Beneath the Red Dragon

In the winter days, Klanris held his daughter’s small hand, stepping onto this renowned land.

The once Land of Golden, now the Golden Empire, has become a true sanctuary for creatures of order. Only when Klanris set foot on this land did he understand its meaning.

Even on the road from the harbor to the Golden City, the races he encountered numbered as many as eight or nine, yet his gaze was always drawn to the especially tall Earth Goblins and Kobolds.

Goblins and Kobolds, regardless of which plane world, are almost always at the lowest level. Even the Giant Dragons who command these kobolds regard these two beloved races as disposable garbage.

However, within the Golden Empire, the conditions of these Goblins and Kobolds took Klanris by surprise. It seemed to align with what the Dragon Emperor of the Golden Empire claimed, that any race, upon becoming a member of the Empire, can find its place in this emerging Imperial realm.

Some scholars who enjoy studying biology discovered after surveying the various races within the Golden Empire that the Goblins and Kobolds, the races most prone to mutation, have already evolved and mutated along with the influence of the Giant Dragons and the changes in the Empire.

Just like the fellow but different kind of Earth Goblins, the Goblins within the Golden Empire, whether in intelligence, constitution, or order, far surpass the same kind in other regions, as if it’s a positive mutation of the entire race.

Therefore, the Goblins and Kobolds within the Golden Empire have been specially designated by scholars as—Golden Dogman, Golden Goblins.

Klanris stayed on this land for only a moment before lowering his guard, removing the tightly wrapped cloaks and veils from himself and his daughter.

Only here, can the Dragon Descendants, born as dragons, walk free from the secular prejudice and misunderstanding against them. These naturally unique races, combining the best traits of the Dragon Race and humanoid creatures, can roam among the masses without burden.

Levira turned to look at her father, Klanris, whose scales were somewhat gray, seemingly worn by the wind and frost on their wandering journey, yet he still appeared capable of independently defeating a fearsome Terror Bear.

In more than a decade of living, Levira had learned to read her father’s facial expressions. Those who couldn’t catch the subtle glances exchanged between them would only see an indifferent dragon face on Klanris.

But in truth, the motion of scales closing, the flexing of the spine, the angle of the gaze, the hiding or revealing of teeth, all are rich expressions on the face of a Dragon Descendant, similar to Dragons.

Yet at this moment, every scale on Klanris’s body was completely still. Even in Levira’s eyes, her father was no different from a Giant Dragon, calm and enjoying, like a dragon returning to its nest.

Only when some people wearing special insignia stood before the father and daughter did Klanris instinctively lift his indifferent pupils, a gesture representing vigilance from a naturally born Dragon Descendant.

Klanris received identification from them, then followed them to the checkpoint for registration, learning that these people claimed to be from the Dragon Insect Association, meaning the insects that clean the remnants and debris on the Giant Dragons.

In Klanris’s view, these people were more akin to the gang members living in sewers and slums of other kingdom cities, engaging in all sorts of methods to gain illicit benefits.

But within the Golden Empire, strictly speaking, there are no gang organizations. These gray organizations have been allowed to form after registration with related Imperial Government organizations.

No matter the era, society, or ruling system, such groups walking the edge of the white zone cannot help but emerge, except for the Prayers within the Divine Kingdom.

Thus, the Imperial upper echelon tacitly acknowledges the existence of these organizations as extensions of the Empire’s grassroots power. Now, these organizations have also obtained some business permissions from within the Imperial Government institutions, such as recruiting immigrants and being responsible for the entire process.

They are also responsible for transporting parts of goods at the docks and non-essential material transfers on various canals, significantly liberating the Imperial base organizations’ strength.

”Hey, don’t keep a straight face, if you ask me, you’ve come to the Empire at a great time,” the young member of the Dragon Insect Association, seemingly carrying on his predecessors’ characteristic of boasting, babbled beside the two indifferent Dragon Descendants.

The citizens of the Golden Empire, always comparing, possess a strong sense of pride in their homeland, eager to brag about their country to outsiders.

”You know Riven, right? Hey, she’s the creator of the Dragon Eternal Card sweeping across the Northern Territory, the Deputy Minister of the Empire’s Ministry of Agriculture. She’s holding an Eternal Card competition these days, and if you win, you might get a mysterious card,”

The two Dragon Descendants, one big and one small, nodded absentmindedly, perfunctorily responding to the young leader, while their two pairs of slightly rounded eyes were fixed on the towering city walls of the receding Golden City.

Enormous heads of various shapes, pale and skeletal, were hung on the walls of the Golden City. Among those recognized by the Dragon Descendants were formidable sea monsters and magical beasts like the Deep Sea Unicorn Serpent and the Crack Horn Demon Whale, as well as terrors like the Multi-armed Demon Monster on land.