Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 517 The Current State of the Dragon's Nest in the Land of Hybridization: Seven-Colored Judgment
The distance to the dragon's nest is much farther than I imagined.

The saying "looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death" probably describes this perfectly, let alone on a snow-covered plain that is almost entirely white.

If you're not an experienced person familiar with the environment, you might not even be able to tell the direction, let alone the distance.

Crossing one snowfield after another, traversing one mountain ridge after another.

The wind blew in from the northwest, carrying shards of ice that pelted the face mask of the winter coat, creating a crackling sound.

In some places, due to the steep terrain and large inclines, snowmobiles could not climb over the slopes and had to rely on the tiger tribe's guards to carry and push them to barely get through.

However, such a steep slope is nothing more than a matter of lifting a foot for the dragons.

The purple-scaled creature at the front didn't even need to adjust its pace. Its long tail swayed slightly behind it to maintain balance, and its huge claws sank into the snow, pulled out, and sank in again, already crossing a hillside.

The gap between lives can sometimes be unbelievably large.

After rounding another deep pit left by a dragon, and gazing at the enormous creature ahead, Dimo ​​suddenly realized something.

Why did the lord of the vast sea prefer to borrow all sorts of machinery and tools?

Humans grow slowly and have a limit, while the combination of steel is rapid and has no limit.

It would take tens or hundreds of thousands of years for a person to grow to the size of a dragon, but the Vast Ocean Territory, established just a few years ago, already has trains tens of meters long. If they wanted, they could even connect them to form steel behemoths hundreds of meters long.

Those already in the Vast Ocean Territory, enjoying the convenience brought by these amazing technologies every day, had become so accustomed to them that they were unaware of this. However, Dimo, who entered the Vast Ocean Territory as a complete newcomer and experienced a crazy technological baptism in a single day, suddenly gained a different understanding.

Dimo shared his feelings with Ronan in a low voice, but the old knight commander was somewhat dismissive, though he offered his consolation in a very tactful way.

Ancient magicians could even build mobile castles, but they weren't very useful, were they?
What good is a giant dragon if it grows so big? It was still driven to this desolate corner of the world.

Dimo felt his head throbbing. He was certain he saw some kind of future, but there was a hazy fog obscuring his vision.

The key to the problem seems to be whether it is "not very useful" or "what use it is".

Why is it that the magicians and engineering masters only created wonders and failed to bring about any major changes to the starry world, but the Han Hai did something different?
Dimo has found himself increasingly prone to overthinking lately.

He shook his head vigorously, temporarily suppressing those chaotic thoughts.

Led by Zilin, the convoy traveled for about three hours, crossing another snow ridge that had been frozen for who knows how many years, before the view suddenly opened up before them.

They finally arrived at the great snow mountain that the dragons called the "Ice Crystal Sanctuary".

The delegation members all looked up, as if they were seeing a different sky.

From a distance, the mountains appear as a pure white expanse. However, once you reach the foot of the mountains and look upwards from this perspective that follows the shape of the mountains, you will see a huge, inverted ice dome in the sky, pressing heavily on the mountains.

Beneath the dome lies a dense network of caves, some as wide as a city gate, others barely large enough for a few people to squeeze through sideways. They stretch from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, and then climb all the way up to near the dome.

Some cave entrances were draped with huge ice curtains, while others emitted wisps of white smoke. Still others had strange heads peeking out from them, peering at the uninvited guests below the mountain.

They were the first group of visitors to arrive at the Ice Crystal Sacred Domain Dragon Nest since its establishment.

Next, it's time to go up the mountain.

The team left the snowmobile behind, checked their winter gear and equipment, pulled out their crampons from their boots, and began their ascent.

Dimo finally got the chance to "leave," but the road up the mountain was in terrible condition.

The frozen soil and ice surface were riddled with holes and covered with countless claw marks—three-toed, four-toed, hooked, webbed, of varying sizes and depths; one could easily step into a hole if not careful.

After climbing a short distance from the foot of the mountain, we arrived at the lowest level, the dragon's nest area.

