34: A roaring dragon? No, that's a walking new version event monster!

"Don't touch that pillar!!"

"You, the Strength-type! Put down your hammer! That's a load-bearing structure!"

In the Goblin tribe that had just been taken down, the roars were even louder than during the battle earlier.

Wang Wei (ID: Luban No. 7) stood on top of the largest Totem Pole.

His glasses were crooked, and he held a freshly drawn sketch, looking like he was in a state of extreme, manic excitement.

"I'm going to turn it into a Sentry Tower!!"

"Where are the Earth Mages?! Stop picking your feet over there! Petrify these rotten logs for me!"

"Lin Xiaowan! Two more Ice Wall Spells! Make a foundation!"

Below him.

A group of players who were originally prepared to demolish the place were stunned by the shouting.

"Wait... Old Wang, weren't we here to loot?" Li Qiang (ID: Also a Ruthless Person) carried half a slab of pork he had just snatched, looking completely bewildered. "Why are we helping these green-skinned monsters with renovations?"

"Renovations my ass!!"

Wang Wei pointed at the surrounding circle of tattered fences:

"This is a base!!"

"We're going to build a Respawn Point here! A Supply Station! We'll even build a Trading House!!"

"Do you guys want to run five kilometers back to your corpses every time you die?!"

The words were a wake-up call.

The players' gazes changed.

It was a sign of the 'infrastructure maniac' attribute, engraved in their DNA, Awakening.

"Holy crap! That makes sense!"

"Come on, come on! Push that Catapult over! Set it up at the entrance!"

"Hey you, hang these Goblin corpses on the wall! Add some intimidation factor!"

In less than half an hour.

The Goblin tribe, which originally had a primitive and savage atmosphere, underwent a sudden change in style.

Trenches were dug out.

Abatis were erected.

Even the Altar, which was once full of totem worship, was transformed into a crossfire point with a Wasteland punk style.

Just as the players were working with great fervor.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The ground began to vibrate.

The bushes at the edge of the forest were roughly shoved aside.

A heavy, Rank wind blew toward them.

"What's that noise?"

Li Qiang dropped the pork and warily reached for the shotgun at his waist.

"Roar—!!"

Accompanied by a hiss similar to a dinosaur's.

A Raptor, about three meters long and covered in dark green scales, lunged out from the woods.

And on the dragon's back.

Sat a two-meter-tall Lizardman Knight, wearing fine Chainmail and holding a Lance.

It held its massive lizard head high, its vertical pupils filled with contempt.

It was the messenger of the regional overlord—the Emerald Green Dragon.

According to custom, today was the day these lowly Goblins were to pay tribute.

"Gru!!"

The Lizardman Knight didn't clearly see the surrounding situation; it just habitually roared in broken Common Tongue:

"Where is the tribute?!"

"The Lord is hungry!!"

"If there is no fresh flesh... I don't mind taking your brains to..."

The voice stopped abruptly.

Because it discovered that it wasn't a group of submissive, short Goblins greeting it.

But a group of... humans holding shovels, pickaxes, and strange iron pipes.

These humans were staring at it with an extremely eerie gaze.

Was that the look for 'food'?

No.

It was the look one gives to 'New Year's goods.'

"Hu... Humans?"

The Knight was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage:

"Lowly race! How dare you invade the Green Dragon Lord's territory?!"

"Kneel!!"

"Offer up your..."

"Shut up!!"

A loud shout interrupted its casting animation.

Li Qiang took a step forward.

He didn't hear a word of what this guy was blathering about 'Lord' or 'tribute.'

His gaze, like a precision X-ray machine, was locked onto every piece of equipment on the Knight.

**[Fine Iron Chainmail (Purple · Rare)]**

**[Dragonborn Lance (Blue · Fine)]**

**[Raptor Mount (Tameable?)]**

Even for the string of tooth necklaces hanging around its neck, the System thoughtfully provided a price: **[Unknown Creature's Teeth: Recycle price 50 points/each]**.

*Gulp.*

Someone swallowed their saliva first.

In the dead silence of the forest, it was terrifyingly clear.

"Brothers..."

Li Qiang's voice was trembling, a vocal cord spasm caused by extreme excitement:

"We've got a big one!!"

"This is a freaking delivery elite mob!!"

"And he even came with a mount!!"

"Rob him!!!"

No command was needed.

Nor any tactics.

The hundreds of players who were just mixing cement a moment ago instantly transformed into the most terrifying bandits.

"That mount is mine! I'll fight whoever kills it!!"

"I want that helmet!!"

"Strip him!!"

Various fireballs, ice spikes, and those dishonorable homemade grenades were hurled as if they cost nothing.

"Impudent!!"

The Lizardman Knight roared, shaking its Lance and bringing forth a green light of Battle Qi:

"Mere ants..."

BANG!!

A loud explosion.

It only felt its vision go dark.

A large cloud of white powder exploded in its face.

It was something Wang Wei had just whipped up—**[Lime Powder Bomb (Civil Engineering Special Edition)]**.

"Aaaah! My eyes!!"

The Knight let out a shrill scream.

Before it could even jump off its mount.

