Jonavili raised her draconic head high, her eyes narrowing.
"Furiel, you dare compare me to those weaklings? Hmph! You are far too rude."
Furiel was not angry; on the contrary, this was more like it, for this was how a dragon should behave.
...
Yat led a merchant caravan of over three thousand people to White Crystal City.
They were received by the city lord on the surface—Fanni.
"City Lord Fanni, it is a pleasure to meet you again. I hope this trade will be mutually satisfying for both of us."
As the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling face, and Yat displayed a friendly side from the moment he arrived.
This behavior would usually be quite popular with creatures like sprites, but unfortunately, with Jonavili's suspicions in mind, Fanni was not interested in these humans and did not even radiate the enthusiasm a sprite should have.
Sprites were like that; they basically wore their emotions on their sleeves because they were pure nature spirits, which meant their hearts were incredibly clean and they rarely engaged in schemes.
Facing the cold attitude of the sprite, Yat, as a merchant who had been a traveling trader for most of his life, believed he could handle it well.
"I wonder why you look this way, Excellency Fanni? Has something happened to make you unhappy?"
Fanni glanced at the caravan, which had significantly increased in size by several times, her delicate brows furrowing slightly and her tone cold.
"Why are there so many people in the merchant group this time?"
"Excellency Fanni might not know, but it is to deepen our trade relations and make our cooperation closer.
That is why I specifically brought more goods to trade, which can help perfect your newly built city-state. This is the sincerity I am showing."
Looking at the still-smiling Yat, Fanni felt only hypocrisy and disgust.
If not for Jonavili's reminder, she might have been as happy as before and warmly received these merchants, but now...
'Hehehe, I hope you don't cause trouble, otherwise the wrath of those three lords is not something you mere humans can endure.'
Fanni sneered in her heart, but on the surface, she said with little interest.
"Enter the city."
After speaking, she took Anna and flew into the city-state. Watching the departing backs of the two sprites, Yat's gaze turned cold.
"Hehehe, just a sprite, what is there to be so arrogant about?"
But then, Yat slowly put on a money-grubbing smile again.
"I wonder how many gold coins two sprites can be sold for? Hehehe."
"Everyone, enter the city!" The massive caravan marched into the city-state, with Yat at the forefront, but upon seeing the scene inside, his eyes began to sparkle.
"By the God of Wealth! Look what I see! Demi-humans, serpentfolk beauties... these are all races that can be sold for a high price."
Demi-humans and the serpentfolk race generally had high aesthetic appeal; for those noble lords, they were excellent races to be used as tools for venting or as maids.
On the Wolf Supercontinent, many noble manors had many such demi-human beauties, and some were even equipped with high elves.
But these things could not be placed in the open, as enslaving other races for one's own pleasure would undoubtedly provoke war.
However, when it came to the best riding mounts, it had to be Dragons.
The benefits of Dragons were simply too numerous. If a family had a dragon backing them, their status and power would rise to an inconceivable height.
Furthermore, draconic blood could be used to convert dragon-blooded warriors and draconic sorcerers, increasing overall strength.
But most importantly, if one tamed a female dragon, they could be a dragon rider by day and a dragon rider by night; this was an open secret among nobles.
Dragons were also the most precious family heirlooms, so white wyrmlings and young dragons were the easiest to tame at those stages.
If one could capture a dragon alive, the wealth gained would be enough for three lifetimes.
Yat could not help but let his thoughts wander, showing a money-grubbing expression.
After the caravan entered the city-state, they began to sell the goods they had brought.
After all, on the surface, they were still in a trading relationship. However, Yat keenly noticed that the number of monsters here had significantly increased, much more than when he came last year.
Most were at the Silver tier, but this did not make him afraid; he even felt somewhat fortunate to have brought a Gold tier elite mage.
One must know that each stage of power is like a mountain, and the only races capable of fighting across tiers were powerful top-tier races like Dragons, wyverns, hydras, and unicorns. Of course, they had a more majestic name: mythical creatures.
So, this meant...
"I will definitely make a huge profit this time!"
Yat was in no hurry to act but instead began to observe the movements of these monsters. To his surprise, the monsters' enthusiasm did not seem as high as in previous years; only some young cubs showed intense curiosity.
But as the saying goes, the observer sees more clearly than the player; Yat simply thought that some bad things had happened here not long ago and did not think much of it, his eyes already blinded by gold coins.
However, the adventurers and mercenaries who came were instead attracted by the "Joyful Fight the Noble" game currently popular in White Crystal City, quickly becoming so engrossed that they could not extricate themselves.
As the sky gradually darkened, night soon arrived.
After nearly a day of observation, the highest realm of the monsters in the city was only the Silver tier, while the lowest was Black Iron. This made Yat unable to endure any longer, preparing to strike tonight.
The monsters of White Crystal City also noticed that the scale of the caravan this time was several times larger than the last, which made them believe Jonavili's words even more.
They lay on their beds and slowly closed their eyes, but their perception quietly expanded.
Jonavili and Furiel, having transformed into their dragonkin form, stood outside the dragon nest, looking at the gradually darkening lights of White Crystal City and the moving shadows, unable to help but curl their lips.
"Hahaha~ The world says we dragons are greedy, but I see that humans are equally insatiable.
But compared to us dragons, the human heart's emotions are even more complex. A heart the size of a fist contains kindness, justice, joy, greed, evil, anger, jealousy, cunning, and so many other emotions. It truly is miraculous."
Furiel remained noncommittal toward Jonavili's lament.
Shadows quietly slipped into the rooms of the frost kobolds and white-scaled goblins; they had been listed as priority targets.
Other shadows slipped into the rooms of other ordinary monsters, ready to act at any moment.
Seeing that these mercenaries and adventurers were mostly prepared, Yat spoke respectfully to the human mage beside him.
"Master Elias, please give them the signal to attack."
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