Beneath the Red Dragon

Chapter 76: Chapter 30: The Molten River Is a Red Dragon’s Paradise

In the end, Karon still suppressed this incredibly alluring idea that was so attractive to him. He diligently used his dragon claw to lift the eyelids that seemed to have developed their own will and wanted to close.

Then he shook his head to clear his mind, causing a ripple in the lava-filled river.

He emerged from the temporary cave and swam upwards through the excavated passage.

The strong body of a Giant Dragon allows them to survive in all kinds of environments, and a Red Dragon is especially at ease in a lava river, swimming through it faster than any fish in the sea.

He even took the time during his swim upward to find several rare minerals and some precious gemstones born in the volcanic magma.

He swallowed these gemstones into the special storage stomach unique to the Giant Dragons, and then, propelled by the upward-spraying lava stream, Karon quickly swam out of the long lava tunnel, emerging at the mouth of the cave that used to be a volcanic basin.

The once-dry basin, after accumulating for a period of time, was now filled with enough magma to cover the lower limbs of the Red Dragon.

He paddled a few leisurely strokes in the magma lake, sending countless waves of heat rolling, then flew toward the edge of the basin.

Although Karon deliberately controlled the reactivation of the dormant volcano to prevent major disturbances, the changes here still alarmed other young Giant Dragons.

The thick volcanic ash clouds, that erupted along with the flowing lava had already covered the peak of this mountain, spreading with the wind in the sky.

Much of the volcanic ash fell, painting the nearby mountains and the plains at the foot of the mountains in a layer of gray, frightening some creatures into a desperate escape across the plains.

Fortunately, the forest near the foot of the mountain had been preemptively cleared, creating a buffer zone; otherwise, this could have sparked a wildfire.

Two Blue Dragons, Doss and Akzhi, were flying in the sky, the Blue Dragons who commanded storm and thunderbolt worked hard to disperse the gathering gray volcanic ash clouds.

They drove these volcanic clouds higher into the sky, trying to disperse them as much as possible to lessen the impact of the volcanic ash clouds on this land.

This disturbance not only alarmed the young Giant Dragons, but their Dragon Beloved ones were watching from the foot of the mountain as well.

These Dragon’s Beloved ones understood quite well why the volcano had changed—it was only the power of the Red Dragon that could create such a commotion.

However, although they were also curious, no other creatures were allowed to approach the top of the mountain which belonged to the Dragon Group.

Only when called upon could even those loyal Dragon’s Beloved ones step foot there.

The other young Giant Dragons all stood at a distance, watching from the mountain top. After confirming that the changes were instigated by the Red Dragon, they stayed away from the steaming, sulphur-scented volcano crater.

Though these young Giant Dragons could also survive at the volcano crater, they didn’t enjoy the scent of sulphur like the Red Dragon did.

Only the female Red Dragon Kleyna happily approached, gazing longingly at the ever-growing and rising magma lake.

”Karon, your nest looks so comfortable. Can I come in and have a look? Perhaps we could share the same nest like we did in our hatchling days. Don’t worry, I promise I won’t disturb you.”

Karon found it amusing to see the consistently irritable young female dragon now putting on such a fawning look.

The Red Dragon, who used to have an imposing presence second only to the first and third ranks—the Red Dragon of Tiamat—now looked like a little dog with its tail wagging, trying to plead with eyes naturally lacking dragon-like coldness, appearing particularly ridiculous.

But how could he allow another dragon to sleep beside him? Karon did not like other creatures coming near him while he slept, as it made him feel insecure.

He knew how alluring a magma lake was to a Red Dragon, second only to treasures.

But to Karon, a nest was an extremely private space. He would rather share his treasures with the Dragon Group than allow even a dragon to touch his Dragon Nest.

So, even though Kleyna’s body had reached nine meters after being baptized by the Blood of Ancestral Return, Karon refused the small female dragon who seemed especially fawning at the moment.

But over the days with ample food and energy replenishment, Karon’s body had reached twelve meters.

