Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 522 Monsters in the Hidden Barrier of Famine
Han Hai's mealtimes always attract Long Ya's special attention.

Ensuring that people have enough to eat seems to be an obsession of Lord Chen Mo. As a result, in the vast sea, in every prefecture, city, town, township, and village, let alone people starving to death, even if the people under his command suffer from malnutrition, the official in charge of that area is basically finished.

Guided by this ideology, even a delegation traveling thousands of miles north to visit the vast, icy plains would be made sure to have ample food supplies.

It's a break from the hectic work schedule, and most staff members, in order to make the most of their time, simply grab a self-heating meal and leave.

However, Xia Chenghui, who was eager to extract information, patiently sat down with the Crimson Dragon Chieftain Alex and then instructed the cooks in the group to prepare a sumptuous meal.

With such low ambient temperature and insufficient air pressure at high altitudes, it was difficult to cook food properly. Fortunately, the delegation had all the necessary cooking equipment, and they set up a high-heat stove, a sealed pot, and a pressure valve.

To avoid accidentally stepping on the humans around him, Alex had to adopt an extremely awkward posture.

He curled up on the snow outside the old cave, sticking only his head in, resting his big head on his two front paws, as close to the ground as possible so he could hear what Xia Chenghui was saying.

His large, vertical pupils would occasionally glance at the busy cooks, his throat would bob every ten seconds or so, and he would occasionally make a muffled swallowing sound.

"You guys travel so far and still bring a chef... that's really... very rare!"

"Our lord said, food is the most important thing for the people! This applies to all races and ethnic groups!"

As Xia Chenghui answered with a smile, he took the large pot handed to him by the cook, stirred the huge chunks of meat in the pot with a long-handled ladle, and pressed them down hard, as if to check if they were cooked through.

Pressing down with the bottom of the spoon, the meat chunks quickly cracked open, revealing the dark brown fibrous tissue inside. Broth seeped out along the cracks, and the aroma of oil wafted up, rapidly condensing into a visible white mist in the extremely cold air.

The fragrance followed the dragon's breath and went straight into Alex's nostrils.

Alex's pupils contracted slightly, and his front paws unconsciously scratched at the ground, leaving several shallow white marks on the hard rock.

"It's almost ready to eat!"

Xia Chenghui set the long-handled ladle aside and handed the pot over.

"Here, this pot is for you. It's a bit small, but there's nothing we can do. The food we brought is barely enough to fill a dragon's teeth. It's just a token gesture!"

Xia Chenghui's smile was sincere, making Alex's already red head appear even redder. The Crimson Dragon Clan Chief tried his best to maintain his last bit of composure and said softly, "Then...then I'll have a bite."

As he spoke, he poured the whole pot of meat and broth into his mouth.

This shows how powerful the dragons are; they are completely unafraid of being burned!

The scalding food slid quickly down the wide mouth, and because each piece was so small, there was almost no room to chew, so it fell straight into the esophagus.

The long, dragon-tongue-like creature curled up in the pot, licking every nook and cranny clean, making it look even cleaner than the legendary sea serpent's dishwashing immortal.

The huge, scarlet tongue of flesh hooked the last small piece of carrot and pulled it out of the pot with a soft, crisp "snap".

Red Dragon licked his lips, seemingly still savoring the experience.

Alex had never eaten vegetarian food before; those earthy, raw-smelling things were simply nauseating.

Dragons are noble predators at the top of the food chain, how could they eat those dirty grass stems and leaves?
But now the Red Dragon Clan Chief knows that he doesn't hate vegetarian food at all; he just hates unpalatable food.

The dishes made by the cooks of the Hanhai Army, whether meat or vegetarian, have transcended the realm of food and entered the realm of art.

Of course, this was purely Alex's own imagination. In reality, in such an environment, even the chefs of Han Hai couldn't unleash a tenth of their skills.

However, for the dragons who have been starving for a long time, food with heavy oil, heavy salt, and a mixture of various seasonings and MSG can be considered the most delicious food in the world.

