DKIE CH12: Book Fan

“Polite, elegant, and a very casual greeting,” yet it made the Lord of Boulder City subtly change his expression.

Everyone present had their attention on the two figures, and this minute change did not escape their eyes.

The onlookers, who were originally just curious, now began to feel nervous. Who were the parents the young man spoke of? To cause the City Lord’s face to change color like that.

All of a sudden, they looked at the slender figure of the young man, only to feel that he was unfathomable.

Luka’s words were already tantamount to a “half self-exposure.”

He glanced around: “There are too many people here, it’s not suitable for conversation.”

The space experienced a strong distortion.

The expressions of the surrounding people distorted in his field of vision. The young girl who was still writing a news report seemed to be desperately saying something, but Luka only saw her wide-open mouth before he closed his eyes due to dizziness.

When he regained consciousness, he was in a magical hut.

Space transfer?

Was the City Lord that rich? A spatial scroll just like that.

Thinking again, given the strength of the Lord of Boulder City, it was highly probable that he could directly perform a teleportation.

Luka curiously looked around the hut: “This is…”

It was a very strange feeling, as if he was floating in mid-air, with a sense of weightlessness.

He glanced out the window and almost gasped.

Below was at least a thousand meters high, and around him, he could see flowing clouds. Within the clouds were hidden dark, eerie scales, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Luka immediately remembered what the quill pen had said, that an old monster hovered above Boulder City.

Seeing that he didn’t show too much surprise, the City Lord’s impression of him also improved.

Powerful high-level mages possess an innate intuition for discerning lies, and Luka was unsure what to say. Of course, he didn’t remain awkwardly silent; he chose to state what was evident first.

Omitting the part about faith, the sales plan for the dragon race was eloquently narrated.

After listening to the whole story, the Lord of Boulder City’s gaze was deeply meaningful.

Writing and selling books, and even selling them to dragons, sounded unreliable in any context.

Publishing was the most declining industry at the moment, and dragons were creatures arrogant to the core. Because of infrequent contact, no one could truly grasp their real personalities.

Luka’s actions inherently carried a calculating nature that was almost naive, so there was also a probability of him incurring the dragon race’s wrath and being obliterated.

While the City Lord was silent, Luka considered various forms of discourse, but unfortunately, each one required the inclusion of lies.

He wasn’t sure if he could hide it from the Archmage’s intuition.

A cold voice suddenly came: “I will provide appropriate cover.”

Luka’s heart swelled with joy.

He almost forgot they were in the same boat; if he didn’t dispel the City Lord’s doubts, once he was subjected to a soul search or body search, the quill pen wouldn’t benefit either.

“I can only block his intuition for discerning lies at most,” the quill pen said arrogantly, “You’d better come up with a reasonable excuse.”

The most troublesome problem had been solved. Luka smiled without speaking.

The Lord of Boulder City’s attention quickly returned. He sat upright, his seemingly gentle eyes, with a sharp glint hidden deep within their pupils, stared unblinkingly at Luka.

Finally, he asked the most crucial question:

“How did you survive when the Demon King’s pilgrimage passed through the Land of Exile?”

No matter how much he pretended, his sickly body and years of treatment could not be disguised.

Luka responded, with a hint of well-placed confusion in his tone: “At that time, the sea of blood was overflowing. Remembering what I had endured over the years, I was filled with grief and indignation, so I shouted into the air, ‘You’d better kill me with your own hands, otherwise I will definitely kill you in the future!’… I originally thought I would explode like other demonic beasts, but instead, the surrounding pressure lessened. In a daze, I seemed to hear a cold laugh, and then I fainted.”

His beautiful brows slowly furrowed, Luka pursed his lips: “…I know this sounds strange…”

“Not strange at all,” the City Lord said lightly.

Demons are inherently sinister and cruel, and their way of thinking is different from humans. The Demon King might indeed spare this child because of those words.

Luka’s shoulders relaxed a bit.

Thanks to the demon race’s abnormal behavior, which was not human-like, it had a deep impact on people.

After the most serious questions were resolved, the City Lord had no intention of making things difficult for Luka anymore. Humans were generally disliked by mixed-blood races, which could be seen from how they referred to other races as half-bloods but called those with demonic blood “雜血 (impure blood).” However, as long as one didn’t wander around the holy city, it was far from the point of being killed on sight.

Just before being teleported out of the magical hut, the City Lord suddenly asked, “Do you really think a mere story can prevent a giant dragon from falling into slumber?”

Luka said nothing.

The product had already reached the target customer, and now it needed another push.

Whether it succeeded or not was another matter; setting the goal higher, even if it failed, might still achieve a pyramid effect. At the very least, he had transitioned from gnawing on tree bark to enjoying delicious food and drinks in the city.

