Chapter 111: Caught
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For some reason, the Black Dragon instinctively felt that these astral creatures didn’t seem very intelligent. It couldn’t help but associate them with the mayflies in water—both possessed intellects close to zero and acted purely on primal hunting instincts. However, the newly arrived astral dragon was clearly an exception. Its physique and aura were on a completely higher level compared to the other astral beings.
The dragon’s body length exceeded a thousand meters, constantly emitting a faint starlight. When it flew, it looked as if special effects were at play—both elegant and dazzling. Although it had a terrifying physical form, upon closer inspection, it strangely appeared almost transparent, as if its body could freely shift between reality and illusion.
But that wasn’t the strangest part. What was truly eerie was that its body was covered with thousands of eyes of various sizes! These eyes seemed to act independently from the dragon’s body, as if they had their own will. At this moment, they were all wide open, staring intently at the Black Dragon.
Emmmm...
Who knows if this big guy likes wearing colored contact lenses? If so, he’d be a major customer!
Whether it was due to a bold heart or a strong soul resistance, the Black Dragon’s exceptional thought process immediately jumped to this bizarre association upon witnessing the scene. Of course, it also heightened its caution inwardly, accumulating energy rapidly, continuously spiraling it up, preparing to jet away back into the protective barrier at the slightest hint of danger.
As the astral dragon drew closer, the surrounding astral creatures grew uneasy one by one, eventually scattering like frightened birds and beasts. Clearly, within this astral realm, this dragon held a much higher status—a top predator on the food chain.
The Black Dragon wasn’t foolish enough to wait to be dominated. Instead, it consciously began to accelerate, jetting toward the protective barrier. This not only made retreat easier but also allowed it to test whether the astral dragon would pursue.
“It’s really chasing me…”
The Black Dragon’s heart sank. Initially, it had hoped this astral dragon was merely drawn by the other creatures nearby. Now it was obvious—it was coming straight for it!
Yet, oddly enough, the Black Dragon’s danger instincts were not triggered. Instead, its heart beat joyfully, almost as if it had met a relative.
“Can’t trust my instincts too much… and definitely not that traitorous heart!”
The Black Dragon decided to be cautious and planned to accelerate further. But to its horror, it found its heart refusing to obey commands—completely going on strike!
“Great… I knew you were unreliable!”
The Black Dragon was so furious it nearly fainted. It was about to switch to manual mode and forcibly perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation with its mage’s hand when suddenly a voice sounded—
“Don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing. Follow it!”
“...Huh?”
The Black Dragon froze for a moment. Judging by the tone, the voice was clearly not from the astral dragon but another mysterious presence! But it was in a vacuum—how could sound travel without a medium? Or was this a communication on a consciousness level, its mind being invaded by some unknown entity?
The Black Dragon was stunned for several seconds before being grabbed by a claw from the astral dragon and flown off in a certain direction.
…
“Hey, big brother, can you say something? At least tell me where you’re taking me?”
“...”
“Sis, keep talking. What’s he planning to do with me? And may I ask, who are you?”
“...”
The Black Dragon first shouted at the astral dragon, then frantically tried to telepathically call the mysterious presence, but received no reply.
It noticed that the astral dragon seemed somewhat dull and slow, showing no clear liking or dislike toward it—simply intending to deliver it somewhere. The eyes on its body, however, were extremely eager, continuously staring at the Black Dragon as if they had endless curiosity. If they had mouths, they would have been chattering nonstop.
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“So… this astral dragon isn’t the Dragon God Hybernein?”
The Black Dragon, after a moment of fear, quickly calmed down. It had suspected that this mysterious and powerful astral dragon might actually be its ancestor, the Dragon God Hybernein. Perhaps due to their blood connection, Hybernein sensed this unworthy descendant had entered the astral realm and hurried over to welcome it—then forcibly demanded some gold as protection money.
But now, it seemed the reality was quite different. This astral dragon was clearly no deity; it felt more like a laborer…
“No way… it looks like it’s taking me to that dead star…”
After observing for a while, the Black Dragon quickly had a bad premonition—was it really about to force it to inherit that star and become a new deity?
No way, no way. The deity profession can’t be that miserable, right? They wouldn’t just abduct people to recruit them without background checks or training.
And what about the benefits? Is there paid leave? Social insurance?
While the Black Dragon was lost in such wild thoughts, a strange scene unfolded: one of the eyes on the astral dragon’s body suddenly sprouted limbs and jumped off, landing on the Black Dragon’s head. It tried desperately to burrow inside.
“No! Big brother, help!”
The Black Dragon screamed in terror and struggled wildly. Having dealt with beings from the Cthulhu mythos before, it knew how terrifying such an entity could be. If it got into its brain, nothing good would come of it!
Fortunately, the Black Dragon’s rebellious heart suddenly surged with energy, emitting powerful lightning that electrocuted the eyeball, causing it to scream in pain.
At the same time, the astral dragon lowered its head and glanced at the scene with deep, cold eyes that seemed imbued with irresistible will, forcing the rebellious eyeball to cease its rebellion and obediently return to its spot.
The Black Dragon also noticed that once back on the astral dragon’s body, the eyeball was mercilessly beaten by nearby eyes.
