Loopholes. There were always loopholes to be found.
Dylan was a firm believer in this.
Therefore, he always went out of his way to research and read all sorts of magical knowledge that was still unknown to him.
Lying in bed, Dylan didn't go straight to sleep.
Instead, he checked his Galleon balance.
—In Gringotts, besides inspecting the property, he had also exchanged his pounds for Galleons.
"If I'd known that in the Chamber of Secrets, as long as I didn't use any spells that could directly cause destruction, the goblins wouldn't notice, I would have gotten all their money into my hands a long time ago."
——————
**[Money]:** 717,500 Galleons
——————
"Only a bit over seven hundred thousand, tsk. Otherwise, I'd just pop into Gringotts every day and *accio* all the goblins' money—there's really no need to short Gringotts, that's way too much effort. It'd be better to just have them hand over all their gold directly."
Dylan stroked his chin.
He pondered the feasibility of this idea for a moment.
"Or, maybe I don't even need to show my face. If I could turn Lockhart into a complete puppet who could execute my commands from afar..."
Dylan thought this was a pretty good idea, but he decided to put it on hold for now, planning to see if he could directly solve the problem later by unlocking the properties of the Imperius Curse.
That way, he wouldn't have to rack his brains too much figuring out how to do it.
"Seven hundred thousand Galleons can expand about seventy thousand cubic meters of space."
Dylan thought for a moment, then directly waved his hand.
**[Message]:** Spend 600,000 Galleons to expand 60,000 cubic meters of space?
Dylan didn't hesitate to spend!
**[Message]:** Your current pet space is 2,156,700,000 cubic meters!
Looking at the system prompt, Dylan couldn't lie still anymore.
He placed the suitcase by the bed.
Then, he opened the case, leaned half his body over the edge, and with a wiggle, disappeared entirely from the bedroom.
Upon entering the pet space.
Dylan clearly felt that the entire space had expanded a lot; the sense of spaciousness was almost overwhelming.
Just a slight glance revealed a lush, green forest as far as the eye could see.
Because Dylan didn't have that many Galleons, and the types of creatures in the suitcase weren't very diverse before, it could only barely maintain a basic ecological cycle.
Therefore, Dylan didn't spend any more money to open another ecological environment.
—A hundred thousand Galleons for one ecological environment? Who could afford that?
Even robbing an old goblin only netted him around ten to twenty thousand Galleons.
At this time, the forest, as the main ecosystem of the space, seemed even more vibrant than before due to the expansion.
Looking around, all he could see were towering, verdant trees.
Clearly, the self-sustaining system had considered creatures like Noberta with their massive size.
—After all, this suitcase was a pet space suitcase, and even if the created ecological environment had other creatures, it would primarily revolve around his pets.
Dylan descended from the air.
The surrounding trees were tall and sturdy, their shadowy forms and layered foliage intertwining into a dense darkness.
Occasionally, a few faint flickers of phosphorescence could be seen—the faint glow of nocturnal creatures.
The damp scent of soil, mixed with the fragrance of grass and trees, went straight to his nose.
Dylan clearly felt that, as the space expanded, more nocturnal animals had become active in his world.
Faintly, Dylan could also hear the sounds of creatures rustling through the grass and branches.
—It sounded like… running?
Just then.
A fiery red light, as fast as lightning, sped towards Dylan.
The scorching heat radiating from it instantly dispelled the night chill.
It was obvious who had arrived.
Dylan looked at the Norwegian Ridgeback flying beside him and chuckled.
After two years of growth, the little guy was already quite big.
Especially in the darkness, Noberta looked particularly dazzling.
Its enormous wings flapped constantly, creating a whooshing sound.
"Roar~"
When Noberta saw Dylan, it roared excitedly and then followed him down to the ground.
Dylan smiled and patted the little guy's head before walking forward with it.
Their landing spot was already close to the edge of the forest.
