The Iron Dragon Mother glanced at the two foolish Hatchlings who were staring at each other in bewilderment.
From Garros's words and gaze, she understood his thoughts.
However, the Iron Dragon Mother had no intention of stopping him.
Regarding conflicts between her offspring, she would not intervene in ordinary bullying or oppression unless it involved life and death.
Besides...
These two Hatchlings ate and drank her resources day after day, wandering aimlessly around the territory once they were full without doing anything productive. It was about time they did something useful.
As for the matter of driving Hatchlings or young dragons to mine for oneself...
The Iron Dragon Mother couldn't bring herself to do it; while she was evil and cold-blooded, she also strictly adhered to the rules in her own mind.
However, it was perfectly reasonable for Garros to do it.
"The problem is, your 'mine slaves' also live under my protection."
The Iron Dragon Mother's eyes gleamed as she gently swayed her tail.
Under her gaze, the Red-Iron Young Dragon immediately said, "I will provide you with an additional ten-pound piece of Precious Metal Ore every month."
"Acceptable."
After a few seconds of silent consideration, the Iron Dragon Mother nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, Mother. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave."
"Go then, do what you must."
Garros turned and walked toward the two Hatchlings, stopping in front of them.
"Samantha, Gordon."
Calling out the names of the Red Dragon Sister and the Iron Dragon Brother, Garros narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Come with me."
Both dragons looked wary and did not move.
"What do you want to do?"
They asked.
"Naturally, I'm going to have you mine for me."
Garros grinned.
"By what right!"
The two Hatchlings refused vehemently, finally realizing that the 'mine slaves' Garros mentioned earlier actually referred to them.
"By the right that I am stronger than you."
Before his voice had even faded, Garros lunged at his dragon brother and sister.
Bang!
With a Dragon Charge, he sent the Iron Dragon Brother flying with a direct frontal hit.
Dense sparks flew as their scales collided. Garros's scales were solid, with not a single one falling off, while a large patch of scales on the Iron Dragon Brother cracked or even shattered. The dragon was slammed against the metallic cave wall, producing a dull thud.
The Red Dragon Sister had just managed to react.
Garros twisted his waist and turned, his thick, long tail—covered in a layer of blade-like dragon scales—swung out with a sharp whistle through the air.
Bang!
The dragon tail struck the Red Dragon Sister's shoulder with massive force, tearing through a layer of scales instantly and sending her flying like a tattered sack.
"If you won't listen, I'll beat you until you do."
Garros raised his chin, looking down at the two Hatchlings he had just knocked down.
"You bastard, Garros! We'll show you!"
The ferocity of the two Hatchlings was also ignited. The tough, strong bodies of Dragonkin meant that although they had taken Garros's attacks, they acted as if it were nothing.
They let out a furious roar.
The two Hatchlings, a year younger than Garros, lunged at him from the left and right.
With a one-year age gap, it was normally difficult to win a two-on-one fight.
However...
Unlike Garros, neither the Red Dragon Sister nor the Iron Dragon Brother had the awareness to train themselves at a young age. Like most Hatchlings, they believed they would eventually become overlords just by growing up naturally, so they were content to be lazy and neglected their training.
But Garros...
After realizing that Dragonkin were not absolute overlords and that this world was actually full of dangers, he had begun consciously training to strengthen himself.
"Heh, I'll give you something to remember."
Garros cracked his neck and met the two Hatchlings head-on.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A series of dull sounds of flesh colliding rang out continuously.
After a mere three minutes...
The two Hatchlings lay sprawled on the ground, bellies up as if they had fainted. They were covered in marks from Garros's beating; dragon scales were missing from their faces here and there, several teeth were gone, and even their Dragon Horns had been knocked crooked.
As for Garros, not a single scale had fallen off.
Aside from some dust, his worst injury was on his forearm, where the Red Dragon Sister had bitten him viciously. But because Garros's scales were exceptionally thick and hard, the Red Dragon Sister's teeth had gone sore from biting; she had only barely managed to bite through his scales, leaving a row of small tooth marks without even a drop of blood seeping out.
Beneath the scales was a layer of Dragon Hide.
