CHAPTER 451: CHAPTER 268: 103_2

By that time, should I return to Dragon Island, even if I’m not the fastest Silver Dragon to advance to Legend, I would at least be among the most successful.

At that point, whether it be the issue of my stigma or my voice, all would be completely incomparable to how things are now.

After all, whether it’s in human civilization or within dragon society, the strong are always revered.

As long as you have strength, all flaws will be romanticized, forgiven, and even sought after.

David seemed to sense the dissatisfaction in his dragon father’s heart. He raised his tail and patted his shoulder, reassuring him with a smile, "We’re just going back home; it’s not like we’re entering a den of bandits. Don’t be so stressed, Dad. Besides, it’s only a slight lack of strength, isn’t it? Legends have their ways of solving problems. For those not yet Legends, there are other methods to make those old dragons hold their noses and acknowledge our kinship."

I’d actually be less worried if it were a lair of Blue Dragon bandits. These words seemed to stir up some unpleasant memories in Attilicia. He shook his head and scoffed, "Don’t bother comforting me. I was born on Dragon Island; do you think I don’t know exactly what kind of characters those stubborn old fools are? They only recognize talent and strength. Unless you have power that can match or even overwhelm them, they *might* consider your words. Otherwise, the pride of Silver Dragons is even greater than that of Red Dragons. So, sending our children to Dragon Island... if there were any other choice, I really... I don’t even know what to say anymore."

"Oh?" It was the first time David had heard his dragon father speak negatively about Dragon Island, and even he couldn’t help but glance at him in surprise.

Now that the floodgates were open, Attilicia had nothing more to hold back.

"Dragon Island isn’t as wonderful as I once boasted," he began. "Yes, it’s a place where good dragons gather and order reigns. But in this world, more order doesn’t necessarily equate to a happier and better life.

"Just look at Barto Hell, and you’ll understand. Sometimes, caring too much about order only leads to bureaucratic redundancy and rigidity, stifling innovation, a lack of flexibility, and restrictions on individual freedom.

"Dragon Island is the same.

"Ever since I hatched, gained memories, and began reading the dragon heritage, those systems and regulations there haven’t damn well changed. I don’t know how many insightful new proposals have been shelved and left to gather dust.

"A bunch of undying old fools, their only line is ’ancestral laws must not be changed!’ They’re always just spectating with an arrogant demeanor, ’witnessing him build an empire, witness him conquer the continent, witness him collapse’—doing nothing themselves and not letting other dragons do anything either. Typical dog in the manger, dragon-style! Or, more bluntly, standing in the dragon pit and not taking a shit!

"Damn it, even the Drow on the Nima Continent have started using our dragon droppings for alchemy, smuggling them to earn vast amounts of Gold Coins! Yet, those old fossils banned me from alchemy just because I tampered with a recipe in class and blew up the laboratory a few times!

"And then there’s that damned Dragon Island law: ’A dragon younger than fifty years old may not leave Dragon Island without permission!’ I just don’t understand if the ancestor who set this law had their brains bashed in by Chromatic Dragons!

"Do you know how much effort I spent trying to leave Dragon Island early to travel and continue studying my path of alchemy? In the end, I still had to tough it out until I was fifty.

"My alchemy mentor even said that if I had met him ten years earlier and started systematic studies from scratch, maybe by now my achievements would have surpassed his, and I’d have become the youngest Legend on Dragon Island. Damn it!

"All that was tolerable. But then, I encountered that fateful she-dragon, Pafila."

Finally hearing about the heroine, David immediately perked up and eagerly asked, "And then? Is there some secret or misunderstanding that I don’t know about?"

Attilicia let out a bitter laugh. "What secrets or so many misunderstandings could there be? I was, indeed, overpowered by your mother when she was in her mating phase... What your mother did back then was inexcusable. However... the mating phase, well, I can understand it a little now."

"Ah, this... And you still..." David was suddenly at a loss for words.

Attilicia continued, "Back then, I was just a naïve young dragon who had just entered adulthood. How could I understand any of that? Under the influence of Dragon Island’s almost brainwashing education, I was simply consumed by terror and fear. So, I found a way to send out a message that I’d been captured, full of hope that the old dragons of Dragon Island would come to rescue me as described in the sagas, transforming into a massive cloud of metal to save me."

As he spoke, an expression of profound disappointment crossed Attilicia’s face.

"But sometimes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. In the end, I never saw them come for me.

"At that moment, I understood two things.

"First, I had brought shame upon Dragon Island.

"Second, Dragon Island would only spare no effort to rescue juvenile dragons—those under fifty years old."

Connecting this with the earlier rule about not being allowed to leave Dragon Island before turning fifty, David was left speechless. That’s... rather convenient for them, isn’t it?

He then heard his dragon father give a self-deprecating laugh. "And by that time, I was already damn well over the age limit!"

He then let out a laugh, a mix of anger and bitter amusement. "I just don’t get it! Damn it, I was clearly the victim, wasn’t I?! And Pafila? She was already a Legend by then, renowned throughout the New Continent as the Crimson Calamity, for crying out loud! Was that something I could have resisted? They made it sound as if *I* was the one who forced a Red Dragon! No, wait—if the roles were reversed, they’d probably think I brought honor to Dragon Island! It’s such bullshit!"