"Is this your territory?"
Circling above White Pearl Island, Tyrone spoke with a hint of disdain, "Scattered across these islands, mingling with white scales and black scales. Can you truly increase your strength this way?"
"The fact is, you've fought me for over six years and never won once."
Xia'er said casually, rapidly descending towards White Pearl Island.
Seeing this, Tyrone had no choice but to follow closely behind.
Tyrone had already chosen a nesting site. The dragon lair he selected was not among the eight islands under Xia'er's rule, but on a mainland highland thirty nautical miles away from White Pearl Island, facing it across the sea.
Tyrone's followers had already gone ahead to build the nest. Although there was a volcano on the largest island in the Star Mist Archipelago, which was the former residence of that Red Dragon.
That island was occupied by fishmen, and fishmen were the most powerful race in the coastal regions of the Sea of Frost.
Xia'er didn't want to provoke them because of this.
After all, their strength was still relatively weak now, while the fishman tribes were powerful.
In the end, the best possible outcome would only be a pyrrhic victory. The probability of defeating them with minimal losses was almost zero.
It was better to lay low and develop, waiting for the right opportunity.
Jade and crimson dragon shadows tore through the sea mist, crashing down onto the jagged reefs of White Pearl Island.
Xia'er folded her wings, with Tyrone close behind.
After the two dragons landed, Xia'er noticed two figures also rushing out from a cave within the island upon seeing her.
They were none other than the White Dragon Disos and the Black Dragon Saga.
At this moment, all the Chromatic Dragons under Xia'er's command had gathered together.
The White Dragon Disos flapped his wings with his usual excitement, but Saga's left wing hung unusually low. A vicious tearing wound ran through the edge of the wing membrane, with dark dragon blood mixed with seawater continuously dripping. The edges of the wound even showed a strange bluish-purple hue, clearly indicating it was poisoned.
"Lord! You've finally returned!"
Disos clamored as he rushed to Xia'er's feet, but just as he was about to say something, he saw the Red Dragon beside her, instantly shrinking his neck and not daring to speak.
Among the Chromatic Dragons, Red Dragons were the leaders, White Dragons were the lowest.
The fear embedded in their bloodline was inescapable.
And Tyrone didn't even glance at Disos.
In Tyrone's eyes, this White Dragon Disos wasn't even worth his time to mock.
Xia'er's gaze was firmly locked on Saga, her dragon pupils narrowing slightly, "What happened?"
Saga silently lowered his head, his spiked neck tensing. He first warily glanced at the proudly disdainful Tyrone beside him before reporting in a low, hoarse Draconic, "It was the lizardmen. Following your command, I led a hundred Bullywugs deep into the sea to search for treasure. This morning, I found a shipwreck. After looting some treasures, three pointed ships suddenly charged out from behind a reef cluster. The lizardmen on board wore iron-inlaid scale armor, wielded poisoned spears, and had heavy steel crossbows mounted on the prows."
Hearing this, Tyrone immediately showed disdain and mocked, "Ha! Injured by some crawling insects' broken wooden ships? Stupid black scale, you've really brought honor to true dragons!"
"Shut up, Tyrone."
Xia'er's low growl wasn't loud, but the flames in the Red Dragon's throat instantly stalled. His molten gold eyes narrowed in anger, but he ultimately snorted coldly under the Green Dragon's bottomless stare, whipping his tail to shatter a reef.
Xia'er turned to Saga, "Continue."
"I underestimated them."
Saga's tail swept anxiously across the sand, "Those lizardmen moved fast. The paralyzing poison on their crossbow bolts could instantly knock out Bullywugs. I intended to use my breath weapon to destroy the ships, but a green beam of light suddenly flashed from one of the ships. Then the ship-mounted crossbows fired in unison, hitting my wing. Seventeen Bullywugs died on the spot, and they stole the shipwreck treasure chest we found..."
An ordinary lizardman tribe would never possess such armaments and tactical discipline.
It seemed some changes had occurred within this lizardman tribe.
Xia'er took a deep breath and immediately declared, "Gather all the Bullywugs. Prepare for war."
"The feud between lizardmen and Bullywugs is time to end. Saga is a member of the Cassius Flight. Blood debts must be repaid with blood. For this war, at least half the lizardmen must be killed to wash away this disgrace!"
Xia'er's voice was icy, her dragon pupils gleaming with cold light, brimming with killing intent, "These crawling insects need a profound lesson. Use their blood and fire to quell the wrath of the Cassius Flight. Let me see if the strength of the Red Dragon Tyrone Killian Fitzwilliam can use their wails and corpses to cleanse the filth of these waters."
Hearing this, the Red Dragon Tyrone revealed a cruel smile:
"All these years, I've only been hunting some weaklings. War, blood, and fire are what Red Dragons are meant to do! The disgrace the black scale brought upon the great dragon race, I shall wash it away!"
...
This was the first time Xia'er had invoked her own surname, referring to the force under her command as the 'Cassius Flight'.
She did not choose to call it by Valentina's 'Underwood Dragon Flight'.
After all, this time, on one hand, it was for territorial expansion, and on the other, to gather the hearts of dragons.
Although all dragons knew who led the flight, the banner still needed to be raised, to tell Saga, Disos, and Tyrone that her true ambition was not to restore the Blue Dragon Empire's 'Underwood Dragon Flight', but to establish a new empire.
Green Dragon flights were typically bound by blood relations, rejecting the inclusion of any other dragon types.
Even fellow Green Dragons were only reluctantly accepted.
Green Dragon flights only accepted companions of the same surname.
For Xia'er, this was a bad custom.
Embracing all rivers was most important.
Moreover, Xia'er's vision was not merely to establish a dragon empire, but to build a diverse empire with dragons at its core.
Even if giants, who had a blood feud with dragons, sincerely pledged allegiance, Xia'er would not hesitate to grant them rewards.
Soon, following Xia'er's command, war mobilization began.
From White Pearl Island to the southernmost Coral Island.
Across eight islands, over fifteen hundred Bullywugs were mobilized. Excluding the elderly and young, over nine hundred Bullywug warriors, armed with various makeshift weapons, lurked in the water, ready to follow the dragons in an assault.
Unlike lizardmen, the greatest advantage of frogmen in island warfare was their ability to move freely underwater.
Lizardmen could not.
Lizardmen could only rely on ships for transport.
Although lizardmen could swim, if they entered the sea, they would be subjected to one-sided slaughter by the Bullywugs!
The Bullywug army assembled, advancing grandly underwater, heading towards the northern islands.
And in the sky above, four massive dragon shadows tore through the sea mist, soaring upwards.
The jade-colored Xia'er led the way, the crimson Tyrone boiling with battle intent close behind, the wounded Black Dragon Saga silently beat his wings, and the White Dragon Disos nervously brought up the rear.
The biting north wind swept across dragon scales, producing a wailing, sharp sound.
"Make it quick and decisive!"
Xia'er's authoritative voice echoed in the wind, clearly reaching each dragon's ears, "The lizardmen's islands are close to the ice fields. If we delay too long and attract those Frost Giants, we might be in enormous trouble!"
The three dragons nodded, only Tyrone sneered, saying if Frost Giants dared to come, they could just be killed along the way.
Xia'er's dragon pupils sharply locked onto the gray northern horizon, her wings beating powerfully, increasing her speed once more.