"This island shall be the starting point of our conquest campaign!"
Landing on the island, Xia'er declared as if making a proclamation. She then selected a natural cave as her dwelling and began using Mage Hand to clean up the environment inside the cave.
Mage Hand essentially gave the not-so-convenienced Xia'er an extra pair of flexible hands, making the task easy and straightforward.
"Your Excellency."
Saga had casually and hastily chosen a cave located in muddy ground. Black Dragons loved this kind of swamp-like terrain the most, so he didn't clean his cave like Xia'er did. Instead, he returned to Xia'er's side and asked respectfully, "What should we do next...?"
Saga was clearly itching for action, his eyes darting around restlessly.
Compared to his restrained demeanor within the Underwood Dragon Flight, the current Saga was much more relaxed.
"I've been to the surrounding seas before, but I never ventured deep into them."
Xia'er said, "This is near the coast. There are plenty of salmon in the nearby waters. You can hunt salmon around here to hone your instincts. As I recall, you've hardly done any hunting since hatching, right?"
Saga nodded.
Aside from Valentina, only Xia'er and Tyrone had been able to go out hunting.
Tyrone often went out to hunt small prey like wild horses and rabbits, while Xia'er primarily focused on the coastal areas of the Sea of Frost, targeting the fish there.
"Then tonight's dinner is your responsibility."
Xia'er gave a slight nod, instructing Saga.
Although Saga's body length was only a little over five meters, indicating some stunted growth, dealing with ordinary salmon in the surroundings would be a piece of cake for him. Especially since Black Dragons, like Green Dragons, were dragon types capable of breathing freely underwater, making them natural-born fish killers. Hunting shouldn't be too difficult for him.
Furthermore, based on Xia'er's impression of Saga over the past few years, Saga was a very sensible and cautious Black Dragon.
If he encountered any magical creatures underwater, he would flee immediately without any hesitation or entanglement.
Upon hearing this, a flicker of excitement and nervousness passed through Saga's dark green vertical pupils. He responded in a low voice, "As you command."
Immediately, Saga took a deep breath of the biting sea breeze, powerfully pushed off with his strong hind legs, and his massive wings covered in dark scales suddenly unfurled!
The wing membranes tore through the air with a dull roar.
Saga shot toward the shimmering, icy sea surface like an arrow released from its bow.
After Saga left, the White Dragon Disos, who had been mostly silent and seemed somewhat naive, lowered his head and whimpered, "My Lord, what should I do?"
"You..."
Xia'er glanced at the White Dragon, who was currently only about 2.7 to 2.8 meters long, and said casually, "Find a cave and prepare to go into torpor... A wyrmling like you can't be of much help to me yet."
Xia'er firmly believed that even after Disos underwent torpor and awoke, he would at most be a little over four meters long, not particularly strong.
He would basically only be able to handle auxiliary tasks.
Within the Dragon Inheritance, White Dragons were described with extreme disparagement, even including some derogatory terms for them. Most Chromatic Dragons, whether Green, Red, Blue, or Black, harbored thoughts of turning the five colors into four, essentially expelling White Dragons from the Chromatic Dragon category.
Xia'er was naturally influenced by the Dragon Inheritance as well, but ultimately, she possessed a soul from another world that could suppress these restless impulses within her bloodline, allowing her to treat Disos more equally.
Apart from this, the dragon-like fondness for shiny treasures, such as gold coins and ores, also existed within Xia'er.
Xia'er had just been suppressing these urges all along.
A year ago, when Xia'er once entered Valentina's palace and saw the hill-like collection of rare ores Valentina had gathered, she also felt somewhat tempted.
Xia'er also clearly knew that these ores held no special magical power; they were purely ordinary ores. But for Xia'er, they possessed a peculiar allure. Fortunately, her powerful soul suppressed the instinctive reactions, preventing her from doing something like snatching the ores.
Xia'er believed other dragons would have similar feelings.
"Perhaps I could stockpile some money and shiny ores as a means of bribery."
Xia'er thought to herself. After letting Disos find a place to play on his own, she flapped her wings and took off, intending to circle the entire island for an investigation.
There must be some creatures living on this island.
However, Xia'er wasn't sure what kind of creatures inhabited this island.
Strictly speaking, this island was part of the tundra and did not belong to the Karugu Highlands.
But it was somewhat far from the coastline. Those Frost Giants wouldn't casually come to the Sea of Frost, so it was relatively safe for Xia'er.
Xia'er stretched her powerful wings and began circling the volcanic island she had high hopes for, scanning the black rocky ground, sparse tundra, and the massive coral formations embracing the bay.
The enormous dragon shadow swept over the coastline, startling a few large crabs hiding in crevices among the reefs, their shells glistening with a damp, cold sheen. They scuttled sideways in panic, disappearing into the jagged piles of rocks.
Xia'er gave a slight nod. These creatures posed no threat and might even serve as snacks.
Next, Xia'er turned her gaze toward the higher tundra area in the island's center. Scattered there were deep burrows of varying sizes, their edges smooth, clearly indicating frequent traffic by some creature.
In the air, besides the salty, fishy sea breeze, there was a faint, indescribable smell of foul odor.
The situation inside the burrows was unknown, but their scale wasn't small, suggesting they housed a creature colony of considerable size.
Xia'er silently noted the location, planning to investigate later.
For now, her attention was more drawn to that calm crescent-shaped bay.
Beneath the tranquil emerald-green seawater, seaweed swayed and schools of fish darted about—a natural fishing ground.
Xia'er descended, gliding low along the inner shallows of the bay, wanting to survey this area more carefully.
After all, compared to other murky sea areas, this bay gave a feeling of clarity, unlike the Sea of Frost.
However, just as Xia'er's shadow passed over a shallow reef bed covered in dark green seaweed, a primal warning instinct stemming from her dragon bloodline suddenly flared.
"Whoosh!"
In a flash, a stream of viscous, dark green liquid reeking of a pungent, foul odor shot out from the seemingly harmless reef bed below like a high-pressure water jet, aimed at Xia'er's relatively vulnerable belly scales!
Xia'er's heart constricted violently, but her reaction was lightning-fast.
Her robust dragon body twisted in mid-air with incredible agility, her wings simultaneously tilting, forcing her massive frame to shift sideways several meters!
"Sizzle!"
The dark green venom grazed past the tough scales on Xia'er's flank, missing by a hair's breadth!
"What is that?"
Xia'er felt a surge of anger, quickly gaining altitude. Rage burned in her draconic pupils as she instantly locked onto the source of the venomous attack.
The reef bed she had just flown over was now undergoing a horrifying transformation!
The thick seaweed, barnacles, and sediment covering it began to crumble and fall away. A colossal monstrosity slowly raised its hideous head from the shallow water... no, heads!
Breaking the surface were three massive, serpentine necks covered in thick, dark green scales!
Each neck was as thick as a century-old tree, topped with a vicious snake head!
The triangular heads were armored with impressively defensive bony plates. Three pairs of vertical pupils, gleaming with cold, primal greed like burning ghostly green flames, all focused intently on the Green Dragon in the air.
One of the snake heads had its maw slightly agape, residual dark green venom dripping from its sharp fangs, emitting a faint sizzling, corrosive sound.
This was a hydra that had camouflaged itself, lying in ambush in the shallows for prey!
Xia'er's gaze turned icy as she circled in the air, scrutinizing the ferocious beast below, which was a full seven to eight meters long. Wariness filled her eyes.
"Is this island its territory?"