Under the Red Dragon.

Chapter 105 Nora and the Bronze Dragon's Miraculous Journey

Life at sea was not as interesting and exciting as most of the stories told by the bards. Following the safe routes that were opened up, life on the ship was mostly boring.

Nora, her grandmother and other villagers were assigned to the same large ship, along with other villagers who were captured from scattered villages in the wilderness.

Perhaps because she was young, well-behaved, and good-looking, and would often take the initiative to help other bandits mend their torn clothes, Nora was not like the other abducted people, who could only come out of the cabin for half a day every ten days.

You have to know that sailing on the sea can last for several months. If these people are kept in crowded and small cabins without a clean living environment, they will not only be prone to illness due to psychological problems, but will also be extremely susceptible to the plague.

In order to reduce losses and increase the survival rate of captured slaves, these bandit mercenary groups would send these slaves to the deck in batches at fixed times, clean the cabins, take sick slaves out for isolation, and even throw those in serious condition directly into the sea.

Nora was allowed to go out for some fresh air every afternoon. She followed the village chief, Uncle Fahn, and wandered around the deck of the ship.

The village chief, Uncle Fahn, was also able to receive some preferential treatment from these mercenaries because of his special status.

Although he still couldn't escape the fate of being sold as a slave, at least he could have a say in front of the mercenary pirates who respected strength, and was considered the most prestigious person among this group of slaves.

"Hey, give me two glasses of rum, one less and one fuller," the village chief Faan shouted to the mercenary bandit who was walking by with a barrel of wine.

During long voyages, fresh water is difficult to store and will deteriorate after a short time due to various reasons, such as insects and rats, or erosion by wind and rain at sea. Only cheap rum is the backup water resource for almost all long-distance ships.

So even though the taste of rum was not delicious to Nora, the little girl still subconsciously pursed her lips after hearing what the village chief Fahn said. Dead skin had already formed on her cracked lips. During the few months on the ship, Nora also developed the habit and hobby of drinking rum.

The pirate holding the wine barrel glanced at the two of them, then opened the barrel cheerfully, took down two large wine glasses from the wine glasses hanging behind his buttocks, filled them up, and handed them to the village chief Fahn and the eager-looking little girl Nora.
The bearded mercenary smiled and said, "Drink as much as you want. If it's not enough, come and pour more for yourself. We are almost close to the Gold Coast. The captain has ordered that rum can be supplied freely."

The little girl Nora carefully held up the wine glass that was a little too big for her with her two small hands, took a sip carefully, and then smiled and thanked the bearded mercenary, "Thank you, Uncle Bearded!"

"Hahaha," the bearded mercenary held the heavy wine barrel with one hand, waved with the other, and strode away.

"Uncle Village Chief and Uncle Beard said we are almost at the Gold Coast. Is that place really as wonderful as they say? Won't those evil dragons eat us up like snacks? Also, can my grandmother and I have our own new house without those beasts and monsters daring to disturb us?"

The little girl Nora looked expectantly at the village chief, who was the most powerful and knowledgeable in her heart, and asked impatiently. In the beginning of her life at sea, Nora yearned for the vast and boundless sea.

The sea and the sky are one clear blue, birds are flying and whales are calling. Nora, who grew up in the wilderness inland, finds all of this new and novel. But the sea will always be the same and will not change for millions of years, so Nora also feels bored during the long journey.

Only when I occasionally see those mercenaries who have drunk too much rum and gone crazy on the ship will my dull mind become active.

"Gulp," the village chief Fain swallowed a large amount of strange-tasting rum, wiped his untidy face that looked particularly decadent due to long-term neglect, and then said, "Little Nora, never have too high expectations for an unknown thing, otherwise the frustration you get will exceed your imagination."

Village chief Fahn looked at the strange heads that occasionally appeared in the distant sea, sighed, and stroked Nora's head with his rough hands. "Nora, never believe what others say. Always be skeptical of what others say. You must learn to see with your own eyes and listen with your own ears."

“Sometimes even your own eyes and ears can deceive you, and that’s when you have to trust your intuition and thoughts!”

The little girl Nora hummed through her small and delicate nose and nodded. Although she did not understand what the village chief said, she would keep it in her heart. Maybe one day she would forget these words and who told her these words.

But when she encounters a lesson from something at a certain moment, similar insights will arise in her heart, and then these insights will become her knowledge and experience and be passed on to the next generation.

But before Nora could figure it out, excited shouts from other mercenaries and bandits were heard on the deck.

The bearded mercenary holding the wine barrel threw it directly into the sea, picked up his steel fork from his waist and shouted, "Business is here, brothers, there are Shahua fishmen around, grab your weapons and kill these idiots."

