The Natural Empire of the Oceanic Dragon

Remember the primary website address: 𝕥 𝕨 𝕜 𝕒 𝕟 . 𝕔 𝕠 𝕞

Looking at the two white bread rolls, three grilled Pacific saury with hickory charcoal, a large glass of fragrant, pure, and brightly colored wine in front of him, the halfling found it hard to imagine that these were just casual snacks.

How delicious would the meticulously prepared dishes be?

He couldn't think about it anymore. The halfling grabbed a saury and took a bite. The skin was golden and crispy, but the inside was tender, smooth, and sweet, mixed with the aroma of applewood.

Amazing!

The halfling devoured the saury in his hand as quickly as possible, even chewing on the boneless fish head, his gluttonous appearance causing the fish-man guard to frown.

Because he recalled the days when the Dragon Lord hadn't protected them yet, and they lived a life of constant hunger, only eating like this when they finally obtained food.

"Wait here, I'll get you some vegetables, at least enough to fill your stomach."

"Thank you so much!"

The halfling was so moved that he was about to cry. If he were to eat such a meal outside, although it wouldn't fill his stomach, the deliciousness alone would be worth seven or eight silver coins.

He tried the white bread next.

One bite, and it was very soft, as light as a cloud. The halfling's eyes widened instantly.

"Why is it so much fluffier than the bread Aunt Mary makes? And I seem to taste black beans. Can bread made from black bean flour be this fluffy?"

The halfling seemed to recall a nightmare. He had once eaten a type of black bread in a human town that was made from various miscellaneous ingredients ground into flour.

The main ingredient was black beans, which still felt stuck in his throat.

He simply couldn't swallow it. It was the first time he had ever tasted such unpalatable bread.

After returning home, he tried to improve the black bean bread, but unsurprisingly, he failed. The black bean bread he made was only slightly softer than the human version.

But it tasted like chewing wax, completely incomparable to white bread made from wheat.

Black bread refers to unleavened bread, which is as hard as obsidian, while white bread is made from carefully selected flour that is fermented to create bread as soft as a cloud.

When the fish-man brought the bread over, he poked it, and it was very soft, indicating that it was white bread. Treating someone with white bread was already a luxurious gesture.

It wasn't easy for the halfling to use mastiffs to grind flour for making white bread. In addition to the mastiffs' initial grinding, the halfling would also use a small hand mill for a second grinding.

In fact, halflings didn't often eat white bread. They ate gray bread, which was somewhere between white and black bread, soft but not soft enough, but at least not unpalatable.

But just now, while passing through Azure Scale Town to reach this cafeteria, he roughly observed and calculated the population of Azure Scale Town, considering the appetites of races like fish-men, snake-men, minotaurs, and centaurs.

The daily consumption of white bread wouldn't be small. Making so much finely ground white bread would require a lot of manpower.

Recalling the astonishing number of halflings queuing outside the Black Bull Mill to grind flour, and the centaurs who didn't feel tired after running the millstone all day, the halfling seemed to understand why.

Just then, the fish-man walked in with a pot of fresh, tender pasture grass, and then brought him a bowl of soy sauce.

"Such a big bowl of soy sauce?"

"Yes, a pot of vegetables is just enough to finish with the soy sauce."

"Thank you! This is only the second time I've ever had soy sauce. I'm so touched."

"Then you're in luck. You can have soy sauce every day from now on. There's a lot of this low-grade soy sauce. As long as you work hard, everyone can get a large jar."

"I've also tasted the higher-grade stuff, which is truly delicious. I'm just a guard, and my contribution points aren't enough, so I can only mooch some of my cousin's intermediate soy sauce."

"I've heard that there's also high-grade soy sauce, but that's the soy sauce that the Dragon Lord uses to entertain guests. I'm afraid only the cooks in the kitchen can taste it, but unfortunately, the cooks don't dare to bring the soy sauce out."

Cook! The halfling's eyes lit up. I'm a cook!

"Can I stay here and work?"

The fish-man looked at him suspiciously.

"What can you do with such a small stature?"

"I'm a cook!"

The halfling's face was full of pride.

"That's possible. I'll take you to see the elder tomorrow, and let the elder arrange for you to be assessed in the kitchen. If you pass, don't forget me. Give me a chance to taste the high-grade soy sauce."

The fish-man was also happy. He knew that the Dragon Lord wouldn't value the halflings for nothing. He heard his cousin say, and his cousin heard Commander Fisher say, and the commander heard the elder say that the Dragon Lord valued the halflings because of their good cooking skills.

"Don't lie to me. If you don't know how to cook, you can buy high-grade soy sauce with gold coins, but if you lie to me, be careful you'll lose your life when you get to the elder's place tomorrow."

The halfling confidently waved his hand and pulled out a knife from the side of his backpack.

"This is a chef's knife that I had a dwarf blacksmith forge three years ago. It's been with me for three years, processed countless ingredients, and made countless delicacies. I'll definitely have no problem with tomorrow's assessment!"

"That's good. The cafeteria doesn't have accommodation. If you want to sleep after eating, go to the inn across the street. Remember, don't provoke the landlady of the inn. I'll go first."

"Got it."

He put the vegetables dipped in soy sauce into his mouth. It was indeed lighter than the soy sauce he had tasted last time, but the aroma was richer. It seemed that the technology for making soy sauce was still improving.

