CHAPTER 457: CHAPTER 271: FASTEST RETURN

David hadn’t even opened his mouth to explain.

"David Uthos?" Serisilis, startled by the ’quad-headed Red Dragon’ that abruptly appeared in the nest and sent her scrambling in chaos, suddenly froze.

Her expression tensed as she stood still. She also noticed Attilicia and Tania, who were hidden behind the tunnel by David’s massive rear, and then asked with a mixture of excitement and hesitation, "Attili? These... are they your two children?"

Clearly, the surprise of David and his sister suddenly appearing before her far exceeded the joy of a wayward child returning home.

"...Yes, Mother. You’ve had a hard time these years." Attilicia felt quite embarrassed to be called by his childhood name by his own mother in front of his children.

Before he could formally introduce them to his mother, he saw Serisilis already lunging toward them.

David, who bore the brunt of it, was immediately pounced upon by his grandmother, the overly enthusiastic Silver Dragon pinning him to the ground and licking slobber all over his face and head.

The scene was like a Persian mother cat forcibly grooming her large ginger kitten that had grown even bigger than herself.

For a split second, even though her physique seemed somehow a size smaller than his, David felt as if he were back in the moments of being ’marked’ by Dragon Mother Pafila. Prompted by an indescribable sense of shame, he instinctively covered his vent...

Fortunately, the sputtering and snorting of the three little dragons on his neck, who were being drenched in slobber, caught Serisilis’s attention, saving the now-adolescent David from social death.

"Eh, these three children are...?" She had been so excited earlier that she’d thought David, blessed excessively by Tiamat’s divine grace, had ’reverted to an ancestor,’ resembling the Chromatic Dragon Mother with four heads.

Now, taking a closer look, it was clear the three were tied around David’s neck. For a moment, she even suspected they were Five-Colored Dragonlings forcibly brought to Dragon Island for ’indoctrination.’

Such things had happened before; Metal Dragons would bring back a few Hatchlings or Dragon Eggs every few decades.

Usually, it was after campaigns against Evil Dragons. The mother dragons would invariably flee at breakneck speed, leaving a few bewildered Hatchlings to face the Metal Dragons.

However, these younglings rarely stayed on Dragon Island for long. As soon as they could defend themselves, their captors would return them, burdened with a frustrating and thankless task that both sides found exasperating: ’supervising Evil Dragons to ensure they commit no evil.’

Compared to Attilicia, who for the moment didn’t know where to begin, David was clearly a natural-born socializer, a real smooth talker. He shook the slobber from his face and said with a grin, "Grandma Serisilis, I forgot to introduce you. These are my three children. They’re too mischievous and unruly, so to prevent them from falling behind on our journey, I tied them up."

As he spoke, under the stunned gazes of the two Silver Dragons, Serisilis and Shalaina, he untied the three bundled Hatchlings from his neck as if removing a scarf, dangling them slightly. "Satilaesa, Svetlana, Octavia, greet your great-grandmother."

The three usually unruly and impolite dragonlings, now acting like the kittens from *The Cat with Boots* with their ’adorable plea’ tactic, simultaneously widened their star-bright eyes and cooed in deliberately cute voices, "Great-grandmother!"

"I’m here too! I’m here too! My name is Tania, and I’m your eldest granddaughter!" Seeing that this kind-faced grandmother’s attention was entirely captivated by Satilaesa and the others, Tania quickly rushed up, rubbing her head against Serisilis to vie for affection. She paid no mind to the fact that she was a whole size larger than her Silver Dragon grandmother, nearly bowling Serisilis over as she staggered backward, utterly shameless.

"Aye! Good, good, good! All my good children..." For a moment, Serisilis had to use her claws, wings, and tail all at once to soothe the five ’big children’ clamoring for her attention. She also quickly untied her three great-granddaughters, afraid their delicate dragon wings might be injured.

At the same time, perhaps because Shalaina had already told her about David, her ’Red Dragon grandson,’ she was psychologically prepared. Consequently, she seemed to find it much easier to accept the sudden appearance of three Chromatic Dragon great-granddaughters.

However, she retracted the tail movement she had begun, which was to retrieve the gifts she had prepared long in advance.

Serisilis and her husband, being tight on funds, had only prepared two ’welcome gifts’ sufficient to express their feelings.

Even their own son, Attilicia, who had quietly completed his coming-of-age ceremony off the island, hadn’t received such treatment.

Watching the harmonious scene of the dragon family before her, only Shalaina, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly gave a relieved smile. She flicked her tail tip and quietly slipped out of the Dragon Nest through the tunnel.

I shouldn’t be here... At least, not right now.

Only David and his father, Attilicia, noticed Miss Shalaina, the Silver Dragon’s, departure, yet neither of them followed.

As the head of the family, Attilicia had no reason or standing to pursue her. He was now a father of two and a grandfather of three! Moreover, having personally heard Shalaina reveal their connection, he was even more at a loss as to how to act.

As for me... I can’t possibly encourage Dad to cheat on Mom, can I? David thought. Although Pafila, being a Chromatic Dragon, might not care about such things. But Attilicia, as a Silver Dragon, definitely cares! I certainly can’t step in and do it for him, can I? To put it crudely, what if... I accidentally seduced Dad’s childhood sweetheart? What then? After all, Shalaina is at a psychological low point in her dragon life right now. Under the influence of the suspension bridge effect, any bizarre thing could happen. My charm might be the lowest in the family, but that’s only when compared to someone like Attilicia, that dragon-form Succubus. I still have extraordinary charisma, okay! But my Arrogance prevents me from stooping to something like ’taking advantage of a dragon in distress.’ That would be too scummy... even I couldn’t stomach it. Besides, if this hypothetical scenario came true, Dad would probably never want to see me or my children again for the rest of his life... That kind of twisted feeling... apart from me, who extensively read those web novels with their complicated ethics before I transmigrated, probably no other dragon could understand it. After all, if Dragon Mother Pafila hadn’t appeared, given Dad’s (Attilicia’s) introverted yet passionate nature, he really might have ended up in the claws of Shalaina, that devoted and persistent childhood friend. It would have just been a matter of his personality. And what about Mirillian, the Grand Duchess of the Silver Wheel, who once almost forced herself on him? Such a proud woman, after being explicitly rejected once, wouldn’t try a second time. Not like this childhood friend, Shalaina, who was like the classic ’losing girl’ archetype—always fighting a losing battle, yet always coming back for more.

Just as David was lamenting that his father’s childhood friend might finally retreat in the face of these difficulties, never to return, he saw the female Silver Dragon, who had just departed so dejectedly, suddenly sprint back. Her expression was panicked as she shouted to David’s group, "David Uthos! You all need to leave, quickly! A whole host of Claws of Justice are flying this way!"

She desperately wanted to know what on earth this group had done when they arrived on Dragon Island!

"There’s no time!" Shalaina urged, her voice strained.