Soon, Dylan led a dragon to a spot not far from the cottage.
At the same time, next to the wooden house, a Basilisk was standing silently in place.
The Basilisk was enormous, and in the darkness, only a massive outline could be seen.
However, the monster's triangular head couldn't even lift at this moment, and when its vertical pupils saw Dylan arrive, a hint of fear actually appeared in its eyes.
It wanted to curl up its body, trying its best not to attract the human's attention, but it couldn't move because of the spell cast upon its soul.
Suddenly, a dark shadow silently approached, went around behind Dylan, and was about to pounce when...
Dylan's voice came from the front: "Coal Ball, settle down."
The black shadow paused, and its form revealed itself: an elegant Shadow Cat.
At this moment, it was almost one with the night, with only a pair of jewel-like eyes shining with a faint light.
"Meow!"
Coal Ball humanely curled its lip, took light steps, walked to Dylan's feet, and proudly raised its small head.
Only when Dylan lifted his leg and nudged its body did Coal Ball meow again, then follow beside Dylan.
Dylan chuckled softly, "Want me to take you for a spin?"
Coal Ball's eyes lit up, but it still held its head high, as if it had hesitated fiercely, before slowly nodding its head in a reluctant agreement.
Dylan grinned widely, "Hahaha~ Little Coal Ball, you're so adorable."
"Meow!" Coal Ball's eyes widened.
Dylan made a funny face at it, "So proud! I might have trouble finding you a little lady-meow!"
"Meow?!"
Coal Ball looked at its master with a shocked expression.
Dylan immediately whistled, then his figure flashed.
Almost in the blink of an eye, a light flashed.
Dylan's body changed; a pair of enormous wings sprouted from his back, and his skin was covered in hard scales.
He eventually transformed into a magnificent Norwegian Ridgeback—even larger than Noberta.
"Hmm!"
Dylan rumbled softly at Coal Ball, beckoning it with his claws to jump onto his back.
Coal Ball tossed its head, stomped the ground in annoyance, sending a few fallen leaves flying.
Dylan waved at it again, then turned around and flapped his wings.
—Looking like he was about to leave if it didn't hurry.
Coal Ball got anxious.
"Meow!"
Its big eyes widened, and with a nimble leap, it appeared on Dylan's back, then held on tightly, its two front paws even hugging Dylan's neck.
Dylan chuckled inwardly.
With a flap of his wings, his body soared into the air.
"Roar!"
Noberta also flapped its wings and followed beside him.
The two dragons flew up side by side, like two shooting stars piercing the night sky, quickly breaking through the dense foliage above the forest and heading straight into the high altitude.
The strong airflow blew the branches below every which way, the wind howled in their ears, and Noberta occasionally let out roars.
Its cries traveled far in the silent night.
Coal Ball, however, lay on Dylan's back, its claws tightly gripping Dylan's scales, its body trembling slightly, and its ears involuntarily flattened backward.
It was a little afraid of heights.
Usually, it wasn't even very willing to fly in the sky with Noberta.
This time, under Dylan's strong "invitation," it reluctantly agreed to go for a stroll with Dylan.
But even though it was a little scared, Coal Ball didn't show it at all, still trying hard to maintain its aloof demeanor, even pretending to be calm by holding its head high.
—It's just that its whiskers seemed to be trembling slightly the whole time.
"Mrow..."
Coal Ball's eyes were wide and round as it warily watched the scenery rushing past below, occasionally letting out a nervous meow, only to quickly shut its mouth again.
Dylan didn't pay attention to the little guy; he had already taken it flying several times before, and he wouldn't let Coal Ball fall directly.
—Besides, Coal Ball had the ability to become incorporeal, so it couldn't die from a fall anyway.
So, Dylan flapped his wings again, and his speed suddenly increased! "Whoosh!"
He flew past at lightning speed.
Noberta also roared and immediately followed.
