Chapter 573: Chapter 454: Dragon Island Plan
The room immediately fell silent. Generally speaking, a chairman should not interfere in the discussion but should assess the results of the discussion. Yet on this occasion, Chairman Gulelie had actually agreed from the onset. Did this mean that the discussion was no longer necessary?
Chairman Gulelie looked around and slowly began to speak: "The revival of the Dragon Clan is indisputable. Any attempts to change this chaotic world should be immediately quelled. Years ago, when there existed only two outstanding Dragon Knights, we implemented a balance plan. Now, when a battle that will determine the fate of the entire world looms, are we to remain impassive? No! Unacceptable! We are the Dragon Clan, the great Dragon Clan, the noble Dragon Clan! This world must be under our control, not in the hands of those insignificant humans!"
Gulelie’s words immediately elicited a fervent round of applause. Almost every councilor rose to their feet, applauding this impassioned speech.
All except one person.
Asus.
Asus calmly observed Gulelie and the other councilors, his gaze steady and his face betraying no sign of joy.
"What, does Councilor Asus have a different opinion?" Gulelie asked unhappily. Asus had more power than Gulelie, and while Asus’ character was normally affable, if angered, he could not meet an equal among the entire Dragon Clan. For that reason, even the arrogant Gulelie wouldn’t dare to belittle Asus’ existence.
"I was just contemplating a matter," Asus said. "After we have done all this, after we have rebalanced this world, plunging the world into war and turmoil, then what will we have gained?"
Gulelie’s brow furrowed involuntarily: "What do you mean, Councilor Asus?"
"What I mean is, we have implemented this plan for thousands of years, but look at us. Besides starting to resemble humans, what else has changed? We still can’t wield the immense Dragon Power within us — we can only terminally assist humans in battle with our stupid breath, get slain, and have our souls reincarnated into new bodies. We are like a machine; cold and rigid."
Asus slowly said.
"Councilor Asus, have you been overworking yourself lately?" Gulelie asked quietly, but dissatisfaction was evident on his face.
But Asus simply shook his head, seeming to realize that it wasn’t appropriate to say such things at this time. He coughed lightly and said: "What I was suggesting is, why don’t we quietly stand aside and see how the humans fare. As a superior race, we really don’t have any need to involve ourselves with those humans."
Gulelie looked at Asus’ state, glanced around, and then said to Asus: "Councilor Asus, I need to speak to you privately about something."
Asus sighed, nodded, and then said to the surrounding councilors: "Let’s end today’s meeting here. We will continue discussing this issue tomorrow. Please go home and ponder over it; make your decisions carefully."
The councilors successively left, some throwing strange glances at Asus. But no councilor dared to accuse him of anything because Asus had lived longer than any of them, had more wisdom, and boasted greater strength!
All the councilors departed, leaving only Gulelie, who was standing with his back to Asus. Gulelie angrily swung around.
"Asus! Are you still thinking about that fool Tyl!" Gulelie growled quietly.
"Yes, ever since he was cast into the Burial Ground, I have been constantly thinking about his words. The more I think, the more ashamed I feel. We, as the Dragon Clan, the second race created by God, noble and powerful creatures, have been using these tactics to deal with these lowly beings. For thousands of years, we became their mounts, were tamed by them, were modified by them, and kept reincarnating between life and death. Yet now, the answer that remains for us is to become human! My old friend Gulelie, don’t you find this ridiculous?"
Asus’s eyes were full of sorrow, even Gulelie was taken aback at the sight.
Subsequently, Gulelie heaved a heavy sigh.
"Asus, my old friend, I understand what you’re thinking. I understand your grief, and I also know you have compassion for those lowly beings. I know that if we continue like this, our chances are slim. But if we don’t do this, we truly will have no chance at all."
Gulelie slowly walked towards Asus, then spoke softly: "You’ve been too tired lately, my old friend. I think you should take a temporary leave from the council, even leave Dragon Island, and find a peaceful place to rest. When you return, everything will be over. Wouldn’t that be better?"
Asus looked into Gulelie’s eyes and then nodded.
"Yes, you’re right, I have been too tired. I should take some time off."
Having said that, Asus turned around and slowly walked away. After taking a few steps, Asus turned his head back, looking into Gulelie’s eyes: "But my old friend, please promise me one thing. Don’t make any decisions before I return, okay? I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that something is off."
