I, Valon, am frantically searching for my mother.

To be honest, the ceremony was quite different from what Wayne had imagined.

Boredom is secondary.

Wayne was mentally prepared for a long, tedious, and cliché process, having seen plenty of it in his previous life.

What's truly unsettling is the pervasive, almost fanatical atmosphere of piety, and... the classic Thanksgiving ritual.

The first to speak was that ancient golden dragon with long history.

He maintained his imposing and steady posture, like a mountain range, only slightly raising his massive head, his deep and resonant voice clearly echoing in every corner of the entire square.

Old Long's speech perfectly matched Wayne's stereotypes about speeches by elderly leaders—long, tedious, and particularly fond of reminiscing about past glories and hardships.

This senior scholar began his story directly from 1,057 years ago.

"When I was still a dragon egg waiting to hatch in the dragon's nest, my mother, the great golden dragon Griffinda, taught me to be compassionate, to uphold order, and to distinguish right from wrong..."

This made Wayne's scalp tingle, and he roared inwardly:

Old Deng!

Get to the point! Who wants to hear you recount your experiences from the moment you were born?!

How long did you incubate it? What did it eat as its first food after hatching? Are these details important?!

However, this was not the most distressing thing for Wayne.

What truly made him feel uneasy and restless was that, apart from himself and a few others, almost all the other creatures on the field were present.

Even Vivian, who was usually chattering and standing at his feet, was now listening to the old dragon's egg-born memoirs with a solemn and devout expression!

Their eyes were focused, their expressions filled with awe and emotion, as if they were listening to the greatest and most profound philosophy in the world.

That's really uncomfortable.

It was even more unbearable than when Wayne listened to the principal speak at school in his previous life.

After all, back then, at least everyone still thought the principal was an idiot.

However, here, looking around, almost everyone, including the dragons, is piously fawning over the feet of this ancient and senior figure.

As a result, Wayne had to try hard to control his expression and put on a solemn look of being deeply enlightened.

Wayne quietly observed his surroundings, trying to find like-minded people, but found that there were only two people who behaved differently.

One of them was that old king.

He remained seated in the main seat, but would occasionally raise his hand to his forehead or close his eyes slightly, his face showing undisguised fatigue.

That's understandable. The old man is getting on in years and his energy is waning. He naturally doesn't have much patience for such long and tedious speeches. The fact that he's sitting here without falling asleep is already a big favor.

The other one was the mistress of the jade merchant group that Vivian longed for—that very wealthy duchess.

She remained seated, her posture elegant, with even a polite and gentle smile on her face, as if she were listening very attentively.

But whether it was just his imagination or not, Wayne always felt that there was a hint of sarcasm in the Duchess's smile beneath her veil.

The tedious and lengthy speech, which had been going on for nearly an hour, finally came to an end.

Old Dragon probably realized he had been talking for a while, and he slowly lowered his head, concluding with the words, "May the light of goodness and order forever shine upon Hel."

Thunderous, respectful applause erupted in the square at just the right moment, lasting for a long time.

Next, the much-anticipated Hel Charity Star Award ceremony finally arrived.

The award ceremony was hosted by the adult female dragon.

Wayne perked up a bit, wanting to see what kind of good person would be chosen by the Golden Dragons and the people of Hel.

However, the first person to go on stage made Wayne's emotions, which had just calmed down, break down again!

The adult female dragon spoke gently in a tone full of praise:

"Next, let us welcome a resilient woman, a mother of ten, a gentle and warm-hearted person who always sincerely welcomes every guest in her home."

Even though she had suffered cruelty and evil, she remained self-reliant and supported herself through hard work…

The next second, a woman with fair skin, long, thin eyebrows, large, charming eyes, and full lips with a natural blush, vaguely resembling Sofia, walked into the hall.

Mrs. Anne!

Then, using the amplification magic of the hall, Anne spoke her first words:

"I believe the world is unfair to women..."

I'm so anxious I'm crying!

Holy crap!

What are you doing? What the hell are you doing?

You fucking picked the right people for me?

Given that someone like Anne, whose birth was purely for personal reasons, was chosen, Wayne strongly suspects that this whole "shedding hair" thing was hyped up by a victim report from the shady Emerald Newspaper.

Then, by portraying himself as a disabled but determined victim who did good deeds, he was chosen by the uninformed masses.

Moreover, it is said that Mrs. Anne did a good deed by promoting women's employment.

Damn, the Five-Colored Dragon's move was too ruthless!

"Vivian."

Wayne lowered his voice and instructed the girl beside him:

"Next time you go welding, remember to weld her mouth back on too!"

Vivian looked at the anthropomorphic creature that had come out on the stage, clearly somewhat indignant.

"Damn it, don't worry, Master Jinlong, next time I go, I'll finish welding the buckle, then weld it again, until I'm tired of welding, then I'll feed her all the stuff I've ripped out, and finally weld it back on!"

"Or we could just kill these bastards and use their flesh and blood as raw materials; we could make weapons from them and sell them for a good price."

Vivian, well done!

Wayne nodded.

"Okay, then next time you'll take the lead and I'll do the soldering, let's divide the work!"

The second player to take the stage also struggled.

This is a man who is nearly fifty years old.

After listening for a while, Wayne finally understood what the other party had done in a good way.

For twenty consecutive years, he has been repairing water pipes for divorced elderly people!

No, you guys in Hel are all dead, right?

How could this kind of thing even be selected?

Also, you'd be better off fixing a proper water pipe.

The next few were much more normal, but what impressed Wayne the most was a man whose face had been burned and melted.

This is a caregiver at an orphanage who was seriously injured while rescuing children from a fire.

Half of the remaining spots belonged to nobles, whose good deeds were all quite normal, at least in the traditional sense.

"Let's welcome the ninth one..."

The presentations on stage continued, but it was still not Wayne's turn.

It looks like I should be the last one to appear.

But... there's just one problem: isn't there too many people?

"Vivian, didn't you say last time there would only be five spots?"

The girl being asked the question also looked confused. She scratched her head and said uncertainly:

"Um, I remember there were five last time, but maybe it's because the Golden Dragon is in a good mood this time that he chose a few more."

"But this is good news! Everyone in Hel hopes there will be more spots for the Golden Dragons!"

Is that right?

Wayne nodded.

If PhD programs are being expanded, what's wrong with you, Grandpa Jinlong, adding a few more good people to your list?

After waiting for ages, the grueling ceremony finally came to an end. However, to Wayne's surprise, he hadn't been invited to go on stage yet.

First of all, Wayne must have his own seat, otherwise they wouldn't have invited him here and arranged a special seat for him.

After thinking for a moment, Wayne decided to wait and see what the specifics were.

Perhaps the Golden Dragons have a separate process for the Dragon Clan winners?

After all, he was of a different race from everyone else.

A few minutes later, almost everyone stood in the center of the hall.

The ancient golden dragon finally spoke again!