Chapter 523

The Sapphire Duchy is home to numerous volcanoes, such as the very large islands of Blue Dragon Island and Iron Hoof Island, both of which are dotted with active volcanoes. Even Coral Island has a volcano, albeit a dormant one, located between Birch City and North Valley City, where Liszt once explored.

Even Black Horse Island, in his speculation, is a dormant volcano.

"Should the Fire Drake be raised in a volcano?" he pondered with a frown. It makes logical sense for a young Fire Dragon to hide in a volcano.

It's even possible that young Fire Dragons don't need to eat food but instead bathe in magma—this is a magical creature formed by magic power, and it's hard to imagine how it survives.

Liszt watched the Fire Drake, which had recovered and was flying again, and thought, "Perhaps without the support of a volcano, the Fire Drake needs to consume ordinary blood food and magic potions to provide the nutrients required for its development... But I have no way to raise it in a volcano."

The active volcanoes in the Sapphire Duchy are all within the territories of other nobles.

Other dormant or extinct volcanoes are difficult to access magma, and naturally, they wouldn't generate the magic power needed by the Fire Dragon.

"Should I secretly send the Fire Drake to a volcano and let it soak in the magma?" This thought flashed through his mind but was quickly dismissed. "If the Fire Drake's presence is exposed, it would be troublesome, and it's still uncertain whether the volcano can help the Fire Drake grow... It would be best to find an island similar to Hawaii on the sea."

Hawaii Island has a Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Inside, there are two active volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Kilauea, with Kilauea being the most active volcano in the world, continuously erupting since 1983.

Almost every day, magma erupts from the volcano, making it the best place to watch volcanic eruptions.

Unfortunately, finding a Hawaiian-like island in this world is as difficult as finding another Fire Dragon. Even if active volcanoes are found, it's not certain to see magma, as the magma is hidden inside the volcano. Only volcanoes like Kilauea, which continuously erupt, can easily access magma.

He shook his head.

He put away the rope and forced himself to cheer up, "Anyway, at least I've thought of a way to raise the Fire Drake. I'll slowly investigate and find an island with a volcano on the Sapphire Sea. When I earn a promotion in rank through the pioneering order, I'll claim an island with a volcano!"

Promotion from Viscount to Earl.

The island will definitely need to expand, and a new large island can be chosen for development; if not too troublesome, many small islands can be combined.

...

Just as Liszt was living frugally.

Another piece of bad news reached him, brought by the manager of the chicken farm—a seasoned chicken farmer who discovered that the five eggs Liszt had sent over had died and could no longer hatch into chicks.

"Are you sure they're dead?"

In the chicken farm of Flower Town, Liszt stared at the manager with a grim expression.

The manager reported nervously, "Lord, these eggs... they are indeed dead... I held them up to the sunlight, and they were very dark and red, and they already smelled bad."

Accompanying the manager was Administrator Isaiah, who added, "Sir, Old Vasily is the most knowledgeable about eggs in the chicken farm. He can tell at a glance whether an egg is dead or alive. The brooding of the hens in the chicken farm is all arranged by him, and his judgment is almost never wrong."

Taking a deep breath, Liszt said calmly, "I see, these eggs... throw them away."

"Yes, sir."

"Isaiah, go check the duck farm again. I want to know if those duck eggs are also dead. Also, check the ten mallard duck eggs and see if they're dead." Accepting reality, he immediately thought of two types of duck eggs.

The report from the duck farm came quickly.

Indeed, like the chicken farm, those duck eggs were dead, but the duck farm manager was still unsure and had the ducks continue to incubate them.

A day later.

News also came from Black Horse Island that no one could confirm whether the ten mallard duck eggs were dead, but one of the eggs had turned black, and it seemed to have spoiled inside.

Basically.

This batch of eggs infected by the dragon's bloodline and magic power infection has all died. All the hard work turned out to be futile, and Liszt was in a bad mood. He had originally hoped to obtain dragon-breed chickens, ducks, and mallards to supplement nutrition and improve the dietary conditions of the territory.

Now, he can only pin his hopes on dragon-breed cattle and dragon-breed pigs.

"Master, perhaps only a few of those duck eggs have died, and the remaining ones might still hatch into ducklings," Carter, the butler, noticed Liszt's mood and tried to comfort him.

"I am well aware that all those eggs and duck eggs are dead," Liszt smiled slightly, seemingly unaffected. "Don't worry about me; this is just an unexpected setback. Scientific experiments are never smooth sailing. This time, the attempt to improve the breed failed, but next time, with adjustments, I will surely achieve the desired results."

He was already certain that all the eggs and duck eggs were dead.

The reason was simple.

The latest smoke task reward was twenty-two dragon-breed pigs, not dragon-breed chickens or ducks. According to the incubation period, eggs only take twenty-one days, and duck eggs take twenty-eight days, much shorter than the gestation period of a sow. The smoke task rewards should have prioritized eggs and duck eggs.

After all, these are dragon-related creatures, worthy of being rewards for smoke tasks.

The absence of dragon-breed chickens and ducks and the appearance of dragon-breed pigs indicate that the dragon-breed chickens and ducks were likely killed on the spot by the dragon's aura or dragon's bloodline.

He now considered another question: "Poultry such as chickens, ducks, and geese are probably too weak to withstand the dragon's aura or the infection of the dragon's bloodline... Mallards, being magical creatures, should have been able to withstand it, but they didn't. Why is that? Could it be that eggs, as individual life forms, cannot accept the dragon's bloodline?"

Thus, he concluded.

To obtain dragon-related poultry, the infection should probably target the hens, ducks, and geese themselves, rather than their eggs. Ordinary chickens, ducks, and geese might not be viable.

"Loki, the land bird, is also a type of bird. Its existence shows that birds can be infected with the dragon's bloodline, and it was originally just a low-level dragon beast, transformed from a low-level magical creature. This indicates that mallards, being low-level magical creatures, have the potential to be infected... Next time, I should bring female mallards to be infected."

As an old friend of the invisible dragon and a Fire Drake knight, Liszt was confident that he would have many more opportunities to obtain dragon-related creatures in the future.

Therefore, regarding the death of the eggs and duck eggs, he was only briefly disheartened before returning to normal.

And time passed unknowingly.

March quickly arrived, and soon it was March 9th, his eighteenth birthday. In the Sapphire Duchy, sixteen is considered adulthood, so eighteen is just an ordinary birthday. But for Liszt, the time traveler, eighteen signifies the age of adulthood in his hometown.

As the sun rose, holding the milk tea personally brewed by Mrs. Mossen after her recovery, he stood under the apple tree wormwood, looking at the fresh clover on the grass around the castle.

He felt uplifted: "Becoming a dragon knight before adulthood, my achievement is likely unparalleled. Difficulties are temporary; the future is destined to be bright and glorious!"