Chapter Ninety: Anxieties

If that were truly the case, then as the vessel for such high-energy reactions, would a dragon’s body have particularly strong resistance to all kinds of particle and decay radiation?

So... does that mean I could ask the professor for some radioactive elements to play with, and see whether they might produce some miraculous reaction with my body?

The black dragon felt, for some reason, a sudden surge of interest.

It had heard that the academy had actually conducted experiments in this area before, even trying to have that captured angel of light come into close contact with certain radioactive substances.

And, so it was said, that angel had shown intense resistance and fear at the time, clearly regarding the energy released by elemental decay as something no good at all; the moment she touched it, she suffered a severe physical and psychological discomfort.

Even angels, whose energy systems were evidently more advanced and whose life forms were more perfect, reacted like that before radioactive elements. The academy assumed the black dragon would fare no better, and so it had not been allowed to undergo such testing.

But some things, if one only hears about them from others, are clearly hard to accept with conviction. One must experience them firsthand to give up the matter for good.

The black dragon’s curiosity had already been piqued. If it could not taste for itself what radioactive elements felt like, it would surely remain dissatisfied.

After all, in its plain and straightforward worldview, if one could not even withstand radioactive elements, could not even endure nuclear fission, how could one truly be called a strong being?

From a scientific standpoint, nuclear fission was by no means all that advanced. In the vast universe, reactions more complex and terrifying than it were everywhere.

The cosmic explosion, the formation of black holes and neutron stars, the detonation of supernovas... even nuclear fusion was far more complex and high-energy than it.

So if one could not even master a simple fission reaction, how could one hope to touch higher energies?

...

Still, there was no need to rush. Better to finish the work at hand first.

The black dragon did have a fair amount of professional discipline, and did not, on a sudden impulse, rush off to ask the professor for nuclear materials. That would have seemed far too immature and unsteady.

Moreover, the task before it was indeed important and urgent. After all, when it came to blowing up deities, the sooner it was done, the better. Dragging it out too long might invite unforeseen complications.

...

As the gold was gradually fused into its fangs, the black dragon, while delighted, could not help feeling a little uneasy. A full mouth of golden teeth looked wildly arrogant and dazzling, but it also made a magnificent target.

If it were carelessly exposed overseas, it would easily become a target for all manner of ruthless attention; before long, even certain deities in the sky with thinner coffers might be unable to resist striking at this flashy black dragon.

"So, just to be safe, my fangs are better left in their original form for now. No gold reinforcement."

The black dragon thought this to itself. Though it also believed that if it gold-plated its main great fangs, the effect would be outrageously stylish, instantly maxing out its charm and surely making all those little female dragons howl with excitement.

...

Damn... why did I suddenly think of that? What do little female dragons have to do with me?

The black dragon could not help cursing under its breath, then fell into self-doubt—had its sense of beauty, its very tastes, truly begun to take the shape of a dragon?

That could not be right. Wasn't it said that dragons had wonderfully free tastes, not only open-minded but extremely indulgent? What was there to enjoy about little female dragons anyway? Or perhaps...

Wait, wait. Brain, calm down. Why am I suddenly giving this topic such serious thought?

The black dragon shook its head hard, and some unease and anxiety crept in—could it be that my rut had arrived?

"No, that’s not right... dragons don’t seem to have the concept of a rut. Like humans, once they reach sexual maturity, they are in rut at all times!"

The black dragon quickly came to its senses. "And besides... with my current degree of control over my body, suppressing the secretion of certain male hormones is absurdly easy... so there’s no need at all to worry about being driven mad by some little female dragon."

After carefully checking itself for a while, it discovered that certain male hormones within its body really had risen quite a bit, and so it acted decisively, suppressing them by force.

"Some organs have truly gone too far. Without even asking the brain, they dared to secrete male hormones on their own, seriously disrupting bodily balance and the harmony of the mind. No organization, no discipline at all!"

The black dragon sternly criticized those unruly organs. It had not even met a little female dragon yet, and they were already this agitated. If it actually did meet one, what then?

So, on an objective level, there really was a problem. Did I indeed show some signs of rut?

The black dragon did not simply blame others; it knew how to reflect on itself.

"...In the end, it’s because my life form still isn’t advanced enough. If I were like a spirit witch or an elemental lord, a pure energy being, then I certainly would not have such troubles."

The black dragon sighed inwardly. Pure energy beings have no body and no bloodline, and naturally no physiological impulses or desires.

But it was only speaking idly. If it were really made into a pure energy life form, it certainly would not be willing.

After all, the seven emotions and six desires may sound a little ordinary, but they are precisely the most important seasoning and component of life. If a person had neither emotions nor desires, then what would be the point of living? Could such a being still be called human?

So in the end, the black dragon did nothing to those organs. It merely made them reflect deeply on themselves, while also having the brain strengthen ideological education and vertical management, to prevent such things from happening again.

"Come to think of it... should I consider donating some semen to the academy?"

The black dragon suddenly thought of this and began to hesitate.

Though the professor and the others had not yet brought it up to the black dragon themselves, it felt they would probably be quite interested.

After all, dragon seed alone sounded precious enough by name, counting as one of the most valuable substances within a dragon’s body. The academy would certainly have considerable interest in conducting some scientific research on it.

Yet after studying it carefully for a while, the black dragon was surprised to discover that the dragon seed within its body seemed extremely scarce, and generally very low in activity.

"No way... I only just said I’d bring the immortal bird home to see a clinic in the capital, and now I’m actually infertile too?"

The black dragon looked utterly stunned. It did know that as a powerful extraordinary creature, a dragon’s genetic material might be rather complex, and its sperm could not possibly be as plentiful as a human’s, where a single release could send hundreds of millions of descendants into the world.

But even if there were far fewer, there should still be at least tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, in one release. Yet the reality was far below the black dragon’s imagination: the number of offspring contained in each milliliter of its dragon seed was actually less than one!

That was far too absurd!