novelraw Chapter 191-2: The Sacred Dragon Nest, The Half-Dragon’s Plan (2)
Chapter 191-2: The Sacred Dragon Nest, The Half-Dragon’s Plan (2)
[Mining in progress…]
Staring at the stuck text, Lin Xun pondered what exactly the plan that broken horn half-dragon mentioned was supposed to be.
There was no doubt this unknown plan was a special event. Following it might lead to rewards and crucial information.
“Could it be some scheme to escape the mine?”
More than ten minutes later, the text finally continued.
[Mining successful. You have obtained Obsidian Venom Ore (Junk).]
[You know this lowest-grade ore is nowhere near sufficient. If you can’t dig up purer stones today, what awaits you is a punishment more brutal than any dragon’s cruelty.]
[Will you now mine with all your strength, or secretly conserve your energy?]
Lin Xun thought briefly, then chose the latter.
Even though he didn’t know the plan’s contents, the rewards for a special event would surely be better than mere mining.[Mining in progress…]
After choosing to slack off, the little half-dragon’s mining slowed to a crawl.
Nearly half an hour passed just to extract a single piece of ore.
[Mining successful. You have obtained Obsidian Venom Ore (Junk).]
[Mining in progress…]
Lin Xun decided to simply set the phone aside and let the little half-dragon toil away.
He turned to his computer, launched the Writer Assistant app, and began another form of exhausting labor.
A long while later…
Night had already fallen outside the window. Lin Xun stretched contentedly, admiring the four thousand word epic chapter he’d completed.
Picking up his phone again, well, the little half-dragon was still mining.
Scrolling through the text, most of what he’d gathered was low-grade ore.
Lin Xun even saw the line: ‘You feel a little weary.’
But that wasn’t the important part. Among all the junk ore, there was one piece of fine-grade stone.
He quickly opened the inventory to inspect it.
[Obsidian Venom Ore (Fine-Grade Item): A pure, pitch-black stone containing potent toxins. This ore cannot be used for forging. You have not yet discovered its true purpose.]
Lin Xun frowned.
If it couldn’t be forged into equipment, what was it for?
According to earlier information, the Lords of the Dragon Nest were desperate for high-quality ore, and it seemed the mining slaves hadn’t produced any in a long time.
He wondered if this fine-grade piece in his hand might finally meet the standard.
[You are just about to lift the copper pickaxe to continue mining when a claw smacks the back of your head.]
[Clutching your skull, you turn around to see the broken horn half-dragon again. Its expression was tense. Though it looked ready to roar, it could only keep its voice low as it cursed at you in anger…]
[“You worthless idiot, our agreed time came and went! Why didn’t you come to the mine entrance to meet me?”]
[“If you’re too cowardly to go through with this, you should’ve backed out earlier, I could’ve found someone else to help.”]
[Do you wish to proceed with the plan, or refuse?]
[You put away the pickaxe and explained to the half-dragon that the darkness of the mine had made you lose track of time, and it wasn’t intentional.]
[The broken horn half-dragon looked at the pile of stones at your feet, counting them, before its expression softened somewhat.]
[It gestured for the plan to continue and for you to follow its lead…]
[Then the broken horn half-dragon dropped to all fours and crawled forward stealthily. This crawling posture ensured you made no sound.]
[Following close behind, you occasionally glimpsed other half-dragons mining at various branches of the tunnels. But fully absorbed in their labor, none noticed you slipping away into the darkness.]
[…]
[You emerged at the mine entrance. The broken horn half-dragon stopped crawling and rose to its feet.]
[From a clump of grass nearby, it picked up two wooden spears, handing one to you…]
[You have obtained Sharpened Wooden Spear (Ruined+ Grade Weapon).]
[The broken horn half-dragon’s eyes were fierce. It seemed to be speaking to you, or perhaps to itself, that if the plan succeeded, the two of you would never have to mine again. And if it failed… well, it had already had enough of this hopeless life.]
[May the Radiant Stars bless us!]
[You echo the same familiar words, and fragments of memory stir within the Shell…]
[Day after day of numb, unending labor was not only your nightmare, but the nightmare of all the other mining slaves… Yet fortunately, even in the nightmare, a sliver of hope remained.]
