"They're back!?" Azuhan exclaimed with delight.
"Yes, they returned today. You should go take a look," Akala yawned, a golden flame flickering from her mouth. "I'll sleep a bit longer."
Azuhan nodded and quickly left the room, heading to the reception hall.
In the reception hall, several formidable Fire Lizards sat silently in their chairs, exuding an aura that warned others to keep their distance. The maidservants from the pyramid stood nearby, trembling in fear.
Azuhan entered the reception room, "Gentlemen, thank you for your hard work during this time!"
Upon seeing Azuhan, the Fire Lizards immediately stood up from their chairs and saluted him.
Azuhan gestured, and the maidservants left the room. With a loud thud, the heavy, metal-clad Obsidian door of the reception hall was shut.
A special atmosphere instantly enveloped the entire room.
"My lord, we have fulfilled our mission. During this overseas exploration, we found what you were looking for."
Among the Fire Lizards, the most robust one unfastened a metal tube from his belt. The tube was adorned with golden patterns, clearly a creation of Dragon Alchemy.
The Fire Lizard opened it and poured out a leather scroll. The scroll contained a map, detailing several shipping routes and islands scattered across the ocean.
Azuhan took the map and scrutinized it closely.
After a long while, he rolled the scroll back up and solemnly addressed the Fire Lizards, "You are the great benefactors of the Fire Lizard clan. Your contributions will be forever recorded in history, sung about for millennia to come."
Azuhan's words were heartfelt; the significance of this map was immense.
The outer edge of the main continent of the Crimson Sun World was an endless sea of lava. Normally, even the most reckless Fire Lizards would only hunt Flame Behemoths in the shallow waters of the lava sea.
However, no Fire Lizard had ever ventured into the depths of the lava sea.
But after the War of the Three Kings began, Azuhan had to face a harsh reality: they might very well be defeated.
At that time, the entire Crimson Sun World would become the backyard of the Wizards, and the Fire Lizards would all be slaves to the Wizards.
Thus, Azuhan began to contemplate how the Fire Lizards could preserve their flame after their defeat.
This led to the plan to explore the lava sea.
In the ancient legends of the Fire Lizards, the lava sea was not solely composed of lava. It was said that many islands existed above the lava sea. These islands were the homes of eccentric dragons, who lived in seclusion and paid no heed to the world. There were even rumors that dragons lived on these islands.
For this plan, the Shield of Morik invested a vast amount of resources to create golden ships capable of traversing the lava sea and dispatched the most loyal and reliable agents from the Shield of Morik to explore.
The ferocity of the lava sea was no less than that of the Wizards. A vast number of Flame Behemoths and Fire Elemental Creatures inhabited the lava sea, causing significant trouble for the fleet.
In one exploration, it was a great fortune if five out of ten ships returned.
Fortunately, after the two empires merged, the personnel and resources available to the Shield of Morik were greatly enhanced. With the tacit approval of Harash and Maihan, this costly exploration plan was carried out time and again.
Now, the returning Fire Lizards were the tenth batch of exploration teams. This time, they had explored the longest and finally found the legendary islands. Moreover, they had discovered the remains of a dragon on the islands.
This further validated the credibility of the legends.
The lava sea's flame preservation plan had finally succeeded after incurring great costs.
Hearing Azuhan's praise, the Fire Lizards couldn't help but shed tears.
They had lost too many companions during the exploration. Some were devoured by Flame Behemoths, others were blown to ashes by Fire Elemental Creatures, and some were turned to dust by the burning winds of the lava sea... Every expedition meant a fight for survival.
The fear of the unknown loomed over every Fire Lizard that set sail.
They would rather fight the Wizards than venture into the unknown waters of the lava sea.
Now, it was finally over.
"Gentlemen, due to the special nature of this mission, I cannot award you medals or hold a celebration banquet," Azuhan said with a complex expression. He opened the door to the reception room and instructed the maidservant outside.
Soon, the maidservant entered with heavy bags.
"I cannot offer you spiritual honors, so I can only repay you materially. This is a small sum of money; take it and rest."
"During this time... a lot has happened in the empire."
The Fire Lizards exchanged glances, accepting the bags filled with gleaming gold coins.
Even for the Silverhorn Nobles, these coins would be considered a substantial amount.
None of them were Silverhorn Nobles, and faced with the material reward, they did not decline and accepted it.
Seeing that they all accepted, Azuhan nodded in satisfaction and smiled at the Fire Lizards, "Gentlemen, forgive me, but I have matters to attend to and cannot host you. Akala is pregnant, and my work schedule has become quite tight."
The Fire Lizards were taken aback by this news.
Princess Akala is pregnant?