Alex reluctantly put down the pot. Despite having eaten such a large pot of carrot and meat stew, he felt even hungrier.

There was a small, warm current in my stomach, gentle and comforting, but it wasn't enough, far from enough.

The dragon's body was calling out, roaring, and craving more heat.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

As the old saying goes on Earth, the instinct of living beings lies in eating and shivering.

The True Dragon Clan is no exception.

The dragon race is now in a very bad state.

He was hungry and weak, with no energy whatsoever.

In essence, through this period of understanding, the most pressing problem facing the Dragon Clan has been clearly laid out before the Han Hai delegation.

It's not material, not magic, not even reproduction.

It's food.

In the desolate Icefield, the scarcity of food far exceeds everyone's imagination.

According to Alex, there are currently 57 living dragons in the dragon race, including 31 adults, 16 sub-adults, and 10 juveniles.

Even with the most careful control, the basic daily energy consumption of each adult dragon is equivalent to five to six percent of its own weight.

Based on the current average weight of 160 tons after "weight loss," a single adult dragon would need to consume eight to ten tons of food every day.

Although the wrasse is an omnivorous species, it still needs a sufficient supply of meat to ensure that it can hunt.

There are 312 registered wyverns in the dragon's nest, more than two-thirds of which are adults. Each wyvern requires about ten tons of food per day, of which at least half is meat.

The pseudo-dragons are the most numerous, exceeding 1,200, but they are small in size, averaging only two to three tons, and are not picky eaters. They eat meat, fish, crabs, shrimps, scallops, seaweed, and algae—anything can become their food. In fact, they are the group that contributes the most effort but consumes the least in the dragon's nest.

Xia Chenghui made a rough estimate based on the above figures. Under normal circumstances, Longya would need at least 6,000 tons of food per day, of which at least 2,800 tons would be meat.

This startled the Han Hai delegation.

How could dragons obtain such a massive food supply by hunting on the ice fields and in the sea?

Of course not.

In fact, the reason why the entire dragon race has been able to maintain its current population size, remaining almost unchanged for the past hundred years, is because food has reached a state of extreme equilibrium.

"The Icefield Dragon Agorax discovered an undercurrent in the northern sea, an undercurrent with temperature."

"It was thanks to this undercurrent that the seaweed and algae on the seabed were nourished, and that some fish and other marine life were brought along, which allowed the dragons to survive with great difficulty."

Faced with this situation, Xia Chenghui asked, "If that's the case, why not reduce the number of whelps? Whelps consume far more food than true dragons!"

"No, we still need to hunt and guard against the sea creatures."

"There aren't enough of them to control them!"

Ok……

The undercurrent that the dragons spoke of was actually a warm ocean current that extended from the deep sea and made a bend in the shallow waters.

Undoubtedly, the ocean is the territory of the sea creatures. Although the sea creatures are not very willing to come to such an extremely cold place, this does not mean that the dragons can hunt marine resources indiscriminately.

The Icefield Dragon Ancestor once led the dragons and sea creatures in several battles, and with their significantly superior individual strength, they managed to seize this hunting ground. However, if they cannot maintain a certain level of military force, the sea creatures may launch an attack on the dragons at any time.

In order to seize grain, they had to raise an army. But if they raised too many soldiers, they would run out of grain, so they had to seize even more grain, which in turn required even more soldiers. The dragon race once fell into this vicious cycle.

It wasn't until the True Dragon Clan, due to a lack of "refining materials," experienced a significant drop in maturity and fertility rates that this balance was maintained by sheer chance.

True dragons rely on hibernation, sub-dragons rely on starvation, and pseudo-dragons rely on eating grass, barely sustaining the already precarious population.

“We go out hunting every day.”

When talking about the predicament of survival, Alex's voice carried a weary numbness.

"Several ethnic groups, along with some sub-dragons and pseudo-dragons, have to set off before dawn, fly to that damned sea, break a big hole in the ice, and then go down to retrieve it."

