Chapter Forty-Three
The black dragon, well acquainted with the path, arrived at the phoenix’s nest and indeed found those dragon scales and feathers inside. Evidently, the phoenix was a creature of discerning taste, knowing to gather such fine treasures for its home.
The black dragon mused to himself: it made perfect sense. For the phoenix, feathers were of utmost importance; if it left them scattered in the wild rather than reclaiming them, that would truly be strange.
“Sigh… You really are a problem child. The teacher comes for a home visit, and you don’t even bother to play host.” The black dragon, uninvited, occupied the nest as if it were his own, which infuriated the phoenix. It hopped angrily about, uttering colorful curses.
To its surprise, the black dragon felt not an ounce of shame; instead, he shamelessly turned the accusation back on the phoenix. “Stop squawking. If you enjoy ranting so much, you’d better work on your language skills—otherwise, no one will understand, and all your scolding will be wasted.”
As he quietly retrieved his dragon scales, the black dragon continued in an even tone, “Don’t be upset. I’m just here to take back what’s mine. I won’t disturb your nest.”
He was telling the truth. After all, he was a law-abiding, morally upright socialist dragon, and he had no intention of appropriating the phoenix’s belongings.
The phoenix, like many extraordinary creatures, had a penchant for collecting. Its nest contained not only gemstones and magical beast crystal cores, but also beautiful feathers from other birds, dragon scales and bones from other dragons—a veritable trove, enough to host a fine exhibition.
“Look here—these nine scales are mine. I haven’t taken a single thing of yours besides them.” The black dragon spread his claws to show his innocence and then added, “Moreover, I’ll leave you one dragon scale as compensation, and formally apologize to you for startling you yesterday and today.”
He bowed earnestly, regardless of whether the phoenix understood such etiquette.
“Caw…” The phoenix, still agitated, felt it was being bullied: how could a single dragon scale make up for everything? Yesterday, in the fight and later at the human base, it lost no fewer than thirty feathers—nearly half its tail. For a vain creature like the phoenix, this was a source of immense anger and sorrow.
If not for the lightning bolt from the black dragon yesterday, which awakened ancestral will deep within the phoenix’s blood, urging it not to oppose the black dragon but instead to seek alliance—Miss Phoenix, always fierce and never before so humiliated, might well have chosen self-annihilation, perishing with the black dragon in a final blaze.
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Despite the ancestral admonition, the phoenix’s loathing for the black dragon remained profound. Yet, the black dragon’s unexpected apology left it momentarily bewildered—for a dragon to sincerely apologize to a phoenix was unheard of, harder than slaying a dragon!
Fortunately, the phoenix, with its not-so-complex mind, didn’t dwell too much on the matter. With a proud cry, it accepted the apology—or rather, interpreted it as a gesture of submission.
“Wait… You really understand what I’m saying?” The black dragon suddenly realized that, though he spoke the language of men and the phoenix used bird speech, their communication was surprisingly smooth. The phoenix clearly grasped his meaning.
But he himself only understood scraps of the bird’s language.
“Is that possible?” “You haven’t learned the human tongue, have you?” The black dragon’s curiosity soared. He even wanted to inspect the phoenix’s head, wondering what chip or mechanism lay inside.
The phoenix ignored him, grooming its feathers—its two lifelong passions were preening and singing. Birds usually sing to court mates, but with the dragon present, the phoenix had no such urge, so it focused on grooming.
“Well… You’re just a silly bird, unable to speak human words. How could you answer such a deep question?” The black dragon kept a light heart, feeling no anger. Even if the phoenix wished to answer, he wouldn’t understand bird speech, making communication difficult.
Such technical matters were best left to experts; he’d consult Academician Ding and the others upon returning.
…
Concerned for his students’ safety, the conscientious black dragon didn’t linger long. After instructing the phoenix to stay put and study quietly, he spread his wings and departed.
What should the phoenix study? Quite literally, anything it wished—the important thing was to learn, not what to learn.
The dragon promised that next time, he would bring a stack of language textbooks, to teach it how to speak properly.
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The phoenix, distracted but attentive, was visibly stirred by this promise, its bird eyes wide with anticipation.
Huang Ze felt a surge of satisfaction; clearly, his phoenix student possessed ambition and a thirst for knowledge—otherwise, it wouldn’t be so excited.
The six warriors, retrieved without incident but overwhelmed by the stench of dragon urine—a side effect of the dragon’s careless mischief—had a rough time. Dragon urine was deadlier than chemical weapons; though the black dragon tried to pee at a distance, two or three hundred meters was not enough. Once the wind carried the scent, it was indescribably dreadful.
The six hurried back to the pit, enduring until the black dragon’s brief return was over.
By noon, the dragon and his six charges made it safely back to base.
Upon arrival, the six were sent for disinfection and oxygen therapy. Two, it was later heard, were transferred to intensive care, which made the black dragon feel rather guilty.
“If only we could produce dragon-blood serum, they could become dragon-blood warriors, their physical prowess greatly enhanced—they wouldn’t have such a hard time,” Huang Ze mused as he chewed on wild beef.
He was not yet a pure energy-being; though he could recharge most of his energy needs, he still required copious amounts of meat daily to maintain his health.
The wild beef was procured abroad by the logistics team, pure and unpolluted, infused with magical energy, its nutritional value nearly triple that of domestic beef. Most importantly, its taste was superb, much to the black dragon’s delight.
“The Academy plans to build me a ranch abroad—raising ten thousand cattle a year just for my consumption, with extras to give to guests and make friends…” The black dragon was genuinely moved. “Huang Ze, look how well the nation treats you. You must be grateful, stay diligent, work hard, and never betray the trust of the country and its people!”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Huang,” came a voice. Without looking, the black dragon knew it was his psychological counselor. He replied casually, “Why are you here? Isn’t this outside counseling hours?”
The research team at the Academy had devised a schedule for him, supposedly to gather experience for future dragon husbandry—or rather, to ensure the black dragon’s physical and mental health.