Chapter 37: Great Joy and Great Sorrow—Such Is Life

He had long since run out of gold coins, penniless and unable to open the system backpack. Staring at the water-bellied snakes coiled everywhere on the ship, regardless of their size, all were huddled together. At the very center of the deck, the little sprite was serving food. The ship, about 800 meters long, had around 700 meters of usable space; its outer width was 160 meters, inner width 155. With a capacity of 100,000 square meters, from the mast above to the hull below, it was packed with “student snakes.”

After untold hardships, he finally reached the rear of the ship—absurdly, the mere 700 meters had taken him nearly an hour to traverse. Even more absurd, as soon as he arrived, they were gone, the transaction already complete.

“Well, then. Set sail, return!” Entering the captain’s cabin, he approached the fixed backpack by the helm. The items from his personal bag transferred in without issue, but when it came to the pet egg, something went wrong. The moment it left Huatian’s palm, the egg turned dead again.

Huatian froze. Dead? No...? A moment later, his head felt as if a billion blades had sliced through his mind, his heart sinking like a stone into the sea. Amidst the dizziness, he snapped his eyes open again and found himself still on the wooden ship. His own sprite was faithfully guarding him; his life was not in danger. But what was that vision just now? Those dense figures in the lush abyss—what were they doing?

Suddenly, clutching his heavy, muddled head, he struggled to sit up, bracing himself against the wooden wall. Panting, he looked up at the white and brown ceiling, tried to stand, but felt weak and powerless. At that instant, his gaze fell upon the fixed backpack—what happened? The egg and the Supreme Illusionary Skill were both gone. What on earth had happened while he’d lain there? Everything but the items related to the Starlight Stone had vanished.

Huatian’s heart plunged from heaven to hell; even the phrase “devastated beyond compare” was too mild to describe his misery. He had just tasted great joy, now he knew the true meaning of joy and sorrow in equal measure. “So be it! Six days remain. I will at least get one back. Whoever it is, if I find them, I’ll make them pay,” he growled, face flushed with anger, not realizing he had suddenly stood up. Turning to his right, he saw a creature—about thirty centimeters long, dragon-like and sturdy—staring at him while quietly munching on eggshell.

Huatian recognized the color and pattern of the eggshell, his eyes widening with fury. “So, it was you, you little—”

“Master, are you angry and upset that your pet egg is gone? Want to take it out on him?” The sprite spoke, blocking his path.

“Of course I’m not happy! Do I look happy to you?”

“That’s the egg...” The sprite’s words calmed him a little; the sprite wouldn’t lie for no reason. “What? You’re saying that’s the egg?”

“Roar? Roar! Roar!” Huatian was startled. Was that a dragon's roar?

“Of course I’m a dragon! I’m just excited—I’ve finally been born; I need to roar a couple of times.”

“Wait, was that you speaking? How can you talk just after hatching? Wait, no, I was thinking those words in my heart—can you hear my thoughts and speak?”

“Yes! For example, just now you wanted to kill me for your egg. You didn’t see me while you were sitting on the floor, which is normal. You’re my new master! Hurry, hurry, I’m hungry—I want to eat.”

“You really are that egg?” Huatian was still doubtful, and neither of the two adorable pets bothered to answer. The little black dragon nibbled on the eggshell, the sprite simply ignored him. Suddenly, he remembered he could check the information panel. Sure enough, it was a Calamity Venom Dragon, already bound to a master. Nervously, he checked the owner field—it was Huatian. He was stunned, then delighted. Surprised at first, thinking there was a player called Huatian in the game, then realizing it was himself, he named the pet “Hua Calamity.”

Pet: Hua Calamity (Calamity Venom Dragon)

Rank: Overlord [Bound for life, cannot be unbound]
Tier: Level 1
Skills: Tenfold Absolute [unlearned], Power-Speed-Defense-Flight Enhancement [learned], Possession [unlearned], Calamity [unlearned], Venom Attack [learning].

Realizing it was his responsibility, Huatian recalled the dragon had said it wanted to eat. What did dragons eat—meat, or something else?

Hua Calamity ignored him, voicing all his inner thoughts aloud.

“I eat a kind of stone, and drink a kind of water when thirsty. Both strengthen me. Meat just fills my empty belly.”

“Oh? What kind of stone? Is it this one?” He remembered the stones he had and, rather naively, took ten pieces of Starlight Stones from the backpack to show.

“Yes!” came the reply. In a flash, the ten stones vanished from his palm and into the dragon’s belly.

“Any more? Burp... I feel like my strength just rose one tier, though I only got a little fatter. But now I’m hungry again.”

Huatian stared at his empty hands. Looking down at the dragon’s mouth, he noticed the blackish stone edges—indeed, those were Starlight Stones.

“You ate them all.” Huatian still didn’t realize the value of Starlight Stones—he just felt it was a pity. He started the ship and left...

Earlier, Hua Calamity had nodded happily, then ran off to steal all of the sprite’s grilled fish. Flipping his nearly full dragon belly, he lay content on the deck. The two adorable pets, one large, one small—one lazing provocatively, the other glaring in helpless resentment at his own lack of strength, wishing he could strangle the dragon.

After promising he was full, Hua Calamity lay digesting while the sprite, relaxing at last, roasted the remaining fish at full speed. Yet as soon as the fish were done, the black dragon’s beaming face reappeared. The fish vanished—all devoured.

