Chapter 3: It’s All Fake

Why did he have to rob people every time after scaring them? The loot he snatched couldn’t even be spent—it could only be stared at as it sparkled. So this issue needed serious discussion…

That was the appearance fee!

Since every day there were a bunch of clueless newcomers coming to experience the life of a Hero fighting an Evil Dragon, and Zheng Yichen was so cooperative in teaching them a lesson called “True Reality,” even if he didn’t charge an appearance fee, he should at least collect some tuition, right?

Alright, truthfully, Zheng Yichen just felt uncomfortable not getting something out of these people.

Maybe it was the dragon’s nature acting up?

Since it was nature, dragons could fly, right? His wings could already wrap completely around himself, even coil up once. So why couldn’t he fly yet!

As for why he played this cat-and-mouse game with those who came here to seek death, maybe it was because after being lonely, he wanted to interact with something. Even if the people here weren’t from the world he once lived in, since they were Humans, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of “familiarity” when encountering them. It also helped avoid going crazy from boredom. If he acted as a wild monster for too long, he might really start being influenced by wild instincts.

One sharp claw tapped lightly on a stone, while the other claw propped up his chin, causing the black-clad people whom Zheng Yichen had knocked out one by one to widen their eyes in shock. This gesture was way too human-like! Dragons in this world indeed had high intelligence, but that started from Juvenile Dragons.

As for a Young Dragon… even if it could run and jump, it was still like a baby. How much could you expect from a baby’s brain?

And wait—was this suspected Black Dragon in front of them really a Young Dragon?!

“You all…” Staring at these black-clad people, Zheng Yichen’s thoughts drifted into a brief memory. Probably because he had hatched from a stone, whenever he tried to think a little, it easily looked like he was zoning out, making others think he was genuinely daydreaming!

He hooked a claw, and a dislodged stone drew a parabola before smacking a black-clad person on the head who was trying to sneak away. People in this world had tough physiques. A stone that should have landed them in the hospital didn’t even knock the person out—they just bled a little.

Hmm, it seemed about five months ago, a group of black-clad people had secretly observed him, even disgustingly collected his droppings, taking every last piece away!

Back then, Zheng Yichen was upset, but those black-clad people were all slippery. By the time he decided to act, they were already gone. Five months later, those once-slippery black-clad people now looked so clumsy in his eyes.

Being reborn as a non-human didn’t seem all that bad?

No, no—it was absolutely terrible! With this body, he couldn’t even have intimate relations. Find a companion of the same species? He felt zero attraction. How could a mere ownerless Dragon Body hatched from a stone distort a Human’s aesthetic sense of beauty… Sigh~

“You all… never mind, you wouldn’t understand even if I said it.” Realizing the inconvenience of the language barrier, Zheng Yichen waved a claw and skillfully patted each of them down, leaving them completely clean.

Then, under the desperate stares of these black-clad people, he shredded their clothes into pieces the size of fingernails before leaving stylishly. Well, it should have been stylish—it would have been even better if he could fly!

Come to think of it, he was quite considerate—he left the female black-clad person her undergarments… Listening to the angry shouts and whip-cracking sounds behind him, Zheng Yichen couldn’t help but think. Oh, he also left a piece of whip behind incidentally.

Hanging around near his dragon lair for a while, and making sure no one was nearby, he furtively pushed aside the camouflage at the cave entrance, quickly slipped inside, and covered the entrance again.

Looking at the considerable pile of treasures stored inside the Cave, a claw that could easily pierce hard rock and slice through steel lightly scratched his chin. Should he move?

When returning to his lair, Zheng Yichen was always extra careful. This Dragon Body might look large with thick Scales, but its senses were actually quite sharp. With enough focus, he could detect even a mosquito landing on his Scales.

Now, people were starting to move around near his old lair. This wasn’t a good sign. With a Human Soul and influenced by loads of internet knowledge from before his transmigration, Zheng Yichen always remained wary of the Humans in this world.

He was now an Outsider. Even if he shouted that his Soul was Human, it would probably only attract more curious people wanting to study him.

Thinking this, Zheng Yichen—for how many times was it now?—gave up on the idea of actively contacting and communicating with Humans. Since they couldn’t understand each other anyway, forget it!

But… should he really leave? Looking at this little home he had lived in for so long, continually expanded over time, he felt reluctant to leave now. He had finally adapted to the environment here and learned about the distribution of species.

Most importantly, finding food wasn’t as hard anymore!

“I’ll wait a bit longer,” he muttered, adding another mark on the wall. Zheng Yichen nudged the pile of gold coins at his feet and lazily lay down on the bed made of soft grass padding. After all, the dragon’s top-of-the-food-chain aura was present, so little bugs and such didn’t dare come harass him.

But that was limited to the intimidation effect on large predators. Was this so-called Dragon’s Aura really powerful? Zheng Yichen honestly didn’t know if he even had such a thing!

When he encountered small animals like rabbits or deer, even straining to glare at them only scared them into fleeing wildly—none ever died of fright. Even roaring loudly to enhance the effect was useless; it just stunned or shook them to death.

Once, Zheng Yichen also encountered a lion nearly three meters tall. Back then, he didn’t find it—it attacked him first, no discussion. Maybe it was strong, but Zheng Yichen only wasted a bit of effort dealing with it, gaining abundant food that lasted a week.

By the way, that lion didn’t have a Magic Core, something that supposedly should be unique to Magical Beasts. Perhaps it was just a mutated beast, not a Magical Beast. In any case, this so-called “Dragon’s Aura” might be a bit fake, or maybe he just didn’t know how to use it properly. Making others afraid probably came more from his physical and racial advantages…

However, Zheng Yichen clearly underestimated Human greed. As more and more information about him, this “Young Dragon,” was gathered, some people couldn’t help but develop certain ideas. Of course, still mindful of certain factors, they wouldn’t act immediately, only slowly verifying the reliability of this information.

Dragons were indeed top-tier creatures in this world. Top-tier meant rare, and every part of a dragon’s body was a treasure—even their droppings. So a Young Dragon suspected of having no Mother Dragon watching over it was enough for countless people to take the risk!

In the end, profit was just too persuasive!