No kobold objected to Jose's declaration of enslaving their tribe. Instead, they were ecstatic.
Being enslaved by a True Dragon was equivalent to being protected by it to a certain extent. With the protection of a True Dragon, a vicious event like three petrification lizards almost forcing the tribe to ruin would never happen again.
What?
Death was better than losing your freedom?
Such a declaration of resistance could only be the byproduct of a single species living in an era of abundant resources. Plus, dragons stood at the top among supernatural creatures and were born superior to the lower kobolds.
Looking down at the kneeling kobold, Jose was very satisfied as he shouted, "Who is the leader? Come out!"
In fact, he had already noticed the strong kobold who was exchanging glances with Ergou. This kobold was taller than a normal kobold by a head, and the muscles on his body were bulging like they were going to burst.
As expected, the kobold stood up and lowered his head to look at the True Dragon's toes in respect. He said, "Great Masters, I am the current chief of the blood-tooth tribe — Soda."
"My servant, tell me how many people does the blood-tooth tribe have now? How many warriors are there?"
"Master, we have 332 tribesmen. Other than 63 children, the rest of the kobolds, including the females, can use weapons to fight."
Jose glanced at the kobolds who were still kneeling on the ground and realized that they were all young and strong.
As for why there were no elderly kobolds, it was because they had a tradition of banishing their elderly. This had nothing to do with conscience. Due to a lack of food for a long time, the elderly kobolds had to make room for newborns.
He mused for a moment. There was no point in bringing too many people with him in a narrow mine. Besides, he and Cassie were there.
"Choose twenty elite warriors and reclaim the mine with me."
The kobolds cheered, and Soda could not hide his joy. Only Ergou, who had expected this, was calm, but he clenched his fists in excitement.
After a while, the selection was completed. Ergou whispered a few words to Soda, and the kobold leader gave the order to distribute the few remaining grains to the chosen warriors.
The small actions of the two could not be hidden from Jose. He was even more satisfied with this subordinate now. He was meticulous in letting the warriors eat to replenish their energy. This would greatly increase everyone's combat strength and reduce unnecessary casualties. Another thing worth mentioning was that Ergou addressed Soda as "elder brother".
The 20 kobolds quickly finished their meal.
"Let's go."
Following Jose's command, everyone set off.
Half an hour later, they arrived at a small hill covered in vegetation. The hill was almost five hundred meters high. There was a hidden entrance to the mine at the corner of the hill.
"Master, this is it!" Ergou pointed at the pitch-black cave opening the size of half a door.
With such a small cave, it was only natural that Jose's massive body would not be able to enter. However, he had the inheritance of dragons.
There was a spell in the inheritance that was specially used to deal with such situations — Body Shrinking. The Body Shrinking Spell could shrink a large creature's body to the size of a cat. The specifics depended on the strength of the dragon itself.
He quickly chanted the incantation, and his body shrunk at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the end, he became the size of a tiger.
Jose twisted his neck unhappily. The shrinking spell gave the dragon an uncomfortable feeling, as if he were wearing a tight suit.
"Boss Jose, I—" Cassie pointed to the narrow entrance; it was obvious what he wanted to say.
Jose frowned. He had not considered this situation, so he suggested, "How about this? Cassie, go back and guard the camp. I can deal with the three petrification lizards."
"Okay."
"Soda, take someone in to scout the area and find the location of the petrification lizards."
"Yes!"
Cassie left, and Soda led the warriors into the cave. Jose moved his body around at the entrance to the cave. It was the first time he had used his Body Shrinking spell. He had to get used to the change.
His tail slammed into the ground, and he took a good look at the depth of the indentation.
"My strength is only at 70% of my peak, but my agility has increased."
He released some dragon breath and found that its attack range was reduced by 40%; he nodded in satisfaction.
One had to know that the range of the dragon breath was largely dependent on the size of the dragon and the strength of its body. The length of Jose's body had been reduced to a third of the original, and the attack distance of the dragon breath was reduced by nearly forty percent. According to the magic records in the inheritance of dragons, it was normal for a body shrunken to a third the size to have the dragon breath be halved. Clearly, his body was stronger than that of a dragon of the same age.
