Chapter 78

Time passed.

Hog, who had taken the second bottle of Monster Spider Demon Pill, woke up again.

"I succeeded, Master!"

The strong black-furred jackal-person's face showed an ecstatic expression.

Seeing this, Lai Ang breathed a sigh of relief. Good thing it succeeded; otherwise, if it failed again—"It's good that you succeeded, go back and master it well." Lai Ang nodded.

Diugus and Hog bowed respectfully, then left the dragon's nest chamber.

Lai Ang watched their retreating backs, pondering.

"Now I, Ai Di, Sai Jia, Pana, Eldo, Dagen, Mar, Frank, plus Diugus and Hog, have all successfully taken the Fourth Rank Monster Spider Demon Pill."

Eight dragons and two followers.

As for Ai Di's followers, Lai Ang does not plan to give them the pill for now.

Given their followers' talent and strength, using such an expensive and rare Fourth Rank demon pill would be too wasteful.

This is not only Lai Ang's own opinion; after learning the value of the Monster Spider Demon Pill, Ai Di and its followers also strongly agreed. How could we give such an expensive demon pill to those lowly followers?!

Furthermore, Lai Ang's other three followers, the skeleton spellcaster Mare, being an undead creature, the Monster Spider Demon Pill has no effect on it.

The blood-winged demon Til, Lai Ang did give her a quota of the demon pill, but she herself said she was not in a hurry.

Til plans to wait until either of the two underground spider leaders, Weng and Laura, breaks through to Fifth Rank, then use Fifth Rank silver spider silk as the main material to craft a Fifth Rank demon pill.

Otherwise, even if the Fourth Rank Monster Spider Demon Pill is successfully taken, its effect would be weak.

Thus Lai Ang also stopped worrying about her; she was happy with that, saving at least one bottle of Fourth Rank Monster Spider Demon Pill—worth three thousand gold coins! Even though Lai Ang is not the kind of dragon who treasures wealth like life, who wouldn't want more wealth? Finally, the wood elf princess 'Anna'.

Because she is still in the training process, and her strength has already reached Fifth Rank, there is no rush to give her the demon pill.

When Anna acknowledges and accepts her identity as a dragon follower, investing then will not be too late.

"By the way, it's also time to seize the magic stone mine at Moon Crescent Lake." Lai Ang mused.

A few months ago, it dispatched its third follower, Mare, there.

Mare also brought along its remaining skeleton army.

Not knowing how things have developed now, thinking of this, Lai Ang spat out a white crystal ball from its storage stomach.

Infusing magical power into the white crystal ball.

In a dark cave hundreds of li away, a gray-robed skeleton spellcaster stopped its meditation on spiritual power, and took out a white crystal ball identical to Lai Ang's from an extradimensional space.

Infusing magical power.

The white crystal ball became transparent, projecting the image of a black dragon.

Mare looked at the pitch-black giant beast across the crystal ball, his expression becoming reverent (although one cannot tell from a skeleton's face),

"Master, what orders do you have for your servant?"

"Send you to investigate the situation of the lobster people tribe; have you investigated it clearly?" The black dragon's voice was low and powerful.

"The investigation is nearly complete; that lobster people leader is likely of Sixth Rank strength, and under him are several Fifth Rank lobster generals. Moreover, judging by the number of nests built underwater, the lobster people's total number probably exceeds fifty thousand. They also have two vassal tribes: one is the fish-people, numbering roughly five thousand to ten thousand; the other is the shrimp-people, numbering about twenty thousand."

After reporting the information he had gathered, Mare's eye sockets flickered with soul fire as he asked, "Master, are you planning to take action against them?"

"Not bad." The black dragon gave a slight nod.

"My suggestion is to wait a bit longer, after all the opponent's strength is not insignificant; although your power is unmatched, the lobster people leader certainly isn't your match, but the opponent has great numbers." Mare advised tactfully.

After being taken in as Lai Ang's third follower, Mare certainly had to consider his master's well-being, for if the master came to harm, he would not fare well either. Gray Stone Dragon Fortress, inside the dragon's nest chamber.

Lai Ang leaned close to the crystal ball, feeling somewhat amused.

A skeleton, yet quite good at flattery.

It is only Fourth Rank, yet it claims it can defeat a Sixth Rank lobster people leader? "If the opponent came onto land, I would have some confidence in single combat." Lai Ang thought to himself.

Premise: that lobster people leader is merely an ordinary Sixth Rank.

Although the black dragon, as a water-system true dragon, gains increased combat power in water, the lobster people are also water-system monsters! For the lobster people, the water domain is also their home ground.

Compared to this, after the black dragon enters the water, while gaining the water-domain boost, it also amounts to relinquishing the dragon's flight advantage.

As rank increases, the gap grows larger.

A First Rank challenging a Second Rank has difficulty 1; a Second Rank challenging a Third Rank has difficulty 1.5.

If a Third Rank challenges a Fourth Rank, crossing from low to mid rank across a major rank, the difficulty is at least 5.

A Fourth Rank challenging a Sixth Rank? Even if Lai Ang's dragon rank, spellcaster rank, and battle qi rank—all three cultivated together—had all reached Fourth Rank, one could only say he has confidence in opposing or defeating an ordinary Sixth Rank being.

What is ordinary? No special talent, not a powerful race—that is ordinary.

"Alright, this is an order!" Lai Ang's tone turned serious, he said lightly,

"Within half a month at the earliest, a month at the latest, I will send a Sixth Rank follower and a Fifth Rank follower over, and all the water-system monster warriors in the tribe will also follow to join the battle; during this time you should summon as many water-system skeletons as possible as cannon fodder."

"A Sixth Rank follower? A Fifth Rank follower?"

In the dark cavern, the crystal ball had already lost connection.

Mare was still a bit dazed, not having reacted yet.

When did the master's command gain such a powerful expert? If I recall correctly, a few months ago the highest rank in the Dark Scale tribe was still it.

Besides it, the Dark Scale tribe didn't even have a single Fifth Rank expert.

"That gray-scaled dragon person was already close to Fifth Rank; the Fifth Rank the master spoke of should be it, but that Sixth Rank." Mare pondered for a long time, only able to guess that the Sixth Rank follower might come from the Emerald Dream.

With the master's strength, Mare believes he can contend with an ordinary Sixth Rank expert, but to defeat, capture, and take a Sixth Rank expert as a follower is somewhat exaggerated.

Being a Fifth Rank peak skeleton spellcaster, and having known many Sixth Rank undead in the Wailing Gray Lands, Mare deeply feels the strength of a Sixth Rank expert.

"Having a background is great." Mare thought to himself.

However, now it is Lai Ang's follower; Lai Ang's master has a background, which amounts to Mare also having a background.

This feeling of full security truly puts the skeleton at ease.

"If that's the case, then I also cannot let the master down."

The grey-robed skeleton slowly rose from the ground; behind it, the patched-up, barely repaired Fifth Rank white-silver bone python swam to under Ma Lei and lifted him up.

"Lei Ji Na Er, it's time for us two to get moving."

The white-silver bone python called Lei Ji Na Er had its huge skull snake head's soul fire flare up, battle intent surging.

The Undead Revival art can revive beast-type skeletons, humanoid skeletons, and thus naturally also revive the corpses of aquatic monsters.

The revived aquatic skeletons also inherit their affinity for water from life, making them very suitable for aquatic combat.

"The goal is to gather twenty thousand aquatic skeletons before the operation!"

Perhaps because the master now has two new strong generals under his command, Ma Lei feels that his position as the original strongest retinue is threatened, so he no longer intends to continue being a lazy bum.

(End of chapter)