Chapter 99: First Night Right, Lightning Evolution, Stone Giant

In the Xiao Yue Clan.

Luo Si summoned Chief Rasell, informed it of the purple copper mine, assigned it to oversee mining operations, then instructed it to begin contacting and reestablishing communication with the Nick Caravan, and gave it many other orders.

The next trade shipment, besides black oil.

Luo Si permitted his kin to pursue their own profits, provided it did not interfere with his acquisition of black oil.

This would stimulate their own initiative—they followed Luo Si precisely for a better life and brighter prospects—and Luo Si was no evil dragon; as long as they performed well, he would grant them opportunities.

Additionally.

Seeking only black oil would appear suspicious.

The planet Bernardo has many large black oil fields, so its reserves are abundant, but that does not mean black oil is a freely available resource, nor that anyone can exploit it.

No nation would ever turn down more black oil.

It is primarily used to power large alchemical devices such as alchemical golems, making it a strategic resource subject to certain controls.

Although there are official channels to purchase it, supplies are strictly limited.

Merchants in the Ser Wasteland.

Often engage in secret deals with local oilfield garrisons, transporting black oil southward to resell to smaller nations that need it but lack sufficient domestic resources.

Purchasing black oil from southern nations and transporting it back to the Ser Wasteland.

This behavior is odd.

Why would a wasteland monster clan alone demand black oil—and in sustained, massive quantities? If noticed by the right people, this would almost certainly attract unnecessary trouble.

“Dragon Lord, please accept this.”

Rasell presented a communication stone.

“This was brought by the last caravan.”

“Through it, you can issue commands remotely when you cannot come in person.”

It added, thoughtfully but unnecessarily, an explanation to Luo Si.

“Next time, have the caravan bring more communication stones.”

Luo Si accepted the communication stone and said.

Flapping his wings, he lifted a barrel of black oil, packed in iron-vine nets, preparing to take flight.

At that moment, Frostfang returned. Rasell, seeing his daughter approach, recalled the clan’s ancient texts on dragon behavior, hesitated, then called out to Luo Si: “Wait, Dragon Lord, please wait a moment.”

Luo Si looked down at Rasell.

“Something else?”

Rasell pulled Frostfang beside him, and under Luo Si’s puzzled gaze, whispered: “Noble Dragon Lord, to celebrate your return, Frostfang offers you her first night, to serve you.”

“If you are not satisfied, all young wolfkin in the Xiao Yue Clan are yours to choose.”

Luo Si’s eyes widened.

As a young dragon, he did not understand Rasell’s train of thought at all.

Frostfang stood obediently beside her father, neither angry nor resentful—her eyes held a hint of anticipation.

Luo Si fixed his gaze on the young female wolfkin.

Her pelt gleamed, her teeth were white, her eyes clear and bright, fine down covered her upright ears, her tail and limbs were long, her body proportioned perfectly—she was a beautiful female wolfkin.

Dragons possess eyes that perceive the beauty in all things.

Luo Si naturally admired Frostfang’s beauty.

Yet he still did not understand why Rasell had said this suddenly.

“Did I somehow give the impression I was lustful?”

Luo Si carefully recalled—he remembered no such behavior—and directly asked Rasell why he held this idea.

Rasell stammered, then, under Luo Si’s gaze, hesitantly said: “Our clan’s ancient texts state that male dragon lords demand the first night from female kin.”

“To show you our reverence and earn your favor, I thought to offer it before you even asked.”

Luo Si fell silent.

It wasn’t really Rasell’s idea that was wrong.

Because the clan’s texts were correct.

Male dragon lords like red dragons indeed enjoy doing this—indulging in promiscuity, excess, directly mating with kin to produce dragon-blooded offspring, then using those offspring as their core guards.

As for reproductive isolation.

It does not exist among dragons.

Dragon blood is powerful and dominant; they can almost always produce dragon-blooded offspring with any creature.

But.

Usually, only dragons past youth begin to develop such desires.

At least for now, fourteen-year-old Luo Si had no interest in this—even though his young dragon form, honed by rigorous training, was already far stronger than a normal young dragon’s.

And even if he were interested.

Luo Si had not yet mastered transformation magic; the vast size difference between them made any physical act impossible.

Transformation magic is a spell all dragons learn, normally awakening during youth.

Metallic dragons, especially gold and silver dragons, use transformation magic to mingle among other intelligent races and play among mortals; evil dragons use it mostly for indulgence.

Frostfang stammered: “Great Dragon Lord, I willingly offer myself to you.”

To bear dragon-blooded wolfkin by mating with a dragon.

This would benefit the Xiao Yue Clan, deepening their bond with Luo Si.

Moreover, Frostfang herself admired Luo Si’s immense power.

The powerful, majestic, fierce, and imposing dragon body—its raw strength and beauty—appealed not only to dragons but also stirred Frostfang’s cross-species awe.

“We’ll speak of it later.”

Luo Si neither accepted nor outright refused.

After uttering those words, he rose into the air.

