"Tell me, Hybrid Dragon, what is it?"
After listening to the Red-Silver Dragon's latest riddle, Garros furrowed his brow and sank into deep thought.
However, the Red-Silver Dragon's riddle this time offered no straightforward hints; it sounded profound and obscure, filled with imagery but lacking concrete expression.
In short, it was rather abstract.
Ambition? Hope? Reform? Every answer felt like scratching an itch through a boot—close, but not quite right.
Faced with such an abstract riddle...
Garros refused to answer.
It wasn't that he couldn't think of a precise answer, but mainly that he wasn't interested.
Besides, he was of Red Dragon descent; there was nothing wrong with using his fists first when in doubt.
"What are you blathering about?"
Garros snapped his wings open, and amidst a surge of violent wind, his heavy and powerful body soared into the air.
He stared at the Red-Silver Dragon and said, "I prefer solving problems with strength."
Samantha the Red Dragon, Tereshi the White Dragon, and the other vassal leaders present all glared at the Red-Silver Dragon, itching to act.
Seeing the Red-Iron Dragon poised to strike and the hostile glares from his many subordinates, the Red-Silver Dragon quickly raised her claws in a surrender-like gesture and said, "Wait, wait! I didn't come here to fight you."
Compared to before...
Deborah, having activated her Silver Dragon bloodline, had changed significantly; in her young stage, she was already more powerful than an adult White Dragon.
When the Red-Silver Dragon saw the fierce battle between Garros and the Demon Bull...
She thought that if the Demon Bull were stronger, she would intervene midway—a "justice from above" moment—to make Garros owe her a favor.
If Garros ultimately won...
She also had the idea of taking advantage of the Red-Iron Dragon's exhaustion after the battle to beat him down and humiliate him, thus avenging her previous defeat.
However...
Looking at Garros, who seemed largely unharmed with few visible injuries, Deborah the Red-Silver Dragon wisely abandoned that plan.
In Deborah's eyes...
Garros's transformation was equally significant.
He had become more formidable and ferocious; his physical strength was incredible, his unique wings were unprecedented, the spines on his body were dangerously imposing, and the golden lightning he emitted during the battle with the Demon Bull all left Deborah surprised and curious.
Why exactly was this Hybrid Dragon so powerful, and why had he changed so much?
He definitely had secrets.
The Red-Silver Dragon thought to herself that she might be able to uncover the secret of Garros's strength.
"You wouldn't appear here for no reason."
Hearing the Red-Silver Dragon's words, Garros suppressed the urge to strike immediately.
He was of Iron Dragon descent, after all; it was only reasonable to observe first when in doubt.
Garros asked, "What do you want?"
Opposite him, under Garros's gaze, the Red-Silver Dragon gave a sly smile and said, "The answer is hidden within the riddle. Think about it carefully, Hybrid Dragon."
Garros: "I'm not interested in your riddles."
The Red-Silver Dragon tilted her head, her gaze clear and bright.
"You played the guessing game with me the last two times, so I don't believe you when you say you're not interested now."
After a brief pause, the Red-Silver Dragon said in a knowing tone, as if realizing something:
"You definitely can't figure it out, so you're pretending to be uninterested. Oh, don't be in such a hurry; riddles are only fun when you take your time to think, aren't they?"
Garros fell silent.
Faint traces of golden electricity surfaced beneath his scales like tiny snakes, and a subtle scent of ozone filled the air.
The Red-Silver Dragon's smile stiffened slightly. She curled her lip, thinking that the Red-Iron Dragon was indeed born evil, becoming furious from the exposure just because his thoughts were revealed.
"Adventure! It's adventure!"
The Red-Silver Dragon revealed her answer.
She continued, "What you said last time made me realize something."
"I want to experience real adventure, not some childish game."
"And you, Red-Iron Dragon, you are easily targeted with hostility and crusades."
Finally, the Red-Silver Dragon stated her true request: "Please let me follow you on your adventures! During this time, I will follow your orders, as long as they don't violate my inner moral code."
Garros's eyes flickered as he calculated.
Having another Metallic Dragon in Dragon Valley would undoubtedly be a good thing.
Back at the Scale-Earth Rift Road in the Serel Wilderness, if he had a Metallic Dragon under his command to act as a figurehead, it wouldn't have caused so much subsequent trouble.
No one wants to see Evil Dragons gathered in a flight.
Without cover or sufficient backing, The Dragon Flight would encounter all sorts of trouble and problems while growing, but having a Metallic Dragon along could avoid most of them.
As for the Red-Silver Dragon's moral code...
Metallic Dragons are good dragons, but there are different types of good.
Copper Dragons and Brass Dragons are typically Chaotic Good.
These types of intelligent creatures mainly act according to their own whims; they are kind-hearted and believe in justice, but they do not recognize worldly laws and regulations, following their own moral standards instead.
However...
While these standards are benevolent, they may not align with the general public's perception of goodness.
The justice they believe in might also differ from secular justice.
Gold Dragons, Silver Dragons, and Bronze Dragons are typically Lawful Good.
They are dedicated to fighting evil, are open and honest, never lie, help those in need, uphold justice, and speak out against unfairness. They perform every task diligently and are reliable and trustworthy.
A dragon on the Lawful Good side would likely find Garros's behavior intolerable.
But...
The Red-Silver Dragon before him, perhaps because her Silver Dragon bloodline was Acquired, still had a personality dominated by her Copper Dragon side, with little change.
Her use of Polymorph to disguise herself for extortion proved that she was still in the Chaotic Good camp.
Her moral baseline might not necessarily be higher than his own. Garros mused that the Red-Silver Dragon should be quite useful.
But "taming" the Chaotic Good nature of a Copper Dragon was no easy feat.
Garros thought seriously and decided the key lay in not refusing her guessing games, and even proactively posing riddles himself.
Different dragons require different strategies; if you want a Copper Dragon to be obsessed with you, you need to be a master of riddles.
—Another entry was added to Garros's Dragon Taming Art.
"If you want to adventure with me, fine."
Garros thought for a moment and said, "But I won't take you in for nothing. You need to provide a sum of wealth as payment."
The Red-Silver Dragon's expression became gloomy and conflicted.
She found it hard to part with her wealth.
Although she had been robbed by Garros more than once, being robbed and handing it over voluntarily were two different concepts. Greed for wealth was not just the nature of Evil Dragons, but also an irrepressible instinct of Metallic Dragons.
Garros changed the subject and said, "If you can answer my riddle, I'll let you adventure with me for free."
The Red-Silver Dragon was momentarily stunned, but then a bright, radiant, and overjoyed smile spread across her face.
Every one of her reactions had been anticipated by Garros, and they matched his predictions perfectly.
Simple as that. Controlled.
What riddle should he come up with?
Garros's peripheral vision caught the sight of the corpse-strewn, devastated land, and a spark of inspiration struck him.
He cleared his throat and, mimicking the Red-Silver Dragon's tone and format, spoke with rhythmic cadence:
"It uses blood for fuel and wails for wind; I light its fuse when I wave my scepter, and you Transmigration through forests of swords just to pick up its crown."
"It drinks the hero's last drop of blood and regurgitates the coward's first lie; it tempers ten thousand medals on broken spears and buries the same spark beneath scorched earth."
"Tell me, Metallic Dragon, what is it?"