Chapter 119: The Fire Dragon Lays Eggs

“That powerful strength!” Thinking of that gaze, Rod trembled inwardly—was he actually afraid?
“No, I must become the strongest man. How can I be scared by this guy? Absolutely not! Hmph, today I’ll see how you fight against the fire dragon!” Realizing his own fear, Rod shouted loudly in his heart. Gritting his teeth so hard that blood appeared on his lips, he forced that fear out of his mind. With a cold gaze, he quickly left the crowd and headed toward the outside of the Mercenary Association, rushing toward where the fire dragon was.

Although he had never been to the cave where the fire dragon lived, the news of it had spread widely, making it difficult not to know its location. The fighting energy within him ignited at that moment, reaching a critical point. His anger grew uncontrollable as he ran frantically, soon leaving the walls of Iron Bar Town and reaching the outskirts of Collins Forest.

“Over there!” His eyes lit up. After running desperately, he finally caught up with those two annoying guys. Their silhouettes disappeared into the depths of Collins Forest as he looked beyond the city walls.

“As expected, it’s you two~!” With a cold snort, he cautiously rushed forward. Though angry, he wasn’t stupid—at least not yet. He had experienced firsthand just how powerful those two were. Following them recklessly would only lead to death; it would be hard to avoid detection. So Rod chose to head in another direction straight to the fire dragon’s location. Waiting there first was the best approach.

…

“That kid is coming!” What Rod didn’t know at that moment was that despite his careful efforts, he had still been spotted by those two ahead.

Looking at Xue Luo beside him, Tiger sneered before his gaze turned cold. “Foolish brats. It seems humans are all like this! Hehe, ignorant. Xue Luo, shall I go, or shall you?”

“What, aren’t you satisfied after tasting so much blood yesterday? It’s just a kid. Ignore him. Let him come. He can’t hurt us anyway. Do you want to act like those guys?” With a sinister smirk, Xue Luo asked Tiger.

“Hmph, no wonder your four clans can never grow strong. No wonder those six clans act so arrogantly!” With a cold snort, Tiger turned and continued walking, complaining unhappily.

Indeed, if the people of those four clans were willing, with their extremely monstrous strength, they could easily form a tripartite balance of power with the alliance of the five clans and those six bastard clans, and might even surpass them!
“Alright, if you have time to complain, hurry up and leave. That beast seems to be weak right now. Heh, we’ve got good luck. I wonder what it would be like to fight it? I’m really looking forward to it!” Licking his lips, Xue Luo paid no attention to Tiger’s words and instead became intensely interested in the Fire Dragon. They had planned to return to their territory today anyway, as the meeting was scheduled in five days, and there was still much to do, especially at such a critical moment. A single mistake could lead to fierce battles among the fifteen clans, which was not something they wanted to see. The ambitions of those six clans were too great and needed to be restrained.
However, just as they were about to head back to Tielan Town, they suddenly came across this interesting task: a dragon! Although they had heard of them there, they had never had time to deal with them. This was a perfect opportunity to take care of it while it was weak.
“Never mind, let it be its bad luck. I hope that kid knows better and doesn’t cause me trouble. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee anything—I’ll definitely be the first to deal with him!” Turning his head in displeasure and muttering gloomily, Tiger was helpless. Who could blame him when Xue Luo was such a powerful monster right beside him? Though they were of the same rank, he knew that if Xue Luo wanted it, he would turn into a cold corpse within ten minutes.
As the youngest duke of his clan, his status was beyond his reach. Plus, since they needed their help this time, what else could he do?
……
The howling wind kept ringing in his ears. He was running fast, and his combat energy was depleting rapidly. Looking around, he knew from the map that he was almost at the Fire Dragon’s territory. He slowed down, not daring to be careless, took a few deep breaths, and found a safe place to restore his combat energy. He waited for those two to fight the Fire Dragon. Although he couldn’t do much, at least he needed to keep his combat energy to survive.
Diving into meditation, he sent a sliver of his consciousness to monitor the surroundings. Practicing in such a place without patience was tantamount to seeking death.
“Argh…” Not long after starting to meditate, he heard a loud roar, seemingly full of pain.

