The scorching sun baked the Hemlock Hills into a charred brown, and distorted heat waves shimmered off the cracked surface of the ground.
The young Red Dragon lay limp on the gravel with its tongue out, embers of Dragon Breath drifting from the corners of its mouth and exploding into tiny sparks in the air. Mobel was rubbing his back against the hard, rough bark of a hemlock tree to soothe an itch, causing leaves to rustle down.
Garros was staring intently at an Earth Spider that had just crawled out from a crack in the ground.
Its body was as large as a millstone, covered in rock-like patterns. Its eight appendages were slender and sharp, stained with some pitch-black soil. On its back was a deliberately recessed rocky carapace, which it used to carry large clumps of black earth.
He sniffed the air.
A pungent, spicy sensation shot straight up his nasal cavity.
Garros's eyes lit up with joy. In one stride, he rushed in front of the Earth Spider, his massive shadow blocking the sunlight and enveloping the creature.
"The scent of black oil!"
He looked down at the black spider trembling beneath him, his gaze falling on the black soil it carried. He reached out with a clawed hand to pick it up.
As soon as he touched it...
A slick, greasy feeling immediately arose.
Garros squeezed it, and gradually, some black oil seeped out from between his claws.
This was soil soaked in black oil—though it wasn't the oil itself, it was still a successful result. Garros was very satisfied with what the Earth Spider had brought back.
However...
Why did it only bring back oil-soaked soil and not the black oil itself?
With this question in mind, Garros used his Thought Sensing skill to enter the Earth Spider's mental world.
The Earth Spider's mental world was also very dark. Similar to the Rock-Crushing Worm, it felt like an oppressive, lightless underground world.
"Why didn't you bring back the black oil directly?"
Garros asked within the mental world.
The Earth Spider responded, "Danger. Death. Afraid."
Its intelligence was even lower than the Rock-Crushing Worm's, and its answers were intermittent, but Garros still understood its general meaning.
"The place where the black oil is stored is very dangerous and would kill it, so it didn't dare get close. It only dug up some oil-soaked soil from the periphery."
Garros fell into thought.
Since such a thing was to be expected, he wasn't particularly surprised.
The intelligent beings guarding the Black Oil Field certainly wouldn't just guard against the ground and the sky; they would have corresponding defensive measures for the underground as well.
He carefully observed the flashback-like memory fragments of the Earth Spider.
Through its perspective, Garros saw several Earth Spiders traveling through the dark soil ahead, where the layers of earth were becoming darker and the oil content was gradually increasing.
Suddenly.
A giant, centipede-like creature appeared.
It was crafted entirely from some kind of black metal, its body composed of dozens of steel segments linked together. Each segment was etched with faint blue energy patterns, and pairs of auxiliary limbs extended from the joints, constantly retracting and expanding like folding combat knives.
The moment this creature appeared, it began to hunt the Earth Spiders.
The Earth Spiders in the lead were torn to shreds in less than a minute. The creature then patrolled the underground for a circuit but did not attack the Earth Spiders that were a certain distance away.
"Some kind of Alchemy Golem guarding the underground? Judging by its size and performance, it's at least Level 5 or 6. The Earth Spiders can't fight it head-on at all."
Garros thought silently.
Clearly, this thing was not a natural lifeform but a man-made underground guardian, specifically designed to clear out various creatures approaching the oil field from below.
"Bringing back oil-soaked soil is already good enough; at least there's some harvest."
Garros transmitted encouraging emotions, urging the Earth Spider to keep up the good work.
The Earth Spider sent back an excited mental ripple. Its consciousness became restless, and its body emitted a red light: "Exchange. Promise."
You little rascal, you're quite impatient.
But the promise I made back then was for bringing back black oil. This oil-soaked soil is a bit lower in grade.
Garros pondered for a few seconds, then exited the Earth Spider's mental world and brought over the female spider he had been keeping well-fed.
As soon as he saw the female, the male Earth Spider excitedly paddled its limbs and lunged forward. The female spider, being in her breeding period, did not refuse and accepted him readily.
Garros watched the two spiders with curiosity.
They had no sense of shame. In broad daylight, with a dragon watching, they immediately began creating the next generation.
However, their mating method was completely different from many other creatures.
The male spider waved its legs, using its small left pedipalp to insert into the left opening of the female's epigyne, and its right pedipalp into the right opening. At first glance, it looked like a murder; the process was somewhat gruesome.
Just as the male spider was about to finish...
Garros was quick of hand and eye, reaching out with a claw to snatch him off the female spider.
—Since the items brought back didn't meet the original requirements, this breeding opportunity would naturally only be half-given.
"Ten kilograms of oil-soaked soil for one full breeding opportunity."
Garros expressed his requirements to the flailing, furious male spider.
You're no dragon! You're really no dragon!
It was held by Garros, its legs scratching the air in protest, but it eventually succumbed and agreed. It then hurriedly burrowed through the surface to go mine more oil-soaked soil for Garros.
The female spider looked dazed, looking up at Garros.
Why did you chase the male away?
She was bewildered.
Crack. Another part of the ground split and bulged, and another male spider crawled out, also bringing back some oil-soaked soil, excitedly looking for Garros to claim his reward.
Garros grinned and beckoned him over.
Soon, one male spider after another returned with black oil-soaked soil, wanting to claim their rewards.
Garros was very generous. Although what they brought back didn't match the original agreement, he still gave them half a reward—snatching them away mid-act.
A group of red-hot male spiders arrived excitedly and left in a huff.
They buried their heads in the ground, digging furiously to vent their frustration, and in order to get a full breeding opportunity, they dug for black oil-soaked soil even more urgently.
"Poor spiders. Garros, you're too mean."
Samantha's tone shifted as she praised, "As expected of an excellent Red-Iron Hybrid Dragon. Your innate level of evil is something I can't even hope to reach."
In the eyes of a Red Dragon...
Being 'mean' represented excellence and glory. All Red Dragons aimed to become the ultimate Evil Dragon.
In Samantha's view, Garros, who even oppressed and bullied spiders, was simply full of bad ideas—evil to the point of being beyond redemption.
"Don't slander me."
Garros defended himself, "I'm just doing this to spur them on, to make them work more actively. How can this be called evil?"
He never considered himself an Evil Dragon.
Garros didn't think of himself as a good dragon who loved helping the weak and punishing evil, but surely he couldn't be called evil either, right?
Evil Dragons were often hunted and besieged by all sides; Garros did not want to be treated like one.
But looking at his own appearance, Garros was left speechless.
His appearance, a combination of Iron Dragon and Red Dragon with some evolutionary traits, was even more fearsome than the conventional perception of an Evil Dragon.
If powerful adventurers came, they certainly wouldn't listen to Garros's explanations.
[An innately evil Red-Iron Hybrid Dragon!]
[Oho, and it likes to talk back!]
[Tell it to my Smite Evil!]
That was the outcome that would occur nine times out of ten.
"Prejudice in the human heart is a great mountain. I, Garros, am really not an Evil Dragon."
With a sigh in his heart, Garros shook his head.
Since things had come to this, he could only find ways to arm and strengthen himself. If he encountered a crusade in the future, at least he would have the capital to resist.