Life is tough, so Honglong resorts to performing?

Chapter 106 Ending
"Cough cough."

As the smoke and flames dissipated, Loren gently flapped his wings to remove the dust from his body.

"Indeed, anger makes people lose their minds."

"As an adversary, if you had even a little respect for us and did some research, you would know that before the Federation era, our red dragon scales were known as fire-resistant."

"Explosions without strong penetration resistance are meaningless to me, and the reactive armor you're wearing that can cause fragmentation damage was already used up in previous battles."

Facing the half-elf's body, already destroyed in the explosion, Loren began to explain the reasons for the opponent's defeat.

If I, a mage, hadn't anticipated that you heretics would use self-destruction, then all my years of learning magic would have been for nothing.

However, upon closer reflection, this was merely the opponent's last mistake; at that point, she had no other options and no way out.

The only way forward is to unite with that guy who seems to be a drow elf and engage in a righteous two-on-one battle, creating a three-way balance where the stronger party attacks the stronger one.

But would I give them the opportunity to unite?
Obviously not.

If they really team up, they might as well set the fire themselves.

This is the Shadow Realm, filled with negative energy and high-energy fire elements that explode at the slightest touch. A magic crystal armor specializing in assassination and a damaged warrior-type magic crystal armor are going to clash with a pure-blooded red dragon in this environment, fighting against fire resistance?

If I lose to you, I'll just die right here.

"Hey friend over there, wanna chat?"

Loren spoke into the shadows.

"It's not impossible, how much?"

The assassin's magic crystal weapon flew in from a distance, and a female voice came from under the mask.

How much does each one cost?

Loren raised an eyebrow. "Talking about money right off the bat? Interesting."

"How much were those character files you stole from inside? They're useless to you anyway, right?"

Celia spoke easily.

Although she was very unhappy that the red dragon had breathed on her before, she knew even more clearly that she couldn't defeat the red dragon in front of her.

From the information she could obtain, the other party not only saved her own little housekeeper, but also, as a red dragon who was only twenty years old, possessed a third-tier warrior class and a mage class of the same level, and was even stronger in magic. Moreover, the other party had undergone a magic crystal heart shaping, and his body had undergone a transformation.

Judging from the battle between the Red Dragon and that heretic, his combat intelligence is not low; he is certainly not the kind of academic who just blindly follows the rules.

In a place where it's impossible to use Shadow Walk for assassinations, it's clearly unwise to confront this fully-developed Red Dragon.

Then things become simple: just buy it.

Since the other party is so poor that they rent a room in the downtown area and eat at the zoo, they are obviously extremely poor.

Given the dragons' greedy nature, she didn't believe her own family couldn't defeat the other side.

Do you need the character's information?

Loren was taken aback by what the other party said; not only were they offering money, but they seemed to be asking for some worthless items.

At least for him, the transaction records of those big shots were meaningless.

But how much should we ask for?

Loren hesitated. After all, this was his first time getting involved in this kind of business activity, and he wasn't very clear about the market prices.

Considering that the other party was most likely Zhuo Er, if he asked questions to test the waters, he would only expose his lack of knowledge about the market and be forced to lower the price. After thinking for a moment, Loren decided to make an exorbitant offer and then negotiate the price down on the spot.

"one million."

"make a deal."

Oh no, I reported too little!

Seeing that the other party readily agreed, Loren felt a pang of regret, but thought that it would be good to have a million dollars in hand.

With this money, he could buy quite a few things from the Elemental Light Project he had previously joined.

"This is a universal bearer goblin bank check, and I swear in the name of Lolth the Spider Queen that it is cashable."

Loren's eyes twitched at the check that was casually tossed to him. He was both shocked by the other person's generosity and puzzled by her nonchalant attitude towards the Spider Queen.

Fulfill your vow, with the Spider Queen Rose, who loves betrayal, as your witness?
It's only because the gods aren't responding to the world now that you're here; otherwise, you'd be the first one to be punished by the gods.

This performance doesn't feel like that of the Drow of Spiderweb, or even those city Drow that have branched out; it's more like those hybrid Drow elves.

But that doesn't make sense. If her pursuit wasn't motivated by the conflict between the Drow elves and the Blinkers, then the other party's behavior doesn't quite add up.

Loren's mind raced, and he quickly noticed the contradiction.

But after thinking it over carefully, I decided to make the deal with them first and get the check from them.

