(translator: This is a missing chapter, added on April 18, 2024)

Silently, Saga circled in the air, gazing down upon Grayrock Isle, capturing the entire panoramic view below.

Saga noticed many bulky creatures nestled among the rugged rocks and hilly cliffs.

Ogres with wide shoulders and rotund waists, trolls with hunched bodies and fierce claws, and muscular minotaurs—typical members of the Giant kin.

Quietly circling, Saga's gaze moved beyond the Giant kin, penetrating deeper into the hinterlands.

Then, a Storm Giant of the Storm Giant clan along with a group of Giant subspecies caught Saga’s eye.

These Giants were sprawled out in the open air, napping haphazardly during the day. Most striking to Saga was a Storm Giant with shoulders reaching six meters high, his body as burly as metal blocks, clad in roughly made short-sleeved leather armor and a kilt, adorned with anklets—a favorite accessory of the Storm Giants. His every breath stirred strong air currents.

The six-meter-tall figure was quite imposing.

Saga himself, from head to tail, measured only six meters long, with a significant portion being his slender dragon tail. A six-meter-tall Giant seemed more imposing than a six-meter-long dragon, but a mature dragon would be much longer unless it was an exceptionally small breed.

"Looks like the high-tier, seventh-order Storm Giant is nearing his prime."

In one-on-one situations, Giants are no match for Dragon Kind.

As a foremost member of the Giant kin, the adult Storm Giant's strength could be likened to that of a Topaz Dragon. However, lacking the ability to fly, overall, he was somewhat weaker, and among Dragon Kind of the same age, Topaz Dragons were relatively feeble.

However, Giants are social, communal creatures.

Giants often live in families or tribes, with shorter breeding and growth cycles than Dragon Kind, a larger population, and some rare and powerful types among them.

After the Dragonfall War, with Dragon Kind losing their supremacy, Dragons and Giants were now equally matched, though the situation might vary in different prime material worlds—some worlds had stronger Dragons, others had larger Giant forces, but overall, the differences weren't significant.

Narrowing his eyes, Saga looked towards the other Storm Giants.

Besides the high-tier male Storm Giant, there was a mid-tier female Storm Giant about five meters tall and two teenage Storm Giants, each around three meters tall, sturdier and more imposing than adult Ogres or Giants, a male and a female, third and fourth order respectively.

"A small Storm Giant tribe, or rather, a family."

Many Giants lived in such small family groups.

It was common for three to five Giants to gather together unless they were in a kingdom established by Giants. Outside such realms, Giant tribes rarely grew very large.

Saga shifted his gaze to another group, similar to Giants but with shoulders up to four meters high.

Their large bodies covered in black fur, their heads wolf-like with fangs protruding from wide, menacing mouths, gleaming coldly—Wolf Giants.

About twenty of these Wolf Giants were gathered.

“These must be the Giants that Glorithia mentioned, who died in the conflict with the Topaz Dragons.”

Saga assessed the strength of this Giant tribe:

"The high-tier, seventh-order Storm Giant is the strongest, followed by the mid-tier sixth-order."

"Then there's a group of Wolf Giants, along with more numerous hordes of combat-ready Ogres, Trolls, and Minotaurs—indeed, a force that could contend with a mature True Dragon lord."

"Not overly strong, but not to be underestimated either."

The Golden Hatchling Dragon mused silently, narrowing his eyes.

Though only at the fourth tier himself, Saga felt little fear toward high-tier creatures, having already slain two, a Death Knight and a Tremorboar, neither of which were weak.

"The Storm Giant is no ordinary creature, definitely stronger than a Death Knight or a Tremorboar."

"I'm probably not a match for him in direct combat, but it wouldn't be easy for him to defeat me unless I foolishly let the battle go to the ground."

"But I don't need to confront this Storm Giant myself. His opponent will be the mature Topaz Dragon."

"They're both high-tier, seventh-order, but in a one-on-one situation, he's likely no match for the Topaz Dragon."

Saga analyzed.

At the same time, although he had yet to meet the Topaz Dragon, he was confident that this individual was highly talented, certainly at the high-tier, seventh-order level, otherwise, he couldn't contend with such a Storm Giant clan.

After circling for a moment, Saga decided to lower his flying altitude to use his Force Field perception to investigate Grayrock Isle, to see if it truly contained the rich metal deposits Glorithia had mentioned.

Maintaining his invisibility.

Invisible in the air, the Golden Hatchling Dragon gradually lowered his altitude, bringing Grayrock Isle into his range of perception, and then descended further.

Minutes later.

