Life is tough, so Honglong resorts to performing?

Chapter 128 Unexpected Events
"It's so beautiful...don't you think?"

Outside the Heart of Lava exhibit at the Emerald Leaf Zoo, a man in a black robe sat casually on a roadside lounge chair.

As he stared at the snow-white skull and the dark red dragon, he casually pulled a small, snow-white dog with scarlet eyes from his backpack and began to talk to it softly.

"Sir, according to regulations, pets from outside are not allowed in the Green Leaf Rare Animal Zoo. Could you please put it away and not take it out again? Please don't make things difficult for us."

Isa, a druid apprentice from the next exhibition area, happened to pass by and, seeing this, came over and gently advised them against it.

Although the puppy is cute, pets are not normally allowed inside the park for the sake of the animals' biosafety and to prevent any accidents.

"Sorry, sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I'll be more careful next time."

As he stood up, the man apologetically put the snow-white puppy into his bag and quickly left the vicinity of the Lava Heart stadium.

Isa breathed a sigh of relief. As a druid, she didn't want to have too much of a falling out with these ordinary people who kept pets and liked animals. It was best if they listened to her advice and she stuck to the rules.

No matter how you look at it, this was just an ordinary accident.

but……

As the man gradually moved further away from her, Isa, who was about to return to her workplace, stopped.

"It still feels a bit strange. The biological detection array at the entrance should be working properly. It was detected when Mr. Spark tried to leave the zoo invisibly a few days ago..."

"It can't break so quickly..."

Thinking of this, Isa sent her account of the situation to Morris, hoping that the zoo's head steward could find some professionals to check the integrity of the zoo's biological detection array, and preferably check the ticket sellers as well, to see if they were relatives or friends that the zoo had deliberately let in...

On the skull of the Frostfire King, as the man left, the little red dragon, who was in a deep meditative state and practicing a death spell, suddenly felt a chill down his spine. This chill broke his meditative state and caused the magic power in his death spell to be diverted, rendering all his previous efforts futile.

Did my lifeline just tremble?

Loren opened his eyes, golden flames flickering in his dragon pupils, seemingly filled with some doubt and uncertainty.

He had just sensed a strange deathly aura, seemingly directed at him, its source uncertain. The reason he could sense it seemed to be another function of the desire to die...

"Does the instinct of life find a way out for itself...? That's interesting."

Loren pondered for a moment, then laughed.

Among the magical knowledge he recently learned from Casilla was the theoretical mechanism of the opposition and transformation between life and death. According to that mechanism, the original Annihilation, as a complex and lethal ability, should have been largely composed of seeking a way to live and then severing it.

Now, after being transcoded by the world of Ellen, this power manifests within him as the desire to die and the desire to live.

"It felt a bit like Spider-Man's spider-sense... If that's the case, then someone in the park just now might have been trying to harm me..."

The little red dragon's expression turned serious.

How could someone who poses such a blatant threat to me infiltrate and appear on my own turf?

The thought of this fueled Loren's anger. He looked around, trying to find the person who had given his family this sense of threat, but to no avail.

"Calm down, don't alert him. This guy is either incredibly skilled and daring, or he's a madman..."

Loren, having found nothing in his initial search, tried to convince himself that as a red dragon, he really hated this kind of sudden provocation, but his mage reason told him that this guy was probably very powerful and was hiding in the shadows, so it was best not to make any rash moves.

To dare to venture into the Greenleaf Rare Animal Park, a well-known druid association with considerable support among the upper echelons of Greenleaf City, and to harbor thoughts of threatening the red dragon currently engulfed in flames, and to possess the power to do so, this guy is most likely not a fool; if not a fool, then he is a powerful individual.

A powerful figure who suddenly appeared and harbored some malice towards him.

The little red dragon took a deep breath, calmed its somewhat agitated mind, and stood up from the skull. Under the expectant gazes of some tourists outside, it did not fly away from the venue, but instead wobbled back into the inner area.

