99: A man like a lion, the mourning of summer, and... the beginning of everything.

A blurry image appeared before him.

It was an industrialized city, with chimneys spewing out plumes of black exhaust, like countless black pillars reaching to the sky. Innumerable workers toiled like machines, day and night, numbly... This was a small city in England.

Beneath the glory of the empire on which the sun never sets, lay countless impoverished workers and a large group of homeless children.

Hilbert Jean Anjou was one of them... [By my blood, I shall slay all dragons!]

[The future strongest Dragon Slayer, Dean of Cassell College, Angers is born!]

[creation points + 30]

[Silver Rank life form, Angers is born. After awakening Time Zero, he breaks through to Gold Rank!]

[History enters a new chapter!]

[As a Half-blood, Angers displayed astonishing talent from a young age. At just 12 years old, he self-taught Latin and Greek. Later, with the sponsorship of the local bishop, he went to study at Cambridge University!]

[It was there...]

[Angers met the lifelong friend who would change his destiny.]

[The eldest son of the Cassell family, one of the strongest Dragon Slayers at the time, and later, the founder of The Lionheart Society of the Secret Party!]

[Under Cassell's influence, Angers gradually learned about the history of dragons. That long-sealed history shocked and astonished Angers!]

[Subsequently...]

[With Cassell's help, Angers successfully awakened Time Zero, a terrifying Word Spirit capable of forming a Time Zero domain around Angers. Within this domain, time could be slowed by up to five hundred times!]

[With the power of Time Zero, Angers broke through the limits of Half-bloods, reaching a level almost equivalent to a Dragon King!]

[Gold Rank life form, born!]

[creation points + 100]

"Time Zero is truly unreasonable. This effect is simply heaven-defying."

Su Bai couldn't help but complain.

Everyone else focuses on physical enhancements, but this guy goes the opposite way, slowing down time. This way, let alone a Half-blood, even a disabled old man,

slowly throwing a punch,

would appear to outsiders as a punch exceeding the speed of sound!

Such a cheating ability,

no wonder,

in the original work, even when Inuyama He gave his all, unleashing a nine-stage instant slash, reaching 512 times the speed,

he still couldn't defeat Angers.

This level of cheating is unsolvable unless suppressed by absolute power!

Angers's title as the strongest Half-blood,

is well-deserved!

...[Angers awakened Time Zero and gained strength almost on par with a Dragon King. However, at this time, he was far from being as adapted to Time Zero as he would be later, and the power he could exert was limited.]

[Even so, in that era, Angers became one of the top Dragon Slayers thanks to this Word Spirit!]

[Time passed...]

[In 1900, the Secret Party discovered an egg buried deep at the bottom of the sea, at the end of the ocean. Based on its aura, they speculated it was likely left behind by the Legendary traveling Black King!]

[As the leader of the dragon race, the Legendary Black King Nidhogg.]

[The Secret Party exercised extreme caution, spending vast financial and material resources to finally salvage it and secretly transport it to the underground of Cassell Manor!]

[It was guarded by The Lionheart Society, which had already been established at that time.]

[As the strongest member of The Lionheart Society apart from Cassell, Angers took on the task of guarding the 'Black King egg.' At the same time, an expert with profound knowledge of dragons also set off overnight to arrive there.]

[Under the witness of numerous scientists and Dragon Slayers, they began to dissect this Black King egg, hoping to find the key to defeating dragons and deciphering all the mysteries of Word Spirit!]

[Things did not go as planned.]

[The Secret Party's information was wrong. This egg was not the Black King's egg, but rather from the First Generation Species of the King of Sky and Wind, a true ancient dragon!]

[After the expert injected adrenaline, the intense stimulation finally woke the ancient dragon that had been sleeping in the egg for thousands of years. A pair of dark golden Golden Pupils, like eternal flames, carried a profound majesty.]

[Dragon!]

[A true dragon!]

[And it was a First Generation Species, almost extinct now. Each Dragon King has four First Generation Species under its command, beings second only to the Dragon King! (Self-setting)]

[In front of this power, which was second only to a Dragon King, although Angers possessed similar power, he had not yet fully adapted to the power of Time Zero at that time. Reducing time by dozens of times was already his limit!]

