Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 151 - 150 Volcano Eruption

Chapter 151: Chapter 150 Volcano Eruption

Leon is not particularly interested in Gold Coin; he has his sights set on the entirety of Watchtower Port, which he regards as inevitably his.

He doesn’t demand that Watchtower Port cough up the cash at present, but instead forcibly insists that Watchtower Port must announce his presence—he is the protective deity of Watchtower Port, to be hailed and never slandered.

The reputation of the Red Dragon is truly atrocious, notorious to the point that if he were to abruptly declare rulership over Watchtower Port, the residents would definitely flee, with eight or nine out of ten preferring to escape into the forests rather than staying. Beyond that, no caravans or merchants’ ships would come and go from Watchtower Port.

However, if he were to make his appearance as the protection deity of Watchtower Port and peacefully defend it for a few months to half a year, and once everyone is accustomed to him and understands that even the Red Dragon can be reasonable, then finding the opportunity to seamlessly take over the rule of Watchtower Port would likely elicit no objections or concerns.

"I’ll be leaving. See you in three days. I hope you are ready by then—with the money or the Dragon Slayers," said Leon without lingering in the meeting hall, dropping the statement before walking out.

Having spent so many days coming to this place and staying at the Volcanic Island every day, he had just "eliminated" a wave of adventurers and even outmaneuvered them. No one would venture into the Volcanic Island for the time being to interfere with the Efreeti awakening the volcano, so Leon planned to thoroughly enjoy a few days at Watchtower Port.

He was already wealthy, and it was foreseeable that a substantial amount of money would be coming his way soon, so he wasn’t afraid to spend.

No sooner had Leon left with one foot than the meeting hall erupted into chaos.

"Miss Fiora, may I ask what on earth is going on? Why have you brought such a terrifying creature before us?" the Mayor asked, submissive before Leon, for he knew Leon would not show restraint and could genuinely resort to killing, unlike Fiora.

"We lost; we are no match for him," Fiora replied. "We couldn’t even last one round."

"That doesn’t mean you should bring him right to us," the Mayor said.

"If I didn’t bring him here, wouldn’t he have come looking on his own? I didn’t want to bring him, but he threatened to destroy the whole of Watchtower Port," retorted Fiora with crossed arms and a glare, not someone to be bullied easily. The Red Dragon could bully her because he was strong, almost flipping her over with just one encounter.

Upon hearing Fiora’s response, the Mayor shrank his neck and was rendered speechless.

It made no difference whether someone guided the way to such a large target as Watchtower Port or not.

"What do we do now?" the Mayor looked around nervously. "Are we really going to pay him?"

"Perhaps we could recruit adventurers from other places," the Security Captain ventured, "From the Talia Alliance, from Miren, Raffi, or Sila, using the connections of the Gold Shore Chamber of Commerce. We’re sure to find adventurers capable of taking on that Red Dragon."

"You speak well, so this task is yours," said the Mayor kindly, patting the Security Captain on the shoulder. "Our Security Captain, I knew you were the most capable."

"I can’t," the Security Captain hastily refused, shaking his head. He had no desire to meddle in such a thorny issue.

"Just pointing out problems without solving them won’t do," the Mayor stated. "How much funding do you need?"

"Ten thousand gold coins," the Security Captain blurted out hastily.

"We might as well pay that Red Dragon directly then," the Mayor muttered upon hearing this. "He only asked for five thousand gold coins as compensation to begin with and then one thousand gold coins a month for protection fees to keep us safe from other monsters. Seems like a fair deal."

"We should be wary that the Red Dragon may be playing nice for now but could drastically increase his demands later," astutely noted the advisor, seeing the potential issues behind the scenes.

"We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it," the Mayor dismissed the thought.

"Unless you have a better solution to deal with that Red Dragon now, let’s go with the current plan."

Everyone had their considerations, especially the Mayor, whose family was in Miren, not Watchtower Port. He planned to send someone back to Miren soon to negotiate his return. When the Red Dragon eventually loses temper, leading to turmoil in Watchtower Port, it would not concern him—better to save his own skin than perish with others in disaster.

Meanwhile, Leon had ordered a whole roast lamb but couldn’t finish it and encountered Fiora.

"What did they say?" Leon generously tore off a lamb leg and offered it to the female knight.

"I don’t want your food," Fiora flatly refused, her face stern. She had much more integrity than that certain Brass Dragon. If it weren’t for the Red Dragon’s threats and promises, she would never have shown up here to collude with evil. "They agreed to your demands."

"If you don’t want it, all the better—I didn’t want to give it to you anyway." Leon withdrew the lamb leg. "Compared to other Red Dragons, am I not kind-hearted? For such a large city, five thousand gold coins to avoid destruction is quite cheap. Moreover, isn’t it a profitable deal to receive my powerful Red Dragon protection for just one thousand gold coins a month?"

"Don’t worry, you are doing the right thing," Leon chuckled.

