When Leo woke up, he found his face was wet.
He opened his eyes to find the Azure Dragon licking his face with its slender tongue, its whiskers brushing against his chin.
Those cyan-gold eyes were sparkling, filled with a sense of innocent expectation.
Leo sat up and patted the Azure Dragon's head.
After a sleep, his physical condition had recovered by seventy percent, and his Nen had also recovered significantly.
However, he was still somewhat mentally fatigued—after all, having so much blood drawn and overexerting himself wasn't something that could be fully remedied by a single nap.
He looked at Little Azure and fell into deep thought.
The Dragon had hatched, but what special abilities it possessed were still unclear.
The three-winged dragon of the Zoldyck Family could fly and carry people, but it didn't seem to have any other special traits beyond that.
The Azure Dragon was a Phantasmal Beast; it should be more than just that.
The Azure Dragon let out a few cries toward Leo, its voice thin and tender, carrying a clear sense of urgency.
Leo's contemplation was interrupted; listening to the Azure Dragon's cries, he understood that the little fellow must be hungry.
He glanced down at the eggshell fragments on the floor, then at the Azure Dragon's round belly—it had clearly eaten so much shell and its size had increased, so how was it still hungry?
Leo stood up and stretched his limbs.
His bones gave off a slight crackling sound as he walked toward the door.
Seeing him leave, the Azure Dragon immediately floated up and began circling him, its wings flapping gently and stirring up a light breeze.
It didn't seem to quite understand the concept of 'walking'—if you can fly, why use your legs?
The man and the dragon passed through the corridor, went down the stairs, and arrived at the first-floor main hall.
The security personnel in the hall were changing shifts, a few of them gathered together talking about something.
Hearing footsteps, they turned their heads and saw Leo—and the meter-long hatchling dragon floating beside him, its body glowing with a faint azure light.
The expressions of several people changed instantly.
Some took a step back, some instinctively reached for their waists, and some opened their mouths only to close them again.
The leading captain swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly.
"B... Boss! This..."
Leo waved his hand, his tone relaxed.
"It's fine, no need to be afraid. This is my pet."
He glanced at the pale-faced security personnel and added,
"Go and prepare a large portion of food for us immediately, the more the better."
The captain nodded repeatedly and turned to leave quickly, his pace twice as fast as usual.
First-floor dining room.
The long table was covered with a wide variety of food.
Roast beef, boiled mutton, fried fish, fried chicken, vegetables, bread, soup, along with several large platters of fruit and some desserts and snacks.
The staff in the dining room stood at a distance, curiously watching the azure hatchling dragon floating in mid-air.
The Azure Dragon floated above the dining table, tilting its head as it looked at the table full of food, its eyes brimming with curiosity.
It lowered its head to sniff a piece of fried fish; the fish was sprinkled with spices and lemon juice, giving off a rich aroma.
The Azure Dragon sneezed, the airflow blowing its whiskers into a mess.
It turned its head and sniffed other foods as well, seemingly picking and choosing.
Leo didn't bother with it and started eating first.
He was indeed hungry; the energy consumption during the hatching earlier was too great, and although he had slept, his body still needed a large amount of energy replenishment.
He ate meat in large gulps and drank soup in large swigs, moving very quickly.
The Azure Dragon floated around the dining table for a bit before finally taking an interest in several pieces of chocolate placed at the edge of the table.
It lowered its head to sniff, licked it once with its tongue, and then bit down.
The sweetness of the chocolate melted in its mouth, and its eyes instantly lit up.
It let out a happy howl, its voice crisp and filled with obvious delight.
Hearing the commotion, Leo looked up to see the Azure Dragon excitedly chewing on chocolate, with chocolate sauce smeared on the corners of its mouth.
He smiled and turned to the butler at the door.
"Prepare more chocolate."
The butler nodded and left quickly.
After finishing those pieces of chocolate, the Azure Dragon floated over to a plate of roast meat.
It sniffed it, then took a large bite.
The charred aroma and juices of the roast meat exploded in its mouth, and its eyes lit up again.
It began to devour the roast meat in large mouthfuls, its speed rivaling Leo's.
Man and beast ate together happily.
Leo discovered that this fellow had a special preference for chocolate and roast meat, eating only these two items; it would turn its head away after a sniff of anything else, not even touching it.
Two hours later, Leo was full and set down his utensils.
The Azure Dragon had also finished eating; it had consumed over two hundred pounds of roast meat alone, along with several large bars of chocolate.
Its body size had even grown a bit larger.
In the kitchen, the chefs were slumped over the stoves in exhaustion.
