Chapter 22: The Old Patriarch’s Procreation Strategy

“Old Patriarch, are we truly going to let Theresia be so reckless? What if she actually succeeds in unraveling it?”

Emerging from the emergency center, an old dragon hurried to the Old Patriarch’s side, asking with a hint of worry.

The Old Patriarch cast a profound gaze at the old dragon. This was his right-hand man, known as the Director of the Dragon Race’s Procreation Office—a figure Theresia considered her mortal enemy.

After all, Theresia was the last Black Dragon, and a female at that!

From the very day the Old Patriarch brought her back to Dragon Island, the Director’s eyes had gleamed with a singular focus.

Indeed, the survival of the Black Dragon lineage now rested entirely on Theresia laying a few more dragon eggs.

Upon learning of Theresia’s fierce resistance and absolute refusal to lay eggs, this old dragon had been even more despairing than Theresia herself during the mating season. He had barely eaten a bite that year.

The Old Patriarch, however, nonchalantly stroked his dragon whiskers, remarking profoundly, “Wouldn’t that be rather excellent?”

“Hmm? Given Theresia’s personality, if she succeeds, won’t she undoubtedly publicize it everywhere?”

The Director had watched Theresia grow up, and the sight of that Black Dragon’s triumphant, unforgiving smirk was seared into his memory.

There was no doubt that once Theresia succeeded, she would ride roughshod over everyone, mocking them relentlessly. Even if she were to be suppressed by force, she would still shout at the top of her lungs, “Cannon fodder! Cannon fodder! All of you are cannon fodder!”

The mere thought of that scene made the Director’s dragon claws clench involuntarily.

While the Old Patriarch was nearby, she behaved. But if Theresia was left alone for more than three days, that Black Dragon would reveal the ancestral nature of her kind to every dragon.

Regarding this, the Old Patriarch was quite open-minded. “It’s fine; at worst, I’ll just give her a good beating… while I still can.”

“Right, understood.” The Director nodded subconsciously, then quickly caught himself. “No, the crux of the matter isn’t Theresia’s smugness. It’s that if the method of breaking it is leaked, more than one dragon will imitate her, and it will spread like a plague throughout our entire race.”

The Director continued, his voice heavy with concern, “This could deal a heavy blow to our already challenging procreation policies for the Dragon Race. Especially since she is the last Black Dragon.”

The Old Patriarch shook his head. “Oh, you, why are your thoughts still so outdated? Tell me, when did the Dragon God’s curse begin?”

The Director pondered for a moment. “A thousand years after the collapse of the Dragon Alliance, I believe.”

The Old Patriarch nodded. “I mean no disrespect to our predecessors, but are you truly unaware of the state of the Dragon Race’s population before we began overseeing its reproductive endeavors?”

The Director was momentarily speechless.

Indeed, while the Dragon God’s curse ensured a mating season once every century for the dragons to procreate, a single chance every hundred years, combined with the Dragon Race’s low fertility rate, meant the probability of conceiving on the first try was exceedingly low.

The curse could only guarantee that new dragons would be born, but the significant disparity between birth and death rates caused the dragon population to steadily decline.

This decline persisted until the current Old Patriarch ascended.

Watching his right-hand man come to this realization, the Old Patriarch nodded in satisfaction. He disliked being a cryptic dragon.

Given the dragon temperament, if you spoke in riddles to them and they could overpower you, they would unleash a dragon claw or a spell without hesitation. If they couldn’t, they would simply turn and fly away, without any lingering.

Therefore, the Old Patriarch would wait for three seconds. If the other party hadn’t figured it out by then, he would simply explain directly.

“What ensures the growth of our population is not the century-old curse, but the willingness of our dragons to dedicate themselves to the cause of procreation! And how is this willingness cultivated? The high-pressure policies of the previous Old Patriarch were effective, but forced reproduction made an already low fertility rate even lower. Many dragons even developed psychological issues and became despondent.”

“Now, under our welfare policies and appropriate regulations, our kin are actively engaging in social gatherings and voluntarily procreating. They know that procreation is not a shackle that binds them, but rather something that brings them immense benefits!”

The Old Patriarch gazed down at the social gathering happening on the mountain, calmly observing the young dragons elegantly holding oversized, specially crafted crystal goblets with their claws. They twisted their massive dragon bodies with an air of nobility, joyfully conversing with the opposite s*x.

“All intelligent beings have desires, and where there are desires, there is a pursuit of profit. After all, no one dislikes a beneficial endeavor, and our dragon kin are quite straightforward in this regard. Dragons, by nature, love treasures, building nests, and their own free time.”