"Whatever we catch is sent back to Dragon Cliff. What can be eaten directly is eaten, and what can't be eaten directly must be prepared. Even the leftover bones and fish scales have to be shredded and mixed into the seaweed for the pseudo-dragons, to add a little bit of meat to their diet." "Only when we're exceptionally lucky, encountering a large school of fish or a group of giant sea monsters, can we awaken the hibernating dragons, give them a meal, and then let them sleep again..."

It is indeed a bit bleak.

In fact, Xia Chenghui had several questions stuck in his mind, but he forced himself to keep them from asking.

Were there any dragons, or even real dragons, that starved to death?
With so few dragon offspring and a lack of refining materials, are there any cases of abandoned infants?

When food supplies are insufficient, will they use pseudo-dragons or even wyverns as food?
After much thought, I've decided that it's best not to ask about some things for now.

It's important to understand the important matters.

"By the way, when we talked about that land across the Endless Sea, why did you all have those strange expressions? Is it some kind of secret that can't be told?"

"If you really can't tell me, that's fine. Just tell me directly, and I won't ask again."

"We're already so close, we're friends, I don't want to put you in a difficult position!"

Upon hearing this, Alex immediately lost face.

"He who eats another's food is bound to him; he who takes another's gift is bound to him." I've already accepted both food and gifts, and yet they still say they don't want to put their friend in a difficult position...

Isn't this clearly making things difficult for his friend?

The Red Dragon Clan Chief struggled internally for a moment, but quickly convinced himself.

"This is indeed a secret of the dragon race, but there's nothing that can't be told to a friend."

Alex slowly turned his head, casting his gaze once more upon the wyverns gliding gently down the mountainside, and slightly raised his long chin.

The wingspan of those creatures trembled slightly in the cold wind of the icy plain, each flap of their wings stirring up a small vortex of snow mist.

"I've already given you a hint once!"

The red dragon's vertical pupils narrowed slightly, shrinking into a thin slit.

"There are indeed many powerful monsters on that continent."

"It's... the mother race of those wyverns!"

Xia Chenghui was taken aback upon hearing this, and turned to follow Alex's gaze towards the mountainside.

A group of dragons, flapping their enormous wings, slowly rose from beneath the ice cliff and then swept towards the distant sea. Their bizarre shapes and ferocious sharp tails pierced the sky like a strange weapon, gradually disappearing into the distance.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

That evening, the Han Hai Intelligence Department reported the compiled information to the Supreme Command, and Chen Mo immediately convened this special military meeting.

Because there were no planned military operations abroad in the short term, all of Han Hai's senior generals, except for those who went to the ice field with the delegation, were present.

As the nominal new head of the intelligence department, Xia Yuanchen, a first-term student and director of the Han Hai Inspectorate, briefed Commander-in-Chief Chen Mo, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Liu Shuang, and the others present on the latest situation.

"Currently, the sources of information are relatively limited and lack corroborating evidence, but Commander Xia Chenghui at the front believes that the content said by Alex, the leader of the Crimson Dragon Clan, is highly credible and can be used as the main reference for the time being."

"According to Alex, when the dragons were still the dominant species on the continent, they sent out the most powerful warriors of their race to explore the world, including attempting to explore the depths of the endless sea."

Xia Yuanchen's finger swiped across the screen, displaying the satellite cloud image shrouded in mist.

"The dragons also discovered this strange barrier. Just like the information provided by the sea creatures, there is a strange anti-air law there that pulls dragons flying in the sky towards the sea. Thunder and storms seem to be preventing any creature from entering."

"The dragon exploration team circled around for a long time but still couldn't find the end of this barrier. So, the chieftains of the three strongest dragon clans at the time—the blue dragon, the black dragon, and the red dragon—personally led a dozen or so high-ranking dragons from each clan to charge into that thundercloud storm."

"In the end, only the blue dragon chieftain and a small number of heavily wounded dragons managed to break through."

"According to the dragons' descriptions, there is indeed a continent within that storm-isolated area, but before the dragons could investigate the situation on that continent, they were besieged by a large group of monsters."

