Life is tough, so Honglong resorts to performing?

Chapter 52 Talk in the Cafeteria
With the sun about to set and the red dragon still nowhere to be seen, Johnny White Sand, the manager of the buffer zone magic crystal mine, became increasingly panicked.

After all, it's already Friday, and the deadline from Wednesday has passed by two days.

He was certain that the red dragon was a very important person, and that he must have many things to deal with.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have left them here uncollected, instead of collecting the magic crystals.

After all, those are magic crystals, the Federation's energy source and driving force.

Even if the mine is small and can only yield some low-quality magic crystals, who would stop collecting money just because the printing press isn't powerful enough?

We probably have enough food to last for another day or two.

But if the red dragon doesn't arrive soon, they'll have to go find the permanent residents of the buffer zone to exchange for food.

This is a rather risky undertaking, given their substantial food requirements.

Even if the purchase is broken down into smaller parts and made by individual miners, it's still easy for others to notice something amiss.

This is a true gray area, not like the downtown area where two gangs fight for ages without anyone dying, and then scatter as soon as the cops arrive.

The people here are truly ruthless.

Moreover, apart from the Tier 3 Vulture armor that was destroyed by the Red Dragon, there is only one spare Tier 2 Magic Crystal armor from the previous two generations.

In a treacherous place like the buffer zone, a team without magic crystal armor is easily targeted and wiped out.

"You'd better finish what you're doing and come over quickly, because I really can't hold on much longer."

Johnny White Sands had a headache, but this only strengthened his resolve to curry favor with them. After all, anyone who didn't pick up money must be rolling in it! Or they must be in a very powerful position!
So what is our powerful and wealthy Mr. Red Dragon doing right now?

Answer: He ate at the zoo's staff canteen.

Although the majority of staff at the Green Leaf Zoo are omnivorous or vegetarian, they have not neglected the needs of those who require meat.

For example, the newly arrived Loren.

They prepared a special bowl, or rather a jar, for Loren in his human form.

The diameter is approximately the same as that of a normal adult, extending from the metacarpal bone to the elbow joint, and the depth is the same.

The interior is divided into four compartments, which can hold four different dishes.

On the outer wall of the rice jar, there is a cartoonish little red dragon that is happily breathing fire.

When Loren took the special food bowl, he almost laughed.

As a poor dragon, he has been satiating himself for many years by eating stones and magic crystals instead of proper food.

Eating real food occasionally is just to satisfy a craving.

He has hardly ever experienced this feeling of having food to eat, eating as much as he wants, and eating whatever he wants since he was born.

The dragon mother who was with him when he was born treated him like a thief.

She was terrified that those kids would get the federal commissioner's emergency number and the exact address of the dragon's lair, so they could extort a hefty sum from her.

As a species that is inherently evil, audacious, and possesses innate intelligence, the red dragons, knowing full well that federal law favors them, often resort to blackmail against the dragon girls.

That's why Loren was thrown out by the dragon girl when he was only three years old.

Loren let the cook happily scoop food into his rice bowl, spoonful after spoonful of meat, and to give him more meat, the cook would remove the soup and side dishes.

In the past, because of the prevailing trend of vegetarianism in the park, even employees like the jackals who are naturally carnivorous would eat some mixed foods to fit in, otherwise they would be too out of place.

This results in leftover food at the meat and vegetable canteen, which can only be washed, desalted, and then fed to the carnivores in the park as snacks.

Fortunately, Loren has arrived.

The cook believed that the red dragon, whose body weight was in the tons, would definitely be able to help him clean up the daily food! Fortunately, Loren did not disappoint him. Loren did not say he was done until he had filled all four slots.

When he suggested adding more after finishing his meal, the red-haired youth simply replied softly,
"Will do."

What lovely words! His culinary skills finally have a chance to be put to good use!
This is the heartwarming bond between us meat and vegetable chefs and our diners!
Holding his rickety food container, Loren prepared to find a seat and begin to feast.

His keen sense of smell told him that today's meat dishes were definitely made with the chef's best efforts.

The stewed beef was tender and fell off the bone, the pork was fatty but not greasy, the chicken was fragrant, and the lamb chops were juicy. It was quite a sumptuous and wonderful dinner.

But before Loren could even sit down, the manager Morris and the sly-looking druid Aaron beckoned to him.

Loren sighed softly and had no choice but to take his food and walk over to sit down next to them.

"How was your experience today? Would you like to stay longer?"

Before Loren could speak, Morris asked with a grin.

Loren was taken aback.

From the other person's question, Loren realized something.

"I won't hide it from you, your flying stunts this morning and your lunch performance at noon attracted quite a few people on the Magic Crystal Terminal's network."

"Several larger, more commercialized zoos have called Green Leaf Rare Zoo, hoping to transfer your contract and offering to cover the penalty for breach of contract."

"They promise to make you an absolute animal star."

Morris finished speaking quietly and waited for Loren's reply.

Even Loren himself was taken aback.

Dragons do have members in the entertainment industry, but most are metal dragons and gem dragons, who are more skilled in this area.

Moreover, most of them are humanoid.

As for beings that perform in dragon form, well, especially pure-blooded true dragons, it's not that they don't exist, but they are really rare.

This is due to two main factors, one of which is the dragons' own arrogance.

Especially those dragons who truly abide by order, their pursuit of order and hierarchy determines that they will basically not engage in this kind of entertainment for the masses.

It's possible they might be interested in highbrow art.

Trying to make a fool of yourself? That's despicable!

Another important factor is the public's perception of dragons.

The Ancient Dragons constitute the Federation's absolute fighting force, the kind that always makes headlines.

The adult dragons, the half-dragons who could pay to enlighten their dragon beasts and purify their dragon blood to become dragon descendants, and the reincarnations of high-level mages, together formed a huge upper-middle class.

This has led to the widespread perception that dragons are synonymous with the super-rich.

Pay an exorbitant fee to hire a super-rich person as the lead actor, only to show their true form without them even having to make any expressions. They're not even going to act, are they?
Haha, your show is doomed to be a flop.

This makes Loren's sudden appearance in the zoo and his performance for all the visitors, which was both spectacular and entertaining, a rare and successful event.

As a hot topic, it quickly spread across the Magic Crystal Network.

As a result, Loren's value skyrocketed, and many astute individuals were preparing to poach this red dragon and turn it into a true hot commodity!
He's going to become a huge star and make a lot of money!
Loren fell silent, but after a moment, he gave his answer.

"This place is great, so I won't leave, at least not for now."

　Could you please vote for me? My collection count has increased so fast today, thank you so much!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)