Chapter 22: The Fish That Slipped Through the Net (Begging for Monthly Votes, Begging for Follows)

The spider's soul was blown to death by a small fireball; Groz trembled violently all over, suffering a severe backlash.

Before Garos noticed him, he rolled and crawled, hiding inside the alchemy workshop, clutching a communication stone with trembling claws, trying to activate it to contact the caravan.

Boom!

The workshop's roof was suddenly blown open, revealing the night sky above.

And the young red iron dragon, gazing down with a cold and dangerous look.

Garos saw the communication stone in Groz's hand.

Fortunately, the runes on it had not lit up; it had not yet been activated.

"Great Dragon, I am willing to offer everything for your forgiveness."

Groz trembled, speaking a few broken words of Draconic, begging Garos for mercy.

Dense flames answered him, swallowing his ugly, pustule-covered body, along with the communication stone in his hand, burning them to charcoal almost instantly.

Garos swept low over the goblin tribe, spewing dragon breath from his mouth.

The surging flames quickly engulfed the Rock-Chewer tribe; lizard heads hanging on vines turned black and cracked, the entire tribe became a sea of fire, and not a single goblin escaped.

Bright flames lit up the night; the goblin tribe was reduced to ashes.

Soaring and circling in the night sky.

Garos looked at the flames below, feeling a burning pain in his throat; this was a side effect of spewing dragon breath for too long. A young dragon's breath lasts only a short time, yet the duration he had spewed flames far exceeded that of a normal young dragon.

"Alchemy tools on this planet are too advanced; I must be extremely cautious when facing intelligent races."

Garos thought seriously.

In the past, when alchemy levels were not high, only noble spellcasters, or a few extremely expensive magic items, could perform long-distance communication.

But now.

Even a small goblin tribe could possess alchemy tools like communication stones.

One could use them without knowing magic.

The level of alchemy and magic on this planet even far surpassed the technology of the world where Garos lived in his past life; they had even built spaceships capable of exploring the universe.

"That last goblin speaking Draconic is quite rare."

In the end, Groz's plea for mercy actually surprised Garos a little.

A goblin who could speak Draconic, and was a shaman at that, seemingly knew some alchemy, possessed high intelligence, and had certain value.

At the very least.

If Garos took him as a retainer, he could have the goblin attack him with shamanic spells to adapt and increase resistance in that area; his considerable intelligence also made him suitable for command.

But Garos ultimately spat out his dragon breath without any hesitation.

He did not want to waste his own vital blood, at the cost of delaying his own development, to use Dragon Vein Transformation on the goblin; furthermore, he lacked the spell skill to enslave living beings, so he could not guarantee the goblin's loyalty.

Unlike most monsters and fierce beasts.

Intelligent beings like goblins are treacherous and full of schemes.

Without guaranteed loyalty, they might sell him out.

Moreover, no matter how special it was, it was ultimately just a goblin; for Garos, it was dispensable, not important.

Garos blinked, his dragon wings flapped, and his body vanished into the floating clouds of the night sky, as if he had already left.

About two hours later.

The Rock-Chewer tribe was left as a pile of ash, with a few embers still burning.

Cough, cough, cough!

A small, dusty goblin crawled out from an inconspicuous crack in the ground, his blackened face full of fear and hatred.

The tribe was destroyed.

All clan members were killed.

The hatred in his heart was engraved in his bones; fear could not cover the burning hatred in his eyes.

Stumbling, he walked out from the edge of the wall already burned to ash; the small goblin vowed in his heart that he bore the hatred of all his clan members, and no matter the cost, even if he had to sell his soul to the devil, he would definitely take revenge on the damn dragon.

Thinking thus in his heart.

Suddenly, his back grew hot.

It was as if the breath of some colossal creature had fallen upon him.

His steps froze; the small goblin slowly turned around, his movements slow and stiff, like a machine rusted for decades.

Black-red dragon scales layered and rose; a dragon-like creature, as if cast from steel and iron, appeared before him.

"Oh, sure enough, there was a fish that slipped through the net hiding here."

Snap!

Garos brought his claw down, smashing the small goblin to pieces.

After checking again to confirm there were no survivors in the goblin tribe, he picked up the mangled remains of the Giant Arm Miner and shot skyward, turning back to fly toward the Iron Fir Hills.

Shortly after.

A ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, shining on a massive rock slab on the hills.

Garos lay here, his claws pawing at a somewhat twisted spherical object with many tubes inserted into its surface.

"My dear brother, what is this thing?"

Samantha blinked curiously and asked.

Thanks to the food supplement and a good night's rest, the wounds on her dragon wings had improved, and her originally listless spirit was gradually filling up.

"The engine of the alchemy golem."

This was the only thing on the Giant Arm Miner that remained somewhat intact.

Garos picked up the alchemy engine and examined it closely.

It was crude: its frame cast from raw iron, the Engraved Mark runes uneven, every rivet retaining the hammer's dents, seams unpolished to reveal black rust patterns from oxidation, uncoated gears meshing directly, emitting a sharp, teeth-grinding screech when jostled.

It was obvious.

This was a shoddily made, extremely low-quality alchemical engine.

Yet even so, it could power the operation of an eight-meter-tall Giant Arm Miner.

In ground combat, if it were a young dragon like Samantha, victory over the Giant Arm Miner was far from certain.

"The inheritance contains some alchemy knowledge, but it must be learned independently; moreover, it is profound and cannot be mastered quickly in a single day or night."

Garos thought silently.

On the planet Bernardo, alchemy flourished only in these few centuries; the alchemical knowledge recorded in the Dragon Inheritance was not abundant, nor was much experience left behind.

Learning alchemy consumes great mental energy and time.

Garos weighed the matter for a moment, shook his head slightly, and abandoned the plan to study alchemy.

For a long time, alchemy could not be converted into combat power, could not provide effective help to Garos's survival, and he did not wish to rely too heavily on external objects.

In this world where alchemy was advanced.

Garos would not refuse to use alchemical tools, nor did he intend to delve deeply into alchemy.

However, if one could master alchemical spells, it would indeed provide many conveniences.

"Hmm, one does not necessarily have to master it oneself; more accurately, as long as there is an alchemist nearby, one can reap the benefits of alchemy: smelting ores, refining black oil, forging alchemical tools."

He glanced at Samantha and grinned.

"Is there something on my face?"

Samantha tilted her head and licked the fine scales on her face with her tongue.

"Samantha, do you desire countless treasures, to one day become the wealthiest red dragon?"

Garos asked kindly.

Red dragons are purely fire-attribute, suited for learning alchemy, and possess not low magical talent; as long as they are willing to study and delve into it, they will inevitably achieve profound mastery in the path of alchemical spells.

"Of course! This is one of my life's pursuits!"

Samantha's eyes lit up, and her tail rose in excitement.

(End of this chapter)