"Sir, this Earth Lizard is acting weird. Why isn't it moving?"
A Tier 8 subordinate asked curiously.
They belonged to the knight order of the empire's most powerful kingdom—a squad famous across the world.
But the Earth Lizard in front of them, completely unfazed by their presence, piqued their curiosity.
"Hm… Earth Lizards are usually just wild beasts, but this one feels… different. Like it's got a noble presence. Am I imagining things?"
The Tier 9 warrior stared at Fang Chen, increasingly intrigued by the creature's composed demeanor.
"Noble? Earth Lizards don't have any notable bloodlines, right? Maybe it's a regression mutation?"
As they discussed, Fang Chen's eyes flickered with boredom—he turned, intending to leave.
"Hm?"
The Tier 9 warrior reacted instantly, slashing a massive arc of energy that struck the ground in front of Fang Chen with a thunderous boom.
Fang Chen tilted his head slightly and fixed his beastly eyes on the man, his gaze seemingly asking,
"You. What are you trying to do?"
"Trying to leave? If I gift you to His Highness, he'll be thrilled."
The man rested his sword on his shoulder with arrogance as he spoke.
Ptooey!
Suddenly, Fang Chen opened his mouth and launched a massive glob of mucus.
"Danger! Evade!!"
Because of how calm Fang Chen had seemed, even the Tier 9 warrior had let his guard down.
By the time he shouted, it was too late—everyone except him was completely drenched.
"Waaaahhh!!"
"Help!!!"
"What is this stuff!?"
Panic exploded within the group.
Then—
"Calm down. It's just saliva. Non-toxic."
One of the scholars, although slimed just like the others, stayed calm.
Clearly a magical beast expert, he instantly recognized the slime as harmless drool.
As the others froze in disbelief, Fang Chen casually walked up to one of the wagons,
picked an empty cage, smacked the door off, and climbed into it himself.
Though his body was only three meters long, it was just enough for him to stretch out.
"........."
Even the scholar was stunned. This was the first time he'd ever seen a magical beast voluntarily lock itself up.
"Sir… Should we secure it with chains or…"
A knight, wiping goo off his face, asked hesitantly.
"No need. It's a Tier 7 magical beast. If it wanted to escape, no chain could hold it without sacrificing the rest of our restraints.
I'll keep watch personally. Let's head back quickly," the Tier 9 commander said after a long pause.
Indeed, chains could restrain Fang Chen—but then they'd have nothing left to secure the other beasts.
This hunt was for young magical beasts—gifts for the empire's princes and princesses.
Everyone was still annoyed at being drenched, but they didn't dare retaliate.
The Tier 9 commander had made it clear: this Earth Lizard was for the emperor.
If anything happened to it, they'd all be in trouble.
The truth?
Fang Chen had just gotten bored of the forest. He'd already dominated this continent,
so now he wanted to visit human lands and take a little tour.
With his Special-grade Flight, even a hundred Tier 9s couldn't touch him.
And if the Earth Lizard form got destroyed? Who cared—only the card would be on cooldown.
So, he figured it was time for some first contact with humanity.
As for the spit? That was just because he was annoyed at how that Tier 9 had disrespected him.
Once the convoy had cleaned up and regrouped, everyone headed for the forest's edge—wet and sticky.
Meanwhile, Fang Chen lay lazily in the last wagon like royalty, dozing off.
With Breath Perception, he could sense danger even while asleep.
A year of combat had taught him how to stay alert even in slumber—a half-sleep state.
By nightfall, they had returned to human territory, and the knights began to relax.
Still, many of them kept glancing back at Fang Chen.
To them, Earth Lizards were nothing but wild, brutal creatures.
Even the spiked Earth Lizard variant was known for aggression and savagery.
Yet this one… was calm. Elegant, even.
Especially that young scholar, who kept adjusting his glasses while staring at Fang Chen with obsessive curiosity.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Fang Chen opened his eyes, stretched his neck—
And immediately noticed the Tier 9 warrior raising his sword at him.
Fang Chen's eyes narrowed with a flash of sarcasm, clearly saying:
"Really? This is all the courage you humans have?"
The blatant mockery made the Tier 9 commander freeze in awkward silence.
Was he just mocked… by a beast?
Fang Chen casually climbed out of the wagon, swaying his tail as he walked to the campfire.
"Enemy attack!!"
One of the knights caught sight of him and reflexively screamed.
In a flash, swords were drawn, and tension exploded.
Even the Tier 9 commander grew nervous.
He was strong—but something about Fang Chen made him deeply uneasy.
Fang Chen ignored them completely, walked up to the fire, and—
plopped down.
He grabbed one of their roasted meats and began to eat it.
"............"
Everyone froze. Then cautiously continued watching as Fang Chen gnawed on a leg of meat.
After he finished, he strolled over to the cages filled with young magical beasts.
He casually tossed bits of meat into each cage, then returned to his wagon—
Curled up—and went back to sleep.
"…."
Everyone watching twitched slightly.
"Captain… is this thing cursed or something? It doesn't feel right…"
A knight looked nervously at Fang Chen, clearly unsettled.
They all wanted to attack, yet every time they tried,
some deep instinct screamed danger—so intensely that they froze on the spot.
"…Yeah. I'm getting the same feeling,"
the captain muttered, lips twitching. "This thing is seriously weird."
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