It seemed that many things had indeed happened in the empire while they were exploring the lava sea.
After offering their congratulations, the Fire Lizards left the palace.
Watching the Fire Lizards bustling about on the streets, the explorers felt as if they had stepped into another world.
Soon, the leading Fire Lizard turned to his companions and asked, "Now that Lord Azuhan has given us so much money, what do you plan to do with it?"
As he spoke, a knowing smile appeared on his face.
"I have plenty of connections; the price is right, and I might even be able to arrange a date with a Silverhorn Noble lady."
The other team members smiled in agreement, except for one who shook his head.
"I won't be doing that. My son is currently studying Alchemy with Master Haye, and there are many places to spend money."
Sighing, the Fire Lizard seemed like a middle-aged worker burdened with family responsibilities, with a son in a private elite school and a wife who was unemployed.
The other Fire Lizards cast sympathetic glances; Alchemy was indeed a costly pursuit.
Though this money was substantial, it wouldn't last long for a prolonged study of Alchemy.
"Logar, your kid looks a bit dazed. Is he really studying Alchemy...?"
The speaking Fire Lizard didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood his implication.
Logar waved his hand, "I know my limits. Master Haye is very satisfied with his talent; otherwise, I wouldn't keep supporting his studies."
After hearing this, the other Fire Lizards said nothing more.
They parted ways on the road, with Logar returning home while the others headed to a tavern, ready to drink the night away.
Logar's home was on the outskirts of the capital. As soon as he opened the door, he saw a young Fire Lizard fiddling with a mass of metal that was constantly changing shape.
The young Fire Lizard turned to the door and said somewhat dazedly, "Logar, you're back."
With that, he got up and embraced Logar.
Logar smiled and hugged the young Fire Lizard before entering the house.
The house was tidy and clean, with a portrait of a family of four hanging on the wall, the frame polished to a shine.
Logar handed the bag of gold coins to the young Fire Lizard and said softly, "Climb, take this money and go find Master Haye later."
"…Logar, Master Haye said I don't need to find him anymore. He said he has nothing left to teach me."
Logar was taken aback. Although Master Haye was not the most powerful Alchemy Master in the Shield of Morik, he was still ranked among the top ten. Just before Logar set sail, Climb had only just begun studying Alchemy with him.
It had only been a little over two years; how could he have nothing left to teach?
Logar pondered for a long time and came up with two possibilities.
"Did you anger Master Haye?"
"I don't know, but Master Haye always looks at me strangely. He keeps muttering 'impossible, impossible,' and I don't know what he means.
I've been doing everything according to his teachings."
Logar was speechless; now, there was probably only one possibility left.
His "son" was an Alchemy genius.
"Alright, I'll go find him tomorrow to ask what's going on. You go play."
With that, Logar dragged his weary body upstairs.
Entering the bedroom, Logar lay on the bed and picked up the portrait from the bedside. The family of four looked cheerful, but upon closer inspection, one small Fire Lizard at the edge of the portrait seemed out of place.
It looked like an afterthought.
Logar gazed at the portrait, tears streaming down his cheeks.
He murmured, "It's been ten years, Mishaen, are you and Climb doing well in the underworld?"
...
Azuhan's thoughts quickly transformed into a concrete plan. The entire Fire Lizard army of the United Empire, under a single command, was divided into countless small teams of twenty.
These teams were ordered to infiltrate and spontaneously launch attacks against the Wizards.
Thanks to the previous troop reductions, this command quickly spread to various Fire Lizard legions, and within a month, the Fire Lizard warriors had split into numerous small teams.
Thus, the Wizards encountered a strange scene.
Their military might was overwhelming, yet they could never find the main force of the Fire Lizards. Under the interrogation of the soul Wizards, they finally learned of the Fire Lizards' plan.
"They've all split into teams of twenty?"
Richard was taken aback by Vladimir's news.
These Fire Lizards were quite intelligent and bold.
As long as the army was dispersed, the Wizards' greatest advantage—Great Wizards—would cease to exist.
"What does the command center say, Master?"
Vladimir took a puff from his pipe and replied leisurely, "What else can they say? They're dispersing to hunt down bandits. These Fire Lizards are quite clever; this move is truly brilliant. With the army split up, the influence of the Great Wizards is minimized, and they won't be wiped out in an organized manner.
However, this doesn't pose much of a problem for us. These Fire Lizard teams are not too difficult for us to hunt; whether for specimens or capturing slaves, it's quite good."
Upon hearing this, Richard agreed.
"This works out well; I need to capture a few Fire Lizard slaves."
The Fire Lizards' plan this time was indeed a win-win.
(End of Chapter)