Celebration

The celebration, which had been disrupted by the sudden intrusion of the two dragons, quickly returned to normal.

And it became even livelier.

Unlike other races, the bizarre race of kobolds did not feel like they were being enslaved.

Instead, they felt it was their honor.

Thus, Daviel and Irene were invited to the most prominent spot at the bonfire party.

Here, trees were undoubtedly the most precious resource, so they naturally weren't so extravagant as to have tables and chairs made of wood.

This was evident from the simple houses built from piled stones.

The two little black dragons could only sit on the ground.

But even if there were tables and chairs, they probably wouldn't be able to use them given their massive size.

The old kobold, whom Irene had named Fido, was indeed the chief of this tribe.

At this moment, he was directing the other kobolds to pile heap after heap of fresh fruit and roasted meat cut with stone knives in front of the two black dragons.

They had even thoughtfully placed a layer of large leaves, similar to banana leaves, underneath.

Irene did not start eating immediately; compared to the delicious food, she wanted to understand this tribe first.

After all, they would probably be living here for a very long time to come.

The bonfire in the center of the plaza first caught her attention.

The blazing flames dispelled the cold of the night.

But what was burning inside was not firewood, but something that looked like dung.

No.

It was dung.

Sun-dried dung, to be precise.

“Using dung to keep warm and ward off the cold? That's actually a good idea.”

Irene withdrew her gaze and looked elsewhere.

Beside the bonfire were various racks, upon which hung bloody beast meat.

After being roasted by the fire, it emitted a faint, savory aroma of meat.

Beside the roasted meat, blood-stained stone spears and other stone weapons were driven into the ground, their smooth edges reflecting the firelight.

The kobolds probably used these stone weapons to hunt.

A circle of kobolds sat far back, surrounding the central bonfire.

They wore simple animal hides wrapped around their bodies and tore at raw meat.

From time to time, one or two young kobolds would look at the roasted meat in front of Irene and Daviel with envious eyes.

The two dragons had undoubtedly monopolized all the roasted meat.

When they noticed Irene looking at them, these young kobolds quickly withdrew their gazes, trembling in panic and fear.

“It's practically as primitive as the Stone Age.”

Irene sighed inwardly.

But considering this was the savage God-Forsaken Land, she came to terms with it.

For the creatures living here, simply surviving was probably the greatest happiness.

“Sis, aren't you going to eat? It's super delicious!”

His mouth stuffed full, Daviel said as he shoved another piece of roasted meat into his mouth.

Irene glanced at the food in front of her; most of it was various fruits, and roasted meat made up a relatively small portion.

Reaching out with her claw, she picked up a piece of sizzling, greasy roasted meat and placed it in her mouth to savor it.

Naturally, Irene wasn't worried about being poisoned at all.

Black dragons were naturally immune to most toxins.

If a black dragon could be poisoned to death, she would have long died from the toxic gases generated in the swamp.

Not to mention, the acid breath a black dragon spat out was itself highly corrosive and toxic.

The portion of roasted meat wasn't large, and she swallowed it after chewing a couple of times.

Instead of rushing to eat the next piece, Irene narrowed her eyes, carefully savoring the taste of this roasted meat.

Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, savory and delicious.

Clearly, this roasted meat had been sprinkled with salt.

Opening her eyes, Irene picked up a piece of roasted meat with two of her claws and held it before her eyes to inspect it closely.

The freshly roasted meat glowed golden-brown in the firelight, wafting tendrils of steam.

A few crystalline grains of salt were sprinkled over it.

Not many,

but just enough to bring out the savory flavor of the meat.

Ever since coming to this foreign world, she had been living like a beast, eating raw meat and drinking blood.

This was the first time in her life as a dragon that Irene was eating cooked food.

Tossing the roasted meat in her claw into her mouth, Irene closed her eyes in bliss.

“A long-lost taste, nostalgic for a dragon...”

“Awoo!”

A sudden wolf-like howl caught Irene's attention; it came from Fido.

As if it were a signal, the kobolds stepped forward one by one of their own accord, forming a circle around the bonfire.

They began to dance a strange dance.

These kobolds—men and women, young and old—danced in a wild, chaotic frenzy.

Some of the kobolds got so into it that they would leap from one side of the bonfire to the other, drawing a chorus of cheers and shrieks from the crowd.

