Chapter 2: The Sorrow of the Dragon

Before eight o'clock, Morphis's live stream room had already surged with millions of viewers. As the top broadcaster of the Monster Zone in "World of Sky," Morphis's room always enjoyed immense popularity.

However, Morphis didn't greet the audience. He adhered to a very important principle while streaming, which was never to break character. Since he played a black dragon, more specifically a Black Dragon Lord, he had to maintain the presence and demeanor befitting such a creature. While other streamers were greeting their viewers with "bro," "honored viewers," and "handsome men and beautiful women," Morphis, on the other hand, would say, "Foolish mortals, insignificant humans, amusing little beings."

And believe it or not, many viewers fell for this act. Of course, there were also those who criticized, but Morphis didn't mind. As a streamer, it's impossible to please everyone, so maintaining his own style was what mattered.

Of course, he wasn't completely inflexible; he occasionally interacted with the audience, but always in a manner that fit his character, just like at this moment, when he looked at the adventurers in the distance and began to "talk to himself."

Morphis (Black Dragon Lord), "Heh heh heh heh, yet another band of adventurers that knows not the meaning of death. These foolish and greedy humans never learn their own limits. They dare to invade my territory, truly seeking death."

"Good, good... let the shadow of death once again envelop this land. Let the wrath of the black dragon turn your flesh and blood to ashes, nourishing this ground!"

Listening to Morphis's soliloquy, a flurry of messages streaked across the live stream.

[That's right, that's right, teach those stupid humans a good lesson.]

[Dragon Bro, you're so shameless, even copying Illidan's lines.]

[Burn, burn, burn, turn them all to ashes for me! I want to see a live barbecue, don't you dare pixelate it later.]

[Dragon Bro is mighty, Dragon Bro is domineering, Dragon Bro, you're wasting your talent not making movies with that scriptwriting skill.]

[Dragon Bro, did you come up with those lines yourself, or did a scriptwriter write them for you? Pretty cool though.]

Morphis (Black Dragon Lord), "Ha ha ha ha, well said, insignificant humans. I must admit, you have pleased me. Now, witness the power of the Black Dragon Lord Morphis."

He spread his wings and soared into the sky, his wingspan of over a hundred meters eclipsing the sun, followed swiftly by several black young dragons.

Meanwhile—on the outskirts of the Dark Plain:

The skies over the Dark Plain were always enveloped in dense black clouds, a weird sight not created by natural weather, but by the constant fall of volcanic ash and the rising smoke from the lava.

Even the sky was darkened; the air filled with the scent of death and sulfur.

There was no vegetation, no inhabitants, just thick volcanic ash and dried-up lava pools everywhere.

From any perspective, the Dark Plain was a desolate and lifeless wasteland.

However, on this land covered by death, there was an army of over three hundred adventurers passing through 'without a sound.'

"Everyone keep quiet, don't alert the nearby monsters, we must reach Dragonfire Peak before the black dragon notices us! Shh, no talking, no talking!"

Qingfeng Lanhuai, the leader of the Dragon's Sorrow Guild, was tirelessly reminding the players.

However, the effect was minimal. Players were a type of creature not particularly adherent to discipline. Add to that their excessive excitement about the objective of this event, the result was a constant buzz of discussion. Rather than a stealthy march, it felt more like they were on a picnic.

Hawkeye Knight, "Have you heard? Black Dragon Morphis captured the Princess of Stromgarde Kingdom and imprisoned her in his nest. It's said that whoever rescues the Princess can get a reward from the King, be directly promoted to a hero template, marry the Princess, and reach the pinnacle of life."

Street Fifty-three, "Nonsense, right? The adventurer template isn't supposed to advance, is it? And promotions to hero templates are that easy? I heard that Morphis has already held hands with the Princess and even had two half-dragon, half-human babies. Damn, this guy is really lucky, what a life."

Star Realm Sage, "Isn't Morphis a player? Can players and NPCs really have children?"

Red Cloud, "Ahhhh, does this game have an adult mode? How do you hold hands with an NPC? Quick, quick, quick, who's going to teach me?"

