Chapter 142. Like The Difference Between Humans and Chimpanzees
Unlike Dragon V1, which has intelligence comparable to a dog or a young child, Dragon V2 possess intelligence similar to humans, or even slightly above the average human level.
After indulging in the resources on the dragon island northwest of the main continent, they learned to cultivate land and breed flavorful animals for food. The dragons were also the first to establish a large-scale ocean fish farm to breed their preferred fish.
They do so by utilising a wide underwater cave and a crescent-shaped island that was created by the earthquake Cedric caused while trying to kill the giant ants in the dwarves’ territory.
A long time ago, Cedric manipulated the ground near the krakens, which are located to the southeast of the world.
According to the godhood’s calculations. The krakens’ location, despite being far from the dwarves’ territory in the northwest of the continent, can affect the dwarves’ underground the most through a domino effect.
The remaining forces of the earthquake moved straight northwest, reaching the sea beds near Dragon Island and altering the mostly flat seabed. This change created deep trenches, undersea mountains, or caves. Some of the most affected areas even formed new islands in the ocean.
One such island, a crescent-shaped landmass, is now used by the dragons as a fish farm. They herd fish into its centre and block the entrance with earth element blessed’s power.
The dragons spent several years working together to transform the naturally crescent-shaped island into a circular one that encircles a body of water.
After reshaping the island, they conducted numerous experiments over several years before successfully using it as a fish farm.
This experiment captured the interest of many dragons, getting more dragons involved in the project as time passed, providing entertainment for over a century.
This also led them to rarely travel far, and delayed them from coming into contact with the main continent.
Despite the passage of centuries, one adventurous dragon still managed to reach the main continent.
Regina, a curious dragon, enjoys exploring and sampling delicacies from various regions. As one of the few dragons eager to discover the world, Regina has been flying in outward spirals around the dragon island as her centre.
She occasionally stopped to taste the different fish she found on her journey and recorded several especially tasty fish in her mind or told the other dragons managing the fish farm about the fish she found.
As one of the greatest contributors to the increase in fish species for the dragons, she has considerable fame among the group.
“Although I love fishes, I still prefer to eat land animals," Regina muttered while soaring through the endless blue sky that stretches to the horizon. "It's a pity that land animals have become scarce resources here and can't be eaten until their numbers recover."
She continued flying, sometimes soaring high into the clouds or diving beneath the sea, until suddenly she noticed something strange in the distance. “Is it just me, or is there a hazy island over there?”
She headed toward the hazy ‘island' that she saw, but after flying for a long time, she hadn't reached it.
Exhausted, she used her special ability to freeze the surrounding seawater into a medium-sized iceberg. The iceberg floated in the water, rising and falling with the waves.
Thanks to her ice element power, she became one of the few explorers able to create an iceberg whenever she needed to rest.
Regina gradually enlarged the iceberg as she descended to its centre and rested amidst the floating ice. Thanks to the dragon’s thick scales, the cold iceberg doesn’t affect her much.
During her rest, she occasionally used her blessed ability to expand the melted area of the iceberg to maintain enough buoyancy for herself. Once she regained her energy, she resumed flying towards the ‘island’ she had seen.
When she finally arrived, Regina’s mouth widened as she muttered, “Isn’t this island too big?”
She attempted to fly as high as possible but still couldn't see the island’s end. Wherever she looked, only mountain ranges extended until they blurred into the distance.
“Let’s continue moving,” Excited, she continued to travel for day and night.
Because she often stopped to taste the plants and animals, Regina’s speed is pretty slow.
While flying peacefully, she spotted a familiar silhouette in the distance.
Recognising the shape, she headed toward the dragon V.1, which was flying calmly within a group.
However, as she drew closer, she realised the dragons ahead looked quite different from her kin. Unlike the usual dragons she sees on the island, these ones were much larger.
Regina wondered, ‘Are they bigger because they live on such a vast island with abundant food?’
As she drew closer, Regina greeted the dragons v.1, but they only circled her, watching with curiosity.
Regina tried to speak, but the dragons only imitated her roar in response.
“Is it because we’re living in different places and used different language?” Regina said, trying to communicate through body language.
But, after several attempts and looking at how the dragons acted, Regina finally concluded, “It’s not different language. They are just plain stupid.”
‘What's happening? They are not only bigger than the others I’ve seen but also much dumber than the ones back on the island,’ Regina’s mind quickly made random connections and reached a concerning conclusion, “Did they become stupid after eating too much? Will I also become stupid if I eat too much and gain weight like them?”
She remembered the gluttonous dragon on the island and grew more convinced of her theory, “That gluttonous dragon is also a bit silly compared to us. It seems I need to keep my weight down if I don’t want to turn dull.”
Looking at the mountains full of unfamiliar, exotic foods she had never tasted, Regina could only sigh in regret, “What a shame that I can't enjoy this feast to the fullest. Compared to eating, I’d still prefer to retain my wisdom.’
Although the large dragons in front of her are somewhat different from her and cannot communicate with her, they still permitted her to follow them.
After observing the V.1 dragons, Regina rapidly became familiar with the continent. Once she felt comfortable, she bid farewell to the dragons, who all roared in response.
Leaving her friends behind, Regina continued flying east until the land beneath her was no longer just a series of steep mountain ranges.
