[Li Chen, Li Chen?]
[Li Chen, what's your situation over there?]
[Li Chen, respond!]
...
Li Chen opened the team information channel, which contained a series of historical messages, the most recent one being from half an hour ago.
Looking at these urgent messages, Li Chen took a deep breath.
But the smell of blood and stench made him nauseous, causing him to retch.
He slowly sat down on a broken wall fragment, stared at the devastated surroundings in silence for a moment, and finally switched to the message panel. After carefully choosing his words, he typed:
"Report: The mercenary group has headed toward the capital of the Holy Aulist Kingdom. There's no need for me to remain undercover anymore."
[Why? What happened?]
[Have you been exposed?]
"This isn't about being exposed or not. The entire Black Beast Mercenary Group was just attacked by a black dragon. They suffered heavy casualties, and the dragon will be back."
"I estimate Gus won't dare delay any longer and will directly attack the capital without stopping to play around in villages along the way."
Li Chen got up and searched through the ruins, finally finding a necklace that had been somewhat deformed by intense flames in the debris of the troll leader's tent.
This was Hao Na's keepsake.
It was given to her by her mother.
The troll leader had taken this necklace while abusing the poor girl, wanting to see her desperate expression.
[A black dragon?]
[Is it one of those big lizards with wings?]
[This is a great discovery. Do we have a chance to tame that black dragon?]
"Tame it?"
Li Chen almost laughed at the person on the other end of the team channel. More likely they'd be the ones getting tamed by the dragon!
"Let me upload a video for you. Then you can see who would tame whom."
With that, Li Chen extracted the video he had recorded earlier, cut out some segments, and sent it to the team channel.
Meanwhile.
Two thousand kilometers away from the Holy Aulist Kingdom, in China's No. 3 Novice Village, or rather, what had now become China's No. 3 Town.
In a pavilion at the center of the town.
A group of people sat around a square table with various documents spread before them. They appeared to be discussing something important, their expressions serious.
"It's here."
A well-dressed, neat middle-aged man with a serious expression noticed the video file that popped up in his vision.
However, he didn't immediately open it. Instead, he respectfully reported to an elderly white-haired man sitting at the head of the table:
"Elder Li, code name 'Tiger Warrior' has sent the video."
"Hmm."
The man called Elder Li nodded noncommittally.
"Open the projection. Let's all watch it together."
The projection function built into the game system was incredibly powerful. It could reproduce recorded scenes in 3D at a 1:1 scale, showing almost all details, including barbs.
However, human visual range is limited after all.
So the middle-aged man compressed the 3D image, reducing it to the size of a washbasin.
This ensured everyone sitting at the table could see the entire image.
It was a view from below, showing not only the situation on the Sacred Wall of Felinir but also glimpses of the surrounding environment.
Sharp-eyed individuals had already noticed the ground that had been burned to a glassy state. According to code name "Tiger Warrior," this devastation was the aftermath of the black dragon's rampage.
The atmosphere grew tense even before the black dragon appeared.
"*ROAR——*"
A resonant dragon's roar suddenly sounded.
It sent a chill down everyone's spine.
Even through the video, a hint of that majestic pressure was transmitted.
Everyone sat up straight, staring intently at the 3D image.
Next, a black dragon swept across the sky above the Sacred Wall of Felinir. However, it didn't immediately attack, instead leisurely circling above the wall.
When the humanoid creatures began rotating their gun barrels, the black dragon suddenly accelerated and dove down.
As if its previous leisurely manner had been deliberate.
"What is that!?"
Someone exclaimed in shock.
All the gun barrels on the left side of the Sacred Wall of Felinir were suddenly covered in brilliant white light.
Even from this distant perspective, everyone felt discomfort in their eyes.
The sensation was like facing the arc light from a cutting machine, but a super-enhanced version, with effects comparable to a flash grenade.
And in terms of duration.
It even surpassed various models of flash grenades.
"*ROAR——*"
The dragon's cry sounded again.
Only this time, its voice seemed more shrill and suppressed.
The Chinese players noticed that the black dragon had begun spewing dragon breath under the cover of those "*flash grenades*."
And with the protection of the "*flash grenades*."
It had destroyed the left side of the Sacred Wall of Felinir without suffering a scratch.
Then came the right side of the wall.
Until the entire defensive line of the Sacred Wall of Felinir completely fell.
The final image showed the black dragon perched on a spire.
It was massive and imposing.
Its wingspan appeared to be about twenty meters at a glance.
The black covering on its body didn't seem to be dragon scales but more like a layer of armor.
Red-hot magma-like patterns spread across its chest and abdomen like a spider web, making it look even more ferocious and powerful.
The image ended abruptly here.
The atmosphere in the pavilion grew increasingly silent.
Everyone took a deep breath.
"What level did code name 'Tiger Warrior' say this black dragon was? Level 32? Just reached the fourth tier."
"That's right."
The middle-aged man nodded, his eyes full of wariness and gravity.
Even Elder Li, who had maintained a calm expression while sitting at the head of the table, couldn't help but look solemn.
"You've all seen it. Someone previously suggested taming it?"
"Let's abandon that idea now."
"I heard that two novice villages on the Japanese side have already been wiped out by dragons. Looking at this, we may have underestimated the strength of this world's natives."
"Especially some legendary creatures."
Elder Li frowned deeply, his tone grave.
"Isn't that an exaggeration? It only brought down the Sacred Wall of Felinir. Besides, according to Tiger Warrior's intelligence, those guarding the wall were just cannon fodder."
Someone raised a doubt.
Hearing this, Elder Li shook his head. His withered hand gently tapped the table, drawing everyone's attention.
"Fierce magical beasts aren't frightening. What's frightening is when they possess human intelligence."
"Especially dragons."
"Based on Tiger Warrior's intelligence, you'd notice if you just think about it more."
"This dragon deliberately left and returned, and it also knows how to feint."
"It even uses magic like flash grenades to confuse the enemy's vision, creating conditions for its own attack."
"Powerful, cautious, and ferocious."
"If the legendary creatures of this other world are all like this, we might find it difficult to win the World Gamble."
"Because this would mean that we not only have to subdue the native humans of this world but also its magical beasts."
"Moreover, conflicts will inevitably arise between different regions of our Blue Planet, because this is a resource war."
"Rather than calling it a gamble, it's more accurate to say that we and these otherworldly natives are all sacrifices. How tragic is that?"
The white-haired Elder Li sighed, the wrinkles on his face seeming to deepen.
"So, Elder Li, what should we do?"
Everyone seemed affected by Elder Li's worried mood, their expressions becoming increasingly grim.
"The entity controlling the fate of both worlds hasn't given specific requirements."
"But the word 'rule' doesn't necessarily require war. One with a silk radical, one with a water radical—our ancestors' art has already told us that the best rule combines both firmness and gentleness."
"War is actually the worst strategy."
Elder Li stroked his beard, his eyes gradually brightening. War isn't the only means; sometimes appeasement can be more effective.
"How profound is our Chinese cultural heritage? 'Befriend the distant, attack the near,' 'The supreme excellence is to subdue the enemy without fighting.'"
"Don't forget, everyone, all gladiators in the arena are innocent, but there is one person who is definitely not innocent."
"That's the person who runs the arena..."
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