Chapter 1 The Dragon's Lair

The entire city of Atlanta, with its tens of thousands of residents, gathered at various points along the cliff coast, watching the small boat laden with offerings sail into the deep sea.

Normally, the evil dragon would devour the eighteen maidens and then take the treasure to its island lair to continue its slumber.

However, at this very moment, no one knew that two groups were setting their sights on the dragon.

Besides the Dawn Mercenary Group, deep in the forest several miles outside the city, a few hundred dragon knights from the Silver Dragon Kingdom had been waiting for a long time.

In the group, there was also an old man holding a bamboo pole.

The captain of the knights, hearing that the dragon had already left the coast, turned to the old man and said, "Mr. Bartolo, His Majesty is determined to obtain the Dragon Breath Fruit on the island. During the battle later, we will rely on you to slay that Lightning Blue Dragon."

The old man responded indifferently, "Since I agreed to come, I will naturally do my best. But after this matter is over, tell that person that I have repaid the favor I owed."

The captain of the knights said, "Understood. I will convey your words to Lord Garcia."

"..."

The old man didn't say anything more, turning his head to look indifferently at the distant city.

His state of mind had long been as still as an ancient well, but for some reason, he always recalled the swordsman junior and her companions he had met at the gambling house yesterday. After pondering for a moment, a trace of recollection seemed to appear in the old man's eyes, and he sighed inwardly, "Companions, huh..."

......

The Dawn Mercenary Group had been wandering at sea for the past few days, thoroughly investigating the situation in the surrounding waters.

They had set up observation posts on various deserted islands. As long as the Blue Dragon left "Thunder Sea Island" far enough, they would report the information to Soren in real time.

The Lightning Blue Dragon, "Ka Zi Ka," made a lot of noise when flying. It was constantly accompanied by a cloud of thunder, which was a sign of highly condensed lightning laws. The cracking and flashing never stopped, like a thunderstorm approaching, incredibly terrifying.

In Atlanta, Soren, seeing the dragon's roar that was unsettling even from a hundred nautical miles away, muttered to himself, "As expected of a pure-blooded dragon, this dragon's威压 (weiya, imposing aura) is truly terrifying."

It was clearly just a seventh-tier dragon, but its dragon威压 (weiya, imposing aura) was like a rank压 (ya, suppression), giving people a sense of trembling from the depths of their souls.

Soren was fine, but the ordinary women, children, and low-level magical beasts in the city were already shivering.

Perhaps it had been dormant for more than a decade, but the evil dragon circled in the sky for a while to stretch its muscles and bones, and then flew towards the city.

The Blue Dragon's speed was extremely fast, like lightning.

In the communicator, Soren had already received detailed data reports.

"Mr. Soren, the dragon is currently flying at a speed of 930 meters per second, and is still increasing..."

"The Blue Dragon has passed observation point two, flying speed is 1080 meters per second, and is still increasing..."

"The Blue Dragon has passed observation point three..."

"..."

Soren listened to the urgent reports in the communicator, his eyes narrowed, and he kept watching the black dot on the horizon.

The speed of this Lightning Blue Dragon was indeed too fast.

This was an exaggerated speed that almost no means could compare to, except for spatial displacement.

In about a minute or so, it could arrive in Atlanta from its nest a hundred kilometers away.

Correspondingly, it could also fly back from here.

No wonder no one dared to set their sights on it.

If one was targeted by this evil dragon, even a wind-based class adept at displacement would be chased to death.

Seeing the Blue Dragon approaching aggressively, its dragon威压 (weiya, imposing aura) became more and more terrifying. The sense of oppression was like a mountain collapsing, making people feel as if their breathing had stopped. Ordinary people simply couldn't bear that kind of压 (ya, suppression) when facing a high-level creature.

In just a moment, most of the onlookers who had been excitedly watching the show were so frightened that they ran into the city.

The people around Soren also fled in an instant.

But he watched without expression, carefully feeling the real dragon威压 (weiya, imposing aura), and thought to himself, "This dragon威压 (weiya, imposing aura) is very similar to覇氣 (baki, domineering aura), both are the control of living beings over all things..."

The difference was that dragon威压 (weiya, imposing aura) was a dragon's innate ability, while 覇氣 (baki, domineering aura) needed to be comprehended by humans themselves.

