The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

He practiced for the entire afternoon.

The Fresh Flower Vessel arrived around half-past one in the afternoon at the location marked on the sailing map, but Black Horse Island was nowhere to be found, forcing them to continue searching at sea.

It took nearly three more hours to pinpoint the exact location of Black Horse Island.

“This sailing chart is off by a whole ten kilometers, those rats’ knowledge of sailing must have gone to the dogs!” Kostor gnashed his teeth in fury.

Had it not been for good luck, they might not have found Black Horse Island even by nightfall.

“Don’t complain, the fact that we found Black Horse Island is fortunate,” Liszt was quite optimistic, even feeling somewhat unsatisfied; he was growing increasingly fond of the sensation from indulging in medicine and cultivating, “Are we now looking for a place to land?”

“Yes, my Lord, Black Horse Island is, after all, an undeveloped wasteland, and we need to find a suitable spot to land. The island’s outline is much larger than I imagined, possibly as large as Beer Island. This area is all beach, making it difficult to land.” He pointed toward the island’s horizon outside the window.

“As big as Beer Island?”

“It’s just my estimate, but it should not be too different.”

Liszt was pleased with such conjecture; the size of Beer Island was just right for a viscount’s fief. If it were too large, it would be divided and shared with other nobles; too small, and it would be a disadvantage. Not too big, not too small—just right.

They circled half of it.

Just as the sunset began to plummet towards the sea level, they finally found a suitable landing spot. The Fresh Flower Vessel approached slowly, dropped anchor, lowered the lifeboats, and except for a few sailors tasked with guarding the Fresh Flower Vessel, everyone else took the lifeboats ashore. The shore was piled with rocks, similar to the dock at Fresh Flower Town.

Looking around, the vegetation on the island was not lush, with only a few sparse trees in the distance.

Mostly weeds.

Some hares and deer in the distant weed patches watched Liszt’s group warily, especially the tall and formidable Douson.

From a distance, they could not sense Douson’s intermediate magical beast aura, but its appearance alone indicated that Douson was not to be trifled with.

“Teacher Marcus, we will first explore along the coastline. We have about an hour before it gets dark. Once it’s dark, we’ll return here and spend the night on the Fresh Flower Vessel,” Liszt instructed.

“Yes!”

No horses were brought along, so everyone was on foot, except for Liszt, who could ride on Douson.

Douson’s large frame made riding it more comfortable than a horse.

Many knights, especially powerful ones, were no longer limited to riding horses and had switched to various strong dragon breed beasts and magical beasts. For instance, the bearer of the Dou Qi Secret Technique “The Eye of Magic”, Steve Vulture, rode a Dragon Breed Magic Beast Vulture, soaring through the skies.

The personal combat strength of a Sky Knight was superior to a knight’s charge, so their mounts accentuated individual combat capabilities.

Ordinary knights relied on shoulder-to-shoulder charges to form a powerful surge of Dou Qi; hence their mounts emphasized uniformity, making horses the most suitable.

Although riding a dog might not sound very elegant, Liszt did not seem out of place at all on Douson’s back. On the contrary, having an intermediate magical beast as a mount made everyone envious, subtly elevating his image even further.

Grasping Douson’s black fur, he secured himself in place.

Liszt’s mind went blank for a moment, and during that brief interval, he summoned the Smoke Mission.

The smoke coalesced, forming Serpent Script: “Mission complete, reward Li Dragon Horse Herd.” Unquestionably, once the Fresh Flower Vessel had moored, the long sea voyage was already completed; it didn’t require a return voyage to be considered complete.

For a moment.

The smoke shifted and changed.

A new task was immediately issued.

“Task: You have set foot on new land, and as a landlord determined to pioneer and develop, how can you allow Black Horse Island to be so neglected and unmanaged? Please establish a temporary outpost on Black Horse Island and station one hundred serfs there. Reward: A few decayed bones.”

“A temporary outpost?”

“A few decayed bones?”

Liszt quickly recalled a previous Smoke Mission about specters, in which the reward was a piece of a broken skeleton.

It was eventually identified as a Dragonbone Stabilizer made from the bones of a high-level dragonkin magical beast.

“So, what are these ‘few decayed bones’?” He didn’t bother guessing too much. Regarding the Smoke Missions, Liszt could sometimes become quite lazy, for as long as he could complete the tasks, the rewards would always arrive in his hands by coincidence. “Establishing a temporary outpost is already in the plan; it’s a giveaway question.”

The team walked only a few miles.

They found that the rocky coast had disappeared, replaced by a sandy beach.

“The spot where we anchored likely belongs to the transition area between east and west, with most of Black Horse Island’s east side being sandy beaches and the west side consisting of rocky cliffs,” Kostor, who often sailed out to sea and had visited many islands, could deduce the situation of the entire island from its details. “Looking towards the center of the island, there are no undulating high mountains, mostly gentle slopes.”

He squinted his eyes, taking a careful look into the distance, and added, “My lord, I’ve noticed that Black Horse Island is quite round.”

“Quite round?”

“Yes, the topography of this island is continuous, at least the side we are on is continuous; what’s on the opposite side is yet to be known. Perhaps we could sail around the island tomorrow to fully observe the shape of Black Horse Island.”

Liszt looked up at the sunset already vanishing at the horizon and said, “Then let’s wait until tomorrow. The current situation is unclear; let’s return to the Fresh Flower Vessel for now.”

That night passed without incident, and nothing unusual occurred either.

Liszt wasn’t very accustomed to sleeping on a ship; the repetitive sound of sea waves crashing and the mixed snoring of sailors and retainer knights in the cabin made it difficult for him to fall asleep.

Douson stood guard outside his door.

Dogs snore too, so Douson’s snoring, resembling bubbles, wasn’t unusual.

Liszt himself never snored and liked a very quiet environment for sleeping. Unable to sleep, he simply sat up and took out a crystal lamp, placing it on the table.

The crystal lamp, purchased from Granney, was very convenient for carrying and use, equivalent to a flashlight.

With the light on, he continued to take out objects to fiddle with from the Gemstone Space—there was the Crimson Blood Sword, worn at his waist during the day and stored in the Gemstone Space at night; bows and arrows, a set of Fine Steel Knight Equipment, and three Fine Steel Knight’s Spears for emergencies; Mithril Mine, crystal, jade, all neatly piled up.

There were also the Black Pearl, Dragonbone Stabilizer, telescope, drift bottle, and Smoked Grass.

Plus a large pile of food including plenty of milk, eggs, roasted meat, vegetables, fruits, bread, and various seasonings. In the Gemstone Space where materials remained static and unspoiled, food could be kept for as long as desired.

With these supplies, he could be thrown onto a deserted island and live comfortably for months—he even packed a few bars of Fresh Flower Soap.

Also, the thirty Flame Mushroom Magic Potions completed by Elkerson were in the Gemstone Space as well.

“Not easy at all, accumulating little by little, I’ve built up a substantial foundation.” He rearranged his possessions with satisfaction, put the Space Gem close to his body, lay on the bed, and began counting sheep.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he finally couldn’t resist fatigue and fell asleep.