Evil Dragon: The young dragon I picked up keeps planning on becoming an empress

After all, she was going to be the future emperor.

The dragon whelp with the turtle shell on its head didn't want to go out, and Lance didn't force her; after a day or two, she would stop caring.

As for setting up a stall to earn money and pay off debts...

He had already owed debts for over a thousand years; what was the harm in owing a little longer? These few days, he would stay at the Earl's Mansion, drinking tea, reading books, and admiring the snowy scenes.

Looking at the weather, it was going to snow again, if not tomorrow, then the day after.

After about four or five days, he would check if Meredith the bunny girl and the others had reached the location of the bounty mission.

He had made a teleportation marker on the ears of the bunny girl, Meredith.

If the members of Bronze Guild encountered any danger, he could instantly appear at their location through the use of a teleportation scroll.

Golden City...

He didn't believe there really was a city built of gold in this world.

In the next two days, the young dragon stayed at the Earl's Mansion.

On the third day, it snowed, and the young dragon, who had been staying in the Earl's Mansion for two days, wanted to visit the Dragon God Temple.

Lance smiled and stroked the turtle shell on the young dragon's head; the sensation of the shell was rather nice.

He was thinking, perhaps he should take some time to perform a turtle shell extraction surgery on the dragon whelp to remove the shell from its head...

When he shared this idea with the dragon whelp, she was delighted and agreed on the spot.

But when he took out the scalpel needed for the extraction surgery...

The dragon whelp's head shook like a rattle drum...

Then, covering the turtle shell on her head, she ran off without looking back.

.....

In mid-January, bunny girl Meredith, leading the members of the Bronze Bounty Guild, arrived at the location specified by the client: Lost Ancient Domain.

There wasn't a soul to be seen within a hundred miles of this place.

The members of the Bronze Bounty Guild stood outside the Lost Ancient Domain, looking at the area shrouded in a white mist.

According to the client, over two thousand years ago, this place was the capital of a kingdom; today, two thousand years later, it had become a land filled with ominous energy, mysteries, monsters, and various legends: The Lost Land.

When the light was good, standing outside the Lost Ancient Domain and peering through the countless towering ancient trees, one could faintly make out some dilapidated buildings and occasional fleeting shadows.

Just standing outside the Lost Ancient Domain, the members of the Bronze Bounty Guild all felt a sense of oppression.

To find the legendary Lost Golden City, they had to enter the Lost Land and find the pathway leading to the Golden City within.

"True to a joint bounty mission, we haven't even entered the 'Lost Ancient Domain'... and we can already feel the pressure," one said.

"Look, the members of other bounty guilds have also arrived; there are three guilds that aren't from our kingdom. This joint bounty mission... even involves cross-border cooperation," another pointed out.

"Raging Bear Bounty Guild, most of their members are Berserkers, fierce in combat. When they enter Berserker mode, there won't be any living creature left within a five-meter radius of them. Once we go in, let's keep our distance from these guild members."

"Beauty Scorpion Bounty Guild, do you see the scorpion tails behind them? Getting impaled by one of those would even make an Earth Dragon foam at the mouth. They are from the Scorpion Race, rumored to have bloodline connections with the Demon Race from the western continent.

It seems The Lost Golden City, even if not made of gold, contains treasures far beyond our imaginations," another commented.

Louis, Bazel, and Dalton quietly explained to their guild members the backgrounds of the other bounty guilds nearby.

They occasionally took on bounty missions abroad and had seen or heard of these guilds.

With reputations that preceded them, the members of those guilds were by no means weak.

Especially the Beauty Scorpion Bounty Guild; apart from their intimidating scorpion tails, their own strength was also formidable.

"Alright, time to check our combat gear. The Extraordinary Elixirs prepared for us by old man Lance should be placed in pockets where they're easily accessible. With two potions of Extraordinary Elixir, if we encounter any troublesome monsters, prioritize using the upgraded 'Three-minute War God' version," one directed.

Bunny girl Meredith changed into her enchanted gear, brandishing an enchanted greatsword in her hand.

Other members of the Bronze Bounty Guild also donned their combat suits, making their final preparations for battle.

