Jonavili nodded slightly.
"It seems these fellows are quite patient, but I expect they will make their move this year."
It was already May, and August was not far off.
"Then what should we do?"
Hearing Fanni's question, Jonavili curled the corners of her mouth, revealing a "kind" and terrifying smile.
"It is simple. We will ensure they never return.
Given the greedy and selfish nature of humans, that caravan will certainly not spread news of this place any further. Therefore, the number of people coming should not be too high.
Fanni, tell me, how many monsters do we have in total now?"
"Uh... maybe, probably, perhaps, there should be ten thousand."
Hearing Fanni's uncertain tone, Jonavili curled her lip and immediately spread out her perception.
She discovered that the number of frost kobolds in the city had reached over four hundred, while the number of white-scaled goblins had reached over a thousand. Including the various other races that had submitted, the total number reached a staggering twelve thousand or more.
"Over twelve thousand? This number is not bad."
With a general idea in mind, Jonavili had already decided on a strategy.
"Xiao Shunzi."
"Present!"
"Go to the various villages that have submitted and gather all monsters with firm wills and strong physiques. You have one day. Come to this place before sunset tomorrow..."
Jonavili paused and looked at Fanni.
"What is this city-state called?"
"I was only managing it on your behalf, so I haven't given it a name yet, hee-hee~"
Fanni awkwardly tapped her fingers together.
"Then it shall be called White Crystal City from now on,"
Jonavili said casually.
"Have them come to White Crystal City before sunset tomorrow."
"Yes! Great Master!"
With that, Xiao Shunzi spread his dragon wings and led a group of frost kobolds as they flew out of the city.
"Erpiezi."
"Present!"
"You go into the city and select monsters with similar characteristics. Organize them and then coordinate with Xiao Shunzi."
"Yes!"
Erpiezi also led some white-scaled goblins away.
Having finished these arrangements, Jonavili looked at Gris and curled the corners of her mouth.
'Eat up. You need to eat more to work well, hehehe...'
As if sensing something ominous, Gris paused his eating and looked at Jonavili, tilting his head. He felt like her gaze was somewhat malicious.
With a chicken leg stuffed in his mouth, he hummed a muffled question.
"Big sis... wha's wrong?"
Jonavili shook her head gently.
"Nothing. Keep eating. And the rest of you, dismiss."
"Yes!" echoed the voices.
Three hours later, Jonavili was finally full. Although she really wanted to just have a good sleep, she still had business to attend to.
Glancing at Gris, who had fallen asleep amidst the pile of food scraps, Jonavili flew out of the city.
She arrived at the banks of the Sam River. A dozen or so scattered rockclaw magic crocodiles saw Jonavili landing on the far bank. For some reason, the urge to flee rose in their hearts.
They followed their instincts and chose to run.
Splash, splash, splash—
The sound of them entering the water reached her, and Jonavili shook her head helplessly.
"It seems I left quite a shadow on them."
However, Jonavili had not come to cause them trouble this time. She had business to do, as she was not yet familiar with her time abilities; she only had a basic understanding.
She walked up to a small patch of grass and crouched down.
"I will use you for the experiment."
She extended her fair palm.
"Chrono Surge."
Jonavili's mana had already recovered by fifty percent. Furthermore, because she had changed the target of the application to a small blade of grass, the mana consumption was greatly reduced.
Visibly, the grass began to grow rapidly.
Under Jonavili's control, the grass grew at varying speeds, until eventually its leaves began to age.
Jonavili stopped her actions. These few seconds had consumed twenty percent of her mana.
"Tsk, this consumption is far too high. However, compared to other costs of using time—such as memory loss, drastic lifespan reduction, or physical aging—a high mana consumption seems quite insignificant."
Muttering to herself, Jonavili began to experiment with another ability.
"Retrospection."
Visibly, the grass began to revert to its original state at varying speeds. Finally, it completely returned to the form of a newly sprouted bud.
This gave Jonavili a new understanding of her power.
At that moment, Erpiezi found Jonavili.
"Master, I have completed the tasks you arranged."
Jonavili did not even turn her head.
"I know. This is your reward."
Jonavili took out a silver-white dragon scale and tossed it casually to Erpiezi.
"This scale contains my power. If you want to become stronger, press it to your forehead."
Hearing this, Erpiezi knelt on the ground in excitement.
"Thank you, Master!"
He had dreamed of obtaining greater power. Although he had already reached the Silver rank, he had long been envious of Xiao Shunzi and the others who had undergone transformation through undiluted dragon blood.
Now, this scale also contained powerful energy. Integrating it was no different from integrating another drop of dragon blood—it might even be slightly stronger.
Facing the extremely excited Erpiezi, Jonavili transformed into her original form and flew away.
She was going to have a good sleep.
Arriving at the dragon nest, Jonavili began to expand the cave. Before long, it was spacious enough.
"Ooh~ it is the most beautiful time for a nap~~"
...
One day, two days... ten days.
Ten days passed before Jonavili opened her eyes.
"Awoooo!"
She let out a howl, feeling that this sleep had been truly comfortable.
"Ten days?"
Jonavili smacked her lips.
"I feel like I missed something."
"Whatever. I am the boss. Would they even dare say anything?"
Jonavili stood up and noticed that Furiel was also in the dragon nest.
"Oho, sleeping quite soundly, aren't we?"
Feeling playful, Jonavili walked up to Furiel.
She brought her dragon head close and began to observe carefully.
"Truth be told, by the standards of dragon beauty, Furiel is indeed a beautiful dragon."
Her silver-white dragon tail extended like a whip, pointing toward Furiel's nostril.
Just as it was about to poke in, a pair of crimson dragon eyes snapped open.
Meeting Furiel's gaze, which looked ready to kill, Jonavili's movement paused.
Oh? You dare glare at me? Fine, fine, you're rebelling now.
Jonavili glared right back. Looking at Jonavili's childish behavior, Furiel was momentarily speechless.
Suddenly, taking advantage of Furiel's lack of attention, Jonavili poked her tail into Furiel's nostril and gave the tip a little tickle.
"Achoo!"
Furiel sneezed on the spot, sparks flying.
"Hahaha, ahahaha!"
Jonavili laughed so hard she clutched her stomach. Furiel was instantly enraged.
"Stupid white dragon, how dare you..."
Before Furiel could vent her fury, Jonavili raised a claw and stroked Furiel's face.
"No-no, if you get angry, your scales will lose their color."
Rate on N.U.
