I, Valon, am frantically searching for my mother.

On the edge of the small oasis on which the dragons depended for survival, the trees began to wither and die.

The once lush canopy has become so sparse here that too much pale sunlight can penetrate and shine on the twisted branches below.

The air was filled with the distinctive smell of humus and peat, oily algae floated on the surface of the water, and a few dead logs were stuck crookedly in the mud.

This is a small swamp.

Although it looks lifeless, this place is a perfect paradise for the black dragon.

"Beep beep beep..."

Suddenly, a small string of murky bubbles rose from the center of the swamp.

Immediately afterwards, a dragon head covered in sticky black mud silently emerged from beneath the water. Its amber vertical pupils, however, showed no warning, instead gazing blankly at the sky.

These past few days have probably been the happiest days for Bella the Black Dragon since she left her parents.

Contrary to popular belief, Heilong actually has parents.

Although the Black Dragon is ferocious, its treatment of its cubs is not the worst among the five-colored dragons.

After all, compared to the white dragon's style of "breeding anywhere and then not caring about it after giving birth," it is still too much for the black dragon cub to see one of its parents at birth.

Of course, this does not mean that Heilong's parents were particularly responsible.

For Heilong, his parents were no more useful than an adult brick.

Black dragon parents are keen to offer all sorts of advice to their cubs, except for practical help, which makes black dragons one of only two of the five chromatic dragons that need to be born with hunting skills.

After all, if you're born without the ability to hunt, you'll basically have to ascend to the Dragon Star on the spot and go to enjoy the good life with the Dragon Mother.

As for those cubs that manage to learn to hunt, very few of them survive to adulthood.

Because there is a second level.

The mother cannot stay in the nest for long. When the cubs are old enough to catch some prey on their own, which is about seven days, the parents will give them the most useful advice in their lives.

roll.

If the cubs don't leave quickly after receiving the "advice," they will soon become a "meal of remembrance" on their parents' menu.

Of course, more often than not, a failed hunt or a parent's bad mood will force the young dragon to "return to the mother's womb".

In this respect, Heilong has the style of some crustaceans, with the main idea being "Youth has no price, my son melts in your mouth".

Therefore, for Heilong, wandering is a daily occurrence.

The survival rate of strays is predictably low. Even for naturally powerful creatures like young dragons, without the protection of their parents, they often perish silently due to hunger, encounters with stronger predators, or simply bad weather.

As a result, many black dragons joined the dragon herd, either voluntarily or involuntarily, in an attempt to rely on the strength of the group to obtain food and struggle to survive to adulthood.

But this doesn't mean that joining the dragon pack will solve everything.

This leads to another problem—there are often extremely serious stereotypes and discrimination within the dragon community.

Just as mentioning a red dragon evokes pride and power, a blue dragon evokes intelligence and cunning, a green dragon evokes treachery and control, and a white dragon evokes foolishness and stupidity.

Stereotypes have always existed.

In addition, the black dragon's fondness for the smell of decay, swamps, and its damp and ferocious nature makes it the most "disliked" dragon among the five-colored dragons.

What? You're asking about the White Dragon?

Bella had always thought that the white dragon was a "dragon beast"... After all, could someone with that kind of brain really be considered a dragon?

Ahem, putting the white dragon aside, Bella has always felt that she has the lowest status among the dragons.

Red Dragon Cody goes without saying. Apart from Queen Anna, she looks down on all non-red dragon species equally, and looks at Bella as if she were a piece of moving mud.

The Blue Dragon was ignored by both former Queen Anna and Prime Minister Lyle.

Even though she was doing the hardest, most tiring, and dirtiest work for the dragons—cleaning up rotting prey carcasses, patrolling the edges of their territory, and digging mud pits that might contain minerals.

The two blue dragons never even glanced at her, as if she were just a breathing black stain in the background of the dragon herd.

It could be said that during the reigns of both empresses, Bella felt humiliated, like a foul-smelling shadow that everyone subconsciously avoided.

But these past few days... have been different.

"Your Majesty Wayne... is so cute..."

Bella was half-buried in the warm, moist swamp mud, with only her head and a small section of her neck showing.

Her eyes were glazed over, her face flushed, and she made soft, almost moaning noises in her throat.

That new, powerful, and strange His Majesty Wayne... he's different.

He neither treated her like Cody did, nor ignored her like Lyle did.

Although his orders were strange, Bella was not excluded from any of them, whether it was asking her to be a mother or to hunt.

This gave Bella a strange sense of equality.

More importantly, His Majesty Wayne never frowned at her...

Whether it was Queen Anna or Emperor Cody the Red Dragon, they couldn't help but wrinkle their noses slightly when they had to pass by Bella.

Even if it was just for a moment, that subtle movement felt like a needle pricking Bella's sensitive nerves.

Bella knew why.

They all thought Bella smelled bad.

But actually, Bella doesn't smell.

Black dragons in a herd, especially young black dragons like Bella who have to live among other dragons, tend to pay more attention to their own details.

Bella spends a lot of time every day scrubbing her scales repeatedly in the flowing stream, rubbing her body with moss that has a cool, refreshing scent, and even secretly collecting dried flowers to stuff into the gaps between her scales.

Unfortunately, this didn't do much good.

Just as no one would believe that "Zhang Mazi" really didn't have pockmarks on his face, no dragon would believe that a black dragon that spends all day in the swamp and feeds on carrion would not have that signature smell.

Therefore, Wayne's attitude towards her was particularly jarring.

Could it be that... His Majesty Wayne really doesn't dislike me? Perhaps... he even... likes me a little bit?

This isn't because Bella is simply "possessed by the clown" and has a high opinion of herself; it's because His Majesty Wayne said that he himself is a green dragon.

You know, the green dragon and the black dragon have a natural bond!

Because their habitats partially overlap, the two can coexist briefly under certain special circumstances.

Being able to "get along" provides the foundation for "being together".

What's more... His Majesty Wayne said today that he wanted to drink milk.

Bella keenly noticed that His Majesty Wayne was saying this to all the dragons.

So naturally, that includes myself...

Dragons reproduce through their eggs, and female dragons naturally do not have the milk-producing function found in other animals.

but!

The mother dragon's chest actually served another purpose.