"Ouch, let me see where these lovely fish-man heads are,"

"Get out of the way, everyone. I used to be a fisherman. These Sahuagin are also fish in my eyes. The spear in my hand is already impatient."

The mercenaries, who were originally bored, suddenly became energized. They crowded to the edge of the deck with weapons in hand, looking with shining eyes at the monster head looming on the sea in the distance.

The village chief Faan and the little girl Nora were pushed to the back and surrounded by the pirates who didn't make it to the front.

Faan caught a pirate and asked curiously, "You fleets that often sail on the sea should have good relations with the monster tribes in the sea. Why do you all want to hunt these Shahua fishmen? Aren't you afraid that these Shahua fishmen will cause trouble to your fleet?"

In fact, what Faan said is consistent with the practice of most fleets sailing on the sea. The sea is the home ground of these monsters, and although individual Shahuamin are not very powerful in this world, elite human soldiers can easily defeat a few of them.

But there are more than tens of millions of Shahua fishmen living in the vast ocean, which is wider than the land. It is impossible to count them. Moreover, these monsters often live in groups. Although their tribes have frictions and conflicts with each other, they will unite when they encounter enemies.

It is somewhat similar to the metallic dragon. After you defeat the small metallic dragon, an old one will appear, and after you defeat the old one, two ancient dragons will appear. If you defeat the ancient dragons as well, and these two ancient dragons happen to have some face and a lot of gold coins, then congratulations, you may be lucky enough to see the legendary Ancient Golden Dragon Council and Silver Dragon Paladins.

If you defeat this group of Shahua fishmen, another group will occupy the territory of this group of Shahua fishmen, and there is a high probability that they will continue to hate you and oppose you. As long as you fail to kill all the Shahua fishmen in the ocean, there will always be Shahua fishmen as your enemies and opponents, and they will be impossible to defend against and extremely annoying.

Unless you can intimidate these sea demons with absolute strength and terror, they will submit to you on the surface, or at least will not oppose you openly.

"Hehe," the mercenary with strange tattoos all over his body laughed and said nonchalantly, "This group of stupid and ignorant fishmen have offended the lord of the Golden Land and the dragon group that commands the Golden Land."

"The dragons have issued a hunting order against the Shahua fishmen. Each fishman's head can be exchanged for 20 coppers at the public security station in the Golden Seaport Town, and each living Shahua fishman can be exchanged for 50 coppers. Although the price of a single Shahua fishman is indeed not high, there are countless of these stupid monsters in the sea."

The mercenary patted his chest proudly and said, "Every fleet now treats these Shahua fishmen as shiny gold coins. They are our only fun and activity on the sea. I saved a lot of money because of these fishmen, a sum of money that can let those women spread their legs as they please for a whole month!"

"Damn it, you confiscated my weapons. Can you give them back to me?" The village chief Faan's Adam's apple moved unconsciously. He felt that he might be able to save some money for himself before reaching the dragon's territory.

"Tsk, can't you see that I can't even squeeze in?" the tattooed mercenary rolled his eyes and sneered, stretching out his bulging arms to show off his huge muscles.

……

The copper dragon Alfred and the bronze dragon Alina followed the direction that Charon had pointed out and flew north along the coast from Alfred's territory.

They crossed the mountains and saw dangerous beasts in the Endless Mountains staring at them, the thorn-tailed mountain cats that hunt dragons. This legendary creature would always sneak around when it didn't want the dragons to find it. But this thorn-tailed mountain cat obviously didn't care about the two young dragons, so it followed the two dragons openly all the way.

The two young dragons did not dare to provoke this strange legendary creature. This creature was extremely vengeful. Although no matter how strong the thorn-tailed mountain cat was, it could not hurt the dragon as long as it did not land on the ground, the dragon did not want to be targeted by this extraordinary hunter.

After all, this small-minded legendary creature had once sneaked into the dragon territory and successfully hunted down an adult bronze dragon.

After shaking off the thorn-tailed mountain cat, the two bronze dragons became more cautious and often flew after the fleets traveling on the sea routes. However, when they stopped to rest one time, the two young dragons encountered a group of storm giants.

Fortunately, although these storm giants, like other giants, are descendants and creations of the Titans, they do not have the bloody hatred and hostility that the Titans and dragons have when they meet. What belongs to the Titans belongs to the Titans, and what belongs to the giants belongs to the giants.

Moreover, the two young dragons are both metallic dragons, and the Storm Giants also take into account the traditions of these metallic dragons. So even when the Copper Dragon Alfred and the Bronze Dragon Alina proposed to rest for a night in the Storm Giants' territory, the group of Storm Giants agreed.