A few clumsy, unlucky ones would set their tails on fire, shrieking in pain and running around with trails of black smoke.

Then they would be tackled by other kobolds, who would stomp on them repeatedly to forcibly put out the fire.

Irene actually quite liked this feeling.

It gave her the illusion of being an ancient emperor watching his concubines dance.

Of course, that was provided she didn't look at those dog heads with tongues lolling about, or the tails wagging constantly behind them.

She grabbed a bunch of grapes and stuffed them into her mouth.

As the grapes burst between her teeth, Irene's eyes widened.

On the surface, these otherworldly grapes looked no different from the grapes of her past life, but the taste completely blew them out of the water.

Sweet.

Very sweet.

Incredibly sweet.

That was the defining characteristic of these grapes.

Moreover, even though they were excessively sweet, they weren't cloying at all, tasting remarkably refreshing.

“Is it because of the huge temperature difference between day and night, locking in the sugars?”

Irene subconsciously applied the knowledge she had learned in her past life, trying to understand why the grapes were so sweet.

But then she gave a helpless smile.

She was in another world now; what use was the stuff she had learned in her past life?

In her past life, Irene hadn't been some straight-A student, and after graduating, she had basically returned all her knowledge to her teachers.

One of the few scientific principles she still remembered was probably that steam engines worked by boiling water.

But according to the Draconic Inheritance, this world already had steam engines.

Some steam-powered creations derived from steam engines were even sweeping the entire continent.

The dwarves had even popularized steam trains.

The meager knowledge in her head was highly unlikely to be of any use in this foreign world.

Fortunately, Irene hadn't transmigrated as an ordinary human, but as a giant dragon standing at the very top of the food chain.

She didn't need to work hard; she just needed to eat, sleep, and she would naturally grow stronger over time.

...

After a hearty meal, the bonfire gradually died down.

Yet the kobolds did not disperse.

They gathered obediently in the middle of the plaza, waiting for the two esteemed black dragons to choose a house to serve as their lair.

But looking at these stone houses, which were barely larger than her own body, Irene found herself in a dilemma.

These tiny houses would be a tight squeeze for even a single dragon, let alone two.

The moment they tried to squeeze in, the house would probably collapse immediately.

Fido, the kobold chief, seemed to notice Irene's displeasure.

He quickly trotted over to Irene's side and said humbly:

“Great Lady Irene, please forgive our incompetence.”

“Rest assured, tomorrow I will lead the young ones to build a luxurious palace for you...”

Irene turned her head and glanced at the elderly kobold.

This instantly terrified Fido. He quickly knelt on the ground and begged loudly for mercy:

“Your Grace, tonight! We will start building tonight...”

Seeing this, the kobolds in the plaza also knelt down in unison.

They knew the nature of the evil chromatic dragons all too well.

If they angered an evil dragon, the entire village would be reduced to a sea of fire.

“There is no need,”

Irene said, somewhat helplessly.

“Just keep things as they are. We will handle the matter of our lair ourselves.”

With that, under the even more awe-struck gazes of the kobolds, she grabbed Daviel's tail.

And dragged the still-gorging little black dragon away.

Within this oasis lay a reasonably sized lake.

As a black dragon who preferred living in damp environments, Irene was highly pleased with this lake.

Dragging Daviel along, she plunged into the lake. After digging out a cave at the bottom, she used barrier magic to drain the water from it.

A simple dragon's lair was thus completed.

To prevent the black dragon's innate corrosive aura from turning this lake into a toxic swamp,

Irene directly turned off this passive talent.

She also instructed Daviel to turn off this talent as well.

After all, those kobolds were now her vassals.

If they turned this place into a swamp, these vassals would probably die within days from the toxic gases generated by it.

Irene didn't want to be so wasteful.

They were, after all, free labor.

After crawling into the damp underwater cave, Daviel found a comfortable corner, lay down, and began to sleep soundly.

Meanwhile, Irene opened her mouth and spat out the space gem tucked under her tongue.

From the space gem, she pulled out the book titled 《Magic for Beginners: From Introduction to Mastery》.

Lying on the ground, she carefully flipped through the book with her dragon claws.

The rustling sound of turning pages echoed within the sealed cave.

In his sleep, Daviel knit his brows, seemingly having a not-so-pleasant dream.