[However, even so, facing the ferocious ancient dragon before him, Angers still held his long blade, gritted his teeth, and shouted, "Time Zero"!]

[Instantly...]

[The Time Zero domain expanded, slowing down the surrounding time by dozens of times!]

[Angers, at a speed almost like a streak of light, continuously attacked the ancient dragon. In the eyes of others, Angers at this moment was a series of afterimages. In a flash, sounds of slashing and roaring constantly came!]

[Three seconds.]

[The battle ended!]

[With a thud, it wasn't the ancient dragon that fell, but Angers, exhausted from overusing Time Zero!]

[Angers fell unconscious.]

[The Secret Party members present then welcomed a nightmare. Amidst the ancient dragon's almost invincible power, a massacre unfolded...]

[Milestone event 'Summer's Lament,' achieved!]

[Reward creation points + 1000!]

[All current milestone events achieved. Dragon template, permanent Origin Realm function activated!]

[Creatures within this template, upon death, can be revived in the Origin Realm by spending a certain amount of creation points!]

[Black Iron Rank 10, Bronze rank 100, Silver Rank 1000, Gold Rank...]

"Stop, stop, no need to remind me, I remember it very clearly!"

Su Bai's mouth twitched.

This simulator truly is consistent. No matter the moment, whenever there's an opportunity, it will subtly hint to Su Bai from various angles:

It's getting dark! It's raining! Hurry and pay (creation points)!

...Su Bai was depressed, the simulator continued to advance.

[A major event, later known as 'Summer's Lament,' occurred!]

[After this battle, the First Generation Species of the King of Sky and Wind departed, leaving behind only a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood!]

[The entire Lionheart Society, except for Angers, even its president Cassell, died in battle!]

[Scarlet blood dripped from his lips, seeping into every pore of his body. Angers woke up. He stared blankly at everything before him, for a moment believing he had fallen into hell.]

[But the bodies of his companions nearby constantly reminded him that this was reality, a stark and inescapable reality!]

[Angers rose, walking forward like a zombie.]

[Thud...]

[He bumped into a 'person,' or rather, a body that was already cold.]

[Cassell.]

[Angers's eyes were blank, staring dully at everything before him. After a moment, he suddenly let out a bitter laugh, 'Ah, you're dead too.']

[Angers silently left.]

[From then on, Angers's world was devoid of joy and laughter. All that remained... was a raging fire of revenge!]

...The death of one person, to the world, is merely one more grave.

But for those who depended on each other,

it means their entire world is buried in a grave.

It was from this moment that Hilbert Jean Anjou truly developed a lion-like heart.

One day,

he would wield a blade, cross thorns and a sea of fire, to seek revenge on his former enemies.

This was him.

Hilbert Jean Anjou.

Su Bai mused, perhaps it was suffering and disaster that forged the Legendary Dean of Cassell College he would later become.

At the same time,

a soft sound came, attracting Su Bai's attention.

The information on the simulator,

officially arrived at the beginning of the Dragon Race, the starting point of all stories:

[In the early 20th century, Angers, who had carried the fire of hatred for decades, founded Cassell College!]

[Subsequently, he traveled to Japan, learned the secrets of the White King's bloodline, and realized that the Japanese were the true strongest Half-bloods!]

[In the same year, he established the Japan branch.]

[And later, in 1946, he came to Japan again and rescued Inuyama He. From then on, this young man would spend his life traversing thorny thickets.]

[Decades later... Finger, Caesar, Chu Zihang, Nono... and Lu Mingfei were born one after another. At the same time, within the Nibelungen beneath the capital, the Dragon King Jörmungandr awakened, taking the name Xiamai, born in 1993.]

[Time... returns to the origin point.]

PS: I originally wanted to write this chapter in the form of Angers's autobiography, but I found it wasn't very good, so I changed it back. My two thousand words, alas... Sob sob sob, so, please give some free small gifts, mwah ( ◉ ื ൠ ◉ ื )