"Don't call me White Dragon."
White Dragon Tereshi stuck out her tongue and licked her lips, her eyes filled with a look of longing as she continued to approach Garros.
"I want you to use your hard dragon fangs to bite my back, to make me feel pain."
"I want you to use your thick, long tail to tighten around my neck, to make me suffocate."
"I want you to call me White Scale, to trample me, to bully me, to insult me."
At this moment, she seemed to be under some kind of stimulation; her entire body emitted a strange scent that made Garros feel hot all over as he smelled it, as if he were poisoned.
"Is she using poison on me? What a potent poison; even my poison resistance is reacting so violently."
Garros felt a chill in his heart and struck the White Dragon's head with a claw, knocking her to the ground, and warned, "White Dragon! Stop your little tricks."
After taking a blow from the claw, the White Dragon regained some of her senses.
She said resentfully and indignantly, "Young Dragon! Why resist so much? You are clearly in heat too. We are both Evil Dragons; don't act all pretentious like those Metallic Dragons. There's no need for gifts or spiritual communication—just come and be wild with me."
Garros frowned.
In heat? How could I not—wait, that's not right!
The Red-Iron Dragon showed an expression of realization.
"Oh, so my Estrous Cycle has arrived. I thought my training intensity was sufficient and I was about to evolve."
He suddenly remembered that starting a few days ago, he had always inexplicably felt his body burning. Because he hadn't thought in that direction, he mistakenly assumed he was about to evolve, so he trained even more frequently, smashing several iron stones to pieces.
Now that the truth was out, Garros was enlightened yet fell silent.
Under normal circumstances, the Estrous Cycle of Dragonkin doesn't begin until at least the adolescent stage after age twenty-five, so Garros had never considered this reason.
Thinking carefully about it now, it wasn't actually too surprising.
His body grew faster than normal Dragonkin, so entering his Estrous Cycle early was only natural.
"No wonder Tasha looked at me with strange eyes a few days ago."
"No wonder Vera hasn't come near me at all lately."
Garros shook his head, finally understanding the reason, and then knocked the White Dragon down again as she tried to cling to him.
A White Dragon covered in wounds, sticky with blood, and full of broken scales simply couldn't pique Garros's interest. She had overestimated her own beauty and allure, and underestimated Garros's resistance to desire.
Opposite him, the White Dragon, having been knocked down once more, finally regained full consciousness.
The scent that made Garros feel hot also vanished.
"Now, let's talk business."
"I need tangible benefits."
Garros said straightforwardly, "I can accept only fifty percent of your wealth as compensation, but for the other fifty percent, I need you to pledge your loyalty to me to pay off the debt. Furthermore, during your service, that other fifty percent will be held by me as collateral."
White Dragon Tereshi swayed her tail and asked, "Is forty percent okay?"
"You are in no position to negotiate with me."
Garros said decisively.
Immediately after, they finalized the duration of loyalty and the specific terms of service.
For instance, for the next fifty years, the White Dragon would work for Garros to repay her debt. During this period, she would not disobey Garros's orders and could fight, guard, and patrol for him. However, Garros could not force her to perform suicidal missions, could not drive her like a slave or a vassal, and could not extort the spoils of war or new wealth she acquired herself during her service.
Dragonkin could accept pledging loyalty to their own kind.
But they would rather die than accept the status of a slave.
These were reasonable demands.
Because there were many similar precedents to serve as a standard, Garros and the White Dragon quickly finalized the agreement. Of course, neither knew contract magic, nor did they have contract items, and swearing to the gods lacked strong binding power. It mainly relied on Garros seizing her wealth as leverage to ensure the White Dragon's loyalty.
Shortly after.
Tereshi followed the Red-Iron Dragon back to the Centaur camp to settle the human matters first, then take Garros to her dragon nest to collect the wealth.
"She is about to become my follower."
Garros said, allowing the tense Centaurs to relax slightly.
"I wish to praise you, but at this moment I cannot think of any suitable words. A Young Dragon making an adult dragon submit—this is a feat as incredible as a Legend."
Nick, located in the Centaur camp, offered his praise.
From the moment the White Dragon appeared and the two began to fight, this merchant had been watching nervously, fearing that the Young Dragon he had bet everything on would fall under the adult White Dragon's claws.
The results proved that his worries were unnecessary.
The strength of this Death Omen Star refreshed his understanding of Young Dragons.
To be able to defeat even an adult dragon so easily.
Once he grows up, he will surely be a regional hegemon.
Despite the worrying living environment of the Chromatic Dragons and their overall level being inferior to the Metallic Dragons, every once in a while, extremely powerful individuals would emerge among the Chromatic Dragons, occupying territories like kings, making others afraid to provoke them.
In the history of Planet Bernardo, the number of Evil Dragons remembered actually exceeds that of Metallic Dragons.
An Evil Dragon that has grown up is stronger than a Metallic Dragon.
This was already a common impression the world had of dragons.
It was only in this era that the Twenty-Four Winged Golden Dragon of the Metallic Dragon Race was too powerful, almost standing at the ultimate peak of the Material Plane, and there were currently no particularly outstanding hegemons among the Evil Dragons, making them seem weak.
"There is no need for excessive flattery."
Garros said.
Nick chuckled and said, "Only pragmatism can reach the mountain peak. Your wisdom commands my respect."
No need to say more?
No, he had to say more.
He was a shrewd man and could distinguish which of Garros's words were serious and which were just casual remarks.
Garros narrowed his eyes slightly, not caring about the other's small schemes, and said, "Nick, from this day forward, you shall become my claws in the south, my feelers in the human world."
"I will also give you a chance at a new life. When you have made up your mind and are ready, I will perform a Dragon Vein Transformation on you."
Nick's smile vanished, replaced by a solemn and serious expression. He prostrated himself on the ground again, his forehead touching the hard earth, and said, "I swear by my life and Soul that I will never fail your expectations!"
Sometimes, going all-in is a form of wisdom.
He had already decided to follow this path to the end.
Afterward, Nick obtained the contact information for Garros's Communication Stone.
Garros wanted to first establish a Dragon Clan influence within the heart of the Southern Federation and develop some informants, so he had Nick report directly to him.
Garros himself didn't want to manage trivial matters; such things should have been handled by the Iron Dragon.
However.
Just two days ago, the Iron Dragon had begun his deep sleep and was now slumbering in Dragon Valley.
Sorog was twenty-two years old, an age with a high incidence of long-term slumber during the Young Dragon stage. It would take him at least four or five years to wake up, or possibly seven or eight if it was slow.
The next time he woke up, he would most likely already be a Psion.
A Psion can split their thoughts and engage in multi-threaded thinking. Although the Molten Iron Clan was gradually expanding in scale, at the current stage, the Iron Dragon would still be able to manage it well after becoming a Psion.
In addition, Garros estimated that his own Dragon Sleep was approaching.
It would likely be within the next year or two; it certainly wouldn't wait until he was past twenty.
"Before the Dragon Sleep, I cannot stir up trouble needlessly."
Garros thought silently, "There are many powerful existences in the Borderlands. If I am too active and draw attention and hostility, and then happen to enter Dragon Sleep, the Molten Iron Clan might suffer a devastating blow."
Now was not yet the time to be recklessly arrogant.
The Young Dragons still needed to hide their claws, like tigers lurking in the forest, only revealing their sharp edge when the time was right.