Before the Red Dragon Sister could even bite into the hide, Garros had grabbed her by the horns, pulled her head away, and given her a thrashing.
"My dear Garros, I look forward to your future performance."
The Iron Dragon Mother flicked her tail with a crisp crack, indicating she was quite satisfied with Garros's performance.
In fact...
She had always appreciated Garros. This Hybrid Dragon's innate talent was stronger than that of normal dragons, and he was exceptionally serious and persistent in his pursuit of power, showing great potential to become a great Evil Dragon.
Appreciation was one thing.
The Iron Dragon Mother was unwilling to raise Garros for nothing.
However, now that Garros was trading treasure for food and protection, the Iron Dragon Mother was happy to witness his gradual growth.
As for the two Hatchlings who had been beaten miserably...
The Iron Dragon Mother felt no pity; instead, she felt they should reflect more on their own failings.
"Thank you for your concern, Mother."
Garros replied, then grabbed the Red Dragon Sister and the Iron Dragon Brother by their tails, one in each claw, and dragged them out of the Iron Dragon Mother's lair.
The two Hatchlings had been knocked unconscious by Garros and were dead weight.
Holding their tails, he flew over the lake in the center of the sinkhole and dropped them in.
Splash! Splash!
Water splashed everywhere, the droplets glistening like crystals under the moonlight.
Garros flapped his wings and circled in the air, staring at the lake water below.
After only ten seconds, two figures bolted out of the water as if their tails were on fire, and with great coordination, they flew in different directions, attempting to escape from Garros.
Garros flapped his Dragon Wings.
Under the cold moonlight, his pair of Dragon Wings were long and wide, with a wingspan reaching a full twelve meters—twice his body length. The wing membranes were incredibly tough, snapping loudly as they cut through the air, their edges as sharp as blades and gleaming with a cold, metallic luster.
Whoosh!
The sound of the Dragon Wings slicing through the air was like a piercing whistle.
In the blink of an eye, Garros caught up to the Red Dragon Sister, grabbed her tail in one claw, swung her in a wide arc, and hurled her toward the Iron Dragon Brother fleeing in the other direction.
Bang!
The two Hatchlings fell together, crashing into the ground and kicking up gravel and dust as cracks spread around them.
"Still running? I'll give you a three-second head start."
Garros folded his wings and landed in front of the two Hatchlings.
The Red Dragon Sister and the Iron Dragon Brother both wore expressions of utter despair, no longer daring to defy Garros.
Promptly, Garros brought them to the place where he frequently practiced 'Mountain-Humping'.
His perception of metallic minerals was very keen, and because he came here often, he had sensed the presence of some metal Ores, though they were buried very deep.
Pointing in a direction, Garros ordered them to start digging.
The two Hatchlings were reluctant, but under Garros's tyrannical pressure, they yielded and honestly began to dig.
Crunch! Crunch!
The sound of dragon claws digging into mountain rock rose and fell.
Meanwhile, Garros flew into the air again and again, then folded his wings, letting his heavy body free-fall to 'kiss' the earth, smashing deep pits into the surface one after another.
This was an even more intense form of training than Mountain-Humping.
—Ground-Humping.
If he didn't judge the height correctly, he risked crippling himself; Garros didn't train like this often.
However, the Iron Dragon Mother's 'eviction' had made Garros realize that he would eventually have to face danger alone, making him even more eager to become powerful.
Neither Hatchling could understand Garros's strange behavior, so while they bitterly dug into the mountain, they comforted themselves.
The Red Dragon Sister spat, clearing a pebble from her mouth, and whispered, "Garros is out of his mind. He'll cripple himself sooner or later. When that happens, we'll be free."
The Iron Dragon Brother had just used his horns to shatter a piece of hard rock.
Shaking the dust and gravel off his face, he chimed in, saying viciously, "Not just free—when that time comes, we'll force him to find Ore for us and mine for us!"
At the thought of a beautiful future where they could torment Garros and make him mine for them to accumulate treasure...
The two mining Hatchlings didn't even feel tired anymore. The corners of their mouths curled into pleasant arcs, and their claws unconsciously dug even faster.