Chapter 37

Huo Ge, not bad.

On the edge of a forest clearing, Di Wu Ge Si met Huo Ge.

Di Wu Ge Si looked at the throng of monsters behind Huo Ge, and upon seeing the snakemen and trolls among them, his pupils lit up as he praised his friend's abilities and methods.

Huo Ge gave a hehe laugh, then his expression turned serious: "I have recruited a total of five hundred and two followers, of which First Rank monsters number four hundred, Second Rank ninety-five, and Third Rank seven."

Among the seven Third Rank monsters are the three swamp troll brothers over there, two swamp snakemen, a lone bear monster without a tribe, and a mantis swordsman.

Following Huo Ge's gaze, Di Wu Ge Si saw the three swamp troll brothers, each over three and a half meters tall, pitch-black all over, sturdily built to an extraordinary degree, holding a huge wooden club simply fashioned from hard ironwood.

Trolls possess strong physiques and terrifying power; among monsters they are of high grade, and in terms of strength they are somewhat stronger than dragonfolk, with adult specimens reaching Second Rank and also possessing considerable regenerative ability.

As long as the heart and brain are not severely injured, they can basically heal themselves.

However, they have a drawback: their thinking is overly simplistic, making them easy to deceive.

But this does not affect the trolls' strength.

In fact, trolls are also a kind of retinue favored by the chromatic dragon clan.

Thick-skinned, sturdy, strong of muscle, simple-minded, they rush forward to act at the sound of a command.

Who wouldn't like them?

Di Wu Ge Si's gaze swept past the three troll brothers and fell on the two swamp snakemen.

Swamp snakemen are somewhat weaker than trolls and dragonfolk, being a medium-grade monster race, yet in the environment of the Gloomfen Forest they may be even more troublesome than ordinary trolls and dragonfolk.

Their lower half is a thick, blue-black snake tail as thick as a bucket; the upper half has one male naked, exposing a sturdy chest, and one female covered with simple leaves to conceal her grandeur, revealing large swaths of ancient bronze skin.

A pair of swamp snakeman husband and wife.

Sweeping past the snakeman couple again, Di Wu Ge Si saw a bear monster over two meters tall; bear monsters are rather special, they do not live in tribes but in family units.

Thus, nearly every bear monster possesses extremely rich jungle combat and hunting experience; they are no pushovers.

Lastly is the mantis swordsman.

Over a meter tall, with a gaunt frame hidden beneath a black robe, concealing the mantis swordsman's pair of sharp blade-arms.

The number of mantis monsters is extremely rare, perhaps because insectoid intelligent monsters are difficult to breed.

In short, every mantis monster is a natural-born swordsman, assassin.

Di Wu Ge Si sensed a hint of threat from this mantis swordsman.

This is a feeling none of the aforementioned Third Rank monsters possessed.

It silently noted the opponent in its mind.

"I have recruited only gray-scaled dragonfolk, totaling one hundred fifty-three, with seven Third Rank, one hundred Second Rank, and forty-six peak First Rank; among these First Rank dragonfolk, aside from the gifted youths, the rest are those with special talents."

"Adding our followers together gives six hundred fifty-five, and counting us two makes six hundred fifty-seven." The jackal-person Huo Ge spoke with a hint of solemnity.

Such a monster force requires equally enormous logistics.

Di Wu Ge Si understood what Huo Ge wanted to express, and curiously asked, "Then what do you have in mind?"

"My idea?" Huo Ge gave a hehe laugh, his expression turning serious,

"The Gloomfen Forest is rich in resources; along the way there are outposts of other monster tribes where we can resupply, and if worse comes to worst, wild monster tribes not under the Emerald Dream's jurisdiction are also natural sources of provisions."

When the jackal-person finished speaking, his tone carried a hint of ruthlessness and bloodlust.

By nature, jackal-people are more evil and cold-hearted than dragonfolk. Di Wu Ge Si merely frowned slightly and nodded, "Then let's do as you say."

Otherwise there is no better solution, after all they are poor, and this journey is far, lugging massive supplies through rugged, swamp-ridden mountains and forests—utterly fantastical.

"Then let's set out."

Di Wu Ge Si and Huo Ge exchanged a glance, nodded, turned around, and went to summon the monsters who were resting.

A long, arduous, and perilous journey began.

Emerald Academy, Dragon Fort Plains.

Black Dragon Fort.

Although a certain black dragon knew nothing of these details, judging by the time it could roughly infer that the dragonfolk retainer Di Wu Ge Si had already set out for "Fish Spirit Marsh".

"I still have more than seven years before I can graduate and leave the academy," Lai Ang thought silently.

It's coming soon.

In the blink of an eye, over a year passed.

Outside Black Dragon Fort, a black dragon hatchling flew in hurriedly, heading for the inner keep.

Another hatchling guarding the inner gate saw this and angrily scolded, "La Ze, so rudely barging into the inner keep, aren't you afraid of disturbing the chief!"

"Ai Er Duo, I have urgent matters to report to the chief!" said the hatchling named La Ze, his tone turning sharp; indeed it seemed very urgent.

Seeing La Ze like that, Ai Er Duo hesitated a moment but still did not stop him, for if it truly were an emergency and he blocked it, the chief would surely punish him.

"Then go."

Inside the luxurious dragon nest chamber of the inner keep, Lai Ang, upon hearing the urgent knocking, dispelled the azure water-ball magic before him.

"Come in."

La Ze stumbled in, and his first words caused Lai Ang's already aloof dragon eyes to flash with danger.

"Chief, Sai Jia and Pa Na have been captured by the chief of the Azure Dragon Fort!"

Before La Ze could catch his breath and explain the details, the black hatchling that had been lying prone before him spread its broad dragon wings and vanished through the roofless exit above the dragon nest chamber.

Like a black arrow loosed from a bow, it tore through the air.

Not long after, Lai Ang arrived above the Azure Dragon Fort.

Below, two azure dragons noticed the movement above; just as they raised their heads to look, they heard a boom, and the black dragon's heavy body landed before them.

"Tell me, where are the captured black and white dragons?" Lai Ang said icily.

It couldn't be bothered to learn why its third brother Sai Jia and Pa Na had been caught; it needed no reason, it only wanted a result now.

"Black dragon, step back; this is Azure Dragon territory!"

Two blue dragon hatchlings did not immediately recognize Lai Ang as the leader of Black Dragon Fortress, since Lai Ang had not appeared in the outside world for a long time, almost always staying inside the dragon fortress; moreover, at this moment Lai Ang's body length from head to tail had reached five meters, and his appearance had changed considerably compared to over a year ago.

Seeing the two four-meter blue dragon hatchlings act so arrogantly, Lai Ang snorted coldly; his thick, long dragon tail behind him turned into a blur, whipping the left hatchling and sending it flying five or six meters away, dragon blood and scales exploding in the air.

The other hatchling, stunned and not yet able to react, was hit by a water magic cannon the size of a human head that flashed like a meteor; it struck the hatchling's dragon body, crushing its hard scales, and a human-head-sized blood hole appeared.

After severely injuring the two arrogant blue dragon hatchlings in a single exchange, the black dragon vibrated its dragon wings and charged toward the interior of the Blue Dragon Fortress.

(End of chapter)