As for what happened after I got my hands on her... she had already seen my true face.

Given the nature of the Drow, the opposing team is definitely on guard against him right now.

It's unknown how long this temporary environment can last, or whether it will be able to kill the opponent here.

Loren sighed softly, admitting that he didn't actually have much desire for the upcoming battle.

The opponent's trump cards are still unknown, and the assassin-type magic crystal armor she wears is a type that Loren has never seen before.

The battles that have already taken place have been exhilarating and rewarding enough. Under these circumstances, it would be unwise to continue fighting against someone whose trump cards are unknown.

This is one of the drawbacks of the present era. Because of the existence of magic crystal armor, the individual's defense has been greatly improved. Unlike in the past, when one's dragon breath would turn the opponent into charcoal, and without specially customized dragon-slaying weapons, how could assassins break through the defense of dragon scales?

But his dragon form has been exposed, and if he were allowed to leave alive, she could report him and he would be in trouble.

Loren pondered for a moment, sighed softly to himself, and made up his mind.

He first rummaged through several storage bags and handed over all the information about the people the other party needed to this assassin who was suspected to be a Drow.

At the same time, he stared intently at his opponent, looking for an opportunity to strike.

"The Ye Ying clan will thank you for your generosity; we will always remember your kindness."

Just before Loren was about to make his move, the assassin's mask suddenly opened, revealing a yellow-black elven face that Loren found somewhat familiar.

"you are?"

Loren was somewhat surprised.

"Miss Denise asked me to give you her regards."

Celia smiled slightly; as an assassin, she already sensed that this space was about to return to its original state.

At the same time, she also sensed the killing intent emanating from the red dragon opposite her; it was faint, but incredibly pure.

If she didn't reveal her identity soon, the other party would most likely kill her to eliminate any future trouble. Evil, decisive, resourceful, and powerful—if she were a Drow, she would be quite impressed with the other party right now.

Although I appreciate it now.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Loren temporarily abandoned his desire to fight. In the end, his fighting spirit was just so-so, after all, he had already had a good fight once.

Not long after, the edges of the area began to regain their color, which meant that the item had expired and they were exiting the Shadow Realm.

"We'll see you again."

The half-elf closed his armor, smiled, and said this to Loren before gradually disappearing from Loren's sight.

As Loren faced the ruins that were returning to reality, he cast an invisibility spell on himself and quickly left.

This is the central district, not the lower district.

Once this place returns to the reality of Greenleaf City, it probably won't be long before they notice something amiss and send someone to investigate.

Fortunately, because the Transcendent's item flipped the plane, there shouldn't be many traces left behind.

The traces left by the half-elf who was suspected to be from the Ye Ying clan in his previous actions should clearly point to the whole incident.

That was true, at least initially.

As for whether there will be any follow-up... well, that depends on whether someone is willing to investigate seriously.

There is no such thing as a perfect crime in this world. Whether the truth can be revealed depends entirely on the determination of the higher-ups to investigate.

If the Federation is truly determined to investigate a case from the last century, it can get demigod mages specializing in time magic to work together to continuously rewind the case scenes until they reach that point in the past.

This incident, while not insignificant, isn't actually that big of a deal.

If the strange elf wasn't lying, then this is just another conflict among the city's upper echelons, exactly the same as last time, and there's nothing more to say.

For the federal government, this isn't a conflict between cities... so maybe it's as if nothing happened?
Loren pondered, and he began to deduce from the perspective of the Federation's interests. The core logic of the Federation was to unite the forces of all races, but the cultists who caused instability in the city and their supporters were clearly not within the scope of the Federation's unity efforts.

So how will this incident ultimately turn out?
He was the one who committed the last similar incident, and the "transient people" ended up taking the blame. What about this time?

Whose turn will it be next?
Loren wasn't quite sure, after all, he wasn't infallible and didn't have enough information.

On the other side, Celia Yeying, the Federal Anti-Slant Cult Commissioner, carried the list she obtained from Loren and reported her battle achievements to the Federation and her family respectively.

"Destroyed four cult strongholds of the Transcendent Cult in the Upper and Middle Districts of Emerald Leaf City, and killed a whole battalion of Transcendent Cult members..."

"Yes, we got a list of traitors. It cost 500 million, and I'm applying for reimbursement!"

……

On the street, Loren was in a very good mood after a hard-fought fight.

