The Red Dragon Just Wants To Do As It Pleases
Chapter 71 - 69: Suggestions

Chapter 71: Chapter 69: Suggestions

"Hiatt, is the ship ready?"

"Everything for the voyage has been prepared; we just await your command, Master." The Drow, having witnessed the Red Dragon’s might, became even more humble.

David had barely finished the elevation ceremony for his first Dragon’s Kin before he had to lock up the incessantly complaining Brass Dragon again. He was now eager to set sail for the New Continent.

There was simply no helping it; the flowering period of the Century Aroma waited for no dragon. If he wanted to make that money, he had to set out ahead of time.

They still needed to remedy the disfigurement of that Elven noble; otherwise, merely infiltrating the lands and properties of the Silver Wheel’s Lord would be no small problem.

Theoretically, David could wait for his Dragon’s Kin to set out first, as he had done when visiting the Green Dragon’s Nest, and then fly to the New Continent when the time was right, or he could simply get there in advance on his own.

But the journey between the two continents was indeed too distant. Based on the navigation data provided by Hiatt and Yevgeny, the voyage would cover at least 2,500 to 2,800 kilometers.

That was about four times the distance from Denmark to England on Blue Star.

Even for an Elven fleet assisted by magic, riding the winds and waves non-stop with the aid of a Druid’s fifth-circle Wind’s Control, it would take nearly two weeks. When Yevgeny had his adjutant flee the battlefield on a Pegasus, the adjutant still had to dutifully deploy an escape boat and then race onward with magical assistance.

Apart from birds like the Albatross that specialized in long voyages, no other creature possessed the stamina to fly between the two continents.

Even David, as a young Red Dragon, couldn’t do it.

It wasn’t a matter of insufficient endurance, but rather that his energy consumption couldn’t keep up. In other words, he’d need to dive into the sea to replenish his food after only a day or two of flying.

Keep in mind, this is the high-latitude Northern Ice Ocean. If it were a White Dragon or his sister, a Silver Dragon, they could, of course, easily glide all the way there. But such is the plight of a Red Dragon who detests the cold and revels in warmth. Although he wouldn’t freeze to death, why suffer when there was a ship to take, one that wasn’t necessarily slower than modern ships on Blue Star?

Nifadora, the Green Dragon nearby, was stunned when she overheard this conversation.

She turned to look at David and then at the Drow, her expression one of utter disbelief.

"Wait! You’re going to the New Continent? You, a Red Dragon?" She stopped just short of directly asking if he had lost his mind.

Her expression was as absurd as that of a Soviet woman during World War II, on the eve of a potential German invasion, learning that her newly acquired, powerful younger brother intended to take a trip to Berlin.

Especially given her perception of David—brief yet almost stereotypical—if this fellow was sneaking off to the New Continent, there was no way he was just going for ’tourism.’

David seemed to anticipate her reaction. He turned his head, scoffed, and performed a ’grand dragon transformation’ in public.

The watching Chromatic Dragons displayed a range of emotions, from surprise and shock to gradually dawning horror. Before their eyes, David, the robust purebred Red Dragon, somehow shrank three sizes. His scales turned from red to silver, transforming him into a living, breathing Silver Dragon. He had invoked his Authority: Jealousy.

Lizrite the Red Dragon and Mofei the White Dragon, having witnessed this nearly impossible scene, simultaneously retreated two steps as if struck by divine wrath, their faces guarded.

"You couldn’t possibly be a spy sent by the Metal Dragons, could you?" Lizrite exclaimed, voicing the White Dragon’s thoughts as if her tail had been stepped on.

All the while, her mind couldn’t stop wondering if this guy was actually a Silver Dragon, and he and his sister had been fooling her all along.

David couldn’t be bothered with such witlessness. Perhaps feeling he had overdone the transformation, he readjusted his build and appearance slightly. He gave his lower belly a pat to ensure all parts were intact. His voice also changed, growing from its Tania-like softness to something more rugged and husky. Only then did he turn back to Nifadora, who looked equally dazed but wore a more complicated expression.

"How about now?"

"A miracle! Absolutely incredible!"

Nifadora, her eyes nearly glowing, couldn’t help but circle David and inspect him. Finally, she couldn’t resist touching him with her claws and tail.

"What are you doing?"

