Chapter 463: A Compulsory Quest!?

Chapter 463: A Compulsory Quest!?

Under Zheng Yichen’s slightly troublesome gaze, Augusta immediately felt displeased, but he still held back his temper. After thinking it over, he felt somewhat awkward. It seemed that whether it was the alchemical puppet or the dragon bed, he hadn’t talked about payment… Uh, bringing it up now—cough—should he make it up?

Ah~ It felt like having to pay extra for something already bought, so not cost-effective at all. But when he thought about not finding those little thieves, he felt particularly unwilling. Spending more was spending more. Once this dragon caught those little thieves, he would definitely make them cough up a hundred times what they had stolen… even if it was just a few layers of dirt.

And then he would send them for a bath in the River Styx!

The red dragon, who was inwardly calculating how much payment would be appropriate for Zheng Yichen, suddenly widened his eyes. Controlling his alchemical avatar, he tightly grabbed Zheng Yichen’s wrist: “Holy crap… No, save me!!”

The voice abruptly stopped. The alchemical avatar of the red dragon Augusta before him stiffened on the spot. The eyes that had seemed lively due to the infusion of spiritual power returned to the coldness typical of an alchemical puppet. His divided consciousness had already vanished. Zheng Yichen quickly checked the core of the Magic Weapon Contract. The contract linked to Augusta still existed, meaning he hadn’t died and been deleted.

But at this moment, his Magic Weapon Summoning Book had disappeared. Zheng Yichen also couldn’t understand his situation through the Magic Weapon Summoning Book to see what had happened to him. He could only search for records from the main body of the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. By looking for related records, Zheng Yichen briefly understood what had happened to Augusta in that instant. He had been attacked. The attacker’s identity was unknown but very powerful, almost subduing Augusta in just two encounters, forcing him to urgently seek help from Zheng Yichen through the alchemical puppet.

As for the process there, Zheng Yichen only saw an incomplete ‘screenshot’ uploaded by Augusta. This screenshot was meant to be sent to Zheng Yichen. It was somewhat clever of him, knowing that simply saying ‘save me’ was meaningless. How could Zheng Yichen save him without knowing what had happened to Augusta?

Unfortunately, the clues he wanted to provide hadn’t been uploaded in time… Luckily, Zheng Yichen’s identity was the Creator, allowing him to dig out this unuploaded part, and even use his highest administrative privileges to some extent to understand what was happening on Augusta’s side.

“…How am I supposed to save him with this?” Zheng Yichen stared at that blurry picture. The picture was only a little more than half complete, and the image inside wasn’t clear. The recorded attacker was entirely shrouded in shadow; only an unusually pale arm could be seen. That arm looked like one belonging to a dead person. Other than that, there was no information about location or anything else.

This gave Zheng Yichen a headache. With just this broken picture, he really couldn’t make out any information… Rubbing his forehead, Zheng Yichen hoisted Augusta’s alchemical puppet and left the street. After thinking about it, he decided to toss it into his personal space. As he threw it in, he casually added a few magic rune array patches to prevent Augusta from reconnecting to this alchemical puppet and causing trouble inside his personal space.

“Oh? A dragon in trouble?” In the underground base, after hearing the news brought by Zheng Yichen, Annie thought for a moment and fixed her gaze on him: “I think you might be in for some trouble.”

“What? What trouble could I have?” Zheng Yichen asked, puzzled. Could it be that the red dragon could act like an NPC, simply giving him a quest he had to complete with just two words? What Annie said left Zheng Yichen feeling confused.

“It really is trouble. Do you think, as one of the few active dragons on the Continent, the Dragon Clan wouldn’t have any precautions? If something happens to him, the Dragon Clan will definitely investigate the matter. Then it won’t be as simple as you casually fooling this red dragon.”

“…I’m curious. Since the Dragon Clan has already given up on activity on the Continent, why would there be the situation you mentioned? Are they just bored!?”

“Oh, perhaps it’s to show the Continent that the Dragon Clan still exists. Anyway, if something happens to him, the Dragon Clan will definitely investigate to the end. At that time, you, this wild Cursed Dragon, will surely be exposed.”

“Pah, what does that have to do with me!?” Zheng Yichen maintained a dead-fish-eye expression, impassive. It was ridiculous that because something happened to him, his own identity could be exposed. This kind of operation was simply wonderful…

“It has quite a lot to do with you. After all, you are also a dragon. There are only so few dragons active on the Continent. Once the Dragon Clan starts an investigation, do you think you can avoid it? They certainly wouldn’t mind giving you a full-body physical examination. Don’t worry, the Dragon Clan will take full responsibility for a newly born dragon like you who has no parents to look after you.”

“I’d rather they didn’t take responsibility.” Zheng Yichen grabbed his hair forcefully. The Dragon Clan was simply a bunch of troublemakers. Getting involved with the Dragon Clan at this stage really wasn’t appropriate… He had just barely managed to temporarily suppress the possibility of the Sanctuary Church causing trouble for him, and now the Dragon Clan jumped out immediately. Couldn’t they let people have some peace?

