Chapter 137: Chapter 134: Recruiting a Metal Dragon

The Evil Dragons will never give up their wealth.

To the gold-loving Dragon Race, not even the Dragon God can force them to relinquish their treasures, let alone a human noble, and a Viscount is no grand noble.

Whether it is Solrog or Samantha.

Upon receiving news, their first thought was to kill the Tax Collector, skin them, tear them apart, and hang them along the trade route as a warning.

It was Galos who suppressed their fury.

For Galos, relinquishing his wealth is painful, but not entirely impossible.

For better development and longer-term stability, Galos is willing to pay a certain price, so he orchestrated the first negotiation with the Tax Collector behind the scenes.

Through this negotiation.

Galos faintly sensed that the noble Lord behind the Tax Collector might not be after long-term interests.

For instance, their insistence on collecting a year’s back taxes and their unyielding demand for Three Thousand Gold Coins made Galos feel that the other side wanted to extract a steep price.

But it might also be due to the Tax Collector’s limited authority, and this negotiation was merely a probe.

Therefore, Galos offered a second chance for them to send a more senior representative for a more formal meeting, where the “Lord” of the Molten Iron Clan would also appear.

“Solrog, Samantha.”

“Don’t let emotions devour your reason and calm.”

Galos’s gaze was steady as he said, “This matter concerns our future development; it is of great importance, and we must make decisions and responses calmly.”

The prestige of the Red Iron Dragon gradually calmed the two of them.

Samantha’s tail slapped the ground as she said, “Three Thousand Gold Coins? Why doesn’t that greedy human just come and rob us directly?”

Its vertical pupils dangerously contracted as it said, “My thoughts remain unchanged: kill all these insolent provocateurs and smash their Alchemy Golems.”

Samantha lifted her head, sparks shooting from her nostrils.

“In the wilderness, strength reigns supreme; what are human laws worth?!”

“Their deaths will be more persuasive than taxes.”

Galos remained silent, instead looking towards the Iron Dragon Solrog.

Its iron claws gouged deep ravines in the ground as it said, “Human nobles have no understanding of respect and awe; they arrogantly consider other races as monsters, even classifying us Dragons as one of them.”

“Hmph, compromise today by paying taxes, and tomorrow they’ll demand us as mounts!”

The Iron Dragon was more rational than Samantha, but when it came to wealth, this Evil Dragon with pure bloodline and soul was unwilling to back down at all.

“Let’s kill the Tax Collector first, let humans know we are not to be trifled with!”

The Iron Dragon and the Red Dragon found rare agreement in their opinions.

Galos spoke slowly, his deep voice resonating in the rain.

“Engaging directly in war is the most foolish choice. Have you thought about it if you kill one Tax Collector today, tomorrow it might be the Knight Order of the Lothern Federation coming.”

He said, “Our years of lineage accumulated here may be destroyed in an instant.”

Pausing, Galos’s gaze slightly narrowed, his tone shifting as he said, “But if they insist on war, then give them war!”

It would merely result in mutual destruction, followed by moving once again.

In fact, the appearance of the Tax Collector and the targeting by the Viscount Lord made Galos deeply aware of the risk.

So far, the peaceful life had been disrupted.

The Molten Iron Clan has been forced into the open.

And it’s just the beginning now. More probes and peeks from all sides are bound to follow. If the existence of several Dragons is accidentally exposed, what’s waiting for them will be dangerous sieges and hunts.

Compared to the wealth that the three Dragons can bring.

The accumulations of the Molten Iron Clan over the years on the trade route are insignificant.

Hunting Dragons, in the eyes of human nobles, means immense wealth and glory, and there’s no need to fear the background when hunting Evil Dragons. Mixed-blood Dragons like Galos are rare and highly valued.

Especially since the Viscount behind the Tax Collector seems to be in urgent need of wealth.

In this situation, if the identity of the Dragon Race is discovered, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Galos’s idea is.

If negotiations go smoothly, then they’ll continue to lie low and develop for a while, temporarily acquiring more growth resources, observing the situation, and seizing opportunities.

If negotiations fail.

Then he would flip the table immediately. While not being discovered in advance, he would prevent the human army from having the chance to besiege and hunt, first striking the noble who broke his peaceful life with a heavy blow, making them pay a painful price, and then quickly relocate with all valuable possessions.

In the long life of the Dragons, they do not settle in one territory.

Galos doesn’t have much attachment to the land beneath his feet. When he decided to occupy the Scale Earth Rift to seek growth resources, he had already anticipated this day would come.

“Next time when they come for formal negotiations, we need to push a lord to the forefront.”

With his gaze sweeping over the young Dragons, Galos said, “Our existence cannot be exposed, or it would attract aggression. Have Kalu disguise himself as a lord for the negotiations.”

Solrog and Samantha had no objections.

They were no longer ignorant young dragons; they knew very well what consequences would arise once their identity as Evil Dragons was exposed.