The Extraordinary Elixirs given to them by old man Lance were all placed in easily accessible pockets, ensuring that if they faced any formidable monsters, they could immediately consume the elixirs concocted by the old master.

Louis put on a golden steel hoop on his head with a bead in the middle that resembled an eye...

This thing was given to him by old Master Lance, both Dalton and Bazel have one too.

Old Master said... wearing this thing can protect their heads from being blown off and also keep their minds clear.

Huh?

Meredith has one too?

"Dalton, the bead in the center of your Vajra Ring that looks like an eyeball... it seems to have moved a bit..."

"The eyeball set in the center of your Vajra Ring... it seems to have rotated too... the source power tool given by old Master Lance... it's kind of sinister."

"Unconditionally trust old Master Lance, don't worry about whether the tool is sinister or not..."

Louis, Dalton, and Bazel gathered around Meredith.

Meredith turned to glance at the guild members and led the way towards the Lost Ancient Domain.

The figures of the Bronze Bounty Guild members disappeared into the white mist.

Inside the Lost Ancient Domain, the lighting was dim, and from time to time, various snakes and insects could be seen.

When they left Saint Blue, they brought some dragon dung, so snakes and insects wouldn't come close, and the weaker source beasts, ferocious beasts, and different beasts also wouldn't approach them when they smelled the dragon dung.

Even so, the members of the Bronze Bounty Guild didn't relax their vigilance. As they delved deeper, they encountered some ruined walls and pillars.

These ruins were either entangled with vines or pierced by thick branches, and if you pinched them gently with your hands, they would crumble into dust.

Occasionally, they could also see some stone carvings missing arms and legs, all corroded by the ravages of time.

"Come quickly, here's a stone tablet, with writing on it and several vague images. This is a historical artifact from over two thousand years ago, hehe... when we leave, shall we take this stone tablet away with us?"

A member of the Bronze Guild discovered a stone tablet with text and images, and with a shout, rabbit-eared Meredith observed the surroundings for a moment before approaching the stone tablet.

The writing was too ancient, and due to erosion by the passage of time, most of the text was either missing the upper part or the lower part, making it difficult to take rubbings.

A few of the engraved images were still vaguely discernible. Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire

"Meredith, can you understand the writing on this?"

"I can't, it's too ancient, and the characters are incomplete. Let's look at the images... These images seem to depict the ruler of the time... using someone's story to warn his subjects."

"???"

"Can you understand it?"

"I can make out a little bit, but whether it's what I'm thinking of... I don't know."

"Tell us."

"The first image is of a man holding a scroll, and the next few images are of him too, in spring, summer, autumn, winter, he is always reading. The middle images are unclear, hard to speculate, but look at this one, the man in this image has become an official.

This man is the one from the first image. The following images record how his rank steadily increases... until he became an existence second only to one and above tens of thousands...

Now look at this image, the man's home is filled with piles of gold and gems, and here... this blurred part should be a basement; it must be brimming with gold and jewels.

And here... people continuously bring him money... these few images are also blurred... look at the last one... it's a gallows and next to it, a guillotine.

I understand, this stone tablet must record the story of a corrupt official from over two thousand years ago.

A man who studied hard in his youth became an official, and his rank grew ever higher; gradually, he forgot his original intentions and became a great corrupt official, eventually being sent to the gallows..."

It's not just a legend; the corrupt official mentioned in the bounty task of The Lost Golden City did truly exist in history.

"Old Master Lance taught me sketching, and I pieced together a rough appearance of this corrupt official from two thousand years ago based on the remnants in these stone carvings. It's not very accurate but passable. Do you want to see it?"

The members of the Bronze Bounty Guild became interested upon hearing this and crowded around a round-faced girl, looking at the portrait in her hands.

Never mind that... it's quite detailed, but it does look a bit familiar.

Feels like I've seen it somewhere not too long ago.

"Why does the person you drew... look a bit like old Master Lance?"

"It really does; Annie, the person you drew... really does resemble old Master Lance in his younger days, but not as handsome as the young Master Lance."

"You drew a corrupt official? What you drew is clearly the young old Master Lance."