Serel Wilderness, Sinkhole Territory, deep within the Iron Dragon nest.
"The Dominic Blue Dragon Flight was the potential ally I considered most likely to cooperate with. Their power is sufficient, and their style of conduct leans towards lawful, but unfortunately, I have never been able to offer the benefits they truly desire and that would move them."
The voice of the Iron Dragon Mother, Leticia, echoed in the nest, carrying a hint of obvious regret.
She and Garros had already discussed the specific matters of cooperation, and now, their topic was turning to other forces in the wilderness that could potentially become partners.
Furthermore.
She had previously learned from Garros that this Red-Iron Dragon offspring had actually formed an alliance with a Gold Dragon.
This news made her feel extremely incredible, even somewhat absurd.
A naturally evil Red-Iron Dragon, and a naturally just, order-and-goodness-abiding Gold Dragon.
How did these two ever get mixed up together?
If this combination were spoken of, if this news were to spread, I fear that all the intelligent races in the entire Serel Wilderness and even the wider continent would think this was an absurd story concocted by some lousy bard after getting drunk.
"The Dominic Blue Dragon Flight, let's not consider them for now."
Garros shook his head: "There are some potential conflicts between me and them. In the future, there is even a high possibility that we will stand directly on opposing sides."
"Potential conflicts? What are they?"
Leticia tilted her massive head covered in dragon scales slightly and asked.
The Ignas Dragon Flight's scale was growing daily, and the matter of taking in stray Young Dragons was not a secret that needed to be strictly guarded.
Garros weighed his words slightly, looked at the Iron Dragon Mother, and said slowly: "I believe that the ancient tradition of forcibly expelling offspring from the territory while they are young, leaving them to survive on their own and letting the fittest survive, may indeed select for powerful and resilient individuals, but it also causes many Dragonkin with excellent innate talent to die young due to bad luck or a lack of resources."
Hearing these words, the Iron Dragon Mother subconsciously scratched her hard neck with a claw tip, remaining silent.
This method of rearing is extremely common among Chromatic Dragons, and she herself practices it as well.
The Red-Iron Dragon's tone was not accusatory; he was simply stating a fact.
"Therefore, I have made a decision."
"For those Young Dragons struggling to survive under the fangs of the wilderness, wanting to live."
"As long as they are willing to abide by the rules of The Dragon Flight, regardless of what kind of Dragonkin they are, the Ignas Dragon Flight is willing to give them a chance—providing necessary shelter and basic cultivation."
"Of course, this is not without cost."
"What I do is also based on considerations of interest; they need to repay this kindness by pledging loyalty to The Dragon Flight and making contributions."
Garros calmly expounded on his philosophy.
Hearing this, Leticia was thoughtful: "I seem to have heard the Blue Dragons of the Dominic Family mention that in recent years, there have indeed been some restless Young Dragons in their clan who chose to leave without saying goodbye."
She was quick-witted and looked at the Red-Iron Dragon before her.
"Could it be that those little ones who dared to betray the Dominic Family are now huddled under your dragon wings?"
Facing the Iron Dragon Mother's sharp gaze that seemed to want to pierce through his Soul, Garros did not dodge in the slightest, steadily nodding his massive head covered in red copper and black iron scales.
Garros nodded frankly.
"Yes, currently I have four dragons under my command who are in the juvenile stage, and they come from the Dominic Family."
In the Molten Iron Tribe, which is growing in scale, they cannot yet be called the backbone.
But dragons that have grown to the Young Adult Dragon level are already playing quite important roles in the tribe, participating in management and combat in all aspects.
The Iron Dragon Mother lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then said: "This sounds like it might not be an irreconcilable major problem."
"The Dominic Dragon Flight has always prioritized practical interests."
"If you are willing to take the initiative to negotiate and discuss with them, showing sufficient sincerity or compensation, this matter might still have room for maneuvering."
She offered a relatively conservative suggestion.
However, Garros did not fully agree with this view.
"The Blue Dragon Flight does indeed value interests, but they will never easily condone acts of betrayal."
"Otherwise, with their way of ruling the clan with high pressure, if they do not impose sufficiently severe punishment on traitors, the Dragonkin at the bottom of the clan, those who are heavily suppressed, would likely all without exception harbor thoughts of betrayal and escape."
The Red-Iron Dragon's voice was calm, analyzing the pros and cons.
