Caesar carefully poked his head out from a shadow below the wellhead, quietly observing the situation on the surface.
The sunlight was a bit dazzling.
This was a massive open-pit mine, with excavation marks and mountains of ore everywhere.
A group of creatures less than a meter tall, with green skin, hooked noses, and pointed ears, were laboriously pushing minecarts or operating crude excavators made of wooden gears and steam pipes.
Surrounding them were fully armed humans. Wearing leather armor and carrying longswords at their waists, they looked like Mercenaries, lazily supervising the green creatures' work.
A burly human Foreman with a face full of fleshy rolls was holding a whip, giving several lazy green-skins a hundred-pull login bonus.
"Damn it, you still dare to slack off! Do you want to die?"
"If this batch of Magic Crystal ore is late for loading, the master will skin you alive!"
Several shrill screams instantly rang out.
"Gua! We don't dare anymore! We don't dare!"
Caesar couldn't help but narrow his vertical pupils.
This was the first time since his Transmigration that he had seen such a lively "human civilization."
Dozens of green-skinned Goblins were carrying heavy mine baskets, busy as ants under the overseer's whip. They were short, with iconic large noses and pointed ears, wearing only tattered loincloths, their skin covered in whip marks and coal dust.
These green-skinned, short-eared spirits only needed to work like beasts of burden, but the lead overseer had much more to do, not only swinging his whip but also holding an old-fashioned Flintlock gun.
"Is that... a Flintlock?"
Caesar stared at the thing for a moment, feeling a bit disappointed.
It seemed Azeria's tech tree was a bit skewed; although magic was advanced, the level of firearms was still stuck in the era of line infantry.
However, that big guy over there was somewhat interesting.
Caesar shifted his gaze to the center of the mine.
A massive, all-wooden excavator was parked there.
Thick gears were exposed, and a giant wooden bucket slowly rose under the power of steam, making an overburdened creaking sound.
What kind of steampunk style is this?
"Hey, what's the situation up there?"
Cecilia huddled beneath his rear, peeking around trying to look up, but she was completely blocked by Caesar's large tail.
"Shh."
Caesar used the tip of his tail to push her head back down.
Interesting.
The Earth Dragon examined those mechanical creations with interest. The System panel helpfully popped up, but it wasn't locked onto the machines, but rather those green-skinned runts.
[Goblin Laborer (LV.3-LV.8)]
[Attribute: ground/Fairy]
[Note: The meat of this creature is of extremely poor quality, full of sour stench and earthy smell; consumption is not recommended.]
What the heck is this ground/Fairy coverage?!
This thing actually has the Fairy attribute? Caesar couldn't hold it together. A bunch of green-skinned runts who can't even handle a hundred-pull login bonus can slay dragons?
Just as Caesar was pondering whether to catch one to taste, an accident occurred.
A Goblin carrying ore slipped, and the fist-sized Magic Crystal ore in its hand flew out...! And as luck would have it, the stone rolled down the slope of the wellhead.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The stone bounced off the well walls a few times and finally landed squarely on Caesar's Garchomp forehead.
"..."
Although it didn't hurt, it was a huge loss of face.
The Goblin above clearly heard the noise. It lay at the wellhead and looked down, its cloudy large eyes meeting those cold, tyrannical golden vertical pupils in the darkness.
Time seemed to stop for a second.
"Gua—!!!"
The Goblin let out a blood-curdling scream and scrambled backward.
"What are you screaming for!"
The burly human Foreman strode over, kicked the Goblin over, and was about to raise his whip when his movements froze.
Because an uninvited guest jumped out of the wellhead.
Boom!
The ground trembled.
Dust flew everywhere.
Caesar's deep blue Dragon body, over two meters long, slammed onto the ground. Although he was only about 1.5 meters tall, it didn't stop him from radiating a terrifying pressure from the top of the food chain.
Cecilia followed closely behind. Although her landing posture was a bit clumsy, as long as she didn't speak, those shimmering silver scales were quite deceptive.
"A dragon... a Dragon?!"
The whip in the Foreman's hand dropped to the ground.
Deep blue hard scales, a shark-like streamlined body, terrifying bony claws on his arms, and those playful golden vertical pupils... Although his appearance was strange, there was no doubt—
It was a Dragon!
"Roar—!!!"
The pressure of a LV.33 Gold Rank was released without reservation.
Ability [Dragon Might: Rebel I]!!!
"Aaaaah! A monster!!"
"Gua! Dragon! It's a Dragon! Run for your lives, ya!"
The Goblins who were working obediently just moments ago instantly scattered in a panic, throwing their tools everywhere and fleeing with their heads in their hands, a chorus of croaks filling the air.
The human Mercenaries' faces also turned pale instantly.
They made a living on the outskirts of the mountains year-round and had seen Dragon beasts, Earth Dragons, or even Pseudo-dragons, but when those golden vertical pupils swept over them, they couldn't even draw their swords.
"Gulp."
A Mercenary swallowed hard and spoke with a trembling voice, "What... what kind of Dragon is this?"
"Who cares what kind of Dragon it is! Don't panic! Everyone stand your ground!"
A gunshot rang out.
The bearded Foreman fired a shot into the sky, the loud noise slightly calming the chaotic scene.
He stared intently at Caesar, the wariness in his eyes quickly replaced by a more frenzied emotion.
That was greed.
Extreme greed.
"Look closely! These aren't adult Dragons! They're just two Young Dragons! Young Dragons that haven't grown up yet!"
The bearded man's voice cracked with excitement.
"If we can catch them alive and sell them to the great nobles of the Empire or the magic academies, we won't have to worry about food or drink for several lifetimes!"
"Get them! Catch them alive! Whoever catches them gets a reward of fifty... no, a hundred gold coins!"
A hundred gold coins!
Under a heavy reward, there must be brave men.
Several Mercenaries looked at each other, their eyes slowly turning from fear to greed; a hundred Gold crystal coinss were enough for them to live it up in the city for several years.
What was there to fear? Weren't they just two small Dragons? Could they be more powerful than a Legendary Magical Beast?
"Go!"
Several Mercenaries bolstered their courage and rushed forward with their weapons raised.
Caesar naturally didn't care about these small fry with an average Rank of only LV.15.
His golden vertical pupils swept across the entire mine, looking toward the continuous green forest in the distance and the faint outline of a city at its edge... He could feel that the faint Dragon Might from the depths of the Dragon Spine Mountain Range, which had always loomed over him, had completely dissipated here.
A new world was right before his eyes—
This feeling wasn't bad.
"Fire! Aim for its eyes and joints!"
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Several iron arrows came whistling through the air. Caesar didn't even bother to move.
The arrows hit his [Rough Skin], failing to leave even a white mark before bouncing off weakly.
That's it?
"This is a human weapon?"
Caesar was a bit disappointed.
It seemed that besides being loud, there was nothing special about it.
A bloodshot-eyed Mercenary rushed forward with a greatsword, attempting to hack at Caesar's legs.
"Do you want to dance too?" Caesar moved, casually flicking his tail.
—[Dragon Tail]!
Bang!
The Mercenary was like being hit by a high-speed truck, flying out sideways and crashing into a pile of ore, his fate unknown.
This blow instantly woke the remaining Mercenaries from their dreams of wealth.
This is a damn Young Dragon?
What kind of Young Dragon can give someone a concussion with a single tail swipe!