Evil dragon has a warm heart
Chapter 529 - 529 527 Aftershock

Chapter 529: Chapter 527: Aftershock Chapter 529: Chapter 527: Aftershock An earthquake incident did not affect Lady Nico’s promotion celebration, but instead provided a great topic of conversation for the banquet.

“Lady Nico!”

At the climax of the banquet, all the guests raised their glasses and then shouted Nico’s name together.

Nico, standing on Lord Russell’s shoulder, excitedly drank a glass of red wine that Russell had handed her, and instantly, her little face flushed with blush.

Then, she took off flying, circling the entire banquet hall, randomly shouting, “Nico Nico Nico!”

When she tired from flying, she landed back on Lord Russell’s shoulders amidst the admiring, envious, astonished, and jealous gazes of the guests.

Russell smiled slightly and raised his glass, “Gentlemen, to victory!”

“To victory!”

“To victory!”

“To victory!”

All the assembled guests raised their glasses and drank with Russell.

After the luncheon ended, many guests who had finished their congratulations and meals began their journey to Fluorescent Castle, led by Baron Romand and his wife.

They would rest at Fluorescent Castle for the night and resume their trip early the next day.

Meanwhile, Uncle Meijie, Baron Gevedas, Baron Dyson, and relatives like Lady Ingrid, Mrs. Roby, Uncle Rosen would stay overnight at Cigar Castle, making further arrangements after tomorrow.

In the afternoon,

the ladies formed a card game, while the knights organized teams to visit Leize and Qinqiu and enjoy the sights of the newly established Warm Enclave of the Shadowflame Duchy.

Russell did not accompany them.

He was in his study meeting with Charles, “How is the investigation going?”

“Sir, the entire Blackflame Plains, as well as the surrounding areas of Leize and Qinqiu and the neighboring Glowing Valley, all experienced earthquakes. However, they were minor, with no building collapses and few casualties so far,” Charles responded.

“That’s a relief,” Russell felt much reassured.

Earthquakes were a natural disaster with many records in the Shadowflame Duchy, and as long as there were no casualties, there was no cause for alarm.

Though the Dragon Sleep Continent was a world with extraordinary powers, it was ultimately a planet, and the movement of continental plates was bound to bring earthquakes, volcanoes… of course, Russell did not know whether the naturally erupting volcanoes would breed dragons.

If every volcanic eruption could give birth to a dragon, he truly wished the world were full of earthquakes and volcanoes.

Soon, dragons would reclaim rulership over the world and annihilate the invading Frost Giants entirely.

“I wonder where Shuang Da is hiding, nearly a year without a sight of it, I kind of miss it,” Russell mused as the weather cleared at night, standing on the balcony gazing at the starry sky, the stars twinkling brilliantly as he tried to make out the planets with the naked eye.

Warm Season One was easy to find in the east during the summer and in the west during the ice period.

But the other three designated planets, Winter One, Autumn One, and Spring One, were hard to pinpoint their exact locations.

The positions of the planets in the starry sky were not fixed, and they might appear in different positions every day.

Suddenly,

Russell spotted a star in the sky that suddenly flickered rapidly a few times, and when he tried to observe it with a small telescope on the balcony, the star suddenly dimmed and then vanished, never to be found again.

“How strange!” Russell frowned, “It couldn’t be a plane or a drone, could it? Impossible, this is Dragon Sleep Continent!”

Having waited a long time without the flickering star reappearing,

Russell simply mounted Black Oil Dragon Ross and flew straight to the Sharp Knife Mountain Observatory to inquire if the observatory had seen this star.

“Lord Russell!” Director Sullivan, who had attended the luncheon, had returned in the afternoon to preside over the observatory’s work. Upon seeing Russell, his face showed excitement, “I was just about to report to you, we have found the missing planet One!”

“Found Missing One?” Russell was astonished; Missing One was that strange planet that orbited the sun.

Excited, Sullivan said, “Just now, we captured a flickering star. Though it blinked out after a few flashes, after comparing trajectories, we discovered that it was the missing Number One!”

Afterward,

Sullivan brought out a planetary orbital chart that depicted six orbits, where five nearly circular ones belonged to the Dragon Sleep Continent and planets Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, and one was an elongated ellipse.

“The orbit of the missing Number One crosses that of the five planets. According to our predictions, only it would traverse this expanse of stars… But what I can’t comprehend is how it could suddenly flicker and then vanish.”

The light of the planets is the reflection of sunlight.

Logically, this kind of reflection should be continuous, like the moon, which, except for being obscured by clouds, is always reflecting light and shining.

“Obscured by something?” Russell furrowed his brow.

“That obscuring object should reflect light too, Lord Russell,” Sullivan shook his head. “The vastness of space makes it impossible for anything to block it.”

No sooner had he spoken

than the entire observatory and even Sharp Knife Mountain began to tremble. but the shaking stopped after just a few seconds.

“Oh no!” Sullivan lost his footing and fell to the ground.

Russell didn’t extend a hand to help him; instead, he deeply furrowed his brow, intently sensing the magic power surging underfoot.

He couldn’t help but think, “Is this an aftershock from this noon’s earthquake or is it…”

With this thought, he looked up at the starry sky, “Related to the missing Number One? Could this planet possibly be the Frost Giant World, and the earthquakes are Frost Giants invading through portals from another world into Dragon Sleep Continent?”

There was no answer.

Humanity had been battling Snow Demons for thousands of years, never having found a portal to another world, nor understanding where Snow Demons came from.

Even Frost Giants had only suddenly appeared in recent years, never having been mentioned in any records before.

“Keep observing, Sullivan. Your primary task at the Sharp Knife Mountain Observatory is to locate this missing Number One for me!” Russell gave the order.

Sullivan immediately responded, “Yes, Lord Russell!”

“Also, send out your students and assistants. Once the ice age is over, immediately start setting up new observatories throughout the Grand Duchy.”

“As you wish, Lord Russell.”

Having issued these instructions, Russell had no desire to stay at the observatory, waiting for Number One to reappear, and went straight back to Cigar Castle.

“Russell, you’re back at last; there was another earthquake just now.” Mrs. Roby had already stopped her card game, clenching Russell’s hand anxiously, “These earthquakes are endless. Will there be more during the night?”

Russell reassured her, “Aunt, do not worry. Even the biggest earthquake cannot bring down Cigar Castle. You all just focus on playing cards and sleeping.”

“Exactly, Roby girl, what are you worried about?” Lady Ingrid said, “Cigar Castle is like a porcelain castle, built with the clay from our Fluorescent Mushrooms Family. It won’t collapse; you won’t even find a crack.”

The main material of Cigar Castle was slag brick, which, although not as superior as ceramic metal, was much better than ordinary rock.

With various magic materials used as fillers, it was absolutely an indestructible fortress.

Even a dragon couldn’t destroy Cigar Castle quickly—unless willing to use Dragonflame, which can melt everything in the world.

“All right, let’s continue playing cards!” Lady Ingrid waved her hand, and Cigar Castle returned to its cheerful atmosphere.

Russell didn’t plan on staying up; he prepared to rest after taking a bath.

Before he even entered the master bedroom, Niko flew over to him: “Russell, Niko is here causing trouble!”

Niko had drunk wine at both the luncheon and dinner, and she was still slurring her words, her cheeks flushed with a lingering blush.

“Niko, your timing is perfect,” Russell beckoned, signaling Niko to sit on his arm, “Now that you have become a Great Spirit, you must set an example, manage the Spirit Room for me, and take good care of every little spirit and Spirit Insect.”

“Leave it to Niko to handle!” Niko immediately patted her flat chest.