Hearing this, Friel paused.
"How come I didn't know?"
Dragons care quite a bit about their image, especially Five-Color Dragons; they all have a certain amount of vanity. Who doesn't want to look a bit better?
Jona Velli gave a light chuckle.
"Hehe~ Think about the other Red Dragons in your Inheritance Memory. Aren't most of their scales dull? That's caused by being angry every single day.
Now look at you—the color is so vibrant. You wouldn't want such beautiful scales to turn out like that, would you??"
Friel had a "believe you my foot" look on her face.
"They take baths in magma every day, plus their dragon scales thicken as they get older. You're trying to fool a White Dragon here."
Being exposed didn't embarrass Jona Velli; instead, she put on a look of deep distress.
"As a friend, how could I possibly lie to you?"
Now Friel hesitated a bit.
"Really?"
"Mhm."
Jona Velli put on a sincere expression.
"As a friend, Friel, you actually doubted me. I'm just so heartbroken, waaaah."
Jona Velli made a show of crying, leaving Friel completely at a loss.
"Ah, I..."
"Heehee~ Just kidding."
Jona Velli suddenly beamed with joy, making Friel want to slap her across the face.
'This scum...'
As if she felt it wasn't exciting enough, Jona Velli reached her dragon claw toward her reverse scale. This is one of a dragon's most vital parts, usually isolating perception, as the heart lies just beneath it.
Just as Friel wondered what kind of trouble Jona Velli was up to now, her dragon eyes suddenly narrowed into vertical slits.
A shiny little golden cutie peeked out halfway—it was a gold coin!
Seeing Friel's reaction, Jona Velli grinned with her dragon mouth contentedly, then tucked the gold coin back in.
A look was enough; she didn't dare take it out. If she did, this Red Dragon would definitely try to snatch it. After all, gold coins were essentially circular succubi to dragons—hard to resist.
Placing it back under the reverse scale was relatively safe. The reverse scale is the most important spot for all dragons, and they would never allow another dragon to touch it. Once touched without permission, it meant a fight to the death.
Jona Velli didn't think Friel would choose a deathmatch over a single gold coin.
"Want it?"
Hearing this idiotic question, Friel really wanted to pry open Jona Velli's skull to see if it was filled with dragon dung.
Was she joking? What dragon wouldn't want a circular succubus?
"Don't play games with me."
"Good, straightforward enough. I need your dragon blood to convert more Dragon Vein Followers."
Friel frowned at this.
To a proud dragon, bestowing their power upon these weak races was inherently unpleasant.
If it weren't for the fear of something going wrong during her slumber, Friel wouldn't have chosen to convert any Gnolls back then.
But after some consideration, Friel nodded.
"Fine. Give me the little cutie after the conversion."
Jona Velli wagged her dragon finger, and Friel's gaze turned cold.
"What do you mean?"
Seeing Friel on the verge of exploding, Jona Velli teased her.
"Don't be so angry. I didn't say I wouldn't give it to you, but not this specific one.
In a few months, a human merchant caravan will come here, and they'll likely attack my Dependents.
When that happens, we'll kill them and take their little cuties. What do you think?"
Friel looked suspicious at Jona Velli's words.
"How do you know that?"
"Don't worry about that."
"Then what does that have to do with my dragon blood?"
Jona Velli thought to herself that this girl was really hard to fool.
"Because I've decided not to act for now. We'll let our Dependents experience a battle to accelerate their growth, and the little cuties we seize will be distributed based on the Dependents' military merits.
We'll only step in when they face something they can't handle.
Think about it: if the humans are in a desperate situation and a very strong person suddenly appears—their beacon of hope—and then we step in to crush that hope and grant them despair, wouldn't that be exciting?"
Friel grinned with her dragon mouth at Jona Velli's words.
For a Five-Color Dragon, this kind of scenario was most delightful.
"Fine, I agree. Let's go now."
Seeing Friel agree, Jona Velli knew her bluff had worked.
So, she led Friel out of the cave and flew toward the nearby White Crystal City.
Before they even landed, they saw Gris lying in the square like a big boss, waiting to be fed by the Dependents.
"This guy... he really knows how to enjoy himself."
The changes in the sky caught the monsters' attention. Once they clearly saw the two massive dragons, they all fell to their knees in terror.
Gris lay on the lounge chair with his eyes closed and mouth wide open. After a few seconds with no monster feeding him, he spoke up in dissatisfaction.
"What's going on? Are you all trying to rebel?"
There was no response, and Gris opened his eyes irritably.
"Oh ho, today I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of my Older Sister..."
He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes instantly clearing as a fawning smile appeared on his face.
"Hehehe~ Older Sister, you're here."
Thud!
Standing in front of Gris, Jona Velli expressionlessly punched him on the head. The immense force shattered the entire lounge chair, and Gris tumbled to the ground.
"Older Sister, what are you doing?!"
"You're the very definition of corruption."
Gris stood up and scratched his head.
"Corruption? What the heck is that?"
Jona Velli felt as powerless as if she'd punched a bale of cotton. Just then, a little girl with long fiery-red hair landed from the sky beside her.
Friel's face was a mask of unhappiness, impatience, and annoyance, looking like she wanted the world to end because she was tired.
For dragons, transforming into such weak, inferior species was inherently irritating, except for the boring Metal Dragons.
Metal Dragons would shapeshift into humans, integrate into their society, observe their behavior, and live among them.
But there was no choice; the City-state was too small. If Friel didn't transform into a human, she wouldn't be able to move around at all.
The monsters kneeling around were already scared witless, especially the leaders of the three tribes who had been summoned.
Daru, the Minotaur leader, still remembered how he was happily playing with two beautiful cows when this group of dragon-kin suddenly stormed their tribe. Before he could react, a strong Frost Kobold grabbed him by the throat and asked fiercely:
"Will you submit voluntarily, or do I have to beat you into submission?"
He was scared limp on the spot, leading to some ongoing issues even now.
Friel scanned the area and announced haughtily:
"I want these guys."
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