"Active negotiation and discussion might allow the Dominic Dragon Flight to make concessions under certain conditions."
"But this also means that I must provide huge benefits sufficient to make them willing to swallow this grievance and ignore the loss of face."
"In contrast, I prefer to let them weigh for themselves whether it is worth it to make an enemy of the entire Ignas Dragon Flight for the sake of a few Young Adult Dragons who have already escaped, and then decide whether to fight or make peace based on their reaction."
Leaving aside the other adult dragons, Young Adult Dragons, etc., in the Dominic Dragon Flight.
Just its leader, an adult Blue Dragon who has lived for over three hundred years, is an opponent that needs to be treated seriously.
This point, Garros had long understood from the accounts of Heriam and other dragons.
However, if he were still the Young Adult Red-Iron Dragon from before he slept, he might worry about the threat from the Dominic Dragon Flight at all times, but now, the situation is different.
An adult Blue Dragon over three hundred years old has an average Life Level of around level 17.
Considering that the opponent is not a lone wolf, but the leader of a vast Blue Dragon Flight, sitting on countless resources and accumulations, then raising its Life Level to level 18 is a reasonable estimate.
Garros is cautious by nature; he habitually overestimates the strength of his opponents.
With this way of judging, the Life Level of the leader of The Dragon Flight is at most 19, and it is difficult to reach 20. Even assuming the opponent is gifted and has very strong potential, there is a tiny chance of reaching level 20, but there is absolutely no possibility of going further, otherwise, the Dominic Dragon Flight would not be unknown, would not fear the Red Dragon Gorthax, and would not have refused the Iron Dragon Mother's previous cooperation.
Of course, the level of an adult Blue Dragon will not be low in any case.
Garros would not rashly provoke such a high-level Dragonkin.
But he also has clear cognition and confidence in his current level of strength, and will not feel afraid because of this.
With the growth of age and the rapid improvement of his own strength, the Garros who once felt uneasy because of some potential risks and tended to nip the source of threats in the bud has now become increasingly calm and introverted, no longer easily swayed by fear.
But even so.
His enemies had better pray silently not to actually do anything that makes him feel threatened or uneasy.
Otherwise, once his bottom line is touched, the consequences will be extremely serious.
Just like the former Albert Family.
During the time Garros was sleeping, this Earl Family, which was famous in the Duchy of Raymond, had quietly fallen apart and ceased to exist.
Those core members of the private army who knew the truth about his life experience, led by the General Evil Wolf Rhode, first tried their best to suppress their anger, pretending that nothing had happened, and then through a series of means such as assassination, supporting Puppets, and disintegration, completely destroyed the ruling Foundation of the Albert Family from the inside, causing it to finally fall apart.
All of this stemmed from the fact that the Albert Family made Garros feel a little uneasy.
Back to the point.
"The Dominic Dragon Flight does not yet know about this matter. It is not too late to consider how to deal with it after the potential conflict is exposed, but in any case, my dear Garros, as an ally, as a blood relative, I will stand firmly on your side."
Leticia raised her massive dragon head and said solemnly.
As time passed, the sky outside the dragon nest gradually became brighter, and the light of the morning sun tried to pierce through the thin mist over the wilderness.
After an in-depth discussion with Leticia throughout the night, the two had initially finalized the specific details of the alliance cooperation, as well as the preliminary strategy for dealing with the Red Dragon Gorthax together.
Not long after.
The Iron Dragon Sorog would attempt to reconstruct the Bloodline Connection again, pulling the Iron Dragon Mother Leticia into the spiritual network between the Ignas blood relatives.
With Solrog's current level of control over psionics, he can already achieve connection construction across a generation of Bloodlines.
Theoretically speaking, Solrog might even be able to attempt to contact the Red Dragon Gorthax through Bloodline sensing, but that adult Red Dragon, whose thinking is completely chaotic and crazy, would most likely violently tear apart any psionic thread attempting to connect to his mind and would not give any opportunity to establish a connection at all.
After a simple farewell, the Red-Iron Dragon spread his wings, and under the reflection of the gradually brightening sky, turned into a meteor, flying towards his direct territory in the Serel Wilderness, the direction of Ximu Territory.
After a period of time.
The outline of the vibrant and increasingly prosperous Ximu Territory appeared in the field of vision of Garros's dragon eyes.
However, descending directly in the form of a dragon is too conspicuous and too flashy.
