Ignatius, welcome home.

The King of Black Dragons lingering in front of the Divine Tree stared at the Red-haired Girl standing before the tree house. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall any past interactions with her. His first encounter with her was within his father's dream; even though it was an illusory scene, it made him acutely feel the humiliation imposed by the Crimson Queen on their kind.

And now, this Red-haired Girl treated him as if he were a pet who had been away from home for years...

Indeed, that was the look one gives a pet. He had seen the same look on those human aristocrats. He deeply despised humans; everything he did was to drag the revered Crimson Queen from the Divine Tree down to the mortal world.

Black Steel often dreamed of a future world.

When the world of false fairy tales was torn apart, a grim reality would be shown to humanity. They would die amid the invasion of monsters, their territories seized, and survivors would be gradually forced to live in confined spaces. Yet, he did not plan to exterminate humans; to Black Steel, a better solution was to reinstate them within the food chain.

But he soon discovered an unusual anomaly.

The blue flames avoided the Red-haired Girl, who bathed calmly in the blazing fire, showing no sign of energy flow around her.

"You've done well, Ignatius, well done."

...

What exactly was this woman talking about?

Strange emotions surged in his heart, making Black Steel gradually realize a terrifying fact—he had actively directed the dragon's breath away from the Red-haired Girl, which undoubtedly consumed significant energy, and his mind behaved against his will.

"As a reward..."

The Red-haired Girl took out a red gemstone in front of him.

Under the illumination of the blue flames, the gemstone shattered into pieces, and something sealed within floated out like smoke toward Black Steel.

Reason made him avoid the whiff of smoke, yet his body once again defied his will.

The smoke was so familiar, as if it was inherently part of his body.

Soon after, the surging blue flames extinguished, and the location remained as the tree house. Sunlight streamed through the lush foliage into the tree house, forming a serene and peaceful scene—this memory did not belong to him, yet he appeared in the cabin as a young dragon.

Black Steel refused to believe the young dragon playing around and acting spoiled on the Red-haired Girl's lap was him. Moreover, on the nearby bed lay a white dragon of similar age as him, curled up leisurely, dozing off, with fruit from the Divine Tree on the wooden table, the air filled with a sweet scent.

Even the violence deep in his heart was soothed by this scene.

In the room, there was also an uninvited guest standing at the window, back facing them. The tall figure wore a golden mask, tilting his head up towards the sun.

The King of Gold.

A name appeared in his mind.

The exact date was indistinguishable; he only faintly recalled it was one of the few friends of the Red-haired Girl. Whenever he came, it would cause anomalies in nature—when a magnificent golden ship tore open a gap in the sky, there would be no concept of day and night, only the near-eternal yellow rays shining upon the land.

Black Steel remembered they often talked about peculiar topics. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Just like now.

"You mean, you want to try implanting an idea in people's minds?"

The King of Gold spoke without turning his head, seemingly dismissive of the theory proposed by the Red-haired Girl, "Power and fear are what make people submit; this is what history for thousands of years has proven... Scarlet, look at this plane; this is your only dominion. You should really leave here, go see the outside world."

"Starting to lecture again."

The Red-haired Girl sighed, picked up the black young dragon acting spoiled on her lap, shielding herself from the King of Gold, even pinched the soft belly of the black young dragon, causing it to let out a gentle chirp, "Do you know what you look like now?"

"Like what?"

"Like an uncle in his fifties or sixties, full of 'society', 'life' philosophies, stubbornly instilling the theory of 'staying at home is bad, you should get out and walk more'.

She rolled her eyes, "You're too paternal; be careful, or I'll let my dragon baby bite you."

"Hiss—!"

The black young dragon baby cooperated by baring its teeth at the man with the golden mask, trying hard to disguise a fierce appearance, but its chubby little face and paws floating in the air made it hard to be intimidating.

The man wearing the golden mask paused at the words.

"Moreover, submission borne of power and fear is only temporary. Once someone stronger than you appears, the rule maintained by these means will crumble."

"Someone stronger?"

The man wearing the golden mask laughed, "That kind of person doesn't exist because we've already grasped the secrets of this world—haven't you heard them say it? The project has ceased, the company has disbanded all development departments, meaning the 'game' won't have any more updates."

A game without new mechanisms, new plots, new Bosses.

For "players" who have already completed it, they have reached the end, and to avoid confusion in life due to the lack of a goal, they must find some enjoyment, "Lately, I increasingly understand those Old Gods; without a 'stage play', Their lives would only be left with boring emptiness."