Teleported back to the ground, the crowd near the Flintwood Pavilion had already dispersed.

The quill pen, having expended considerable energy to obscure the Lord of Boulder City’s perception, briefly entered a state of rest.

The sudden silence in his mind left Luka feeling somewhat unaccustomed.

He found Cullen, who was still handling post-auction matters inside the pavilion, alone. Cullen was meticulously combing his hair, sitting in a chair, listening to a report on today’s terrifying total sales.

When he saw Luka, his attitude became more solemn; it was now widely believed that the young man’s background was extraordinary.

Originally, Luka was prepared to make some excuses to smooth things over, but Cullen shrewdly skipped this part and asked first, “Something wrong?”

“Can the book be released as quickly as possible?” Luka, seeing this, didn’t waste words and went straight to the point.

Cullen only thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.

Anyway, the printing and binding were already done.

Luka: “To ensure repeat customers, I also want to make some follow-up arrangements.”

The two conversed briefly, and by the time a pot of herbal tea was empty, they had reached a consensus.

Luka got a ride and left the Flintwood Pavilion.

Cullen stretched out his finger: “Release it immediately, give it this print run.”

The subordinate who was reporting was stunned, questioning such a high print run.

It looked like a losing business no matter how you looked at it.

When he cautiously asked, Cullen merely waved his hand dismissively: “I still have some doubts about this person’s identity. Since he can come out alive from the City Lord, there’s no need to inquire too much. As for the print run…”

“Firstly, it’s to do a favor, and secondly, it’s a small test of this market.”

Even if sales were dismal, Cullen had a backup plan. Luka’s popularity was not low right now; he could timely transfer this wave of popularity to a new product that the merchant guild was about to sell.

Of course, there was also a subjective factor that truly led him to make the decision.

This youngest-ever partner of the merchant guild, with an unknown background, had some rare new ideas and knew his boundaries.

Compared to the old foxes he often dealt with, it must be said that Cullen had an innate good impression of Luka.

…

Two days later.

Thousands of mountains stretched across a wild landscape. Even during the day, it was still dim on all sides, and no signs of living creatures could be felt around. This place was aptly named the Ghost Domain.

The Ghost Domain was a living, moving land. Tree trunks rooted in blood-soaked mud could even extend thousands of feet into the sky.

Even powerful magical beasts would actively avoid it.

A black shadow descended from the sky, actively merging into it.

The Ghost Domain, sensing a fresh aura, opened its maw, hidden in the mud.

A few seconds later, upon feeling a trace of the uninvited guest’s aura, it quickly, obediently, allowed itself to be trodden underfoot.

“Blood cinnamon, philodendron, poisonous bamboo branches.”

The black shadow transformed into a gigantic dragon, directly stating the items it needed.

From Boulder City to the dragon’s habitat, it was a long journey. Even if the Hurricane Dragon was incredibly fast, it couldn’t maintain high-speed movement constantly.

To make its upcoming slumber more comfortable, Riot specifically detoured to the Ghost Domain. These materials could be made into excellent incense by a master perfumer.

After successfully obtaining what it needed, Riot flew to a human habitation.

It was a week later when the excellent perfumer had finished making the incense, and it finally returned to Dragon Island.

The sea was boundless. The Hurricane Dragon was immensely powerful, a top-tier expert among dragons, and dozens of surrounding magnificent islands belonged exclusively to it.

Normally, unless it was an urgent matter, no other dragons dared to disturb it.

Riot flew directly to the underground castle on the main island, transformed into its original form, lit the incense, and with everything ready, took out the Dream Breath grass, preparing to brew and consume it.

As it retrieved the grass, something else dropped out with it.

What was that?

There were no magic fluctuations whatsoever. Besides a thin layer of real gold on the surface, it seemed to be just an ordinary booklet.

A flicker of doubt crossed the gigantic dragon’s pupils.

After a moment of hesitation, Riot chose to open the sparkling golden booklet.

The beginning of the story unexpectedly appeared before its eyes.

[In the dark, cold cave, a strange egg gently swayed.]

Human language had wide versatility on the continent, and almost all races understood it. However, the characters in this small booklet were somewhat rounded, unlike the ornate writing style pursued by humans. It was the first time Riot had seen the cute rounded font Luka had specifically chosen.

An egg?

Originally just a casual glance, but after scanning the keywords, Riot couldn’t help but continue reading.

Luka’s writing style was very successful, 100% catering to the target audience. The opening directly omitted all preamble, going straight to the point: darkness and coldness represented the harsh environment, an egg represented an unborn cub, forming the first point of anticipation.

Riot was not interested in the descriptions of the corrupted demonic beasts; it merely skimmed over them.

