After hanging up the phone without receiving the news he wanted, Zhang Cheng’s anxiety only grew stronger, but he had not yet lost his composure due to impatience.
Although he wasn’t fully aware of his parents’ exact strength, he assumed they were not weak. Coupled with their positions in the company, even if they were discovered, nothing serious should happen.
Besides, if his parents were truly in danger, his arrival would only add another casualty. For now, it was still more crucial for him to focus on Lu Qiuchen’s side.
After taking several deep breaths, Zhang Cheng let go of this matter and shifted his attention to the players moving underground.
The Bipedal Dragon flew in a straight line through the air, much faster than other players on land. By the time Zhang Cheng arrived at the mission location, he had already overtaken many other players.
He opened the chat window with Lu Qiuchen and nervously recited the first string of codes in his mind. When he heard the system’s ding notification, the world in his sight seemed to have changed slightly from before.
‘Something seems to have happened. This should mean it succeeded, right?’
Filled with excitement, Zhang Cheng entered the dungeon. Although he was anxious, the system forcibly triggered a CG, compelling him to calm down.
In the story, the “Calamity Dragon” had used the demon race to appear among various factions and redirect their attacks towards the demon race, thus escaping this siege.
Most of the forces encircling the Silver Dragon were tied down by the demons, leaving only a few scattered adventurers continuing the pursuit.
The NPCs ahead followed the blood trail left by the Silver Dragon fleeing into the deep mountains. Even at Zhang Cheng’s speed, only by relying on the Bipedal Dragon could he barely keep up.
After a long search, they finally discovered a mountain concealed by magic. Working together, they broke the spatial seal over the area and found the Silver Dragon healing inside a hollowed mountain.
When everyone saw the Silver Dragon inside the mountain, they were surprised to find it in a deep slumber. But in such a short time, the wounds it had suffered had partially recovered, with the injuries visibly healing at a slow but steady pace.
While amazed by the dragon’s powerful vitality, they prepared for the battle ahead.
This could not be delayed any longer! The strongest adventurers exchanged glances and gripped their weapons tighter.
Just as they were about to jump down into the cave, a thunderbolt streaked past them, striking the mountain fiercely. The thunderclap nearby shook their ears painfully.
Looking up, they saw that the legendary Archmage of the Adventurers Guild had already arrived and was the first to strike the Silver Dragon hard.
The Silver Dragon beneath received the thunder strike and, sensing a threat to its life, roared in anger and woke up, glaring furiously at the tiny humans above.
The lightning-element Archmage glanced coldly at the greedy adventurers around him but paid them no mind. He quickly assessed the Silver Dragon’s injuries and cast a magical barrier at the cave entrance.
Although neither side spoke, the Archmage’s threatening demeanor was unmistakable. The adventurers were filled with both resentment and helplessness, forced to endure the overwhelming disparity in strength.
Some adventurers who had dealt with the Adventurers Guild’s Vice President before knew he was here to capture the dragon for the guild and realized they had no hope of obtaining dragon materials anymore, so they left immediately.
However, many still held onto a sliver of hope—since they had come this far, they waited here for the battle’s outcome, hoping the Silver Dragon and Archmage would both be severely wounded so they could seize some spoils.
The battle below soon erupted. The mountain rang with dragon roars and flashes of lightning. However, the magical barrier blocked their view, and the Archmage’s companions guarded the cave entrance, leaving Zhang Cheng and the other adventurers anxiously waiting.
Listening to the agonized roars from below, Zhang Cheng’s heart tightened. Unable to bear the torment of waiting, he had several times tried to activate the second string of codes. But seeing the countdown timer waiting for the battle to end in the taskbar, he clenched his fists and forced himself to endure.
When the timer hit zero, the barrier at the cave entrance suddenly exploded.
The lightning Archmage’s face was pale, a large hole torn in his chest. Bloodied and battered, he was thrown out of the cave and collapsed onto the ground.
His alchemist teammate, who had been waiting nearby, hurried over to tend to his wounds with magical potions.
Seeing the Archmage’s defeat and apparent incapacity to continue fighting, the other adventurers’ eyes lit up with excitement. They hurriedly leaned over the edge to look down.
Inside the cave, the Silver Dragon was now barely clinging to life, its body shaking and unable to support itself as it collapsed to the ground.
Greed flashed in the eyes of these adventurers—the perfect opportunity to become dragon slayers, obtain rare materials, and make a name for themselves was right within reach!
The remaining adventuring groups in the area were all epic-level teams, with comparable numbers and strength. At this moment, they were all wary of each other, but nobody paid attention to the Silver Dragon below. The atmosphere at the cave entrance was tense and hostile.
But Zhang Cheng had no such concerns. He hadn’t come to slay the dragon. Seeing Lu Qiuchen’s health drop to 1%, dangerously close to death, he immediately commanded his Bipedal Dragon to charge into the mountain.
The adventuring groups, previously holding each other at bay, saw someone try to seize the chance and rushed forward without hesitation as the figure leapt down the cave.