Over two hundred pounds of roast meat—every piece had to be meticulously grilled, with the heat, seasoning, and flipping all requiring careful attention.
They never imagined that one day they would be worked to such a state by one person and one dragon.
Vivian walked into the dining room, her high heels clicking crisply against the floor.
She had heard Dean's report an hour ago.
Boss Leo's egg had successfully hatched into a dragon-shaped Demonic Beast, azure all over, capable of flying freely in the air.
She was very interested and rushed over as soon as she finished the tasks at hand.
A flash of surprise crossed her eyes when she saw the azure hatchling dragon lying beside Leo.
It was lying at Leo's feet, its head resting on his shoe, its tail swaying gently and its eyes half-closed in a lazy manner.
But beneath that laziness, she could see the lines of its body—fluid, powerful, and full of explosive potential.
Leo wiped his mouth and said to Vivian,
"We need to hire a few more chefs, and the food reserves need to be increased as well."
Vivian nodded.
"Understood. I'll arrange it right away."
Leo looked down at Little Azure, then at the empty plates on the table.
Trying to raise this dragon would be a bottomless pit; it was far too capable of eating.
Its appetite was already this large while so small; it would be incredible once it grew bigger.
Just thinking about it was a bit of a headache; if he had to provide for it alone, raising it would be an extremely difficult task.
Fortunately, he controlled a large-scale organization with the Colton Family supporting him from behind; otherwise, just raising the dragon would have eaten him into poverty.
In the blink of an eye, the time came to the end of August, August 28th.
More than twenty days had passed.
Colton Ranch.
The sun scorched the earth, and the air was thick with the smell of livestock and blood.
Leo stood by the fence, facing the last batch of creatures—several hundred cattle and horses huddling together, letting out low cries. With a flick of his finger, Nen Bullets were fired one after another, accurately piercing their vital points.
"Bang!"
The last creature crashed to the ground.
Leo withdrew his hand and looked down at the tattoo on the back of his hand.
[Rank: 80 (1%) → 81 (2%)]
He had leveled up again.
His Qi capacity increased by another margin, and his physical strength also reached a new level.
A loud beastly roar echoed from the sky.
"Roar—!!!"
An azure figure dove down from the clouds, moving so fast it left an afterimage.
The Azure Dragon spread its wings; its wingspan was more than twice as wide as it was twenty days ago, and the wing membranes shimmered with a translucent azure light under the sun.
It opened its mouth, and a stream of fire erupted from deep within its throat, shooting straight toward the hundreds of biological carcasses on the ground.
The flame wasn't large, but the temperature was very high, making the surfaces of the carcasses sizzle.
Before long, a charred aroma filled the air.
The Azure Dragon dove down, landed beside the pile of roasted carcasses, and began to eat in large mouthfuls.
Its length had grown to six meters, its wingspan reached eight meters wide, and its scales had changed from light azure to a deep azure, shimmering with a metallic luster in the sunlight.
Its horns had also grown, extending backward from its forehead.
Ever since it fell in love with roast meat, the Azure Dragon had to eat it almost every day.
At first, the chefs roasted it piece by piece, getting so tired they couldn't even straighten their backs.
Later, they simply set up several large roasting racks in the backyard to roast whole animals at a time.
The Azure Dragon ate very happily, and its body size was slowly increasing.
As time went on, the Azure Dragon would watch while the chefs were busy roasting the meat.
It was very sentient and intelligent; after watching for a while, it understood what was going on.
It learned to roast meat itself.
When its body grew to three meters, it discovered it could spit fire from its throat—although the power wasn't particularly strong, it was enough to roast meat.
These past few days, it had been following Leo to the ranch.
After Leo killed the creatures, it would directly spit fire to roast the carcasses and eat them once they were cooked.
Most of the carcasses were hauled away, leaving only a small portion for it to eat.
In twenty days, its body had grown to six meters; once it got a bit larger, someone would be able to sit on its back.
Leo walked over to the Azure Dragon's side and reached out to pat its back.
The scales were smooth and hard, and the muscles underneath were firm and powerful.
The Azure Dragon turned its head and rubbed it against Leo's hand, its whiskers sweeping across his arm, tickling him.
"You've grown quite a bit,"
Leo said.
The Azure Dragon let out a low growl as if in response.
Then it continued to bury its head in the roast meat, eating until its mouth was dripping with grease.
Leo stood beside it, gazing at the distant horizon.
Morel had been out at sea for over twenty days; there should be news soon.
The preparations for the transit base were also ready, just waiting for him to find a suitable island.