Chapter 356: The Fire Sub-Dragon in the Ogre Mountains
Thus, ruling over humans was deemed necessary.
While it might seem cruel for humans to be herded like livestock by goblins, sacrifices were unavoidable to save the world.
Besides, Li Meng didn't care if humans were pitiful or not.
As long as the mission to save the world was accomplished, even mass slaughter would be reduced to mere numbers—just meat in the eyes of goblins.
Looking at the gentle expression of the king before her, Margarita hesitated.
Despite the terrifying words, the king's face remained so calm and warm.
For some reason, Margarita felt a chill run down her spine, and her eyes betrayed a hint of fear and awe.
Noticing the fear in Margarita's eyes, Li Meng smiled.
"Margarita, you know I won't harm you."
Li Meng initially wanted to speak in a rough tone, but considering Margarita wasn't an outsider and given the intimacy of the setting, he opted for a softer approach.
Margarita wrapped her arms around the king's hand, closed her eyes, and softly hummed in agreement.
The king's words made her feel a warmth in her heart.
She knew the king would never hurt her.
"Margarita, you have a partner, don't you?"
Li Meng already knew about Margarita's partner.
However, since centaurs had a matriarchal society, the queen's consort held no significant status.
Hearing the king suddenly mention her partner, Margarita's body trembled, and her eyes flashed with panic.
"My king, I... I will sever ties with him immediately."
Seeing Margarita's misunderstanding, Li Meng chuckled.
"Margarita, that's not what I meant. You should know I don't care about such things."
Whether Margarita had a husband or not was irrelevant to Li Meng.
He had no possessive feelings toward females.
As long as they could bear children, nothing else mattered.
Hearing the king's words, Margarita breathed a sigh of relief.
She had nearly forgotten that the king was a goblin.
Goblins wouldn't care whether she had a partner, nor would the king treat her as a forbidden possession.
"Then why did the king bring him up?"
Margarita looked at the king, puzzled.
"You have children, don't you?"
Margarita nodded.
"Send them over. I'll give each of them a child."
In centaur society, Margarita's children would only be princesses, as male centaurs had low status and were often abandoned at birth to be raised by other centaur couples.
Hearing this, Margarita smiled faintly.
So this was what the king meant.
Margarita nodded softly, smiling as she replied, "Alright, I'll send word to the tribe tomorrow to have my daughters come over."
At this point, Margarita lowered her gaze to her equine abdomen.
"My king, will our child really be powerful?"
"Yes, very powerful. Becoming an emperor-level powerhouse is not impossible."
Not just emperor-level; with some luck, they might even produce a goblin variant with the potential to reach god-level.
"Emperor-level?"
Margarita's eyes widened in shock.
An emperor-level powerhouse was an incredible force.
If her tribe had had an emperor-level warrior back then, the centaur tribe would never have been subjugated by the demon race.
Even a single emperor-level individual could deter the demons and keep them at bay.
With hopeful eyes, Margarita looked at the king.
"My king, let's continue. I want to bear your child."
Li Meng laughed heartily, flipping Margarita's human torso beneath him.
"Haha, alright, the king will give you a child."
For a time, the grand sleeping chamber was filled with noise and passion once more.
It wasn't until the late hours of the night, as dawn approached, that peace returned to the chamber.
---
The next afternoon.
"Boss, let's go play!"
By the riverbank, Benben stood on tiptoe, staring up at the boss on the deck.
Her clumsy and naive demeanor was indescribably adorable.
Meanwhile, Wangwang was jumping up and down along the riverbank, trying to catch a glimpse of their busy boss on the deck.
"Benben, where do you want to go play?"
"There's a dragon in the Ogre Mountains. I... I want to eat it."
"A dragon?"
Li Meng appeared at the ship's railing.
"Benben, what kind of dragon? Have you seen it?"
Benben shook her head.
"My underling saw it. It's huge—about... about the size of two Wangwangs, and it's red."
The size of two Wangwangs?
Li Meng glanced at the ten-meter-tall Wangwang.
It must be a fire sub-dragon.
Only fire sub-dragons had red scales.
Leaping off the deck, Li Meng landed on Benben's shoulder.
"Let's go, time for dragon meat!"
"Roar, roar!"
Benben roared in excitement, laughing loudly as she strode toward the forest.
"Wangwang!"
Wangwang quickly shrank her body and followed closely behind.
Her large, round form wasn't suited for running through the forest in her full size.
A fire sub-dragon?
Sitting on Benben's shoulder, Li Meng's eyes sparkled with excitement.
In this world, sub-dragons were similar to the dragons in human fantasy novels on Earth—extremely powerful creatures.
Though not as mighty as true dragons, adult sub-dragons possessed saint-level strength.
Like true dragons, they were also incredibly rare.
Most adventurers would never encounter one in their lifetime.
The fact that a fire sub-dragon had appeared in the Ogre Mountains was a golden opportunity.
Free dragon meat falling from the sky—there was no way Li Meng would miss it.
He only hoped the dragon would be strong enough to provide a few useful skills.
At this point, most skills were of little use to Li Meng.
Attribute-enhancing skills barely made a difference, and offensive skills weren't necessary.
His future plans included forming contracts with slimes of various elements.
The "Elemental Spirit" skill would surpass all magical skills.
It not only allowed him to mimic any magical attack but also create custom attack patterns at will.
For close combat, he had monstrous strength and combat aura.
If berserk, he could use blood-fury combat aura.
"Benben, how's your Ogre Kingdom coming along?"
There was an ogre tribe in the Ogre Mountains, located in a natural fortress.
It was the perfect location to serve as Benben's royal palace.
"I don't know. I rarely go there."
Benben's response made Li Meng chuckle.
That made sense—ogres didn't have the habit of living in groups, and their lifestyle didn't suit Benben.
"Benben, do you want to become human?"
"Boss, if I become human, can I have your child?"
"Benben, why would you think that?"
Benben turned her massive eyes to her boss on her shoulder.
"Benben isn't stupid. Benben is too ugly, so boss doesn't want to have children with me."
Faced with Benben's enormous gaze, Li Meng was at a loss for words.
"Benben, it was you who said you didn't want to bear goblin children. It's not that I think you're ugly. You look exactly how you're supposed to look. I believe you're a great beauty among ogres."
Then again, male and female ogres didn't seem to differ much.
Although Benben was female, she didn't have a chest—or at least no noticeable protrusions on her front.
From her appearance alone, it was impossible to tell her gender.