Stuffing vegetables, saury, and white bread into his stomach, the halfling took a sip of wine but couldn't bear to drink more, finishing the wine in his flask in one go.

After rinsing the flask with water, he carefully poured the wine in, planning to savor it sip by sip as he drifted into dreamland.

With a full belly, the halfling waddled towards the inn across the street.

Although built in the same style, the inn looked much more refined than the other buildings, especially the cloud patterns on the eaves, which the halfling found particularly artistic.

Pushing open the door, the halfling, seeing no one, called out:

“Landlady, I need a room.”

A naga with a cold face and a swaying snake tail slithered over.

“The landlady is asleep. Next time you come to the inn late at night, remember to keep your voice down, or I'll cut out your tongue.”

Even though the naga was beautiful, the halfling lost all interest.

“A top-grade room is one gold coin a night, a mid-grade room is five silver coins, and a low-grade room is one copper coin.”

“A low-grade room is that cheap?”

The cold and elegant naga glanced at him.

“Okay, one low-grade room.”

“No, no, no, I'm just asking why the low-grade room is so cheap. A mid-grade room, I want a mid-grade room.”

“Five silver coins.”

The naga looked at him coldly, as if seeing him as prey. The halfling's back became sweaty, and he quickly took out five silver coins and gently placed them on the table.

The naga swept the silver coins into the drawer.

“First room on the second floor, go yourself.”

“What about the key?”

“There is no key. You can lock the door from the inside. As for going out, remember to carry your valuables with you. The inn is not responsible for any losses.”

“But if you find a thief, the inn can take action to deal with them.”

Listening to the naga's tone, the halfling felt that she might prefer the job of chopping people up to being an innkeeper.

Just as the halfling stepped onto the stairs, a stunning beauty walked in through the back door of the inn, the naga princess Ophelia, wearing a purple brocade dress.

“Are there any guests?”

“Yes, Princess.”

Princess! The landlady of the inn was actually a naga princess? No wonder the fish-man brother told him not to provoke the princess at all costs.

As expected of the dragon's territory, everyone is extraordinary.

“I told you not to call me Princess. Since Lord Dragon has entrusted the inn to us to manage, we must be serious. At least in the inn, you must call me Landlady, understand?”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Forget it, you can go down first.”

Ophelia casually waved the fan in her hand, then smiled and looked at the halfling.

“Sir, is there anything else I can help you with?”

The halfling quickly waved his hand.

“Nothing, nothing.”

Then, at top speed, he ran into his room. Looking at the simple design behind the door, as a qualified rogue, the halfling first bolted the door.

He also picked up a wooden stick next to him and propped it against the door. The halfling had never seen this kind of bolt design before. As expected of the dragon's territory, everything was new.

The bed wasn't soft, but the wine was enough. The halfling slept until the sun was high in the sky. Opening the window, he saw the townsfolk of Green Scale Town walking out of their doors one after another to eat in the cafeteria.

Rubbing his stomach, the halfling decided to go to the cafeteria to have breakfast first.

But as soon as he went downstairs, he found the landlady from last night already waiting for him at the counter.

“Sir, would you like breakfast?”

“No, I'll just eat in the cafeteria.”

“The cafeteria doesn't serve outsiders. Yesterday was just an exception. The place for outsiders to eat is this inn. As you can see, there are many tables and chairs here.”

“So, what would sir like to eat? Order anything you like.”

Saying that, Ophelia handed a menu to the halfling.

“Charcoal-grilled pork chop, one gold! Braised pig's trotters, one gold! … One gold! One gold! Are there no other priced dishes?”

The halfling forced a smile and asked, feeling that his wallet was about to cry.

“The other priced dishes are on the back.”

The halfling flipped the menu over, looking at Ophelia bitterly.

“So, one gold is already the cheapest dish?”

Ophelia said with a smile:

“It doesn't matter. If you can't afford it, you can turn right outside and go hunting in the forest. Sir can handle it himself, or we can process it for you at the inn.”

“We have the most professional chefs here.”

“One white bread, and soy sauce chicken, just those two. Landlady, I'm also a chef. I wonder if you're hiring here? What's the salary?”

“The chefs' salaries are all some ingredients, wine, soy sauce, depending on the chef's needs. We don't often use gold coins here.”

“Then can I specify that I want high-grade soy sauce?”

Ophelia asked curiously:

“Soy sauce is enough to eat, why do you want all soy sauce?”

The halfling explained:

“Soy sauce is worth a lot of money in my town. After soy sauce is transported to the human kingdom for sale, it is even called black gold by the nobles, and some nobles are even willing to buy it with gold coins of the same weight as soy sauce.”

“Besides eating it myself, I also want to earn a little money.”

Ophelia covered her mouth with her fan.

“Soy sauce is so valuable outside? Then should I suggest that Lord Dragon transport more high-grade soy sauce outside to sell?”

Just then, the fish-man rushed to the inn.

“I just received a notice that Lord Dragon heard that a halfling came to Green Scale Town, and he wants to see you. Hurry up and come with me!”

“Ah! Lord Dragon wants to see me? This… I… this…”

Ophelia covered her mouth with her fan and said with a smile:

“Don't worry, Lord Dragon doesn't eat people.”