With time to spare, Huatian checked the official website for the stone’s price, only to find it listed as “unknown.” When he saw the ranking, his murderous urges flared, but considering the dragon’s rank, he let it go. The stone was ranked on par with top-tier items—surpassed only by full sets of Void equipment and the nearly identical-named Starlight Water. Water? Could that be it? (Unknown means no one has obtained it yet; Huatian hasn’t yet triggered the main city’s auto-registration, so it remains “unknown” in the official records.)

At dusk, the ship gradually docked. Huatian packed up what was left, lamenting the lost skill book. From now on, he vowed to always keep thousands of gold coins ready in his system bag, so nothing could be lost.

Dejected, he left the Iron Harbor. Behind him, an old man he had met before came aboard, his body gradually growing younger. “There... their auras. So, he’s met them. I thought he wouldn’t withstand it and would use the item. Then why did he leave sighing?”

...

Teleportation array: Han City.

Huatian walked ahead, brows furrowed, with the little black dragon—now nearly a meter long—swaggering behind, trying to practice flying. A sullen sprite followed, her dark gaze fixed on the black dragon with the look of a vengeful woman.

“Good luck today—I got an orange-tier Gunner skill. Put the rest of the skills in the warehouse—buy whichever you like and study them!” said Han Qianyun.

“Okay!”

She glanced left into the vice-captain’s office—empty, all day. Turning, she spotted Huatian and... was that a dragon? Watching them head toward the team’s headquarters, she called out, “Huatian, what happened? Why the long face? And what’s that behind you?”

“That? My pet dragon.”

“A dragon? You should be thrilled!”

“Thrilled! Thrilled about what? One meal for him costs as much as top-tier Voids. Who can afford that?”

“A Void-tier meal? What was the main dish?”

“Starlight Stones! And the rarest kind. Price is at the highest tier—only full Void sets and Starlight Water are higher. And it wasn’t just one stone, but several—ten only gave him one tier up.”

“Starlight Stones? Let me check... None! This pet’s hard to feed—maybe you should just kill it?”

“What! You gorgeous woman, you want to kill me? You all want to kill me? Impossible! Never in this life! You snake-hearted woman!” wailed the little black dragon, rolling on his back in protest, looking especially pitiful in his underdeveloped state.

Han Qianyun heard the masculine voice, glanced at Huatian then around at the players—only female players nearby. Her gaze landed on the black dragon rolling about.

“No need to guess, the dragon is talking,” Huatian explained, quickly crowded out by the female team members.

Liu Wei, curious, jumped up to see what was happening. All the players stared at the talking little black dragon.

Han Qianyu stepped forward, reaching to touch its belly. The western-style black dragon, with magma patterns, white underbelly, and black-red scales, looked at her and declared, “Don’t touch me. No food, no touching.”

Hearing the dragon speak so clearly at close range, the Han sisters and Liuxin Xiaoyu completely surrounded him. Liu Wei, squeezed out like Huatian before her, couldn’t get close.

Not far off, two pets—belonging to the Han sisters—rushed over: a greenleaf sprite and a bamboo sand snake squeezed through the crowd. They tried to intimidate, “We’re the bosses here, you—” but as soon as they approached, they fell in line behind the black dragon, becoming his entourage.

...

Soon, the three pets followed Han Qianyu for a real feast.

In the captain’s office, “Alright, I saw you looked upset earlier. What happened?”

“My second quest began. Up to three major rewards—one is the dragon, another important reward is lost, and the dragon ate one of the Starlight Stones... How can I be happy?”

“Starlight Stone, I think I heard you mention it. Let me check—wasn’t it just ‘unknown’ a moment ago?”

“Here you go.” Huatian handed over the recipe book and clues from his backpack.

“Oh, there was a skill book, but it’s gone, so I can’t give you that.”

Han Qianyun’s eyes widened as she examined the recipe and materials. The clue was simply the location of the materials for the recipe.

She looked carefully at the recipe’s function—skill enhancement stone. Seeing the three skill entries, she realized how valuable this was. A universal stone—expensive, but any wealthy team would buy it.

She swallowed. “Does your dragon have to eat these? Can’t it eat something else?”

“If not, it won’t get stronger. If it does, even a single skill could be invincible.”

He sent her the full list of the dragon’s skills.

After reading, she sighed, “Alright, once I craft them, I’ll give you some skill enhancement stones. How many depends on our results—at least two.”

...

In the days that followed, Han Qianyun assigned a series of tasks. The pets followed her sister, while Huatian focused, fighting zombies in solo mode. He found his strength had changed, though his personal info had not—only his skill section showed something new. Day after day, in Han City, he trained his Supreme Skill relentlessly, discovering its growing terror as he mastered it.

The pets eventually returned to his side. His days fell into routine: leveling in the morning, skill mastery in the afternoon, researching pet skills at night. When free, he tried to upgrade his own skills or feed the dragon with the Starlight Stones he acquired. His own skill required too many stones, so he fed them all to the black dragon.

Bit by bit, the dragon devoured and chewed the stones, quickly growing to nearly ten meters long, though it had only mastered two skills: Venom Attack and Power-Speed-Defense-Flight Enhancement.