For the sake of the guest's safety, Ina didn't take Austin to the bustling Silver Empire or Neranka, but to the Dragonflame Restaurant in the nearby mist Town. She hung up a 'temporarily closed' sign, deciding to only serve Austin that day.
"What would you like to eat? Vanilla roast lamb? Grilled fish with sauce? Or chicken stew with mushrooms?" Ina asked as she flipped through the available food, "Would you like some wine? Mead or tequila?"
Austin didn't respond for a while. When Ina looked back, she found him with tears in his eyes: "Can I have them all? You eat so well?!"
Ina hesitated, "We, oh no, can't we dragons even get meat over there?"
At this point, Lesley had already brought up two large plates of roast lamb. Austin ate a big mouthful and explained, "The Old God Ruins are as barren as a desert. The only livestock we have are some chickens, and we can't eat too many of them at once, because if we eat them all, there will be no more chickens."
Ina also sighed. The majestic dragons, their lives are even less dignified than a weasel's. At least when a weasel eats a chicken, its trouble is not being able to take away so many chickens. Unlike Austin, it could barely taste meat.
"Where did the chicken come from? Are there chickens in the Old God Ruins?"
Austin was chowing down on the little lamb chops. He was already on his fourth plate: "Of course not. It's the chicken eggs that were brought by the humans who moved to the ruins with us hundreds of years ago. We treasured them more than dragon eggs and finally had chicken to eat."
Austin was eating so fiercely that he belched loudly.
Listening to this very regular rhythm, if Austin hadn't said that the eggs were brought by humans, Ina would have thought that he had laid the eggs.
She handed Austin a large glass of tequila. Austin took it and drank it all in one go, exclaiming in satisfaction.
The tequila Ina made with the Holy Oak Barrel was extremely strong, capable of knocking ordinary people out in one drink, and usually used as a base for cocktails, not served alone. But Austin, being a dragon, was quite fond of strong wine. Ina didn't know that in the Old God Ruins, wine was even more precious than chicken meat. Without surplus grains, even tasting beer was a luxury.
Ina was keen to learn more about the Old God Ruins, so she took the opportunity to ask Austin while he was in a good mood, "Are there many humans over there?" As far as Ina knew, a large number of ordinary humans, along with races such as goblins and dragons, had moved to the Old God Ruins.
Austin angrily bit through a chicken bone, "Many, aren't there? If they hadn't sent so many humans to accompany us, how could we have so easily believed that the Old God Ruins was a good place?"
He thought for a moment and added, "Because there are so many of them, despite many deaths, many also survived. If they hadn't figured out how to cultivate in the Old God Ruins, we wouldn't have survived there either."
Austin reached for his glass, finding it empty. Ina signaled to Lesley, who immediately brought over a larger glass filled with tequila.
Today was undoubtedly the most comfortable day Austin had had since birth. Not only was he the only silver dragon to have returned to the Moro Continent through space, becoming a hero who saved everyone, but he also happened to meet Ina, a fellow dragon and enjoyed a sumptuous lunch.
The vanilla-roasted lamb chops were the ultimate delicacy! The crispy skin was wrapped in thick spices, perfectly revealing the delicate and delicious taste of the lamb meat. The juices inside were rich and hot. This was definitely the most delicious meal Austin had had in three hundred years!
And of course, the wine! The brewing skill of this fellow dragon was on par with that of dwarves. The tequila was rich in flavor, with both the bitter taste of caramel and the fierce spiciness in its sweetness. It felt like swallowing a burning cactus. Forgive Austin's odd analogy at this time, because he had drunk a lot. Nearly 200 liters of tequila was larger than his humanoid form.
His tongue was numb, and his consciousness was a bit hazy as if he had flown high into the sky without needing to flap his wings. Ina finally seized the opportunity and asked, "You've gone through so much trouble to come to the Moro Continent. You want to open the space passage between the two places, right? Is there anything I can help with?"
Austin looked at her in confusion, seemingly confirming that the one in front of him was of his kind and safe to share secrets with. He then said with difficulty, "You see these fogs? As long as I ignite them, it'll 'boom!', and the space passage sealed by humans will be opened again."
Ina stared in surprise at the dense mist that shrouded the sky outside Misty Town. She knew this was no ordinary fog, but what did Austin mean by "ignite"?
Her face grew more and more serious as she continued to ask questions.
Austin answered a few more questions in a vague manner before completely collapsing on the table. The moment he lost consciousness, the lime tree chair beneath his backside collapsed with a bang, tilting the table and shattering the dishes on it.
Lesley was startled and wanted to help Austin, who had fallen to the ground, but Ina shook her head at her, saying, "I'll handle it."
Unconscious Austin weighed as much as when he was in dragon form, so it was impossible for Lesley, a young girl, to help him up.
Ina took Austin to a room behind the restaurant and prepared to rush out. She had to study what was going on with the damn fog in Mist Town as soon as possible.
Ina bumped into someone. The restaurant wasn't open to the public today, so anyone here would either be an employee or a family member. Looking up, it was indeed Elvys. Ina grabbed him and asked, "The fog here is so strange, haven't you sent someone to investigate?"
Elvys repeated in confusion, "You mean the dense fog in Mist Town?"
The two walked outside the restaurant and looked up at the thick fog that had remained unchanged for years.
"Considering that we are so close to the Old God Ruins and the anomalies in the fog occurred after other races entered the ruins, the Empire certainly wouldn't have ignored it. I recently came across the Empire's research on the fog here. They believed that there was a strange magical energy in the fog. This energy is not found in any mineral or gas on the Moro Continent, but it's not something to be alarmed about."