"In the records of the dragon race, they called this creature the 'Wind Serpent,' a large serpent that rides the wind."

Xia Yuanchen showed a picture of the wind serpent sent back by the visiting group, which was reconstructed based on the Red Dragon Clan Chief's oral account.

Dragons have excellent memories, and Alex swore that this was exactly what he heard, without a single word being changed.

The creatures in the painting appear quite ferocious.

This thing has a long and rugged body, and its entire body is not covered with scales, but with a kind of raised bony plate, each of which has a high spike in the middle, making it look like it is covered with awls.

Their body length is between fifteen and twenty meters, which is slightly shorter than half that of the true dragon clan. They have slender bodies, long and narrow skulls, and sharp, spear-like snouts.

The wind serpent's upper and lower jaws do not close completely; instead, they reveal two rows of outward-curving, sharp, hook-shaped teeth.

In the subsequent illustrations, the wind serpent's lower jaw can open as if dislocated, forming a gaping maw that exceeds 180 degrees.

In another image, the guy's body is twisted into a completely folded state, demonstrating extremely strong physical resilience.

Of course, the most eye-catching feature was the pair of somewhat familiar-looking membrane wings on the wind serpent's body.

Following the bony structure extending from the outside of the arm bone, six slender bony spurs spread out to both sides like umbrella ribs, with a thin, dark membrane between them, covered with crisscrossing patterns.

That's right, they're exactly the same as the wings on the dragon.

According to the descriptions of the dragons who managed to escape, the wind serpents were extremely powerful and agile. Even in storms, they could perform all sorts of incredible maneuvers, such as rapid rolls, right-angle turns, and even use wind pressure to instantly switch from a forward-rushing state to a rapid retreat.

If we don't just copy a cat, but instead make the wind serpent thicker, longer, and enlarge its wings, add a pair of horns, and change its pupils to the vertical pupils unique to dragons, then it would look exactly like the current second-in-command of Dragon Cliff, the sub-dragon.

"The surviving Blue Dragon Chieftain described the Wind Serpents' hunting methods: they are numerous and use their speed advantage to surround their prey from all directions, using their slender bodies to constrict the target's limbs, chest, abdomen, or neck."

"Those outward-facing bone spurs will pierce directly into the other person's body as the muscles contract, and every struggle is a tearing and cutting of the body."

Xia Yuanchen paused for a moment and then switched the projector to the next image, a scene recreating the wind serpents attacking the dragon clan.

"After binding their prey, claws and fangs become their main weapons. Wind serpents seem to be particularly good at finding weaknesses and often attack from the most tricky angles, especially the dragon's nostrils, ears, the junction of the neck and abdomen, and... the testicles and cloaca."

Upon hearing this, many officers present couldn't help but shudder; this method of attack caused them great discomfort.

Xia Yuanchen's report continued.

"Wind serpents are extremely social creatures. According to the Blue Dragon Clan Chief's estimate, the number of wind serpents encountered during the Dragon Clan's exploration was at least three hundred."

“They have a clear division of labor: some are responsible for head-on combat, some are responsible for quickly flanking and cutting off retreat routes, and there are individuals that specialize in continuously harvesting wounded prey.”

"The records of the dragons specifically mention that these creatures are fearless and that being injured seems to amplify their ferocity."

"The result of that exploration was that the dragons were first hit by the thundercloud storm, and then, weakened, they were besieged by the wind serpents, suffering heavy casualties. In the end, only a small number of dragons managed to break through the barrier and escape."

"At that time, some wind serpents rushed out through the gaps in the barrier that the dragon fugitives had broken through. However, these wind serpents were obviously not as strong as the dragons. They could not withstand even the aftershocks of the thundercloud storm, resulting in a large number of deaths and injuries."

"The dragons captured some of the dying individuals and kept them for research."

"As for how the Yalong breed was later developed, we have no way of knowing."

"That's the basic situation. Report complete."

silence.

A long silence fell over the room, as everyone seemed to need time to process the news.

Chen Mo narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Comrades, what are your thoughts? Let's all share them!"

(End of this chapter)