Life is tough, so Honglong resorts to performing?

Chapter 136 Naming and Cultural Tourism

"Your new look really surprised us."

"I thought it would be similar to kobolds; at least it should have some scales..."

Loren looked at the red-eyed creature glaring at him with great interest, casually flicking his tail, his golden vertical pupils full of curiosity.

Before him stood a humanoid creature with features so exquisite they resembled a doll.

She had eyes as clear as rubies, and most of her body was covered with a beautiful layer of silvery-gray down, making her appear slender and elegant. Several structures resembling partially unfolded wings extended from her back.

Overall, this little one is probably only about 1.2 or 1.3 meters tall, well, if you ignore the tuft of hair on her head that sticks up high like an antenna and sways slightly.

Don't compare me to those lowlifes!

The little guy seemed offended.
"This feather structure is a symbol of my divine identity, a further sublimation of my scales, possessing natural cold resistance and flight potential! If any of these kobolds awakens abilities related to me in the future, they might be able to master flight and cold protection!"

Scales turned into feathers? Hmm, from dinosaurs to birds, right? You didn't happen to slip over from some world that believes in evolution, did you...? Loren silently complained to himself.

"Besides, the reason we've ended up like this is mainly your fault!"

The little red-eyed creature stared intently at the red dragon and began to complain.

Your actual age is too young, which means that as your matchmaker, I can only appear in this juvenile form.

"According to that damned contract, I am your complete possession—my age, mind, soul, existence… everything about me is entirely dependent on you. Your contract was designed too meticulously, which is why it has trapped me like this!"

"It seems that the dragon ancestors had quite a few strange encounters with these things..."

Loren seemed thoughtful. Just like those seemingly absurd precautions, the fact that they were specifically written out meant that someone before him must have stumbled upon them.

"Give me a name."

The little guy sighed, his tone softening slightly.

"Only by having a real name can I be considered truly born into this world."

"Naming a child? I'm not good at that. Why don't you come up with one yourself?"

Loren shook his head; he had no confidence in his imagination in this regard.

"I cannot name it myself; it's stipulated in the contract."

She sighed again. After signing the contract, ownership of her real name in this world had been transferred to the red dragon before her; she was left with only the right to use it.

This damn contract! How can they play it like this?! It's absolutely outrageous!
Are there no good people in this vicious world?!
"Is this so..."

Loren fell into deep thought. As a Five-Colored True Dragon, his true name was something he was born with; asking him to choose a name would be far too troublesome.

"You're silver-gray, you used to be a god, now you're... a god-human combination? Plus, you're a soul aggregate... how about we call you 'Gintama'?"

Stumped, Loren began to make things up on the spot.

"reject!"

The little guy immediately objected, his ruby-like eyes widening in surprise.

"This name sounds strangely malicious!"

"Then... what about Gintoki or Gin?"

"I also refuse! I feel like if I have this name, my fur will turn into natural curls, which will be too much trouble to manage!"

The initial absurd suggestion was decisively rejected.

"How is Elizabeth?" Loren asked tentatively.

"This one... is better than the previous one; at least it sounds like a person's name."

She hesitated for a moment.
"If there's no better option, then this will do."

"That's it then, I'm too lazy to think of anything else."

With a thought, Loren imprinted the name Elizabeth into the contract in his mind. As the true name was entered, the ancient contract glowed faintly, and the stone egg, which was now Elizabeth, had its silver-gray fur transform into a well-fitting dress, evolving from a wild, furry creature into a young girl with red eyes and silver hair.

"It's actually quite cute, though."

Loren offered an objective assessment.

"After all, I was once a god, so it is only natural that I possess a flawless physique in the eyes of mortals."

Elizabeth slightly raised her chin, noticing the way the red dragon was scrutinizing her, and couldn't help but let out a soft snort in her heart.

Although the master-servant relationship is clear now, who knows who will have the reins of life in the future if they can control this mortal thing!

She was once a goddess!

"I'm sorry,"

Loren seemed to read her mind, and grinned, revealing a smile with dragon-like features.
"I'm not interested in the smallest bullets. I'd still choose a vulgar male creature with a chest and legs, even if it's not for original recipe chicken."