At this moment, Iron Dragon Solrog expressed his feelings about the current situation, speaking softly: “There should be a Metal Dragon among us.”

Sub-iron Dragons and Metal Dragons did not get along.

In fact, in ancient times, Sub-iron Dragons were also part of Metal Dragons, but due to some unknown secret reason, they were expelled and split to form the Sub-iron Dragon Clan. Because of this, the relationship between Sub-iron Dragons and Metal Dragons is quite delicate.

Yet, even so, Iron Dragon Solrog still wanted a Metal Dragon ally.

On one hand, his dream was to establish the Dragon Empire, which included Metal Dragons.

On the other hand, the identity of Metal Dragons as Good Dragons made matters much easier. Many nobles even considered befriending Metal Dragon allies an honor, unlike Evil Dragons who would be hunted by all sides as soon as they appeared.

Samantha was frank: “I hate Metal Dragons and don’t want to coexist with them.”

Galos narrowed his eyes slightly, staying silent, though he did agree with Solrog’s idea.

Iron Dragon was right, the Dragon Group consisted of Evil Dragons, making them too conspicuous and dangerous.

Although Galos was a Red Iron Mixed-blood, naturally born as an Evil Dragon, he disliked Metal Dragons internally but could restrain his nature.

Rationally, Galos believed that a Metal Dragon ally who could stand in front would solve many unnecessary troubles, and although Evil Dragons were mostly stubborn and unruly, Metal Dragons were easier to get along with.

However, rarely did Metal Dragons travel alone.

Galos recalled fondly, only thinking of the Red Copper Dragon who liked riddles.

It had been more than ten years since they last met, and back then the Red Copper Dragon was likely over 25 years old, reaching adolescence.

“If we could see the Red Copper Dragon again.”

“Find a way to bring it into the fold.”

Galos mused.

The presence of a Metal Dragon could make those who wanted to attack him hesitate and be full of concerns.

Looking back now, Galos felt a bit of regret for being too aggressive back then, not realizing this point. He vowed that next time he met the Red Copper Dragon Deborah, he would never again seize its possessions, but rather treat it kindly.

Afterward.

Galos instructed Gorging Demon Kalu, telling Kalu to disguise as the Lord of Molten Iron Clan at the time and replace him in appearances, and asked Samantha to create a set of armor that could mask Dragon Descendant features for Kalu.

Kalu was burly but thoughtful.

Capable of undertaking this task.

Time passed day by day.

Soon, a week went by, and Viscount Ironthorn’s people had yet to arrive.

However, the creatures of Molten Iron Clan keenly discovered that the number of caravans traveling on the Scale Earth Rift had decreased by nearly a third, and was still diminishing, affecting the Clan’s trade.

They inquired from merchants and learned that Viscount Ironthorn had raised the road tax on Scale Earth Rift to the maximum.

According to the Federation’s trade laws, road taxes have a limit, but rarely does any road’s tax reach that limit directly. Nowadays, with Scale Earth Rift’s road tax raised to the maximum, many merchants stayed away.

To prevent tax evasion.

Tax Collectors and Fearless Alchemy Golems were stationed directly at the entrance of Scale Earth Rift to personally collect taxes from the passing caravans.

Galos was also aware of this.

Clearly, this was the Viscount demonstrating his power, applying preemptive pressure for the upcoming negotiations.

He was telling the Molten Iron Clan that if they did not pay taxes, he had ways to suppress the primitive and vulgar beasts.

As for the Viscount himself, though long-term interests would be affected, what he pursued now were short-term profits, and his business wasn’t solely dependent on Scale Earth Rift, so he had the confidence to do this.

Additionally.

Mages from various clans also discovered that some of the recently traded goods contained hidden alchemy tools that could be used for positioning.

Galos was foresighted.

He had long established rules.

All goods obtained through trade routes would not be sent directly to the territory but gathered and handed over to multiple Mages for repeated inspections to prevent accidents, especially for items required by the dragons, the checks were more rigorous.

This foresight.

Ensured that the core territory of Molten Iron Clan was not directly exposed.

As for the source of positioning tools.

Undoubtedly, it was Viscount Ironthorn’s handiwork.

Perhaps to further pressure or prepare for a failed negotiation, he wanted to obtain the coordinates of Molten Iron Clan’s territory first.

But he underestimated Galos’s caution and wisdom.

To guard against the Viscount having more advanced positioning tools that were hard to detect, Galos instructed the Clan to pile up all recently traded goods in the wild, not bring them to the territory, and temporarily halted trade with the caravans.

Those positioning tools mixed within the goods were scattered into the territories of some mighty ferocious beast creatures.

If reconnaissance scouts followed the positioning, their subsequent experience wouldn’t be pleasant, failing to discover the core territory, and would encounter attacks from strong ferocious beast creatures instead.

The formal negotiations hadn’t begun, yet the invisible confrontation had already started.

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