Such reckless behavior could very likely turn him directly into the Invincible East among dragons, leaving him devoid of all emotions and desires from then on.
The mere thought of himself, a Red Dragon, using his claws to handle an "embroidery needle" and pricking little dragons every day sent a cold shiver down David's spine.
His Authority was so powerfully effective that sometimes a "mere thought" could lead to terrifying and unintended consequences.
"Celebrate, my fellow children of the multicolored scales! The Sadaka Plane has been under assault for twelve years under my command, and we have conquered more than half of its territory. I swear on the name of my Duralek family that within ten years, we will completely capture the Sadaka Plane and drive away the remaining followers of the War God! Then, in accordance with the will of the supreme Dragon Queen, I, Flemia, shall be the King of Sadaka! All participants will be granted their respective territories and wealth..."
Upon hearing this, David was first shocked, then he had a sudden realization.
It seemed the Chromatic Dragon Queen Tiamat had indeed achieved her audacious claim: she had torn the 'War' domain from the War God Tempas.
Thus, engaging in planar wars was the way to reap the greatest benefits.
But as he listened, David couldn't help but chuckle internally. It seemed this Green Dragon was trying to pull a fast one, essentially trying to get White Dragons for free—luring the crowd of dragons to her plane as unpaid labor, with no mention of an 'employment fee' until the plane was entirely conquered.
Perhaps this was why most of the onlookers were young dragons, not yet adults—White Dragons were especially numerous. As for other Green Dragons, not a single one was present.
David even overheard passing Black Dragons muttering:
"That shameless old Green Dragon, Flemia, is deceiving young dragons again. She said the same thing eight years ago, and three years ago, and she still claims to have taken over half the territory. I bet it's just some destitute backwaters; none of the hard-fought war fortresses have been conquered. At this rate, forget ten years—it might not happen even in a hundred! If the War God's followers launch a major counterattack, she'll lose all her Dragon Scales. So, it's better to find a contract from a more reputable family. At least then you get a guaranteed employment fee upon entering the plane."
"But didn't she swear on the name of the Duralek family?"
"In the entire Palace of a Thousand Hues, she's the only dragon with that surname. Get it?"
"..."
There were only two possibilities: either none of this dragon's ancestors were latent believers, or her family's presence was so insignificant that they were only fit to rest eternally in the Dragon Queen's Divine Realm, not even deemed worthy of resurrection.
Hearing this, David began to understand Tiamat's model for managing planar wars. Frankly, it was all about using benefits to motivate the dragon masses.
It was a rather helpless reality.
After all, most dragons were only latent believers; who would bother without any benefits?
It was just like corporate bosses on Blue Star: if they only talked about revitalizing critical national industries, reminisced about past hardships, and painted grand pictures for the future—all while completely ignoring wages and benefits—ninety-nine percent of people would turn around and walk straight out. It would be considered decent if they didn't spit in the boss's face before leaving.
Only those who had truly endured persecution during wartime, who harbored deep-seated hatred in their hearts, who knew why their homes were destroyed, why their way of life had changed, and why they had been forced to leave their homeland—only they possessed the kind of faith that could make them forsake everything for their cause.
And only those dragons who had lived through the dragon madness would disregard all costs, ignore all benefits, and still seek to destroy its cause!
But now, more than twenty thousand years had passed since the scourge of dragon madness, and countless generations of dragons had come and gone.
For dragons not living on Toriel nowadays, hearing about the dragon madness disaster was like people from Blue Star hearing stories from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Even if they knew Elves had caused immeasurable disaster to their kind, nearly leading to extinction, most only held a 'prejudice' against Elves. At most, they were like Green Dragons, who simply added Elves to their menu.
As for Metal Dragons, they had long ago re-established diplomatic relations with the Elves, even adopting High Elf forms as one of their preferred humanoid shapes.
It was like David himself; when he received the task from the Dragon Queen, he too needed to be persuaded with reason and enticed with profit before he was moved to act.
This, he concluded, was the true nature of dragons.
David's gaze swept over the curve of the female Green Dragon's haunches and her long, powerful tail. Then, he bowed his body slightly and continued forward. He soon stopped at the periphery of the crowds, near the center of the square, which was packed with dragons. It was here he heard an Ancient Blue Dragon, who wasn't even mentioning his own accepted task, but was instead launching into a spittle-flying tirade: