A Farce, Indeed!?

A Wyvern Carriage, as it was known, was an aerial transport vehicle. It harnessed adult winged wyverns, a type of sub-dragon, as its power source. These wyverns pulled a lightweight metallic carriage, adorned with earth-elemental anti-gravity Magic Formations, allowing it to soar through the skies.

To borrow a saying from Du Chen's past life, the presence or absence of a Wyvern Carriage denoted two entirely different standards of living! Among those who possessed such a conveyance, the number of wyverns and the grandeur of the carriage's size and ornamentation unmistakably declared the owner's noble status. Moreover, it served as a potent symbol of immense wealth. This extravagant mode of transport was so exclusive that even the monarch of a minor kingdom might not possess one.

Brockman's Wyvern Carriage was a testament to such luxury, comprising four Level Six azure-green winged wyverns and a carriage intricately inlaid with platinum-threaded Magic Formations. The metal forming the carriage was likely the exceedingly rare earth-elemental “Umbra-gold.” Such a Wyvern Carriage was arguably among the most exquisite and high-tier models available—a specification that made Du Chen's palms itch with envy, and he yearned to immediately pilfer such a magnificent ride!

Having spent many days with Du Chen, Deboning had developed a fair understanding of his temperament, character, and methods. Witnessing Du Chen's smile as he stared at the Wyvern Carriage, rubbing his nose, Deboning involuntarily felt a chill creep down his spine.

Inside the carriage, within a chamber furnished like a lavish hall, Brockman was entertaining Du Chen. “My Lord,” Brockman offered, “please sample this cocktail I've concocted—‘Fallen Angel.’ Its taste is quite exquisite!”

While Du Chen sipped his drink, Brockman probed, “This is truly incredible. You are a lord baron with a net worth exceeding a million gold coins, yet you have only one attendant and one servant by your side. Especially since your servant is a…” After all, for a great noble, having a Shieb as a servant was considered quite a loss of face, so he could not say it directly. He used a common 'jest' among nobles, laughing, “At the very least, you should have several beautiful maidservants, shouldn't you? Otherwise, perhaps I could gift you a few?”

*Kid, are you trying to gauge my strength?* Du Chen casually bluffed, “Heh, to be frank, I do have a few maidservants. However, they all enjoy wielding the Blade, which makes for quite a racket. So, I keep them at a distance, as long as they can ensure my safety, it’s enough.”

*What? You have a few maidservants!? You’re lying! You have hundreds of Undead Battle God maidservants, don't you!? What kind of power is that?* But Brockman knew that no one would reveal their true strength to a stranger upon first meeting, even if Du Chen had said so, Brockman wouldn't have believed him. It was precisely because Du Chen’s words were so vague, especially after he saw Deboning, who was inseparable from Du Chen, that Brockman’s surprise deepened, and his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

This was the benefit of Du Chen releasing that “Little Fish.” Now, Du Chen knew Brockman harbored ill intentions, but Brockman was unaware that Du Chen had already seen through his disguise. This way… Du Chen could play with him!

However, even as Du Chen bluffed, he inwardly offered an apology. *Grand Matriarchs, it's a good thing you've already become tattoos and can't hear what I'm saying. Your junior is just taking liberties with your names.*

“Maidservants who favor martial prowess, eh? Heh, that's quite rare. Their strength must be exceptional, then?” Brockman probed further.

“They’re merely adequate. In truth, they are students of a friend of mine, and all their martial techniques were trained by my friend!”

“Oh? Your friend is a… Nine-Star Battle God?”

“That is beyond my knowledge. You see, High-level Battle Gods often have peculiar quirks, and my friend prefers not to be known by too many people. Moreover, he claims he has no Battle God rank!”

*No rank? Hmm, to be able to instantly defeat Philip on Mount Tianshan, the existing Battle God ranks indeed no longer apply to him…* Brockman continued to be misled by Du Chen’s words.

The two chatted for half a day, finding each other quite congenial—at least on the surface, they appeared no different from old friends of many years.