As dragon威压 (weiya, imposing aura) approached, the 覇氣 (baki, domineering aura) on his body gradually surged out, resisting the invisible pressure.

In the blink of an eye, Soren heard that the Blue Dragon had passed the last observation point.

He didn't stay any longer, but teleported to a long-distance displacement magic circle that had been set up in advance.

He made a術士印 (shushi yin, warlock seal), and the alchemical formation lit up.

Soren stepped out again, already on a deserted island dozens of kilometers away.

......

There were spatial coordinates on the deserted island that had been set up by the Dawn members in advance. This was one of the closest islands to "Thunder Sea Island."

Soren looked back, and the Blue Dragon was already at the end of his vision.

At this distance, it would take at least thirty seconds to return.

He didn't hesitate any longer, changing his clothes with a conjuring trick, putting on a mage robe, and looking at the island in the distance where thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, he teleported over again.

In the blink of an eye, Soren had arrived at the evil dragon's lair.

Where dragons lived, no other creatures existed. No creature could withstand dragon威压 (weiya, imposing aura) for a long time and live as neighbors with a dragon.

This also reduced a lot of trouble.

But Soren didn't dare to be careless, holding a black umbrella and releasing his senses to the fullest.

He looked up at the sky, and his eyes confirmed some guesses, "The Blue Dragon has left, but the thunderclouds haven't dispersed. As expected, there's something wrong with this island itself."

Soren had considered this problem before.

The "Thunder Sea Island" where the Blue Dragon lived was constantly filled with thunder, which was definitely not normal.

Some people guessed that it was the Blue Dragon's own thunder-attracting talent, and others guessed that it was a chaotic area of laws left over from the ancient battlefield of the gods.

But after Soren personally went to the island, he immediately judged that there might be some kind of treasure here!

Because he saw at a glance that the lightning in the sky was being attracted by a lightning rod, concentrating in an orderly manner at the core of the island.

It looked like it was being attracted by something.

Soren knew that it was the evil dragon's lair, so he teleported over.

But not far away, the dense雷元素 (lei yuansu, lightning element) in the air made him stop.

Even with 覇氣 (baki, domineering aura) protecting him, the暴 (bao, violent)雷元素 (lei yuansu, lightning element) still felt like needles and fire, causing pain all over his body.

Soren frowned, "Super-order laws?"

His own body now had no problem resisting ordinary lightning power.

So this was definitely not a level that natural lightning power could reach.

He became more and more certain of his judgment that there must be a treasure on this island!

The暴 (bao, violent)雷元素 (lei yuansu, lightning element) formed a large isolation zone. It would be impossible for ordinary people to get close to the dragon's nest.

But this didn't stop Soren.

He slapped a術式印 (shushi yin, art seal), and four elemental wax statues protected him.

Earth, wind, water, and fire were the four basic elements of the universe. In the hands of an alchemist, the elemental field formed by the four wax statues could be used to exchange for any other element, and could also digest any other element.

In the instant that the wax statues elementalized, the暴 (bao, violent)雷元素 (lei yuansu, lightning element) around Soren was immediately digested by the wax statues, turning into the four basic elements to maintain the wax statues' consumption.

With the four wax statues protecting him, Soren walked in smoothly all the way.

But when he reached the center of the island, it was like walking into an ocean of lightning, with silver light flashing all around.

However, the magic was that there was an area of several hundred square meters in the center that seemed to be insulated, and the lightning was shielded from a huge gap.

The open space was filled with piles of gold and silver treasures.

And there were deep depressions in the pile of treasures, which looked like the traces of a dragon coiling up to sleep.

Dragons liked to collect shiny treasures, and Soren was no longer surprised.

Although there were many fine products and high-level magic cores in that pile of treasures, his gaze was instantly attracted by a broken golden lightning spear.

[A Fragment of a Broken Lightning Spear]

Detailed explanation: Middle-level artifact fragment, containing super-powerful high-level lightning laws; it can gather雷元素 (lei yuansu, lightning element), and the holder can master the power of lightning;

"Artifact fragment?"

It was a simple introduction, but Soren's eyes lit up.

Sure enough, he guessed right.

Even if it was a magical fragment, this was a rare treasure.

Moreover, what Soren saw was not its attack ability.

