Chapter 34: The Secret

Locke had already rested in the city for a week, but he had yet to receive the orders from above. In the meantime, he kept himself busy by learning all sorts of magic at Clifford’s house. Seeing that Locke was buried under a magic book, Clifford called out to Locke who was fast asleep, “Get up!”

Locke did not want to move. He had been too tired recently. He had already learned most of the high-level spells. What he wanted to do now was to have a good sleep!

Seeing that his gentle actions could not wake him up, Clifford immediately went to the kitchen and took out a spoon and a frying pan.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He clashed the spoon against the frying pan right next to Locke’s ear. Locke jumped out from the pile of books.

“Ah! Clifford, are you crazy!”

Seeing Locke jumping around like a maniac, Clifford helplessly spread out his hands and said, “I don’t have a choice either! It’s your fault for not getting up!”

Then, Clifford immediately passed the secret order from the king to Locke.

Locke immediately frowned when he read the secret order. The gist of it was that the second generation of the Steel Dragons had been completed, but no one could control it. Hence, he ordered Locke to see if he could control it.

After reading it, Locke immediately destroyed the paper in his hand.

“This! I already have the first generation steel dragon, now they want me to try controlling the second generation of Steel Dragons. If I succeed, wouldn’t it be extremely awkward?”

Hearing Locke’s thoughts, Clifford said, “You were lucky enough to be able to control the first generation Steel Dragon! The second generation was personally designed by the High Priest’s granddaughter, Lamira. It’s going to be much different!”

If Clifford hadn’t said Lamira’s name, Locke would still think it was okay. However, after hearing her name, Locke’s eyes started to twitch crazily. He had a feeling this was all Lamira’s doing. With this conflicted emotion, Locke followed Clifford to the Thanos Technology Tower.

Ischel Fergus was as energetic as ever as she walked toward them in her professional uniform.

“It’s been some time since we last met. It’s great that you’re still alive! I only met the previous captain of the Team 5 three times, and he died during a mission!”

After hearing Ischel Fergus’s words, Locke ignored her. Seeing Locke’s cold reaction, she immediately realized that she had gone overboard. Lowering her head, she said to Locke, “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Ever since I became the receptionist here, very few members from Team 1 to Team 8 have lived past a year! I have no intention of cursing you!”

After apologizing, she brought Locke and Clifford to the research lab deep in the underground. The evolved version of the original steel dragon was placed on the platform. This one was even more imposing than the one Locke had been controlling. By just standing in front of it, one could feel the immense power of the magic flowing through its body!

The first thing Lamira did when she saw Locke was to take the weapon from his waist. Then, she quickly scanned it and found that the weapon had not advanced to the next stage. Disappointed, she returned the weapon to Locke! At the same time, she said, “Have you not been doing your missions properly recently? Your weapon has not grown at all!”

Locke could only helplessly spread his hands and explain, “I don’t even know how to advance this weapon to the next stage! It would seem that using it in a battle doesn’t seem to advance it. I need to find some other way to advance it!”

After hearing Locke’s words, Lamira felt even more helpless, but this was not the reason why he came today.

She immediately transferred a contract to Locke. New dragon contract lines quickly appeared on the back of Locke’s hand. In a short while, these lines merged with the two contract lines on his wrist. Locke raised his hand, and the second-generation metal dragon in front of him immediately turned into a green light and flew behind him. The three dragon-shaped patterns moulded together, making the dragon-shaped tattoo appear even more ferocious.

Seeing this, Lamira did not seem surprised at all, because this steel dragon had been developed based on the research data she obtained from Locke’s weapon. However, this time, Lamira had left a backer in the second generation Steel Dragon, which could prevent Locke from completely merging with the Steel Dragon.

After accepting the contract with the steel dragon, Locke’s system immediately displayed a new status. He also received a notification from the system: Congratulations to the host for obtaining a new Steel Giant Dragon! The second generation Hanos’ Steel Dragon has a backer loophole. Do you want to fix this loophole? Warning, Lamira can activate the loophole to remove the host’s complete control over the dragon!”

Upon hearing the system notification, Locke finally understood why Lamira was so willing to give this steel dragon to him. However, Locke could not take away the control rights just like that. Carrying an old steel dragon with him was still acceptable to the king’s senate. After all, Locke was now an important figure in the Dunmei Kingdom.

If he took full control of the second steel dragon as well, no matter how important Locke was, they would become very wary of Locke, because if Locke betrayed them, the losses to the Dunmei Kingdom would be too severe!

After some thought, Locke rejected the idea of fixing the loophole!

Seeing that Locke had successfully become one with the Steel Dragon, Lamira immediately took out a small square machine and tested it. Seeing that she still had control over the Steel Dragon, she was relieved. Immediately, she grabbed Locke’s hand and brought him to the top of the tower, allowing Locke to directly unleash the Steel Dragon in front of her.

High in the sky, Locke asked Lamira in confusion, “Your grandfather is clearly the most powerful mage of time. Why can’t you use magic?”

Hearing this, Lamira was stunned. After a long while, she said, “This is a huge secret in my family. Do you want to hear it?”

Upon hearing this, Locke immediately wanted to reject it and resist his desire to know the secret. After hesitating for a while, Lamira saw that Locke remained silent and thought that he had silently agreed to everything.

“Well, back then, the development of my grandfather’s first generation Steel Dragon had already entered its final stage. However, when it came to resolving the core issues of the Steel Dragon, my grandfather was already at his wit’s end! Because it lacked the source of magic, even a complete dragon heart could not activate it!

“Originally, grandfather could have used a dragon’s heart as the foundation to complete the final phase of the experiment, but after the intense battle that broke out in the Kingdom, the number of dragons in the Kingdom of Dunmei had become very few.

“Without any other choice, for the sake of the kingdom, grandfather ruthlessly extracted my magic essence from my body! This is how the first-generation Steel Dragon obtained its heart!

“This is also the main reason why other countries are unable to create it!”