Yuan Tong
Chapter 628 Colleagues
Santu?Suiv is a planet that hasn't yet entered the interstellar age, even remaining in the mid-exploration phase of its own world, so any visit here requires discretion. Hao Ren had the spacecraft parked in orbit, while he led the group directly to the planet's surface via spatial teleportation. The inspector stationed in this area had previously provided him with a surface coordinate, but upon arriving, Hao Ren's group discovered that it wasn't a town—or even near anything resembling a residential area. It was a mountainous region, wild and untouched, seemingly uninhabited.
All around were bare and precipitous mountains, making it impossible to discern the scale of this terrain. Sparse vegetation clung to the greyish-white rocks, with the few pine-like trees mostly clustered on the lower slopes. The desolation of the area was astonishing. Lily climbed onto a large rock atop a peak and scanned the horizon, shouting down to the others: "No-bod-y!! Landlord, did we get the wrong place?"
"I was given this address during our previous communications, though," Hao Ren said, somewhat bewildered. This remote wilderness certainly didn't seem like a place where people lived. Could the inspector in this area be a hermit?
But just as he was about to open the communication channel to ask his colleague if they had sent the wrong address, Lily suddenly cried out, leaping down from the rock: "Hey, hey, Landlord, something big is coming! Flying out of the mountains behind us!"
"What..." Hao Ren responded casually, but before he could finish, he followed Lily's pointing finger and saw a group of astonishing creatures flying from the distant mountains. The rest of his words were abruptly swallowed.
Several dragons were flying over with a mighty presence!
These were massive creatures, boasting proud figures over ten meters long, their bodies covered in heavy, black or light cyan scales, like aerial heavy fortresses. They resembled Western dragons, with huge wings, their entire form exuding a primal and untamed power. As these dragons flew towards them, Hao Ren saw groups of panicked wild animals suddenly emerge from the mountains below—perhaps the legendary Dragon's Might was at play.
"This world has dragons..." Hao Ren clicked his tongue, surprised but otherwise unfazed. He hadn't expected to see "dragons," creatures mostly found in myths and legends, in this world. But during his adventures in other worlds, he had already encountered many bizarre species, including those more terrifying or powerful than dragons—the muscle-bound dude at home who studied *People's Daily* to understand human society was one of them. So he didn't feel much looking at the dragons flying over, just a sense of wonder at finally witnessing something rare.
The others were more apprehensive: Lily tucked her tail and hid behind Hao Ren, Nangong Wuyue curled into a ball, and "Gun" ran around frantically looking for a place to hide, but finding none, simply buried his face in Lily's tail and pretended to be concealed. Only Nangong Sanba subconsciously drew his crossbow, fully alert: "Let's try not to get into a conflict with these guys... Dragons are notoriously difficult to deal with, and not very reasonable."
Hao Ren looked at the four people he had brought with him and suddenly realized a sad truth: he had brought the three most timid members of the household. Three out of the four were cowards, and the only one with a bit of courage was still a novice...
But he didn't care too much. This trip was mainly to meet other inspectors, and he didn't plan to interact too much with the natives of Santu?Suiv. He just wanted to avoid conflict with the dragons.
But the more he thought that, the more things deviated from the norm—because the seemingly fierce dragons were flying straight towards them! And judging by the way they exchanged glances, they were definitely headed for his group!
"Damn, what did these guys see in us?" Hao Ren felt a headache coming on, but he couldn't do anything about it. Since he didn't know what the dragons wanted, he simply waited where he was, telling Nangong Sanba to relax a bit. "Don't be so nervous. Dragons may be a bit temperamental, but they're not impossible to talk to—and is your anti-air firepower even enough?"
Nangong Sanba casually put away his crossbow: "Oh, I was just showing off."
As they spoke, the dragons had already flown in front of them. Amidst a shadow as if the sky were collapsing and a gust of wind that could almost blow people away, the dragons landed on the rocks beside them. A dragon covered in light cyan scales craned its head towards Hao Ren, looking him up and down. "...Strange attire, unfamiliar faces, outsiders. It seems these are the ones. Please come with us."
Hao Ren: "?"
