Chapter 4: It Seemed No One Had Any Objections

“…Annoying.” Crouched on a rock, using stones that were almost the same color as the black rock, Zheng Yichen achieved a ‘perfect’ disguise. To achieve the best effect, he’d even specially chosen several similarly colored rocks, hollowed them out, and put them over his head.

The disguise was really perfect!

Through this flawless camouflage, Zheng Yichen clearly saw several more sneaky people moving around near his den. He had a strange feeling that if his den was discovered, he might encounter some unexpected trouble.

It looked like he really had to move.

These new sneaky people weren’t like the previous group who wore the same distinctive clothing and were clearly from the same nest. Their clothes were different, but they shared a common trait: they were very good at hiding, and there was a subtle fluctuation on them. It was weaker than the ‘Magic Equipment’ he had robbed and also extremely hard to notice.

But perhaps because of his transmigration, or maybe due to the bonus from being a dragon, even though it was hard to notice, he could still detect it. In terms of professionalism, these people completely outclassed the previous men in black!

Damn, what did these people want? Were they trying to cause trouble?

Regretfully watching these people get closer and closer to his den, Zheng Yichen wondered if he should rush out immediately and scare them off. He admitted he had disguised and covered up his den as best as he could, but when faced with truly professional people, the disguise seemed a bit inadequate.

Even the misleading camouflage only delayed their search progress; it never successfully misled them.

“That dragon has been gone for a long time. Retreat!”

Huh? Was I discovered? Noticing that these people were about to reach his den but suddenly retreated, Zheng Yichen couldn’t help but lightly tap the rock covering his head, feeling puzzled. He didn’t understand what they said. Change location immediately.

“We completely cannot find any trace of a second dragon. It is very likely there is no Mother Dragon watching over that Young Dragon!” In a Conference Room at the Mercenary Guild branch, a group of people was having a meeting. Anyone who frequently spent time in this Town could basically tell who these people were…

The President and Vice President of this Mercenary Guild branch were both here!

“If there was a Mother Dragon with that Young Dragon, our people would have definitely been exposed by now, but the investigation went very smoothly,” the branch’s Vice President said. He didn’t explicitly state some things: if there really was a Mother Dragon, the people sent out wouldn’t just have their whereabouts exposed; they would have been directly killed!

After all, a Mother Dragon’s protection of her young was very strong. Anyone discovered with certain intentions toward the Young Dragon would face the Mother Dragon’s harsh retaliation. Yet none of that had happened. All signs indicated this might be an abandoned Young Dragon.

Such situations, though extremely rare, were not unheard of. A Young Dragon that was abandoned usually had innate, irreparable flaws, forcing the Mother Dragon to abandon it. Abandonment was considered the better outcome; more often, the Mother Dragon would directly kill the offspring, preventing the abandoned young from falling into the hands of others.

It sounded cruel, but it was also a different kind of ‘protection’ born out of extreme helplessness toward the offspring.

After all, if a Mother Dragon chose to abandon her offspring, the flaws must be extremely severe. If they were only minor flaws, given the Dragon Clan’s resources, they wouldn’t resort to abandoning or killing the young.

The Vice President’s words made everyone present excited. Even a Young Dragon with major flaws was an extremely precious and rare source of materials for Humans! Just keeping it to harvest its blood could afford them a life of luxury and comfort without any worries!

No matter how you looked at it, that was much better than idling away in such a remote Town!

“There’s another point. That Young Dragon… no, based on its current size, it’s already a Juvenile Dragon,” the Vice President said with a somewhat strange expression.

“It’s not a Lesser Dragon, is it?” someone questioned.

“That dragon shows no characteristics of a Lesser Dragon. It is a purebred dragon,” the Vice President stated confidently. After realizing it might truly have no Mother Dragon watching over it, he had even risked observing the Young Dragon once at close range when it went out to hunt. Through detailed comparison, all its characteristics matched the records in the books perfectly. It was a real Giant Dragon, not a Lesser Dragon.

“Though for some reason, its growth rate is very fast. If we had discovered it a year or two later, that dragon might have grown to the level of a Young Adult Dragon.” The Vice President’s words made everyone in the Conference Room fall silent for a moment.

A Young Dragon, no need to say, had decent combat power but was still a juvenile. When they grew to be a Juvenile Dragon, their combat power would take a leap. The most obvious feature was they could use Dragon Breath, an innate ability unique to the Dragon Clan. Even talented Juvenile Dragons could use Magic, even abilities similar to spells, possibly without needing to chant.

This was a Talent that Humans especially envied.

As for things like Dragon Language Magic, those generally appeared among Dragon Clan members who were past the young adult stage. Before that, the Dragon Clan was already extremely powerful physically, possessing high Magic Resistance. With just their strong bodies, they could defeat most enemies. Magic? That was auxiliary…

“Even now, a Juvenile Dragon is not something we can easily capture.”

After all, this Town’s location wasn’t very favorable; high-end combat power was really limited. Moreover, this matter involved a dragon, and the interests involved made them unwilling to share it too much with others. In fact, people here were even glad the dragon appeared in such a remote place.

Otherwise, such a good thing as encountering a lone Young Dragon without Mother Dragon protection wouldn’t have fallen to them. It would have been taken over by those powerful and influential families long ago.

“I can provide some ballistae.” After a while, the branch President spoke. His words made everyone aside from the Vice President tremble involuntarily.

Ballistae were contraband strictly banned by The Empire from being distributed. Without proper authorization, anyone possessing such items would face serious charges, even implicating their entire family. Could the Vice President of a Mercenary Guild branch in a remote Town have such authorization?

Obviously not!

Everyone present were influential people in this Town. Those who could reach such positions were not fools. The branch President saying this in front of them had a simple meaning: he was forcing them to make a decision!

If they agreed, they would be accomplices. If the secret leaked, no one could escape implication. If they disagreed, then they shouldn’t think about leaving this room today. Or perhaps, after coming here, agreeing or disagreeing was no longer something they could decide!

“It seemed no one had any objections.” Seeing everyone else fall silent, the branch President smiled slightly. “Everyone, for our future rise, let’s not hold anything back. This operation must not fail!”