The snow here is noticeably thinner than outside, and in many places the snow has melted or been cleared away, revealing the dark brown permafrost and broken rock fragments underneath.

A strange smell lingered in the air, a mixture of faint sulfur, piled-up hair, old leather, and some slightly fermented, but not fully fermented, excrement.

It seems there's some kind of geothermal activity supporting this place.

Next, Dimo ​​saw the dragons.

Not just one or two, not just five or eight, but huge groups of them.

Those are the heads that just peeked out.

As they got closer, everyone could see what these guys looked like.

The shapes of those heads were bizarre and varied. Some looked like crocodile heads that had been flattened and then stretched, some looked like lizard heads that had been pressed into a mold into squares or hexagonal prisms, and some were simply indescribable lumps of flesh with a few holes poked in them.

What are all these things?
Okay, the creatures living here are all fake dragons, just like "Agua".

Agua was the smallest of the three dragons at the Dragon Nest outpost. It lagged behind when it came out and when it returned, and ended up with Han Hai's team. Xia Chenghui only brought some canned meat, and easily made a connection with it.

Based on the pronunciation in the dragon language, Xia Chenghui called it Agua.

Of course, the food wasn't just given for nothing. Along the way, Agua's mouth never stopped. He spent half the time eating and the other half answering Xia Chenghui's questions.

Agua's intelligence doesn't seem to be very high, but tempted by a question and a can of food, it answered everything it knew beyond its usual level, and the Han Hai delegation thus roughly understood the current state of the Dragon's Nest.

The lower mountainous area of ​​the entire nest is the habitat of the pseudo-dragons, which are the most numerous and widely distributed. These small cave entrances are their dwellings.

Although they vary in shape and size, the "pseudo-dragons" mainly exhibit two forms.

One type resembles Agua, with a slightly clumsy physique, a slightly protruding snout, a round head, and a smooth body. Based on Agua's description, the technicians at Hanhai later conducted extensive research and determined that this was the offspring of dragons and marine creatures similar to sea lions and seals from the Starry World.

Another type has a broad face, small eyes, a large nose, and many wrinkles on its body, giving it a simple and honest appearance. This group's maternal lineage comes from a marine group similar to walruses and manatees.

As for the other strange pseudo-dragons, they are few in number and have a low survival rate when they reproduce, making them far less stable than the two pseudo-dragon groups mentioned above.

Judging from the situation in this area, over the past few years, the dragons have been searching for things to eat and things to sleep in, or simply things that can both be eaten and slept in, and have wreaked havoc on all the marine creatures that they can reach.

Finally, through rigorous selection, several "pseudo-dragon" varieties were identified.

There's an old saying on Earth—

If two people are truly in love, why should they be bound by rules and regulations?
The dragon race has clearly put this into practice quite thoroughly.

These pseudo-dragons became the lowest-level working dragons in the dragon's nest.

As one of the few top-tier amphibious magical beasts on the continent, dragons consume an enormous amount of energy to propel their massive bodies across the sky and the sea. During periods of relative food scarcity, the dragon race has to reduce its activities and control its energy consumption.

But if we don't take action, how can we hunt?

This is where the pseudo-dragon comes in.

They can gnaw on seaweed, eat algae, suck on shellfish, and chew on fish and shrimp...

They survive by eating things that dragons don't eat, and then supply the large fish and other creatures they hunt to the sub-dragons and true dragons, thus supporting the middle and upper levels of the dragon's nest.

The dragons, on the other hand, are responsible for guarding the dragon's nest and also serve as hunters of large magical beasts capable of retaliating.

At the same time, because they inherited the physical strength of the true dragon race, many parts of the dragon's body can be used as good materials for refining weapons or arrays, thus making them the main supplier of dragon materials traded with dwarves.

Otherwise, with only a few true dragons in the dragon's nest, what could they possibly get in exchange for from the dwarves?

Within the delegation, the military academy students, who possessed the highest overall cultural literacy, quickly drew their conclusions.

"Therefore, the Dragon's Nest has now formed a closed social stratification structure with three levels!"