This desolate mountain range, rarely visited, was considered the top of the four forbidden zones in Santu?Suiv. The Bone Desert and Poisonous Mist Lake of the Northern Continent, coupled with the nearby Thunder Mountain, could not compare to this mountain range called the "Dragon's Nest". In this world of swords and magic, humans had successfully explored three of the four forbidden zones—even if few survived, at least some had successfully entered and exited those places. Only here did mortals fear to tread.
Because the Dragon's Nest was the abode of the most powerful overlord creatures in this world: within this barren, rocky mountain range, the dragon kingdom was hidden.
The Gleaming Stone Peak in the heart of the Dragon's Nest was a concealed fortress. This magnificent mountain had been completely transformed by magic. The dragons had spent tens of thousands of years hollowing out and reinforcing the entire mountain, even sending a portion of it into another dimension to make their kingdom even more impregnable. Now, beneath its thick stone shell was a vast cavern, and countless grand and ancient palaces and castles were hidden within the mountain. These rugged structures were more sacred and magnificent than any city built by the human kingdoms of this world, which were self-proclaimed miracles.
If anyone flew over the Gleaming Stone Peak, they would see a huge funnel-shaped entrance at the top of this luminous mountain, which was the only passage into the Dragon Kingdom.
But in this world, no one besides dragons had ever dared to "fly over" this place.
Dragon Queen Galazur was the ruler of this kingdom. She was the most powerful and wisest dragon lord in history, and she was known throughout the world for initiating fair trade with human kingdoms—before that, dragons simply stole human jewelry. Galazur had ruled the Dragon Kingdom for two thousand years, but everyone was convinced that her reign had just begun. For the next two thousand years, or even longer, she would be the most powerful monarch in this world.
This ruler was the most mysterious being in the eyes of the world because of her identity. In the ballads of human bards, Galazur was as dazzling as a star, perched on the throne at the core of the Gleaming Stone Peak. Her every breath made the entire mountain range rumble like thunder, and her scales were inlaid with the oldest and most expensive jewels in the world. Galazur never slept, watching over her kingdom, and every mortal who entered the Dragon's Nest could not escape her eyes—bards liked to create various legends of warriors slaying dragons, but they didn't dare mention Galazur's name in these stories.
These legends were somewhat true. For example, Galazur was indeed a magnificent golden dragon, and her throne was located in the core of the Gleaming Stone Peak, and—she did snore when she slept.
The Dragon Queen was waiting for today's guests on her throne, alone in the extremely wide and magnificent palace. This mountain range was rich in gleamstone (not Earth's gleamstone, but a magical, luminous mineral), and the purest raw ore cores were offered by the dragons and inlaid in the hall in front of the Dragon Queen, making the place as bright as day at all times.
A young dragon flew into the hall, transformed into a human form in front of Galazur, and bowed respectfully: "My lord, the strangers you foretold have appeared."
Galazur nodded, her voice like thunder: "Let them in."
Several dragons flew Hao Ren and the others into the hall. These young dragons seemed very reluctant because "humans" were riding on their backs.
"Everyone else, retreat," Galazur commanded majestically. "Zofrey, you too."
The dragons were somewhat doubtful, but no one dared to object, so they left the hall with puzzled expressions.
Hao Ren looked up at the golden dragon, several meters tall and seemingly made of gold, and felt very surprised: "You didn't tell me you were a dragon before I came."
Galazur glanced at the closed stone doors of the hall, and after confirming that no one was coming in, she immediately slumped her neck, stretched vigorously, and then took small steps down from the throne: "Maintaining this posture all day is unbearable... By the way, you didn't say you were a human before you came."
Hao Ren leaned to the side, almost blown away by a "dragon roar": "I thought inspectors were all humanoid races... Can you turn your head when you talk? The wind is too strong!"
Dragon Queen Galazur tilted her head, looking at the group of people in front of her with a huge amber eye: "Let's not talk about anything else first... Did you bring that food called 'soy-braised pork hock'? I heard that your place is rich in it... I haven't had a good meal in a long time!"
At this time, everyone on the scene except Hao Ren was dumbfounded.