The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

The Duchy of Sapphire had quite a few volcanoes, with large islands like Blue Dragon Island and Iron Hoof Island dotted with active ones. Even Coral Island had a volcano, albeit an extinct one, situated between Birch City and North Valley City. Liszt had even explored there.

He even conjectured that Black Horse Island was an extinct volcano.

"Should the Little Fire Dragon be raised inside a volcano?" he frowned in contemplation. It made logical sense for a young Fire Dragon to hide within a volcano.

It was even possible that juvenile Fire Dragons didn't need to eat at all and could simply bathe in magma—a magical creature formed by magic power, it was hard to imagine in what way it needed to survive.

Liszt watched the Little Fire Dragon that had recovered and flown into the sky again, thinking, "Without a volcano to support it, perhaps the Little Fire Dragon needs to consume ordinary blood food and magic potions to provide the nutrients needed for development... But I have no means to raise it within a volcano."

The active volcanoes in the Duchy of Sapphire were all within other nobles' territories.

Other extinct or dormant volcanoes were difficult to access magma from and naturally would not foster the magic power required by Fire Dragons.

"Should I secretly take the Little Fire Dragon and place it into a volcano, let it soak in the magma?" This thought flashed through his mind and was quickly dismissed, "If the Little Fire Dragon's whereabouts were exposed, it would be troublesome. Moreover, it is not yet certain whether the volcano can indeed help the Little Fire Dragon grow... It would be best to find an island similar to Hawaii in the sea."

There is a Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii Island.

Inside there are two active volcanoes, Mauna Loa Volcano and Kilauea Volcano, the latter being the world's most active, having not stopped erupting since 1983.

Almost every day magma spurts out from the volcano, making it the prime spot for observing a volcanic eruption.

Alas, finding this world's Hawaii Island was as difficult as finding another Fire Dragon—after all, finding an active volcano didn't guarantee the sight of magma, as most of it was hidden inside the volcano, and only constantly erupting ones like Kilauea Volcano made it easy to access the magma.

He shook his head.

He gathered up his rope, buoyed himself up and said, "No matter what, at least I have thought of a way to cultivate the Little Fire Dragon. I will slowly investigate and find an island with a volcano in the Sea of Azure Waves. When the Pioneer Mandate is fulfilled and I am promoted in rank, I will take an island with a volcano for myself!"

Viscount promoted to Earl.

The islands would definitely need to be expanded; one could either choose a new large island to develop, or, if not averse to hassle, combine many small ones.

...

While Liszt was scrimping and saving.

Another piece of bad news was delivered into his hands by the steward in charge of the chicken farm—the steward, a veteran in chicken rearing, found that the five eggs Liszt had sent over were dead and could no longer hatch chicks.

"Are you certain they are dead?"

In the chicken farm of Fresh Flower Town, Liszt stared at the poultry farm steward with an unpleasant expression.

The steward reported with trepidation, "Lord Landlord, these eggs, the eggs are indeed, indeed dead... I examined them under the sunlight, and they are dark and red, and they have started to smell bad."

Accompanying the steward was Administrative Officer Isaiah, who added, "My lord, Old Vasi the steward is the most knowledgeable person about eggs in the chicken farm. He can tell with a glance whether an egg is dead or alive. He arranges the hatching for the mother hens in the chicken farm, and his judgment is almost never wrong."

Taking a deep breath, Liszt said indifferently, "I understand, these eggs... throw them away."

"Yes, my lord."

"Isaiah, go check the duck farm again; I need to know whether those duck eggs have also all died. Also, have someone check those ten Green-headed Duck eggs to see if they are dead." Having accepted reality, he immediately thought of the two types of duck eggs.

The duck farm's report came quickly.

Indeed, just like the chicken farm, those duck eggs had died; only the steward of the duck farm was not yet sure and was still having the ducks continue to incubate.

One day later.

News also came from Black Horse Island; of the ten Green-headed Duck eggs, no one could be certain if they were dead, but one of the eggs had turned black and seemed to have already gone bad inside.

Basically.

This batch of eggs, infected with magic power by the dragon bloodline, had all died. Liszt's efforts had been in vain, and he was in a bad mood. He had been hoping to obtain Dragon Breed Chickens, Dragon Breed Ducks, and Dragon Breed Green-headed Ducks to provide nutrition and improve the food conditions of his territory.

Now he could only hope for the Dragon Breed Cows and Dragon Breed Pigs.

"My lord, perhaps only some of those duck eggs have died; the remaining eggs might still hatch into ducklings," Butler Carter said, trying to console Liszt, seeing his poor mood.

"I am very aware that all those chicken and duck eggs are dead," Liszt said with a slight smile, as if unaffected, "Don't worry about me; this is just an unexpected setback. Scientific experiments are bound not to go smoothly all the time. This time, the breed improvement failed, but next time I'll adjust again, and I will eventually get the results I want."

He was quite certain that the chicken and duck eggs were all dead.

The reason was simple.

The reward for the latest Smoke Mission was twenty-two Dragon Breed Pigs, not Dragon Breed Chickens and Ducks. According to the incubation time, chicken eggs only needed twenty-one days, and duck eggs just twenty-eight days, much shorter than a sow's gestation period. The rewards for the Smoke Mission should have been the chicken and duck eggs first.

After all, these were dragon-related creatures, worthy of being Smoke Mission rewards.

Their absence, with Dragon Breed Pigs appearing instead, indicated that the Dragon Breed Chickens and Ducks had not been successfully infected—they might have been killed by the Dragon Might on the spot.

He now pondered another issue: "Perhaps poultry such as chickens, ducks, and geese are too weak to withstand the Dragon Might or the infection of dragon bloodlines... Green-headed Ducks are supposed to be Magical Beasts, yet even they couldn't resist; why is that? Could it be that as life forms, eggs cannot accept dragon bloodlines?"

So he thought.

To obtain poultry dragon-related creatures, perhaps the focus of infection should not be on the eggs but rather on the hens, female ducks, and geese; it was unlikely that common poultry would be successful.

"Landwalker Bird Loki, a type of bird, exists, which shows that birds can be infected with dragon bloodlines. And it was originally just a low-level Dragon Beast, infected from a low-level Magical Beast. From this, it is apparent that Green-headed Ducks, also low-level Magical Beasts, have the potential to be infected... Next time, I should bring female Green-headed Ducks for the infection."

As a good friend of the Formless Dragon and a knight of the Little Fire Dragon, Liszt was confident that he would have many opportunities to obtain dragon-related creatures in the future.

Therefore, he was only momentarily disheartened by the death of the chicken and duck eggs and promptly recovered.

And time, unknowingly,

Your journey continues with empire

marched swiftly into March, quickly reaching the 9th, bringing his eighteenth birthday. In the Duchy of Sapphire, one was considered an adult at sixteen; eighteen was just an ordinary birthday, but for transmigrator Liszt, turning eighteen meant the coming of age according to his homeland's customs.

As the sun rose, he stood under the Apple Tree Cordyceps, holding a mug of milk tea personally brewed by Mrs. Morson after her recovery, admiring the new tender alfalfa on the grasslands surrounding the castle.

He was invigorated: "Becoming a Dragon Knight before turning adult, my achievement must be unprecedented and likely unsurpassed. Difficulties are only temporary; the future is destined to be bright and splendid!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om