The two dragons and the shadow cat looked down at this familiar yet unfamiliar territory.
At first, Coal Ball was a bit flustered by the strong feeling of weightlessness, but as the flight continued, it gradually relaxed its tense body.
—Dylan finally felt that the little guy's claws were no longer digging into his scales so hard.
It could even tentatively raise its head slightly, feeling the wind brush against its face and ruffle its whiskers.
Dylan's eyes gleamed as he looked down.
Currently, his world didn't have a real moon, but there was still moonlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows.
In the forest, various small animals were awakened by Noberta's roar, scurrying around in the undergrowth.
The goblins, whose numbers were far fewer than before, were now sitting together in a circle, seemingly doing something.
Hearing the sound, they looked up.
Seeing Dylan and Noberta's enormous figures flying over their heads, they trembled all over and quickly huddled together, hiding in the dense bushes, holding their breath and not daring to make a sound.
There were also swarms of Cornish Pixies, and their numbers were quite large, flying back and forth in the forest.
—Because these guys were too small, Dylan couldn't summon any high-quality Obsidian Blooms from them at all.
So, for these pixies, Dylan simply treated them as bloodletting tools and wouldn't occasionally slaughter one like the goblins.
But even so, these audacious little pixies, as soon as they sensed Dylan and Noberta's presence, immediately panicked and flew towards the depths of the forest, trying to hide themselves.
Fortunately, their size was indeed small, and within a few breaths, they disappeared into the layers of leaves.
Dylan ignored them and flew around his world a full three times before slowly landing back beside the cottage.
"Now, my flying skills in my Norwegian Ridgeback form can be considered quite excellent."
Looking at the space, which was now more than twice as large as when he first obtained the suitcase, Dylan still felt a sense of wonder in his heart.
He had the feeling of being a creator—and in fact, he was.
This space was originally created by him spending money.
Transforming back into human form, Dylan looked at Coal Ball, who jumped to the ground with slightly wobbly legs, quickly pursing his lips to suppress a laugh.
Coal Ball looked at him.
Dylan immediately looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle.
"Hmm, let's open another ecological environment. Seven hundred thousand-odd Galleons, spent six hundred thousand on expanding the space, the remaining hundred-odd thousand, let's use another hundred thousand to open a new ecological environment. Not bad."
However, this time, what kind of environment would be better to create?
Right now, he already had a forest, and a forest doesn't just include trees; it actually covers a wide range, even including some small lakes.
If needed, Dylan could even control this forest to present a partial rainforest form.
However, he could only transform a small part.
Because the system indicated—a rainforest was also a new ecosystem.
Want to fully unlock it?
Spend money!
Dylan's need for a rainforest wasn't particularly high.
Even a small part was enough to deal with his current situation, so Dylan wasn't in a hurry to spend another hundred thousand Galleons to create a pure rainforest.
After much deliberation, Dylan decided to create an ocean—a Small Sea.
—After all, the spatial range was really not that large. Creating a small sea first would mean that the number of creatures that could live in it would even be greater than the creatures in the forest.
Noberta and the others could usually hunt in the sea.
Dylan only needed to sprinkle some magical growth potion or something similar into the sea, and the fish would grow like crazy.
They wouldn't be able to eat them all.
Naturally, this could alleviate, to some extent, Dylan's need to spend large sums of money from time to time to get food for Noberta.
Thinking of this, Dylan moved his mind.
-
100,000 Galleons!
In an instant, Dylan's consciousness swept across the entire small world that had previously only contained a forest.
At the same time, the ecological environment in the space seemed to be stirred by a pair of invisible giant hands, and a tremendous change began.
At the edge of the space, the small cottage that had stood quietly beside the forest.
At this moment, on the other side.
As a strange fluctuation arose.
Immediately afterward, the ground began to slowly sink.
Seawater, as if summoned, surged in torrentially.
Waves rolled, and water splashed everywhere.
