Chapter 534: Zog is Uniting the Dragon Race (Part 2)

Chapter 534 -333: Zog is Uniting the Dragon Race (Part 2)

The war a thousand years ago caused a severe cultural disruption for many races.

Some managed to recover and redevelop, while others fell into complete stagnation. The Dragon Race was clearly among the latter.

Legend says that back then, the Dragon Race had its own kingdom, rather than being scattered across the wilds or hiding in the settlements of other races.

Despite possessing immense individual power, they lacked formidable collective strength.

Now, even their advantage in individual strength was no longer so pronounced.

And yet, in this most perilous of times, a powerful Ancient Dragon had chosen to step forward.

‘So magnificent, Zog!’

Zog, who was in the middle of repeating various important points, felt the Green Dragon was giving him a strange look.

‘What’s that about?’

‘And what’s with that teary-eyed expression?’

‘Is it really necessary to get this emotional over a delivery job? Or is he complaining that the pay is too low?’

‘No, my offer was quite generous. Long-distance runs are torture to begin with. If the pay was also low, who would even bother?’

After about ten minutes, Zog finished his speech.

“All right, any more questions? If not, you’re dismissed. Go pick out your own dens.”

‘There’s still so much to do to build the first online shopping platform.’

‘First of all, the platform doesn’t even exist yet. The website is still under construction.’

‘There are no merchants, either. Besides Zog’s own official store, which could open an online channel immediately, all other merchants would need training on how to sell their goods online.’

‘And the online payment method hasn’t been sorted out.’

The good news was that he didn’t have to start by establishing a bank. Thanks to the commercial prosperity brought on by industrial development, Feilin’s banking sector was already quite established.

Services like deposits and loans were well-developed; he just needed to partner with them.

Zog decided his next step would be to approach the banks. He believed that given the bankers’ greed, negotiating a deal would be easy.

Just then, a Dragon suddenly asked, “How will our safety be guaranteed when we’re making deliveries?”

“Rest assured, your safety will be guaranteed,” Zog replied with absolute certainty.

He had spent a long time the previous night thinking about the safety of his delivery Dragons.

A Dragon was practically a walking repository of rare Casting materials.

They were basically living Gold Coins.

The temptation was simply too great.

If there were only a single route from north to south, he could maintain security through sheer force.

But once the entire transportation network was established, he would not have nearly enough manpower or resources.

This problem could only be solved at its source: by making Dragon parts no longer precious.

If there was no value, there would be no market. If there was no market, there would naturally be no slaughter.

In fact, due to the great discovery of Inscriptions, the demand from Mages for various rare Casting materials was already decreasing.

The previous need for various materials to aid Casting was, in essence, due to an insufficient grasp of the principles of Magic. As research into Magic deepened, top-tier Mages came to realize that relying on Casting materials was actually a shortcut that diminished the final effect.

If this trend continued, Mages would inevitably break their dependence on materials.

But that would still take time.

Until then, Zog had devised a roundabout plan to save the Dragons.

It involved using Enchantment to disrupt the function of Dragon parts as Casting components, without affecting the Dragon itself.

The logic was similar to animal conservationists sawing off a rhino’s horn to prevent poachers from killing it.

Zog, however, was aiming for a more elegant solution—one that would ideally cause no physical harm to the Dragons whatsoever.

The Black Dragon he had left at the Deep Research Institute was cooperating with the team to solve this very issue.

So far, the project was progressing quite smoothly.

Aside from those who used Dragons as materials, there was another category of demand.

If using them as materials was at least understandable, this other type of demand was simply baffling.

Beliefs like Dragon Scales bringing good luck, Keels warding off evil, and Dragon Blood boosting virility.

The whole thing was ridiculous if you gave it even a moment’s thought.

If Dragon Scales and Keels were truly that effective, would the Dragons have ended up in their current state, about to switch careers from being symbols of powerful creatures to a bunch of delivery couriers?

As for Dragon Blood boosting virility, that had no theoretical basis whatsoever. You’d be better off doing a few sets of Kegel exercises.

And yet, people believed it.

To solve this problem, Zog, in his capacity as a local Lord and a super-taxpayer, planned to push for legislation.

Dragons should be recognized as intelligent beings, and the laws in most parts of Feilin already forbade the wanton killing of intelligent beings.

