Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

Ever since her family was chosen to be the Dragon Speakers, the ancestors have been constantly warning the next generation: never to disturb the giant dragon while it’s in deep sleep because it’s very grumpy when it wakes, and will burn anything to ashes.

But the problem is, the giant dragon sleep erratic, sometimes sleeping for years, sometimes for decades.

Once, an ancestor became a Dragon Speaker when the giant dragon was in deep sleep. The dragon still hadn’t awakened when the ancestor was on his deathbed, sadly making him the only Dragon Speaker who had never seen the giant dragon.

Now, your lost child has come looking for you, and even if you’re cranky, you should hold it back, right?

Sofia believed in what Negris said up to ninety percent because Naeli had indeed discussed Zero Degree Island with her ancestors, mentioning it was the place of her first sweet memory, as to what was the first time, Naeli did not specify.

Anyway, every word Naeli had said was noted down by her ancestors, stripped of repetitions, and transcribed into books for future generations to learn.

The greatest task for every new generation of Dragon Speakers to become Dragon Speakers is to read the entire Dragon Language Handbook and remember every word the giant dragon has said.

But the problem is that in these thousand years, all the words Naeli said and were excerpted amounted to fifty boxes of parchment scrolls, millions of words. The difficulty to memorize everything exponentially increased.

Fortunately, besides passing down the Dragon Language Handbook, the ancestors also handed down the exam skills — to identify the key points.

Among the fifty boxes of scrolls, which words are important, which will be tested, and which can be addressed just by knowing the gist, as long as the Dragon’s way of thinking is understood, one could get close to the perfect answer.

Hence, the exam-savvy Sofia became the new Dragon Speaker.

Today, she made a decision against her ancestor’s advice because she grasped the Dragon’s train of thought. She had a hunch that waking up the sleeping giant dragon wouldn’t make it angry, it would instead be astonished: “My child? When did I have a child?”

On the other hand, not waking it, letting it wake naturally and then knowing its child had been driven away, may trigger its moodiness.

But even if it does explode in anger, what does it matter? Given Naeli’s current state, being able to fly and spit fire in a rage would be something to celebrate right? She can come hit me if she dares!

The place where the giant dragon sleeps is a secret, no one knows where it is, but one can reach there via Teleportation Array, which requires Dragon

Language to activate. Meaning, apart from the giant dragon and the Dragon Speaker, no one could activate the Teleportation Array.

After installing the Demon Crystal, Sofia chanted spells in Dragon Language; and with a flash of white light, she appeared in a vast underground space.

Piles of sparkling gems, crystals, and other shiny things were stacked in dark corners. The only light was from a beam of sunlight filtering through a crevice, shining upon a giant dragon, illuminating its golden scales and brightening the entire underground space.

Sofia read from the Dragon Language Handbook that the giant dragon actually doesn’t like shiny gold and silver treasures; this is a stereotype formed from knights’ novel fabrications or misunderstandings.

However, it is true that giant dragons are sensitive to shiny things. Their bodies are too huge, human bodies are like mice to them, so tiny that they might be crushed underfoot. For gemstones, Demon Crystals, crystals that are even smaller than humans, if they don’t sparkle, the dragons wouldn’t see clearly.

As for the claim about the dragon’s nest being filled with treasures, it’s both right and wrong. A dragon lives for thousands to tens of thousands of years, even the wooden horse it rode on as a child could become an antique worth something after thousands of years.

But gold, silver, Divine Artifacts, holy swords, and the likes, even if not destroyed, would rust away after being thrown there for hundreds to thousands of years.

Never before had you heard that an iron sword or armor dug up from a thousand years ago could be more useful than one just produced. However, it’s true if it’s in good condition, it’s worth something.

Unfortunately, these stereotypes led humans to prefer giving shiny things to Naeli. If they couldn’t afford to offer Demon Crystals, they’d offer companion crystals instead, if they couldn’t afford gold or silver, they’d offer tinwares.

Naeli has complained about these offerings more than once to the Dragon Speakers. Versus impractical things that took up space, she’d prefer them to send over fat little lambs for her to roast.

Unfortunately, nobody wanted to believe it, they felt fearful, and so they would send even more the next time. Only by accepting these offerings and praising them a bit, would people feel at ease.

The moment Sofia arrived via teleportation, she immediately heard rumbling snores like a roll of thunder. It was a sound of extremely low frequency; when it reached its peak, the entire ground would resonate with it.

Having been prepared, Sofia immediately plugged her ears and hid behind a large stone, picked up a fist-sized rock, and threw it at the Bronze Dragon as hard as she could.

Sofia mustered all her strength, but the Bronze Dragon didn’t feel anything due to her weak force.

The stone hit the Bronze Dragon’s head with a clunk, and Sofia yelled at the same time, “Boss, wake up!”

The Bronze Dragon’s brows knotted, its nostrils flared, and Sofia quickly hid behind the large rock.

Hiss — the Bronze Dragon gave a snorting breath, its Dragon Breath was enough to dry the drool under its nose.

Then the Bronze Dragon changed into a comfortable position, ready to continue sleeping.

Whoosh, another stone was thrown over, precisely hitting the Bronze Dragon’s snout.

The dragon’s huge eyes opened instantly, its vertical pupils filled with boundless rage.. The breath from its nostrils gradually heated, a subdued roar echoed in the entire underground space, “Who woke me up? You stupid creature, you will bear my endless wrath, I will roast you into dry fish!”