Kingdom of Losern, Royal Court, Back Garden.
Iron Dragon Gordon lay half-reclined with his belly exposed, draped in a dazzling array of jewelry. Even his dragon horns had been meticulously carved and polished by craftsmen, engraved with patterns resembling daffodils.
The dragon scales covering his body had also been polished and carved; every single one shone like the finest obsidian, without a single scar.
Multiple handmaidens served him from both sides.
They constantly brought various delicacies to the Iron Dragon.
Delicious barbecues, rich broths, fresh sweet fruits, and tasty little cakes—everything was available.
But Gordon was not happy. He lay there bored to death, only occasionally opening his mouth to eat the delicacies offered by the handmaidens, staring at his own belly with a miserable expression.
He felt he was as fat as a pig.
No, even fatter than a pig.
That succulent fat was almost squeezing out through his scales, his belly bulging in layers. Even the Iron Dragon's naturally cold and hard facial mask had grown chubby with excess flesh.
The Iron Dragon's body length had reached ten meters, making him larger than a Red Dragon of the same age.
In terms of sheer girth, he could almost rival Garros.
The difference was that Garros was covered in bulging muscles as hard as steel, while he was covered in flab. When he crawled on the ground, the fat on his body rippled like waves.
Given the powerful digestive capacity of a dragon's stomach...
Heaven knows how much Gordon had to eat every day to get fat like this.
After eating continuously for another hour.
Gordon stopped eating, determined to lose weight.
"My dear Gordon, are you unhappy? You've eaten less these past few days; you seem to have slimmed down a bit."
A graceful and pretty young girl, wearing a crystal crown on her head, ran up to the Iron Dragon with small steps and spoke with concern.
The girl was named Elena, fourteen years old, the Princess of the Losern Kingdom and the apple of the King's eye.
Because she did not like to fight for power like her other siblings, Elena had an innocent personality. Consequently, she was deeply favored by the King and was also beloved by her brothers and sisters.
The Young Dragon Gordon was her cherished playmate, having accompanied her since she was six years old.
"Ugh, Elena, I want to lose weight,"
Gordon muttered.
"You're most adorable like this, why do you want to lose weight?"
Elena was puzzled and threw herself onto Gordon's belly, rubbing her cheek against it.
"I almost can't fly anymore."
Gordon flapped his dragon wings, kicking up a gust of wind, but his body didn't budge an inch. He spoke with distress.
"It's alright. I'll have the Court Mages engrave some magic circles on your wings so you can fly."
Elena said with a giggle, "Be good, eat some more. Finish these last few pieces of cake, and I'll give you a sapphire."
Under the temptation of treasure, Gordon's eyes lit up. Moreover, he truly wasn't full yet and craved delicacies, so he ate several more pieces of delicious, sweet cake.
"My luck is just too bad."
"If I hadn't been brought here, I should be galloping across the wilderness with a lithe and powerful posture, ruling territory and expanding borders."
Gordon thought to himself, feeling exceptionally nostalgic for his past life in the wilderness.
"I've made an appointment with the craftsmen."
Elena took hold of Gordon's claw and said, "It's time for your claws and scales to be maintained."
Gordon sluggishly climbed up and moved from the Back Garden to his Exclusive Palace. Over a dozen craftsmen polished his claws and teeth from head to tail, removing dust and grime. Finally, they carved beautiful patterns into his sharp claws, dragon horns, and scales, making the Iron Dragon look like a superb work of art. The only flaw was that he was far too wide.
Serel Wilderness, Molten Iron Clan.
After two weeks of deep sleep, Iron Dragon Sorog had healed all his injuries. High-spirited and full of enthusiasm, he began the specific planning for the Molten Iron Clan.
First, the warbands were restructured.
The Bone-Chewing Clan was officially renamed the Star-Shattering Hammer, positioned for frontal Breakthroughs and positional defense.
The clan names carried by other warbands were also abolished, restructured instead according to their characteristics.
Units with agility and mobility, such as Giant Wolf Knights, Giant Lizard Knights, and Hyena Knights, were integrated into a warband composed entirely of knights called the [Crimson Iron Cavalry].
Warlocks, shamans, and similar units formed the [Eye of Annihilation].
Those warriors and units with more balanced levels, the greatest numbers, and less prominent specialties together formed the [Iron Will].
After restructuring the warbands,
he established more detailed class divisions, formulated reward and punishment systems, and created advancement paths. This gave the monsters under his command goals to strive for, rather than just muddle-headedly following orders, thereby increasing their initiative.
The Iron Dragon also understood the importance of ideology.
True cohesion was not formed by having the same clan name or through those systems, but by a powerful, majestic lord worthy of the loyalty and admiration of all subjects.
He temporarily appointed the Ogre Ugo as the Chief Craftsman, making him responsible for constructing sculptures of Garros within each tribe.
Simultaneously, he ordered the more intelligent warlocks in each tribe to write songs for Garros, praising his power and wisdom. They were to teach the young tribespeople to sing them, so they would listen to Garros's great achievements from a young age and praise his greatness.
The songs varied according to the preferences of different tribal creatures.
For example, the Ogre tribe:
[Krak! The enemy tribe's wall has collapsed!
Sizzle! Dragon Breath burns the chief to charcoal!
Gnaw! Beneath the charred skin is succulent meat!
The wind from the King's wings—blows the scent of meat across the Serel Wilderness!
Boom! Boom! Follow the Crimson Wings!
Where the soles of our feet tread, blood boils into meat soup!!]
They worshipped strength, and their meaning of existence was to eat. Simple-minded, the songs intended for them were full of food elements and had a primitive, rugged style, making them spread very easily among the Ogres.
Regarding the territory,
Iron Dragon Sorog implemented Garros's previous idea of setting up outposts and garrisons at important highlands, passes, and key roads.
Using the bases of several tribes as nodes, he linked them together to form a unified territory and dispatched suitable units to guard important locations.
Then there was the even more critical Scale-Earth Rift Road.
Nicks Caravan visited once more, bringing Garros more black oil and other needed resources, then returning with more copper Ore and high-quality Ores produced from the Symbiotic Pool.
Nicks Caravan, returning with full pockets, boasted about their profits as instructed by the Molten Iron Clan, attracting more daring caravans.
At first, the caravans were somewhat apprehensive and cautious, but after discovering that there were no more monster attacks on the Scale-Earth Rift Road and that those monster clans were willing to trade normally, the frequency of trips increased.
The Vicious Beasts and magical creatures around the Scale-Earth Rift Road were even cleared out by those monster clans.
All in all, the Scale-Earth Rift Road, which had been nearly abandoned due to the Ogre clan's wanton looting, gradually became prosperous.
Between the Molten Iron Clan and the civilized world,
a temporarily stable trading channel was formed.
Various raw Ores, pelts, and claws of Vicious Beasts and magical creatures were transported to the Southern Kingdoms.
black oil, armor, weapons, alchemy tools, Communication Stones, and other items were transported into the wilderness, strengthening the Molten Iron Clan's foundation and making it grow stronger day by day.
And so,
with the assistance of the Iron Dragon Archon, Garros no longer had to worry about the trivialities of the territory. He concentrated his mind on his own training and evolution, and with an ample supply of black oil, life became peaceful and stable.
Regrettably,
peaceful times seemed to flow even faster.
Before anyone knew it, three years had flashed by.
During this period, the territory's development flourished in an orderly fashion, and the seventeen-year-old Garros officially became a Young Dragon.