But legal protection alone wasn’t enough. Driven by sufficient profit, plenty of zealots would still ignore the law.

To counter this, Zog planned to use armed deterrence: anyone who dared to harm a Zog Group delivery Dragon would suffer retaliation twofold.

He also needed to visit the world’s largest gray-market organization, the Adventurer Guild, and get them to stop posting Dragon-hunting quests—or at the very least, quests to hunt the Zog Group’s employee Dragons.

As a platform for Adventurers, the Adventurer Guild had never paid much mind to the law.

For example, personal vendettas were explicitly forbidden by law, yet revenge-for-hire commissions were common at the Guild.

According to the Guild, they merely posted the requests; if a quest happened to violate the law, that was a matter between the client and the Adventurer who accepted it, and had nothing to do with the Guild itself.

Such a hard-line stance.

However, that didn’t mean they were beyond negotiation. After all, the Guild’s management had to eat, too.

Large guilds like this might have been founded on some noble ideal, but as they grew, they always devolved into greedy, profit-driven collectives.

Therefore, Zog decided to make a trip to the Adventurer Guild headquarters to negotiate terms with those “Adventurers” who never did any adventuring themselves.

The headquarters of the Adventurer Guild was located in the Royal City, as were the headquarters of the major banks.

To make his e-commerce venture a reality, Zog returned to the Royal City for the first time in a long while.

The city seemed unchanged, its decadent luxury masking a deepening rot.

Zog didn’t like the city, but that didn’t matter. He was here to do business, and he would leave as soon as it was done…

—————————

「Sutton Royal Palace」

The Eldest Prince strode quickly through a magnificent connecting corridor, arriving before a set of heavy doors.

Flanking the doors were fully armed Guards, their complete sets of Enchanted Armor and weapons attesting to their elite status.

This was the bedchamber of the King of Sutton, a room he had not left for nearly a month.

Before long, the King of Sutton would draw his last breath here.

Everyone in the Royal Palace understood this.

The Eldest Prince was deeply troubled by the reality of his father’s impending death.

Troubled that the old bastard was still stubbornly clinging to life.

‘He’d had enough.’

As the legal heir to the Sutton Kingdom, he once held a sliver of respect for his father.

‘After all, it was the old man’s throne he was set to inherit.’

But recently, rumors had been circulating in the palace that the old coot wanted to change the line of succession.

His informant by the King’s side said the old man had begun to reconsider Figxin, who had been dispatched to the Northern Domain.

Something about how the kingdom should be handed over to the most suitable candidate.

And that Figxin’s deeds in the Northern Domain were being praised by citizens across the nation, suggesting that perhaps *she* was the more suitable choice.

‘Bullshit!’

‘What was so suitable about that barbaric, inferior wench?’

‘He must be going senile, trying to make up for his past neglect of his daughter now that he’s on his deathbed.’

‘Fine, make up for it, but why did it have to be with *his* throne?’

The Eldest Prince wished the old man would just drop dead already. That way, the will could no longer be changed.

He would become the King of Sutton, just as he was meant to, all perfectly reasonable.

If he had just died a little sooner, it would have been better for everyone. But now, everything was heading in an unseemly direction, and he was forced to come here and sling mud at Figxin.

If Figxin had any “blemish” on her record, it was undoubtedly her relationship with the Zog Group.

It was far too close.

Was she truly a Princess of Sutton, or was she planning to sell her ancestral kingdom to a Red Dragon?

After passing through multiple checkpoints, the Prince entered the bedchamber.

Aside from the Guards, the room was filled mostly with physicians and Priests.

“How is my father’s condition?” the Prince asked, feigning concern.

“Your Highness, His Majesty the King’s condition shows signs of improvement. He is staying awake for longer periods each day.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news,” the Prince said, putting on a show of immense joy.

For someone who grew up in the Royal Family, acting was second nature.

In reality, his mind was already turning to even more unseemly matters.

Walking up to the bedside, he found the situation was even worse than he’d imagined.

The old man wasn’t just conscious—he was propped up and sitting in bed.

On his previous visits, the King could only lie flat, completely motionless.

“Father,” the Prince said respectfully, “Zog has come to the Royal City again. He has also been in contact with the heads of the major banks. I am deeply concerned.”