The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 809 What is Regret?

"Good heavens! A free 100-pull gacha first thing in the morning? Is this some kind of cardinal sin?" Roland was speechless as he watched Caslo rolling around on the ground after drawing the Purple Thunder Dragon.

"Who knows? You know how proud dragons are. Let it be, just don't kill him!" Adolf Heinrich shrugged. For the immense vitality of dragons, mere flesh wounds are nothing.

……

"Tsk! Did it get beaten to death?" Chasing Light crouched behind and looked at the convulsing Purple Thunder Dragon with fear. As expected, the terrifying upright ape was still at the top of the food chain!
"It won't be that fast. You know how tough those lightning dragons are! Minor injuries are nothing to them. They suffer much more from constantly battling storms than this!" Maple Forest Orchid stopped Chasing Light.

"Are you the only ones left in the family?" After a moment's hesitation, Maple Forest Orchid slowly spoke.

However, Zhui Guang could still detect a slight tremor in his voice. This powerful dragon rider commander could only hide the sorrow of his clan's destruction in his heart and face the world with a smile.

"Take good care of your injuries. Maple Forest Orchid is the head of the McDougal family. You don't want people to look down on the McDougal family, do you?" Chasing Light didn't respond to Maple Forest Orchid, but instead turned to look at Long Xi on his body and said quietly.

Long Xi, who was pretending to doze on Fenglin Youlan's shoulder, did not move after hearing Zhui Guang's words, but Fenglin Youlan could feel Long Xi's body trembling slightly, which showed how much damage Zhui Guang's words had brought to Long Xi.

“He didn’t want to either…” Fenglin Youlan said in silence. Damaging his origin was a lifelong pain for Long Xi. He could no longer transform into a majestic dragon and fly into the blue sky, and he also lost the opportunity to wear dragon armor.

"Sigh..." Zhui Guang glanced at Long Xi and silently flew to the city wall, watching from afar. They had all once believed that the McDougal family would be revived under the leadership of Maple Forest Orchid, because Long Xi was arguably one of the strongest dragons in the McDougal family's history! Dragon knights of similar strength had successfully led the McDougal family into a new era, but...

"This isn't your fault. We're already lucky to be alive!" Maple Forest Orchid comforted Long Xi by stroking his wings. A few tears welled up in his eyes. The powerful McDougal family had been nearly wiped out in the civil war, and their century of recuperation had been interrupted by the fall of the empire...

……

"You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences!" Caslo, looking annoyed, threw away his wind whip and led Kaldo away. After a few steps, he couldn't help but turn back and spit at the Purple Thunder Dragon on the ground.

“It’s impolite to do that…” Maple Forest Orchid muttered to herself.

"Are you alright?" Maple Forest Orchid's hand flashed with holy light, covering Purple Chain with a warm holy light skill.

"Stop your pity! You hypocritical human!" A cold glint flashed in Zi Lian's eyes. Although she did not refuse Maple Forest Orchid's treatment, the coldness in her eyes did not diminish in the slightest.

"..." Maple Forest Orchid was stunned, almost interrupting its skill. Did you think I was so eager to heal you that you were arrogant? If you weren't going to be a dragon in the McDougal family, I wouldn't even give you a second glance! If Maple Forest Orchid hadn't received excellent knightly education and been a paragon of paladins since childhood, it would have wanted to fly up and kick him. "Malicious speculation about others is the act of a petty person!" Finally, after holding it in for so long, Maple Forest Orchid managed to utter these words.

"Hmph!" Zi Lian snorted, rolled her eyes, and looked at Fenglin Youlan with disdain.

"Sigh... Xilan, you stay here with Shulan and talk to him. I'm leaving now!" Fenglin Youlan rubbed his temples. He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would lose his temper and start hitting people. He could leave the two girls behind. With the pride of the dragons, they wouldn't bother with little girls. With Zhuiguang watching over them, nothing unexpected would happen.

……

"What? Did the training fail?" Roland looked at Maple Forest Orchid with amusement.

"Sigh, he's completely stubborn! Now I understand why everyone used to love slaying wild dragons when they caught them..." Maple Forest Orchid rubbed her temples and said with a wry smile.

"Good things come to those who wait, take it slow. Training a dragon is the same as training an eagle!" Roland said on the surface, but in his heart he was overjoyed. The reason why such a precious resource as a dragon was given to the McDougal family was not only because Roland trusted the Dragon Commander family, but also because Roland knew very well how difficult it was to tame a wild dragon. He certainly did not have the energy and ability to do it himself, otherwise he would not have minded leaving his descendants a guardian dragon that could be passed down for thousands of years!

Of course, such a precious resource as dragons, even if they cannot be tamed, would not be passed on casually. The fact that the king could bestow such a resource upon the McDougal family meant that he trusted them completely. If one were to ask the king for advice on domestic affairs and King's Landing for advice on foreign affairs, then the empire's most loyal henchmen would naturally be the dragon rider families led by Anthony and McDougal.

"Children have a better chance of winning over dragons; hopefully, it will work!" Maple Forest Orchid gave a wry smile. When it comes to winning over dragons, innocent children are more competitive than complex adults. Dragons can sense a person's true nature, and the feigned flattery of adults is seen as hypocritical by them! Prioritizing self-interest and wearing a mask makes it difficult to gain a dragon's approval. Conversely, children with pure hearts are favored by dragons. (Sure enough, everyone likes the cute, not the ridiculous…)
"The dragon race really likes children. Even if you don't succeed, you can raise them for your offspring to conquer!" Roland patted his shoulder to comfort him.

"To be honest, Your Majesty, this dragon is a waste for our family..." Maple Forest Orchid stammered. As newcomers, receiving a giant dragon bestowed by the king was undoubtedly putting the McDougal family in a difficult position, especially since the veterans hadn't received a single penny...

"It's alright. You guys did a great job catching this dragon. If it had escaped, we'd all be finished! Catching it is a merit! It's what you deserve!" Roland waved his hand dismissively. Compared to giving the McDougal family a dragon, the thought of this thing running back to Dragon Island to recruit people was far more terrifying for Roland! Because he really did have a golden dragon! Bringing this thing out would be no less provocative to the dragon race than the Japanese using the Imperial Seal of the State as a table corner to provoke the Chinese people! It's like a mouse licking a cat's nose—looking for trouble! Especially when they clearly couldn't defeat Dragon Island…

If this thing gets away, Roland will probably have to move the kingdom overnight. Roland might even gamble on attacking Black Gate and trading his kingdom with Sauron. You know, Dragon Island knows how serious this is! Those are dozens of perpetual motion "bombers"! Enough to use forbidden spells to wash the kingdom from south to north, and then from east to west!
"Sigh..." Maple Forest Orchid gazed lazily at the spotlight lazily shining on the city wall and sighed.

Roland saw regret in his eyes...

What is regret?

They were the McDougal family, the only family in the Eastern Territory with the ability and ambition to quell the turmoil during the Empire's internal strife. They were the McDougal dragon riders who perished beneath the Southern War Fortress. They were Dragon Hei, who fell before the Empire's twilight. They were the guardians of Maple Leaf, whose family was destroyed. They were the last dragon rider commander to defy the tide…

After countless years and times, we finally meet again in Lagrange!
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