Jona Velli turned her dragon head impatiently, but with just this casual glance, her pupils instantly constricted into thin slits.
Whoosh!
A white shadow flashed by, and her crystal-blue dragon eyes stared at the glittering gold coin from almost zero distance, her dragon mouth splitting into a joyful grin.
Jona Velli's movements combined with her appearance were terrifying in Fanny's eyes.
She was already struggling to hold the gold coin, and with Jona Velli's sudden move, she was so scared that she let go on the spot.
The gold coin fell, but Jona Velli was quick and nimble, catching it instantly and extending her dragon tongue to give it a lick.
Mmm~ that's the taste~ an authentic gold coin!
Her crystal-blue dragon eyes dilated with pleasure, looking every bit like a miser.
"Huff... huff..."
Fanny was panting with exhaustion, but seeing Jona Velli carefully tuck the gold coin between her scales, she felt her efforts hadn't been in vain.
Suddenly, the snowy-white dragon head thrust itself in front of Fanny, the greed in its eyes completely undisguised.
"Fanny, tell me, where did you find this?"
Fanny pointed toward the depths of the cave, smiling brightly.
"It's just inside. Does the White Dragon Lord want more?"
Jona Velli ignored Fanny's words. She pulled the silver coin out from under her reverse scale, tucked the gold coin in, and then rushed to the cave entrance that was only large enough for a single Goblin to pass through.
Then, she raised her dragon claws and began to dig rapidly.
Under those churning dragon claws, the hard rock was like tofu, easily excavated.
After digging for about a minute, Jona Velli finally reached a spacious area inside the cave, her dragon claws already feeling slightly hot.
But the excited Jona Velli didn't care at all, instead scanning this small cave which was arranged even more neatly than the outside.
Soon, she saw several silver coins and a dozen or so copper coins lying quietly.
"Mommy's coming for you, my little darlings!"
With a shout, Jona Velli rushed in front of them, picked them up with her claws, and began to count carefully.
"One, two, three, four, five... plus the one on me, that's six silver coins. As for copper coins... thirteen."
As soon as Fanny flew in, she saw Jona Velli rubbing her dragon head against her claws and giggling foolishly, which made her want to laugh.
But remembering the fickle nature of the Five-Color Dragons, she forced herself to hold it in.
Only when Jona Velli regained her composure did Fanny fly in front of her.
"White Dragon Lord, you seem to be in a very good mood."
Jona Velli glanced at her, finding her a bit more pleasing to the eye.
After tucking all the items into her scales, she said indifferently,
"In the future, you may simply address me as Jona Velli."
Hearing Jona Velli state her name, the Little Fairy Fanny flew several circles in the air happily before landing in front of Jona Velli.
"Then... then Lord Jona Velli, are we friends from now on?"
"As you wish."
"Oh yeah! I've become friends with a dragon~"
Fanny happily performed a Thomas flare in mid-air.
Clang—
The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground rang out, and Jona Velli instantly looked toward the source of the noise.
She found a bewildered Goblin standing outside the cave, with a broken stone pickaxe at its feet.
"A fish that escaped the net?"
Jona Velli was in no hurry to kill it. After all, she was certain she had killed every Goblin in this cave earlier, so this sudden appearance of a Goblin was clearly beyond her expectations.
Jona Velli walked toward the Goblin, who was so frightened that it collapsed to its knees and hurriedly began to kowtow in desperation.
"White Dragon Lord, have mercy!"
Jona Velli stopped, surprise in her eyes.
The Goblin in front of her could actually speak the continental common tongue fluently, which meant it possessed intelligence.
After examining it for a few more moments, Jona Velli walked up to it and looked down from above.
The dragon's gaze put immense pressure on the Goblin.
"Where did you come from?"
Jona Velli spoke in the continental common tongue. Hearing her voice, the Goblin couldn't stop trembling.
"I... I came out... from the mine."
After saying this, the Goblin specifically pointed toward a tunnel leading underground.
"Mining?"
"Yes... yes."
Jona Velli frowned. This created a contradiction with what the Goblin Chief had said before, and her tone unconsciously grew cold.
"You have evolved higher intelligence than other Goblins, yet I recall your Chief saying before he died that he wanted to make life better for you all. If that's the case, why did he still send you to mine instead of developing other more important things?"
Fanny also flew to the side of Jona Velli's dragon head, hands on her hips, pointing her other finger at the Goblin as she said huffily,
"Exactly! I think you're lying to us. Deceivers should be executed."
Hearing this, the Goblin trembled even more violently.
"I... I'm not! Please, Lord... see the truth!"
Fanny had no intention of sparing these filthy creatures. After all, if she hadn't been so small, she would have long ago been used by the Goblins to propagate their race.
Jona Velli ignored Fanny's words. The little thing was clearly in a fit of pique; after all, anyone would be angry after nearly being turned into someone's breeding vessel.
"Answer my question, ugly reptile, or else that will be your fate."
With that, Jona Velli swept her dragon tail toward the 'artworks' that had been frozen into ice sculptures.
The Goblin was so terrified that its legs went weak, and yellow urine flowed from its lower abdomen.
A dragon's senses were extremely keen. Smelling the stench of urine, Jona Velli frowned.
"In... in response to the Lord, because... the Chief was afraid we... would threaten his ruling position, so... so he sent the intelligent Goblins... to mine."
Jona Velli saw no signs of lying. Besides, given the nature of Goblins, that Chief would indeed do such a thing.
However, she was now more interested in the mine the Goblin mentioned.
"Mining?"
"Yes, beneath... beneath this cave, there is... an iron ore vein. It was... only recently... discovered. We are mainly responsible for the excavation."
Her crystal-blue dragon eyes slowly widened. An iron ore vein was a good thing; development required iron tools, and iron tools required iron ore.
Although she didn't have her own faction yet, as a true-blue person of Huaxia who had been immersed in history since childhood, the desire to compete for hegemony and achieve Great Unification was etched into her genes.
Who wouldn't want to be a First Emperor who sweeps across the six directions? Who wouldn't want to unify the world? Who wouldn't want to be revered by the people and be an emperor whose name is passed down for ten thousand generations?!
In the mind of this White Fledgling Dragon, a grand scene had already been sketched out: she sat upon a throne, watching thousands upon thousands of subjects bow down to her.
Thinking of this, Jona Velli unconsciously broke into a foolish grin again.
"Hehe~ hehehe~"
Fanny saw this and, after scratching her head with her small hand, flew in front of Jona Velli's dragon head and waved.
"White Dragon Lord, what's wrong with you?"