Under the Red Dragon.

Chapter 498 Empire III and IV
The moon was bright and the stars were few; the entire world of Lyponos was illuminated by the soft, hazy moonlight.

The camps established by the red dragons of the Golden Empire are incredibly diverse, with countless architectural styles mixed together under the moonlight.

Architectural styles include those of ancient Greece and Rome, Gothic architecture, the Baroque style with its flamboyant and unusual techniques, and the delicate and intricate Rococo style.

The diverse architectural conflicts and contradictions are mixed together, and the shadows cast on the ground seem to have mystical characteristics, making it look like a place that hides all sorts of secrets and indescribable things.

Every red dragon in the world possesses the innate power to control fire, making each one a potential weapon forger and sculptor.

However, just as everyone has the potential to become a talent, the world's red dragons also suffer from various reasons such as lack of patience, lack of self-control, and lack of interest in these areas.

Instead, they become like those crude and mindless fireball mages in the Evocation school, only able to use the power of the red dragon to spew out destructive flames, becoming a member of the Red Dragon Barbecue school.

The Golden Empire's expectation for those red dragons who needed re-education was not to turn them into dragon talents and masters in shaping and casting.

Instead, the empire aims to gradually improve the red dragons' patience by leveraging their innate abilities, allowing these hot-tempered dragons to accept the empire's re-education rather than forcibly instilling new ideas that could lead to internal rebellion.

While the Empire need not fear the rebellious tendencies of these red dragons, high efficiency has always been a preferred style of operation for the Empire.

The ancient red dragon Poirot lay lazily in front of his long table, which was forged from flames. His indifferent dragon face was now twisted beyond recognition, and his two huge dragon eyes were almost staring at the thick layer of textbooks on the table.

Ancient Red Dragon Poirot really wanted to pretend to accidentally spit out a few sparks and burn the textbook in front of him, titled "An Overview of Fifteen Years of Compulsory Education for Dragons," to ashes. This thought made his nasal cavity itch slightly.

Unfortunately, this ancient red dragon had the desire but not the courage. Every contract made by a red dragon was undertaken by Kleinaya, the Red Scale King of the Golden Empire.

This contract based on the bloodline of a true dragon is extremely simple, but precisely because it is simple, it is almost impossible to break.

Unless the ancient red dragon Poirot can gradually revive his bloodline, dig into the source of dragon blood, and become an ancestral dragon with a bloodline even purer than that of the ancestral red dragon Kleinaya.

Unable to break this contract, even with his immense power, the ancient red dragon Poirot dared not defy the volatile mother dragon.

Poirot didn't know if other scaled dragons had been beaten up by dragon kings of various colors, but all twelve red dragons present here, from different planes, had been severely beaten up by that fierce female dragon.

Hey, you know what? Although the dragon race has a million flaws, after this "repair," even this ancient red dragon now has to lie here obediently to receive its lesson, and it's become much more docile.

"During the day, we also need to cooperate with the Imperial Legion warriors to sweep through the cities of the Skull Tribe, plunder resources and wealth, and transport slaves, all without any pay,"

Ancient Red Dragon Poirot, his eyes slanted, muttered with slightly bared fangs, "That's fine, but we've already worked so hard, and now we still have to spend so much time studying these so-called elementary, intermediate, and advanced logic, mathematics, and politics..."

"We don't have the extra energy to learn these weird things. I think we should be given a holiday!"

One by one, magical nightlights were placed in front of twelve huge long stone tables. Behind these stone tables, eleven red dragons lay with their heads drooping and frowning, looking as if they were wondering what was going on, why, and who they were.

These magical nightlights are of little use to dragons' night vision; they only serve to help them concentrate on studying and enhance the tranquil atmosphere. However, under the light, even the fierce red dragons look rather pitiful.

Upon hearing the words of the ancient red dragon Poirot, which he pretended to mutter but actually shouted, the other eleven red dragons nodded repeatedly and muttered, "Yes, although we are all dragons, we cannot be treated like cattle and horses in the mortal world!"

"Besides, these complex subjects are really too difficult! I think if we relax for a while, our learning efficiency will improve dramatically!"

These red dragons muttered to themselves as they looked toward the young red dragon Cadilos, the instructor who was walking along the sidelines, holding a long whip in his claws and supervising the field.

Oh, this red dragon is now a fully grown red dragon.

Because he was not skilled in magical power, Keldiros used all his power to strengthen the dragon's body during his adult transformation, resulting in this male dragon no longer having a streamlined body and looking like a living, breathing, devilish, muscular red dragon.

But even this devilishly muscular dragon has its fears.

Cadilos gently held the pointer in his hand, glancing at his mate—the female red dragon Delos—standing on the open-air platform.

The female red dragon Delos, who also transitioned from adolescence to adulthood, was not only more intelligent and studious than her partner, but the rational Delos also acquired a wealth of knowledge over the years, becoming a tutor at the Imperial Dragon Academy.

Because her son, the Red Dragon Nero, became the young lord of the Empire, holding the highest position among the nine young lords, her status rose accordingly, making her more respected than the Red Dragon Cadelos, who was also an instructor at the Imperial Dragon Academy.

