Chapter 157: Chapter 0157: The Fate Choice of the Smoke Dragon
Seven months ago.

Liszt awoke from the darkness, comprehended his situation, and accepted the memories of his predecessor, knowing the latter could see the smoke from a very young age.

But back then, the smoke was too faint to see clearly.

It wasn’t until he had transmigrated and merged with this body that he could truly see what the smoke was made of; it turned out to be a text-formed task.

When he first saw the content clearly, he was really startled.

If you could call it a golden finger, the smoke formed Serpent Script, not Chinese characters.

If you said it wasn’t a golden finger, both the language style and the task content were familiar to Earth’s style.

He could only convince himself that before a transmigrator did anything, the golden finger acted first. Then he accepted the existence of the Smoke Mission, guessing that behind the faint outline, there must be some schemer or conspiracy. However, this time, upon hearing Mr. Grandini describe the five Sacred Dragons, he found there was one representing fate—the Smoke Dragon.

It brought him a tremendous shock.

“Perhaps, this golden finger of mine, this Smoke Mission, is not some kind of conspiracy?” There was no indication that the Smoke Mission had any ulterior motive or was driving him towards some sort of layout. From beginning to end, the Smoke Mission simply issued some simple tasks.

And then rewarded him with things that already existed but were extremely easy to miss.

This manner of awarding.

Upon reflection, it had a strong flavor of destiny—whether it was a brush past or an embrace, both are different trajectories of fate.

Ordinary people cannot change the trajectory of fate, or rather, their fate’s trajectory is unknown, chaotic.

But with the help of the Smoke Mission, Liszt’s destiny’s trajectory included an added element of choice.

Granney continued to prattle beside him, expounding endlessly on matters of magic.

Liszt was already lost in his thoughts, entering his own inner world. He lowered his head, looking at his own body: “Representing fate… a puff of smoke… Could it be that residing in my body is a Smoke Dragon? Because of the Smoke Dragon’s infection, I have been granted the right to choose my fate?”

Unlike Granney’s denial of the Sacred Dragons.

He believed in the definite existence of Sacred Dragons—the Formless Dragon had eaten two cows in front of him and left behind a Space Gem, an undeniable fact.

If the Formless Dragon existed, why couldn’t the Smoke Dragon exist?

The Immortal Dragon, Twilight Dragon, Jade Dragon, they definitely all existed; they might be transcendental beyond belief, but dragons and elves were already incredible creatures. No matter how inconceivable, what of it? This was a world completely different from Earth, a remarkable world filled with magic.

His thoughts continued to soar.

He tried to find traces of the existence of the Smoke Dragon.

“If it were to be said that the Smoke Dragon resides in my body, it’s not impossible, since I often see the Smoke Mission. But the smoke could only form Serpent Script, it never formed the shape of a dragon, nor has it ever communicated with me… It’s very likely I haven’t actually obtained it, but rather am just influenced by it?”

“Ordinary animals can be infected by dragons to become dragon seed animals. Although there have never been any dragon seed humans, it’s possible that my predecessor, as a child, was accidentally infected by the Smoke Dragon and became a Smoke Seed person.”

Thinking this way.

He didn’t know whether to feel fortunate or regretful.

Fortunate because others rarely encounter dragons, while he had come into contact with two, each leaving behind precious gifts—the Smoke of fate control and the unique Gemstone Space. Regretful because the close encounters with the two dragons didn’t make him a Dragon Knight, nor did it earn him the friendship of the dragons.

“Baron Liszt.”

“Baron Liszt!”

Granney’s calling voice brought Liszt back from his reverie: “What?”

“I was introducing magic, were you even listening attentively!” Mr. Grandini was quite displeased, “Learning magic requires maintaining focus, and on the path to pursuing truth, despite the loneliness and dullness, only the joy of acquiring knowledge can fill your soul from emptiness to fulfillment!”

“Sorry, I just wanted to understand a bit about magic, not to learn it,” Liszt suppressed his cluttered thoughts and squeezed out a formulaic smile, “Without a nap, I’m a bit sluggish, how about we end today’s lesson here and continue tomorrow. Thomas, please show Mr. Grandini around, let him have a look at Fresh Flower Town.”

“Certainly, my lord,” Thomas extended his hand with perfect gentlemanly grace, “This way, please, Mr. Grandini.”

Grandini glanced at Liszt and showed a look of disdain: “Truth is becoming more and more distant from you.”

Having said that, he strode out of the castle.

After Grandini left.

Liszt stayed alone in the study, looking out the window, lost in thought amid Juan Fu’s “caw,” “caw” calls.

Smoke Dragon.

Smoke Mission.

Destiny.

Many thoughts flickered back and forth.

The smoke in front of him twisted and changed forms, but the text remained constant: “Mission: The commercial district of Fresh Flower Town is gradually prospering, but the workshop district has been unoccupied for a long time, still lacking sufficient workshops to support it, and craftsmen should not waste their talents on chopping wood and tilling the fields. Please build three new workshops to increase the town’s prosperity. Reward: A breakthrough in Dou Qi.”

No matter how hard he tried to focus his attention, attempting to communicate with the “Smoke Dragon” behind the smoke, the content of the Serpent Script remained unchanged.

He could not communicate with the Smoke Dragon that may or may not exist within him.

He also could not change the Smoke Mission; the so-called choice of destiny was merely an additional option. It was like a scenic area building a road; you can choose to build a straight path from the front gate to the back gate. The Smoke Mission, on the other hand, would hint at where there are attractions, allowing you to take a detour to include them.

But if you want to build a toilet or a parking lot, sorry, there’s no function for that.

“So now, there are four possibilities for the things happening to me.”

First, as a child, he had close contact with a Smoke Dragon, was influenced by it, and became a person of the Smoke Dragon seed, possessing some ability to choose his destiny.

Second, the Smoke Dragon is snoozing somewhere in his body, and the scattered wisps of smoke form the Smoke Mission, allowing Liszt to steal a part of destiny.

Third, the Smoke Dragon might just be a young dragon, weak in power, hiding away and biding its time to grow.

Fourth, he might be overthinking, and the Smoke Mission has nothing to do with the Smoke Dragon—it’s just a transmigrator’s golden finger privilege.

The first, second, third, and fourth possibilities are all viable, but there is too little information to determine which one is more likely. He tried hard to recall the memories of his childhood, trying to find a node—a moment of close contact with the Smoke Dragon.

There was a high probability that he had come into contact with the Smoke Dragon.

“Since having memories, the places my predecessor visited were not many. Red Crab Island was one, where he only moved around the vicinity of Long Taro Castle, the rest was on Coral Island. He visited every city on Coral Island, every year going on vacation with the Earl, staying a few days in the castles’ guesthouses in various cities.”

There were no waves, just an ordinary noble second son’s life, always plain and insipid.

Half an hour later, he gave up on recalling.

He also gave up on contemplation: “Well, what comes will come, if I am fated with the Smoke Dragon, someday we shall meet face to face. Do what I must, and let destiny decide the rest… If it truly represents destiny’s Smoke Dragon, I believe it is meant to be!”

He stretched himself.

The thoughts about the Smoke Dragon, he buried deep within his heart.