Sunlight pierced the dense canopy, dancing in dappled patterns on the forest floor, like a coded message scattered across the earth. Amidst this mosaic of light and shadow, Seratus lay sprawled beneath a tree with sprawling branches, seemingly taking a nap.
However, his deep crimson dragon eyes betrayed his pretense. They scanned his territory with vigilance, taking in everything from the trembling of leaves to the faintest rustle in the undergrowth.
In his mind, the luminous interface of the system panel shimmered, a vibrant marketplace reflected in his fiery gaze. He was lost in thought, the seemingly tranquil forest atmosphere concealing unseen currents.
Not far away, two stealthy figures—Agnas and Catilia—were secretly following! Now, their patience had worn thin, frustration burning within them like a rising flame!
For an entire morning, they had trailed Seratus like ghosts, carefully and aimlessly—experiencing nothing but sore legs, parched throats, and the futile observation of the red dragon's erratic movements, gaining practically nothing.
Watching the red dragon merely walk about, pausing occasionally to sniff the soil or gaze into the distance, seemingly observing the terrain and surveying the landscape, a deep sense of being fooled and annoyed welled up in the two young dragons' hearts.
"That guy definitely has no intention of going to that secret location!" Catilia thought furiously. They had naively believed that by following quietly, they could effortlessly discover the mysterious place where the pure life mushrooms grew. But now, it seemed Seratus was as slippery as an eel, with no intention of going there at all, making the two dragons feel like they had been played for fools.
What infuriated them even more was that Seratus, the chief culprit, was leisurely relaxing and resting under the tree! Meanwhile, they had wasted a precious morning for a so-called "secret," baking under the scorching sun until their scales felt hot, their moods utterly foul.
Catilia could no longer contain her irritation. Like a lit fuse, she turned to Agnas, her eyes holding a hint of probing, the corners of her mouth unconsciously turning downwards, as if hinting at something. She lowered her voice, saying tensely and angrily, "Or...should we just go back?"
She paused, trying to appear rational, and continued, "Seratus might really have a secret, but he's very alert now, guarding against us like we're thieves. He won't let us find it easily. Besides, we've searched all around, and we haven't seen any signs of human activity, let alone a place where those special plants could grow. He clearly noticed something a long time ago and has no intention of going to his secret location."
Agnas, hearing Catilia's words, his already gloomy face darkened further, like the sky before a storm. His brow furrowed deeply, and his mouth pressed into a thin line, as if water could be squeezed from it. A morning of tracking had yielded nothing; it was a complete waste of time! He could have been comfortably sleeping in the cave until he woke up naturally, but for this so-called secret, he had come out to suffer, his mood reaching rock bottom.
He sighed heavily, his chest feeling as if it were pressed by a boulder. He nodded reluctantly, his voice muffled, agreeing with Catilia's suggestion. "Sigh, it seems Seratus doesn't want us to find it, so let's go back for now. I've been out all morning, and I'm exhausted."
Thus, the two young dragons exchanged a knowing look, as if reaching a secret agreement, and tacitly parted ways, each flying towards the cave. However, was Catilia really as willing to give up as she appeared? The answer was obviously no.
Once a young dragon's curiosity was piqued, it was like a lit flame, not easily extinguished. Moreover, having been so easily "shaken off" by the cunning Seratus made Catilia even more resentful, a feeling of unwillingness quietly growing in her heart.
Time passed, another ten minutes or so. Seratus remained leisurely lying under the tree, his gaze as if magnetically fixed, focused intently on the system panel. His thick claw tips moved lightly across the virtual screen, sometimes tapping, sometimes dragging, as if carefully comparing something. He was completely immersed in his mental world, his focused expression making it seem as if the entire world had disappeared, leaving only the virtual panel before him, oblivious to everything around him.
Just then, a touch of youthful dragon cunning surged within Catilia—"Agnas probably thinks I really went back, huh? Heh, when he excitedly returns to the cave and finds I'm not there, his face will probably twist with anger!" As she thought this, a mischievous smile, like a sprout emerging from the earth, crept onto her lips and quickly bloomed into a sly grin on her youthful face. She decided to give Agnas a "surprise."
Like a cunning leopard, Catilia stealthily returned, approaching Seratus's location with quiet steps. After all, it took quite some time to get here from where they had parted.
When she returned to a spot where she could observe Seratus, the dense bushes became her natural cover. She stopped again. She carefully poked her head out, peering through the layers of leaves, and found Seratus still lying under that tree, unmoving, as if asleep, showing no signs of leaving. Catilia couldn't help but feel frustrated: "Why isn't this dragon leaving? Does he really not want to go to the place where he picks mushrooms? It's so unlucky to follow him secretly and not get this secret!"
Just as Catilia was complaining in her heart, a faint "rustling" sound suddenly came from behind her. She immediately turned around alertly, like a startled young beast. Her originally somewhat frustrated face instantly became serious, her emerald green eyes instantly becoming sharp, her gaze filled with vigilance.
"It's you?" Catilia looked at the figure that appeared behind her, her voice carrying a hint of surprise, a trace of embarrassment, and a subtle hint of annoyance, but mostly the awkwardness of being discovered. She said seriously, "Didn't you go back?"
The figure that appeared behind Catilia was none other than Agnas. Neither of the young dragons had expected the other to be so "devious," saying they were going back, but secretly returning. Seeing the other doing the same thing, both dragons showed a flicker of embarrassment, their expressions becoming somewhat unnatural!