The current Ximu Territory is no longer the obscure wilderness outpost it was back then.
It is developing rapidly and is being closely watched in secret by many interested forces.
Garros does not want to fully expose his whereabouts and status too early; this way, in some critical moments in the future, he might still gain an unexpected advantage.
Therefore.
Above a dense forest area still some distance away from the outer perimeter guard post of Ximu Territory.
With a flash of almost imperceptible Polymorph light.
A black giant cat with an abnormal body size, sturdy enough to subvert the limits of ordinary people's cognition of cats, appeared silently and soon landed on the roof of a building on the edge of Ximu Territory.
Its whole body was covered in knotted and bulging muscles, and through the sleek and shiny pitch-black fur, one could clearly see the muscle bundles, like steel cables, sliding and expanding smoothly as its limbs moved!
It jumped and shuttled lightly and agilely between the rows of roofs and soon came to the center of Ximu Territory.
It was exactly Garros who had cast Polymorph.
He chose the edge of a roof with a good view and squatted down in a relaxed posture, lowering his eyes to overlook the streets of Ximu Territory below, which were gradually waking up and becoming lively and prosperous.
At this moment, a hissing sound suddenly came from beside him. Garros tilted his head slightly and glanced at the source of the sound.
I saw a colorful cat with wide eyes, vigilantly staring at this uninvited guest.
The cat's back was arched high, and it made a hissing threat sound in its throat, twisting its head and baring its teeth, treating Garros, this oversized black cat, as an intruder who had come to snatch territory.
After a brief silence.
This extremely sturdy black cat also followed suit and bared its teeth slightly, emitting a low hissing sound from its throat that was completely inconsistent with its size.
Its sturdy muscles tensed and expanded instantly as its spine arched, and its overall posture was as majestic and fierce as a miniature version of a ferocious lion-tiger, and an invisible sense of oppression flowed out naturally.
The cat that had originally tried to demonstrate was instantly frightened by this terrible Aura, its fur standing on end. It no longer cared about any territorial dignity, let out a short scream, tucked its tail, and jumped off the roof without looking back, fleeing in a sorry state.
After driving away the cat that was trying to compete with him for territory.
Garros withdrew his gaze with satisfaction, maintaining his squatting posture, and examined his territory.
Just at this moment.
Slight spatial ripples appeared in the air beside him.
In the next instant, a slender human figure appeared out of thin air without warning, also squatting lightly on the roof, right beside the black cat, as if he had been there all along.
People were coming and going below, but it seemed that no one noticed this strange pair of human and cat.
"Good day, honorable Lord of Molten Iron."
The person bowed slightly and spoke in a low voice.
Garros turned his muscular cat head and looked at the figure beside him.
What entered his vision was none other than that former Flower Knight, the Lord of Flowers who now manages Ximu Territory for him.
Charles Hines.
Because he is a professional with impressive strength, although more than a decade has passed, he still looks very young, and there are no obvious changes in his appearance, except for some carefully trimmed short stubble on his chin and the edges of his cheeks, which added a bit of maturity and vicissitudes to his originally handsome face.
Garros's eyes flashed, and he used detection magic.
But in his eyes, there seemed to be an invisible barrier around the Lord of Flowers, isolating his investigative gaze.
This means that Charles's Life Level is higher than his, and Life Level detection can only detect targets of the same level or lower than oneself.
Feeling that he was being spied on.
Charles blinked, let go of his instinctive defense, and exposed his life Aura to the detection magic.
[Life Level: 19]
Garros saw the current level of this Lord of Flowers, and as expected, it was indeed very high.
"Charles, you have improved a lot, your Life Level is already approaching Legendary."
Garros said leisurely: "I will give you a chance to challenge me. If you win, our previous contract will be voided now, how about that?"
As soon as the words fell.
The Lord of Flowers shook his head.
He smiled bitterly and said: "Life Level is just a reference. I know very well that I am not your opponent, and I will not foolishly dream that I can challenge successfully."
"If we really fight."
"I guess the process will be the same as before, hiding and running away in a sorry state for a while, and then being caught by you and taken down directly."
"You are too modest," Garros said with a smile, "how do you know the result without really challenging once?"
Charles was unmoved and replied in a low voice: "I am just stating a fact."
Garros did not continue this topic and asked Charles to report the situation of Ximu Territory to him, especially whether there were any abnormal events worth paying attention to.