As night fell, Brockman excused himself to inspect the Wyvern Carriage and stepped out of the hall. Sinos, waiting outside, whispered, “My Lord, when should we prepare to make our move?!”

Brockman smiled elegantly. “I have become friends with Francis, and he does not suspect me. I have also largely ascertained his true capabilities. Heh, for now, choosing not to confront him directly is an exceptionally wise decision!”

He looked at his own hands as if admiring a work of art, then added, “Events have already proven that Francis cannot withstand my ‘elegant art.’ I now have a complete plan… We will make our move once we arrive at York Town, that paradise for adventurers!”

…

Meanwhile, the farce in the Misty Forest continued to unfold.

Jamis sprinted wildly, pursued relentlessly by three unsightly women. Yet, as Old Bovin always said, the Misty Forest was an equalizer for all. Here, high strength or great speed did not necessarily guarantee success, for the forest was perpetually shrouded in mist, obscuring vision beyond a hundred meters—making it incredibly difficult to track an enemy.

As they gave chase, the One-Eyed woman among the three suddenly grabbed the arms of her two companions and whispered, “My sisters, it seems we have strayed into the territory of other brethren from our clan!”

“What’s there to fear!? Although clan rules state that trespassing on territory is an act of war, with the three of us sisters united, is there anywhere across the Three Continents we cannot venture!?” the woman with the prominent fangs declared arrogantly.

The pockmarked woman concurred, “Precisely! Let’s keep pursuing; at worst, we’ll simply claim this territory for ourselves!”

As they spoke, Jamis suddenly burst out of the mist. “Oh no, I’m lost! Heavens, how did I end up right in front of you all!?”

“Hmph! You debt-dodging swindler, there’s no escape now, is there!?” The three sisters slowly encircled Jamis.

“Alright!” Jamis, ever the pragmatist, expertly crouched down. “Don’t hit my face or my hands; I need them to continue my artistic career!”

“Hmph, this old hag will cripple your hands first!”

The One-Eyed woman moved with lightning speed, seizing Jamis by the neck and effortlessly lifting him. Just as she contemplated exerting force to snap the neck of the swindler before her, a furious roar echoed through the dense woods, “Who dares trespass upon my territory!?”

*Whoosh, whoosh!* A hurricane-force wind dispersed the mist, as a silver giant dragon, dozens of meters tall, soared skyward with awe-inspiring might. On the ground below, dozens of humans swiftly surrounded it!

“You! You have trespassed into the domain of Dragon Peak! Begone at once!” the giant dragon roared.

“Are you telling us to begone!?” The One-Eyed woman casually tossed Jamis to the ground. Her single eye glanced disdainfully at the surrounding humans. “When did the descendants of dragons stoop to collaborating with lowly humans!?”

“Hmph, it’s simple! They offer me heaps of shimmering gold coins!” Dragon Peak sneered. “Never mind, none of you shall leave. Surrender your lives! These humans say I am their Number Five experiment, and I cannot be discovered by outsiders before the experiment succeeds… *Caw-caw*, so, you shall all perish!”

The giant dragon descended from the sky, pouncing on the three unsightly women. At this point, Jamis was simply scared senseless and fainted!

Suddenly, the One-Eyed woman burst into a harsh, grating laugh. “Little one, do you even recognize who we are!?”

“You!?”

“I am your Grand Matriarch!”

*Whoosh!* The three unsightly women instantly transformed into three giant dragons—one red, one white, and one azure-green. “Second Sister, Third Sister, slay all the humans on the ground! I'll deal with this little one. Damn it, a noble dragon becoming some kind of experiment!? And ‘Number Five’ at that!?”

On the ground, Jamis, who should have been unconscious, furtively opened one eye, assessed the situation, chuckled mischievously, and continued to play dead.

A fierce melee erupted. In a flash, the humans were all dead. The red One-Eyed dragon clutched the corpse of the silver Dragon Peak, snarling, “You unworthy descendant, you do not deserve to reside in the dragon territory! Even in death, your corpse shall not remain here!” She violently spewed a torrent of flames, incinerating Peak’s body, then spread her wings and flung the charred remains far away!