Fiora remained unmoved and asked, "What exactly is your scheme?"

"Don’t worry about any schemes I might have," Leon said. "Just work for me in peace. In no more than ten years... I won’t make you do anything bad."

Women love two things: talking about money with the poor and discussing emotions with the rich. Men love two things: corrupting virtuous women and convincing courtesans to take the righteous path. Leon tried to persuade Tassera and Cecilia, one Blue Dragon and one Green Dragon, to be a little kinder and not so wicked, but on the other hand, he was very keen to see a bronze dragon with a strong sense of justice fall into depravity.

Leon believed ten years was enough time to "corrupt" the bronze dragon; after all, it was not a chaotically evil Red Dragon, nor was he raising someone to replace the bronze dragon.

Fiora left shortly thereafter, thinking she would keep her promise, but if it really didn’t work out, breaking it was not a big deal – Lord Bahamut would certainly not say anything, and she would not become an accomplice to evil. However, the fork-tongued Red Dragon had intrigued her enough to wait and see his performance.

Leon stayed in Watchtower Port for three days. After eating and drinking his fill for three days and receiving compensation from Watchtower Port, he left to inspect the work on Volcanic Island.

The Efreeti’s work was making good progress, and about a week later, a noticeable earthquake occurred on Volcanic Island.

Then, on a sunny afternoon, the volcano began to rumble from noon, shaking the entire Volcanic Island slightly. With the Efreeti lifting its hands high, the tremors intensified, spewing a stream of fiery Molten Lava...

Amidst a huge explosion, the molten lava and rock fragments were hurled high into the air, forming a dark cloud of volcanic ash that spread with the wind, covering the surrounding land and sky.

As lava poured out of the crater and flowed gently down the slopes, it resembled a fiery red stream, devouring all life and vegetation it encountered.

It looked fearsome at first, but that was all.

The spectacular fireworks lasted only a dozen seconds, even though the prelude took half a month.

"Is that it?" Leon felt unsatisfied, as if it had just begun and then it was over.

"Yes, that’s all," the Efreeti replied. "I’m just an ordinary Efreeti, not a Noble Genie. It’s good enough that I could awaken the volcano."

The volcano started trembling again.

"Is it erupting again?" Leon asked excitedly.

"The eruption should have ended," the Efreeti said, frowning slightly as his expression suddenly turned serious, "Something is coming out."

An unexpected development!

Leon, who liked excitement, climbed to the edge of the crater, peered into the boiling pit, and saw the bubbling molten lava. With a ’pop’, the head of a gigantic amphibian suddenly emerged from within.

Leon didn’t recognize the massive axolotl-like creature that had emerged from the lava, but it seemed to have some connection to the Fire Melt Salamanders—or perhaps it was their worshipped divine beast, even though their faith was clearly in Yimixi.

"Magma Salamanders... sleeping in the molten depths for millennia, occasionally waking to consume massive amounts of food," the Efreeti flew above the crater, "Whether it’s invaders or volcanic eruptions, if disturbed and awakened, it will fly into a rage, devouring everything until its stomach is completely full, then returning to calm."

"The destructive power of the Magma Salamander causes Molten Lava to form in abundance around it," the Efreeti said. "Perhaps we can keep it."

"I can try talking to it," the Efreeti looked at Leon, "If you are willing to take the Dragon Form, the chances of success will be much higher."

Listening to Efreeti, it turned out to be a petty thing.

"Does it have intelligence? Can it speak?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," the Efreeti said, "It’s much smarter than a Magma Land Shark, almost as smart as those Fire Melt Salamanders. It speaks the language of the fire kin. If nothing goes wrong."

"Perhaps I should take the opportunity to learn the language of the fire kin," Leon stretched his neck, returning to Dragon Form, and looked at the enraged Magma Salamander, "Maybe it’s better to kill it because we already have the Magma Land Shark, which is well-trained."

Spotting the Red Dragon, the Magma Salamander seemed to sense its murderous intent. Intelligent enough to fear, it quieted its fury and made strange noises.

"It’s scared," the Efreeti laughed, "Humans value having both cats and dogs, I think your lordship can as well. Since you’ve already raised the Magma Land Shark, it won’t hurt to add a Magma Salamander."

"You’ve convinced me," Leon said, "Go ahead, tame it."

With Leon as the powerhouse backup, the Efreeti, who was equally formidable, easily persuaded the beast that it could continue to sleep in the volcano, but it was obliged to help should enemies appear. Although the chances were slim, they were not zero.

The dormant volcano had been awakened, and the awakening Magma Salamander was easily dealt with. There was nothing pressing on Volcanic Island for the time being.

Leon decided to return to the Molten Lava Lake, bring over the Salamanders and the Magma Land Shark, and move all his belongings. Cecilia was a competent assistant; without her, he truly couldn’t manage, and lastly, there was Tassie who might still be persuaded.