The little red dragon was speaking strange words that no one could understand, but Elizabeth could sense the general meaning from the lingering echoes of his words and the fluctuations in his emotions, which made her face turn red with anger.

I became this childlike version of myself because of that damned contract of yours!
"It's getting late, it looks like we should head back."

Loren glanced at the sky, then turned his gaze back to the trembling kobold tribe below. Having endured the dragon's might for so long, most of the kobolds had already fainted, leaving only a few strong ones kneeling on the ground, trembling and awaiting their fate.

"We need to find them a new leader, and then send him to Johnny's side."

Loren thought to himself, after all, he had already dealt with that old shaman.

He looked around and picked out a relatively young-looking one from among the kobolds who were still standing.

"Can they adapt to dragon blood? Or, can you induce some beneficial mutation in them?"

Loren turned to Elizabeth and asked.

The other person's smile crumbled, and their expression immediately turned as if they had been insulted.
"Are you underestimating a former god?!"

She stepped forward and gently stroked the kobold's head with her small hand. Silver light shimmered and flowed, and in a moment, a more robust kobold, covered in thick fur, was born.

"From today onwards, you are the new chief of this tribe."

Elizabeth announced in a tone imbued with divine authority,

"You will act and live under the will of the red dragon Loren, and under the will of me, Elizabeth, do you understand?"

"Understood! I swear to serve you both to the death!"

The newly formed leader excitedly expressed his loyalty.

Loren then ordered his entire tribe to migrate to the mines and work alongside the miners there.

"Next, we'll have to deal with you."

Loren's gaze returned to Elizabeth, and he began to consider how to bring her into the city. Although the cities of the Federation did not have city walls and gates, they had a unique urban detection mechanism for those who came from the wilderness seeking refuge.

Its outward manifestation is the federal city resident identity card. People in the city can get around without it without a thing, but newcomers from the wilderness would find it impossible to move an inch without it.

They will not only face various checks and surveillance, but may even be locked onto by the city's covert defense system.

"We need to get her a temporary identity certificate. But how should we do it?"

Little Red Dragon sensed the difficulty.

"According to the intelligent species? She's an unregistered resident of the wilderness, not a naturally recognized intelligent species like the dragon. Even if it were approved, judging by her appearance and age, she'd probably be sent to an orphanage."

Loren mused, "Judging by her looks, there's probably a long line of people wanting to adopt her..."

"If we're talking about animals... it's definitely a Class A protected species, the only one of its kind in the world, its protection level is probably even higher than mine. And this is Greenleaf City, the stronghold of the Green Terror Druids..."

Thinking about this, Loren chuckled to himself. Plus, with conventional storage spaces unable to hold living creatures, trying to fool them would be too difficult.

"Do you have any ideas of your own? Or do you have any special abilities that allow you to bypass the Federation's detection mechanism for alien beings?"

Loren asked, "As a god, you should at least put on a show of strength, right?"

"Not yet."

Elizabeth shook her head.

"After all, I haven't seen how that detection mechanism works in person."

"Then let's split up and act separately."

After thinking for a while, Loren made a decision.
“I’ll go back and find someone to help you get an identity document. If that doesn’t work, I’ll find someone to make a fake one. I’m quite familiar with that.”

"You, for now, should remain inconspicuous and operate within the buffer zone, gathering information as you go. Hmm, I will grant you temporary freedom of movement."

With a thought, Loren brought up the contract panel and set up an intelligence gathering task under the portrait of his magical pet Elizabeth, while also granting her remote access permissions.

"Okay, let's leave it at that for now."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement. She couldn't wait to get away from that wretched red dragon so she could find a way to break the contract.

Of course, she also knew that she did not have that ability at the moment and had to temporarily submit to the other party and wait for the right time. She did not want to experience that strange punishment mechanism of the contract again.

"I will notify you through the contract once the certificate is processed."

"Understood, no need for further explanation, I am a god."

As Elizabeth spoke, she turned and walked into the depths of the wilderness. As an aggregate of divine remnants, coupled with her background from different worlds, she was by no means as weak as she appeared.

"I hope you can really surprise me."

With a slight thought, Loren's mind conjured up images of Elizabeth's activities, magical fluctuations, and even her life state. If she were to try anything funny, that tight-knit contract would once again teach her how to be a god.

"We need to go back too."

