"Xiong?!" The adolescent bear exclaimed.

"Who would name their dragon baby, Xiong?" asked the adolescent bear.

"On my hatching day, I punched out of my shell so hard I knocked my father across the room. He said I punched like a bear!" Lorne said with a smile.

"Hahaha, your Dad is a smart guy to see the strength of us bears. My name is also Xiong by the way!" the adolescent bear said proudly.

"My father said another reason he named me Xiong was in honor of a great brother of his. His name was Hēi Sēnlín and was also a bear. He even saved my father's life!" said Lorne.

"Hahaha, your father was good brothers with a bear! We should also be good brothers. From now on, you call be Big Bear and I'll call you Little Bear. What do you think?" asked Big Bear.

"Ok, Big Bear!" Lorne said. He had finally made a friend. BS42 was right. He needed to find someone strong to be his friend.

"Alright, all you cowering little creatures. Come out and pay your respects to my little brother, Little Bear!" Big Bear yelled.

Slowly more and more creatures emerged from their hiding places to see the Big Bear’s new brother. Big Bear was typically pretty surly but right now he seemed really happy.

"Hey Little Bear, come with me. I want to introduce you to my village and Grandpa. He's the chief of our tribe!" said Big Bear.

"Okay, let's go!" Lorne said.

A pair of glowing yellow eyes watched them from a shadowy overgrowth in the dense part of the woods. After Big Bear and Little Bear left, a figure stood up. It was an older tiger boy named Fēixíng Zhǎo. A small tiger cub walked up to Fēixíng Zhǎo.

"Big Brother, what do you think of that dragon baby?" Fēixíng Chìbǎng asked his older brother.

"Follow them. Get close and find out for yourself. After you finish playing come back to the tribe and share your experience with me," said Fēixíng Zhǎo.

"G...Go to the Hēixióng tribe by myself?" Fēixíng Chìbǎng asked.

"Don't be a scaredy-cat. The bears and the cats are allies and won't do anything but give you a warm welcome," Fēixíng Zhǎo chided his little brother.

"Go on, or I'll toss you in the lake again," Fēixíng Zhǎo threatened.

Fēixíng Chìbǎng acted as if his rear was on fire as he dashed to join up with the other forest kids.

Fēixíng Zhǎo immediately left for the Hu tribe.

***

A transmission hailed available ships. "Come in, come in! This is Astral Palace. We are under attack by Raiders. Need assistance. We have precious cargo on board. Come in, please, this is the Astral Palace. Repeat, to any Imperial ships, we have precious cargo on board. We are under attack by raiders and need assistance." A man with a bloodied forehead in a wrecked bridge continued to ask for assistance. Bodies laid all around him. The ship only had emergency lights available.

Suddenly, a transmission came in. "Astral Palace this is Captain Qar Harso of the Imperial fighter squad Black Wing. We received your emergency communication," said a man said through the transmission node.

"Captain Harso, this is Kal N'Dar aboard the Astral Palace we are in need of assistance. We are under attack by Raiders. Please assist! We have precious cargo for the Dragon Clan."

"Astral Palace, what is the nature of your cargo?" Captain Harso asked.

"We have two dragon eggs!" said Kal N'Dar.

"Dragon eggs are rare, but we are on an important mission. It's not possible to break off the mission to save a couple of dragon eggs," Captain Harso said.

"Captain Harso, these aren't just any dragon eggs. These eggs have been incubating for nearly six thousand years and are twin eggs!" Kal N'Dar said.

"Kal N'Dar, we are rerouting to your position. Please hold tight," Captain Harso said.

Everyone in the Dragon Empire knew the longer a dragon egg took to gestate the stronger the dragon. A gestation period of six thousand years meant the babies were at least Four-Clawed Silver Dragons. What was even rarer was these eggs were twins. Twin dragon eggs were rarer than human twins. One thing few people knew was dragon twins often developed special abilities making them almost as valuable as Five-Clawed Golden Dragons.

Captain Harso knew if he didn't save this ship and its cargo he would lose his head. Captain Harso immediately requested backup to sweep the Raiders and secure the Astral Palace. He was already on his way. He would either save the cargo or die trying! This was a risk versus reward situation. Save the eggs and there would be great rewards. Die, well he'd be dead. It was risky but worth it.

It might seem strange that spaceships, warships, and fighters might be used in a universe filled with cultivators. In reality, these vehicles and war materials were very important. High-level cultivators were rare, and it was cheaper to build ships than fund a High-level cultivator who could survive in space.

The Empire's war materials and space fleet operated to govern the majority of their territories anyway, and for that task, they were extremely effective. The few High-Level Cultivators could destroy armies. However, they could also be overwhelmed by armies. If Kal N'Dar chose to take on these fighters based on his own cultivation he would have been instantly destroyed. The ship was like a flying array. It could both guard and attack the fighters.

An hour later, the Astral Palace was docked on an Imperial Carrier. Kal N'Dar helped a male and female dragon from the ship. The male was a Four-Clawed Silver Dragon, while the female was a Four-Clawed Golden Dragon. The pair had clearly been through a harrowing experience. Most of the Astral Palace crew died during their fight against the Raiders. A portable incubation chamber with two dragon eggs was unloaded from the ship and surrounded by a heavy guard.

Although developing High-level Cultivators could be extremely expensive, dragons were a different matter. Dragons naturally rose to the highest levels of cultivation given enough time. Every extra Dragon represented an additional military force. This was especially true of High-level Dragons.

Medical teams secured the dragon eggs and took them to a special medical facility newly fashioned for the important cargo. The mother and father of the eggs were similarly escorted to another medical facility.

Kal N'Dar watched as the two were escorted away. A man in a flight suit trailed by several other officers quickly walked up to him.

