It had been exactly one month since the Copper Dragon Deborah left Red Maple Ridge.
The Copper Dragon's goal was clear—to defeat the Hybrid Dragon that had given her a taste of defeat, then capture and discipline it, purging its evil nature and leading it into the embrace of the good dragons.
A naturally evil Red-Iron Hybrid Dragon, if allowed to grow up, would undoubtedly become a super Evil Dragon.
Conversely.
If it could be reformed, it would be an extremely glorious achievement, a feat difficult to replicate and worthy of praise and song!
That was how the Copper Dragon thought.
Her Silver Dragon father and Copper Dragon mother also encouraged and praised her for this.
For some unknown reason, Metallic Dragons generally have the idea of persuading Evil Dragons to turn good.
For example, Metallic Dragons like to steal, or even snatch, the eggs of Evil Dragons to raise themselves.
Such instances are not uncommon within the Metallic Dragon Race, and those who successfully raise an Evil Dragon to be good are recorded in the Metallic Dragon Legacy and highly rewarded.
The process of searching for Garros was not smooth.
Placing markers on Alchemical Items or gold coins and gems was not a technique a young Copper Dragon could master.
Although her belongings had been stolen, she couldn't use them to locate Garros.
Initially, the Copper Dragon returned to the place where she was defeated by Garros, starting a carpet search of the surrounding area from the abandoned mine occupied by Rock-Crushing Worms.
Dragons are very sensitive to the aura of other dragons.
Furthermore, when Dragonkin soar in the sky, their view is unobstructed as they look down upon the land; if they search for a target with single-minded focus, their efficiency is extremely high.
However, the wilderness is vast, and finding another dragon in the boundless expanse in a short time is no simple matter.
During the first week.
Remembering Garros's scent, the Copper Dragon discovered the Hemlock Hills.
Unfortunately, the place had been burned to the ground, with charred marks everywhere, turning it into a barren mountain; the Copper Dragon found nothing.
She was not discouraged and continued her search with high morale.
While passing over a certain oil field, the Copper Dragon was suddenly attacked.
She was furious, and upon discovering that her attackers were Blackrock Dwarves, she descended directly toward the oil field.
After realizing the target of their attack was a Metallic Dragon, the Blackrock Dwarves quickly halted further attacks. High-ranking officers from the garrison stepped forward, presented the Copper Dragon with some small toys from the Southern Kingdoms, and played a riddle game with her for a while to appease her anger.
A young Copper Dragon was actually not enough to make the Blackrock garrison afraid.
Had it been any other young Evil Dragon, even a young Red Dragon, daring to land at their station, it would have inevitably faced a mobbing, or even being skinned and deboned.
But Metallic Dragons are different from Evil Dragons.
Evil Dragons are loners with cold relationships between them and have no backing.
Metallic Dragons value Bloodline bonds immensely and are protective to an extreme.
If a conflict or contradiction arises while a young Metallic Dragon is adventuring outside, injuring it is fine; even seriously wounding it is considered a feat.
But if it is killed, the consequences are severe.
Unless one can guarantee they won't be detected or tracked, the wrath of older and more powerful Metallic Dragons will descend at any moment.
On Planet Bernardo, magic flourishes and racial civilizations are advanced; the Dragon Clan is not the absolute top ruler, but they are certainly overlord-level beings, especially the united and closely-knit Metallic Dragons.
It is said.
That killing a Gold Dragon might even incur the wrath of the Dragon God.
The Blackrock Duchy belongs to the Lothern Federation and is a member of the Order Kingdoms; knowing the troublesome consequences of provoking a Metallic Dragon, they naturally wouldn't lay a hand on one.
While staying at the oil field station, the Blackrock Dwarves explained the reason for the attack to the Copper Dragon.
The army's Dwarf Alchemist Groni had been blindsided by an evil Hybrid Dragon, which had blinded him in an explosion.
This Hybrid Dragon had previously sent its subordinates to steal their black oil from underground and destroyed two of their Alchemy Golems, making the garrison's nerves a bit sensitive. So, when the Copper Dragon flew over, they mistook her for an Evil Dragon circling for reconnaissance and launched an attack.
The Copper Dragon asked if this Evil Dragon was a Red-Iron Hybrid Dragon and received an affirmative answer.
She quickly pressed the Blackrock Dwarves to see if they knew the Red-Iron Hybrid Dragon's whereabouts, but the Blackrock Dwarves didn't know either; otherwise, they would have already dispatched soldiers to crusade and hunt it down.
Having obtained no clues.
The Copper Dragon left the oil field station.
She wandered aimlessly over the wilderness, and whenever she caught the scent of Dragonkin, she would go to investigate, but she still couldn't find Garros.
Until today.
The torrential rain poured down, making the fire-element Copper Dragon feel uncomfortable. In the whistling wind and rain, she began to consider giving up the pursuit of Garros.
Then she noticed.
Lightning was continuously striking in the distance, illuminating the sky as bright as day. Strangely, all those lightning bolts were falling on a single spot as if attracted by something, and the faint scent of Dragonkin permeated the air.
Driven by curiosity, the Copper Dragon flew over.
When she saw clearly the target being struck, she was first slightly stunned, then ecstatic, and couldn't help but shout.
"Naturally evil Hybrid Dragon! I've found you!"
Garros looked up and saw the Copper Dragon's figure, and also heard her shouting.
Why is she shouting so loud?
And how did this fellow find me?
Garros was somewhat puzzled and wary.
After snatching the Copper Dragon's equipment and treasures, he had checked them meticulously and seriously, finding no tracking marks or Spells on them, and a young Copper Dragon theoretically shouldn't have such skills.
Of course, the safest course of action would have been to discard or destroy everything.
But Garros hadn't completely overcome the greedy nature of Dragonkin.
The mere thought of throwing away treasures pierced his heart like a knife, and since he hadn't found any tracking marks, he kept them. Later, when he met the Faerie Dragon Vera, he had her check them again, and still, no abnormalities were found.
"I was careless."
"My obsession and desire for wealth made me subconsciously ignore potential risks. This is also a major weakness that needs targeted training."
Garros thought to himself.
He keenly noticed.
On the Copper Dragon's horn, there was a glittering, radiant silver horn ring, and the scales on her neck also seemed slightly bulged, as if some good things were hidden underneath.
Suppressing the urge to strike and snatch them directly.
Garros gazed at the Copper Dragon and asked in a deep voice:
"How did you find me?"
"Hehe, the answer is hidden within a riddle."
The Copper Dragon Deborah circled in the torrential rain, her scales washed glittering by the rainwater. She grinned, revealing a cunning smile, cleared her throat, and recited in a rhythmic tone:
"It is formless and substanceless, yet it can make the fool victorious and the wise defeated."
"It is silent and noiseless, yet it can let the weak rise and the strong fall."
"It is traceless and invisible, yet it can turn chance into necessity, and necessity into chance."
"It is neither magic nor skill, yet it has brought you here today—to meet me again!"
"Tell me, Hybrid Dragon, what is it?"