Chapter 144: The Speech

To be honest, it is rather strange. When the Xia official authorities say many things, nobody believes them, yet when Huang Ze, this black dragon, speaks, everyone is willing to listen and takes his words as absolute truth.

Perhaps this is what the ancients meant by the saying: "The foreign monk chants the scriptures better."

Huang Ze felt somewhat emotional. Just now, he had used a majestic tone to speak at length about the issues one must be mindful of when dealing with dragons and other extraordinary beings. Everyone listened with rapt attention. Far from finding the black dragon's aura overbearing or obnoxious, they felt this was the true, authentic nature a powerful dragon ought to possess!

"Mr. Dius is truly a dragon who sincerely wants to be friends with us Xia people and wants to join the Xia nation!"

The meet-and-greet had only just begun, yet many people were already irresistibly harboring such thoughts in their hearts.

"Mr. Dius, I wonder if you have paid attention to... the discussions among us Xia people on the internet regarding the issue of your naturalization?"

The second lucky audience member did not present any impolite demands to the black dragon, instead directly asking a rather sharp question.

"I have."

The black dragon replied truthfully, "The internet is a wonderful thing. It helps me acquire a vast amount of information and knowledge, so when I have free time, I actually enjoy surfing the net very much and frequently participate in various discussions among netizens."

"Oh wow..."

An uproar once again rippled through the audience. Although people often joked that you never really knew whether the person sitting on the other side of the computer screen was a human or a dog, it was still somewhat surprising that Dius, a majestic dragon, would secretly surf the internet and lurk on forums.

Quite a few people even couldn't help guessing whether Mr. Dius was so eager to acquire Xia citizenship simply because he had fallen victim to a severe internet addiction.

"Then how do you view everyone's opinions and demands?"

The second lucky audience member continued to ask.

"If viewed from a dragon's standpoint, it is indeed very difficult for dragons to accept many of everyone's viewpoints," the black dragon said. "However, if viewed from a human perspective, many of the demands put forward by everyone actually make a lot of sense. If the naturalization of extraordinary beings is not subjected to restrictions, it is indeed very hard for people to feel at ease."

"I wonder from which perspective you view them, Mr. Dius?"

"Me?"

The black dragon thought for a moment and said, "I suppose I am viewing these matters neither strictly from the dragon's standpoint nor entirely from the human perspective, but rather by comprehensively considering both the divergences and the commonalities of the two."

"Initially, from my point of view, joining the citizenship of Xia was undoubtedly a win-win situation. For one thing, I found myself a job, and for another, Xia gained a powerful enforcer... If one does not consider those deep-seated issues, letting a dragon join Xia's citizenship is actually not a complicated matter."

"Yet, just as you Xia people say—to provide for a rainy day—if one does not think things through clearly at the very beginning and spell everything out, it is indeed very easy for numerous problems and contradictions to breed in the future, and it might even lead to turning against each other in the end."

"I must say, I feel that a saying you Xia people have makes a lot of sense: 'Those not of our race are bound to have different hearts.'"

"Since ancient times, the relationship between us dragons and humans has not been very pleasant. Because in the eyes of many dragons, humans are the weak, objects that can be bullied and enslaved. Therefore, the reputation of the overwhelming majority of dragons among humans is far from good, and some might even wish to get rid of them as quickly as possible."

"I have noticed that quite a few friends on the internet pointed out that I am a black dragon, yet I actually harbor the thought of joining the citizenship of a human nation. Isn't this lowering one's status and degrading oneself? There must be something deeply abnormal about this, and it definitely carries hidden motives and hazards."

"It is entirely normal for everyone to hold such thoughts, because it is not just you Xia people who would think this way. If other dragons were to learn of this intention of mine, they would certainly feel either that I have lost my mind or that I am plotting some sort of conspiracy, and might even brand me with the infamous title of a 'dragon traitor'."

"Therefore, before discussing everyone's naturalization conditions, I feel it is necessary to explain to everyone why I wish to join the citizenship of Xia."

"Perhaps many Xia friends know that we dragons have historically lacked the concept of a nation, and even the concepts of ethnicity and family are extremely faint. Though we possess formidable might and an ancient history, we have never achieved any remarkable accomplishments; instead, we have wasted our energy on hedonism and internal strife."

"There may be many Xia friends who envy the nobility of our dragon bloodline and the might of our power, but how could I not envy you Xia people? You enjoy abundant material lives and rich spiritual lives, you possess a powerful collective, you pursue truth and science with tenacity, and you possess a clear understanding of the world and the universe..."

"Unlike us dragons, our thoughts and our souls have long been castrated and ossified. To live is merely to squander time, with no pursuit of a dragon's destiny whatsoever, let alone any bright future to speak of!"

"To put it without exaggeration, if you Xia people had not appeared, even if this world were to develop for another million years, it would not undergo any significant changes, because it is already a stagnant pool, a cage where all the rules of the game and all destinies have long been predetermined!"

"It is hard for you to imagine how immense the shock was to my inner soul when I learned that the true macroscopic universe is so magnificent, and that the true microscopic world is so wondrous!"

"Some might feel that everything I am saying is merely to cater to everyone and to please the crowd. How could a powerful dragon possibly look down upon human knowledge? They clearly possess profound hereditary memories and are one of the oldest protagonists of this material realm; how could they hold the nation of Xia in such extreme esteem simply because of some 'imported' knowledge?"

"Then, if I were to say that hereditary memories are not a gift to us dragons at all, but rather a shackle, I suppose everyone would find it even harder to believe, wouldn't you?"

"Yet the reality is precisely so. Although hereditary memories have granted us dragons a vast amount of learning, they have at the same time largely determined our mindset and character, suffocating our creativity and imagination!"

"It is much like a blank sheet of paper; the dragon lives of us dragons were long ago painted over with the heavy strokes of our ancestors, making it nearly impossible to form an independent and complete self."

"In other words, we dragons are not living for ourselves; we are merely surviving on borrowed time for the will of our ancestors!"