"Muria!" A giant dragon with bright red scales looked at Muria with delight, then spread its wings and flew towards him, only to be mercilessly grabbed by the tail and dangled in the air by Muria.
"Jessica, you seem to have had quite a good time lately." Muria looked at the plump dragon he had caught, unable to hide his astonishment. In all his life, he had never seen such a fat dragon.
Dragons, being high-level creatures capable of digesting even soil, normally could not become obese due to their highly efficient digestive systems. However, there are always exceptions in the world.
"How many good things did the Dragon Princess feed you?" Muria could hardly imagine how much high-energy material it must have taken to turn a sleek red dragon into a red pig.
What made Muria even more helpless was that Jessica was not the only one. There were five more dragons that had returned with her, each with a round and stout body, looking plump and robust, almost greasy.
Damn it, Muria couldn't help but curse silently. The Dragon Princess, in her efforts to subdue his dragons, had resorted to feeding them excessively.
Seeing Jessica and the other five chubby dragons in this state, Muria couldn't say much. After all, they were being treated well. It wasn't like they were being skinned alive.
"I did eat a lot of good things, but I never succumbed or signed a contract with that dragon princess," Jessica hastily explained, seeing Muria's displeased look.
If Jessica had been a wild red dragon, she might have already succumbed under the Dragon Princess's aggressive tactics. But she wasn't a wild dragon.
Jessica always remembered that she belonged to someone. Muria had not signed a contract with her out of trust or perhaps confidence in his own strength. This didn't mean she could freely sign contracts with others and betray Muria.
So, no matter how many benefits the Dragon Princess offered or how many rare potions she fed her, Jessica never forgot her identity and often reminded the other five dragons. They managed to eat all the sweet coatings while spitting out the bullets, successfully turning into six greasy pig dragons.
"Not bad!" Muria put Jessica down and, with a stern face, gave her a rare compliment. Honestly, when he saw these six dragons coming out of the teleportation array, he almost couldn't believe it. If he hadn't been familiar with their auras, he would have thought the Dragon Princess was fooling him.
"For the next few years, you six won't need to eat. Only when you return to a normal dragon's physique can you resume eating," Muria said, issuing a seemingly harsh order.
Dragons are creatures at the top of the food chain. Muria would not allow his dragons to become pigs.
"Oh!" Jessica responded quietly, sensing Muria's current power. Despite gaining some strength from her gluttony, reaching Soul Intent Rank Three, she still couldn't resist Muria.
"Transform into human form and follow me." Muria led the six transformed, chubby young men and women to continue discussions with Gladys and Andrew about the locust civilization.
"Andrew, go on." Muria sat down while the six fat dragons stood obediently behind him. Once they should have been a beautiful sight with their handsome looks, but now they were simply unwatchable; being overweight ruined everything. Beauty is indeed fleeting.
"Your Highness, because your target this time is a developed medium-sized civilization, I recommend purchasing additional offensive warships to minimize casualties. After all, giants take a long time to grow," Andrew advised.
"Feel free to outfit the fleet with whatever you think is necessary," Muria generously waved his hand. "Consider all the money as a loan from you. I'll repay you double when I win this duel."
"Muria, you should be cautious. This locust civilization is not weak. According to our intelligence, they have thirteen Legendary-ranked individuals, and that's assuming the Dragon Princess hasn't concealed any information. If we account for hidden strong individuals, the number might exceed twenty," Gladys warned him kindly. "Never underestimate a developed civilization. They might possess incredibly powerful weapons. In the empire's colonial history, there have been numerous instances where entire armies were annihilated due to underestimating their enemies. Plus, the void is full of unexpected dangers, and intense energy clashes might attract void behemoths of star-swallowing proportions."
"I understand. I heard that when entering different worlds, our powers might be suppressed to varying degrees. But no matter, even if my power is halved, I can still crush these locusts," Muria said confidently. Worlds differ, and in the same rank, Erathia's humans could overpower those from medium worlds. This is the advantage provided by their world. Thus, the locusts' legends were naturally weaker than Erathia's.
Given this, Muria believed he could take on ten at once. But if there were high-level Legends, it might just be a one-on-one battle.
"Based on the Dragon Princess's evaluation, Your Highness Muria, you don't need to worry about high-end combat power. What you need to be concerned about is whether your legion can adapt to the alien environment and fight effectively. After all, your giants and dragons have never entered an alien world," Gladys pointed out.
"No need to worry about that. I'll select one of the locusts' small colonial worlds for them to conduct an adaptation war. With their golden physiques, it won't take long to adjust," Muria assured. For initial cross-world colonization, the minimum strength requirement was gold rank, capable of regenerating severed limbs and surviving most harsh environments, even the Abyss.
Silver and iron-ranked creatures joining cross-world colonization were essentially seeking death. Iron-ranked creatures might die from alien viruses or bacteria before even landing, without any chance of developing immunity. However, in the current era, with the development and democratization of magical rune technology, even iron-ranked beings could participate in cross-world colonization.
I read the comments, and some think the Dragon Princess provoking Muria should be slapped to death because her backing isn't as strong as the protagonist's. She should be humble before him instead of acting arrogantly. Essentially, as a weaker party, she shouldn't provoke a stronger one, and the stronger party shouldn't tolerate such provocations.
Indeed, so I revised the story. The protagonist gives the Dragon Princess a minor punishment, making it more reasonable. As for slapping her to death – that's truly brainless behavior, turning a situation he could handle himself into one requiring intervention from his parents or elders, showcasing utter incompetence.
Some comments suggest that with the protagonist's power, even killing her would be fine since he has many epic-level backers. If he really offended them, once the protagonist grew stronger, he could destroy their empire. Killing an entire family over a trivial matter is a clichéd fantasy trope, starting with a small issue and continuously escalating. It's a dumb trope I won't touch.
The Dragon Princess harbors no malice towards the protagonist. She's just a bit willful and headstrong. Is that a reason to kill her? She's not like the mouthy Celestial heir.
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter]