Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Departed Overlords

The thief dragons’ gaze stretched from the dense forest to the coast, while the scratcher bird’s scent had meandered back to this herbivore dragon nesting ground, where it could find the nutrients needed for its wound healing.

All along, the disarray of grass and trees indicated the scratcher bird’s disheveled state and why the great thief dragon eventually gave up chasing it. There was no other reason—when faced with life-and-death moments, the scratcher bird’s burst of speed was astonishing. The dense forest that previously hindered its movement ended up saving its life. Branches were smashed and broken, but the great thief dragon had to face the sturdy trunks.

The great thief dragon could indeed shatter those tree trunks, but it wasn’t a comfortable action. Its charge force would weaken, and its mobility would decrease. When the scratcher bird’s silhouette disappeared deep into the dense forest, the great thief dragon’s attack desire dropped to its lowest point.

To it, if the scratcher bird still lingered in its territory, they could fight again when they meet.

However, the scratcher bird didn’t act carelessly on the coast like before. Its scent led Jié Jié to a hidden spot constructed by stones and foliage. There, the scratcher bird curled its body, occasionally pecking at the herbivore dragon egg cradled in its arm. Nearby lay scattered eggshells and egg liquid.

Its once shiny decorative feathers were now messy from fleeing, one arm seemingly severely injured, unable to hold the egg with both claws. Half its body was bruised from being struck by the great thief dragon, fresh blood flowing from new wounds.

This pitiful sight incited the malevolent intent of the thief dragons, the scent of blood in the air emboldening them greatly.

The thief dragons hadn’t even approached too closely before the scratcher bird noticed them. It stood up, and the dragon egg under its arm rolled onto a rock. With its only good claw, it grabbed a coconut and hurled it at the thief dragons.

The coconut smashing on the ground startled the thief dragons but did not drive them away. Boldness arose; if the thief dragons dared to bite downed terror tyrants, how could they fear an eight-meter-long injured scratcher bird?

“Roar!”

Jié Jié opened his mouth and surprisingly issued a challenge roar before the scratcher bird.

The warmth of fresh blood flowed over the scratcher bird’s cool skin but didn’t reach its heart. It chose to flee—it wasn’t the first time, just another instance.

Jié Jié naturally led the pack of thief dragons in pursuit. With such a good opportunity, he couldn’t let it slip.

After leaving the coast, where else could the scratcher bird run?

There was originally no path, but as more creatures walked, a path formed. This also applied to monsters.

Large monsters didn’t wish to forge new paths deep within the forest but rather chose the roads left behind by previous overlords during their territory patrols. These roads for large monsters were often passed down through generations, almost perfectly completing a daily patrol.

On these roads, rabbits with long ears sensed danger and darted into the walls of trees on either side. Their judgments rarely failed.

A crazily striding scratcher bird appeared on the road, followed by a group of thief dragons.

In the chase, Jié Jié focused on the black tip of the tail swaying in front of him, constantly trying to extend his neck to bite it.

“Pia~”

The tail tip slipped away just as it was about to be caught, then swung back and slapped him in the face. This move effectively caused him to twist his head and stumble, forcing him to fall further behind.

“In open roads, this guy is really hard to catch.”

Jié Jié panted, allowing the surrounding thief dragons to surpass him, trying to reach the enticing tail tip of the scratcher bird, but all attempts were fruitless.

Some thief dragons stopped, out of breath, and never caught up again.

Jié Jié felt the energy from the eggs he had eaten earlier was entirely depleted, let alone the other thief dragons who rarely got full meals.

He roared, temporarily ending the futile chase. The thief dragons needed to fill their bellies. Getting beaten by the scratcher bird might feel better than this endless pursuit.

We’ll look for it later. Continuously chasing without an end isn’t wise. It’s better to wait until the scratcher bird stops moving and reassess, perhaps set an ambush.

Herbivore dragons aren’t always easy to come by. Thief dragons often rely on hunting small animals to survive. The range of small animals is vast, from roadside grasshoppers to ancestral birds in the trees. On lucky occasions, they might eat a wild boar with mushrooms already attached.

Do not underestimate the abundance of resources in the Ancient Tree Forest.

Ancestral birds don’t seem tasty. How to put it? Too many feathers in your mouth, and the bones are just as numerous.

Jié Jié spat out half the ancestral bird directly onto the ground, quickly snatched by a thief dragon who “crunch crunch” ate it happily. Other thief dragons gathered around and took some from its mouth.

He couldn’t help but smack his lips, spitting out the feathers stuck in his teeth.

By now, quite a few thief dragons had gotten lost while walking, but others joined the group. These thief dragons seemed to have familiar companions, also having concepts of play and rest. Measuring animal intelligence with human social standards isn’t appropriate.

Jié Jié shook his head, trying to pull other thief dragons’ tails or practicing death rolls by biting branches, but such simple play was too dull for the terrifying upright ape soul. Realizing he wouldn’t wait for the army to gather, Jié Jié returned to the place where the chase was interrupted.

Though he went alone, part of the other thief dragons followed. A motley group of over ten thief dragons moved forward following the scratcher bird’s lingering scent.

The road opened up at the end, the sun casting warm yellow light on the scattered stones on the ground, revealing a rocky beach.

Jié Jié lowered his head, pawing at the gravel on the ground. Among them, shiny fragments seemed to be tooth pieces worn down by terror tyrants, and there were even more interesting traces on the nearby rock wall.

The battered rock wall was filled with massive impact marks, shattered explosion marks, and long grinding marks from thick blades.

The leader of the envious thief dragons flicked its tongue, as if caressing the traces left by past overlords. Compared to these, the fecal markings left by the great thief dragon in this area seemed petty and vulgar.

Not lingering too long here, nearby traces redirected the scratcher bird’s movements toward the forest.

But after taking two steps forward, no thief dragon followed. Instead, a numbing, pungent smell invaded the nasal cavity.

Jié Jié turned around and saw the thief dragons circling a fallen, convulsing thief dragon. Around it, some yellow mist dispersed. He approached the thief dragon group and examined the ground near the fallen thief dragon’s mouth, where there was a small fresh hole, recently dug.

“Gas frog?”

Combining the convulsions of the fallen thief dragon, he guessed the answer and planned to use this knowledge in his own hunt.