Chapter 35: I, Garos, Am Truly Not an Evil Dragon

The scorching sun baked the ironwood hills into a charred brown, with twisted heat waves rising from the cracked earth.

A red dragonet lay sprawled on the gravel, tongue lolling out, embers of dragon breath drifting from its mouth and exploding into tiny sparks in the air; Moberl was rubbing its back against the hard, rough bark of an ironwood tree to scratch an itch, causing leaves to rustle and fall.

Garos gazed at the earth spider emerging from a crack in the ground before him.

Its body resembled a millstone, covered in many rock-like patterns; its eight jointed legs were long and sharp, clinging to some black-soaked soil, while on its back lay a deliberately sunken rock shell containing large chunks of black soil.

It sniffed the scent in the air.

A burning sensation shot straight into its nostrils.

Garos's eyes lit up with joy; he lunged forward in a single stride to the earth spider's front, his body casting a thick shadow that enveloped it.

"The smell of black oil!"

He looked down at the black spider trembling slightly beneath him, his gaze falling on the black soil it carried on its back, and he reached out a claw to pick it up.

The moment it touched his claw.

A slippery, greasy sensation arose.

Garos squeezed it, and gradually some black oil seeped out from the gaps between his claws.

This was soil soaked with black oil—though it did not bring the black oil directly, it still counted as some success; Garos was very satisfied with the earth spider's haul.

However.

Why did it only bring back black oil soil and not the black oil itself?

Holding this question, Garos used the Mind Sense skill to enter the earth spider's mental world.

The earth spider's mental world was equally very dark, similar to the Rock-Shattering Worm, as if located in a suppressed, irrelevant underground realm.

"Why didn't you bring back the black oil directly?"

In the mental world, Garos asked.

The earth spider replied: "Danger. Death. Fear."

Its intelligence was even lower than the Rock-Shattering Worm's, and its answers were fragmented, but Garos still understood its general meaning.

"The place where black oil is stored is extremely dangerous and would kill it, so it dared not approach, only digging up some soil soaked with black oil on the periphery."

Garos pondered thoughtfully.

Since such a thing was expected, he was not particularly surprised.

The intelligent creatures guarding near the black oil field would certainly not only defend against the ground and sky but would also have corresponding means to defend against the underground.

He carefully observed the earth spider's flash-like memory fragments.

Through its perspective, Garos saw several earth spiders moving through the dark underground ahead, surrounded by soil layers whose color grew deeper and whose oil content gradually increased.

Suddenly.

A huge creature resembling a centipede appeared.

Its entire body was forged from some black metal, its body composed of dozens of steel jointed segments linked together, each segment distributing eerie blue energy patterns, with pairs of auxiliary legs extending from the joints, constantly contracting and expanding like folding battle blades.

The instant this creature appeared, it began hunting and killing the earth spiders.

The first few earth spiders were torn into pieces by it in less than a minute, and after patrolling the underground once, it did not attack the earth spiders at a certain distance.

"Some kind of alchemical golem guarding the underground? Judging by its size and performance, it must be at least level 5 or level 6; the earth spiders cannot fight it head-on."

Garos thought silently.

Clearly, this thing was not a natural life form but an artificially crafted underground guardian, specifically designed to clear out various creatures approaching the oil field from underground.

"Bringing back oil-soaked soil is already good; at least there is some gain."

Garos transmitted an encouraging emotion, urging the earth spider to try harder.

The earth spider sent back excited mental fluctuations; its will-body became restless, emitting red light: "Exchange. Promise."

You little rascal, quite impatient.

But the promise I made back then was that only bringing back black oil would count; the quality of this oil-soaked soil is a bit lacking.

Garos pondered for a few seconds, then exited the earth spider's mental world and brought over the mother spider, who had been well-fed and well-housed.

Upon seeing the mother spider, the male earth spider immediately excitedly waved its jointed legs and pounced on her; the mother spider, in her breeding period, did not refuse and readily accepted.

Garos watched the two spiders with curiosity.

They had no sense of shame; in broad daylight, with a dragon watching, they directly began producing the next generation.

However, their mating method was completely different from that of many creatures.

The male spider waved its jointed legs, inserting its small left pedipalp into the left opening on the female spider's genital plate, and its right leg into the right opening; at first glance, it looked like murder, the process appearing somewhat gruesome.

And just as the male spider was about to finish.

Garos, quick-eyed and fast-handed, reached out a claw and yanked it off the female spider.

—Since the brought-back items did not meet the initial requirement, this breeding opportunity naturally would only be given halfway.

"Ten kilograms of oil-soaked soil for one complete breeding opportunity."

Garos expressed his requirement to the male spider, which was baring its claws and fangs, furious.

Not being a dragon, you're not being a dragon!

Held up by Garos, its jointed legs flailed endlessly in the air in protest, but it ultimately submitted and agreed, then hurriedly burrowed through the surface to go collect oil-soaked soil for Garos.

The female spider looked blank, glancing up at Garos.

Why drive the male spider away?

She did not understand.

Crack—another patch of ground split open, rose up, and another male spider emerged, also bringing back some oil-soaked soil, excitedly coming to Garos to claim his reward.

Garos grinned and beckoned it over.

Immediately, one male spider after another returned with black oil-soaked soil, wanting to claim their reward.

Garos was generous; although what they brought back did not match the original agreement, he still gave them half the reward—dragged away in the middle of the job.

A group of red-hot male spiders arrived cheerfully and left in a huff.

They buried their heads underground, drilling furiously to vent their dissatisfaction, and dug more urgently at the black oily soil to secure a complete chance to reproduce.

"Poor spiders, Garos, you are too wicked."

Samantha shifted her tone and praised, "Truly an outstanding Red-Iron hybrid dragon; your innate wickedness is beyond my reach."

In the eyes of the red dragons,

wickedness meant excellence, meant glory; all red dragons aimed to become the ultimate evil dragon.

In Samantha's view, Garos, who oppressed and bullied even spiders, was simply full of wicked schemes, wicked beyond redemption.

"Do not slander me."

Garos defended, "I only do this to spur them on, to make them work more actively; how can this be called evil?"

He never considered himself an evil dragon.

Garos did not think he was a good dragon who liked to help the weak and punish the wicked, but surely he could not be called evil either?

Evil dragons are often attacked and besieged by all sides; Garos did not want to be treated as an evil dragon.

But looking at his own appearance, Garos was left speechless.

Combining traits of the Iron Dragon and the Red Dragon, and having undergone some evolution, his appearance was more ferocious than the conventional understanding of an evil dragon.

If powerful adventurers came, they would certainly not listen to Garos's explanations.

【Innately wicked Red-Iron hybrid dragon!】

【Oh ho, still trying to argue!】

【Go argue with my Evil-Cleaving Slash!】

This was the outcome that would occur nine times out of ten.

"Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain; I, Garos, am truly not an evil dragon."

Sighing in his heart, Garos shook his head.

Since matters had come to this, he could only find a way to arm and strengthen himself; if he encountered a siege in the future, he would at least have the capital to resist.

(End of this chapter)