Yunfeng, "Just spend some money and you can unlock it, send me 200 on WeChat, I'll help you with it..."

Wu Shang Zhonglin: "Player my ass, I heard that Morphis isn't even a player, but an NPC disguised as one."

Sage of Star Realm: "Morphis is absolutely a player, I've watched his livestream. The guy really gets into character during a stream, and he's pretty funny when he talks."

gwan2: "What, Morphis is a streamer? So when we take him down later, can we get on TV?"

Ma Tianxing: "Haha, that's actually possible."

Tiantian Wuren: "I heard that Morphis hasn't been defeated for six months now, and the loot drop rate on him has accumulated to 500%. Just take him down and it's a mega loot explosion. you could even loot his underwear. If we can take down that black dragon, then we'll be rolling in it."

Black Cat: "I heard that Morphis' Dragon Cave is filled with treasures he's collected from around the World, and just a while back a gnome rogue sneaked into the Dragon Nest dungeon, opened a chest, and stole an orange gem that sold for hundreds of thousands."

Xiao Bieli: "Holy crap, for real? What kind of gem is that expensive? Let's form a stealth team and give it a try."

Paladin Stepping on Blood: "Speaking of which, is the Black Dragon Morphis that strong? Can we really take him down?"

Barbershop of Desire: "What's there to be afraid of? This time our guild is all out, we've brought over three hundred people. Just the high-level accounts above level forty have formed five groups. No matter how strong Morphis is, he's just a forty-man raid boss. We can pile on and take him down by sheer numbers. Right now, the key is not to let him escape, we need to block him inside the dungeon."

Xu Xianxian: "Uh, no wonder the guild leader is so tense. Should we maybe keep our voices down..."

Everyone whispering among themselves, passing along information reliable or not, their excitement for the upcoming action grew, and even their steps quickened a bit.

Qingfeng Lanhuai jumped onto a protruding rock to scout around but could only see the dim sky and the distant Dragonfire Mountains.

This damn place looks creepy even in broad daylight, with extremely low visibility that inevitably sends a chill down your spine.

After scouting around and not seeing any monsters, Qingfeng Lanhuai was about to return to the crowd, when suddenly, a fierce wind swept over, covering the sky and the earth.

The wind was strong, whipping up volcanic ash that fluttered through the air and brought with it the strong smell of sulfur. Qingfeng Lanhuai suddenly felt uneasy.

Hawkeye spell! His eyes bulged as his vision sharpened like that of a hawk, yet still he saw nothing.

Beast sense! This time he finally sensed the direction of the threat—diagonally above. He looked up sharply, but there was nothing there, just the dark clouds and a blindingly red sun in the sky. Suddenly, a black shadow flickered across the sun.

Not good!

"The dragon is coming! Nine o'clock, prepare for battle!" Qingfeng Lanhuai bellowed, unstrapping the Dragon Bone longbow from his back, nocking an arrow.

Xu Xianxian: "Nine o'clock? It's only eight o'clock right now."

Black Cat: "What's happening at nine o'clock, boss?"

Qingfeng Lanhuai cursed vehemently, "I mean the nine o'clock direction, you idiots, look at a forty-five-degree angle!" In the moment of this distraction, the shadow in the sun had swiftly approached and become immensely large. It was a ferocious colossal black dragon, with wings spanning over a hundred meters. As the black dragon dove down, flames poured out like a blanket over the chat group caught off guard; they screamed as they were engulfed in fire, becoming running wildfires or charred to a crisp.

Lakeside Knight: "Holy shit, holy shit, that's a huge black dragon!"

Barbershop of Desire: "Aaaah, it hurts, it hurts, someone put out the fire!"

Yunfeng: "Damn it, this black dragon doesn't play fair, ambushing me, a nineteen-year-old comrade!"

Watching the adventurers fall into chaos, the black dragon showed no mercy, continuously spewing flames. The fire seemed to come alive, spreading through the crowd. Those caught by the ignition effect screamed and fled in all directions, like human torches.

Several black whelps excitedly shot fireballs, making the scene even more chaotic.