A man among dragons, building a mysterious ancient church.

Chapter 274 Monitoring the Alchemy Array, Half of Nibelungen
The underground space beneath the central dormant volcano on Bello Island in the Pacific Ocean.

Originally, this place consisted only of bare rock walls and a dark environment, but after Lao Tang renovated it for a period of time, the interior has been completely transformed.

To ensure his younger brother had a better living environment, Old Tang spared no effort in the process of carving and decorating the space. He brought in all sorts of precious metals, such as gold and silver, and used alchemy to create gold bricks and silver ceilings, meticulously engraving various patterns on them.

Every few dozen meters along the walls and on the ground, there was a bronze nine-headed candlestick, covered with ever-burning lamps made from shark oil extracted by Old Tang.

The firelight reflected off the gold bricks and silver ceiling, illuminating the vast underground space in a magnificent golden glow. Old Tang even felt that this was a bit monotonous, so he returned to Baidi City and took out a large number of natural gemstones, which he then hung or inlaid as decorations.

If tomb raiders were to dig this up, they would surely mistake it for the tomb of some emperor.

Even Xu Lie couldn't help but complain about Lao Tang's terrible aesthetic sense.

Are dragons all like this, fond of the glitter of precious metals and gemstones? Wouldn't living in such an environment for a long time be dazzling?

Or is it that the pupils of dragons are structurally different from those of humans, so that dragons would find true living comfort?
That doesn't make sense either. Old Tang has become human, so his pupil structure is still human, right?

Old Tang was unaware of Xu Lie's complaints and even ordered Samson to dig out additional ventilation shafts and sewers.

Then, through alchemy, they can be properly concealed to ensure that the hybrids cannot detect the sewers using technological or other means.

After all, this is the 'Nidhogg Hatchery', having a sewer here would be too out of place.

At this moment, Lao Tang is having a barbecue in front of the newly installed ventilation vent.

The King of Bronze and Fire found barbecuing very convenient; he could simply pick up a few iron ingots and instantly transform them into a barbecue grill and wire mesh.

Without even lifting a finger, just by giving the order, the surrounding fire elements automatically gathered around and started grilling the squid and scallops: "Brother Xu, doesn't it smell good?"

Xu Lie was sitting above Constantine. Although Constantine had not yet emerged from its cocoon, it was already able to follow Old Tang's commands in a daze. It used the blood of its own embryo to create a high-altitude throne for Xu Lie.

Faced with the dragon-blooded creature, the aggressive blood vessels, under Old Tang's warning, quietly endured Xu Lie's presence, not daring to make a single bite.

Xu Lie jumped off the chair and strolled over to Old Tang. He felt that this prison experience was quite good, at least much better than when he was parasitizing Fenrir last time.

At that time, Parasite Fenrir was just imprisoned and couldn't do anything. At most, he could find Fenrir and discuss some of Xia Migu's dark history.

Now, things are much better. The environment is luxurious, and the Dragon King is serving him barbecue. Chatting with Old Tang is also quite interesting. The experience is much better than the previous version: "Adding some minced garlic would make it even more fragrant."

"By the way, the Word of Power Emperor that Fingel set up has been spreading for nearly ten days now, amplified by the multiple alchemical matrices."

"Given how much time has passed, by the time the mixed-race individuals have held meetings and gathered their forces, even at full speed like a modern ocean liner, they should have arrived by now, right?"

Old Tang got up, handed the grilling work over to Xu Lie, and let Xu Lie add minced garlic to the scallops. He then walked to the side and activated another alchemical monitoring matrix: "Let me take a look."

This alchemical matrix that monitors the outside of the island is remarkable; it is the joint achievement of the two dragon kings.

The theory was proposed by Xia Mi, and the alchemy master Lao Tang tested it step by step.

Xia Mi has been studying in the preparatory class for so long, and she's not just wasting her time. She disdains learning specific human alchemy.

However, Xia Mi's constant absorption of the various creative ideas of hybrids in alchemy has given her many whimsical thoughts about alchemy.

Finally, the surveillance of human society was incorporated into alchemy.

Old Tang was also an alchemy expert. He managed to modify Xia Mi's many strange and unusual ideas over and over again, and finally came up with this monitoring alchemy technique.

Because Xu Lie was not allowed to use any extraordinary power during the promotion ceremony, he had to keep his distance from this thing and leave the external monitoring work to Lao Tang.

Old Tang glanced at it a few times, and was immediately amazed. With a casual flick of his wrist, a light blue screen appeared in front of him.

This allows Xu Lie to see the situation outside as well.

The ocean off Belllo Island is usually calm and flat, but today it was noticeably more lively.

The first thing you see is a Tarawa-class general-purpose amphibious assault ship, which includes helicopters, hovercraft, tracked vehicles and other transportation vehicles, and is equipped with a variety of artillery systems.

However, the warships that usually fly the Stars and Stripes were strangely adorned with a half-section of the World Tree, the emblem of Kassel College.

There were also ships of various sizes around, some were ocean-going cargo ships, and some were ocean-going fishing boats.

Multiple enormous steel structures surrounded the entire island of Bello from all sides, demonstrating the sheer number and grandeur of the fleet.

Moreover, the forces that have come this time are far more numerous and diverse than those during the Battle of the Imperial Capital, including the jungle sects of South Africa, the Sera family of Australia, and the Titan Brotherhood of Northern Europe...

It can be said that the Black King, this supreme being, can captivate the hearts of all mixed-race people in the world.