"That's right, and because of the innate differences in size and ability, the various levels of this hierarchy are completely immobile, locked in at birth."

A new participant raised a question: "Won't the dragon and pseudo-dragon classes rebel?"

"I think you're overthinking it. Personally, I believe that true dragons are the foundation for the existence of dragon nests. Without true dragons to keep things in check, do you think the dwarves would wipe out all these pseudo-dragons and whelps?"

“That’s not all!” the first military academy student added. “We’ve been educated by our principal and teachers and understand the concepts of society and class, but what kind of place is the Star Continent? Slavery is still prevalent there!”

"You talk about resistance? That's just overthinking it."

Another student offered an explanation from a biological perspective: "Yes, bloodline suppression is quite powerful. In the beast race, the bloodline suppression of the superior over the inferior is very obvious."

"I don't think the dragons and pseudo-dragons will even have the thought of resisting until they are completely starved to death. By the time they are about to starve to death, even if they have the thought, they probably won't have the strength."

The group whispered among themselves as they slowly made their way through the area of ​​the pseudo-dragons' lair.

Here, they witnessed a true glimpse into the underlying ecosystem of the dragon race.

These creatures, some fat and some thin, some round and some flat, sometimes huddle together in a small cave, their bodies pressed tightly together, their heads buried in each other's necks, their tails intertwined, keeping each other warm.
Some of them, for some unknown reason, had lost their homes and were huddled in secluded corners, shivering. In particular, a few smaller pseudo-dragons, which looked like distant relatives of Agua, had dull and lifeless scales, some of which had fallen off, revealing pink flesh underneath.

It huddled in the gap between the icicles, its two front paws holding its head, its tail tucked between its two hind legs, its whole body curled into an irregular ball.

Others were facing each other head to head, horn to horn, muttering and cursing at each other.

They all have loud voices, but they only repeat a few tones, probably because the language of dragons has a limited vocabulary of insults.

The translators whispered their explanations, which boiled down to just a few phrases: "My...my hole!"

"roll!"

"It's so cold!"

"I'm going to eat you!"

Occasionally, some pseudo-dragons would somehow provoke a sub-dragon and be swatted down from above by a wing, rolling dozens of times on the snow slope, letting out a pitiful and painful whimper, before burying their bodies in a snow pit.

"This is... the dragon's nest?"

Jelly's voice carried a hint of disbelief.

In the ancient texts of the Elven race, dragon nests are described as magnificent and radiant, with neatly stacked, colorful stones imbued with metallic textures. Some dragons even have their entire nests covered in glittering gold.

That's how it's written in ancient legends, and that's how those wandering poets sang.

But what he saw now was nothing short of a refugee camp and a slave farm.

The pride and majesty of the dragon race?

Just kidding!
The scene before him reminded him of the slums in the back alleys of human cities, where sewage flowed freely, garbage littered the ground, rivers were silted up, and the air was thick with the stench of decay.

The biggest difference between here and those other places is probably that the smell isn't as unpleasant because the weather is so cold!

And the team I'm on.

Jelly looked back and saw that the translator and logistics soldier, who were already exhausted, had been carried on the backs of the tiger clan guards. Even the guard captain, Leonid, was carrying a young communications soldier on his back. The boy seemed to be itchy from the guard captain's fur and would occasionally reach out to scratch the side of his neck.

Her expression was hidden behind the mask, but her movements were cautious, revealing obvious embarrassment.

The supplies and equipment were distributed among everyone's backpacks, with the higher-ranking Angus Elf Captain and Knight Commander Ronan carrying more.

Those in power at HanHai are making even greater sacrifices.

In that instant, Jelly's filter of the dragon race shattered into dust.

He sighed softly, almost imperceptibly.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Meanwhile, atop the high mountains of the Ice Crystal Sanctuary, a meeting of dragon leaders was being held.

Red, black, green, gold, silver, blue, purple.

The leaders of the seven-colored dragon clan formed the highest council of dragon elders—the Dragon's Judgment.

These guys haven't seen each other in a long time.

They can't get enough to eat, they don't want to move, and some dragons have even undergone a genetic mutation from who-knows-where, unlocking the skill of "hibernation".

