Lei Long City.
The heavy rain had just stopped.
A giant dragon was coiled atop the tower, its dragon wings obscuring half the sky over the City Lord's Mansion.
"Stretch out your hand, Lei Luo."
The Duke, who was Lei Luo's father, spoke in a deep and authoritative voice.
He stood on the high platform, his magnificent ducal attire unable to conceal the iron-blooded aura of his military background.
Lei Luo shifted his feet.
His movements were somewhat stiff.
Lei Luo was very nervous; he hadn't expected to be brought to such a grand ceremony right after transmigrating.
And he was the protagonist.
He looked up, gazing at the center of the magic circle.
There, a Leilong cub, recently hatched, lay lazily, its purple scales shimmering under the magical glow, smooth as silk.
But its golden vertical pupils revealed a hint of wildness and untamed spirit.
Beside him, his "excellent" elder brother, Elliot, had a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips.
The smile was so precise it seemed measured with a ruler.
Rummaging through his somewhat hazy memories, Lei Luo finally understood his situation.
Today, in the Leilong family, the Duke's second son, Lei Luo, would undergo a recognition ceremony with the cub born of the family's guardian giant dragon.
"What are you dawdling for?"
The Duke's voice came.
"The family's honor rests on this one attempt of yours."
Lei Luo took a deep breath; the dragon's breath in the air grew thicker, making his throat itch.
He extended his hand, his fingertips trembling slightly, slowly approaching the cub.
According to the contract magic, if the cub was willing to accept, a magical glow would light up when his fingertip touched it, and the contract would be formed.
"Hiss--"
The cub suddenly lifted its head, a threatening growl rumbling in its throat, and a scorching current of air rushed out, carrying the smell of electric arcs.
It sharply recoiled, its golden pupils filled with disdain and impatience.
No light lit up.
No contract fusion.
A deathly silence.
The Duke's face instantly darkened, so much so that water could be wrung from it, his gaze cutting like a knife.
The smile on his brother Elliot's lips finally unfurled clearly, no longer concealed.
The whispers of the surrounding nobles were like countless tiny needles, pricking Lei Luo's eardrums.
The Duke's expression turned grim.
Turning, he coldly said to the Dragon Speaker presiding over the ceremony, "The ceremony is over."
Lei Luo stood rooted to the spot, his hand still frozen in mid-air, like a puppet.
He could feel countless gazes—sympathetic, mocking, gloating—like a tide engulfing him.
He lowered his head and silently retreated to the edge of the crowd.
The rain began to fall again.
Half an hour later.
The Duke's study was filled with the choking smell of cigars.
Outside the window, it remained gloomy, the dim light making the luxurious furnishings inside seem somewhat oppressive.
The Duke sat behind a massive oak desk, not even lifting his head, his fingers absently fiddling with a document.
"The recognition failed. There is no longer a place for you in Lei Long City..."
"Sign this pioneering order, and you will become the pioneering lord of Blackstone Territory."
Lei Luo stood before the desk, his rain-soaked hair plastered to his forehead, looking somewhat disheveled.
Blackstone Territory?
In his hazy memories, this place was in the northernmost part of the Duchy, a desolate and poor land where, it was said, rats froze to death in winter and mosquitoes could carry people away in summer.
The so-called "pioneering" was merely a more dignified form of exile.
"Father..."
"Don't call me father."
A parchment scroll was thrown at Lei Luo's feet.
"From now on, you shall only address me as Duke!"
Lei Luo bent down and picked up the flimsy pioneering order.
He said nothing more.
Argue?
Beg?
Pointless.
In this world where power reigns supreme and strength is everything, the defeated have no voice.
The Leilong family, relying on military might, had built a grand duchy from nothing in the north of the human kingdoms, by means of iron and ruthlessness.
Iron-blooded towards enemies, ruthless towards themselves.
Family rules dictated that any offspring who failed to bond with a giant dragon upon reaching adulthood must become a pioneering lord, venturing into the northern wilderness to expand the Duchy's territory.
Having just transmigrated and facing such a harsh situation, Lei Luo was unwilling.
However, from another perspective, perhaps leaving this place, moving away from everything familiar with this identity, was not a bad start.
With this contradictory mindset, Lei Luo signed his messy name on the pioneering order.
Just then, without any warning, a cold, emotionless mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
"Ding! Detected host has obtained lord identity. Daily Intelligence System successfully activated..."
"Today's intelligence has been refreshed. Please check, Host."
Lei Luo jolted, the hand holding the pen freezing in place.
His transmigration cheat had activated?
Immediately after, lines of faint blue virtual text, like projections, abruptly appeared before his eyes.
"1: Among the family's Knight Order, Great Knight Ed is discontented. This person is upright and unyielding, with strong abilities, but due to his lack of cunning, he has languished in a squad leader position for many years. If promoted to Captain of the Personal Guard and given heavy responsibilities, he will break through his bottleneck in a short period, advance to Earth Knight, and pledge his life-long loyalty to you."
"2: Kerry, the Captain of the Lei Long City East Gate Guard, has hidden the military pay and taxes he embezzled, totaling one thousand seven hundred gold dragons, under a broken water jar in front of an abandoned thatched hut, three hundred steps south of the East Gate."
"3: Three days later, the Black Stone Mountain Range will experience a rare thunderstorm, accompanied by the appearance of small spatial rifts. Unidentified 'anomalies' may fall from the rifts into the depths of the mountain range."
"4: In the wide Valley area on the southern foothills of the Black Stone Mountain Range, a considerable number of Greylag Goose reside. Greylag Goose are first-order magical fowl, with delicious meat, and their foie gras is a delicacy highly sought after by nobles."
"5: The envoy from the Southern Violet City-State will arrive in Lei Long City this afternoon. The envoy's purpose for this trip is to negotiate with Duke Lei Long regarding the repayment of war loans."
"6: Hydra, the Hydra, occupies a vast mountainous area in the northeastern part of the Duchy, and its recruited minions have grown to an extremely large scale. Now, the sleeping Hydra is about to awaken, and the Hydra's rampage will once again sweep through the surrounding kingdoms."
"7: On the road from Lei Long City to Blackstone Territory, a massive stampede is about to begin. Tens of thousands of magic-horned horses are starting their journey from the Northern Wilderness, crossing a distance of over two thousand kilometers to the fertile Winter Moon Lake in the southwest to breed. A large number of carnivorous magical beasts are lurking along the essential path of the magic-horned horse herd, awaiting this annual feast. Transportation between Lei Long City and the northern territories will be cut off for one month due to this. If you wish to travel to Blackstone Territory, please depart as soon as possible."
"8: In the depths of a long-abandoned mine in the eastern mountains of Blackstone Territory, a young Silver Dragon, abandoned by its parents, is hidden. This dragon is a rare variant; although it belongs to the metal dragon species known for its robust physique, it unexpectedly possesses magical talent far exceeding that of elemental dragons. It is currently extremely weak and wary."
...
Lei Luo's eyes widened little by little, and his heart pounded uncontrollably.
Silver Dragon?
And a mutated Silver Dragon with extraordinary magical talent?
At this moment.
He could almost hear the sound of his own blood rushing.