As soon as Leon finished speaking, he noticed the smile on Edwin’s face had stiffened.
"I’m joking." Edwin was now an old man, and Leon didn’t bully the elderly, "I was just saying it casually. Even if you don’t agree with me, I won’t forcibly kidnap you; a forced melon is not sweet."
"Actually, the main thing is... I don’t know how you’ve been all these years. You seem to have lost that passion from back then. Without passion, I don’t think you can research anything." Leon shook his head, "A man who’s lost his passion, only thinking about surviving, with one foot in the grave, is not my target."
"Let’s just chat casually." Leon glanced around, walked over to the window, used the Object Capture Skill, casually summoned a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs, "Sit."
Edwin swallowed hard.
As a powerful mage, he often met with King of Belun, and felt that the king’s might was nothing compared to the black-haired youth in front of him. Could this really be the once bumbling baby dragon who couldn’t even speak the Universal Language or fly without his guidance?
He had no idea who Leon was facing off against now — whether it be the Pirate King, the Witch King of the Ancient Fallen Empire, or a super-spec senior Green Dragon ruler. Even gods or facing Tiamat directly, Leon would fear not. To him, a mage not even at legendary level was unworthy of his gaze.
Leon sat on the chair, glanced at the azure sky, and said, "You absolutely have no idea. Because you blew up the lab, Anglistra got mad at me. You kept on saying I gave you inspiration, and in the end, she demanded I compensate her with a million Gold Coins."
"Ridiculous. How could a baby dragon have a million Gold Coins?" Edwin said, "She can’t be serious."
"I really don’t know if she was serious or not," Leon recalled, "Anyway, I had no money back then, not even a copper coin or a silver coin."
"A million Gold Coins couldn’t even be paid back in a lifetime." A million Gold Coins was a number Edwin dared not even think about, "To save up that much, I’d have to wait until after becoming an Ancient Dragon."
"It wouldn’t be that hard, really. Robbing around makes it pretty easy," Leon found Edwin suddenly glancing at him, "But that’s another story for another time, we’ll talk about it later... Don’t worry, I definitely won’t give her a million Gold Coins. By the time I do have that much, she’d be like a petty underling easy to bully in front of me."
Edwin hesitated to speak.
"Where were we just now?" Leon said, "After you left, the Imperial people suddenly came looking for me, and Anglistra drove me out of her territory... It all started because of you; you bear responsibility."
Edwin wanted to refute, opened his mouth but said nothing.
Leon did not pester Edwin, did not hold him accountable, and said: "After leaving Anglistra’s territory, it suddenly became dangerous... Fortunately, although I never could use the Breath Weapon, I had some other means. Otherwise, heaven knows if I could last a few years."
"Owlbear, Annis Hag... the most dangerous time was when I encountered a team of adventurers and almost ended up in the hands of that well-coordinated team." Leon frowned, "If I didn’t have the strength, I wouldn’t dare be so reckless, I’d surely run early if faced with danger."
"Life is more important than anything, face is the least valuable." Leon said nonchalantly, "I’m an unusual Red Dragon."
Edwin didn’t know if he should laugh along.
"Once I entered my teenage phase, I left the forest I’d lived in for so many years and went to the desert." Leon placed his hands on his knees, "There, I met a Blue Dragon, a Storage Dragon. She robbed an Efreeti’s castle and befriended a Brass Dragon; they did business together and collected taxes..."
"After becoming a young dragon, I left the resource-poor desert, crossed the Lost Plateau, and reached a place called Watchtower Port. I settled on a Volcanic Island outside Watchtower Port." Leon rambled on about his beginnings.
"You’re an Imperial person, right? Have you ever heard of the name Envis? You must have heard of Moon Bay. Do you know anything about the Ancient Fallen Empire? Have you heard the name Su Ausis?" Leon couldn’t help but smile, "I really just relied on robbing them for a bit of money."
"A horse doesn’t grow fat without nightly feed, getting rich relies entirely on robbing." Leon said, "I even robbed a senior Green Dragon, encountered the Five-headed Dragon Queen and the Evil Dragon Queen, and after their reminder, thought about establishing a country, a Dragon Country. I named that country Zhen Dan."
"The story sounds fake, doesn’t it?" Leon looked at Edwin, "After all, I’m still just a young dragon now."
Edwin didn’t know what to say.
He thought the story Leon told sounded fake, ridiculously so, but for some reason, hearing it calmly from Leon, it seemed somewhat possible, just with a few deviations in details.
"Although I established a country, the accumulation was somewhat insufficient, and I had no one I could use. Just happened to hear your news, so I traveled a thousand miles to come here." Leon said, "You know the rest of the story."
Leon suddenly lifted his head and stared at Edwin.
"More is beauty, big is better, caliber is justice, turret is truth."
"I really like that passionate Edwin from back then, still unforgettable after fifty years."
"I want to support his research as long as he doesn’t blow himself up."
"Hey, did you really forget? The discussions we had about Cloud Burst Bombs, Thermo-baric Bombs, Cluster Bombs..."
Edwin breathed a little heavily.
He hadn’t forgotten; he had never forgotten.
Leon waited a long time, but Edwin hadn’t spoken, and his upraised eyebrows gradually lowered in disappointment.
He didn’t mind kidnapping Edwin, but this Edwin was worthless.
Edwin swallowed and said, "If I were thirty, forty, or even fifty, I would’ve gone with you. But now I’m ninety, a hundred years old, and it’s only because I’m a mage with some means that I can still stand and talk to you now."
"You’re a dragon, but I’m just a human." Edwin said with unwillingness, "I have to accept my fate."
"There’s a way if you’re willing." Leon raised a hand, deftly pinching an elixir between his fingers.
"What is that?" Edwin asked.
"The Elixir of Immortality," Leon replied, "It can lengthen your lifespan."
No one wants to die, and Edwin was no exception. Hearing this, he immediately reached out, trying to take the elixir from Leon’s hand.
Leon withdrew his hand and said, "Its value is not cheap. I can give you this one, but for more elixirs, unless you listen to me and create sufficient value..."
Leon suddenly felt like one of those black mythos’ masterminds, controlling those celestial beings with things that extend life.
He felt he was becoming increasingly malevolent.