Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 340 - 335: A Minor Discovery

Chapter 340: Chapter 335: A Minor Discovery

No matter how Fiora persuaded the Sea Elves and Triton Fishmen, Tatiss surprisingly turned back, willing to give her childhood friend a chance. Leon flew back to the Volcanic Island to busy himself, though there wasn’t much to actually keep him occupied.

Rare alchemy materials were only produced in such limited quantities each year—no amount of money could buy them. Leon wanted to refine Heavenly Immortal Pills to rapidly enhance his combat abilities via medication, but he could only wait until he harvested a batch of Krakens before considering it.

Currently, the Kraken is quite well-behaved, spending its days holed up in its lair, only occasionally hunting sharks and whales for food.

The largest Sahuagin Fishman tribe in the Flash Sea had been more or less subdued. The remaining small tribes couldn’t stir up much trouble; a few proclamations would suffice. If any disobeyed, Leon would simply have the subdued tribe deal with them.

The Sea Elves and Triton Fishmen had been handed off to Fiora. Whether she could complete the task successfully remained unknown. Regardless, they were left with only two choices: surrender or leave. With the Sahuagin Fishmen example in front of them, they likely wouldn’t dare to resist him even if they were incredibly bold.

To be honest, there were endless matters across the vast Zhen Dan Kingdom. Unless something truly important required his personal attention, Leon couldn’t be bothered to deal with them. And why not? Being a hands-off king was wonderful.

After returning to the Volcanic Island, Leon checked in to see whether the Dragon Turtle had reported for duty yet. He was told Cecilia had already made arrangements for it—temporarily assigning it to the navy and planning to give it tasks based on its performance. Eventually, it might even replace Fiora as the Minister of Navy.

"How much longer until the government building is finished?" Leon didn’t like meddling with specific tasks, which didn’t stop him from wandering around to inspect things.

The Brass Dragon indeed served as Engineering Minister, but that didn’t mean it could sit in an office pointing fingers. It had to be on-site personally overseeing construction. "At least six more months until delivery," said the dragon.

"That long? Are you sure you haven’t been slacking off?" Leon quipped, casually seated and oblivious to any discomfort others might feel. "Once the government building is done, there’s Edwin’s research institute to build, and Watchtower Port also needs expansion. Additionally, Cecilia is examining the possibility of constructing a new city. You’ve got no shortage of tasks on your plate."

The Brass Dragon shot Leon a side-eye and replied, "I’m a dragon, not an ox or horse."

"Alright, alright." Leon laughed, "You’ll get a bonus when it’s done."

The Brass Dragon snorted heavily.

After touring the construction site, Leon took the opportunity to wander around Watchtower Port—it was only then that he noticed the eclectic mix of species inhabiting his port town.

The streets of Watchtower Port featured not just the familiar Humans, Dwarves, Tieflings, Half-Orcs, and Hobgoblins, but every few hundred meters he’d spot an Elf—or a Gray Dwarf selling goods imported from the Dark Territory. The Aarakocra from the Air Elemental Plane were also an unusual sight within the Material Plane.

"What are you doing here?" Leon spotted Isily wandering around. The silver-haired girl, arms crossed, exuded the air of a street loafer. "Don’t you have anything to do?"

"Aren’t you just wandering around too?" Isily countered.

"I’m the King," Leon nodded and replied. "I’m gauging public sentiment. You could call it undercover observation."

"You talk a better game than you play," Isily wasn’t as intimidated by Leon as she once was. Pushing up her glasses, she subtly pointed toward the corner. "See that old crone over there? That’s a Green Hag."

"So what if she’s a Green Hag?" Leon replied. "Watchtower Port welcomes all races."

"If she stirs up trouble, someone will surely deal with her." Leon chuckled. "This is my only port town. If anyone dares to cause trouble here, see how many lives they’ve got to spare."

"I’m just reminding you," Isily shrugged her shoulders.

Leon looked at the silver-haired girl and thought about how he had kidnapped her back then mostly out of amusement, with hopes she could be of some use later. Unexpectedly, after some observation, he found that apart from warming the bed, she wasn’t good at much else. She excelled at eating and slacking off but wasn’t much better than Salovis—and nowhere near resembling a Silver Dragon.

Days passed one after another, and before he knew it, mid-month had arrived.

The start and middle of each month were particularly important to Leon because those were the days he absorbed Sun and Moon Essence—a tradition he had maintained for decades.

On this evening, Leon didn’t sleep. He waited early at the observation platform at the Volcano Top.

The Moonlight Absorption Technique had to be performed at midnight when the stars were sparse and the moon was brightest—though it wasn’t yet the optimal time.

Back in the day, Tassera loved watching Leon absorb Sun and Moon Essence. Despite hundreds of viewings, she never grasped the method, so now she rarely bothered.

Others would also spectate, but Leon didn’t mind in the least. The sad part was that no one had learned the technique yet.

Anglistra believed absorbing the Sun and Moon Essence was the key to Leon’s strength, but Leon refused to share the secret with others, so none succeeded in learning it. Salovis argued there was nothing special about absorbing Sun and Moon Essence—dragons could strengthen themselves just by sleeping. The Tiefling maids felt they lacked the skills to learn it.

"You keep watching—do you understand any of it?" Leon noticed a head poking out of the Molten Lava at the Volcano’s mouth. It was the Molten Land Shark, which had witnessed him absorb Sun and Moon Essence countless times.

With nothing to do for now, Leon decided to tease the Molten Land Shark, waving it over.

The Molten Land Shark saw Leon’s gesture and promptly emerged from the lava.

Fully matured now, the Molten Land Shark was a massive elemental creature in size comparable to Leon. Its strength, however, was far inferior. Leon worried it might damage his observation platform, which would require time-consuming repairs. Before the elemental reached the platform, he shouted, "Alright, stop there."

The Molten Land Shark halted at his command, its mouth agape, tongue lolling, dripping scalding molten lava.

"Exactly, just like that...so obedient." Leon reminisced about the days he trained the Molten Land Shark. Its intelligence was pitifully low—even lower than most beasts. Commands taught over and over were routinely forgotten. It neither learned from rewards nor punishments.

"Sit," Leon said energetically.

The Molten Land Shark, essentially a massive lava shark with four limbs, couldn’t sit; it could only crouch.

Leon thought for a moment and offered his paw. "Left hand," he instructed.

The Molten Land Shark raised a forelimb, seemingly struggling to distinguish left from right.

"Wag your tail," Leon continued.

The Molten Land Shark obediently wagged its tail.

"Well done, well done." Leon applauded and then patted its head lightly. He truly felt the molten creature had grown smarter.

Leon fell deep into thought, vaguely sensing he was onto something. However, with the full moon high above and the optimal time for Moonlight Absorption upon him, he didn’t dwell on it further. Waving off the Molten Land Shark, he ran to the observation platform and took a deep breath toward the bright moonlight.