"To give me fifty units of black oil crystals?"
When receiving the message from Gorton through the Bloodline Connection, Garros felt a surge of surprise. His thick dragon tail thrashed against the ground, leaving deep furrows, and his heart was far from calm.
However, he quickly took a few deep breaths of cold air, suppressing his churning emotions.
"Tell her I don't need this reward for the time being."
He responded through the Bloodline Connection.
The reason was clear: most of the Kingdom of Rebos's outposts in the wilderness were currently located within the spheres of influence of other regional kings. To continue attacking these outposts would inevitably lead to direct conflict with the Mountain King or the Mushroom King.
Reading good books from Taiwan is great.
This contradicted his current strategy of steady development.
Although the benefits were huge, the potential risks were also high.
Garros was not prepared to change his current development strategy for this.
The Iron Dragon Gorton on the other end seemed to have expected this and immediately said, "I guessed you might say that."
"However, Garros, Elena emphasized that this is not a transaction, nor is it a reward."
"She explicitly stated that this is a free gift that requires nothing from us and will be sent directly."
A gift?
The Red-Iron Dragon fell into a brief contemplation.
A gift that required no immediate return had an obvious underlying meaning; furthermore, while called free, it actually had a price tag attached, and needed to be treated with caution.
After some thought.
Ultimately, he decided to accept this goodwill.
"I understand. Thank her for the gift on my behalf."
Garros said to Gorton.
He knew very well that the war between the Southern Kingdoms was a long-drawn-out struggle with no end in sight in the short term.
Even if the Kingdom of Lothern ultimately failed to achieve victory, with its deep foundation, it would certainly not perish easily; at most, its national strength would be damaged and its status would decline. Regardless, it remained a massive kingdom that had stood for a thousand years.
Maintaining a good relationship with such a potentially powerful ally offered more benefits than drawbacks at this stage.
"There is one more thing, Garros."
Gorton's tone became exceptionally serious.
He recounted every word King Aubrien of Lothern said after personally coming to the training grounds to the Red-Iron Dragon, exactly as they were spoken, without missing a single word.
After hearing Gorton's recount, Garros's expression became serious and focused.
However, he did not show any signs of tension or panic.
That the transaction between the Crystal Princess and the dragon flight was known to the King did not come as a surprise to him.
Within the royal court, there were likely very few things that could truly escape the eyes of that Ironblood King.
As for the King's seemingly friendly greeting, its subtext was more like a well-intentioned reminder, or rather, an invisible boundary line.
He allowed this cooperation to exist, but hoped the Dragons would know their limits and not do anything to harm the interests of the Kingdom of Lothern.
Besides that, the King's attitude itself conveyed a message.
—He did not view the dragon flight's actions in the wilderness as a threat.
This was the most normal reaction.
In the eyes of those high-ranking individuals who ruled vast kingdoms and looked toward broader battlefields, the struggle between regional kings in the Serel Wilderness was actually nothing more than "weaklings pecking at each other." Once the southern war was settled, no matter which side won, they would only need to dispatch a Legendary powerhouse leading an elite army to easily sweep the wilderness and reshape order.
Instead, the news that the King of Lothern decided to lead the campaign personally surprised Garros.
This King was clearly unwilling to be trapped on the throne, intending to follow the example of his ancestors and stabilize his rule through illustrious military achievements, or even expand his territory.
At this moment, the Iron Dragon Gorton couldn't help but comment: "Arrogant human!"
"Although he is a Legendary, swords and spears have no eyes on the battlefield, and things are unpredictable. Even a Legendary risks falling. Leaving the stable royal court to face danger personally is not a wise move."
He paused and asked, "Garros, what do you think?"
The Red-Iron Dragon shook his head slightly, his gaze distant, and said, "It is too early to draw a conclusion on whether it is right or wrong."
History is always written by the victors.
The Holy King of Lothern back then also chose to lead the campaign personally; perhaps it was also viewed as a risky move in the Early Stages, but now only songs and praise for his military achievements remain in the history books.
Time will prove the final right and wrong.
With Garros's current vision and information, he could not yet judge the success or failure of King Aubrien's move.
In addition, the news about the Legendary Guardians about to awaken also drew Garros's high attention.
Once those slumbering ancient existences were thrown into the battlefield, they would inevitably shift the balance of the war significantly, forcing the opposing camp to also bring out their hidden foundations. In terms of historical accumulation and Legendary foundations, the Kingdom of Lothern undoubtedly held the advantage.
The King leading the campaign, surrounded by Legendary Guardians...
If the front line could achieve victory after victory because of this, then the morale of the Lothern camp would surely soar to the extreme, and might even shake some forces that were originally wavering or even supporting the Kingdom of Rebos.
Garros speculated that this was perhaps exactly the situation King Aubrien hoped to see.