Moreover, the Storm Giant enthusiastically invited the two young dragons to share dinner. Of course, the young dragons would not refuse this invitation. Regardless of the curiosity of the bronze dragons, they naturally like to learn about other intelligent creatures. Even the copper dragon Alfred is a chatterbox who likes to talk. Only the brass dragons among the metal dragons have a bad taste. Brass dragons prefer to listen to other people's stories. Moreover, these brass dragons often take the initiative to catch adventurers and bards to tell stories for themselves under the drive of loneliness. If the story does not satisfy the brass dragon, then the captured adventurer and bard must keep telling stories and cannot leave.

There is a legend about a bard who was extremely unlucky and was captured by a brass dragon with a weird personality. No matter how hard he tried, he could not satisfy the dragon and was forced to stay in the dragon's lair for one thousand and one days. It is said that the villain in the story of One Thousand and One Nights that is passed down among mortals was based on this brass dragon with a weird personality.

"Ah, you are talking about those five-colored dragons that passed through the territory some time ago," the leader of the storm giants sat cross-legged on the ground, his upper body still parallel to the two squatting young dragons.

In the eyes of the storm giants, even if several decades had passed, it was probably only some time ago, so the two young dragons did not seem surprised.

"That group of dragons is very interesting. The leader of the group even talked to me. He strongly invited me to settle in his territory, saying that there is a more beautiful and richer sea waiting for us there than here. If I hadn't been too lazy to move, I might have led my tribe there to keep those five-colored dragons company."

The storm giant's dull voice was no less powerful than that of the dragon. He was roasting a huge sea fish in his hands, with sizzling oil dripping and a burnt aroma emanating.

The young storm giant on the side licked his lips and was eager to eat. These meats were also delicious snacks for the storm giants.

Bronze dragon Alina's eyes sparkled with curiosity. Although the Storm Giants and the Titans had a different attitude towards dragons, they were not friendly towards the five-colored dragons. But she was surprised that they would actually want to keep the five-colored dragons company.

So the young female dragon asked the old giant leader: "What is so special about that group of dragons that they have won your favor? With your strength and tribe, you should be able to easily defeat those young dragons and occupy their territory."

The old storm giant shook his head, and the huge sound was like the thunder before the storm. "Among the dragons, although the red dragon as the leader is the most powerful, the other dragons are not in awe of it, but obey it from the bottom of their hearts. This proves that the red dragon is a very successful leader."

"As for defeating those dragons, young bronze dragon, do not be defined by the justice and kindness written on parchment or in the mouths of those hypocritical people. To survive and grow in this world, you need not only your own strength, but also help from others. This is the experience I, Old Maide, have gained over countless years."

Bronze Dragon Alina nodded. Bronze dragons are always more convinced by the words of powerful predecessors. This is due to the good life education and habits of bronze dragons since childhood.

The reason why those five-colored dragons do not have this habit and are arrogant and conceited is also related to the upbringing habits of their own race. Many evil dragons that have been abandoned since childhood do not know the existence of weapons like the Fang Tian Hua Ji, otherwise every evil dragon would be proud of forging such a weapon.

The next day, the two young dragons set out on their journey again. Along the way, they encountered many dangerous creatures, as well as some friendly magical creatures. Most of them had impressions of the dragons that had passed by before.

For example, a group of woodland elves spoke harshly to two young dragons because the former dragon group wanted to uproot the tree of life they planted in the forest.

Of course, if it weren't for the faint aura of the holy realm emanating from the leaders of this group of forest elves, the Copper Dragon Alfred would also want to pull out the newborn Tree of Life.

Greed drives all dragons. Even metallic dragons are no better than colored dragons. The Tree of Life can bring many benefits to the creatures living beside it.

Bathing in the breath of the Tree of Life for a long time, the dragon will also gain a certain amount of life growth and strengthening. Not to mention that the mature young leaves of the Tree of Life are also a very useful magical material, and the breath of life contained can sometimes be used as a healing potion. For a dragon to own the Tree of Life is equivalent to holding a small vein that produces gold coins.

After several months of long-distance flight, the two young dragons vaguely sensed the presence of a strong dragon aura in the vast area ahead.

A dragon does not need to mark its territory with the smell of urine like ordinary wild beasts do. Instead, the field it emits from its body will come into contact with the field of the world for a long time, naturally leaving behind the dragon's unique scent.

So even though they were far apart, the two young dragons could still sense the vast world ahead, where there existed a group of sufficiently active dragons.

"Look, Alina, in the distance there are jackals clearing the land like the humans, and some are patrolling their territory. It's incredible that these ignorant and lazy monsters are so orderly. You see, I'm right, right?"

The copper dragon Alfred was very proud and pleased. The better the Territory of Charon performed, the more face he seemed to have.

