In the late winter of the eleventh year of the Dragon Calendar, Bay Stream City, far to the south of the Golden Empire, also welcomed its annual festive atmosphere.
Although this city, whose location was chosen by Alina, was not as vast as large cities like Golden City due to the smaller population and topographical limitations at the time, it still possessed a unique style.
Bay Stream City, surrounded by layered plains, mountains, and rivers, was nourished on its east side by a constantly flowing waterfall from the high plains, making the land fertile and the water and grass abundant, an excellent place for settlements.
The inherent disadvantage of its remote location was compensated by the Golden River flowing downstream and the transportation network that had been successively built between the empire's major cities.
Every few days, many ships from the Kings Capital and Golden City would turn from the canal, diligently dug day and night by liches commanding skeleton armies, onto the main channel of the Golden River and flow downstream.
They brought new immigrants, enthusiastic merchants, curious adventurers, traveling bards, and large quantities of goods and commodities to the remote Bay Stream City.
On land, not only were the horse trails gradually widened, but the railways that had begun to be built within the Golden Empire in recent years had also extended to Bay Stream City; in fact, the magic steam train track from Bay Stream City to Golden City was the first operational track to be built.
The magic steam trains now rumbled back and forth between the major cities of the empire, contributing their greatest value to achieving a closer connection between them.
The foundation of the empire's industrial development, its significance lay precisely here, not merely for greater convenience.
Carlit stood on the top floor of the Governor's Mansion of Bay Stream City, built against the mountain, which was once the City Lord's Fortress, overlooking the green mountains and flowing water, the bustling populace, the racing sailboats, and the land transportation; everything was taken in by this Blue Dragon, who had transformed into a human woman.
Carlit had begun to grow accustomed to this life; after handling the mountain of accumulated affairs, the peace and development of the city were the best stimulants for a ruler.
Every city in the empire had a stationed True Dragon, and now, Bay Stream City was under the highest authority of Carlit.
As for the former Bronze Dragon City Lord Alina, due to her excellent work ability, she was burdened with an even heavier responsibility by the Ancestral Red Dragon.
Among the True Dragons who joined the Dragon clan later, Carlit's ability was not particularly outstanding, even somewhat mediocre, but she was still the first True Dragon among the later additions to be entrusted with such an important task.
Although in the presence of the Ancestral Red Dragon, the status of the Dragons seemed equal, the degrees of intimacy and distance always existed in the hearts of every living creature; even True Dragons were no exception.
Although Carlit, who was previously accustomed to idleness, did not think this was a favorable decision for herself.
However, it could be seen from the Ancestral Red Dragon's actions that the Red Dragon was using various methods, either inducements or semi-coercive, to slowly force the True Dragons in the Dragon clan to change their habits and make them accustomed to it.
Kalon believed that every True Dragons in the Dragon clan, except Camid, had the potential to become a qualified ruler, capable of sharing many affairs with him.
In the eyes of the Ancestral Red Dragon, these True Dragons were more useful tools than any other race, always full of energy, and even working for several months without rest was not an issue.
The inheritance from their dragon blood and their innate intelligence gave these True Dragon s great potential, provided that they only needed to slightly change the habits flowing in their bloodline.
"Stop looking, you look several times a day. Sometimes I even think that if the male True Dragon Akzi appeared before you now, you wouldn't even put down your city to rendezvous with your lover."
Ellie's humanoid form was that of a beautiful woman with wavy long hair, but a pair of emerald vertical pupils made the woman's style appear somewhat somber, like a beautiful flower containing poison, alluring and dangerous.
Ellie was a wild True Dragon, and after joining the Dragon clan, she became quite close to Carlit. Although these True Dragons had not yet been entrusted with important duties by the Emperor, they possessed the power of political observation.
The Ancestral Red Dragon's intentions had long been clear within the True Dragon; after dispatching Rosani into the newly opened world, the True Dragons of the Dragon clan, perhaps except for Camid, the True Dragon who constantly argued with him, all held full expectations for their future.
Ekania World was the homeland of the Golden Empire, the Dragon Nest of all True Dragon s, and the base camp of the Dragons. And the True Dragons in the Dragon Nest were the Emperor's outstretched net, extended limbs, spreading to other planes.
Perhaps when deciding on the imperial system, and not granting fiefdoms to the imperial Dragons, yet still allowing the True Dragon s to retain the title of lord, the Ancestral Red Dragonhad already thought of this step.