Once on the ground, everyone focused their eyes on the newcomer—only a Guardian Knight, and he had already contracted a Bipedal Dragon!
Could he be the first Dragon Knight in three thousand years? This person was terrifying, absolutely cannot be allowed to live!
If he survives, his future would be limitless. But since he dared to snatch the dragon right under so many people’s eyes, they were now on opposing sides. He had no chance of living.
Moreover, this was a contractable Bipedal Dragon! Although they didn’t know how he did it, if captured, they could forcibly bond with it. This Bipedal Dragon could elevate a Guardian Knight who otherwise had no hope to become the first Dragon Knight in three millennia!
If sold, the dragon’s value would be no less than that of rare dragon materials! For this reason, this brat couldn’t leave alive today!
Jealousy and greed climbed into the eyes of these adventurers. First, they would kill the lucky Guardian Knight, then slay the dragon, and finally clean up the other competitors!
Two Guardian Knights from one of the teams quietly mounted their Pegasi and closed in on Zhang Cheng.
*****
Lu Qiuchen noticed her health had dropped below 1%, but she remained calm because she still retained about 70-80% of her combat power.
The near-death experience in the game was strange. Although all her attributes declined, her mind felt hazy, and the colors in her vision faded, with focused effort she could still use magic normally.
Her body control was weaker than usual, but she could still exert strength, so her threat to enemies had not decreased significantly.
Suddenly, many adventurers leapt down upon her and launched a combined attack, further draining her already scarce health.
Watching her health drop steadily, Lu Qiuchen feigned weakness and gave up resisting, quietly waiting for release.
When her health fell below 100,000, she suddenly felt a death premonition of unknown origin and a strong sense of danger arose in her heart, making her panic.
Driven by the desire to survive, she suddenly sprang up, flapping her wings and flying into the sky, evading the adventurers’ assault.
She then saw that the quest in her taskbar had disappeared, and the previous warning that death would not be fatal in the story was gone.
“Beta! What’s going on?” Lu Qiuchen roared angrily in Dragon Tongue.
But Beta gave no reply, and Lu Qiuchen’s heart sank. The situation she feared most had happened.
Since learning of the game company’s true intentions from Zhang Cheng, Lu Qiuchen had been pondering the possibility of this happening.
Her greatest fear was that Beta or the game company was deceiving her—that once her usefulness was drained, staying alive would only increase the risk of exposing their plan. She could not think of any reason the Eternity Group would spare her.
What use were their promises? The rules were set by the Eternity Group and could be changed at any time. Once the plan succeeded, they would only have paid a little conscience, but her life was at stake.
Besides, individuals might have conscience, but groups driven by profit had none.
Since she had already realized the hidden danger, how could she be unprepared? Since Beta was unreliable, it was time to play her last card!
The Kaunt soul, extracted earlier by Odain, had not been absorbed by Lu Qiuchen. After transforming into pure spiritual energy, it had been left in the spiritual realm. Even though she had fused the Golden Dragon bloodline, she remained at LV123.
Now was the perfect chance to use that spiritual energy to break through!
A vast power surged from the Golden Dragon’s heart. Lu Qiuchen’s experience bar shot up rapidly, white light flashing continuously. Her level increased to LV130 within a short time, and her maximum health surged from 36 million to 50 million.
At the same time, her health, which had been only 100,000, quickly rose to 14.1 million.
The adventurers nearby, unaware of Lu Qiuchen’s transformation, mistook it for the Silver Dragon’s last struggles and fled awkwardly, dodging nonexistent attacks.
After realizing their mistake, they cautiously fired probing magical attacks at the Silver Dragon.
Lu Qiuchen changed from sluggish to swift, easily dodging these attacks to the astonishment of the surrounding adventurers.
Then, an invisible aura of dragon majesty radiated outwards from her.
Meanwhile, Zhang Cheng, riding his Bipedal Dragon, dodged the attacks of several Guardian Knights behind him.
He had already begun calling Beta to prepare the second command, but his efforts were repeatedly interrupted by the knights on Pegasi behind him, driving him nearly to fury.
Seeing Lu Qiuchen’s health on the brink of collapse, Zhang Cheng summoned the system again. Gritting his teeth, he took a hit from an enemy spear. With his health nearly depleted, he felt weak but forced himself to recite the complicated code once more.
Breaking through the encirclement, Zhang Cheng distanced himself from his pursuers. Just as he was about to finish the command, a powerful dragon aura swept over his body.
The Pegasi and Bipedal Dragons beneath the combatants instantly lost strength and plummeted to the ground.
Zhang Cheng was affected by the dragon aura, and his command was interrupted again.
Before anger and frustration could rise, the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped, and his body landed in a cold embrace.
Looking up, Zhang Cheng saw Lu Qiuchen’s indifferent face. Her unfamiliar golden eyes shimmered with a strange light.
He blinked, then noticed Lu Qiuchen’s health had already recovered to nearly half. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the knights behind her frozen solid like ice sculptures.
Only then did he realize, wryly:
Originally, he had come to be the hero saving the beauty, but in the end, it turned out the beauty saved the clumsy bear instead.