After transforming into a Silver Dragon, David immediately felt not only more agile but also much more sensitive. The scales where Nifadora’s claws and tail had brushed against him stood on end.

"I’m telling you, don’t touch me recklessly."

"The resemblance! It’s just too striking! You’re the spitting image. Even with my Eye of True Seeing, I can’t find a single flaw."

Nifadora, her eyes shimmering with a magical glow, suddenly sighed, somewhat dejected.

"If I asked you what spell this truly is, you’d definitely tell me again that it’s all a divine gift from the great Chromatic Dragon Queen, wouldn’t you?"

"Of course." David replied with a smile that clearly said, ’I’m obviously fooling you, and what can you do about it?’

"Ah, that truly is something to make a dragon envious." Nifadora still wore an expression of ’adoration.’

"Hmph, hmph." Even though David knew the Green Dragon was pretending, it still greatly satisfied his vanity as a Red Dragon.

At the same time, Nifadora had come to realize that this fellow’s strange and wonderful abilities couldn’t possibly all stem from the Chromatic Dragon Queen’s gifts. At least, not all of them. Otherwise, even if David’s own mother were sold, it probably wouldn’t fetch such an abundance of divine blessings. Metal Dragons inherited Shape-Shifting Magic as part of their draconic legacy upon reaching adulthood. Beyond that, and aside from the fourth-circle Polymorph Spell—which was riddled with imperfections and barely resembled the target form—only the Transformation Spell and True Polymorph Spell could achieve such a degree of realism. And, unsurprisingly, they shared one common trait: both were damn ninth-circle spells! In any case, this Red Dragon definitely had some outrageous—no, secrets about him. But this only made Nifadora’s heart beat with even more joy and excitement. What was there to fear about secrets? Which dragon didn’t have a few of their own? Take her, for instance; she had set her sights directly on David himself, without causing him the slightest bit of disdain. After all, every dragon covets strength. Even if David knew her intentions, he wouldn’t blame her—a young, restless female dragon in her prime, unable to contain the budding desires in her heart, could he?

"Then, revered David, might you tell me what you are planning to do in the New Continent, dressed up like this?" Nifadora immediately asked in a coquettish voice.

David thought for half a second.

He considered that after his departure, Nifadora the Green Dragon might actually be the most suitable candidate to manage his Dragon Nest camp. Theoretically, of course, his sister Tania would be the most appropriate choice. But his Red Dragon mother, who had developed ’Gluttony’ and ’hemiplegia’ after getting a taste of being served by dragons, would almost certainly not let Tania go.

He promptly informed Nifadora of his plans: to head to the New Continent to dabble in the potion business, and to leave Rosinde the Barbarian behind to deal with any issues arising from the leaked Kinship Ritual on the Old Continent.

"Meddling in the manufacture and smuggling of military supplies? In the Elves’ territory on the New Continent, that’s a crime punishable by immediate execution by arrow, Your Highness David Uthos. Your courage truly is admirable, dragon."

Nifadora seized every opportunity to flatter David, her words practically tickling his ears. He pushed her away with a claw.

"Enough of that. What do you think?"

"I’ve never dealt with Anger Potions and don’t know much about them. However, since you’ve already found a usable field of Century Aroma and your Drow has distribution channels, theoretically, there shouldn’t be any major problems."

Nifadora, still unaware that David the Red Dragon had found a way to mass-produce Anger Potions using dragon dung instead of Dragon Blood, assumed he was only involved in ’small dealings.’

After all, according to her calculations as an erudite Green Dragon, even if they drained the blood of both David and Lizrite, the two juvenile Red Dragons, it would hardly make a splash given the enormous demand from the New Continent as it prepared for war.

So she didn’t comment on that, but instead offered her advice on the latter issue.

"However, I think you’d be better off taking Rosinde with you to the New Continent.

"After all, it’s the New Continent; an extra subordinate will always save some effort.

"As for the Kinship Ritual leak, I suggest you could actually wait a bit longer. Addressing it after you return from the New Continent won’t cause any undue delay. In fact, it could even be immensely beneficial. After all, as long as you control the port, there’s basically no chance for the ritual to spread elsewhere."

"Oh?" David was immediately intrigued. He seemed to grasp the idea Nifadora was hinting at.

Still... wasn’t that a bit too audacious?