Chapter 19 I Have a Turtle Friend

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After bumping into the turtle shell for the three-hundredth time with all her might, Lucia climbed up from the ground, listlessly slumped onto the ground, her back leaning against Turtle.

She felt as if her bones were about to be shattered by her own doing.

With Evil Dragon not supervising by her side, she really didn't need to be so honest, did she? If she only used half her strength, Evil Dragon wouldn't know, and it wouldn't be so painful for her.

Whenever she thought like this, the words that Eva once said to her would come to mind.

"Your Highness, if you don't work hard, if you cheat, do you think you're fooling me? Your teacher? Actually, Your Highness, you're fooling yourself. The knowledge you gain will become your foundation, and the power you achieve through training will make you more confident, better, and more beautiful."

Evil Dragon told me to hit the turtle shell with all my strength. What benefit would there be in cheating?

The benefit would be not having to suffer as much as now... Her entire body ached.

What benefits are there in not cheating?

Lucia thought for a long time and didn't see any immediate benefits.

Well, she could tell that Evil Dragon didn't harbor any ill intentions towards her as an "Amethyst Young Dragon."

From the perspective of a "Young Dragon," the one being deceived by cheating wasn't Evil Dragon, but herself as the "Young Dragon."

From a human perspective, though, she wasn't an actual Young Dragon, so what's the harm in cheating?

Okay, from a human perspective... The reason she didn't cheat wasn't that she didn't want to, but rather because she feared the beatings from Evil Dragon...

The fear of Evil Dragon truly was etched deep into the bones of the human princess.

No more rest. The longer the rest, the more everything hurt with just a slight movement.

It was time to greet Turtle.

Until she found an opportunity to escape from here, she feared that for a long time to come, she would have to bump against Turtle's turtle shell with all her strength.

First, she should get to know Turtle. Once she became familiar with Turtle, she could quietly negotiate with Turtle, asking it to collaborate with her and perhaps turn over...

Forget it...

If she flipped Turtle over, Evil Dragon would make her bump against mountains.

If Turtle's turtle shell was this hard, the mountains Evil Dragon would find for her were bound to be even harder...

Indeed... Eva was right... Cheating... sometimes it's yourself who ends up in the pitfall.

Lucia grimaced as she made her way toward the apparent location of Turtle's head.

Turtle's head wasn't retracted into its shell.

"Turtle... hello, my name is Lucia, I hope my bumping just now didn't hurt you."

To ensure that Turtle could see her, Lucia deliberately walked further away. In her Dragon Form, she wasn't too small, a dragon body over ten meters long; when crouched on the ground she could see Turtle's head, eyes, and nose.

Turtle should be able to see her as well.

If only Turtle could speak.

Evil Dragon's pet, the Hellhound named Er Gouzi, couldn't speak human language. Evil Dragon could understand its canine language, but she couldn't.

Given Turtle's size, she guessed it likely didn't speak. After all, if it could, it would probably have greeted Evil Dragon when he brought her over before.

Lucia's slit pupils lost their mirth, "I forgot you can't speak, and I'm not sure you can understand what I'm saying."

"Turtle, if you understand what I'm saying, could you nod your head?"

Turtle nodded its head; it understood what the Young Dragon before it was saying.

"You understand?!"

Turtle nodded again.

Delight flickered in Lucia's eyes at the realization it could understand—being able to understand her meant they could communicate.

"Can we be friends?"

Turtle nodded its head.

The Turtle was more than happy to be friends with the Young Dragon.

It was nothing like Er Gouzi, who would see it and only think about crushing it under the turtle shell, its foul mouth, and its desire to show off in front of Evil Dragon Lance.

Feeding the turtle—was that something it needed to do?

No need!

Ever since it took over the feeding task, the vegetables it ate always fell from the dog's mouth...

Disgusting to death.

What's most annoying is that Er Gouzi always likes to argue, saying Lance gave it the rabies vaccine, and there are no viruses in its mouth...

The cabbage, radishes, and dried corn from its mouth are very clean...

Sometimes I really wish I could accidentally roll over in my sleep and squash Er Gouzi to death...

"Turtle, did I accidentally hurt you just now?"

The turtle nodded. A young dragon as small as this couldn't hurt it, as long as Evil Dragon Lance didn't bump into it.

If Evil Dragon Lance bumped into it, it would just die on the spot to show Evil Dragon Lance.

No, I can't die.

If I die, Evil Dragon Lance will turn my turtle shell into a house.

The turtle twisted its body, looking around to make sure there were no signs of Evil Dragon Lance nearby, then beckoned the young dragon closer with a claw.

The young dragon Lucia understood and walked over to the turtle's head. "What's wrong, Turtle?"

"Shh... keep your voice down... I'll tell you a secret, I can actually speak..."

"Ah, you can..."

"Quiet quiet quiet, don't let Evil Dragon Lance hear."

Lucia covered her mouth with a dragon claw, looking around like a thief, and not seeing the evil dragon, she lowered her claw and whispered, "Why can't we let Evil Dragon Lance hear us talking?"

"Evil Dragon Lance doesn't know I can speak."

"Ah? You didn't tell Evil Dragon that you can speak?"

The turtle shook its head.

"Why not tell him?"

The turtle turned its body again and took a cautious look around to make sure that there was still no sign of Evil Dragon Lance. It then whispered cautiously, "I know too many secrets about Evil Dragon Lance, if he knew I could talk, he would slaughter me."

"Isn't that a bit too scary? You're his pet; he wouldn't do that... right?"

"He would. A long, long time ago, when he was talking to me, a mosquito passed by, and then it died under his Dragon Breath. He said... after eavesdropping on him for so long... the only option was to kill the mosquito to silence it."

"......"

Lucia trembled with fear. In the future, when the evil dragon talked to himself, should she cover her ears?

"Young dragon, a word of advice for you in secret, do not casually drink any potion prepared by the evil dragon."

"Why not?"

"Do you think I am big?"

"Big."

"Originally, I was just an ordinary little turtle until one day, Evil Dragon Lance dug me out of a mud pit and took me away. Then... my miserable yet somewhat legendary turtle life began.

Evil Dragon Lance initially picked me up because he wanted a companion. He said, a thousand-year turtle could live for ten thousand years, I might actually be able to see him through to his old age...

After that, my nightmare began. At that time, Evil Dragon Lance didn't have many friends, so he told me everything. Even when I was asleep, he would pry my eyelids open, insisting I listen to him talk...

Gradually, he wasn't satisfied just having me as a listener and wanted me to talk back to him. Then... my nightmare worsened, as Evil Dragon Lance began to study and learn about various bizarre herbology... preparing potions or concocting them... and I was the first to be force-fed them...

Sometimes after drinking Evil Dragon Lance's potions, I could run faster than a rabbit.

Sometimes, my turtle head would become even bigger than my turtle shell after drinking his concoctions.

The scariest time was when I drank one of the evil dragon's potions and grew two little wings on my head. I nearly died of fright, and there was also...."

"????"

"What else? Turtle..."

"Young dragon, it's time for your potion."

Evil Dragon Lance, carrying a bowl of herbal medicine, was coming closer from a distance.