Loren spread his wings and soared into the sky. He first returned to the place where he had hidden the magic crystal armor, charged it, put it on, and sped off towards Emerald Leaf City.

Soon, he arrived at that familiar deserted alley again, skillfully grasped at the air, found the doorknob, pulled it open, and the red dragon's figure disappeared at the entrance to the demiplane.

Inside the demiplane safe house given to him by Denise, Loren took out some items from his stomach and put them away. Then he took out his magic crystal terminal to check for any new messages.

"Hyper's album has been released? And he even collaborated with Cuiye City's cultural and tourism department to film a promotional video?"

Looking at the link sent by the other party, Loren took a deep breath, mentally prepared himself, and then clicked on it.

"High-energy warning ahead!"

"Opening Lightning Strike!"

"Who taught you to edit videos like this?!"

A barrage of comments sent a chill down Little Red Dragon's spine. The scene that followed confirmed his suspicions.

The first edited scene was actually a tourist's perspective video of him in the past, when he was trying to scare people by seriously explaining the flight regulations that "improper flying will bring tears to loved ones' eyes."

Looking at his own ridiculous dragon face in the image, Loren felt his claws involuntarily gripping the ground.

This was just the beginning. The following scenes were all famous moments from his air shows and theatrical performances, interspersed with various extremely abstract facial expressions that he himself had never seen before.

Each scene is accompanied by candid photos taken by tourists, mostly funny and abstract moments.

"I didn't think it was anything during the performance, and I could even improvise and add scenes, so why does it feel so embarrassing from a third-person perspective..."

Loren felt his skin beneath the dragon scales getting hot.

"Don't you feel like you're forcing yourself to do something you don't really know how to do?"

"That's because you didn't choose the right background music!"

"Boss, change the disc!"

Three bold lines of text suddenly appeared in the video. Then, the video's style abruptly changed!
As the familiar melody began, it was the same song he played during the recording of the Sisos album. With the support of the rousing music, the edited clip instantly transformed from an abstract, lighthearted performance into a powerful and stylish impact!
The scene shows a red dragon riding on dazzling sparks, drawing elegant trajectories in the air, dancing to the amazement of the audience.

It was his sharp silhouette, a sudden flash of inspiration amidst the heavy rain clouds on the grassland, carrying a terrifying aura that seemed to break through everything.

He rode the swirling snow and swooped down from the summit of the majestic snow-capped mountain, ice crystals and dragon wings tearing through the cold wind, the magnificent music perfectly highlighting the red dragon's seemingly innate, invincible martial power and majesty.

"Holy crap, I can't believe it, this is the same dragon as the one at the beginning!"

"So handsome!"

"It's like a comedic character suddenly becoming serious and then incredibly handsome..."

Loren watched the praise comments scrolling across the screen with delight, instantly forgetting the embarrassment he had just felt.

That's right, I am the handsome and powerful Little Red Dragon, and I'm all about grandeur!
After admiring his own posture for a while, Loren searched for comments praising him in the comment section, enjoying them immensely, before finally putting down the magic crystal terminal.

"With the support of the monk system, I don't need to worry about the impact of rapid growth. It's time to start new physical training. I haven't practiced and learned martial arts techniques for too long."

The little red dragon calmed its mind, adjusted its physical state, and began to truly practice and manipulate the energy called "qi" within its body, following the techniques of the red dragon monk in the Dragon Legacy.

A short while later, Loren stopped and frowned.

"Should we find a new teacher to learn from, or should we put this one aside for now?"

During the recent drill, he discovered a problem. Using Qi to balance his body was not difficult for him, but integrating Qi into his current combat system conflicted with the magic system he was now proficient in, or rather, he was not yet used to it.

He had become accustomed to using various spells to replace what the monk could do with his ki, not to mention that he had also received a down-frequency version of military spells from Cassilia.

"For now, the energy of Qi is to me what the Tiger Talisman is to the Holy Lord—a manifestation of the balance between body and soul. As for its actual application in combat, that will probably be a long time from now."

After much deliberation, Loren finally decided to temporarily set aside the use of Qi as an weapon and continue to use the Dragon Legacy of the Red Dragon Monk as a simple martial art. After all, as the saying goes in his previous life, the more one desires perfection, the less one can truly cleanse one's body.

(End of this chapter)