Published: February 13, 2025
A small fleet was continuously scouting around the Colorful Cloud Fragment Star Belt. During this process, Yuan Shangzuo also taught Ye Zhongming and the Cloud Summit People some important points and experiences to note.
Thanks to the assistance of various equipment, this detection method was not difficult to learn, and soon the Cloud Summit team had mastered it completely.
Information began to accumulate here, and everyone was clear that as this information improved, they were getting closer to entering this area. It would be a lie to say they weren't nervous; after all, there were only Ye Zhongming and Yuan Shangzuo among the entire team who were peak experts. Although there was also the white dragon horse and the lai lai bird, the former would hardly be able to participate, while the latter, being a flying life form, might not be very effective against their natural enemy, the Rebel Dragon Race.
It wasn't that Ye Zhongming didn't trust the white dragon horse; after asking for its opinion, it expressed that it didn't want to clash with its own kind, and Ye Zhongming respected that thought. So in normal circumstances, only three peak experts were at the front.
Once they were discovered, it was highly likely they would face attacks from two or even more giant dragons. If they were delayed and attracted a dragon horde, the chances of total annihilation were very high. Yet, many people felt excited by this tightrope-walking sensation.
Looking at the group under Ye Zhongming, Yuan Shangzuo didn’t find it unusual. He could tell their strength was still considerable. After all, the clan leader's guard consisted of some of the strongest individuals in the Star-Eye Clan. Even though their overall combat power had declined somewhat after previous purges, thanks to Ye Zhongming's equipment and medicines, they had fully recovered and even slightly surpassed their previous levels.
Yuan Shangzuo had brought along some people this time, but he didn’t plan to take action; he would only accompany them to provide guidance.
After circling the entire Fragment Star Belt, they gathered general data. Next came the summarization; if they couldn't confirm anything, they might need to circle around again.
"Have you not sent anyone to observe the territory of the Rebel Dragon Race long-term, given the frequent changes there?" Ye Zhongming asked Yuan Shangzuo while trying to determine targets and landing locations. The answer was that they had once sent a fleet here for two years but only managed to capture large-scale territory changes of the Rebel Dragon Race without being able to ascertain any reasons; at least they hadn’t observed anything unusual.
"It seems like our luck this time isn’t too bad." After the preliminary data screening, Yuan Shangzuo pointed to a spot on the map.
It was a sizable blue area within a star body that belonged to water and ice elemental giant dragons. There was a territory occupied by two Rebel Dragons, with one coming out to hunt every day, while the other remained stationary in one place.
According to the instruments, there was a dragon egg near the stationary dragon.
Finding the target was only half the battle; the other half was to find a reasonable route to enter this territory. They needed to successfully move from entry to attracting the attention of the Rebel Dragon Race, and then to snatch or steal the dragon egg, completing the entire plan for it to be a success.
"Here, and here, both are suitable for entry. The former is a blank area between the three territories, which is relatively safe for landing. The latter is a corner of the territories occupied by the two Rebel Dragons, which is also ideal for landing as it’s separated by a mountain range. However, while the first option is safe, it’s far from the dragon egg; the latter is closer and within the sphere of influence." Yuan Shangzuo pointed to two locations.
"Which one would you typically choose?" Ye Zhongming asked.
Yuan Shangzuo looked at the map, paused for a few seconds, and said, "If I were leading this team, we would choose the second option, the one that requires crossing over the mountain range."