“If I had followed him long ago, as his loyal retainer, it would have been a fortunate thing.”

No sooner had this thought emerged than the Demon Warlock hastily cast it aside.

However, the electromagnetic slave mark was gradually taking effect.

“Hmph, even if my soul is controlled, don’t expect me to serve you well. Just wait, even if I don’t scheme against you, I will only go through the motions when facing the tasks you give, unless you’re willing to constantly waste time and energy to force me.”

The Demon Warlock said viciously.

“So uncooperative? No matter, I believe you will eventually change your mind and serve me with all your heart.”

Saga chuckled, exuding a confident and spirited demeanor.

Feeling the invisible majesty emanating from the golden Hatchling Dragon, the Demon Warlock was slightly taken aback, thinking to himself:

“Perhaps, serving such a being of limitless potential is not an unacceptable thing.”

“Didn’t I witness his potential at the very beginning and decide to serve him?”

“Although my soul has been controlled by spells, my original intention was to serve him, and he used soul spells on me to ensure this.”

The soul fire flickered.

“No, he wants to enslave my soul, this is unforgivable!”

At that moment, Saga extended a claw and touched the skull, a gentle spiritual radiance blossomed, enveloping the cracked skull with its weak soul flame.

Instantly, a sense of comfort as if being in a hot spring washed over.

Saga expended some spiritual energy to nurture the Demon Warlock’s soul, which was extremely weak and on the verge of dissipating after a battle of the mind.

He had expended considerable effort on the Demon Warlock, having previously used a protective dragon scale.

If it were to die so easily without gaining any benefits from it, Saga would truly feel like spitting blood from the loss.

“Addison, go rest.”

“Recover a bit before serving me; I don’t want to see you die suddenly.”

Saga spoke, and with a gentle repulsive force, he tossed the skull into the dense forest beneath the Gem Peak.

The skull landed in a lush canopy, the leafy treetops catching its head. It didn’t rush to break free, savoring the warmth it had just felt, feeling somewhat conflicted inside.

“I can serve him willingly, but he shouldn’t forcibly control my soul.”

This was what the Demon Warlock initially thought.

But then it reconsidered:

“However, if I were in his position, I couldn’t fully trust a Necromancer who had previously tried to kill me either. I would make the same choice, or even set up more vicious and cruel curse spells, not just control the mind and spirit.”

A bony hand extended from the spine, adjusting its position.

The Demon Warlock looked towards Gem Peak, towards the golden Hatchling Dragon shining brilliantly, and thought silently:

“This doesn’t seem entirely unacceptable.”

“I’ve decided, for now, to serve him well, do his bidding, and then see how he treats me.”

“Gah gah gah, if this dragon turns out to be too vile, I’ll just go through the motions. Then, no matter how he lashes my soul, I will never submit!”

From an initial complete rejection.

To a reluctant acceptance now.

The Demon Warlock had completed this shift in thought.

And this was the power of the electromagnetic slave mark, something ordinary mind slave marks couldn’t achieve.

At the same time, all of the Demon Warlock’s emotional activities were known to Saga.

“The electromagnetic slave mark, truly handy.”

“Pity, this skill, improved from the mind slave mark, has its limits. After all, it was originally only a fourth-level ability. Now I can only apply the slave mark to one target, and with each level my mental power increases, I can enslave one more target.”

Saga thought to himself.

With the electromagnetic slave mark, he could subdue some potentially unstable but valuable retainers without worry.

The bright and gentle midday sun shone upon him.

After a battle in the world of the mind, the golden Hatchling Dragon settled at the summit of Gem Peak, overlooking his entire territory, coiling down on the spot, tail curled in front as a pillow, dragon wings drooping to cover both sides, then closed its eyes.

This time, there was no meditation.

Saga entered dreamland in a comfortable position.

Until the next day’s dusk, when the evening sky was ablaze like fire, the golden Hatchling Dragon, lying sprawled with its belly facing the sky and head twisted downwards, rolled over and then opened its eyes.

Sniffing with its nose, Saga shook its head and looked eastward.

The fiery evening glow, layer upon layer, almost overlapping in the magnificent cloudscape, revealed a small blue dot rapidly growing larger and approaching Moon Bay.

Saga focused his gaze.

The ten-meter-long Blue Dragon, Gulitia, appeared in his vision, flapping its wings, with a drooping dragon face, looking quite unhappy as it flew back.

She had been sent by Saga to negotiate with the Topaz Dragon of the Greyrock Archipelago.

After some time, the Blue Dragon Gulitia returned.

“Her mood is written all over her dragon face; the negotiation with the Topaz Dragon must not have gone well.”

Saga thought silently.

Moments later, the Blue Dragon Gulitia reached Moon Bay and descended upon First Quarter Island, landing on the other side of Gem Peak, opposite the golden Hatchling Dragon.