"Goodness." Old Tang pointed at the chaotic fleet in the picture: "I just saw that there was nothing there. We've only been having barbecue time, and we haven't even started eating yet, and there are already so many hybrids?" Xu Lie raised his eyes and glanced at it, then slowly picked up a scallop and blew on it to cool it down: "It's normal. For them, the Black King is an extreme terror."

“Some forces probably arrived long ago, but they didn’t dare approach Bello Island alone. They only dared to approach together when other hybrid forces arrived.”

"With so many people here, there must be quite a few alchemists. If Vice Principal Nicholas of Kassel College is also here, then Xia Mi's little scheme will be exposed very quickly."

……

On the Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship, as the ship sailed into Bello Island, which remained calm and uneventful, there was nothing unusual to be seen.

Everything was so natural, lush and green, peaceful and serene, with no indication that Nidhogg, the progenitor of the dragon race, was hidden here.

Inside the command center set up on the warship, the high-ranking members of the Secret Party were completely baffled as they watched the images transmitted back by the drone.

"This shouldn't be the case. Norma's calculations shouldn't be wrong. The epicenter of the Word Power Emperor's outburst is this Bello Island, but why is the island so calm? At the very least, there should be something unusual, right?"

"It shouldn't be Norma's problem. Norma's calculations have never been wrong. Perhaps the Black King isn't on the island, but in the deep sea directly beneath it?"

“No, we’ve come to the right place.” Unlike the board members and elders who participated in the operation remotely and accessed the command center via video, Vice Principal Nicholas came to the front line in person and keenly sensed the anomaly.

"If you could be there in person, instead of just watching on a screen, you would probably notice that something is wrong with this island."

"There seems to be some kind of hidden alchemy around the entire island. In other words, the island scene you are seeing through the drone may not be real."

The vice principal's words immediately made the board members nervous. Elizabeth even lost her composure: "Professor Flamel, do you mean that there are hybrids here who have set up an alchemical matrix?"

"Someone is trying to help Black King conceal his whereabouts?!"

We can't afford not to be nervous. Even a powerful church like the Old Church can only connect with the King of the Earth and the King of the Mountains. Now, another force has emerged, attempting to help the Black King revive.

Don't they know that the Black King's resurgence means the end of the world?!

Who could tolerate this? Even Pompeii couldn't stand such stupidity!
“No, no,” Nicholas denied repeatedly. “You’ve misunderstood. I didn’t mean that.”

“Pay attention to my wording. I said ‘the entire outer perimeter of the island.’ Such large-scale alchemy is difficult for any hybrid to accomplish, and even I would not be able to do it.”

"Only a dragon king skilled in alchemy could possibly set up such an alchemical array, because such a large-scale alchemical array that obscures external observation could even be called half of Nibelungen."

Other things might be hard for the board members to understand, but when they heard that Bello Island is essentially covered by half of the Nibelungen, which is why drones can't capture real footage, they immediately understood.

Nibelung is something that hybrids simply cannot comprehend; it is an alchemical miracle of dragons, even involving the creation of space, one of the seven great kingdoms of alchemy.

But wouldn't that make it even more terrifying?
Nidhogg the Black King was scary enough, but now he has an additional dragon king as a guard?!
Nicholas realized that his words had instilled fear in many people even before they had set foot on the island, which was not good: "Gentlemen."

"We have never known anything about Nidhogg, the Black King, and no one knows what kind of power he possesses."

"It's very likely that it wasn't the Dragon King protecting Nidhogg on the island, because we've all studied the Dragon Clan Ice Sea History Bronze Pillar, which records the rebellion of eight Dragon Kings that led to Nidhogg's death."

"Would a dragon king really guard Nidhogg's hatching? Wouldn't you worry that the first thing this tyrant would do after emerging from his cocoon would be to kill him?"

"Therefore, I am more inclined to believe that this is the power of Nidhogg. Even in its embryonic stage, this terrifying supreme being can subconsciously influence the elements, causing the elements of heaven and earth to spontaneously form an alchemical array, creating an environment that protects itself."

Nicholas's intention was to reassure everyone that their opponent was merely the embryo of the Black King, the Black King's Cocoon.

Unfortunately, to the half-bloods, these words sounded more like a boast of Nidhogg's power, making them even more afraid of Nidhogg's strength.

It hasn't even broken out of its cocoon yet, and it's already spontaneously creating such a large half of Nibelungen? What does that even mean?
When applied to a hybrid, it's like an infant still in the womb releasing a high-level incantation that covers an entire island.

Who wouldn't believe that?

“Alright.” Angers walked up appropriately, patted Nicholas’s belly, making it bounce: “Old friend, enough of this nonsense.”

"Tell us first how to destroy half of Nibelungen. We have limited time; the Black King is right before our eyes. As for alchemy, you can teach us after we return to the academy, how about that?"

Angers has already begun to subtly influence the narrative, gradually deepening everyone's acceptance that this is indeed the Black King Hatchery.

"Hey! Don't pat my beer belly!" Nicholas, though fat, was agile. He took two steps to the side, preventing Angers from patting his belly. "I know, I know. Let the ship get closer. I need to observe it carefully before I can crack it."

At the same time, Nicholas sighed inwardly. His old friend Angers seemed to be getting nervous too. Angers used to be a very gentlemanly man and would never have made such a rude gesture as patting his stomach.

Fine, considering that the Black King is about to emerge from his cocoon, I'll forgive Angers this time.

Little did he know, Angers, who had been forgiven, was thinking with amusement that the vice-principal's belly really could jiggle; Fingel hadn't lied to him.

(End of this chapter)