He was a puppet master, and he didn't lack weapons for battle.

Instead, he valued the function of this fragment more.

This lightning spear could gather thunder at all times, wasn't this a "perpetual motion generator?"

Although the power of thunder was uncontrollable, the Mafa Empire had long had a method of hunting雷霆 (leiting, lightning) in nature as an energy source. Soren had once seen lightning hunters who made a living from this on the airship to Capitolon, the capital of the Mafa Empire.

If this lightning spear was installed on the [Sky Fortress], wouldn't it be a continuous source of energy?

It didn't require any energy consumption to continuously attract雷霆 (leiting, lightning). Where could he find such a good generator?

For alchemists, energy was real "money"!

With the support of this lightning energy, whether it was used to make super-魔能 (moneng, magic energy) cannons or used for power supply, it would be an excellent choice.

Dora and a group of senior Mechanical Alchemists from the Mafa Empire were in the Little Void Realm, and they could always think of ways to use this thing.

Soren's heart warmed when he saw this.

He didn't expect to gain such a treasure on this trip.

He glanced at the side, where a small tree was growing, with seven or eight purple fruits hanging on it.

[Lightning Dragon Breath Fruit]

Detailed explanation: A law spirit fruit that has grown for a hundred years with the dragon's breath, containing rich life essence; after taking it, lightning affinity +199, lightning magic damage immunity +288;

Looking at this fruit, Soren breathed a sigh of relief.

This was probably one of the materials for the petrification antidote, bringing him one step closer to解除 (jiechu, resolving) Tani's mother's petrification.

......

The opportunity was fleeting.

Soren didn't dare to delay, but he didn't rashly try to pick the fruit.

He remembered a warning in the "Dragon Taming Secrets": "The dragon race is no less intelligent than most humans. Don't treat it as a magical beast, or you will pay a heavy price."

The black dragon he encountered in the Dwarf Curse Space before was just resentment, not a real dragon.

Soren was now facing a real pure-blooded Blue Dragon.

He couldn't be careless.

He raised his hand, and two活尸 (huo shi, living corpses) wearing mage robes appeared beside him. One was holding a封印 (fengyin, seal) box, and the other was holding a cloth bag, and they walked towards the lightning spear and the fruit.

Very smoothly, one活尸 (huo shi, living corpse) was charred, but it also put the lightning spear into the封印 (fengyin, seal) box.

The other活尸 (huo shi, living corpse) took the tree and the fruit together into a cloth bag specially designed to hold materials.

With the treasure in hand, Soren pulled the thread and quickly stuffed the two treasures into the Little Void Realm.

However, because the lightning spear was taken away, at the same time, the暴 (bao, violent) thunderclouds in the sky above the island suddenly quieted down.

The雷元素 (lei yuansu, lightning element) no longer gathered, and the thunderclouds instantly showed signs of collapsing.

This change in the sky was very big, and it could be seen clearly even dozens of kilometers away.

In the communicator, the various observation points of the Dawn Mercenary Group also sent reports at the first time: "Mr. Soren, be careful, the evil dragon is flying back to the island! Its speed is faster than before, reaching 5.5 times the speed of sound!"

Soren was not surprised at all. No matter how fast the lightning dragon was, it couldn't be faster than his spatial displacement.

However, after getting the treasure, he didn't want to escape.

Hearing that the evil dragon was flying back as planned, Soren responded with the communicator: "Everyone enter the predetermined hunting area and prepare to take action!"

As he said that, he didn't have time to manage the treasures, leaving only the charred corpse he had just burned, and then, with a teleportation, he left Thunder Sea Island.

......

A few moments ago.

In Atlanta.

The Blue Dragon was as fast as a flash of lightning, drawing a blue line in the sky.

It was not in a hurry to enjoy the offerings given to it by humans, but was patrolling its hunting grounds.

The crowd in the city watched anxiously, hoping that the evil dragon would eat the sacrificial maidens, and that it would be satisfied and return to the dragon island.

Most of the maidens floating on the small boat on the sea had been frightened into a coma, and even those who were still awake were shivering with fear from the dragon威压 (weiya, imposing aura) and could only helplessly await death.

But without warning, not knowing what happened, the evil dragon suddenly let out an extremely angry dragon roar that resounded through the sky, and then turned back?