Elvys took out a piece of paper and handed it to Ina, "This energy is non-toxic and doesn't affect humans. Although it's free magic energy, it can't be absorbed by mages. Its only effect is to slightly influence the growth of magical beasts and magical plants, which is why there are so many different kinds of magical beasts and plants in the Midnight Swamp."
Ina took the paper and examined it carefully. This was the conclusion reached by various experts after the Silver Empire was established and tests were done on the fog. It was the same as before, thinking that this strange magical energy in the fog is harmless but impossible to remove. This fog stubbornly enveloped Misty Town and Midnight Swamp, only increasing, never decreasing.
"It's not that simple." Ina folded the paper, "I just encountered a silver dragon."
Elvys looked serious. A silver dragon suddenly appeared on the continent, the answer was obvious, "It came from the Old God Ruins?"
"He also revealed his purpose, which is to reopen the space passage between the continent and the ruins. This fog is the key."
——————
Ever since Ina found out that the fog above Mist Town could serve as fuel for an explosion, she felt as if she and her restaurant were sitting on a barrel of gunpowder. She had to figure out everything before Austin woke up; she didn't want to find out one day that her first restaurant on the Moro continent had become ruins.
It might be difficult for her to figure out everything on her own, but luckily, she had powerful outside help.
Soon, Elvys brought a group of disheveled guys in a single file. These people were professors from various relevant departments of the Star Academy. At this moment, some of them were conducting experiments, some were teaching, and some were napping. But now they were all rounded up and asked to come to a meeting in Misty Town.
The restaurant tables were put together into a large long table to hold the various instruments brought by these professors. The restaurant's closure was extended again. Ina stood at the end of the table, her hands resting on the tabletop, and spoke seriously: "Gentlemen, we don't have much time. We need to quickly understand the relationship between this fog and the opening of the space passage to the Old God Ruins."
The strange dense fog above Midnight Swamp had been there for many years, and many scholars had tried to unravel its secrets. Several professors present had participated in related research, and they brought previous research data.
"This fog is incredibly stable, neither fire nor lightning can cause it to change. It's hard to imagine it as an ignitable gas."
Another professor proposed a direction: "Maybe the 'detonation' or 'ignition' here is just a metaphor. We should not limit our thinking to the literal 'burning'."
The other professors seemed thoughtful. Professor Derick was also present this time. He first went out to collect some fog samples and compared them with the fog samples preserved in the academy from a hundred years ago to recent years, and found no significant changes.
"Can the spatial passage really be opened this way?" Professor Dunham questioned. He was very skeptical of the silver dragon's statement of igniting the fog to open the spatial passage.
Elvys stood at the other end of the table with his arms crossed: "The fact that the people inside the Old God Ruins can send the fog they create here proves that the passage is not completely closed as previous people have said, but retains at least a small gap."
It's like drilling a hole in a cliff and then sealing it tight with rocks, but if you place dynamite on the cliff, the first things to loosen would be those rocks. Ina could imagine that if she was tricked into a desolate secret place and locked in for 300 years, she would also try to get out at all costs, even if it meant blowing a hole in the entire continent.
A professor who was skilled in energy calculation did a projection on paper and finally concluded, "If the energy from this explosion can open the space passage between the two planes, this energy can also flatten Misty Town, Yas Mountains, and even Bant City."
Everyone held their breath. Professor Derick broke the silence, "Can't we first control this silver dragon? I'm afraid he will act recklessly and detonate it right away. No one would be able to escape by then."
Ina gave a bitter smile, "He is indeed drunk now, and won't wake up for a while. This is our last chance. Don't forget, he is not just a dragon, but a dragon skilled in space magic."
This was even more troublesome, there were powerful warriors who could slay dragons, but no one could imprison a silver dragon skilled in spatial jumps.
"Even if we can imprison or even kill Austin, wouldn't there be other silver dragons coming from the Old God Ruins? So," Elvys straightened up, "The ultimate solution is to completely solve this fog."
The dozen or so professors worked for two days, and the spacious table was filled with various types of test papers, potion bottles, and experimental equipment. Many professors hadn't closed their eyes for two days and two nights, their eyes full of bloodshot, hair messy like a bird's nest. Because they were really too absorbed, Ina had to place food trays next to them, filled with easy-to-grab food, so they could eat while thinking, to prevent the professors from fainting due to hunger.
Even so, Ina saw more than one professor who was so engrossed in their notebook that they almost put their hand into a crucible filled with boiling liquid.
"Careful!" She got up and stopped a professor who almost severely burned his hand. A book had been on Ina's knee, and the heavy book fell to the floor as she moved.
Before this little accident, Ina was flipping through the Scholar's Book. Ever since she saw a piece of gossip about "Viscount Reed planning to poison the soil of a certain farm" and successfully thwarted the viscount's scheme, she decided to take back her words that the Scholar's Book did not deserve a four-and-a-half-star rating.
Ina was just looking at the new messages that appeared in recent days, hoping to get some inspiration. She had just seen the message "The chicken king of Frank's chicken coop set an egg-laying record today, laying four eggs in one day!"
This professor named Phoebus picked up the Scholar's Book that had fallen on the floor with a very apologetic look and dusted off the dust on it.
She caught sight of a line: "Potion storage rule one: Both the Old Blue Potion and the Maril Potion are incredibly stable liquids, but a blend of the two causes an explosion. Please remember not to let them be neighbors in your backpack, nor drink these two potions at the same time."
Phoebus froze, her eyes unblinkingly fixed on these lines as if she had been suddenly reminded of something. Following her gaze, Ina also read the sentence. She didn't know much about potions, but she knew that Maril Potion was used for preservation, and she didn't understand why the Scholar's Book would remind her not to drink it. After all, no one would drink formaldehyde, right?