"Kal N'Dar? I'm Captain Harso." A large Four-Clawed Silver Dragon extended his hand towards Kal N'Dar. Kal N'Dar took his hand and shook it.

"Captain, thank you for your assistance. Without your aide, we wouldn't have made it," Kal N'Dar said with a grateful smile.

A man stepped forward. He was a Four-Clawed Bronze Dragon with the rank of Colonel. He took Kal N'Dar's hand and shook it emotionally as well.

Mr. N'Dar, I wonder if you can walk us through what happened?" the man asked.

"Sir, perhaps we could talk somewhere more private?" Kal N'Dar hinted.

"Of course, by the way, my name is Colonel Gelt. If you will follow us," Colonel Gelt said. The Colonel wasn't a dragon and to him, dragon eggs weren't meaningful. If he could have gotten away with not getting involved in this mess he would have gladly ignored the distress call of this man.

“Lieutenant Fley, notify command we secured the cargo and I and Commander Harso are interviewing Mr. N'Dar," Colonel Gelt commanded.

"Yes sir, " Lieutenant Fley said and quickly left to carry out his orders.

The group of three, under soldier escort, found their way to a meeting room. Colonel Gelt invited Kal N'Dar and Captain Harso to have a seat. Colonel Gelt who was at Mystic King realm scanned Kal N'Dar. If Kal N'Dar still carried his Samsara pod the Colonel would have detected it immediately. Over the last five thousand years, Kal N'Dar's cultivation increased from the Void Emperor realm to the Saint realm.

This was really good progress considering Kal N'Dar had to find a cultivation system for himself based on materials he could find in his wanderings. His initial cultivation was done through the birthing process guided by computers.

This was called hollow cultivation and wasn't as strong as someone who cultivated on their own from the beginning. Cultivating through hollow cultivation was fine at whatever stage you 'began' with, however, as you advanced through your refinement path moving up in rank became harder and harder. It was the policy of the Zimwarn Empire that those who had hollow cultivation were forbidden from ranking up until their cultivation foundation was solidified.

Once Kal N'Dar began his travels he began to collect, modify, and streamline a set of cultivation techniques suited to his new biology. He was eventually able to solidify his foundation through these efforts.

Kal N'Dar was no rookie with cultivation. In his previous life, he found his own cultivation path through his own hard work and genius. He actually had a more solid foundation this time then when he originally cultivated.

"Mr. N'Dar..." Colonel Gelt began.

"Please, call me Kal," he said.

"Kal, thank you, you may call me Colonel Gelt," the Colonel said.

"I see from your files you've got a bit of a reputation for smuggling, gambling, and some impressive mercenary work. How did you wind up transporting such precious cargo? You weren't trying to sell the eggs to the Raiders, were you? Things went wrong and found yourself in a tight spot?" Colonel Gelt said with an aggressive smile.

Kal laughed. "I have to tell you Gelt, or is it Urmene? This is the first time I've had the interviewer do the interview for me. Since you're doing my part maybe I should do your part?" Kal responded.

"Look here you little merce..." Colonel Gelt began.

Kal cut him off and could tell it hit close to the bone. "Where were your ships? We were promised safe passage to the Dragon Clan. According to my flight instructions we were to be escorted through the sector of space where we were ambushed. I lost most of my crew, my friends and their children nearly died. Why weren't you where you were supposed to be? Can you afford to get on the wrong side of this Urmene?" Kal smiled aggressively.

Captain Harso smirked. They were supposed to be doing a sweep of that area but Colonel Gelt decided to change their schedule because he didn't think it was worth his time to come all the way out here to babysit one little ship.

He was applying the heat to Kal in the hopes of finding a scapegoat. Things weren't looking good for the Colonel. If a smuggler could pinpoint the problem certainly the higher-ups in the Imperial Command could too.

"Is this going to be an issue Colonel? The eggs are safe, the parents are safe, I'm safe. We can end this here. You can try going against me..." As Kal spoke he pulled out a jade communication crystal and deftly placed it on the table. "...or you can spend your energy thinking of an excuse that might save your career," he said in a deadpan manner.

Colonel Gelt's eyes landed on the jade communication crystal. He knew whose communication crystal that was, it belonged to the great General Gang Long! A man who possessed the personal communication crystal of General Gang Long was not to be messed with.

Colonel Gelt collected himself and smiled. "I think there's a misunderstanding my friend. My questions weren't meant to accuse. It's merely standard procedure when ascertaining what happened in a complex situation. Your identity was obscured to me," said Colonel Gelt. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

"I'm sure my identity is clear now?" Kal asked.

"Yes....crystal clear. Please do not mind the trivial things. I'll have a suitable suite prepared with you, sir." With that said, Colonel Gelt stiffly rose from his chair and left the room.

After the Colonel left, Kal turned his eyes to Captain Harso. "Captain, how's my ship?" he asked.

"Totaled," Captain Harso responded.

"I thought so. Too bad. I've really grown attached to it. I suppose I'll be riding with you for rest of the journey to the Dragon Clan," said Kal.

"That won't be a problem, sir," Captain Harso said.

Just like Colonel Gelt, Captain Harso also understood the identity of this man. The Empire would often place trusted men into shady careers such as smugglers. This was done to create non-traditional sources of Intel as well as learning about opportunities that might otherwise be missed.

Kal was under the personal command of General Gang Long. That meant Kal probably had a higher rank than their Colonel. No one could admit it, but if Colonel Gelt were to force the situation he wouldn't know how he died.

Kal was the only one who knew his orders to infiltrate didn't only come from General Gang Long. He was also under orders from BS42 to infiltrate the Dragon Empire. He did so and even achieved a high status in the military forces. BS42 was very satisfied with this agent.