Everyone was stunned by this scene.

Everyone heard clearly the anger of the evil dragon, and vaguely realized that something terrible was about to happen.

The people hiding in various places looked at each other, guessing what had happened to make the evil dragon so angry.

"Why... why did the evil dragon fly back?"

"Did someone really go to Thunder Sea Island to steal the [Dragon Breath Fruit]?"

"I'm afraid that's the only possibility that would make the evil dragon so angry."

"It's over, that guy killed us and Atlanta. With such a big commotion, now even with the sacrifices, the evil dragon will kill that little thief and then vent its anger on the city..."

"Run... run away!"

"..."

For a time, everyone in the huge city was fleeing in droves.

They could already imagine that after the evil dragon returned, Atlanta would be turned into ruins.

At the same time, this sudden change also caught the flying dragon knights ambushing outside the city by surprise.

They originally wanted to ambush here, waiting for the evil dragon to approach the coast before launching a sneak attack.

With the "Dragon Hunter" Bartolo Figaro and their entire flying dragon regiment, even if they suffered some casualties, they had a good chance of hunting down the dragon and then landing on the island to look for the [Dragon Breath Fruit].

There were originally no flaws in this plan.

But what was going on now?

"Captain Bennett, the lightning on Thunder Sea Island has disappeared!"

"How is that possible? Did someone really go to the island?"

"The current situation is unclear. The scouts we arranged have gone to check."

"..."

The people in the knights were also very puzzled.

Although the Bounty Hunter Guild had posted a high reward, no adventurer with a working brain would ever dare to target that evil dragon.

Because everyone knew that the Lightning Blue Dragon flew very fast, and even if it really stole something, it would never be able to escape.

Before long, news came again: "Captain, the latest intelligence from the front line is that the Blue Dragon has returned to the island and is flying to the southeast. It seems to be chasing someone."

Hearing this, the captain named Bennett pondered for a moment.

He really couldn't figure out who, other than their royal knights, would dare to provoke that evil dragon.

But he quickly made a decision: "Prepare for battle according to the original plan. Although I don't know who went to the island, the evil dragon will definitely return to Atlanta to release its anger after killing that little thief. We still have a chance."

Everyone responded: "Yes!"

From beginning to end, the "Dragon Hunter" Bartolo, who was accumulating sword qi to the side, didn't say a word.

He also agreed with the statement that someone had gone to Thunder Sea Island, but he always felt that the evil dragon would not be able to return.

This was obviously a premeditated theft.

There was another group of people who were also targeting the [Dragon Breath Fruit].

"Could it be them?"

Bartolo suddenly thought of the two young people he met at the casino yesterday.

But he was a little unsure.

Although he thought they were strong, they shouldn't have the strength to deal with this seventh-tier Lightning Blue Dragon.

But suddenly, he thought of something else, and a flash of wisdom flashed in his eyes as he murmured to himself, "Oh, I almost forgot that they must have an excellent team to cross the Eternal Night Sea. I underestimated those two young people..."

......

The Blue Dragon, "Ka Zi Ka," returned to its nest at lightning speed.

The evil dragon found that most of the gold and silver treasures were still there, but its two treasures were gone!

Dragons were not only strong, but also had an extremely strong sense of smell.

It immediately distinguished that there were seven thieves on the island!

Four of them had corpse qi, like undead creatures.

The other three humans were the ones who stole the treasures!

Oh, look, this dragon also found a fresh corpse.

This was one of the thieves who had been struck by lightning and killed when the hateful little thief stole the lightning spear.

That hateful little thief, when this dragon eats that little thief, it must go to that city and eat a thousand humans to calm this dragon's anger!

The arrogant "Ka Zi Ka" roared and soared into the sky, like a bolt of lightning, chasing after the smell.

......

Soren stole two important treasures from Thunder Sea Island, and then teleported all the way to the southeast.

The "Dragon Taming Secrets" had detailed information about dragon habits. How could he not know that dragons had a very strong sense of smell?

Within a few hundred kilometers, the Blue Dragon could accurately smell the prey.

Soren could have used超远距离 (chao yuan juli, ultra-long distance) teleportation to escape this range, directly preventing the Blue Dragon from chasing him.

But he didn't do that.