He had to find a way to resolve this.

“Can it be avoided?”

“Generally, it can’t be avoided. Dragons all have a racial secret method. Oh, not the one modified from the Abyssal Creatures, but one originally possessed by the Dragon Clan… Don’t make that ‘never heard of it’ face. Actually, there is a solution. As long as you find him before something happens to him. Aren’t you able to sense that his Magic Weapon Contract still exists? Doesn’t that prove he’s still alive?”

“The problem is I don’t know how long he can stay alive!” Zheng Yichen said expressionlessly. “Hmm, that secret method is triggered only upon death?”

Annie nodded. Zheng Yichen thought for a moment and sighed helplessly. Alright, no wonder he said this matter had a lot to do with him. That darned red dragon Augusta really had inexplicably saddled him with a hard-to-refuse quest!

He understood her meaning. In short, if Augusta was alive, he would be fine. Although the Dragon Clan’s secret method was powerful, it wasn’t so advanced as to constantly transmit his situation to the Dragon Clan. It would only trigger upon death. At that time, it would definitely attract other dragons, and not lazy ones like Augusta. This was really…

Zheng Yichen took out that picture and showed it to Annie. Since he now knew that Augusta’s death would bring great trouble, he had to prevent it. Previously, with the Sanctuary Church, he could use an alchemical avatar to buy time to plan a stable position for himself. But with the Dragon Clan, Zheng Yichen couldn’t do that… More accurately, he didn’t know how to do it!

“Hmm, are you sure you want me to find what you need from this blurry mess?” Annie looked somewhat awkwardly at the pixelated product Zheng Yichen presented. “Isn’t that expecting too much?”

“The problem is this is the only thing I have that might count as a clue.”

“Then you can start investigating from his dragon lair.”

“…Only that’s left. What a hassle!” Zheng Yichen nodded. He arranged matters at the underground base and incidentally notified those ghost maids: the plan for your exclusive alchemical maid puppets is temporarily postponed. Your male master has encountered troublesome trouble again!

Regarding this, those ghost maids expressed that they were already used to it. They wouldn’t nag Zheng Yichen with something like “You’re the one with all the problems.” They could only express regret in the ghost maid communication circle and feel curious about what troublesome thing Zheng Yichen had encountered again.

After taking care of matters in Kaja, amidst Lily’s reluctant expression, Zheng Yichen hurriedly left Kaja. Lily expressed that she wanted to come along, but this time the situation was unclear. Zheng Yichen also didn’t know who had captured Augusta, and the other party’s efficiency was incredibly high—they didn’t even allow him to leave accurate clues. This kind of enemy… let’s consider them enemies for now.

Would dealing with such enemies be easy? Bringing Lily along wouldn’t be easy to handle. After leaving Kaja, he tapped his own head. Tsk, what was he thinking? He had actually overlooked the fact that he could use many alchemical avatars. Why say goodbye like a ghost? Wouldn’t it solve everything if he just left an alchemical avatar here?

After thinking about it, Zheng Yichen took out a new alchemical avatar from his personal space and tossed it down, setting it on automatic navigation mode to let it return to the residence in Kaja on its own. His identity was already exposed, so adding the true functions belonging to an alchemical puppet was fine. Even if this made the alchemical puppet easier to expose, there were also many convenient aspects. Under offline conditions, the alchemical avatar still had a certain degree of self-activity, which was much better than leaving it idle. It could even perform some tasks assigned by Zheng Yichen while offline.

Zheng Yichen’s movements naturally garnered attention from some people, including the most concerned Sanctuary Church.

“This dragon, running around at this time?” Achille heard that Zheng Yichen had controlled an alchemical avatar to leave Kaja and remained expressionless. He left at such a time… Well, alright, he probably really didn’t know that besides the Sanctuary Church paying attention to him, the Dark Church was also watching him. He shook his head. Forget it. As long as that dragon continued to use an alchemical puppet instead of his true body, even if the Dark Church paid attention, they wouldn’t have a chance to do anything.

He also had matters to handle. Regarding the actions of the Dark Church, it wasn’t his place to worry. The matter of the Undying Witch had concluded. What he used to do needed to return to normal. Those cults, due to the Undying Witch’s disturbances, had caused most of the Sanctuary Church’s attention to focus on the Border Great Wall. Who knew how many things they had stirred up during this period? Next was the time for settling accounts after autumn.

The grasshoppers of autumn… should also quiet down!

Besides, there was the ‘God-making Plan’… In the battle against the Undying Witch, those test members collected enough practical combat data. It really was a very useful system, even shining brilliantly in the battle at that time, successfully giving originally support-oriented professionals formed combat power. After buffing the team, they could even take up hammers themselves, even bypassing the process of changing equipment… Ahem!