"There are some things that are unbelievable to the dragons," Bronze Dragon Alina has always looked down on these disorderly, chaotic and ignorant monsters. In her eyes, these monsters are all destroyers of order and are extremely difficult to manage.

Even if the dragon's power was used to suppress these monsters, they would not be so serious, because their nature was hard to change. But in the territory of the Gogmora dragon group, they became a member of the order in the territory, which made her admire the entire dragon group.

"Let's go down and take a look. There are some gnolls fighting with forest trolls. The gnoll leader looks like a powerful guy. Maybe he knows more." Bronze Dragon Alina signaled Alfred to follow her.

Puff, the werewolf leader Yugu pulled out his updated hunting rifle from the fallen troll corpse. The gun tip, flashing with sharp light, looked even more dangerous after being stained with blood.

He was very satisfied with this weapon. It was lighter than the previous three-headed flail and could kill faster. He could use this spear to kill in the troll tribe for a day and a night without feeling tired.

Yugu scanned the jungle and confirmed that there was no troll coming to the territory to cause trouble or poaching. He nodded with satisfaction and was about to speak in the language of the gnolls, but forced himself to restrain himself and switched to the common language to give orders to his warriors.

"Drag these rotten forest trolls back and treat them as gifts from the gnolls to the goblin tribe. We have just become the dragon's followers, so we should build good relations with other followers."

"These stinking forest trolls, maybe even the goblins don't like the smell," the werewolf spellcaster behind him hesitated. These trolls were covered with colorful mosses, and the stench they emitted was comparable to some swamps in the forest that had been deposited for countless years. Perhaps only the carrion vultures on the grassland could bear to eat the corpses of the trolls.

"It's okay. Let's ask the goblin tribes first. If even the goblin tribes don't want us, we can drag the corpses of these trolls to the dragon orchard. Lady Antajena has been paying a lot of attention to the orchard recently. The corpses of these trolls can be used as fertilizer for Lady Antajena to cultivate fruit trees."

The gnoll Yougu replied nonchalantly that the current goblin tribe has almost become a garbage recycling site for the dragon's followers, and the saying "If you don't eat, you give it to the dogs" has changed to "If you don't eat, you give it to the goblins."

Whoosh, a strong sound of wind came from overhead, even the thick branches that had grown for countless years were weighed down by the strong wind. Two young dragons came from the distant sky and hovered in the air in front of the werewolves.

The gnoll Yougu's eyes focused, and his momentum, which had just been restored from killing, rose again. He signaled his spellcasters to prepare to release the birds, crows and vultures that were to deliver the message, while he tightly gripped his weapons and took the initiative to greet the young dragon in the sky.

"Noble true dragon coming from afar, stop your steps. The territory ahead belongs to the dragon group. If you rashly enter, the dragon group will regard it as an act of invasion."

The gnoll Yougu said in a deep voice that he felt that perhaps today was the time to show his loyalty to the red dragon. As for the two young dragons in front of him, with his strength, he could try to drag them until the dragon group came to help. As long as he didn't confront them head-on, he was much more flexible in the forest than these two dragons.

The copper dragon Alfred and the bronze dragon Alina looked at each other, and they both thought to themselves why the other side was not afraid of them. And judging from the actions of the werewolf, he actually wanted to fight with the two young dragons.

However, the two dragons were metal dragons after all, not those five-colored dragons that would fight at the slightest disagreement. So the copper dragon Alfred and the bronze dragon Alina landed on the ground, indicating that they had no intention of invading the territory.

"Gnoll, I admire your courage, but Alina and I have no intention of offending the dragon's territory. Instead, we are here to find my friend, Kalon Gogmora, who will welcome us."

The copper dragon Alfred explained to the gnoll in front of him that dragons always admire loyal and brave followers, and copper dragons and bronze dragons are no exception. It was rare for them to put away their high-handed attitude towards such despised monsters.

The gnoll Yougu nodded, but did not relax. Instead, he said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "I am just a new follower of my Lord Kalon. I have no way of knowing this information. I will send a message to other followers via flying birds and ask them to report it to the dragon lords."

"Perhaps the two noble dragons can also go to the Golden Seaport Town and register their purpose at the government office there. The government officer, Lady Fafna, is qualified to bring the two noble dragons to the Dragon's Nest to meet our Lord."

Bronze dragon Alina and copper dragon Alfred looked at each other, nodded, and then said to the gnoll Yougu, "Well, we won't make it difficult for you. We just want to go and see what the territory looks like under the governance of the dragons."

The jackal Yougu then bowed and saluted, then pointed in the direction of the sea and said, "Fly straight from here, and you will see the Golden Seaport Town in about 300 miles, honorable true dragon."

Whoosh, two young dragons flapped their wings and flew away into the distance!

(End of this chapter)