Saga’s eyes brightened as his perception detected metal ore veins.

This was just an initial contact; he wanted to delve deeper, so he lowered his altitude further, but he sharply noticed the high-tier, seventh-order Storm Giant, whose rough face twitched in his nap, then suddenly opened his eyes, warily scanning the vast, wave-like clouds.

"An illusion?"

After a thorough check, the Storm Giant closed his eyes again, rolling over as if to resume his sleep, but after about ten seconds, his eyes snapped open again, his perception fully alert, even with arcs of electricity flickering in his gaze as he stared at the sky.

"The war with the Topaz Dragons has kept me on edge."

The Storm Giant hadn't detected anything unusual, but he lost the desire to sleep, standing up and gazing far towards the territory of the Topaz Dragons on Goldsand Isle.

"My reinforcements are nearly here, my fellow clan brother, I look forward to fighting alongside you against the True Dragons."

He murmured, feeling the sea breeze.

Meanwhile.

Thousands of meters high, amid the drifting winds and clouds, the little hatchling quietly departed.

"Very vigilant, but it's of no use. I've confirmed what I wanted to know."

"If there are no unexpected events, with my support, the Topaz Dragon will surely defeat the Storm Giant clan. However, given the current tense and relentless situation, while the Topaz Dragon knows to seek reinforcements, the Giant kin might do the same, and there's a non-trivial chance of something unexpected occurring. I'll need to be extra vigilant."

Saga flew towards Goldsand Isle, his thoughts spinning.

Despite the hatchling's usual arrogant demeanor, his thought processes were extremely meticulous, especially after awakening his psychic energy, making him bold yet cautious.

Soon, Saga appeared over Goldsand Isle.

After a brief hover, he folded his dragon wings and landed on the coastal sands of Goldsand Isle, the sound of the lapping waves unceasing. Saga bowed his head to look at the sandy pebbles that gave Goldsand Isle its name, scooping up a handful before letting them slide through his taloned gaps.

The fine, crystalline pebbles shone with a faint golden light under the sunlight, truly resembling golden sand.

At the same time.

A deep voice resounded directly in Saga's mind.

"Strange little dragon, did you enter my territory unintentionally or deliberately?"

Turning around, Saga wasn't surprised as he faced forward.

When he had arrived over Goldsand Isle, he had emitted Dragon Might, alerting the Topaz Dragon to his presence.

The air shimmered lightly, revealing the figure of a giant dragon, exposed to Saga's gaze.

The deep breathing of this enormous creature was like thunder.

Saga stared intently, his gaze landing on the other.

Indifferent, with eyes that seemed to peer into one's soul, amber vertical pupils were the first to catch his attention, followed by a face armored in fine yellow scales, relatively delicate dragon horns of the same color, covering his body in jade-like gleaming scales, and an exceedingly long dragon tail. His body length was a full sixteen meters; if he stood upright, his shoulder height would surpass that of a seventh-order Storm Giant, the sense of oppression even stronger.

Matthias—the mature Topaz Dragon.

On the Topaz Dragon, two features were particularly striking.

First, his dragon wings, which, unlike most dragons', were a different color from his torso, resembling flowing gossamer, very distinctive.

Second, a row of odd spinal ridges, like diamond-shaped crystals floating along his spine, not growing on his body but suspended, containing psychic energy that danced with the dragon’s moods and could also be used as an offensive weapon by the Topaz Dragon.

"Recently, there have been foolish little dragons encroaching on my territory, little one. If you're looking for a place to start your own domain, you've chosen poorly—this land already has an owner."

"Go back from whence you came, and be careful of lowly giant eagles on the way, lest you be caught and eaten, becoming a disgrace to our Dragon Kind," the Topaz Dragon spoke calmly.

His striking appearance prompted the Topaz Dragon to take a few extra looks at Saga, but he still regarded Saga as just another young hatchling, given the high variability among Dragon Kind, with many difficult to categorize by appearance alone.

"The records say that Topaz Dragons are foul-tempered and sharp-tongued. Seems they weren’t wrong," Saga's voice also arose within the Topaz Dragon's mind.

The Topaz Dragon's gaze narrowed slightly, showing a hint of surprise: "Psychic energy? You're a Gemstone Dragon like me, not a vulgar, coarse Chromatic Dragon or a rigid, hypocritical Metal Dragon?"

The structure of his scales, seemingly composed of numerous tiny facets, did indeed resemble that of a Gemstone Dragon.

This appearance, coupled with his psychic energy, led the Topaz Dragon to mistakenly believe Saga was a Gemstone Dragon, slightly improving his attitude.