Once back inside, Loren pulled out his magic crystal terminal and sent the information to both Morris and old Aaron, hoping they would be careful and, ideally, use the power of the druid organization to find and eliminate this guy who had suddenly appeared and whose whereabouts were still unknown.

As things stand, he should not yet realize that he has been exposed.

"But who could he be, and which side would he be on..."

Loren thought that given his current online popularity, it wouldn't be surprising if all sorts of strange and monstrous people suddenly came looking for him, but the most suspicious ones should still be the Transcendent Ones, right?
Loren recalled that during the last raid on their hideout, the information gathered revealed that this group was using two different tactics against him: openly trying to win him over while simultaneously smearing him online...

"These bastards are really persistent..."

Loren began to carefully examine the messages in the so-called eternal group chat. After sorting through the internal messages, he concluded that the other party had been guiding him to use the drop of blood from the Frostfire King to enhance himself.

The other party broke down the methods and ideas into very small pieces, but for a professional mage like myself, these small pieces were enough to form a mature set of experiments and methods of use.

"Interesting. Could the changes in my life be related to this thing?"

Loren looked up at the snow-white inner wall of his skull, lost in thought.

These methods are likely effective, and they were developed by these heretics at the cost of countless lives. The reason they are broken down into such small pieces is so that they can piece them back together.

Things that are too easily obtained are never cherished, so they hope that the Red Dragon can piece together and draw its own conclusions.

Loren thought to himself that if he had truly grasped the authority of the Frostfire King, he would probably jump into the trap even if he knew it was a pitfall, since the potential gains from it would be enormous.

This unconventional heating method, where the higher the temperature and the greater the temperature difference with the surroundings, the more energy is absorbed, creating energy out of thin air, is incredibly appealing to a red dragon skilled in fire and explosion-related spells.

"Unfortunately, I haven't grasped the giant's authority, so I'm not in the mood to play this kind of clue-pieceding game with you."

Loren smiled, unsure whether to feel lucky or unlucky.

Meanwhile, upon receiving feedback from Isa and Loren, Morris notified people to inspect the outer magic circle while heading to the monitoring room to retrieve the surveillance footage from that period to see who the person who encountered Isa was.

"It's unbelievable! This camera just happened to malfunction during that time, and it returned to normal after he left. The same thing happened with this camera and that camera too. They've already hacked into the surveillance network here, but they deliberately left this black screen instead of replacing it with a recording?"

"This is provocation." In the monitoring room, Morris, having reviewed the relevant surveillance footage, was ashen-faced. The other party had most likely already left, so all he could do was report it to his superiors.

As a result, the Midtown Patrol Office, the City Safety Committee, and the nearby Druid Association all received reports of suspicious individuals, possibly cultists, appearing at the Greenleaf Zoo, though they had most likely already left.

At this critical juncture, with the Drow approaching, coupled with the somewhat deliberate invitation from higher-ups to invite the Drow to come and fight terrorism.

In an instant, the two teams, each holding their breath, set out, fully armed, activating the special mimicry of their military-grade magic crystal armor, transforming into civilians and special invisible figures, and headed towards the Emerald Leaf Rare Animal Zoo.

Every step leaves a trace, and they refused to believe they couldn't catch the other side red-handed this time!

"Calm down, sweet boy. That old guy hasn't come back yet. I know you really want to eat those two to complete your transformation, but how can we show that their strategy was wrong if one or two of those old guys die as a record?"

The man walked confidently down the street, stroking the pure white puppy in his arms. Inside the black cloth bag, the puppy's two eyes gleamed with a scarlet light.

Meanwhile, in the Giant City, several cities away from Greenleaf City, Charles, who was sharing a bowl of trendy noodles with a newly acquainted half-giant girl, pulled out his constantly beeping magic crystal terminal and his expression changed drastically.

"Stop playing and training the kids, a big fish has appeared! It seems a regional bishop has shown up in Greenleaf City!"

