I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

Scientists examined the body of the Mirage Cloud Dragon, and their findings were much like Miss Conch's—there was truly no hope!

They could only sustain its life by forcefully infusing it with Life Essence, but the cost was... Extraordinary Items, namely a substantial amount of Spirit Essence.

"The current medical expenses are roughly 1 Spirit Essence every 10 days, which can maintain its vitality."

"If it could improve somewhat, perhaps future expenses could be reduced. If it cannot heal, the costs will continue to increase."

"It's like a funnel, expanding as it's stretched, until the day it can no longer hold." The expert sighed.

Lu Yuan nodded, "Let's find a way to prolong its life, and this expense doesn't need to be recorded in the National Treasury... we can have the Insect Clan Army pay."

"Thank you, Commander Lu!" Everyone was somewhat surprised.

The nominal ruler of the Insect Clan Army was "Miss Conch."

Including the nominal ruler of Green City, it was also Miss Conch. It was like a monarchy, although without actual power, the people tacitly agreed that the "Former Princess" possessed considerable private wealth. It was quite normal for a mighty civilization to have some property left over.

And on the human side, private wealth was permitted, just like the materials carried by the Rat Artisan, not counted as human assets was purely normal.

Lu Yuan remembered something else, "Oh, right, it... likes the hustle and bustle, allow more children to come here to see it, under safe conditions, to play with it for a while, and to hear its story."

"Don't go into that underground Sanctuary."

"Leave it, and the children, with one last memory."

"Understood..." The mood of the group visibly darkened, some young men and women couldn't help but moisten their eyes, looking utterly heartbroken.

Even the curious onlooking Rat Artisans, also encountering this situation for the first time, couldn't help but sigh deeply, "Commander Lu is indeed compassionate, still willing to treat it. 1 Spirit Essence for 10 days, the medical costs, tsk tsk…"

"Ah, it's worth teaching the public a lesson. If we don't strive hard now, it's just endless sorrow later."

"That's true, the drive of a civilization is not something you can buy with Spirit Essence." The Rat Artisan actually agreed with Lu Yuan's view.

"Master Mouse... is there a way to treat it? Even if it costs a bit more money, it doesn't matter." Lu Yuan asked again.

"There's really no way, aged and weak, severely injured, organ failure, broken veins, so many negative factors, it's beyond even divine intervention," said Shu Gongye, "unless it's with Immortal Level or even Mythical Level healing items. Alas, those things are beyond our reach."

Lu Yuan remained silent, sighing deeply.

...

In the following months, the number of human treasure-hunting teams did not increase, as a volcanic eruption was imminent, and adding more people would become very dangerous.

In their stead were the Mirage Cloud Dragon's companion teams and the ruin visiting groups.

When they arrived, everyone was quite excited, able to see the trendy keyword "Dragon" online, and to Experience the culture of an Alien Civilization, how could they not be excited?

Those faces beamed like free orioles!

But as they deepened their understanding, it was inevitable to associate the Source Fire Civilization with humanity itself, stars and the sea, plains and mountains, what could withstand the erosion of time? Where would our civilization be after ten thousand years? Who would shed tears at our graves?

This truly was a question worth pondering...

"Roar!" The Mirage Cloud Dragon, fond of lively crowds, quite enjoyed the attention.

But it disliked seeing vulnerable expressions.

It exhaled cold air from its mouth, always causing those tiny humans to shudder.

Then it flashed a proud smile, struggled to lift its limp tail, pretending to be mighty, and began to roar.

Miss Conch laughed, "It says it's not even afraid of death itself, what do you all have to be sad about? It calls us lowly reptiles."

"Save your energy!" Lu Yuan couldn't help but retort.

Then, perhaps to amuse the children, it blew out a clump of white mist.

The mist transformed constantly, forming silhouettes of people, happily running on the beach.

Judging by the size of the figures, they appeared to be children... children from the Source Fire Civilization.

Some could only just learned to walk, trotting unsteadily, while others were digging in the sand.

The Source Fire People and humans, in such a form, had met, spanning hundreds or thousands of years from past to present, as if crossing through time...

This scene was recorded by the Green Grass Paradise, allowing even future children to experience today's scenario.

Such encounters are always occurring, the meeting of people with the world, and of one civilization with another.

It's said that a person may meet up to 29.2 million individuals in a lifetime.

However, truly valuable encounters are few and far between.

The Divine Cloud Dragon was quite happy in its final moments, no longer as irritable as before, its temper somewhat milder.

Pride, after all, is predicated upon strength.

When one has nothing, the dragon could only silently let go of its pretenses and become calm.

Whether day or night, it enjoyed the company of the crowd.

Sometimes, it would become restless, indicating that after its death, it was not opposed to humans consuming it, as this was the only repayment it could offer.

Lu Yuan remained silent on this suggestion, letting the people decide, as he was too lazy to interfere.

Even the Undying Giant Turtle visited the old dragon once more.

"Hey, why strain yourself, you silly thing! What aphrodisiac did the Source Fire Civilization feed you to make you stay here? Now you're really about to die."

"Roar!" the Mirage Cloud Dragon roared twice.

Having previously erupted in rage with ease, it now just roared a few times, spirit willing but flesh weak.

Mr. Turtle, with his dark green eyes, stared at it for a long while, suddenly sighing, "What an idiot."

"Only a true brother can make me risk my life once, but only once! The second time, I'd be too lazy to care! How many times have you fought for a nonexistent hope?" The turtle lingered in front of the old dragon, "You fool, do you have the strength to live a second life?"

"Looking at you, you're not the type skilled in defense, death really means the end."

"Roar!" The old dragon's voice dropped lower, seemingly catching the undying turtle's insinuation.

Up to this point, it still wanted to live.

Aint in its eyes, was a flicker of desire for life.

"I too have died before… but in the next Epoch, I lived again…"

"The cost is, all memories lost…"

"We are anomalies, as long as rules exist, there's always a glimmer of hope… the specific method, I don't know, I can only tell you what I think of…"

The Undying Giant Turtle rambled a string of nonsensical things, then took off.

Does Nirvana truly exist?

In the eyes of the Mirage Cloud Dragon, a hint of confusion emerged.

…

Thus, until the ninth month.

Change occurred once again!

Under the care of humans, the Mirage Cloud Dragon had not reached its end, but the ground couldn't hold on any longer!

The ground emitted fearful moans, reminiscent of boiling water, with white bubbles rising from the seabed and sulfur-smoked black clouds obscuring the sky.

Lu Yuan felt the land's explosive anger, his heart skipped a beat, and he roared, "Everyone, get on the Sky Fortress, evacuate immediately! The volcano is about to erupt!"

The relevant drills had been practiced many times before, with about 5000 people remaining on the island, mostly as part of tour groups, densely populated, making evacuation relatively simple.

Soon, under the direction of the military, the crowd orderly boarded the "Sky Fortress."