"Ergou, lead the way."
"Yes."
Jose followed his new subordinates and stepped into the dark mine. The ground of the mine was covered with a layer of gravel, and when he stepped on it, the pebbles made a sharp sound.
The deeper they went, the larger the space in the mine became. In the end, it could almost accommodate the Red Dragon's original body size.
This arrangement showed the unique survival wisdom of the kobolds. The cave entrance was made narrow to make it easier to defend and conceal, while the interior space was because of their production needs.
"Master, this is only the periphery of the Blood-Tooth Mine. The innermost area is bigger, and there are eight specially dug living areas. If even you lived there, you wouldn't have felt crowded."
Noticing the curious True Dragon looking around, Ergou said proudly, "Our blood-tooth tribe has been around for more than a hundred years. At our peak, we had three thousand members and were the largest kobold tribe around the area. At that time, there were even human merchants who traveled thousands of kilometers to our village to buy ores!"
"Then why did it decline?"
"Oh, eight years ago, the ore veins here were all dug out, leaving behind only some inferior ores. Then, the tribe split up, and most of the tribesmen moved away."
"I see." Jose was even more satisfied with this mine. Was there a better place to live in than a huge and inconspicuous used-up mine?
At this moment, a kobold warrior ran over from afar.
"Master, we found the petrification lizards. They are in the first living area."
"Lead the way."
"Yes!"
Following the kobold warrior, Jose arrived at the so-called first living area. As Ergou had said, he would not feel crowded even if he stayed there.
This was a huge circular space with a diameter of 500 meters and a height of 30 to 40 meters. The bumpy ceiling looked like it had been chewed on by a dog. There were still some ores left on the greenish-black rocks. The entire area seemed to have been hollowed out and modified.
The ground had been smoothed out, and there were densely packed tents everywhere. The tents were made of wood, hemp rope, dirty cloth, and animal fur. They looked very old and were covered in grease.
And everyone's target — the petrification lizards — had settled down near the first living area.
At this moment, the three petrification lizards had also discovered the intruders. They formed a triangular formation and faced the kobolds from afar. Their forked tongues stuck out from time to time, and their tails swayed uneasily. Their tongues could smell danger.
The dangerous aura did not belong to the kobolds.
The three petrification lizards became even more uneasy when they saw the dragon that appeared in the corner. Their muscles tensed up as their claws dug into the ground, and their breathing became faster and faster like a beating drum.
While the petrification lizards were observing Jose, he was also doing the same.
Their six-meter-long bodies were thick and strong, and their gray skin was dry and creased like the wrinkles at the corners of an old person's eyes. Most noteworthy of all were the eyes of the petrification lizards. Those two light-gray eyeballs would shoot out rays, and that was how they got their name.
"Three petrification lizards, one male and two female. This is a typical family of lizards," Jose muttered, his eyes narrowing on his opponents.
The petrification lizard was a supernatural species that was neither weak nor strong. It was as harmless as a cat in front of an adult dragon, but Jose was not an adult dragon. He estimated that he could defeat two petrification lizards at the same time, but if there were three, it would likely lead to a draw.
He decided to be cautious so as to not fail. He looked at his 22 servants, including the two kobold brothers.
According to the usual behavior of evil dragons, they would definitely send their servants to be the vanguard while they waited by the side for an opportunity. However, this would result in many casualties.
Jose did not want to see casualties. He was not a good dragon, but he had his principles.
In Jose's mind, he thought, Since you're my followers, I'm obligated to take responsibility for your lives and safety.
"Soda! Ergou! Each of you will lead ten warriors to deal with a petrification lizard. You do not need to win, just stall for time. I will finish off my opponent as quickly as possible and then support you."
"Yes!"
"I'll leave the two females to you! Go!" As he spoke, Jose deactivated his Body Shrinking spell, and his body expanded rapidly.