The direction he was fleeing was the temporary camp of the天神 (tianshen, celestial) plane mage on Rainbow Island.

A pure-blooded dragon in excellent condition and furious was not easy to provoke...

It was a planned part of the plan to shift the blame.

Facts had proven that those who flew on wings could not outrun those who could teleport.

Especially a seventh-tier Mechanical Alchemist with the [Isaac Alchemy Heart], who had almost infinite spiritual power.

In order to let the evil dragon catch up, Soren would secretly release water from time to time.

After being discovered again, he fled in a "panic", and the Lightning Blue Dragon was getting closer and closer.

A distance of several hundred kilometers was only a few minutes for this person and dragon.

Looking again, the defense barrier on Rainbow Island was already in sight.

With a teleportation, Soren disappeared.

......

How could the Blue Dragon "Ka Zi Ka" not have discovered the destination of this human thief?

From far away, it smelled the breath of a large number of humans on that island.

Moreover, the taste of those humans was exactly the same as the smell of the corpses on the island before!

So there were accomplices.

Did you think you could survive by hiding back here?

Hmph, the great dragon race was not easy to provoke!

The Blue Dragon only had disdain in its eyes.

As a creature at the top of the food chain, it had never known what "fear" was.

A group of humans was not enough to make it retreat.

"Ka Zi Ka" rushed towards the magic barrier, and a mouthful of lightning dragon breath spat out.

In an instant, thunderclouds filled the sky.

This breath was comparable to an eighth-tier arcane magic, falling overwhelmingly.

With such great power, a large number of scorched dead fish floated on the sea.

But to "Ka Zi Ka's" surprise, its breath was actually blocked by the defense barrier?

This made it even more angry.

It flapped its wings and swooped down, and a terrifying thunder and lightning storm swept up.

At the same time, more than a dozen magic towers inside the defense barrier lit up.

The professional mage legion had sufficient combat experience. The mages of the天神 (tianshen, celestial) plane had been fighting with the attracted deep-sea behemoths these days. They thought that this dragon was also here to cause trouble, so they naturally counterattacked with a series of legion combos.

Controlling controls, output outputs, various legion magic導器 (daoki, guiding devices) were also moved out, and even stronger magic禁 (jin, forbidden) spells were also being chanted.

The battle became very intense at the first time.

Lightning dragon breaths and legion magic bombarded each other, and the movements were earth-shattering.

......

Seeing the two sides fighting as soon as they met, Soren, hiding in the sea, was also happy to watch the show, and muttered, "It's only been a few days, and so many people have been teleported here. I have to stop it as soon as possible. But... with that Blue Dragon's violent temper, it's going to get a beating this time."

Facts had proven that although dragons were smart, they couldn't understand creatures they had never seen before.

In the eyes of dragons, the humans in this sea area were just their hunting grounds. They could hunt them at any time when they were hungry.

But these mages in front of them were not the humans it understood.

No one in the Dragon Kingdom had ever seen these mages from the天神 (tianshen, celestial) plane. How could it have seen them?

Although the Blue Dragon was strong, the several ten thousand mage regiments were even stronger!

A ten thousand mage regiment was comparable to ninth-tier combat power, and there was also a magic camp.

The result was...

Soren witnessed the Blue Dragon, the overlord of this sea area, being severely beaten by society.

But the Blue Dragon was a pure-blooded dragon after all. Its dragon scales had almost absolute immunity to magic, and it was unlikely to be killed in a short time. Moreover, it was extremely fast. If it really wanted to escape, those ten thousand mage regiments would not be able to catch up.

But this was also the situation Soren wanted to see.

From the beginning, he guessed that the Blue Dragon and these天神 (tianshen, celestial) plane mages could not do anything to each other. At best, the best situation would be that both sides suffered.

In the end, the Blue Dragon would inevitably escape.

Soren was satisfied seeing the fierce fighting.

The more these mages consumed the evil dragon, the easier it would be for the Dawn Mercenary Group to deal with it.

Finally, after half an hour of fierce fighting, the evil dragon finally recognized reality in its rage. That was, it could not do anything to those humans hiding in the magic barrier.

Although it had killed many people, it had already had the intention of retreating.

Seeing the first half of the plan succeed, Soren once again notified Qiandiao and the others: "Everyone, prepare to intercept the target!"