2 Chapter 2: Bribing the Dragon With Cantaloupes

"So you're here to play a fool too?" The burning Dragon's Breath swept towards Zhou Kun. He had never felt this close to death before. 

At this moment, there were countless thoughts about survival flashing past his mind. At last, Zhou Kun chose the most shameless and safest method—that was to be a boot-licker. 

"I didn't come all the way here for something. I just wanted to see your demeanor and vigor, Lord Pilux. Just now, I was entirely convinced by your dignified and domineering posture. That's why I said those presumptuous things just now."

The Dragon's Breath that could burn people to ashes in a second didn't fall on Zhou Kun's body. He knew that he had taken the right gamble. 

"You mean, you didn't come here because you coveted my treasure?" the massive dragon Pilux asked with uncertainty. Although his lair was rather remote, he had to clean up dozens of intruders who coveted his treasures every year. 

He had never seen an adventurer claiming he only wanted to have a look at his demeanor. 

"Of course. Lord Pilux, your name has been famous for a long time, and ever since I chanced upon your name, I've been wanting to see your vigorous demeanor. I didn't expect to be so disappointed after arriving..." 

"Disappointed? Adventurer, what do you mean, are you looking down on me?"

"No, no, of course not. I'm disappointed because the legend is an insult to you, Lord Pilux. They didn't understand even one-tenth of your power." 

"Look at your wings. They're massive. Before I saw you, Lord Pilux, I never understood what it meant for something to be large enough to cover the sky. However, after meeting you, I felt that those words were made for you." 

He continued, "Look at your dense and shiny scales. The jewels in the entire lair can't even compare to it in terms of shininess. Your scales are the most precious thing in the lair." 

The more he tried to suck up to the dragon, the more enjoyable it became for him. Zhou Kun had gone all out to survive. He used all the Chinese vocabulary and composition skills that he had attained during the nine years of compulsory education in order to curry favor with the dragon. 

Pilux had only ever met adventurers that tried to kill him. He had never met a boot-licker like Zhou Kun. 

He lifted his wings and discovered that they were indeed as huge as the adventurer claimed. He then looked at his scales and discovered that they were shining against the jewels.

Pilux felt that the adventurer in front of him was extremely discerning, for he actually managed to appreciate his stalwart and gallant demeanor. 

"You just said that my prestige is being circulated in legends. Tell me what's going on."

Zhou Kun was stunned as soon as he heard those words. He was casually making up stories and did not know the legend about Pilux at all. He only learned Pilux's name because the latter mentioned it earlier on. 

Hence, he changed the subject calmly by saying, "I heard about your prestigious name years ago. Since then, I couldn't help myself. I decided to witness it with my own eyes. Therefore, I painstakingly brought some tributes for you, Lord."

In fact, Zhou Kun didn't have any tributes at all. He simply wanted to find an excuse to return to his cold storage warehouse. 

"Oh? Do you have something to offer to me?" asked Pilux, who suspected that the adventurer in front of him was lying. After all, many adventurers were notoriously cunning. 

"Yes, Lord, but due to the large quantity, I didn't bring them to the lair. After all, I didn't expect to see you in the flesh, Lord Pilux," said Zhou Kun, whose heart was racing. He was uncertain whether he had managed to deceive the dragon in front of him.

"Is that so? I will go and take a look at them with you then." Following that, Pilux's figure continuously shrunk, and it finally turned into the size of a horse.

"That's great." Although Zhou Kun was smiling like a boot-licker, he felt his scalp tingling and turning numb. 

He did not expect Pilux to have such tricks up his sleeve. Zhou Kun could only suck it up and return to the passage that he had come from, along with Pilux. 

Soon, they arrived at the junction of the cold storage and the aisle. Zhou Kun's heart was about to burst off his chest. He kept thinking to himself, 'I can't make it, I can't make it.'

When he crossed the passage, he discovered that Pilux had also craned his neck to pop its head out of the passage behind. 

"Ah-choo!" The temperature of the cold storage warehouse almost affected Pilux's Dragon's Breath. 

"I don't like this place. You should hurry up and take out the tributes that you've mentioned."

"Yes, yes, I'll be right back." Zhou Kun perked himself up and decided to put everything on boot-licking.

After a while, all 300 cartons of cantaloupes in the cold storage warehouse were placed in front of the dragon. 

Zhou Kun was also afraid that Pilux might be displeased halfway through eating and end up devouring him instead. Hence, he did not keep a single box of cantaloupes in the cold storage warehouse at all. After all, the fruits that cost more than 10,000 yuan were worth less than his life. Zhou Kun knew to weigh the pros and cons. 

"Adventurer, what is this?"

"Lord Pilux, this is a new type of fruit that I put in a lot of effort to find from outside. They're called cantaloupes." 

Zhou Kun didn't believe that Pilux had eaten cantaloupes before. 

Zhou Kun had roughly figured it out. His cold storage warehouse was inexplicably connected to a mysterious world with dragons, which was an alternative world that was common in novels. 

"Sure enough, it's full of rich plant elements, and I have never seen it before. Well done, adventurer." 

Pilux opened his huge mouth and swallowed several cartons of cantaloupes at one go. He made some swallowing sounds that sent chills through Zhou Kun. 

However, Pilux was obviously more interested in the cantaloupes than he was in Zhou Kun. 

Seeing that Pilux was thoroughly enjoying the cantaloupes, Zhou Kun stepped forward and asked, "Lord, I'm so impressed by your grace and demeanor. Since I've already delivered the tributes to you, I have no regrets. I hope that you will allow me to leave, Lord Pilux." 

"Wait!"

Zhou Kun stopped in his tracks when he was turning around.

It can't be! 

Was this dragon that thick-skinned? 

It ate my cantaloupes but still refuses to let me go? 

"This is a reward for you." As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of gold coins from the pile of jewels under him. He then took a pinch and dropped a few before throwing the bunch at Zhou Kun's feet. 

"Lord, how can that be? Being able to witness your demeanor is the greatest reward I can get," said Zhou Kun, who was unsure if the dragon was testing him, so he decided to continue sucking up to him. 

"It seems to be kind of too little. Take this drop of Ambergris as well."

Pilux felt that he should be more generous to his admirers, but he could no longer give out more gold coins because the pinch just then already distressed him. As such, he decided to give Zhou Kun his drool that flowed out when he was sleeping. The adventurers seemed to treat it like a precious treasure. 

"Thank you for your generosity, Lord Pilux." Zhou Kun then scurried away with the items.