Breaking the deadlock with the force of a thunderbolt.
However, no matter what the final result was, the intensity of the war in the south would inevitably escalate sharply because of this, entering a white-hot stage.
This was not good news for Garros.
"The more the war between the Southern Kingdoms stagnates and the longer it lasts, the more ample time I will have for steady development. Conversely, if the war is quickly decided, I will lose this precious window of opportunity."
He analyzed calmly in his heart.
"I cannot pin all my hopes on the steady development of the wilderness anymore."
The Red-Iron Dragon raised his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through the snow of Dragon Valley, looking toward the lands further north.
After a brief thought, an idea gradually took shape in his mind.
Permafrost Tundra.
That land was ruled by bitter cold and blizzards all year round, covered with countless steep glaciers and bottomless rift valleys. The terrain was extremely complex, and the overall resource abundance was far inferior to the Serel Wilderness, and the difficulty of extraction was extremely high.
However, it had also once nurtured two world-renowned Legendary existences—the King of the Northern Barbarians and the Frost Giant King.
The reason it was "once" was that these two powerful Legendary kings had perished together in a fateful Peak duel.
Today, the never-ending snow in The Borderlands was largely an influence left by that final battle.
"The environment of The Borderlands is now almost the same as the Permafrost Tundra, having almost become a part of it."
Garros calculated in his heart, and a bold idea began to sprout.
"Since that's the case, why not go with the flow and extend the tribe's tentacles further north, into the true Permafrost Tundra?"
Once this thought arose, it spread like a wildfire in his mind.
The Molten Iron Tribe had sent elite scouts to the Permafrost Tundra in the early years.
After years of infiltration and development, these scouts had successfully taken root in some local biological clans and were continuously sending back intelligence about the tundra.
That final battle between the Barbarian King and the Frost Giant King brought not only the fall of two Legendaries.
Buried along with them were a large number of powerful Advanced leaders and elite warriors from both camps.
Since that mutually destructive war, although the hatred between the northern barbarians and Frost Giants had not faded, they had to temporarily stop fighting and enter a long period of recuperation to recover from the massive trauma of the war.
During this period, some new clans and tribes on the tundra rose to power.
But in any case, the current Permafrost Tundra had no Legendary-level existence overseeing it.
Its overall danger level, compared to the Serel Wilderness where many powers rose and regional kings vied for hegemony, was actually lower. The existing forces of both the northern barbarians and the Frost Giants were likely not much stronger than the regional kings of the wilderness.
Before long, a plan was sketched out in Garros's mind.
He decided to formally send a legion to the Permafrost Tundra, but the strategic goal was not to engage in a major conflict with the local natives for territory.
That was unnecessary.
Although the Permafrost Tundra was vast and boundless, most of its regions were devoid of life, desolate and freezing. The resource distribution was far less concentrated and rich than in the Serel Wilderness, and most were hidden under deep layers of ice and permafrost that were extremely difficult to excavate.
Sending a legion north was primarily to open up a potential retreat path for the tribe, a strategic depth.
"If the war in the south concludes before I break through to Legendary, then the foundation I worked hard to build in the wilderness will be difficult to preserve under the edge of whoever the final victor is."
"Planning ahead, consider the worst-case scenario first, and lay out a plan in the Permafrost Tundra in advance."
"If the situation takes a turn for the worse, at least there will be a retreat path to quickly relocate and preserve strength."
"However, the key still lies in whether I can reach the Legendary realm before the situation stabilizes. Once I reach the Legendary level, even if the southern war ends and I can no longer fish in troubled waters, my foundation in the wilderness may not necessarily be lost."
Thinking of this, Garros smiled silently.
"In the final analysis, one's own power is the foundation that decides everything."
"Negotiations, transactions, cooperation... the prerequisite for all these means to be effective is built upon power sufficient to make the other party pay attention, or even fear."
If he could never break through to Legendary, even if the Kingdom of Lothern ultimately won, even if the royal court still held goodwill toward the dragon flight, they would never allow a non-Legendary force to occupy half of the wilderness for long.
But if he successfully promoted to Legendary... then the situation would be completely different.
At that time.
Any force wanting to deal with the Molten Iron Tribe would have to carefully consider the tragic consequences of provoking a powerful Dragonkin Legendary.
Besiege and kill?
Perhaps they could try.
Expel or defeat?
Also possible.
But wanting to thoroughly and cleanly kill a Dragonkin Legendary who possessed a large number of subordinates and was followed by a flight of dragons... no one would dare boast that they could definitely do it.
Garros took a deep breath, suppressing his churning thoughts, and his mind returned to a state of calm.
At this time, after reporting all the information, the Iron Dragon Gorton had already exited the Bloodline Connection.
Garros did not immediately cut the connection; his thoughts turned to another blood relative.
"Solrog."
He called out.