Although the ground still featured a mountain range, the mountains now had much gentler slopes and occasional flat plains or forests in between.
While flying, she noticed smoke coming from one of the mountains.
Approaching the smoke, Regina observed a small artificial settlement around the mountain. This settlement comprised several tiny houses, much smaller than the one she owned back on the island.
Unlike her house, which is basically a mound built by a dragon with earth-element powers, the other houses she observed are constructed from a mix of stone, wood, and various materials.
The smoke she noticed was coming from several houses within the settlement.
Around the settlement, Regina saw a farm with fields and ranches, something the dragons have been attempting to develop back on their island.
Curious, she descended and ate a few of the plants and animals.
Because the animals are especially tasty, Regina didn’t realise she had eaten more than five of them, and a short two-legged creature with lots of hair on their face was watching her with fear.
***
Inside the Great Dragon Academy, Catherina was reading the report about the final steps of her worldwide internet plan when one of her butlers entered. “Lady Catherina, the dwarves have reported something important. They said they’ve found a wild dragon that barged into a village, damaging their wheat fields and eating several cattle.”
“Why would they report this to me? Just because I am a dragon doesn’t mean I can control them,” Catherina grumbled.
The butler nodded and said, “But they mentioned that this time's dragon looks different from the usual ones. Its body shape is quite similar to yours, and it seems a bit smarter because it tried to communicate with the dwarves in an unfamiliar language.”
Catherina initially dismissed it as a mutated dragon. However, the more she heard, the more contemplative she became.
Finally, Catherina remembered when her body was upgraded by the creator. 'I recall the creator mentioning a new dragon species. Maybe the one the dwarves found is that new species.’
The idea of a new dragon species intrigued Catherina, prompting her to fly out and meet it.
While flying, she thought to herself, ‘The dwarves said it speaks an unknown language. Since the creator made the valley connecting the dwarves’ land with humans’, the dwarves should now be familiar with both human and elven languages. Calling it unfamiliar would imply it’s a completely different language altogether.’
‘I wonder if this body has some ability to instantly translate that language.’ Catherina entered a village in the dwarves’ territory, near the site where the dragon was reportedly seen, but the dragon had left.
Just as in the report, the village’s wheat field is damaged. From a distance, Catherina saw many dwarves still busy repairing their fields.
She slowly approached the surprised dwarves and simply used her wealth to persuade them to cooperate. Even though the dwarven villagers had their fields damaged by a similarly appearing dragon, they still cooperated happily when Catherina threw her money.
Catherina asked the dwarves where the dragons had left.
Fortunately, they identified its direction. Although the dragons appeared a day earlier, Catherina still decided to try her luck and swiftly flew in the direction indicated by the dwarves.
She soared high to expand her view and occasionally roared with a clear dragon accent to summon that dragon.
After an entire day without success, she finally chose to return.
Calling her elven butler, Catherina instructed, “Tell the dwarves and elves to report any sightings of that dragon to me immediately, and try to delay its departure as much as possible.”
The elven butler gave an affirmative response, “Yes.”
A few days later, news of a new dragon sighting from another species was reported. Catherina immediately flew to the location, and this time she finally found the new dragon.
Like her new body, the new dragon also has a sleeker form compared to the dragons in the mountain range that divides the continent, or the dragons from the islands far to the south.
When Regina saw Catherina, she eagerly flew toward her, then halted at a distance and muttered, “Oh! There’s actually our kin on this big island.”
The moment Catherina heard Regina’s words, her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Regina, “Bloody Hell! It spoke fucking English?!”
Catherina immediately asked, “Are you also someone from Earth?”
“What’s Earth?” Regina curiously asked.
“Nothing.” Catherina didn’t further explain. Instead, she asked another question, “Where did you come from?”
As an experienced traveller among dragons, Regina has learned to determine her location using the sun and stars visible in the sky. She pointed accurately toward the northwest and said, “I came from an island over there.”
“So, you originate from an island beyond the continent?”
“What’s a continent? Are you not from the island too?” Regina asked out of curiosity.
Catherina responded absentmindedly, while her mind was preoccupied with other thoughts, “The continent is the huge landmass beneath us. And I am not from the island you mentioned.”
At last, Catherina decided, “Lets come with me to visit someone.”
Catherina took Regina to visit Elisa.
Upon her arrival, Catherina explained to Elisa about Regina, the new dragon species, and how they actually speak English.
Elisa, without even turning off her TV, casually responded, “What’s so strange about that? They are a species created by the creator, and we know the creator has visited Earth before. Therefore, the creator granting a species knowledge of English isn’t any more unusual than our own transmigration to another world created by the same creator.”
Catherina couldn't deny Elisa’s words.
After she left, Elisa ordered her subordinates, “Prepare some ships and explore the waters around the continent.”
Elisa mused, ‘Some species might still live far from the continent. Making the first move is never a bad idea. Though elves have started sailing across the ocean, they haven't done so seriously before. It’s probably time to invest more resources into researching shipbuilding technology. Since the dwarves have developed a commercial steam engine, perhaps it’s time to build a groundbreaking steamship.’
After pondering, Elisa delegated her concerns to her subordinates and continued watching her elven drama on TV.