The lords of the Dragons, their territories were not within Ekania World; their territories were the individual opened planes.
Because Antagena had already been officially recognized by the Dragon Emperor within the Dragon clan, in the open, by her title of Green Field Lord.
It was just that the Emperor had not yet officially issued the enfeoffment order for Antagena.
But today's Antagena, although she did not have the prominent royal title of Red Queen like Red Dragon Klenaya , nor the title of Black King like Rosani, the title of Green Field Lord made every True Dragon in the Dragon clan work extremely hard.
Besides Ellie, White Dragon Sloka and White Dragon Loni were also actively undertaking more tasks, greatly alleviating the burden on the Dragons, allowing the Emperor to now have ample free time to engage in a performance and leisure time of enjoying himself with the people, alongside the awakened Pixie Raven.
While other Dragonss were so busy their scales were smoking, the Emperor was currently still roaming the empire's card halls with the Little pixie Raven , cheating their way to victory.
"No, perhaps it's just as Deniro, the Mist Dragon often says, throughout a Dragons's long life, they always need to find some meaningful things as their goals, only then can their existence feel more real!"
Carlit's slender fingers gently picked up the wine glass placed on the castle railing. The wine in the glass was a premium vintage transported from the distant southern continent—Odysseus's Brew.
It is said that this wine originated from ancient times, when a human hero, Odysseus, accidentally stumbled into a Cyclops' cave during his adventure and faced mortal danger.
So Odysseus mobilized his followers to collect wild grapes growing around the Cyclops' cave, stomped and squeezed the grapes with their hands and feet, brewed them into wine, got the fierce Cyclops drunk, and then escaped the giant's clutches.
Regardless of whether these legends were fabricated, this expensive wine was nothing more than an everyday consumable in the eyes of the True Dragons of the Dragon clan.
"But how could you bear to climb down from the Tree of Life?" Carlit took a sip of wine and said with a hint of sarcasm, "You Green Dragons are always particularly interested in green places, just like uncultured wild True Dragons. Oh, I misspoke, you were a wild True Dragon to begin with."
As a Green Dragon, she naturally preferred to nest in forests, especially among the canopies of huge ancient trees; the Tree of Life was an irresistible nesting site for these Green Dragons, just like volcanoes and lava lands attract a Red Dragon.
However, in other cities, Ellie would never dare to set foot on the Tree of Life. Although other True Dragons recognized Ellie as a member of the Dragon clan, the Tree of Life was an important asset of the empire, and even Antagena could only occasionally rest on the tree, let alone nest there.
Only in Bay Stream City, under the jurisdiction of Carlit, was this Green Dragon allowed to rest on the Tree of Life for extended periods. This was also a relationship forged by the two female True Dragons fighting fiercely on the battlefield.
Ellie smiled, her two large eyes narrowing. She laughed, "Carlit, your Blue Dragon's sarcastic words are like a cold joke to us Green Dragons. Besides, I was a wild True Dragon to begin with. I am proud to be a member of the Kogmora Dragon Clan, but I have never felt inferior for being a wild True Dragon."
"The Emperor has never concealed his past hardships and tribulations. It seems I am closer to the King of the Dragons's thoughts."
Ellie, with familiar ease, picked up the remaining half-bottle of wine and gulped it down like water, then said, "But you, this Blue Dragon, once the Emperor's foster mother, cannot comprehend his thoughts. It would be truly disappointing if others knew."
"Pah," Carlit made no attempt to hide her attitude, saying fiercely, "What do you want? I know your habits; you would never climb out of your nest for no reason."
"If you don't cultivate the second-generation saplings of the Tree of Life on time, when I get back, I'll apply to have you transferred away from me, so you can never be lazy again."
Ellie's expression immediately became serious, and she said, "I do have something, Carlit. Haven't the patrolling guards reported to you recently that there are more and more wild beasts appearing near Bay Stream City?"
"Not only a large number of wild beasts, but the number of ferocious species and extraordinary magical beasts is also gradually increasing," Ellie said earnestly, "Our Bay Stream City guards this important route from south to north, and we may soon face the impact of a beast tide. Something must be happening in the Godforsaken Mountains. I think we shouldn't be confined here."
