Chapter 146: Chu Zihang’s New Power

"Am I still a child?"

Constantin felt a bit puzzled. He had the impression that Chen Moshitong had thought of something rather impolite.

Before he could dwell on it, Chen Moshitong smiled and changed the subject. "We're friends now. Don't call me Chen Moshitong anymore. Everyone calls me Nono, so you can just call me Nono from now on."

"No-no-no?"

Constantin froze on the spot.

On the other side, Norton quickly turned his head, casting his gaze toward Chen Moshitong and Constantin. He couldn't help but furrow his brows slightly, having just heard his younger brother call out his name, though the way he said it felt rather strange.

Did he say... Nono?

I, the mighty Dragon King Norton, being called Nono by my younger brother?

He had been busy observing Lu Mingfei just moments ago and hadn't paid any attention to what Chen Moshitong had said. The only thing that mattered to him was whether his younger brother was addressing him; everything else was trivial.

"Mm-hmm, that works just fine."

Chen Moshitong nodded slightly with a smile.

Her words, falling into Norton's ears, plunged the Dragon King into an even deeper layer of confusion and bewilderment.

What on earth is happening?

Constantin realized Norton's confusion right away and took the initiative to explain with a smile, "Big brother, Chen Moshitong's nickname is Nono. Her friends all call her that. We're teammates now, so she asked me to address her this way too."

"Oh~"

Norton understood and replied, "So that's how it is. I was wondering who this Nono person was."

"Of course you were calling me, it couldn't possibly be Norton, right? Hahaha," Chen Moshitong joked casually.

"Uh... haha..."

Norton chuckled, though a rather uncomfortable sensation suddenly welled up inside him. Clearly, he was the Dragon King, he was Norton, yet his younger brother was calling someone else Nono.

Though he wouldn't voice any objections on the surface, it felt a little strange in his heart. Chen Moshitong's name had nothing whatsoever to do with the syllable "No," yet she insisted on being called Nono, whereas the very first character of Norton's name was "No," and yet he couldn't be addressed by his brother using his own name. Wasn't this a form of...

"Pfft!"

Lu Mingfei suddenly burst out laughing, though he quickly managed to hold it back and hurriedly explained, "Don't look at me. I just suddenly remembered a friend telling me about some absurdly hilarious trend in the dragon-slaying circle lately. What he said just cracked me up."

"What did he say?"

"Logistics personnel are just like that. Frontline soldiers only need to follow orders and fight bravely against the enemy, while their logistics department has so many things to take into consideration," Lu Mingfei answered with a smile.

"...That truly is absurd."

Norton and Constantin fell silent at the same time. Even though they had lived for an immensely long time and witnessed countless bizarre notions, human diversity never failed to bring them a fresh wave of shock. Perhaps... this too was a form of human "extremity."

Wait... no!

This guy was just laughing at me!

Realizing this, Norton snapped back to his senses and quickly raised his head to glare at Lu Mingfei. His mood hadn't been great to begin with, and now he was being mocked by someone who was in on the joke. This was simply too agonizing.

"Eh-heh?"

Lu Mingfei tilted his head slightly with a smile, his face blooming with a radiance as bright as the morning sun.

"Hmph!"

Norton let out a cold snort, thinking to himself: *When you come asking me for alchemy lessons later, I'll show you the true meaning of cruelty!*

Inside the couples' hotel,

Xia Mi watched the little puppy leap in through the window, a wave of excited joy blooming across her face as she muttered to herself, "Alright, it finally worked!"

Following her carefully orchestrated sequence of operations, the little puppy had successfully pilfered the dragon bone power of "Constantin" from beneath the Three Gorges, firmly incorporating this power into the Evil Eye to forge a powerful Dragon's Heart.

Before initiating the process, Xia Mi had already instructed Chu Zihang to infuse a fraction of his will into the Evil Eye. The function of this will was akin to binding an owner, preventing the puppy from directly merging with the Dragon's Heart and turning into the first dog monarch in history.

Succeeding was naturally the best possible outcome, but even if she failed, she could still extract the dragon bone power from the puppy through her own methods. As long as it carried this power out of the Bronze City, it would already count as a success for her.

"The power of the Dragon's Heart is still quite well-concealed, after all."

Xia Mi murmured as she looked at the little puppy with a sense of sentiment.

If her own dragon bone power hadn't vanished directly from Chu Zihang's body, and if there hadn't been a wondrous resonance between her dragon bone and her true self, she probably would have found it hard to notice that Chu Zihang possessed a Dragon's Heart fused with her power. Even if the puppy obtained the Dragon's Heart infused with that power, it would still have been difficult for her to spot any anomalies.