A large net woven from steel bars fell from the sky, trapping both the rider and the dragon tightly.

"Get down here!!"

Seven or eight Strength-type hulks swarmed forward and, like pulling up a radish, forcibly dragged it off the Raptor's back.

"Don't hit the mount!! Wang Wei! Give the dragon an anesthetic!!"

"Coming!!"

Wang Wei rushed up with a strange cry, holding a syringe as thick as an arm (originally used for oiling engineering machinery), and gave the Raptor—which was about to bite someone—a jab right in the butt.

Awoo—*hic*!

The poor Raptor's eyes rolled back, and it collapsed on the spot, foaming at the mouth.

As for that once-majestic knight?

At this moment, its face was being frantically stomped by a dozen feet.

"Told you to kneel! Who did you say should kneel?!"

"This is the fine iron armor? Why can't I pry it off? Someone get a crowbar!!"

"Don't move! The scales on this tail can be pried off! I have the Skinning skill!"

Ten minutes.

In just ten minutes.

The once-arrogant Dragonborn messenger was now left with only a pair of tattered underwear, curled up in a mud pit and shivering.

Its Lance was gone.

Its armor was gone.

Even two of its gold-inlaid front teeth had been knocked out.

Looking at this group of humans who were gesturing and laughing wildly with its equipment, it felt for the first time that... compared to these demons, the great Green Dragon Lord was as merciful as an angel.

However.

When you hit the dog, the master eventually finds out.

**[ROAR————!!!]**

A true Dragon's roar exploded from the shores of the Emerald Lake five kilometers away.

The sound waves, like a physical tidal wave, instantly swept across the entire forest.

Leaves flew wildly.

The newly repaired fence collapsed with a bang.

The movements of all the celebrating players suddenly stiffened.

A sense of trembling from the depths of their Soul made them unable to move for an instant.

**[System Warning: Encountered Dragon Might!]**

**[All attributes decreased by 20%!]**

**[Detected 'Fear' status: Unable to move, duration 5 seconds.]**

The sky turned dark.

Giant wings blotted out the sun.

A behemoth with a wingspan of fifty meters, carrying a destructive airflow, was rapidly approaching.

That sense of oppression.

That absolute crushing of biological Rank.

It made Li Qiang, who had been so arrogant just now, almost drop his shotgun on the ground.

"This... this is a Dragon?"

"This thing is way too big, isn't it?"

"Uh... did we get ourselves into trouble?"

Panic began to spread.

This was the first time the players had directly faced the peak combat power of a true fantasy creature.

This wasn't a zombie that only had stats.

This was a Dragon that could fly, breathe fire, and stun people just with its roar!

Run?

Run where?

Can two legs outrun wings?

Just as morale was about to collapse.

Ding!

A crisp System notification sounded in every player's ear like heavenly music.

Ten thousand meters in the air.

Su Mu looked down at the group of terrified 'leeks' below, the corner of his mouth curling into a playful arc.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Fear exists because the price isn't high enough."

"As long as the money is right, you'd even slay a god."

He tapped his finger lightly.

A gold-and-red, bolded and enlarged server-wide announcement popped up directly in the center of everyone's retinas.

**[World Event Triggered: The Evil Dragon's Wrath!]**

**[BOSS Intro: Emerald Green Dragon (Lv. 30 · Lord Class).]**

**[Bounty Pool Opened:]**

**1. Dragon Slayer: Unique Reward — 1,000,000 RMB (Direct deposit, no withdrawal needed).**

**2. First Kill Team: All members rewarded with 'Resurrection Coin' x10, Exclusive Title 'Fledgling Godslayer'.**

**3. Dragon Corpse Recycling:**

**- Dragon Tooth: 500 Contribution Points/each.**

**- Dragon Scale: 100 Contribution Points/piece.**

**- Dragon Blood: Collected by the pound! We'll take as much as you have!**

Silence.

This time, the silence was different from before.

Li Qiang looked at the number '1,000,000,' and his legs, which were trembling a moment ago, suddenly stopped.

Not only did they stop trembling.

They even began to flush with blood and grow warm.

He looked up, once again staring at the terrifying behemoth in the sky.

The suffocating pressure from before had vanished.

In its place.

Was the look one gives to a 'walking gold mountain.'

"One million..."

Li Qiang muttered to himself.

He wiped the saliva that had leaked out of the corner of his mouth at some point and looked back at his brothers behind him.

Everyone's eyes had turned red.

It was the red of greed.

It was the red of being dirt poor and desperate.

"Brothers..."

Li Qiang raised the shotgun he had just reloaded, his voice becoming hoarse with extreme excitement:

"That's not a Dragon."

"That's... walking real estate!!"

"It's a flying bride price!!"

"It's my retirement fund for the rest of my life!!"

*Clack.*

Hundreds of weapons were raised simultaneously.

"You dare to show your health bar?"

Wang Wei pushed up his glasses and, with a sinister grin, aimed the Totem Pole he had just dismantled from the Goblin Altar at the sky:

"Then don't even think about leaving alive!!"

"Get the pot ready!! Heat the oil!!!"

"We're eating Dragon meat tonight!!!"