Novel Lived
Chapter 572: 569, Dragon City_1
Chapter 572: 569, Dragon City_1
Soon, the dice stopped spinning.
Seeing the face of the dice exposed to the sky, both Su Yu and Star felt a sudden jolt in their hearts.
The number on the dice was a shockingly low “one”!
Did this mean that if he went to the Lun Kete National Library now, there was a high chance he would never return?
“Su Yu, I think we should go somewhere else,” Star said, her claw gently stroking his neck.
“Alright, let’s go elsewhere,” Su Yu was not stubborn; he would not gamble with his own life.
Still, he said, “Once the dice rolls a four or higher, we will go to the Lun Kete National Library.”
…
…
Six hours later, Su Yu flew to Dragon City on the east coast of the Raging Sun Empire.
To the east of Dragon City was the endless ocean, and across this ocean lay the famed “Island of the Dragon”.
The Island of the Dragon, also known simply as Dragon Island, spanned 100,000 square kilometers, roughly the size of three Hainan Islands combined. It served as the habitat for the Giant Dragon Clan in the Skru World.
About 20,000 giant dragons lived on Dragon Island; there were Psychic magic-specialized Blue Dragons, physically adept Black Dragons, fire-specialized Red Dragons, psychic power-specialized White Dragons, and also the healing and dream-specialized Green Dragons.
The collective power of the dragon race was substantial.
Mature individual dragons had at least fourth-tier strength even without cultivation, and there were numerous dragons of the fifth and sixth tier.
Dragon Emperor Kadrigos was one of the fifteen God-Level entities on Skru Star!
It was said that in the ancient times hundreds of thousand years ago, the dragon race ruled the entire world, but for unknown reasons, their birth rate fell sharply, their life cycle extended greatly, and ultimately only 20,000 dragons survived on this tiny island.
Dragon Island was very close to the Raging Sun Empire, the nearest place being only fifty to sixty kilometers away. A higher-ranked dragon could cross this strait with just one swoop.
Because of this proximity, the greatest dream of children in the Raging Sun Empire was to form a partnership with a Giant Dragon when they reached adulthood at 18.
The Giant Dragon Clan didn’t object to forming partnerships with the people of Skru.
Every year on this day, a group of young dragons would cross the strait to the mainland, where they would form partnerships with gifted or wealthy Skru youngsters.
The royal family of Raging Sun could be said to be the majority of the dragons’ partners. The eldest and second sons of Manina XIII both formed alliances with giant dragons at the age of 18, and they became good partners.
…
The current time in Dragon City was seven o’clock in the morning.
Upon arriving, Su Yu was immediately stunned by the sight before his eyes.
Walking on the crowded street after leaving the airport, the city’s roads were clogged with a sea of people.
The floating cars overhead crowded together like candied haws, blocking out the sky.
To put it bluntly, if Su Yu cast a large-scale attack spell at this time, he could kill tens of thousands of Skru people.
Startled by the grand sight before her, Star asked Su Yu, “Nemesis, what are they doing?”
“The ‘Dragon Arrival Ceremony’ must be about to start. They’re here to watch the excitement,” Su Yu guessed.
“‘Dragon Arrival Ceremony’? What’s that?” Star raised a big question mark over her head.
Su Yu gave her head a rub and replied with a grin, “‘Dragon Arrival Ceremony’ is a ceremony where Skru people and the Giant Dragon Clan form a partnership. All 18-year-old Skru citizens can participate.
The children of the privileged stand in the inner ring, while the commoners wait in the outer ring.
After the young dragons arrive at the ceremony, they first choose from the inner ring. If they can’t find a suitable partner, they move on to the outer ring. If there are still none they fancy, they may choose not to pick anyone at all.
Every year, two or three commoners are chosen by the dragons and they get to join the privileged class.
To put it in perspective, for the commoners, it might feel similar to buying a lottery ticket in our world.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
“Oh, so that’s what it is. We’re in luck then!” Star nodded, hopping quickly from Su Yu’s left shoulder to his right shoulder to avoid the hand of a Skru woman who wanted to pet her because of her cuteness.
“Nemesis, shall we go to the ceremony?” Star suddenly suggested. “If we miss this chance we may not have another.”
“Well…” Su Yu hadn’t planned to visit the ceremony originally.
He had initially wanted to sneak directly onto Dragon Island, mingle with the dragons around the island, and then gradually make his way into the core area of Dragon Island.
But since Star wanted to see the ceremony, he might as well indulge her. It wouldn’t take up much time anyway.
Besides, Su Yu’s past life as a human included no extensive research into the dragon race, and he knew nothing about their habits. Observing the ceremony might be a good opportunity to learn more.
With this thought, he agreed to Star’s proposal and started heading towards the ceremony venue—Dragon Square.
…
Dragon Square was built by the sea, facing the direction of Dragon Island.
The farthest east of the square was a 66,666 square meter podium on which stood over three thousand Skru youths who had just come of age this year.
The Skru people referred to this podium as the “inner ring”, and only descendants of privileged families had the right to stand here.
Below the podium was naturally the outer ring.
The outer ring was currently packed with at least six to seven hundred thousand 18-year-old Skru youths, hoping to try their luck.
Dragon Square was indeed a very, very large square – otherwise, it would not be able to accommodate so many people. But even so, the square was packed full.
Fortunately, not all 18-year-old youngsters from all over the country had come; otherwise, even if the square was made ten times larger, it would still not be able to accommodate everyone given the Raging Sun Empire’s population of 500 million.
The outermost part of the square was naturally the spectator’s stand.
Most of the spectators were parents of the children standing in the square, but there were also some tourists coming to watch the spectacle. Many of them had set up long-tube telescopes, ready to catch a glimpse of the majestic dragons.
…
Also within the inner ring of Dragon Square, there was a class distinction.
In the center of the inner ring stood a group of noble children, conversing and laughing arrogantly with the people around them.
Surrounding the royal children were the offspring of court officials, ministers, and generals whose aura fell short of the royal children at the center.
One of the royal children glanced at the sky in the distance and said, “The dragons should be arriving soon, right?”
“Yes, they should be arriving soon,” the people around him immediately flattered. “They should have arrived half an hour ago by logic, but for some reason, we have yet to see a trace of them.”
“How many of us do you think will be chosen by the giant dragons?”
“The quality and quantity of this year’s selection are about the same as previous years. Usually, 20-30 from the inner ring and 2-3 from the outer ring are chosen. I believe this year will be similar.”
“However, this year Prince Charles is participating. Prince Charles is sure to be selected! Aside from him, the rest of us are not that certain. I hope to have some luck.”
“Yes, may Lady Luck shine upon me!”
“May Prince Charles be favored by the most prestigious of the young dragons!”