No matter how powerful a demonic beast, in its eyes, it was insignificant.

However, only a few lines later, the Hurricane Dragon’s tail, which could easily pierce any demonic beast, suddenly tightened.

[Just as the demonic beast was contemplating, a frail claw finally broke through the barrier, extending from the crack…]

Riot continued reading with some urgency.

Being egg-born, the process of a dragon hatching is extremely difficult, sometimes lasting for several months. There are occasionally tragic cases of hatchlings dying during this process. Yet, any external interference can lead to the young dragon not developing completely.

It must hatch successfully.

The tips of its claws shimmered with an invisible sharp gleam. Riot now desperately wanted to claw and kill the demonic beast in the book from afar.

The demonic beast was not the only obstacle to a successful birth.

“This does not look like a healthy egg.” Displeasure flickered in the dragon’s eyes.

It wondered how long it had been alone in the cave before the demonic beast discovered it.

Who abandoned an unhatched egg in the cave? All abandonment should be paid for with death.

The antique vase in the corner shattered due to the leaked pressure.

When setting the size of the egg, the quill pen had complained that it was much smaller than a dragon egg, but Riot didn’t have that thought at all when looking at it.

The quill pen had a preconceived notion of comparing it to a dragon egg, while Riot was subconsciously constantly substituting.

Two completely opposite processes naturally produced completely opposite emotions.

Claws desperately clawed out of the cracks. The tense process didn’t last too long. The moment the cub successfully hatched, the Hurricane Dragon’s taut body relaxed.

The number of claws was deformed, but it didn’t feel disgusting at all.

It even had a strange cuteness.

The rounded corners of the rounded script seemed to carry the claw prints of the newborn cub.

[The cub gnawed on its eggshell with a crisp sound, as if it were eating the most delicious thing in the world.]

A brief sentence, combined with the illustration, went straight to Riot’s heart!

When submitting the manuscript, Luka had included Q-version original drawings. Cullen didn’t understand but respected it, as no one knew the characters better than the author.

So he had a specialist further enhance the illustrated color paintings, retaining this style.

With just a few strokes, the timid image of the cub came to life.

Words and pictures reflected each other, softening the Hurricane Dragon’s hard heart.

Its claw turned to the next page.

[—Until a shadow descended from above, and it sluggishly raised its head.

Pale, sharp fangs hung like icicles above its head!]

The enormous dragon’s pupils dilated slightly, and it quickly flipped to the back.

It was already the last blank page.

…Gone.

Riot fell silent.

It still tried to flip a few more times, unwilling to give up, to confirm that it was truly gone.

The words “Trial Read” on the small golden booklet now looked particularly glaring.

Another antique vase in the corner shattered.

Amidst the sound of breaking porcelain, Riot contained its displeasure. The aroma arrived; the incense had just burned halfway. This was the best time for experiencing the fragrance.

Logically, it should have begun its slumber at this very moment. But now, its golden eyes, filled with complex patterns, stared intently at the blank page.

After a long time, the booklet was still closed and placed aside.

Riot finally decided to fall into slumber as planned.

The story in the small booklet certainly held some appeal, but for a dragon that had seen countless things, it was not enough to make it change its original plan.

Anyway, anything could happen in dreams.

The dragon body coiled casually, its resting posture still exuding a powerful sense of strength. In the rhythmic scent of the calming incense, the giant dragon’s eyes slowly closed.

When the coiled incense had burned through one turn, Riot adjusted the direction of its coiled body.

Time slowly passed. A moment later, the coiled incense burned through another turn, and Riot moved slightly again.

Even though these were just two small movements, for a dragon intending to fall into slumber, it could already be considered tossing and turning.

Just as the coiled incense was about to burn out, inside the dim underground castle, the closed giant eyes suddenly snapped open!

So, did the newly hatched cub escape from the mouth of the demonic beast?

Who would cut off the story here?!

After several failed attempts to fall asleep, and confirming it couldn’t sleep at all, Riot left the underground castle and soared into the air.

The hurricane whipped up hundreds of feet of waves, and dark clouds instantly gathered in the sky.

On the surrounding islands, a dragon almost entirely made of ice crystals slightly raised its head and glanced.

The dragons living near the Hurricane Dragon’s islands were terrifyingly powerful, one after another. This was an Ice Dragon, much more slender and beautiful than typical dragons.

The Ice Dragon’s eyes showed a hint of strangeness.

What major event could make Riot leave twice in such a short time?

The black shadow, observed by the Ice Dragon, did not linger for a moment, heading straight for Boulder City!

The author has something to say:

Hurricane Dragon’s Diary:

Today I read a novel before bed.

Today I don’t need to sleep.

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