"I'm here, Garros."
The Iron Dragon's steady voice responded immediately.
"The tribe's development in the wilderness has entered a stable period. The northwest and Central Region are basically solidified, and other regional kings are currently showing a defensive posture with no signs of expansion."
Garros said, "I intend to turn my sights for development toward the Permafrost Tundra."
Solrog on the other end was silent for a moment, quickly digesting this information and weighing the pros and cons.
Soon, he responded, "We indeed need to plan ahead and prepare a fallback for the tribe in case of an unexpected upheaval in the southern war."
He had also heard the news Gorton conveyed about the King of Lothern leading the campaign personally.
With a little thought, he could understand the deep meaning behind Garros's move.
At this point, Solrog raised a practical question: "Currently, all aspects of the tribe's affairs require Dragons to preside over them, and there are no spare leaders who can work independently. Who do you plan to entrust with the task of pioneering the Permafrost Tundra?"
Red Dragon Samantha has plenty of bravery and excels at alchemy, but she is not a management-type dragon talent; Iron Dragon Sorog needs to stay in the northwest wilderness to coordinate the overall situation; Blue Dragon Zolaya, though outstanding in ability, cannot leave her management of the newly settled Central Region; and the other enfeoffed lords each have their own duties and are difficult to reassign.
Garros did not answer directly.
He asked back, "Who do you think is suitable?"
After a brief exchange and weighing of options, the two Dragons reached a consensus, and a name surfaced.
"Thank you for the leader's trust and regard! I will never fail your expectations!"
When Blue Dragon Heriam received the direct transmission from Garros, he first froze on the spot, almost unable to believe his ears. Then, even with his calm rationality, a surge of immense excitement and a strong sense of honor flooded his mind.
In the past period of time.
His companions, Green Dragon Ludwig and Black Dragon Seraphina, jointly presided over the Undead Nest and were responsible for the core task of the Dragon-Forged Transformation Ritual. Meanwhile, he, apart from assisting Iron Dragon Sorog with some miscellaneous management of the territory's subordinates, had not been entrusted with a major independent responsibility.
In his heart, he had always longed for more trust and to be responsible for a truly important mission that was exclusively his.
But he never expected the leader would entrust such a critical, strategically significant task to him, a Blue Dragon who had not yet entered the young adult stage.
Opening up a brand new territory, expanding the Molten Iron Tribe's land in the frozen world...
This was far more significant and glorious than any task Heriam had ever imagined.
In fact, in Garros's consideration, although Blue Dragon Heriam was currently slightly inferior in strength and young in age, the calmness, decisiveness, and sense of the big picture he displayed were outstanding among Dragons of his age, even surpassing many adult Blue Dragons.
The primary purpose of going north to the Permafrost Tundra this time was not conquest, but to steadily establish outposts and retreat paths.
Therefore, the leader's strength was not the only criterion; a prudent mind and loyalty were more important.
Moreover, the headquarters in The Borderlands could provide support at any time. If necessary, he could even go there personally to perform a 'King Descending from the Heavens' act for the tundra creatures.
Most importantly.
Heriam was one of their own Dragons who joined the tribe early and had long been subject to the tribe's training and ideological influence.
Compared to those Young Adult Dragons and adult Dragons from the Dominic Dragon Flight who had recently submitted, his loyalty and familiarity with the tribe's operational model were more trustworthy.
Garros decided to entrust him with this heavy responsibility only after comprehensive weighing.
"You can take Cahill with you."
"Then carefully select a group of suitable subordinates to form a pioneering legion to assist you in establishing a foothold and developing on the ice plain."
As he spoke, his tone became serious and low.
"Heriam, keep in mind that your core mission is not to fight with the ice plain creatures, but to drive a solid nail for the tribe on that frozen earth and open up a strategic channel that allows for maneuvering."
"Remember, patience and wisdom are far superior to brute bravery."
Blue Dragon Heriam nodded heavily.
He puffed out his chest, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.
"For the glory of the King of Molten Iron! I, Heriam, swear by my life and Soul that I will do my utmost to open up a new world for the tribe in the Permafrost Tundra and achieve results that satisfy you!"
Immediately after, Garros ended the transmission.
Blue Dragon Heriam couldn't wait to share the good news with several companions and immediately threw himself into intense work, screening elite subordinates and planning the legion's composition to prepare for the upcoming northern pioneering mission.
Meanwhile, Garros turned his attention back to himself.
He understood deeply that no matter how the external strategy was planned or who was sent to execute it, the ultimate limit of the tribe's fate still rested on his own power.
He swung his dragon tail and took heavy steps, walking toward the training ground once more to continue his day-after-day, never-ending exercise and tempering.
This was not just for himself.
For the entire Ignas Dragon Flight and Molten Iron Tribe, the strength of the leader was always the primary matter that overrode everything else.