In the blink of an eye, a clear ocean appeared before Dylan's eyes.
Moonlight poured down, plating the sea surface with a layer of silvery-white brilliance, and sparkling waves shimmered and danced in the night.
With the appearance of the ocean, the forest's territory began to shrink.
The towering trees that had originally blocked out the sky were partly submerged by the seawater and transformed into part of the ocean.
Others were forced to retreat inland, giving way to large tracts of land.
This resulted in the creatures that had originally appeared due to the expansion of space and the forest being driven together.
However, the forest had only just been expanded, and even with the self-sustaining ecosystem, it hadn't been able to create too many creatures in the first place, so it wasn't particularly crowded.
Because Dylan hadn't made this ocean too large; it even looked a bit small.
It roughly occupied the space he had just expanded, and perhaps even a bit less.
Dylan looked at this Small Sea and nodded with satisfaction.
Beside him, Noberta and Coal Ball had both witnessed the appearance of the forest with their own eyes, so even though they were surprised, they were more excited.
But the Basilisk, which couldn't move at all, hadn't seen such a scene.
Seeing an ocean appear out of thin air, its head wanted to lift, but it couldn't, so it could only stare intently at the scene in front of it with its vertical pupils.
—It dared to swear on its gall that it had never been so shocked in its life!
How on earth did this human do it?
No, this monster, even more evil than it!
How could it possibly make an ocean appear out of nowhere?
This was simply impossible!
Dylan's actions completely shattered the Basilisk's shallow and unchanging understanding of the world.
Fear and doubt intertwined in its heart, making it even more afraid of Dylan.
Noberta flapped its two enormous dragon wings, its eyes wide like copper bells, hovering slightly in mid-air, looking at the sea in front and letting out a series of roars.
"Roar! Roar!"
In the past, it would wander around this forest every day, soaring freely.
It could be said that it felt it knew every inch of this land even better than its master!
But now, this suddenly appearing ocean made it feel both strange and curious.
Hot air puffed out of Noberta's nostrils, carrying a hint of probing, wanting to approach the sea, but it held back its movements and looked down at Dylan for confirmation.
Dylan nodded slightly, "Go ahead."
"Roar!"
The surprise in Noberta's eyes was instantly replaced by intense curiosity and excitement, and a high-pitched roar came from its throat.
With a powerful flap of its wings, it instantly shot out, carrying scorching air currents, and flew over the sea.
It first hovered in mid-air, its enormous claws waving in the air, stirring up layers of heat waves.
Then, Noberta folded its wings and plunged headfirst into the sea.
"Boom!"
A loud noise.
Water splashed up several feet high, the water shimmering with a silvery-white light under the moonlight, looking extremely beautiful.
Dylan watched Noberta happily wriggling its body in the water, sometimes raising its neck and splashing large amounts of seawater into the air, and sometimes diving underwater, leaving a trail of huge bubbles behind it.
"Swish!"
When it broke out of the water again, it had a large fish in its mouth that was so frightened it was disoriented.
"Roar!"
Noberta shook its head vigorously, throwing the big fish into the air, then opened its mouth full of fangs and swallowed the entire fish in one bite.
Dylan raised an eyebrow.
"So, even though Norwegian Ridgebacks are fire dragons, they aren't afraid of water."
Dylan also became a bit interested and wanted to take a couple of laps in the sea with Noberta.
But the ocean was still too small right now.
It was like a large lake.
Dylan's interest waned a lot.
He looked down at Coal Ball at his feet.
The little guy was also staring at the ocean without blinking.
Dylan chuckled, "Go play, you don't have to go to school or work anyway."
Coal Ball glanced at Dylan, but after getting its master's permission, it very honestly took steps, its body turning into a black shadow and shooting towards the ocean.
Watching Coal Ball run far away, Dylan nodded to himself.
Sure enough!
Shadow Cats are not cats!
They don't hate water at all!
(End of this chapter)