.
[Cave Louse (LV.5)]
[Attributes: Bug/Poison]
Adhering to the principle of'since I'm already here,' Caesar didn't hesitate and tossed it straight into his mouth.
*Crunch.*
The sound of a carapace shattering.
The next second, Caesar's face turned green.
An indescribable sour stench instantly filled his mouth, as if someone had ground up three-month-old athlete's socks and rotten canned herring and stuffed them inside.
Pah!
Caesar spat it out immediately.
Absolutely disgusting.
The System gave no notification either; clearly, this low-level Magical Beast didn't even have the qualifications to provide attribute factors.
"How... how is it?"
Cecilia hid behind him, poking her head out and asking cautiously.
She had seen Caesar eat it, and there was actually a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
After all, in her eyes, this Earth Dragon was a monster that could eat anything.
Caesar was about to say "it tastes like death," but the words stopped at the tip of his tongue.
He turned his head, looking at Cecilia's simple and gullible face.
A mischievous thought popped up.
Since this bug tasted so bad, how could he be the only dragon to suffer this pain?
As good teammates, they should share the blessings and the burdens.
Caesar immediately put on an expression of enjoyment.
He smacked his lips as if savoring some peerless delicacy.
"Hmm... surprisingly good."
Caesar talked nonsense with a straight face.
"Even though they're ugly, these things are rich in protein. That bursting sensation when you bite into them is like eating... well, a molten lava cake."
"Besides, this stuff is great for scale maintenance."
"You know, if we of the Dragon Clan want our scales to shine, we have to supplement these kinds of trace elements."
"Re... really?"
Cecilia blinked her eyes.
She was a foodie.
Although the bug looked disgusting, Caesar made it sound so convincing.
And the phrase "scale maintenance" held a fatal attraction for her.
"A True dragon doesn't lie to a True dragon."
Caesar grabbed another one from the wall and held it out to Cecilia. The bug was wriggling cheerfully.
"Didn't your True Dragon inheritance teach you? These cave creatures are very nourishing; their protein is six times that of beef."
"Come on, open up."
Although Cecilia thought the thing looked a bit gross, out of her inexplicable trust in Caesar (and her craving for good food), she still opened her mouth half-doubtingly.
"Ah—"
*Snap!*
Caesar was quick-handed and stuffed the half-crushed bug directly down her throat.
Cecilia subconsciously chewed.
*Squish!*
In that instant.
Time seemed to stand still.
Cecilia's beautiful silver vertical pupils snapped into pinpricks.
Her entire face crumpled at a visible speed, her features twisting as if she had tasted all the suffering in the world in a single moment.
"Blegh—!!!"
A spray of vomit, mixed with saliva and bug juice, was ejected from her mouth.
That expression perfectly replicated the cat from the internet in his previous life that vomited frantically after being fed a lemon.
Cecilia bent her neck, letting out heart-wrenching dry heaves.
She looked as if she wanted to vomit up her very bile.
"You... *urgh*... you lied to a dragon... *blegh*...!"
She glared at Caesar with eyes full of resentment even as she retched, physiological tears hanging from the corners of her eyes.
"I lied to you."
Caesar shrugged, feeling great.
Seeing others unhappy made him happy.
This was what life was all about.
"Alright, stop vomiting and clear the road."
With the prank over, Caesar put away his joking mood.
He looked up at the swarm of insects that would strike fear into the heart of a Cantonese person.
Since they couldn't be eaten, there was no need to keep them around.
Roar!
Caesar opened his large mouth, and a crimson fire gathered deep in his throat.
[Dragon Breath].
Boom—!
A thick beam of flame shot skyward, blasting straight up the shaft.
The Dragon Breath raged wildly in the narrow space, instantly igniting the dry wooden scaffolding and the dense clusters of insects.
Pop, crackle, snap.
It sounded like firecrackers during the New Year.
Countless insects burst in the intense fire, their charred corpses falling down like rain.
A strong smell of burning filled the air, along with the stench of burning protein.
The previously congested shaft was instantly burned into a clear path.
"Let's go."
Caesar didn't want to smell this, so he slammed his claws into the charred wood of the shaft wall and climbed up rapidly like a gecko.
Cecilia was still dry-heaving, but seeing Caesar leave, she could only endure the nausea, flap her dragon wings, and follow.
"Earth Dragon! You bastard! Despicable! Shameless!"
"If This young lady ever believes your lies again.!"
She cursed as she flew behind him.
Caesar turned a deaf ear.
To an evil dragon, such curses were positive reviews... The higher he climbed, the brighter the light became.
The long-awaited warm breath of the surface world blew down through the mouth of the shaft.
Finally leaving this hellhole... Caesar increased his speed.
However, when he was less than ten meters from the opening, his movements suddenly stopped.
Cecilia, following behind, almost crashed into his butt.
"What now?"
Cecilia was about to complain when Caesar pressed a claw over her mouth.
"Shh."
Caesar made a silencing gesture, his eyes becoming sharp.
Hanging on the shaft wall, his sonar organs vibrated slightly.
In the wind, other sounds were mixed in.
It was very noisy.
The roar of machinery operating.
And... the sound of humans speaking.
"Hurry up! Load this batch of ore onto the carts!"
"Be quick about it! The Foreman is pushing us!"
"I heard things haven't been peaceful in the mountains lately, something about a Magical Beast riot..."
"Who cares, we're pulling out after we finish this job..."
Is this... the Common Tongue?
Caesar and Cecilia exchanged a glance.
There were people.
And from the sound of it, quite a few.
Could this be... an active mine?