This thing is truly useful! I am simply the most talented genius in this world when it came to utilizing the Evil Eye!

Xia Mi thought proudly.

"Are you certain you want me to fuse with this thing?"

Chu Zihang asked abruptly.

Though their plan had long been settled, and he was normally a cold and taciturn man, at a moment like this, he still couldn't help but ask once more.

"That's right. Having you fuse with it is the best outcome."

Xia Mi answered candidly.

"And what about you?"

"I'm fine just as I am. Even without the power of the Dragon's Heart, I am still very strong. It isn't a necessity for me," Xia Mi said.

"Is that so."

Chu Zihang replied softly, lowering his gaze.

He knew that Xia Mi was actually a Next-Generation species with an exceptionally high level of self-esteem. Though she never voiced it aloud, she loved it when he treated her as a First-Generation species, or even as an existence comparable to the Four Great Monarchs. When he once remarked that Xia Mi was the strongest Next-Generation species, she had even felt insulted... That was just how proud she was.

And yet, a Xia Mi like this, when faced with a Dragon's Heart that could grant her the power of a First-Generation species, could refuse it without a moment's hesitation...

She truly was far too kind!

"What are your head in the clouds about now? I simply feel that the feeling of being protected by someone is better than protecting someone else... Don't look at me with that kind of gaze!" Xia Mi said with a show of coy arrogance.

"Alright."

Chu Zihang nodded slightly.

He gently raised his hand to touch Xia Mi. After being touched, the latter's body suddenly trembled, her eyes fixed on the ground beneath her feet as she remained silent, though her chest began to heave rapidly.

No refusal meant acceptance, right?

His large hand clasped her small one, and a subtle warmth brewed between their fingertips, gradually heating up the atmosphere.

At that moment, what Xia Mi was actually thinking was... *Thank goodness I made him watch romance dramas for a few days, otherwise this blockhead would never have thought of these intimate little gestures between couples.*

Chu Zihang sensed the young girl's delight, gradually increasing the pressure of his grip before looking up and saying casually, "By the way, how are we supposed to extract the Dragon's Heart from its body?"

"Just stew Lu Mingfei into soup."

Xia Mi snorted softly.

"!!!"

Chu Zihang's expression shifted instantly. He pulled his hand away from Xia Mi's clasp and said, "No, that's the little dog he gave me. The least I can do is raise it properly. How could we possibly do something like that?"

"..."

The smile on Xia Mi's face froze. The warmth and gratitude in her heart were instantly wiped clean, and her resentment toward Lu Mingfei surged severalfold once again. She said, "I was just making a joke. Can't you even tell that much?"

"Oh, so that was it."

Chu Zihang breathed a sigh of relief, then instinctively reached out to touch Xia Mi again.

*Smack!*

He received a backhanded slap on the hand. It stung a little bit.

"Hmph!"

Xia Mi turned her head away in a huff, pouting her small lips and clearly striking a pose that screamed *I'm angry*, refusing to give Chu Zihang the slightest chance to touch her.

"Sigh~"

Chu Zihang sighed helplessly, thinking to himself: *She's angry again. She was clearly the one who started making such boundary-crossing jokes, and I just went along with it. It's not like I couldn't tell she was joking, so why is she still mad? How strange...*

If it were Junior Brother Lu Mingfei, he probably wouldn't act like this, right?

"Lu Mingfei, come here!"

Xia Mi commanded the little puppy directly.

"Wuwu~"

The little puppy let out a pitiful whine, moving its reluctant paws as it slowly walked toward Xia Mi.

Although it was only a dog, it was a dog affected by dragon blood, a dog strictly trained by a Dragon King, and a dog harbouring a Dragon's Heart within its body. Even though it wasn't the true master of the Dragon's Heart, the presence of the Dragon's Heart had granted it a not-inconsiderable enhancement.

It was no longer a mere mortal dog...

And intelligence, while elevating it, also endowed it with more troubles. Just like that internet meme: once apes evolved to a certain degree, they no longer wanted to continue evolving... because further evolution meant having to go to work.

"Sigh~"

Chu Zihang skillfully averted his gaze. He had witnessed similar scenes countless times before.

"Turn back around, you still have to absorb the Dragon's Heart!"

"Oh."

At Xia Mi's sharp yet tender cry, Chu Zihang had no choice but to turn his head back, looking at the little puppy standing near Xia Mi's feet. At that moment, although the little puppy still retained its previous appearance, its eyes had sublimated into golden vertical pupils, and the muscle lines on its body had become much more sharply defined.

Chu Zihang watched the little puppy and gradually perceived the will he had left behind within the Dragon's Heart, sensing the existence of the Dragon's Heart inside the puppy's body.