"Instead, we should actively send out personnel to scout the situation along the way, to prepare in advance for future possibilities."
Carlit listened and couldn't help but nod. Although there was no Wyvern Knight stationed in Bay Stream City, the only fifty Wyvern Knight who had been there were conscripted with the advance of the pioneering army.
However, there were still some newly trained Griffon Knight in the city who could be dispatched as reconnaissance forces.
But before Carlit could think it through, the True Dragons vision allowed the two True Dragons, standing high on the top floor of the mountain fortress, to spot rolling dust and broken trees in the distant forest, with birds startled and scattering.
Occasionally, huge beasts galloped, their massive forms appearing and disappearing among the trees, detected by the True Dragon s' keen sight.
"Perhaps something has happened, Carlit. You are the highest executive of Bay Stream City; you command everything. I'll go take a look first."
Ellie, this beautiful woman, with agile movements, leaped over the railing as she spoke, jumped down from the tall castle, transformed into a True Dragon in mid-air, spread her wings, and soared into the sky, flying towards the distance.
Outside the southern city of Bay Stream City, grasslands, hills, and forests merged into one continuous landscape. The lush water and grass of the nearby hills and grasslands were the favorite pastures for the city's youths to graze their cattle and sheep.
Every day, many youths would drive their cattle and sheep here in the evening, allowing them to move freely and have their last meal of the day, while the youths could play and frolic in the mountains, spending their childhood.
Even though the traces of wild beasts had recently increased, these residents were all strong in martial arts, viewing these beasts as rare meat for their families and eagerly hunting them.
Even the youths were not afraid of ordinary wild beasts; they merely increased their vigilance to prevent their cattle and sheep from being snatched away by beasts, which would result in a severe beating from their parents.
But today, it seemed a significant change had occurred. As the youths were playing by the stream and small river, in the nearby forest, trees were breaking, and birds were flocking.
Accompanied by crackling sounds and a slight tremor of the ground, a group of wild boars first appeared, charging out of the jungle and heading straight for the open ground.
These boars, with long tusks, were massive and covered in a thick layer of mud armor. Even the most experienced hunters would not easily provoke them, let alone these youths.
Following closely behind these boars were groups of mountain deer and swamp buffalo, scrambling out of the forest as if some fierce beast was driving them from behind.
But then, several tigers, giant apes, and magical pythons also rushed out of the forest in a panic, blindly crashing into many wild beasts blocking their way.
These predators of the mountains were now like ordinary wild beasts, running for their lives; they were all being driven by a more terrifying presence, fleeing their homes.
Seeing this scene, the youths still on the bank urgently called out to their companions in the water. These youths, without even time to put on their clothes, ran towards the nearby Bay Stream City.
The guards on Bay Stream City had also noticed this scene and ran out of Bay Stream City to meet these youths facing danger.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The guards drew their bows and arrows, shooting down one galloping beast after another, trying to disperse them and drive them towards the mountains on either side.
The fastest youths were already close to the guards, but at this moment, one youth stopped, clutching his wet hair with both hands, and shouted, "Oh no, I forgot to bring my little brother back! He's still sleeping on the rock by the bank!"
At this, everyone quickly looked towards the riverbank. A bewildered child, awakened by the sound of the stampeding beasts, was rubbing his eyes, groggily standing up from a low, long, rectangular stone.
And the beast horde had already rushed across the stream and small river, charging forward recklessly, like a rolling torrent, regardless of whether there was an abyss ahead or a defenseless child.
Seeing the small child about to be crushed to pieces by the beast tide, everyone couldn't help but exclaim in alarm.
Only the innocent child, facing the surging tide of ten thousand beasts, raised his arm, extended his small palm, and shouted in a tender child's voice, "I am the Son of the Dragon king! I am not afraid of you!"
Boom! The next moment, the beast tide rolled, and dust engulfed the child. Everyone couldn't help but close their eyes.
But a gasp sounded from behind. Some youths who had closed their eyes, unable to bear the sight, opened them to see that the tender youth was now encircled by a True Dragon's wing.
Thick vines swelled and shot up from the ground, forming a sturdy dam that firmly protected the child beneath the True Dragon's wing.
"Well done, little one!"
Ellie lowered her head, her pupils sparkling with amusement, and laughed at the child beneath her wing, "You truly are a courageous child, although in my eyes, it seems a bit foolish, but I like you!"