His particularly sturdy body compared with Kleyna’s streamlined physique made the female Red Dragon genuinely just a small female dragon.

”Kleyna, you need to know that asking a Giant Dragon to share its nest means challenging that dragon. Are you saying you’ve grown so bold as to challenge my power now?”

Karon skillfully rose using his hind limbs, often used and particularly well-developed; his wide wing span extended over twenty meters.

Even if Karon’s expression on his spiky-cheeked face bore no trace of intimidation, his massive size and extended movement still carried an intimidating aura.

Kleyna, of course, did not want to challenge the Red Dragon in front of her. It was just that the Red Dragon’s greed for a very suitable nest made her want to give it a try.

She retracted her long dragon neck slightly. ”But I’m your... sister, Karon. At least when you’re not in the nest, I can come here to enjoy myself, right?”

”Oh, the Five-Colored Giant Dragon plays the kinship card?” Karon looked at the young female dragon with some surprise, though he saw it as a positive change, he didn’t want to tangle with Kleyna any longer.

Gently, using his broader and thicker-than-usual wing to push the female dragon in front away, he said in a deep voice, ”Work hard, Kleyna. Take care of those newly born Dragon Descendants for me. Perhaps one day I’ll help you draw magma from underground, granting you a Red Dragon Nest of your own.”

The female Red Dragon was coaxed away by just a few words from Karon. He was about to fly off to forage and patrol his territory when Blue Dragon Doss, who was dispelling volcanic ash clouds in the sky, landed, folding its wings as it walked over, clearly having something to say.

Karon had no choice but to stop and stand still. ”Doss, do you also have something to discuss with me?”

Blue Dragon Doss stopped in front of Karon, with some clear scratch marks on its forehead, indicating that in these days, the Blue Dragon had been somewhat troubled by learning to manage the territory’s logistics.

Doss habitually reached out with a dragon claw to scratch his horn, sighing.

He said, ”Karon, according to your idea, many of the powerful, ferocious carnivorous species on the grassland and forest have also become the throats of the Dragon Group, which means a lot of food is consumed in the territory.”

”Additionally, the current Dragon Group comprises young dragons who need large amounts of food, and those Dragon’s Beloved ones also need their food supply ensured.

”Currently, the food resources in the territory have begun to fail to bear the consumption of the Dragon Group, and excessive hunting of animals on the plains will drive them to other places.”

In fact, in any place, it’s rare to see other types of carnivorous animals in a territory claimed by some carnivores.

Previously, the Dragon Group’s territory also often had these Giant Dragons hunting those powerful carnivorous ferocious species because having too many carnivorous animals gather in one area can severely damage the ecological environment.

Food wouldn’t be adequately supplied as, for carnivores, their targets are usually herbivorous animals, and these animals need time to grow.

Karon nodded, once back on this land, he had been busy constructing a defense system and reorganizing his nest, intending to turn his nest into an impregnable fortress, which had led him to overlook this issue.

”So what’s your plan, Doss? I’d like to hear your thoughts.” This problem before Karon was minor, yet he didn’t want to directly propose a solution.

He hoped that the Giant Dragons in the Dragon Group would also mature, so they could manage things independently in the future.

As the master of the Dragon Group, the king of this Land of Gold, his approach was completely different from that of the former Emperor of the Gata Empire, Charal Cesar II.

The Emperor of the Gata Empire, Charal Cesar II, was extremely controlling, liked to keep all the power firmly in his hand, controlling others.

He wouldn’t easily delegate power to his subordinates, which heavily oppressed the Imperial citizens, a personal trait of his.

But Karon preferred to control himself, he accepted and welcomed all upcoming challenges, not even concerned with the division of power.

Because in his view, as long as he could remain powerful, he could easily suppress the Dragon Group and the Beloved, and before such immense power, everything could potentially be overturned.

And if there’s no power, any treasured position would just be a castle in the air, perhaps also due to another crucial reason—he was somewhat lazy.