[Since childhood, your elders in the tribe taught you that mining Obsidian Ore was a duty bestowed by the gods. Every time you managed to extract a high-quality piece of ore, you came one step closer to restoring the ancestors’ lost glory.]
[Back then, you didn’t understand what ‘glory’ meant. You only knew that when an elder mined high-grade ore, they would be rewarded by the noble lords, and that was the sole hope in a life of despair.]
[The generous rewards came from the place all half-dragons yearned for: the sacred Dragon Nest.]
[You didn’t understand the meaning of glory, but you knew the occasional scraps of meat you were allowed to taste, and even your mother whom you never met, had come from your father’s efforts.]
[Your father died of an illness from overwork, leaving you nothing but a cramped cave and a battered Worn Cross Copper Pickaxe.]
[When you took the pickaxe from your father’s hands, you understood that his nightmare had ended, while yours was just beginning…]
[…]
[Gradually, you lost yourself in the numbness of mining. Only when you unearthed a high-grade ore every now and then did your life feel slightly less wretched for a few days.]
[You turned down the female half-dragon the overseer sent you as a reward, asking instead that everything be exchanged for meat. And the meat you received, you never kept for yourself, but shared with the old and frail mining slaves.]
[This was precisely the act that caught the attention of your former playmate, Broken Horn Sharu.]
[Where there is oppression, there is resistance. Not every half-dragon resigned themselves to numb submission. Broken Horn Sharu was one of those who yearned to resist.]
[One dark, moonless night, Broken Horn Sharu barged into your cave, telling you a staggering secret and a plan.]
[The reason the Hybrid Half-Dragon became an overseer, exempt from backbreaking labor, was because of its superior bloodline.]
[In your understanding, bloodline was decided at birth. Offspring of mongrel half-dragons could never become hybrids, let alone purebloods.]
[But Broken Horn Sharu only shook its head and told you: bloodlines could be elevated and evolve. Becoming a hybrid or even a pureblood was not impossible.]
[Then it shared with you a secret so shocking you could scarcely believe it: the Obsidian Ore you mined every day was the key to purifying bloodlines.]
[According to legend, when each generation of the hermit ancestors died, their bodies were buried deep in the earth, their bloodline power nourishing their descendants.]
[The lords in the Dragon Nest needed high-grade ore because they weren’t satisfied with passively absorbing this power, they wished to extract it actively.]
[Each piece of high-quality ore contained a portion of the ancestors’ bloodline strength. When the hybrid overseer accepted your deliveries, it would always secretly cut off part of the rewards.]
[Even the rewards you received from the Dragon Nest had already been embezzled.]
[No one knew where the overseer had acquired the secret technique to enhance bloodlines. It sought to ascend into a pureblood half-dragon, gaining entrance to the Dragon Nest itself…]
[When you first heard this secret, you were so astonished you couldn’t react for a long time. But when Broken Horn Sharu explained its plan, you finally understood what it meant to be truly audacious.]
[The plan was simple and brutal: kill the hybrid overseer and take its place.]
[The hybrid overseer was vastly stronger than any mining slave. Confronting it head-on with only you and Sharu was like smashing eggs against a rock.]
[You suggested whether more miners could be rallied to overthrow the overseer’s oppression.]
[Broken Horn Sharu snorted and shook its head. It didn’t know which miner would secretly betray the plan for a reward, only you, foolish as you were, seemed trustworthy.]
[It shared the details: whenever a miner delivered high-quality ore, the overseer would secretly skim some of the Dragon Nest’s reward, sometimes meat, sometimes breeding rights.]
[The plan was to wait until the overseer was indulging in the latter. When things were at their most heated, the two of you would strike at the moment it was least prepared!]
[Once the overseer was slain and the secret technique seized, you and Sharu could become Hybrid Half-Dragons, perhaps even ascend to Pureblood Half-Dragons and step into the Dragon Nest itself.]
[You hesitated for a long time, but at last, you made up your mind.]
[When you and Broken Horn Sharu praised the Radiant Stars together, you swore to see the plan through.]
[At that point, the Shell’s scattered memories abruptly ended.]