"Sorry, lovely little girl, I think I have to go do what I need to do."

With a snap of his fingers, Charles created a reverse summoning portal leading to the abyss on the street, its demonic aura and features enveloped by the appearance of the magic crystal armor.

Before the giants watching nearby could notify the city patrol, the demon-transformed creature vanished from its spot in a flash, as fast as if nothing had happened.

Nowadays, cities may only be connected by trains through the wilderness, but as legendary strongmen, they have other methods at their disposal.

The bottomless abyss continues to connect all of Elren's inhabited areas.

However, starting it requires a small price to pay, but fortunately, there are plenty of such abysses of life.

However, as soon as Charles landed, he saw countless demons charging towards the ancient military fortress ahead with a tsunami of cheers.

On the opposite side, the Demon Army, which has recently undergone baptism and iteration, has once again shone with its past glory and is now in strict order, ready for battle.

This is the battlefield of the Abyss Blood War. The centuries-long stagnation has made this resurgence particularly bloody. Both sides are bloodthirsty, and reinforcements are pouring in continuously.

"Damn it, I'm getting involved at a time like this."

Charles was on the verge of tears. He vaguely remembered that when he was planning this, he had expressed his desire to participate.

Unexpectedly, he eventually got involved, but in a way that was completely unexpected.

Faced with this situation, Charles took a deep breath, raised the huge decapitation sword in his hand, and let out a roar that was no different from the surroundings.

"Kill!"

In the afternoon, Loren lay on the skull, somewhat bored.

Those two groups of plainclothes officers and invisible agents, armed with military-grade magic crystals, were far too strong and conspicuous in his current perception system.

With all their abilities activated, their individual magical power was roughly equivalent to that of a regular young dragon in Loren's view.

Four teams of people have arrived, each with nine members. Before the establishment of the Federation, this level of personnel would have been enough to wipe out those principalities.

They disguise themselves in front of ordinary people, while displaying their strength to professionals who can sense their magic. This is because the zoo is a public place, and they do not want to have a real battle there.

If something serious happens and it really angers the federal high command, then things could get really messy.

In this day and age, even the cultists must carefully study and utilize the laws and regulations of the Federation to set traps. The Federation may have many problems, but no one has ever doubted its military power.

The two groups of people used the information gathering devices and spells built into the magic crystal armor to collect information and extract information throughout the zoo. The whole process was orderly, and even non-professionals could not tell that a case was being investigated.

"The city's elite organization, they're much better than those bastards in the lower city..."

Although Loren found it difficult to meditate because of this group, he could also tell from their behavior that they were extraordinary.

"Who knows, they might actually find something out, and that would give me some peace and quiet."

Loren thought about it, but didn't hold out much hope. If the other party really was a Transcendent, then because of their ideology, their understanding of the city and their ability to disguise themselves would definitely surpass that of ordinary cultists.

Otherwise, these bastard rats wouldn't have been able to exist for so long.

"Captain, we've discovered a magic crystal bomb left behind by the enemy. It's a runic energy type and is located in the Emerald Leaf Rare Zoo. It's one of the key nodes in the energy extraction array beneath the Frostfire King."

"Is it easy to dismantle? If not, just banish it to another dimension using the Banishment spell."

"It's easy to dismantle. I think the higher-ups might be able to find some information. Should we dismantle it and take it back for further study?"

"Okay, as long as it's safe."

"no problem."

……

"Tsk, it's faster than I expected."

The man, who had already moved to the sewers, suddenly paused while stroking the puppy, a smile spreading across his face.

With a wave of his hand, several illusory screens appeared in front of him, displaying the magic crystal bombs he had installed. Strangely, from his perspective, what he was seeing was the viewpoint of several bomb disposal experts.

"Using blessings instead of curses, targeting the magic crystal armor directly rather than the living organism, creating a harmless surveillance effect—it really does manage to evade the detection range of current military-grade weaponry...?"

"It really wasn't easy..."

(End of this chapter)