“Has the fight started? So soon?” His fighting spirit had only recovered to the eighth level, yet already the roar of the fire dragon could be heard. Yes, it was definitely a dragon’s roar—powerful and intense, with such agony that he could feel it even from afar. Other than fighting against that opponent, Rod couldn’t imagine what else could make a fire dragon scream like that.

“Let’s go!” He quickly got up, encouraged himself silently, and rushed toward the source of the sound. This time, he slowed down slightly, being very careful, as if walking through a minefield, afraid of stepping on a landmine.

Using the cover of trees and bushes, he moved nimbly through them and arrived at the source of the sound in no time.

A large cave appeared before him. It was huge, and the inside was invisible. Outside the cave was an open area without trees, only dense grass about half a person’s height. There was an open space at the cave entrance, with grass only on both sides. A faint smell of blood lingered in the area, and upon closer inspection, dark bloodstains could be seen on the grass, already dried by the wind—probably left by mercenaries or adventurers who had come for plunder. “Strange, why is there no one? Did I hear wrong?”

Watching the quiet surroundings, he frowned and muttered to himself. He saw neither the two men nor the sound of the fire dragon, nor any signs of a fight. Otherwise, with such a fierce battle, he would surely have heard it clearly.

“Aw…”
“Boom boom boom…” Another series of screams came, accompanied by violent rolling sounds, and even a slight tremor in the ground could be felt.

“What’s going on?” Rod murmured seriously. What could cause such a giant dragon to scream like this? If no one was fighting it, maybe it was injured yesterday?

“No, could it be?” Suddenly, an idea struck him, and Rod’s expression changed drastically; he almost cried out in shock.

That’s right! He thought it might be that! The fire dragon was laying eggs! Only that could explain such screams. He couldn’t think of any other reason.

“Such good luck?” His eyes gleamed as he smirked and spoke to himself. “It’s laying eggs, Blood Luo. It seems our luck is really good! Hehe, we won’t have to exert any effort now!”

Suddenly, two faint sounds came from afar, prompting Rod to hold his breath and peek through a gap in the grass. Two figures were approaching, making whispering sounds as they walked.

It was those two men. They arrived, and in less than a moment, they were standing less than a hundred meters outside the cave entrance.
“Argh… argh… boom boom boom…” Screams suddenly started in succession, accompanied by intense rolling noises. Whether it was because a critical moment had arrived or because they sensed someone approaching, the sounds carried a hint of unease and urgency.
“What? Shall we attack?” Tiger glanced at the cave and then at Xue Luo beside him, asking for his opinion.
“Attack! What are we waiting for? This is when it’s weakest!” His expression turned cold as a slender black sword appeared out of thin air in his hand, emitting a dark glow that gave off an eerie feeling. Strange patterns flickered across it, and a sinister aura began to spread. The thin man’s strength surged dozens of times in an instant.
“Chi Mang? You really are willing to invest heavily. I heard you hardly ever used this guy before!” Xue Luo’s sword made Tiger pause for a moment before he said with a wry smile.
“Stop talking nonsense. Let’s go!” With a cold snort, he took the lead in attacking, rushing toward the figure who was moving swiftly.
“Is that so? Then I can’t be stingy either. Battle Tiger, come on! Let’s slay the dragon!”
With a slight smile, he moved his arm, and the large sword on his back drew forth with a clear sound. Its cold gleam revealed that the blade alone was already as tall as Rod’s shoulders—without even counting the hilt, it far surpassed Rod’s height.
He pushed off with his feet, chasing after them like an arrow leaving the bowstring.
“It’s starting!” Rod watched nervously, wide-eyed, afraid of missing any detail. He wanted to see how this battle between the strong would unfold.
“A barrier? It’s strong. Tiger, break it!” Yet the battle ahead didn’t start right away. From afar, they could faintly hear the man with the conical hat speaking to the burly man.
He was puzzled for a moment before understanding. After all, the Fire Dragon was a high-level magical beast. It was not only powerful but also intelligent—at least as intelligent as humans, if not more so. With the enemy watching closely and its own offspring about to be born, how could it not be prepared?
“Alright, leave it to me!” He stepped back three times, waiting until the man with the conical hat retreated. Then he clasped his hands, took a deep breath, and suddenly roared as he raised the sword above his head, swinging it toward the cave entrance with fierce momentum.