Beneath the Red Dragon

After several months of continuous practice and refinement, he finally completed his work. Although it was still a semi-finished product, he no longer needed to devote much effort; all that was needed was the passage of time.

The remaining large bells were also delivered one after another to other cities and every village settlement within the territory during this time, but Karon did not have those loyal souls ring the Golden Bell just yet.

Because according to the revised and printed calendar of those human scholars, the last day of the year was approaching.

The creatures in this world had no concept or tradition of celebrating the new year, but with Karon’s arrival, that was about to change.

Since Karon had made his choice and decision, he would transform his territory according to his own ideas and influence the entire world.

This was the character of the Red Dragon, and it was also Karon’s thought!

On the last day of this year, Karon would ring the Golden Bell, marking the end of the old year and the arrival of the new one.

That day would be named Year-End Day, or Year Pass!

Having a unique festival and ceremonial event for one’s kingdom is an important step in establishing a unified cultural consciousness. The division by race is not a difficult point; having a unified cultural consciousness is enough to bridge any racial divisions.

To follow the rituals and decrees of the Giant Dragons is to be one of the Giant Dragon’s people.

And on top of the Giant Dragon Hall, a large crimson flag, perfectly matching Karon’s scale color, waved in the wind. The fierce flag revealed the emblem on its surface without reservation.

It was a stylized Eye of the Red Dragon encrusted with various gemstones: green, red, blue, black, bronze, and yellow-brown. Each gemstone shone like the radiant light from a Giant Dragon’s eye, casting the Eye of the Red Dragon as if a Divine Spirit were gazing down upon the mortal world.

This was the royal banner of the Giant Dragon Territory, the modified royal banner that also included a few transparent gemstones without any color, representing Karon’s vision and ambition for the future.

The scarlet flag waved fiercely, flapping in the wind, as Karon stood atop the mountain, gazing down over his domain and softly sighing, ”The Year-End is approaching!”

As the Year-End approached, the territory became particularly busy.

The officials of various levels within the territory, upon receiving the news, began preparing for the first significant festival celebrated within the Giant Dragon Territory.

These officials bustled about, prioritizing the orders and goals issued by the Giant Dragons. Even the construction of the city under White Dragon Gomot’s oversight—the Royal Capital—was temporarily halted to prepare for this important festival.

Built on the outskirts of the Golden City, at the foot of Dragon Nest Mountain, the fireworks factory became especially busy. Thanks to the fact that the materials and craftsmanship involved in making fireworks were not overly complex, any ordinary person, once familiar, could set up a full fireworks production line.

The dozen or so apprentices who once followed Goblin Bang Bang had now become master-level figures overseeing the entire fireworks factory.

And to meet the huge upcoming demand, these manufactured fireworks only had the Giant Dragon Territory’s logo simply painted on their shells.

Even so, the entire fireworks factory was increasing its hiring and recruitment.

Many Dogman Soldiers barked loudly as they transported and interchanged cartloads of goods marked with destinations, which were then delivered to their intended locations by the Dogman Soldiers.

”Woof, woof, this is the cargo for Deep River Village, but we’re supposed to go to Niuti Village,” the lead Dogman barked irritably at his subordinates,

”You stupid fool, you’ve picked up the wrong cargo. You’ve really put your dog brain stuck between your own behind, you fool! You just keep giving me trouble!”

Supplying so many fireworks is not because this product, decreed as a Giant Dragon industry, has already become popular. In fact, the fireworks production line had only just become perfected and mature.

But for the first major festival, Karon thought it wouldn’t be excessive to make it grander. Therefore, under his guidance, every city, village, and household would at least receive a single-tube firework.

And those merchants who had no concept of a New Year festival would likely develop a keen interest in this cheap, yet momentarily dazzling product after experiencing an unforgettable night.

By then, there would be no need for the Dragon Group Territory to advertise this product any more. Clients would naturally emerge, followed by wealth growth.

Not only the fireworks factory but also the governmental and basic administrative departments within the territory were busy and argued fervently.

”Oh, damn it, there’s a Dogman here in Burrow Village who has given birth to six pups this year. Good heavens, those human residents only had four, a lucky set of quadruplets!”

The grassroots official wearing the Heaven-Reaching Dragon Horn Hat rubbed his forehead in distress. This kind of hat was very popular in the territory at present, originating from the children who liked to stick two branches on their foreheads initially.

Some insightful merchants thus launched these hat accessories, and they spread widely within the Giant Dragon Territory, making the insightful merchant a fortune.

”What’s that compared to this? I have a report here stating that a goblin in Suanmei Village astonishingly gave birth to eight little ones in one year. It’s absurd enough to compare to the Human Kingdom,”

The official wearing the Soft Horn Hat said to his colleague, ”It seems that the title of heroic mother should be attributed to this lucky goblin. If you ask me, encouraging such useless races to reproduce, isn’t it a matter of years before the territory is full of these green little guys running around?”

”Shh,” cautioned another official not wearing a hat, seated in the corner, signaling his colleagues to lower their voices. He said, ”These matters naturally concern those above; we only need to execute orders. Right now, they want us to treat everyone fairly, to maintain a bit of balance. What you’re saying isn’t welcome!”

”Alright, alright,” the official with the Soft Horn Hat shrugged indifferently, saying, ”Since we need to treat everything equally, why not just choose a representative from each race to bestow the title of heroic mother.”

”Wow, your idea is not bad,” grinned the fourth official sitting at the big table at the door, continuing, ”Next, let’s go with the same method for choosing diligent model candidates!”

By the time they finally decided on these candidates, more than half a day had passed. The last official wearing the Heaven-Reaching Dragon Horn Hat said, ”Besides the badges awarded from above, there should also be substantial rewards. What would be appropriate to reward these lucky ones with, a plow ox or a pack horse?”

”Forget it, my family only has one cow, so why not reward them with a chicken or a duck?” the thrifty moment overtook the cleverness of the Soft Horn Hat official unnoticed.

The official with the Heaven-Reaching Dragon Horn Hat disagreed, thinking the territory should be more magnanimous in such matters, leading to a quarrel between the two.

The official sitting in the corner, with a proud look on his face, suggested, ”Or we could report to the top that the reward is a cow or horse, but privately award a chicken or duck instead,”

”So we can reap some benefits too!” The official in the corner smiled, looking at his colleagues proudly, thinking his idea was brilliant.

But the commotion within the room suddenly quieted down. The remaining three officials all shut their mouths, no longer speaking, instead fixing their strange eyes on the self-satisfied official.

In the little garden outside, seen through the open window, on a fruit tree in the garden, a black mimicking Raven was perched.

This exceedingly clever mimicking Raven was among the smartest of the Flying Birds.

They could not only understand some not-too-complicated human words when trained but also repeat what they heard in an orderly, smooth manner.

And this Raven was now stealthily flapping its wings, flying towards its destination.

It was a white building some distance away, as tall as three stories, with a large sign hanging over the entrance of the third-story building—Political Department!

Coo-coo, coo-coo,

The Raven flew to the third floor, knocking on the closed window with its wings, making cooing sounds in its throat.

The window opened, and a young Elf Druid leaned out from inside, reaching out to pick up the Raven.

Handing a piece of jerky to the Raven’s mouth, the young Elf Druid smiled and said, ”Oh, look at my clever little darling, what good news have you brought me.”