Chapter Seventy-Five: Madness

In fact, it wasn't just the Summer Academy of Sciences who couldn't make sense of it—even the Black Dragon itself found it rather strange... Its own weight, truth be told, was somewhat unreasonable.

There was even a time when it seemed to hear things that weren't there, as if a great existence from some higher dimension was whispering from the void, telling it, "That weight of yours simply won't do."

The traditional behemoths all started at tens of thousands of tons; one had to master the art of channeling force. Compared to them, its mere hundred tons made it look like a toy, barely enough to get stuck in their teeth...

Somehow, the Black Dragon had a vague intuition that these great beings from the higher dimensions of the universe were likely the true masters of its fate, the steadfast pillars of its destiny!

So it humbly accepted their will and began devouring food with wild abandon, gaining over a dozen tons in less than half a month.

And now, for the sake of the show's effect, the directors wanted the Black Dragon to lose weight...

Though it was rather unwilling, the Black Dragon was, after all, an actor of great integrity and ambition, possessing the basic conviction to sacrifice for art.

Thus, it eventually agreed to the director's request, striving to shed twenty or thirty tons in the next two months.

Of course, the Black Dragon’s true intent was to experiment—see if it could condense and refine its own body, optimize its internal structure, and adjust unnecessary fat and organ tissues to achieve weight loss.

Otherwise, simply starving itself for two months would never result in a loss of dozens of tons!

After all, the Black Dragon had some experience in this area—once, it had gone hungry for nearly half a year and had only managed to slim down a few hundred kilograms.

This indicated that, when it came to endurance and tolerating hunger, the Black Dragon was quite gifted.

But this also meant that traditional methods of weight loss were simply not applicable; something else had to be tried.

"My will, my control over my body, is simply not strong enough..."

The Black Dragon pondered deeply and soon realized where the problem lay.

It felt that a truly powerful being, not to mention being able to change in countless ways, should at least find it easy to control its own height and weight.

The difficulty, it seemed, was that many organs within its body were not yet fully obedient to the brain’s command. Many intentions were hard to enforce—expecting them to sacrifice themselves, reduce their scale, and give up their resource quotas was utterly unrealistic.

There was nothing to be done about that. After all, Huang Ze was a soul that had parachuted into this body. Though he had attained the highest privilege and become the chief leader of this organization, he was still unfamiliar with many organs and departments within the body.

Lacking communication with the brain, with their functions relatively independent, it was only natural for them to ignore the brain’s instructions.

Therefore, the Black Dragon decided to take advantage of this weight loss opportunity to familiarize and discipline its own body, to impose its will upon every organ, and let them know who was truly in charge.

Perhaps the secret and the opportunity to return to human form lay hidden within this endeavor...

…

Taking advantage of the night, the Black Dragon set out to raid the Phoenix’s nest... but unfortunately, it failed.

It had to be said—wild extraordinary creatures were exceptionally vigilant. The Black Dragon had been cautious enough; under its focused control, the flapping of its wings was reduced to less than twenty decibels, as soft as a whisper.

Even so, when it was still nearly ten kilometers from the Phoenix’s nest, it was discovered!

The Black Dragon couldn’t help but wonder if this foolish bird had a biological radar installed inside...

Whether it was the darkness of night causing misrecognition, or the Phoenix acting deliberately, the bird transformed into a blaze of fire and charged at the Black Dragon with deadly intent.

"Hey! Calm down, it’s me!"

Startled, the Black Dragon quickly called out.

Truth be told, the Phoenix’s aggressive stance suited the Black Dragon just fine—it hadn’t had a good fight in half a month, and its craving for battle was reaching a peak!

But then it remembered: the Phoenix was a first-class protected species, and it itself was a second-class protected species. If a fight broke out and either was injured, it would be a loss to the nation, to the world!

So the Black Dragon suppressed its urge, repeatedly calling for calm, trying to soothe this first-class protected animal’s simmering rage.

But the Phoenix, lacking in education, could hardly be expected to have the Black Dragon’s level of enlightenment. For reasons unknown, its fury was immense, and it abandoned all tactics and strategy, flying straight at the Black Dragon's face with its claws bared.

A bird attacking the face—how could that be tolerated?

With no choice, the Black Dragon was forced to fight back, and for a time, dragon and bird were locked in furious combat.

The Black Dragon could tell—the foolish bird had recognized it from the start.

After all, extraordinary creatures had exceptional eyesight and a keen sense for scents and auras. It had only been half a month since they last met; there was no way it could have forgotten.

What’s more, the Phoenix wasn’t even using its speed and ranged magic to its advantage this time, but was instead recklessly brawling with the Black Dragon—something was definitely off.

"That’s enough! I warn you, keep this up and I’ll really lose my temper!"

The Black Dragon swatted the Phoenix away and threatened with a fierce glare.

This foolish bird had gone mad, pecking and scratching without reason, behaving as if it were some lonely housewife trapped at home, venting her frustrations on her husband...

"Ridiculous!"

The Black Dragon cursed, unsure whether it was angrier at the Phoenix’s madness or the absurdity of this comparison.

The Phoenix didn’t bother arguing; with a deep breath, it charged at the Black Dragon once more.

"Roar!"

Damn it, even a clay man has his limits—let alone a Black Dragon!

With a thunderous roar, the Black Dragon ceased holding back its strength and control over its heart; power surged from its heart in a torrent, its aura swelling dramatically.

Wait... the heart...

Could this foolish bird actually want to be struck by lightning?

This strange realization dawned on the Black Dragon, so it decided to test the theory and unleashed a bolt of lightning, striking the Phoenix directly on the head.

With a sizzle, every feather on the Phoenix stood on end; down on its head smoldered and emitted a surprisingly pleasant, charred aroma...

And just like that, the Phoenix finally calmed down!

The Black Dragon: "???"

What in the world—did it actually enjoy being shocked?

A heavy feeling settled in the Black Dragon’s heart. For the Phoenix to develop such a bizarre fetish, its mental state must not be very optimistic...

But the Phoenix didn’t care what the Black Dragon thought; it shook its feathers comfortably, then looked at the Black Dragon with lively eyes, clearly full of anticipation—

I want more!