Dragons may look like snakes, but they are not low-level creatures like snakes. If these behemoths, which are "treasures from head to toe," dared to hibernate, they could be wiped out by the human race in a single winter.

There's really no other way now.

"The Purple Scales from the foot of the mountain sent a message: a new power has sent some gifts and wants to befriend us."

The speaker was a blue dragon, over fifty meters long, who had curled himself up into a ball and whose head swayed unconsciously from side to side as he spoke, making him look like a bard.

It seems that he did have this dream when he was young, and even studied for it for several years.

"I have absolutely no interest in such despicable creatures as humans! Let them take their trash and get out!"

The one speaking was the leader of the Crimson Dragons, and this guy looked extremely irritable.

Although they are all dragons, a closer look reveals that each has its own unique characteristics. For example, the red dragon has a very obvious spike-like protrusion behind its brow bone and in the center of its forehead, which climbs up its spine like a saw tooth all the way to the end of its tail.

Each of the seven dragon races has its own stance. The current leader of the Crimson Dragons had his entire family wiped out by the humans, so naturally he couldn't possibly have any goodwill towards the human forces.

Blue Dragon ignored him and continued to spin clockwise: "Among the gifts sent, there are seven portions of refining materials for each dragon race, one portion for each race, already prepared."

"In addition, the other party promised that if diplomatic relations are successfully established and cooperation goes smoothly, they will continue to supply meat to the ice field, a large amount of meat."

The eyes of all the dragon clan leaders lit up immediately.

Let's put meat aside for now; the dragon race won't starve for the time being. Materials are the key!

Although there is only one document, it is still very valuable.

The dwarfs do indeed send materials every year, but they can't gather all the materials they need.

Many materials are exclusive to the dragon race and were carefully cultivated by the dragon race when they were on the continent. With the departure of the dragon race, many materials have shown signs of becoming wild, degenerating, or even becoming extinct.

Some plant seeds are now hard to find, some resources are monopolized by powerful forces, and some specific monster habitats have been converted into towns after being occupied by humans.

At the same time, there are some special materials that are also considered high-quality by magicians, and even if dwarves were to obtain them, they would have to pay a great price.

The dragon bones and hides provided by the dragon race will sometimes be insufficient to cover costs. Dwarfs will not engage in unprofitable transactions, and the dragon race will not cut off adult dragons to exchange for the growth of their offspring.

Therefore, both sides have always been in a state of supply shortage and demand deficiency.

But Chen Mo is different.

First, Chen Mo doesn't care about making or losing money; if something can be solved with money, it's not a problem.

Secondly, besides money, Chen Mo currently wields immense political and military influence on the Starry Continent. What the dwarves can't obtain, Chen Mo might be able to obtain as well.

Third, after obtaining the list of materials that the dragons might need, Chen Mo summoned the Archdruid from Silvermoon Forest, who brought out an unlimited supply of the Spring of Life, along with Dongxia's complete set of temperature control, humidity control, light control, trace element control, and even soil microbial control technologies, and so on.

It can be said that, whether on Earth or among the stars, when it comes to farming, nothing can compare to the vast ocean of the world.

Therefore, what Chen Mo delivered was a standard portion of the dragon race's refining materials.

The silver dragon, lying lazily in the corner, suddenly opened its eyes. With a few breaths, a thin layer of frost rose on its body.

This is an expression of extremely intense emotion.

"The children of Thrandu need materials to be refined."

"This is the only child born in our tribe in the past two hundred years, and he is still stuck in the infancy stage where he cannot fly."

"I don't care what you think, I want Silver Dragon's materials. If you can't reach an agreement, then I, Silver Dragon, will negotiate, exchange, or even steal or rob them on my own!"

Seeing that the other dragon leaders all looked tempted, the red dragon leader, as the number one opponent, let out an angry roar and slammed his tail heavily against the stone wall, sending shards of stone flying.

"I told you, I hate these despicable guys!"

"Tell them to leave their things behind and get out!"

Hmm, this seems a little different from what I just said.

(End of this chapter)