However, the reason why Cadelos feared his mate was not because the male dragon had a henpecked problem.

Rather, it was because of Cadillac's reputation for being playful and lecherous in his youth that this male dragon found it difficult to find a mate as excellent as Delos.

As the Golden Empire rose, the dragon civilization created by the entire Gorgmora dragonflight also matured over a long period of development.

Following this, a series of social and cultural spiritual reflections and constructions, such as the ethical and moral system of civilized society and dragon-based humanism, will need to be established and formed.

The ethical and moral systems and corresponding spiritual and cultural systems in human society were initially created primarily to maintain the stability and longevity of the overall human order.

The Gorgmora dragonflight does not need to maintain its rule in this way, and dragons are dragons, not humans, so the ethical and moral system gradually built within the Empire is not as 'strict' as that of human civilization.

However, there are now explicit rules within the Gogmora dragon herd, prohibiting the chaotic relationships between dragons as before. For example, dragons cannot have relationships with their direct descendants until at least ten generations later.

All these factors have made the male dragon Cadelos unpopular due to his numerous misdeeds. It can be said that this once most orthodox evil dragon is the biggest 'victim' of the social order of dragon civilization.

The female dragon Delos noticed her partner's gaze. She paused slightly as she wrote dense formulas on the huge blackboard and silently nodded to her partner.

Although Delos is an adult red dragon who has lived in the Golden Empire for decades and is superior to those wild dragons in both strength and appearance, she is still unable to subdue these red dragon species from various planes.

Only by cooperating with their partner, Cadillac, can these red dragons be kept sitting obediently in the nighttime classes.

As for where the Red Dragon Queen Klenaya, who was originally in charge of this matter, well, none of the red dragons know, nor dare they know.

Having received a tacit instruction from his partner, Cadelos bared his fangs, revealing a disdainful smile, and uttered a dragon's language that sounded like the beating of drums.

"Fools, a bunch of fools! You're good at causing destruction, all of you full of energy, yelling and screaming, wishing you could turn the city of the Skull Clan upside down,"

“I saw that several of you dragons have dug nearly two hundred meters deeper into the city of the Skull Clan. What, do you want to dig up the magma veins deep underground?”

The adult red dragon bared its fangs and unleashed a barrage of spittle, a tirade of admonition: "You're already tired just sitting here using your brains?"

"To be honest, I've led countless dragons in the Empire, but you are the worst class I've ever taught!"

“In the Empire’s homeland, even those teenage dragons are much smarter than you, unlike your stupid and dumb minds!”

Ancient Red Dragon Poirot was somewhat indignant. It was one thing for him to be looked down upon by the dragon kings and great dragons of the Golden Empire, but to be considered inferior to a teenage dragon by this adult male dragon was simply too much.

But before the ancient red dragon could even bare its fangs, Kadiros glared with its two vertical pupils and loudly rebuked, "Dragons born and raised in the Empire's homeland can complete the entire educational program before entering adolescence, relying on this education to tame the poison and primal desires within their dragon blood,"

"Being able to perfectly control one's dragon blood during most calm times—that's the passing grade. What about you?"

"They've lived hundreds of years longer than the dragons in the empire, and they still can't keep up with those young dragons? They still have the nerve to talk about taking a holiday?"

Kadiros' enormous body paced back and forth in the open-air classroom. When he reached a red dragon, he would use his magical pointer to bang the table in front of the dragon.

“And you,” Kadiros’s pointer almost touched the ancient red dragon Poirot’s ticklish nose, causing the dragon to involuntarily shrink its massive head. “You still have the nerve to mention your work pay, huh?”

"The Empire has plundered so many cities of the Skull Clan, amassing a vast fortune, and nearly a third of it will have to be used as ransom to compensate other legendary powerhouses,"

“You fucking don’t know how enormous that fortune is,” Cadillos said through gritted teeth, his dragon eyes bulging. “It’s enough to crush me to death!”

Almost simultaneously, the twelve red dragons bared their fangs, shrank their heads, and immediately felt an extremely terrifying pressure.

The adult red dragon's expression suddenly changed, his tone softened, and he began to coax, "So, you must study this knowledge carefully,"

"This knowledge will not only train your logical thinking extremely effectively, helping you gradually break free from the pernicious influence of chaos, but also, if the opportunity arises in the future, allow you to cultivate the True Dragon Path of the **Country!

Cadiros glanced around furtively a few times before deliberately lowering his voice and saying, "There's something I'd rather not tell you than because you're all red dragons."

"What is it?" a strong, middle-aged male dragon couldn't help but ask in a low voice, drawing the attention of the other red dragon species.

"You must understand how terrifying your debt to the Empire is. If calculated at the interest rates charged by nobles in the mortal realm, even if you return to your respective worlds and enslave tens of thousands of kobolds and goblins to mine for you day and night, it might still take decades to pay it off."

"Not to mention the huge amount of principal involved,"

The twelve red dragons nodded in unison, agreeing with Cadillac's statement.