“So, we continuously entice them to procreate actively with treasures, free high-grade dragon nests, and various leaves like marriage leave, maternity leave, and parental leave. Then, we use customized services tailored to their personal interests to reclaim their treasures and encourage them to work.”

“Though this mature process took us a full thousand years to perfect, it has proven far more effective than the Dragon God’s curse.”

The Director agreed wholeheartedly, looking at the Old Patriarch with adoration. It was precisely such a wise and mighty being who had made the Dragon Race great once more.

In the past, an annual net increase of 2,000 dragons and a significant drop in the death rate would have been unthinkable.

However.

“It doesn’t seem to work very well on Theresia, though.”

The Director’s sudden interjection almost made the Old Patriarch’s proud expression falter.

“She is the last Black Dragon, after all; a bit of personality is perfectly normal. But it’s fine, it’s fine,” the Old Patriarch said, seemingly comforting the Director, but it felt more like he was reassuring himself.

“A mere 200-year-old hatchling thinks she can outwit a ten-thousand-year-old dragon like me? Let her witness the wisdom accumulated over countless eons by an ancient dragon!”

The Director nodded, of course he trusted the Old Patriarch.

Looking up towards Theresia’s direction, the black silhouette in the sky had inexplicably stopped, and a white silhouette had appeared beside her.

“Could it be that a dragon, at this peculiar moment, has taken a liking to Theresia and bravely pursued her?” the Director asked, surprised and delighted.

Due to Theresia’s formidable personality and her skill in punching out all her peers since childhood, she had always been seen as the “Big Sister” among other young dragons.

What? To harbor desire for the Big Sister?

Audacious! Had they not been beaten to the point of questioning their very dragon existence for such rebellious thoughts?!

The Old Patriarch mercilessly shattered his fantasy. “You’re thinking too much. That’s Catherine.”

“Oh.” The Director’s soaring emotions instantly deflated, replaced by worry. “Catherine wouldn’t reveal all our arrangements, would she?”

Since Catherine had led the way, she was aware of the preparations the Old Patriarch and others had made at Theresia’s trial grounds.

“If she knew, then nothing could be hidden.”

The Old Patriarch scoffed. “But the premise is that she has to know right now. What a joke. Once I was done with her, I sealed the memories in her mind.”

“Truly worthy of you, Old Patriarch,” the Director said admiringly.

“Hmph, what did you expect?” The Old Patriarch chuckled heartily. “No rush, let them enjoy themselves for a while.”

****

“Are you certain that old dragon merely bribed you with delicious food and then just crammed you full of knowledge from that era?”

At this moment, Theresia, completely unaware that her home had been ‘stolen,’ was gravely and earnestly questioning Catherine.

Catherine, constantly glancing at Theresia’s neck, replied with firm conviction, “Yes, I am a thousand percent certain! If that old dragon had any other suspicious actions, I would absolutely tell you, Theresia!”

“Mhm, very good.” Theresia deliberately ignored Catherine’s gaze towards her neck. There was a good reason she had summoned Catherine to accompany her at this crucial time.

Among the Dragon Race, Catherine wasn’t the only dragon with whom she shared a deep bond. However, a dragon with ‘world-shaping’ wisdom like Catherine was truly one of a kind.

The other dragons had no chance against the Old Patriarch, that ten-thousand-year-old dragon. Even with the most solemn assurances, they could very well betray her due to various reasons.

That old dragon had thoroughly researched dragon psychology. Only someone like Theresia, a dragon in skin but human in bone, could contend with him.

As for Catherine, she wasn’t immune to betrayal. In fact, sometimes, with her level of wisdom, she might not even realize she had betrayed someone.

But there was one thing she possessed that other dragons did not.

Catherine was a terrible liar. Or rather, Theresia knew exactly what Catherine looked like when she lied.

Therefore, by asking Catherine highly restrictive questions, Theresia could deduce what the Old Patriarch had done behind her back, whether he had visited her prepared trial grounds, and so on.

Fortunately, after a series of interrogations, that old dragon seemed to have been very well-behaved.

This made Theresia breathe a sigh of relief. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Like a cunning rabbit with three burrows, she had prepared more than one location.

Although the Old Patriarch had guaranteed he would not interfere with her resistance to the mating season, his intense obsession with dragons laying eggs made Theresia distrust him.

“Stare!”

Catherine’s gaze grew more intense. Perhaps realizing that Theresia wouldn’t explain unless asked, she bypassed any thought of why Theresia wasn’t explaining and directly posed her question.

“Theodore, is it comfortable sitting on that? And Theresia, what does it feel like to be ridden?”