An awkward atmosphere spread between the two dragons. After all, they had just vowed to give up, only to sneak back moments later. This behavior was a bit... However, young dragons seemed to have naturally thick skin. After a brief moment of awkwardness, the two dragons tacitly chose silence. Since the other wasn't mentioning it, the awkward one was the other, and they would pretend nothing had happened.
On the other side, Seratus was completely unaware that he was being tracked and plotted against by two young dragons. He was immersed in studying the system panel. Seeing the remaining points displayed on the panel—a glaring and pathetic 100—Seratus couldn't help but feel a little worried. He had already eaten two Sunlight Mushrooms, completely depleting his stock. He still had some carrots left in his backpack, but one carrot could only be sold for 10 points, and selling them all would only get him a few dozen points, which wouldn't solve the problem at all.
"Points...points..." Seratus muttered in a low voice, the deep syllables of the dragon language vibrating in the air, his heart filled with a longing for points. His gaze, as if drawn by a magnet, fell once again on that "Prophecy Book," his heart stirring. "Prophecy Book...since it's called prophecy, it must have prophetic abilities, right?" Seratus began to seriously consider. Since he had already unlocked random seeds, should he buy a Prophecy Book first, and then buy a flower seed?
Or...should he buy a one-time house construction card first, and then buy a flower?
Seratus was torn. Buying a ready-made house was important, but the Prophecy Book also seemed very attractive. He thought it over, and finally decided to buy the Prophecy Book first.
"System, I want to buy the Prophecy Book!" Seratus silently said in his mind.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for successfully purchasing the green-quality item [Prophecy Book]. 80 points deducted, 20 points remaining."
With the system's notification, a book with an ancient cover, emitting a faint scent of ink, appeared in Seratus's backpack. He couldn't wait to open his backpack, his dragon claws carefully examining the attributes of the Prophecy Book.
[Prophecy Book]
--Quality: Green--
--Effect: When the holder asks the book a question, the pages will automatically open, and text will appear on the page, hinting at important events that may occur in the future. It can be used three times a day, and using it consumes the user's magic. The amount of magic consumed depends on the magnitude of the question; important information consumes more magic, while unimportant information consumes less.--
"Green quality?" Seratus looked at the Prophecy Book's attributes, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought it would be blue quality, or even red quality, but it's only green quality... But it's so expensive, almost the same price as a blue seed?"
Seratus thought about it carefully, and then felt something was off. "Wait a minute, blue quality and green quality items should have a price difference of 20 points... Well, maybe the value of the blue-quality random seed was underestimated, and I got a bargain. But this Prophecy Book is so expensive, 80 points... I could buy four doses of basic elemental fertilizer with that!"
Although he felt a bit of a sting, Seratus also knew that he had already bought it, and there was definitely no way to return it. He sighed, his dragon wings slightly folding, and put away the Prophecy Book. "Well, I bought it, so that's that."
After examining the attributes of the Prophecy book, Seratus decides not to use it at this moment. "It needs magic power to work, but I am already physically drained. Plus, I haven't eaten since this morning. I'm a little hungry."
Thinking of his hunger, he glances at the single seed of blue quality, and a thought strikes him. "I only have 20 points left. I might as well use these to buy this blue-quality seed, instead of leaving it as it is."
After reading the attributes of the prophecy book, Seratus temporarily did not intend to use it. “It also consumes magic… I’m already a little exhausted, I walked all morning and didn’t eat anything, I feel a little hungry.”
"System, buy a blue-quality seed!" Seratus said silently again.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for successfully purchasing a blue-quality seed. 20 points deducted, 0 points remaining."
"...My account balance is only 0 points?" Seratus looked at the 0 points displayed on the system panel, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. "Well, zero is zero, I'll just earn it back slowly."
He checked the task panel again and found that the task progress had not changed, it was still to plant ten plants and successfully harvest them. "It seems that the reward for this task is still very good, but it will still take some time to complete." Seratus thought to himself. However, as a red dragon, with a long lifespan, this amount of time was really nothing to him. It's just that for him now, the waiting time still seemed a bit long.
"It would be great if it were like a farming game, where you plant something and it matures in a few minutes, or a day..." Seratus couldn't help but complain in his heart. Although the long growth cycle of plants made him feel a little uncomfortable, on second thought, plants on Blue Star, such as carrots, had a growth cycle of at least eighty days, or even more than a hundred days. And now, the longest-growing plant only took half a month to mature, which was much faster in comparison.
"As long as there is a comparison, no matter how you compare, it is still better now." Seratus comforted himself. "But if you are always anxious, you will find that no matter how you compare, it is not good."
Seratus shook his head, clearing these cluttered thoughts from his mind. He left the system space, and in the real world, his grumbling stomach protested. "Okay, I'm hungry..."
Seratus rubbed his rumbling stomach and began to consider the issue of lunch. "Let's eat fertilizer now... Although there are still carrots to eat, carrots can be sold for points!" This made Seratus a little conflicted. After all, he hadn't yet tasted the carrots, and he was slightly curious, but fertilizer could quickly replenish his energy, and he could also exchange the carrots for points—this deal, Seratus quickly calculated in his mind, no matter how he calculated it, was extremely cost-effective!"