“Heavens, you are noble dragons!? How can this be!?” Jamis scrambled to his feet, watching the three sisters, now transformed into their human forms, pounce furiously towards him. He hastily pleaded, “Don’t kill me! Just listen to one sentence, just one! I have a younger brother named Francis. He possesses countless jewels, dazzling and brilliant, precisely the kind of treasures you dragons adore…” He glanced at the three sisters and added, “Moreover, he is very handsome, exceedingly handsome…”

Poor Du Chen had been thoroughly betrayed by the unscrupulous Professor Jamis!

…

In the Misty Forest, there stood a solitary towering mountain. It soared so high that it pierced through the mist, its peak reflecting the silver moon above.

“Awoooooo…”

On the mountaintop, a snow-white wolf howled at the moon.

This was a very, very fat wolf. If not for its uniquely arrogant and flamboyant howls, others might have mistakenly believed it was a pig braying at the moon.

“A true man must have a big appetite and even bigger dreams!” the fat wolf declared self-satisfied.

“Though I am a strong wolf too heavy to run, and my kin call us snow wolves the Shieb of our kind, I have dreams, and even more, I have an appetite!” The fat wolf prayed to the moon, “Oh, Moon Goddess, your favorite, the king of the Misty Forest, Chris Andy the Snow Wolf!… I’m too fat to run, I can’t catch food, please bestow some nourishment upon me!”

He humbly extended a paw, struggling to splay his dull claws, and grinned sheepishly at the moon. “Beautiful Moon Goddess, though a single rabbit would satisfy Andy’s appetite, if you could generously grant me a giant dragon, Andy wouldn’t mind devouring that either!”

*Whoosh…*

*Splat!* A roasted dragon carcass fell before Andy—it was none other than the recently dispatched Number Five experiment, Dragon Peak!

Andy calmly observed the scene, then nodded. “Hmm, the size of one’s dreams dictates the size of one’s appetite! This is the truth of Andy the Snow Wolf… Damn it, a roasted dragon, ready-made! *Awoo!*”

He began his feast. Soon, he paused, staring at an enigmatic, fist-sized cube of unknown material before him. This object was identical to the one Du Chen possessed! “What is this? Who cares? Dragons are full of good things. I’ll just eat it all!”

No one knew that “Number Five,” a Composite Aberrant Beast experiment capable of rivaling an Undead Battle God, had ended up inside the belly of a snow wolf too fat to run.

Inside the Wyvern Carriage, Brockman returned to the hall.

Du Chen was busy amusing Beibei. He took the necklace Brockman had gifted him and placed it around his daughter’s neck. “Precious, isn’t it beautiful?”

The little one shook her head like a rattle. “Beibei doesn’t like it, Beibei wants something else!”

“Alright, whatever my precious wants, Papa will give it to you!” Du Chen pulled items one by one from his pockets—his money pouch, several precious ornaments won from Rogliff, the Soul Crystal obtained from the Merfolk King, and that enigmatic cube…

However, little Beibei seemed uninterested in anything. Du Chen could only stuff everything back into his pockets.

Brockman happened to witness this scene, and an unconcealable flicker of excitement appeared in his blue eyes. *Number Six is indeed in your possession.*

Perceptively catching the change in Brockman’s gaze, Du Chen rubbed his nose and smiled. *So, it's about this cube…*

Later, during the night, Du Chen, while Brockman was absent, rubbed his nose, snapped his fingers, and chuckled, “When we reach York Town, Brockman will likely make his move. He might try a few little tricks then. You all cooperate a bit, and then… heh heh!”

Deboning looked puzzled. “Young Master, why don’t you let me just take care of Brockman?”

“Why be so violent? We are nobles; we can learn many things from him!” Du Chen laughed. “Though Brockman’s full strength hasn't been completely revealed yet, even if he is a Nine-Star Battle God, coupled with his few attendants and guards, he is absolutely no match for you and the Grand Matriarchs, is he? An opponent we can crush at any moment… heh, let’s play with him slowly! It will be very interesting!”

“Moreover, I want to teach young Brockman a lesson, a lesson about the consequences of ‘Taking Without Asking’…”