Logically speaking, with the power of these red dragons, collecting wealth should not be difficult.

The problem is that there are only so many resources in the world. Not every red dragon can dominate a vast area, possess rich mineral deposits, have a clever and capable retinue, and have the technology to refine and purify minerals.

These red dragons could certainly act as miners to refine ore themselves, but that idea is not realistic.

Although the ancient red dragon Poirot is a solitary dragon in his own world, his dragon nest is located in a mineral-rich mountain range, and he has gathered many followers to mine minerals and find gems and treasures for himself.

However, the minerals refined by those crude monsters would need to be discounted many times over if converted into actual traded wealth. Moreover, the ancient red dragon Poirot could not accept using his wealth as ransom to compensate the Empire.

"Therefore, you all need to study this knowledge even more diligently,"

Kadiros smiled and said, "The policy regarding the re-education of dragons has long been planned within the Empire."

"After you return to your respective planes, by whatever means you use, once each young dragon completes this series of courses, it should have reached the stage of a juvenile dragon,"

"This stage of education is what the Empire calls the fifteen-year compulsory education for dragons,"

"Of course, after those young dragons complete their education and become teenage dragons, they can come to the empire's mainland for further studies,"

"For every qualified young dragon you send, you will not only be exempt from interest and have your principal repayment reduced, but you will also receive a huge reward,"

Kadiros chuckled and said, "Whether it's the technology to refine minerals, the engineering tools to mine them, or an entire production line that includes mining and refining, the Empire can reward you with any of it. And if you need treasure, that's fine too!"

"Look, what you are learning is not just knowledge, but wealth. There is a golden house in books, that's what it means!"

"Oh!" The twelve red dragons exclaimed in unison, excitedly baring their fangs. At that moment, they were no longer sleepy!

Imperial High Overlord Karl paced silently along the barbed wire fence outside the open-air classroom. The Imperial warriors guarding the classroom were not there to protect the red dragons, but to prevent their instruction from being disturbed.

Karl liked this atmosphere very much. Whether it was the influence of the entire imperial civilization or the atmosphere in the military camp, it was enough to easily affect the same people.

"What are you laughing at? Do you think you're smarter than those red dragons?" Karl couldn't help but ask when he saw the two orcs in the corner with their grinning expressions.

Karl was about two meters tall and had a robust physique, making him exceptionally strong even among humans, but he still appeared somewhat 'small' compared to the orc warriors of the Empire.

However, these orc warriors knew how powerful this imperial lord was; even ordinary dragons could not match his might.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty,"

"Your Excellency Commander!"

The two orc warriors saluted first, then replied, "We are certainly not as smart as the red dragons, but we both completed higher education to join the Empire's elite legions!"

Karl waved his hand, saying that there were proper etiquettes within the army.

"Go, fully equipped and loaded, run three hundred miles and come back. Who gave you permission to laugh at the dragon behind its back!"

Two orcs ran away with grins. For these orc warriors, carrying three hundred miles of full gear was just a slightly strenuous training exercise.

"These warriors haven't really done anything wrong. Although the true dragon is supreme in the empire, it is not as 'delicate' as the nobles and kings in the mortal world,"

In the shadows, a pretty, voluptuous, mature woman stood gracefully, smiling at Karl, her emerald-like eyes gleaming with captivating light.

"Of course I know,"

Karl flashed eight big white teeth, stepped forward, and embraced the mature and beautiful 'woman', letting out a deep sigh—a sigh of satisfaction.

"Why did you come? If you leave, what will happen to all the green dragons in the Empire?" Karl kissed the woman in his arms, his face full of doubt.

Karl knew that the Dragon King in the Empire generally didn't do human things, oh, and of course, he didn't do dragon things either.

Therefore, the green dragon Ellie took on the responsibility of re-educating and transforming the green dragon race for the Empire.

“You know, Karl, the green dragons of the Empire aren’t just me and Antajena,” the green dragon Ellie chuckled, giving her lover a fiery response.

For Ellie, the green dragon, dragons who are destined to have countless lovers are not her target for choosing a mate. The 'loyal and honest' Karl also attracted this mature green dragon with his masculine charm.

Karl finally relaxed. Although he was happy to see the 'woman' he liked, he didn't want to delay the Empire's plans because of himself.

Then the empire's brows furrowed slightly, and he sighed.

"What's wrong?" Green Dragon Ellie gently stroked Karl's brow with her slender, jade-like fingers and teased, "Don't you want to see me?"

Carl shook his head and said softly, "I was just thinking that I'm about to return to my own world and won't see you for a long time."

"And then there's my 'friend.' I gave him this chance. I don't know if he'll accept the call, be transformed and reformed by Ellie, and accept another order and ideology,"

"If he could join the order of the Empire and the Crimson Heaven, becoming another lord who assists me in controlling the world, establishing and maintaining order, and walking in the midnight, that would be good,"

Karl looked up at the bright moon and sighed softly.

"If he doesn't accept change, I'll have no choice but to abandon the idea completely and execute him myself!"

(End of this chapter)