Not to mention that the half-elf who died had a grudge against him and had helped him make a fortune.

One million!
Loren disguised himself and went to the goblins' bank, successfully transferring all the money from the check to one of his anonymous accounts.

Even though the other party claimed to have a relationship with Miss Denise, and Loren gave up the fight due to time constraints, he still maintained his vigilance towards the drow elves.

Although the other party made an oath, she is a half-drow. What if she doesn't believe in the Spider Queen but in another god?

We must be on guard.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and Loren successfully received the money.

"I still have plenty of time, and I've been earning a lot lately, so I need to go on a spending spree."

With that thought in mind, Loren headed toward the demiplane located on the deserted street.

Before returning to the street, he focused his mind and carefully sensed his grasping motion, but still couldn't figure out how the strange handle had suddenly appeared in his hand.

"What exactly is the principle behind this thing?"

After muttering to himself for a moment, Loren decided to stop thinking about it.

There are many strange things in the world of Ellen.

Back in his demiplane, somewhat ravaged by his training, Loren, as usual, searched his memories and looked for the notes left in the room to prevent forgetting things again.

He then opened the magic crystal terminal, logged into the military reserve network, and quickly spent all the money he had just transferred from that strange half-elf.

Are you planning to use other means to get the money back after you've transferred it out?
Okay, go talk to the military website.

You have your methods, and I have mine. Loren won't completely trust Denise just because of her name. If she were a pure wood elf with a druid class, she might be more trustworthy.

But that dark-skinned guy was clearly a mixed-race Drow.

This is a stereotype, this is racial discrimination, but it must be said that stereotypes do work in most cases, especially when the other party is a half-madman who uses corpses to create spiders and plays with art.

After submitting the purchase order, Loren tossed the magic crystal terminal aside and began to diligently practice his martial arts skills.

That's his money, a whole million!
Even though it's meant to accelerate my growth, that's still a lot of money—a million!
"With these things, and with this million invested, I should be able to officially leave the juvenile dragon stage and enter the adult dragon stage."

Loren thought that for spellcasters, physical growth was secondary; the greatest advantage of these enhancement items, which had no side effects, was that they could nourish, enhance, and stabilize the soul without affecting lifespan.

Because the soul and the body influence each other.

Simply increasing physical strength wouldn't cost millions.

In the distant era of war, the dragon race was not without magical secrets to create cannon fodder. With just a few spells, a newly hatched dragon beast would absorb magic power, expand in size like an inflating balloon, and then charge into the giants' battle formation, only to be easily crushed.

Merely expanding the body is meaningless; nourishing the body and soul, enabling them to truly transcend time, is the core of what makes this stuff valuable.

"To be precise, this price is a bit cheap. Where did the Federation get so many of these items from... Besides that huge pit in the wilderness, only the Time Dragon could access this kind of power, right?"

Loren pondered and speculated that the Time Dragons possessed the natural ability to jump between time and the age range of dragons. If they assisted the Federation in conducting research, perhaps they could achieve mass production of such dragons.
But what makes the Federation so appealing to the Time Dragon, who is truly detached from worldly affairs?

Even if the world really does head towards an uncontrollable apocalypse, the Time Dragon can still go back to the time before the apocalypse to survive, right?
Compared to the Time Dragon, the all-powerful Wilderness is perhaps more reliable, after all, there are just too many mysteries in the Wilderness.

After thinking for a while, Loren stopped thinking about these things and started browsing the things he hadn't bought yet. Even if he couldn't buy them for the time being, it would be good to feast his eyes on them!

His annual growth quota for military reserve personnel is only two million, and he has already spent one million this year. He doesn't know when the next million will come.

"The Fruit of Time, which can accelerate the transformation of a young dragon into an adult dragon; the Fruit of Illusory Age, which can enhance the foundation and soul strength of an adult dragon..."

As Loren browsed through the pages, his greed grew ever stronger.

Even if I can't eat these rare treasures right now, they're still nice to look at!

"Wait, if I use these things to accelerate my growth, wouldn't that further confirm the speculation made by the Transcendent Ones?"

"I may have grasped the power of the Frostfire King, and in order to win me over, shouldn't they go to greater lengths and bleed a little more on me?"

Loren looked at the pile of storage bags he had just stolen, and some new ideas began to form in his mind.

There's no way around it, kids cost money so much!

(End of this chapter)