When the outer layer of gems had all scattered to the ground, revealing the inner layers, Garon was initially stunned. It was only after regaining his senses that he finally understood the true reason why the young White Dragon Mother had managed to amass such a trove of gems.
The truth left Garon speechless, internally cursing the White Dragon Mother as a vain dragon who even deceived herself.
The real gems were only a thin outer layer; most of what was inside were the fangs of a large beast species, sleek, reflective, and sharply elongated, which admittedly looked quite nice.
But the issue was, no matter how nice they looked, they were still just fangs, real teeth, not some golden dentures.
Garon sighed as he recognized these fangs belonged to a large beast from the icy plains—a mammoth.
Mammoths ranked among the upper echelons of creatures on the icy plains. Within the territory of the White Dragon Mother, there was a herd of hundreds of mammoths, each typically reaching a height of three to four meters as adults and starting at a weight of twenty tons. They were the main prey of the White Dragon Mother.
She had once warned several young dragons not to provoke the mammoths, as the juvenile dragons were no match for such large beasts.
Aside from dragons, frost wolves, northern berserk bears, and other top predators, the mammoths had almost no natural enemies in the far north icy plains.
But what Garon had not expected was that she would secretly collect mammoth tusks and pass them off as gems to make her treasure trove appear more abundant.
To Garon, the entire value of these tusks together couldn't compare to a single real magical gem.
In addition to the mammoth tusks, there were also some magical ice crystals created by the White Dragon Mother, irregularly shaped and emitting bursts of cold air, pretending to be noble and rare magical gems.
"So, dragons can also puff up their faces to look fat."
Garon felt deceived, and turned his head annoyed to look at the White Dragon Mother, who was still unconscious.
Upon further reflection, he thought back to when he had stolen gems; had he taken a few more, he might have discovered the truth sooner. Unfortunately, he was too young back then, his sense of elemental energy not as sharp as it is now, and he naively believed that the White Dragon Mother had the ability to amass such wealth.
Now, seeing her true savings, Garon wanted to ask her how she could sleep at night with such deceit.
"Never mind, I can't expect too much from the White Dragon Mother, after all, she isn't truly mature yet."
Garon had to accept this reality and began to seriously count his own magical gems.
Before long, the unconscious White Dragon Mother's body trembled slightly, and a low dragon's hum unconsciously escaped her lips as she slowly awoke from her stupor.
Her head still ached, her vision was somewhat blurry, and she was not fully recovered, but she was alive enough to move around. The vitality of a true dragon is quite strong, and as long as they are not killed in one blow, they recover from injuries very quickly.
The moment she opened her eyes, the White Dragon Mother saw Garon counting her gems, his face a mix of disdain and delight.
"My gems!"
"Garon, what are you trying to do? Don't touch my gems!"
The White Dragon Mother immediately glared, stood up, stretched her wings, and roared menacingly at Garon, about to rush over and drive him away thoughtlessly.
But she hadn't fully recovered yet, and her movements were awkward and wobbly, hardly a threat in Garon's eyes.
With a flick of his dragon tail, Garon smacked the White Dragon Mother against the ice crystal walls, causing her to whimper in frustration.
Her voice was too low, and Garon didn't catch what she said, but he guessed it was a string of curses.
Gathering all the real magical gems under his dragon arm, Garon first buried his head in them and took a deep breath, then turned around refreshed and said calmly to the White Dragon Mother, "Sulia, it seems you still haven't grasped the reality."
"You are no longer a match for me, and in the far north ice plains, strength reigns supreme. This lair, these treasures, the moment you were defeated by me, they changed owners."
He paused, his tone dangerous and his expression serious, "These are now my treasures, and you'd better not get any ideas."
Sulia looked at the little fortune she had amassed over fifty years through kidnapping small kingdom princesses and robbing human caravans, a struggle gathered in her eyes as tears started to well up.
But the pride and arrogance of a dragon did not allow her to feel this weakness.
Sulia held back her sense of humiliation, her feelings very conflic
ted.
On the other side, Garon swept the mammoth tusks and magical ice crystals he was not interested in towards the White Dragon Mother with his dragon tail.
"I'm curious why you put tusks and magic ice crystals in the pile of gems. Was it to make the gems seem more plentiful?"
Garon's smile was mocking, his eyes strange as he exposed her scheme right in front of the White Dragon Mother.
Sulia, after a moment of stunned silence, couldn't maintain her dignity, and momentarily forgot her anger about the stolen treasures.
She stammered out an explanation, "I, I just like tusks as much as I like gems. I wasn't trying to pretend my treasure vault was full. Don't slander me."
Garon nodded, not pushing further on the White Dragon Mother's pitiful vanity.
"I see, since you like them, I'll give these tusks and magical ice crystals to you as a token of gratitude for the shelter you provided me over the past year."
Garon pushed the items toward the White Dragon Mother, his face generously spirited.
"You, me. I."
Sulia's mood was very downcast, wanting Garon to leave her some gems, but her pride made it hard to speak out.
Having been defeated and robbed by Garon, she had resigned herself to her fate.
Such incidents were not uncommon among evil dragons; the strong taking from the weak was a normal occurrence, and usually, they did not kill their victims.
Sulia had also robbed other young white dragons weaker than herself.
Only, being successfully robbed by a two-year-old dragonling, she was a unique case.
Sulia looked at Garon's twelve-meter-long dragon form, feeling somewhat bewildered.
"Is this really a two-year-old?"
She didn't understand how Garon could grow so rapidly.
"Oh Mother of Evil Dragons, do you favor this hatchling so?" Sulia sighed inwardly.
Garon, observing the White Dragon Mother's complex expression, issued an eviction notice, "Alright, take your things, take Hil and leave. The ice cliff dragon lair and this territory are mine now."
"But I am not as heartless as you."
"I'll allow you access to my new territory to hunt, provided you pay the corresponding dues."
Sulia: