Chapter 223: Halt! Robbery!

The White Dragon Lord left the Frigid Tundra and flew straight toward the Forerunner. Howling winds rushed past him, and an endless stretch of icebergs lay beneath him.

Such an environment was the ideal home for the White Dragon Clan.

Roar!

Suddenly, the White Dragon Lord spotted one of his own kind. The dragon stood at the peak of an iceberg, throwing its head back to issue a smug, triumphant roar, as if declaring sovereignty.

In the Great Glacier, encountering a white dragon was entirely normal. The White Dragon Lord ignored his kin, intending to fly directly overhead.

However, this unfamiliar white dragon had no intention of letting him pass. It let out an angry roar, took to the air, and blocked the White Dragon Lord's flight path.

"Trash! You dare trespass into the hunting grounds of Lord Kominor!"

The unfamiliar white dragon showed hostility right from the start, baring his fangs and brandishing his claws to show off his muscles to the White Dragon Lord.

The White Dragon Lord raised an eyebrow. Judging by this white dragon's behavior, he immediately deduced that this was a solitary dragon.

These so-called solitary dragons were ones with no ambition, whose growth relied entirely on their racial talents. They slept when they were full and simply idled their lives away.

Among all dragon species, solitary dragons made up the vast majority.

Thinking carefully about it, this was perfectly normal. It was just like that small fraction of second-generation rich kids back on Blue Star who lacked any real drive; relying solely on the wealth left by their elders, they could live affluent lives, leaving them with no goals to strive for.

Similarly, the Dragon Race could grow to the top of the food chain relying solely on their racial talents.

Why would they need to work hard?

Arrogance and a worship of violence were the most prominent traits of a solitary dragon. If they were Chromatic Dragons, "insatiable greed" had to be added to the list.

Just like the one right in front of him. The White Dragon Lord spoke calmly.

"I am just passing through. I won't cause you any trouble."

The white dragon—Kominor—sneered at his words.

"You think saying you're just passing through means Lord Kominor will let you go?"

Kominor's eyes shifted.

"However, if you're willing to offer up a thousand gold coins, I might consider letting you off the hook."

The White Dragon Lord raised an eyebrow.

...

One minute later.

"Ah!"

Kominor's miserable, ear-piercing wails echoed through the skies above the Great Glacier.

The White Dragon Lord held an ice-blue Magic Whip. The whip sliced through the air and lashed viciously at the white dragon rolling on the ground.

"Ah! Big Brother! I was wrong! Stop hitting me!"

The White Dragon Lord remained unmoved, his Magic Whip continuing to strike.

Beaten black and blue, Kominor desperately hugged the White Dragon Lord's front claw, tears and snot streaming down his face.

"Big Brother! I was really wrong! Stop hitting me! Any more and you'll beat the dragon life right out of me!"

The White Dragon Lord shook off the clinging Kominor, his whip dancing in the air.

"I am teaching you how to be a proper dragon! In the future, will you still dare to rob others?!"

"Ah! I wouldn't dare! I absolutely won't dare next time!"

"What?! There's a next time?!"

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Kominor rolled on the ground in agony.

After lashing him a while longer, the White Dragon Lord's anger finally subsided. Watching the wailing white dragon's exaggerated acting on the ground, he cracked the whip right next to Kominor's head.

The ice surface shattered!

"Get up! How long are you going to keep pretending?!"

The battered and bruised Kominor shuddered and scrambled to his feet, standing before the White Dragon Lord without even daring to lift his head.

The White Dragon Lord knew very well that only his initial flurry of blows had dealt any substantial damage; the whipping merely made Kominor feel pain.

Kominor sneaked a peek at the Magic Whip in the White Dragon Lord's grasp, feeling deeply bitter. He had thought he'd run into an easy target, but it turned out to be a god of plague!

By Tiamat!

'Why am I so unlucky?!'

The White Dragon Lord was also secretly observing Kominor.

Although this solitary dragon was a bit stupid, he was already a Mature Adult Dragon, having reached Creature Level 23. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to act so rampantly and come out to rob his own kind.

The White Dragon Lord's mind began to race.

'There are at least a hundred white dragons scattered across the vast Great Glacier. Informing them one by one would be too exhausting.'

'So, I might as well...'

Kominor felt the White Dragon Lord's ill-intentioned gaze. A chill shot straight from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, causing him to shiver involuntarily. He spoke with a miserable expression.

"Big Brother! Just spare me!"

The White Dragon Lord raised an eyebrow.

"Spare you? What?! You don't want your gold coins anymore?"

The White Dragon Lord pulled out a handful of gems and shook them in front of Kominor's eyes.

The red, blue, green, and clear gems dazzled Kominor's eyes, leaving him dumbfounded.

By Tiamat!

'This handful of gems must be worth at least a million gold coins!'

As a solitary dragon without any gathered subordinates, Kominor relied entirely on the Cult of the Dragon to manage his lair. The Cult of the Dragon, of course, couldn't act like kobolds and help him mine gold underground.

Although the Cult of the Dragon offered highly rewarding quests, Kominor was very lazy and unwilling to leave the Great Glacier.

His only source of income was selling his shed scales to the Cult of the Dragon in exchange for gold coins, or relying on a dragon's treasure-hunting intuition to scavenge for valuables. Furthermore, like most of the Dragon Race, he also liked to chew on gold coins when he had nothing else to do.

Therefore, Kominor's savings were pitifully small.

The visual impact this handful of gems in the White Dragon Lord's grasp had on Kominor—whose net worth was less than a hundred thousand gold coins—could easily be imagined.

The blankly staring Kominor couldn't help but extend a sinful claw.

The White Dragon Lord withdrew the gems.

Kominor blankly raised his head. Seeing the White Dragon Lord's half-smiling expression was like having a basin of cold water poured over his head; he snapped fully awake in an instant.

By Tiamat!

'I actually wanted to snatch this demon's gems!'

Kominor hurriedly retracted his claw, trembling like a leaf in fear.

After a moment, the imagined pain did not arrive. Kominor sneaked a glance up at the White Dragon Lord and realized that he was not angry.

The White Dragon Lord picked out gems worth roughly two hundred thousand.

"Now, I am giving you an opportunity. If you can traverse the Great Glacier and inform every white dragon you can find, telling them that the Master of the Overseas Archipelagos is purchasing dragon beasts at a price of ten thousand gold coins each, then these gems will be your deposit. Once the deed is done, there will be an additional reward of eight hundred thousand gold coins."

The White Dragon Lord tossed the gems in his hand. Kominor's gaze tracked the gems up and down, and without even thinking, he immediately answered.

"No problem!"

The White Dragon Lord wasn't afraid of Kominor taking the money and running, so he handed the gems over.

It wasn't that the White Dragon Lord believed in Kominor's draconic character, but rather that he believed in the charm of the remaining eight hundred thousand gold coins.

Terrified that the White Dragon Lord would go back on his word, Kominor snatched up the gems, flapped his wings, and prepared to take to the air.

"Wait!"

Kominor's heart skipped a beat. Had he changed his mind?!

"If you encounter any dragon beasts, you can bring them straight back. I will also pay you at the rate of ten thousand gold coins a head."

Kominor breathed a sigh of relief, readily agreed, and flew off into the distance.

The White Dragon Lord also flapped his wings and continued flying toward the Forerunner.