Those dwarf veterans, who on normal days could split stone with their strength and had fiery tempers, had completely lost their usual ferocity at this moment.
The poison mist had not only corroded their bodies, but also shattered their will.
Intense dizziness made their world spin, violent nausea churned their guts, and even the strength to grip their warhammers or axe handles had vanished.
The dwarves curled up, groaning in pain, or scratched futilely at their itchy, festering skin, their eyes glazed over, leaving only the physiological agony and the bewildering fear of having narrowly escaped death.
"Hurry up! Drag them out!"
The roar of the Blue Dragon, Otto, carried a hint of impatience as he faithfully carried out the orders of Valentina and Xia'er.
And those executing the orders were the one hundred and fifty elite kobold warriors Xia'er had brought over from White Pearl Island.
These kobold warriors wore heavy suits of metal armor that tightly covered their bodies. Longswords hung at their waists, the scabbards pressed against their legs, projecting a deterrent of being ready to be drawn at any moment. The iron spears gripped tightly in their hands stood straight as a forest, their spearheads sharp and glinting with a cold light.
This equipment had not come easily; it was the maximum armament Saga had barely managed to acquire over the past five years by selling precious Chromatic Dragon scales, Archipelago pearls, and sunken treasures from the seafloor.
However, resources were tight, allowing only this one hundred and fifty elite warriors to be equipped, and they were severely lacking in ranged weapons like hand crossbows, limiting their tactical versatility.
At least on the surface, they looked elite, comparable to the central legions of a Human Kingdom.
Soon, over two hundred dwarf prisoners were brought before Xia'er, Valentina, Rebecca, and Otto by the kobolds.
Xia'er swept her gaze over these captured dwarf prisoners of war, spotting a veteran with a graying beard and armor more refined than the other dwarves. In her panel, this veteran's challenge rating had already reached level 9, clearly the leader of this stone fort.
"You, dwarf, come forward."
Xia'er opened her mouth and spoke.
Though also tormented by the poison mist with red, swollen skin and an unsteady gait, this dwarf veteran's eyes still burned with an unyielding flame, that unique pride and stubbornness etched into the very bones of dwarves.
"Dwarf."
Xia'er looked down at him, her draconic pupils cold: "Tell me, where is your king, Jandres, now? How many troops are stationed here, and who is your leader?"
"If your answer satisfies me, I will pardon your crimes, ensure you are well-fed and clothed, and guarantee that in every dwarf city-state I conquer in the future, dwarves will continue to live and work in peace."
Xia'er still had a great need for technical talent.
The dwarf veteran struggled to lift his head, his bloodshot eyes meeting Xia'er's without fear. He spat a mouthful of bloody saliva, his voice hoarse as he roared with all his might: "Bah! Filthy Green Dragon! Don't think you can pry anything from the mouth of a son of stone! King Jandres's will is as strong as an anvil, a dwarf's spine would rather break than bend! Think we'll betray our oaths? Not in this lifetime!"
His voice echoed over the silent ruins, filled with finality.
The surrounding dwarf prisoners, though weak, looked at the veteran with eyes full of grief, indignation, and agreement.
Valentina let out a displeased hiss, her tail slapping the ground irritably.
Xia'er's eyes held not the slightest ripple, as if she were looking at a stone about to be crushed.
Seeing this dwarf veteran so stubborn, Xia'er wasted no more words. Her massive maw opened once more, and a thick, ink-green juice-like poison mist once again enveloped that dwarf veteran!
"Gahhhh—!"
A shrill, inhuman scream erupted instantly!
Within the thick mist, the dwarf veteran's body convulsed violently, the skin exposed to the air blackening, swelling, blistering, and festering at a visible rate!
The dwarf veteran clawed frantically at his own throat and face, as if trying to tear open the organs that had inhaled the poisonous gas, his nails digging deep into the rotting flesh.
This was not merely killing; it was the cruelest form of torture.
The screams lasted only a few breaths before being cut off as if strangled, leaving only a terrifying, rapidly charring, putrid carcass within the mist, emitting a nauseatingly sweet, fishy stench.
Xia'er slowly closed her mouth, residual green poison gas dissipating between her fangs.
A Green Dragon's breath was just that cruel.
Compared to a Red Dragon's scorching fire, a Blue Dragon's lightning, a White Dragon's frost.
A Black Dragon's acid and a Green Dragon's poison mist.
While lacking the same intense visual impact, it was more than enough to instill fear.