“...”
After that ordeal, the Black Dragon dared not meet those eyes again, nor did it dare to jokingly ask if they wanted to be colored contacts. It just wanted to go home.
However, the Black Dragon did gain some clarity—it was certain now that its untrustworthy heart was not aligned with these creatures.
Despite its erratic behavior and tendency to cause brain hemorrhages, the traitorous heart still possessed a strong territorial instinct and knew to protect its home.
…
The astral dragon flew swiftly, covering over two thousand kilometers in less than ten minutes. Although slower than the Black Dragon’s own takeoff speed, the latter relied on external forces, while the astral dragon used only its own power!
“Five kilometers per second… not bad, considering this place is a vacuum. Once you gain acceleration, speed can keep increasing…”
The Black Dragon mused inwardly. “If I could accumulate enough energy, I could drift too… no, I could reach this speed!”
Of course, it knew this was somewhat self-delusion, because the astral dragon’s flight method was highly advanced. It didn’t need to expel matter to accelerate; instead, it seemed to master the laws of flight, directly granting itself a certain velocity.
The closer they got to the dead star, the faster the Black Dragon’s heart beat. If it weren’t for some sense of professionalism, it might have jumped out of its body entirely!
“So… your true origin is connected to this star. You were once part of this deity’s body, or perhaps directly its heart?”
The Black Dragon pondered, sensing something strange. It was like a deity nearing death decided to donate its heart. By chance, the Black Dragon obtained it, but due to rejection, it ended up benefiting instead.
…
With a diameter of only three kilometers, this celestial body was not large at all. If it were in the Milky Way, it wouldn’t even qualify as a planet, just a small asteroid.
If it were a neutron star, that would be another matter.
But the Black Dragon was certain it wasn’t a neutron star—there was no noticeable gravity.
The astral dragon decelerated skillfully, taking under ten seconds to land safely on the planet’s surface with the Black Dragon.
This made the Black Dragon somewhat envious. If it had such technology, it wouldn’t have to worry about overshooting and crashing.
“Big brother… what do you want me to do next?”
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After bringing the Black Dragon here, the astral dragon seemed to have completed its task and immediately lay down on the ground, leaving the Black Dragon somewhat dumbfounded.
“Couldn’t you at least tell me what you want me to do?”
The Black Dragon initially thought the astral dragon had brought it to inherit the former deity’s legacy and will—maybe to kneel before some divine throne, sign some documents, and then officially start the job.
But now, it seemed nothing of the sort.
“This place… really used to be a deity’s divine realm? Doesn’t quite look like it.”
The Black Dragon wandered around, unable to suppress its doubts.
A divine realm was supposed to be grand and magnificent—not only the deity’s core asset but also the dream destination for their followers.
In legends, living in one’s deity’s divine realm was a blissful afterlife. Many intelligent beings devoted their lives to their gods, all for a ticket to reside there posthumously.
Yet, after exploring, the Black Dragon found the place shockingly dilapidated, lacking even basic infrastructure. The territory was tiny—barely enough for a low-density apartment complex, let alone housing many residents.
This was a far cry from the legendary heavenly paradise!
So deities also engage in false advertising?
The Black Dragon circled around again and again but found no altars, temples, or tombs associated with the deity.
“Could it be I’m late, and someone else has already claimed it?”
That was its first thought. But looking back at the astral dragon lying guard, it felt that no one would dare to scavenge here with such a sentinel.
It tried scratching the rocky soil with its claws, discovering it was very hard—unsure what material it was.
After hesitation, the Black Dragon resisted the urge to taste it with its mouth—having suffered before from reckless tasting near the Phoenix King, it wasn’t about to repeat the mistake.
“Heart… why are you down too? Weren’t you beating strong just now?”
The Black Dragon noticed its heart rate had also slowed drastically. This gave it pause—if the astral dragon was resting and its heart was resting, was this a hint that it should rest as well?
But it refused!
The Black Dragon had spirit. With everyone playing riddles, if it weren’t for its civilized nature, it might have just urinated on the spot!
“By the way… what was the name of this star before? Whose divine property was it? When did the deity die? Natural causes or murder?”
Sitting down, the Black Dragon pondered these questions.
After some time, its heart seemed to find a certain frequency and successfully resonated with the star’s core!
Immediately, without the brain’s consent, the heart began to siphon energy, releasing powerful electricity into the core.
“…”
The Black Dragon’s mouth dropped open, unable to be angry. Instead, a strange thought grabbed its attention—was the astral dragon here to make it a living battery?
So the reason this star died and dimmed was because it ran out of power?
If only it had known earlier! It would have brought solar panels and used solar power—much more convenient and lasting!
Muttering to itself, the Black Dragon stomped the ground with its hind legs and suddenly wondered—if electricity is needed to activate them, perhaps these so-called stars and deities are essentially technological artifacts, toys created by some mysterious advanced civilization?
If that’s true, this world is terrifying beyond measure. How could the people of the Xia Kingdom possibly compete?
The Black Dragon felt a flicker of dread. Sharing the same origin, it knew that gods made by science were far more terrifying than native-born gods!