"Rest assured, my friend, nothing you need to worry about will happen," Gulelie said.
Asus gave Gulelie a long, hard look, then slowly turned around and walked out.
It wasn’t until Asus’s energy could no longer be sensed that Gulelie cracked a grin, laughing, "Inferior humans must be under my control, and any price paid for this lays the groundwork for my success. Once I find the means to control power, your weakness will no longer be an obstacle to me! You will witness with your own eyes my return to the Dragon Star! Becoming the king of the Dragon Clan!"
Meanwhile, Long Yi was in the Emperor’s study.
"Long Yi! Just as you suspected! The Black Dragon Empire did the same thing! These counterfeit White Dragon coins are starting to appear in our country!"
The emperor said to Long Yi excitedly.
Long Yi took a gold coin from Kirei. It was a White Dragon coin, which felt and looked almost like the genuine ones. But somewhere people would hardly notice, there was a slight trace. This refinement alone was enough to tell real from fake!
This was part of the training content suggested by Long Yi years ago, the so-called: ’Several suggestions on how top talents should express patriotism when being abducted.’
The main group of trainees were the veteran workers and technicians from these mints.
One of the items was to demand from them that after being kidnapped, not to resist in order to save their lives, to do exactly as the Black Dragon Empire says, but to add some unidentifiable markings on the fake coins. Only a few people were aware of the meaning of these markings, and now, the marking was right on the coin in Long Yi’s hand. After careful checking, the gold content in this coin was extremely low, mostly on the surface.
But.
It was definitely not nil.
"That idiot Yake lacks creativity. They’re trying to play the same game we’ve already played knowing full well we’ll be on guard," Long Yi said disdainfully while flipping the coin in his hand.
"The officials in charge of import and export have always been vigilant about any large-scale trade settlements. And these coins just came right to us." The emperor said.
"Where’s the person?"
"Of course, he was arrested. Under interrogation, quite a number of confederates were exposed, allowing us to nab a whopping eighteen boxes of White Dragon coins! Each counterfeit coin contains just a bit of gold, but this is eighteen boxes of them. We will definitely extract a substantial amount of gold from that." Kirei said, laughing heartily at their adversary’s foiled plot.
"Haha! Let’s chalk that up to Yake the fool’s generosity!" Long Yi was naturally very pleased. After all, it was his idea and the thrill of turning the tables made him ecstatic.
"Alright, I’ve told my good news. Now it’s your turn. Go ahead, what’s your good news?" Yake asked Long Yi, who was casually browsing through books in the study.
"I? There is a piece of good news I guess, although it’s probably too distant to be of any use right now," Long Yi said.
"What is it?"
"The Crazy Demon Plane is no longer a threat. I’ve established a good relationship with the Crystal Demons there. We can get good help from them," said Long Yi.
"That’s great! That’s great news indeed!" Kirei said.
"Yes, it’s good news," Long Yi said.
"But why don’t you seem too excited?" Kirei asked, observing Long Yi’s expression.
"Because I was in a battle that keeps replaying in my head. To be honest, the fight wasn’t that tough because we were prepared and won quite easily. But because of it, I knew of a powerful race. They wander the multiverse, conquering every sentient being they come across and turn them into their food. Yet, their true form is so weak that even a child could kill them bare-handed. So after I came back, I’ve been thinking, what’s the true essence of a creature, a race? The race represented by that evil creature is detestable, but at least they are clear about their objective! Me? What am I bustling about for? To win a war? To find Elsa on the upper plane? Or to unravel the truth about the Giants? I’ve thought a lot, but I’ve dismissed every idea. I don’t know what I really want to do. I feel lost. That’s why I came to you on my way to the research institute. I need your wisdom to guide me through this fog," Long Yi spurted out in one breath.
Long Yi said a lot, and Kirei watched him, feeling this didn’t seem like the usual Long Yi at all. What was Long Yi’s distinctive trait according to most people? ’Don’t chicken out! Just do it!’
Act first, talk later. That perfectly summed up Long Yi. But this time, Long Yi was unusually verbose.
"Could it be... " Kirei carefully organized his words, but realized there were no tactful words to substitute, so he decided to tell it straight.
"Could it be... Are you afraid?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to cast a vote of recommendation or monthly ticket on qidian.com. Your support is my biggest motivation, please visit m.qidian.com for mobile phone users.)