“Father, do you think the Dragon Lord will accept?”

Frostfang blinked and asked Rasell.

“Yes, yes.”

Rasell whispered: “The Dragon Lord has at least half red dragon blood. Our clan’s texts say male red dragons are extremely lustful.”

The jagged, backward-swept horns.

The faint, ever-present scent of sulfur and flame.

The powerful frame.

The thick, brutal fangs protruding from upper and lower jaws.

Dense, sharp spines.

These were all red dragon traits. Rasell did not know the specifics of iron dragons, but red dragons were famous—he could clearly see Luo Si carried red dragon blood.

It is said.

Human armies dread most the campaign against male red dragon lords.

One reason is the red dragon’s sheer strength.

The other is that male red dragons are insatiable, perpetually in heat, with extraordinary fertility, and maintain vast numbers of dragon-blooded offspring.

“I want to give birth to a litter of wolf pups with dragon scales.”

Frostfang said dreamily.

Time passed slowly, as the wasteland’s sun and moon alternated.

Luo Si put the Xiao Yue Clan’s little incident out of his mind, paying it no further heed. He later returned to Crywail Cliff, reaffirming the loyalty of the Jackalfolk.

Nothing unusual occurred.

Bloodfang the Overseer’s rule over his clan was firm; six years had not aged him—he was still in his prime.

Notably,

A jackalfolk sorcerer had emerged in the Red Eye Clan—the very jackalfolk scout who had fainted upon first seeing Luo Si.

At the time, Luo Si had sensed the scout had unusually keen perception.

Awakening the power within his blood to become a sorcerer was not surprising.

Among monster clans in the wasteland, if a clan reaches a certain size, it almost always produces a sorcerer, shaman, or priest—this seems to be a survival mechanism evolved over generations.

Also the Scaleclaw Clan’s lizardmen.

They had suffered the greatest losses in battles against ogres; seeing a dragon willing to protect them, they nearly kissed Luo Si’s toes on the spot and pledged allegiance immediately.

The four clans of Scalesplit Road.

Luo Si had united them all under his command, but did not let them intermingle; instead, he imposed rules to prevent violent conflicts and to organize ambushes along the trade route in a more systematic, sustained manner.

Unfortunately,

Due to the ogre clans’ excessive, unrelenting raids over the past six years, almost no caravans now pass through Scalesplit Road—only massive, heavily guarded ones.

But this is temporary.

Luo Si had already instructed the wolfkin to contact Nick, telling him to spread word that Scalesplit Road was becoming safe and peaceful again, and to demonstrate this by traveling there himself.

When Nick returns next time, laden with goods,

It will surely reignite the greed of other merchants.

All four clans were under his control.

Luo Si’s life gradually grew calm and stable.

With a reserve of black oil, his daily training efficiency improved, and he took the opportunity to experiment with using black oil alongside fairy scale powder.

The result matched his expectations.

Leveraging the fairy scale powder’s enhancement of mental responsiveness, he could briefly harness the extreme speed amplified by the black oil.

Combined with the bloodburst technique embedded in the horn ring.

In full Baofa mode, Garos’s overall combat power would surge to a new level.

Garos did not dwell on the boosts from external aids; he knew these were trump cards not to be used lightly, and only a strong foundation truly mattered.

Under the night sky, the Broken Spine Hills.

Zzzt! Zzzt!

Garos stood motionless at the center of several sorcerers, allowing the ogre sorcerers to strike him with their chain lightning spells.

His body was wrapped in dense arcs of electricity.

Garos felt his entire body tingling; beneath his scales, muscles constantly received electric shocks—tingling, stimulating, swelling and contracting, the sensation growing sharper.

Moreover, during the shocks, some arcs leaked out through the gaps in his scales.

Dense, thick, brilliant.

Like a mane woven from lightning.

Garos had a strong premonition.

His next evolution might be tied to lightning.

Since the ogre sorcerers could cast chain lightning, direct attacks proved more effective than the enchanted lightning ring, so he trained frequently this way, boosting his lightning resistance in anticipation of his next evolution.

Quickly.

The Jiming sorcerers, drained of magical energy, collapsed, and were carried off by ogre warriors.

Garos, unsatisfied, signaled the Glutton Mo , who was eating, to stop.

“Karu, come here, train with me.”

He had the Glutton Mo attach a lightning ring to its arm and train with him again.

A few minutes later.

Garos’s training was not yet over.

But an ogre sentinel suddenly hurried over.

“My Lord Long Chao, a stone giant has arrived at the outskirts of the Chewbone Clan and wishes to meet the chieftain.”

The sentinel whispered.

Stone giant? Where did it come from?

Garos’s gaze sharpened.

“Karu, prepare to receive it. Question its purpose and origin. Do not reveal my presence.”

Garos did not take to the air; instead, he crept along the ridge of the hills, hidden in an inconspicuous depression, spreading his wings, suppressing his aura, nearly merging with the night—only a pair of dark, deep eyes silently watched over the Chewbone Clan’s territory.

(End of Chapter)