Volume 4 Chapter 6

Volume 4 + Chapter 6: Won Again!

According to normal reasoning, in the Mythic Era the dragon race was the strongest among all upper races.

So why were they so wary of humans rather than of other upper races?

“Actually, in the Mythic Era, not only dragons—every powerful upper race was extremely wary of humanity,” Xia Lulu added. “Which is why, when the dragons launched a targeted campaign against humans, the other upper races simply stood by and watched.”

“Why would they do that?”

Xia Yi felt even more confused.

If the other upper races chose to stand aside, then that meant, in their eyes, humans were an even greater threat than dragons—so much so that they wouldn’t intervene.

A simple—ending reason…

What could it even be?

Xia Yi was extremely curious.

Xia Lulu finally revealed the answer. “In truth, the reason is very simple: among the strongest upper races, humans had the greatest reproductive ability.”

“It was… because of that?!”

“Yes. Compared to dragons, vampires, elves… and so on, humans’ reproductive capacity was overwhelmingly higher,” Xia Lulu said. “And another thing—humans grow incredibly fast. It takes only a little over ten years from birth to adulthood, whereas other upper races need decades, dragons even need a hundred years. Within upper races, such a growth rate is practically a bug.”

Xia Yi thought it through. Upper races indeed had low fertility—dragons especially found it difficult to produce offspring, and raising even one took ages.

But humans were different.

They could reproduce rapidly, and grow quickly besides. If their numbers began to pile up…

The other upper races’ fear was perfectly reasonable.

In terms of potential, the total fighting strength humans could muster was simply too astonishing.

“Because of this, the First Dragon King of the Mythic Era decided to eliminate humanity preemptively. And the kings of the other upper races, out of fear, refused to ally with humans—instead they allowed the First Dragon King to act. To put it another way, there was a silent consensus among the upper races. Without needing discussion, they all targeted humanity first.” Xia Lulu smiled faintly. 

“Of course, part of this was due to humanity’s own arrogance. If they had understood this earlier and chosen to lie low and develop in secret, who knows what the shape of the world would be today.”

“So that’s how it is.”

Xia Yi finally understood.

“Seems we drifted off-topic. Daughter, did you discover anything in the human world?” Xia Lulu steered the conversation back. “Before, Lucia conducted operations in the human world through the Lawrence family, but the intelligence she gathered was vague. I can only sense that humanity is plotting something.”

“I did!”

Xia Yi nodded.

“Humans are researching hybrids!”

“Hybrids…?”

Xia Lulu frowned in mild shock.

Clearly she had no prior knowledge of this.

“Humans have been actively excavating ruins, even discovering sites from the Mythic Era. From them they’ve obtained legendary sacred weapons and even alchemical techniques from that age.”

“Daughter, you saw this with your own eyes?”

“Yes. I infiltrated the largest human alchemist organization, Rhine Alchemy, and witnessed them create hybrids possessing dragon power. I even entered human Mythic-Era ruins with them.”

Xia Yi organized her thoughts.

“So far, this hybrid project hasn’t made major breakthroughs—there seems to be a technical bottleneck. Most hybrids fail and end up like half-dragon monstrosities.”

“Were there any successful ones?”

“There was one successful case.”

“That’s not good news at all. Creating an intelligent alchemical lifeform—that level of technology is beyond modern alchemy.”

Xia Lulu’s expression grew solemn.

“For humans to attempt stealing dragon power through such means… that truly is frightening. Wait—daughter, how are humans even able to conduct hybrid experiments? To create hybrids, they’d need either living or dead dragons, or dragon blood, right?”

“Well… I don’t know. When I got that far, my identity was exposed so I couldn’t investigate further.” Xia Yi shook her head.

Xia Lulu fell into thought. She had a feeling that things were far from simple.

Dragons rarely left the Dragon Realm, and no outside race currently had the power to invade. So how were humans continuously obtaining research materials?

She sensed there must be a hidden force behind the scenes, secretly supporting humanity’s hybrid experiments.

“Xia Lulu, that’s all I know…”

“It’s fine, daughter. You’ve already done amazingly—gathering information that is important. In the entire Dragon Realm, perhaps only you could’ve done it.” Xia Lulu praised her.

“Heh heh heh!”

Xia Yi stood proudly, hands on hips!

“Daughter, since your identity was exposed, did you run into trouble on your way back?”

“I did run into some trouble, but…”

It was dangerous at first—but fortunately, her inner demon handled it.

Except Xia Yi had no idea how to explain her inner demon to others. It wasn’t something people would easily understand.

She ran a few steps to the side and whispered to herself, “Inner demon? Come out for a moment.”

“Could you meet Xia Lulu? Please?”

“I don’t know how to explain this well…”

No response.

It seemed the inner demon had zero desire to appear—not even a word of refusal. Clearly it had no interest in anyone but Xia Yi.

“Daughter, who are you talking to all by yourself?” Xia Lulu asked curiously.

“N-nothing!”

Xia Yi waved her hands.

Since the inner demon wasn’t coming out, she wouldn’t mention it.

“I did run into a small problem, but nothing major. A bad guy showed up, I beat him up, and then I came back!”

“Good, as long as you’re safe. I was worried you would go to the human world and then never return…”

“How could that happen? Xia Lulu, don’t forget our relationship. You and I are fami—cough—mortal enemies! I said it before—I’m definitely going to wash away my shameful defeat! How could I ever leave the dragon race before I surpass you? That’s the most important thing!”

Wow, I’m amazing!

Xia Yi felt very satisfied.

As expected of me! Even though Xia Lulu tried to win me over with sweet tricks, I resisted!

My will hasn’t wavered at all. As for corruption—nonsense!

Inside and out, I’m still a righteous, hot-blooded manly hero with the pure, unyielding soul of a Sword Saint!

Victory!

“Xia Yi, go ahead to the banquet first. I need to handle some documents and will join soon,” Xia Lulu said.

“Okay, but Xia Lulu, you’re not allowed to be late! If you are… I’ll punish you!”

Leaving those words behind, Xia Yi exited Xia Lulu’s office.

Xia Lulu did not work on documents. Instead, she closed her eyes, exhaustion written on her face, leaning back in her chair as even her breathing grew unsteady.

No one would ever imagine that the Silver Dragon Queen—who ruled the dragons with overwhelming might—would be in such a condition now…

Thud.

Suddenly, the office door swung open. A figure stood at the entrance, silently watching Xia Lulu.