Xia'er also wished for a fiery breath, like the dragons in people's imaginations.
But alas, she couldn't do that.
Xia'er's icy draconic gaze swept over the cowering, terrified crowd of dwarf prisoners below: "This is the fate of resistance. Now, tell me what I want to know. Who else is willing to die for your Dwarf King, Jandres?"
Xia'er's original intent was to execute one as a warning to a hundred, using the cruelest means to completely shatter these prisoners' will to resist, to make them understand that in the face of absolute power and the threat of death, so-called loyalty was meaningless.
Xia'er expected the remaining dwarves to submit under extreme fear, scrambling to provide information in exchange for their lives.
However, the deep-rooted stubbornness and collective honor ingrained in the dwarven bloodline exceeded Xia'er's expectations.
After a brief, deathly silence, from within the prisoner crowd, a young dwarf with a childish face and festering arms suddenly took a step forward!
His entire body trembled, tears mingling with pus streaming down his face, but his eyes were unusually bright as he shouted hoarsely: "For Anvil City! For King Jandres!"
It was like lighting a fuse!
"For ancestral glory!"
"Dwarves never yield!"
"Kill me, evil dragon!"
"..."
Shouts filled with absolute finality rang out one after another!
One, two, ten... dozens of dwarves, veterans and new recruits alike, ignoring the kobold warriors' shouts and the threat of spearpoints, staggering, struggling, striving to straighten their scarred chests, stepped forward from the crowd!
Some clenched their fists, some glared defiantly at the dragon, some closed their eyes awaiting death, but without exception, all chose to follow the path of that veteran.
In a short moment, dozens of dwarves had stepped to the front!
Xia'er was genuinely taken aback.
She had somewhat underestimated the cohesion and martyr-like courage this dwarf race could erupt with in desperate straits.
But Xia'er's moment of stunned silence lasted only an instant.
As a Green Dragon pursuing power, believing in the law of the jungle, as the ruler of the Star Mist Archipelago.
Xia'er knew deeply that any hesitation or wavering at this moment would be seen as weakness by the remaining prisoners, completely undermining the terrifying pressure she had just established.
"Very well."
Xia'er's voice was calm: "Since you seek death, I shall grant it."
"I, Xia'er, leader of the Cassius Flight, Dragon Lord of the Bullywugs, Lizardmen, and Kobolds of the Star Mist Archipelago, sentence you to death."
With that, Xia'er's massive maw opened once more.
This time, it was no longer a precise spray targeting a single individual, but a wider-ranging, lethal breath attack sufficient to cover all the dwarves who had stepped forward!
Jade-green mist saturated with corrosion and deadly poison churned, surging like a tide of death, instantly swallowing those upright figures!
Under the shroud of the green mist of death, the dozens of dwarves soon fell silent.
The remaining prisoner crowd sank into a deathly stillness.
All the surviving dwarves' eyes had completely lost their light, leaving only hollow despair and infinite awe for the dragon before them.
Xia'er slowly closed her mouth, her cold gaze sweeping over the remaining prisoners, whose numbers had sharply decreased to just over a hundred.
The nauseating smell in the air and the hellish scene at their feet became the most powerful deterrent.
"Now."
Xia'er's voice rang out again, like a cold gavel of judgment striking the heart of every dwarf: "Who can answer my questions?"
Not killing all these dwarves.
Xia'er felt she really was a good dragon.
After all, if it were traditional Chromatic Dragons like Valentina or Tyrone, these dwarves, with half of them showing unwillingness to submit, would have been slaughtered long ago. How could there possibly be any survivors?
Ah, a good dragon like me might be bullied by other Chromatic Dragons in the future, forced to sit at the same table with Gold and Silver Dragons of the Metallic Dragons.
Xia'er sighed inwardly.
Hearing Xia'er's words, a young dwarf hesitated for a moment, then suddenly took a step forward. With humiliation, he knelt on one knee: "Great Dragon Lord, the dwarf Teller is willing to answer your questions."
"After the war began, the Goblin Duke, a vassal of the Kingdom, raised a rebellion in the south. King Jandres led the main force south to suppress the rebellion. Fighting you on the front lines are only the two thousand five hundred soldiers of the Dwarf Third Legion and eight hundred goblin slaves. The Third Legion's commander, General Adrei, just moved to the Seventh Stone Fort yesterday, to suppress and pacify the goblin slaves digging tunnels, and to be wary of that Red Dragon attacking our supply lines from behind."