Even though Kid didn't like treasure hunting, he had sparred with top detectives like Conan, Heiji, and Hakuba. His reasoning skills had already surpassed theirs. Maybe he was a bit overconfident, but he definitely wasn't worse than them.
"Have you found a way to reach your ancestor?" the dragon girl asked.
"Not yet, but I know where it's hidden," Kid said. "We're going on a short trip. First, tell me—can you hold your breath?"
Strange question. "Of course I can. I can stay underwater for a really, really long time," the dragon girl replied proudly.
"Good. Then let's go." Kid strode out of the cave.
"Where are we going?"
By now, night had fallen. In the dark valley, you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face. Kid climbed back on the dragon's head and had her take off again.
"Where exactly are we going?" she asked again once they were airborne.
"We're going there. To the moon," Kid said, pointing at one of the two moons in the sky. "Fly. Take us to the moon."
"Okay." The dragon girl was surprised, but she trusted Kid wouldn't lie to her. Still, she was curious. "How do you know the ancestor's path is on the moon?"
Kid grinned. "Easy. I looked closely at the images carved on the stone wall. Over and over again. I noticed something strange—many scenes were set at night, but no matter how many times I looked, those night scenes always had only one moon."
He explained, "Use your imagination. Long ago, this planet only had one moon. So what's the other one?"
"A hiding place created by the ancestor to conceal the path!" Once she realized this, the dragon flapped even harder, flying with renewed energy.
Dragons could soar through the universe. The vacuum of space and zero gravity didn't affect her at all. She didn't rely on her wings to fly anyway.
Kid's eyes stayed locked forward. He was just as curious about what they might find on the moon.
Finally, the long journey ended. The massive moon appeared in front of them. The mother dragon twisted her body and dug her four claws into its solid surface.
They had arrived. As soon as Kid set foot on it, his expression changed.
Before, his focus had been on the planet. He hadn't paid much attention to the satellites. Sure, having two moons was odd—but not unheard of. Jupiter had 67 moons, after all.
But now that he had followed the clues here—now that he stood on this "extra" moon—Kid felt an overwhelming force rush into his mind.
A Dragon Pearl. The place beneath his feet wasn't a satellite at all. It was a Dragon Pearl.
The entire moon was a Dragon Pearl once played with by ancient dragons. "Dragon playing with pearl" was a common motif in ancient Chinese embroidery, ceramics, and art. One dragon playing with a pearl, two dragons, even nine dragons playing with a pearl.
Dragon Pearls often appeared together with dragons. But Kid had never imagined that the thing beneath his feet was a real Dragon Pearl. So huge. So unbelievable. The shock sent a chill down his spine.
Just how terrifying was the prehistoric world? Kid couldn't wrap his head around the idea of dragons using satellites as toys.
"Dragon Pearl!" he muttered blankly.
The dragon girl only saw his lips moving—she couldn't hear anything. She hadn't yet realized what they were standing on was the thing her ancestor left behind.
Woooooosh—
Kid and the dragon vanished together.
Stimulated by Kid's Ripple, the Dragon Pearl, which had been dormant for tens of millions of years, finally activated again.
The attached rocks shattered and crumbled into dust. That outer layer wasn't the planet's crust—it was just grime on the Dragon Pearl's surface. So instead of turning into meteorites, the fragments simply became dust.
The caterpillar-shaped space station witnessed it all. The moon transformed into a glowing pearl. Smooth, emerald green, soft like the white of a boiled egg. This was the Dragon Pearl.
A long, long time ago, a mischievous young dragon came here and started a family. He took human form and mated with the local species of this planet. Over time, his bloodline grew. Then he captured primitive tribes and turned them into slaves. Life was good. His body could stretch wide enough to wrap around a star. His claws could grasp an entire moon. In this distant star system, he was the undisputed ruler.
Of course, good days pass quickly. When the Age of Lawlessness came, the dragons sent out a summoning call. They were preparing to leave this universe—together with the Saints, and the realms of Heaven and the Underworld.
The young dragon had no choice but to leave too. He had to abandon his descendants. But he knew this universe was dangerous. So before leaving, he created a special formation of his own invention—the Nine-Dragon Soul-Locking Array. It would stop anyone from entering and protect his descendants. He also left behind his Dragon Pearl. If any of his descendants found it, inside they would discover all of his cultivation methods. These techniques could help them grow strong enough to become five-clawed golden dragons. Maybe they'd even be able to break through the universe's boundaries and follow in the Saints' footsteps.
This set of cultivation methods was the path left by the ancestor for chasing after the Saints. Though it was called a "path," it didn't mean they'd actually reach the destination.
Kid floated in a blank, empty space. Just like the dragon, he had gained access to the memories. Apparently, the Dragon Pearl wasn't very smart—once activated, anyone could use it.
This was mysterious stuff, hard to explain. It wasn't science—it was arcane arts. The Nine-Dragon Soul-Locking Array that surrounded this star system was probably the asteroid belt that the little bunny had discovered. So it hadn't formed naturally after all—it was created by that dragon. "Nine-Dragon Soul-Locking Array"—what a flashy name. But a chaotic, high-speed asteroid belt really could "lock" souls. A normal person or a spaceship would likely never get out once inside.
But now Kid knew the way out. It followed the secret of the Eight Gates. Except that lusty dragon had flipped the gates of life and death.
Everything about this was wild. Kid looked at the images stored inside the Dragon Pearl. That dragon really was majestic and charming. Aside from being a total skirt-chaser, there wasn't much to criticize. When Kid saw the "wives and concubines" the dragon found here, he figured even the people of Wales would hang their heads in shame.
They were a native species that had already gone extinct. Judging from what he saw, this dragon probably mated with every single female of the species. After hundreds of generations of evolution and transformation, their descendants eventually became the so-called "Dragon's Descendants." Even though all traces of the lusty dragon had vanished, the faint dragon bloodline in their bodies told the truth—they were his descendants.
Even now, the Dragon's Descendants had evolved to the point where they were hermaphrodites—capable of reproducing with themselves. But still, they were children of that lustful dragon.
Just picture it: a shape-shifting dragon in human form, naked, rolling around with bizarre alien creatures on a vast grassland… Kid felt like his eyes had taken a direct hit of a million tons of trauma. His poor eyes.
Over a long period of time, that lusty dragon had created an entirely new race—the ancestors of the Dragon's Descendants. Then time passed again. For ages, the Dragon's Descendants enslaved humans. Until about a thousand years ago, when a pair of sisters stood up and rebelled.
Of course, the descendants of the lusty dragon wouldn't lose to humans. But they backed down. By that point, they had already evolved into hermaphrodites and didn't have much desire left. Enslaving and killing humans had just become a habit. Since humans didn't like it, they simply let them go. In their eyes, humans were weak and would eventually die off without protection anyway.
But surprisingly, humans didn't go extinct. They founded countless nations and waged war for a thousand years, nonstop. The Dragon's Descendants, who had once withdrawn, couldn't stand it anymore. They wanted peace. So a hundred years ago, they returned and sought help from a country that still worshipped the Dragon God. They wanted to end the meaningless human wars and go back to a quiet life.
But they didn't expect humans to be so stubborn. Not only did they resist, they even killed the Dragon's Descendants and used their flesh and blood to craft weapons.
All of this, Kid saw through the Dragon Pearl. It had apparently been watching the continent all along. So from here, he saw the entire history of humans and the Dragon's Descendants.
The reason the two human nations had been at war in this scorched land was simple. One worshipped the Twin Goddesses. The other worshipped the Dragon God. Different beliefs. Irreconcilable enemies.