He slowly extended his hand, purple lightning flashing at his fingertips as it connected toward the puppy's body.

"Hmph, pretty self-aware, aren't you?"

Xia Mi said with a smile. It was best that Chu Zihang could figure out how to operate it on his own; that saved the most time. Otherwise, she would have had to try the methods from her own plans, which might have left the little puppy with deep psychological trauma.

Although she called the little puppy Lu Mingfei and looked merciless during training, this was, after all, a doggy that had accompanied her for a long time. Affection naturally grew over time, she just didn't care to express it out loud.

Gradually, a blue flash of lightning lit up inside the little puppy's body, echoing the purple electricity at Chu Zihang's fingertips. The crackling sound of electricity grew loud, and slowly, a blue-purple Dragon's Heart floated out from within the puppy's body.

"Huh? This color doesn't seem quite right..."

Xia Mi stroked her chin and fell into deep thought.

The color of the Evil Eye was purple. After fusing with the power of Constantin's dragon bone, it should have developed in the direction of purple-red. But now... why was its color blue-purple? Could it be that it had mutated?

Not only that, but she could sense that the power attribute of this Dragon's Heart didn't seem to be fire-related either. It felt more like thunder mixed with a bit of water.

Could it be that because the Bronze City was underwater, Constantin's power got waterlogged?

Xia Mi muttered internally while observing the Dragon's Heart even more closely, attempting to discover any anomalies from its appearance.

Under her skeptical gaze, the Dragon's Heart slowly merged into Chu Zihang's body, uniting within him with the original Dragon's Heart that had fused with Jörmungandr's dragon bone. Together, they formed an even stronger Dragon's Heart—a deep navy-blue Dragon's Heart.

"It succeeded just like that?"

Chu Zihang felt the surging power within his body and felt a slight sense of astonishment. He had originally thought that fusing with the Dragon's Heart would be much more difficult, and hadn't expected it to be this simple.

Having confirmed the success, Chu Zihang's gaze instinctively turned toward the little puppy in front of him, only to find that there were no obvious changes to its exterior, nor any side effects from him taking away the Dragon's Heart.

Perhaps it was because the Dragon's Heart was never truly bound to it in the first place, so removing it caused no adverse effects.

However...

"Its fur seems to have turned a pale blue. It appears the dragon bone of the King of Waters and Aquatic Life has had a slight influence on it," Chu Zihang analyzed carefully.

"Ah, yes."

Xia Mi chimed in, while the doubts in her heart grew even stronger. She was feeling quite bewildered right now. Shouldn't the Dragon King hidden beneath the Bronze City be Constantin? Why did this dragon bone look so much like that of the King of Waters and Aquatic Life?

This isn't right... This makes no sense!

Regardless of its form or attribute influences, it looked entirely like the dragon bone of the King of Waters and Aquatic Life, bearing a massive gap compared to the dragon bone of the King of Bronze and Fire. Clearly, when she had the little puppy steal it, the color of that dragon bone's power had been red. Why had it changed now? Surely nobody was playing a prank on her, right?

Impossible, absolutely impossible! How could anyone possibly think of that? Using the dragon bone of the King of Waters and Aquatic Life to prank someone—how could such a person even exist?

However...

Thinking about it carefully, the difficulty with which she watched the little puppy steal Constantin's dragon bone seemed a bit too low. It was so low that she almost suspected Constantin was already dead and just happened to have a dragon bone there, rather than her stealing the dragon bone's power from a living egg.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Chu Zihang asked with a puzzled expression as he watched Xia Mi fall into deep contemplation.

"What is the attribute of this dragon bone?"

Xia Mi asked.

"Water-related, of course. You said so yourself, the one hidden beneath the Bronze City is the King of Waters and Aquatic Life, and it's also a Dragon King with an old grudge against you. I've kept that clearly in mind the whole time," Chu Zihang replied, looking at her earnestly.

"Is that so."

Xia Mi gave a casual response, thinking to herself: *Could it be that my words became reality, and I genuinely changed the Dragon King beneath the Bronze City from Constantin into the Sea King? This doesn't match the intelligence I gathered back at Cassell College. Could there be an issue with Cassell College's information?*

After a brief reflection, she noticed that the power within the little puppy seemed to have completed a metamorphosis. Having been directly influenced by the Dragon's Heart, its life level at that moment had reached the Next-Generation species tier, though its power level was still quite weak.

A Next-Generation species? It?

Xia Mi fell silent for a moment, then looked down at her own small hands, suddenly realizing that she herself seemed to be only at the Next-Generation species tier right now—though she was the strongest Next-Generation species, of course.

In other words, right now, I am on the exact same level as this little puppy?

Σ(д|||)