Saga looked at the Blue Dragon and noticed some crisscrossed scorch marks on her scales.

Narrowing his eyes, Saga spoke, “Gulitia, what’s wrong, the negotiation with the Topaz Dragon didn’t go well?”

The Blue Dragon was slightly startled and exclaimed, “How did you know it went poorly?”

Nonsense.

Her dragon face was drooping so low it almost touched the ground. One didn’t need to listen to the voice of the mind; anyone with normal intelligence could see it.

Across from her, the Blue Dragon’s shocked expression lasted only a moment, as she suddenly remembered that the other party was a ‘legendary ancient dragon,’ and it was only natural for him to have such methods; there was no need for her to be overly surprised.

Saga waved his dragon claw and said:

“Don’t worry about how I know. Tell me, what happened in the Greyrock Archipelago.”

Upon hearing Saga’s question, the Blue Dragon seemed to recall some unpleasant memories, her expression sullen and a bit aggrieved. After organizing her thoughts for a moment, she said, “I followed your instructions to seek out the adult Topaz Dragon in the Greyrock Archipelago, but I didn’t expect…”

Under the gaze of the golden Hatchling Dragon, Gulitia recounted her experience.

Unlike Moon Bay, which was now unified under Saga, the Greyrock Archipelago, dozens of times larger, was in a chaotic state with different lords claiming dominion. There were Topaz Dragon lords, high-level Casters who had established mage towers coming from the Skyrealm Empire due to its proximity to the Yar Continent, as well as small Storm Giant tribes, and minor island principalities.

The many islands that made up the Greyrock Archipelago were engaged in both trade and disputes.

Under the mutual checks and balances of multiple forces, a strange situation of chaos with a semblance of balance was achieved.

When Gulitia visited the Greyrock Archipelago, it happened that the Topaz Dragon and a small Storm Giant tribe were fighting over an island near both parties, with retainers and monsters, dragons and giants, engaging in a not-so-small conflict.

Hearing this and seeing the scorch marks on Gulitia’s scales, Saga anticipated what the Blue Dragon would encounter next.

Sure enough, just as Saga thought, the Blue Dragon said indignantly:

“Alas, I was so unlucky, getting involved in the war between the Storm Giant tribe and the Topaz Dragon as soon as I arrived at the Greyrock Archipelago.”

“The damn Topaz Dragon greeted me enthusiastically as soon as it saw me, making it seem like I was its reinforcement.”

“The cursed Storm Giants, upon seeing my arrival and hearing the Topaz Dragon’s shout, immediately launched an attack on me. The injuries on my body are from that.”

“…”

The more mature adult Topaz Dragon had tricked the adolescent Blue Dragon.

At the same time, since dragons and giants see each other as enemies, the Storm Giants attacked without mercy upon their first move, and the attacked Blue Dragon, also enraged, did not avoid the fray but joined the war in a fury.

Gulitia continued her story.

When the conflict between the dragon and the giants ended, with many retainers dead or injured on both sides, the Topaz Dragon and the Blue Dragon both suffered significant injuries, and the Storm Giants, who like to live in groups and are numerous but individually weaker than True Dragons, left behind several giant corpses.

Both sides sounded the retreat, but the war was not over, just a brief respite.

“Afterwards, I calmed down and realized that the Topaz Dragon had deliberately involved me in its war with the Storm Giants. I angrily demanded compensation, but the damn Topaz Dragon only gave me a few gold coins to send me away.”

At this point, the Blue Dragon was furious.

As fellow dragons, when facing the dragonkind’s archenemy, the giants, Gulitia was actually not opposed to assisting the Topaz Dragon in battle, but after all, this was not her own grudge; it was between the Topaz Dragon and the Storm Giants.

One thing at a time, she could assist the Topaz Dragon in battle, but afterwards, the other party should provide adequate compensation.

“Alas, the Topaz Dragon argued that it had not asked for my assistance in battle. I joined the battlefield mainly because I was first attacked by the Storm Giants and had to fight back involuntarily, which had nothing to do with it.”

“It said that giving me gold coins was out of the spirit of dragonkind, and it could have given nothing at all.”

Sizzle sizzle sizzle.

Electricity accompanied the breath from the Blue Dragon’s nostrils.

After saying so much, Saga understood the main point of the Blue Dragon’s anger: the Topaz Dragon had tricked her once and did not give her enough compensation, and she herself did not have the power to demand it, so she had to swallow the loss.

“But this seems pretty normal.”

Saga blinked, feeling that if he were the Topaz Dragon, he would probably do something similar.

The Blue Dragon was just too easy to bully.

“Gulitia, what about the negotiation with the Topaz Dragon about the mental ability inheritance?”

Saga inquired about what he was most concerned about.