Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon's Might-Chapter 458 - 450: Brainwashing

Either procrastination or making do with the status quo, once he makes a decision, Leon’s ability to take action is remarkable.

That night, Leon didn’t go to any of his partners’ nests to rest as usual. Instead, he locked himself in his study, intending to write an educational handbook or something to provide a systematic education for Sharon. Unfortunately, he strained his brain but still achieved nothing.

It must be said that the knowledge in his head is too messy and chaotic; if it’s not something he needs at the moment, he can’t even recall it.

Leon was unwilling to give up just like that, and after crumpling countless sheets of paper, he finally thought of a saying — "Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles." The thought excited him so much that he couldn’t sleep, and at dawn the next day, he immediately went to the Mage Tower to find Tassera, announcing that he wanted to take Sharon on a journey.

"Where are you going?" Tassera’s sharp gaze swept back and forth between the father and daughter.

"I don’t know where we’re going, just see where we end up." Leon, holding Sharon, sat by the bed, his chin resting on his daughter’s head. "We’re not going out to play, not for leisure, but for learning. To see the world and understand life."

"If you were just going out to play, I’d be a bit more at ease." Tassera looked at Leon suspiciously. "Don’t teach our daughter the wrong things."

"Otherwise, leave her to you, doing experiments every day, learning spells and hunting? In the end, she’d know nothing about human relations." Leon retorted, parents inevitably argue about their children’s education.

Tassera fell silent.

Leon had already decided to groom Sharon as his successor — he couldn’t bear to simply discard the Zhen Dan Kingdom he painstakingly built, but he didn’t mind handing it over to his daughter — after that, he could retire and rest. Yet, even though he hadn’t entered adulthood yet, he absolutely wouldn’t allow anyone to interfere with his plans.

"Alright. You stay at home with peace of mind; we won’t be gone for long." Leon reassured.

"You can go out." Tassera finally spoke, "But I’m going too."

Leon patted his head; he almost forgot that Tassera was a Storage Dragon, more sociable than other dragons, and would travel more frequently because her relentless pursuit of knowledge would drive her to leave the nest. Crossroads City, the tombs of the Ancient Fallen Empire, the Underground City in the Talia Alliance, and other places were all places she had taken him to.

After giving birth to Sharon, Tassera increasingly liked the gentle, intellectual image of a wife. She adjusted her glasses, walked up to Leon, took his hand, and said, "You wouldn’t refuse, would you?"

Leon had no reason to refuse; anyway, the current Zhen Dan Kingdom had no vacant official positions, everyone performed their duties, and even without him, things would still function normally. Of course, once without his presiding, things might fall apart. If any urgent matter arose, everyone would use the Short Message Technique to notify them... He had the Long Rainbow Escape, Tassera and Sharon had the Teleportation Technique.

Thus, the family of three set off, taking a ship from Watchtower Port bound for the Talia Alliance.

It was Sharon’s first time on a boat, and she ran excitedly back and forth on the deck.

Leon leaned against the railing, accompanying Tassera to watch the sea, waiting until Sharon tired out and settled down, resting her hands on the railing, reaching out to touch her head, saying, "Do you know why sailboats can sail on the sea?"

"Because of the wind," Sharon said, "the wind blows the sailboat across the sea."

"Then why can sailboats sail against the wind?" Leon judged that the passenger ship was sailing against the wind from Tassera’s slightly wind-tossed long hair.

Sharon blinked her big eyes and tilted her head, looking at Leon.

"To understand why sailboats can sail against the wind..." Leon gestured, "A sailboat at sea is governed by two forces, wind power and water current thrust. The wind power can be decomposed into two forces by adjusting the angle of the sails, and the water current thrust can also be divided into two forces by adjusting the rudder..."

Recollecting, Leon continued, "A common misconception about sailboats is thinking they are simply blown by the wind. But actually, a sailboat’s greatest power comes from the Bernoulli effect, which means that as air flows over a camber similar to an airfoil, it creates an upward and forward lift..."

Leon then transitioned into discussing the three elements of force, explaining that the effect of force on an object depends on the magnitude, direction, and point of action of the force, leading into gravity, universal gravitation, friction, and so on.

"Did you understand?" Leon made every effort.

Sharon nodded, a credit to her little genius mind; of course, part of it was because what Leon said was relatively simple. The problem was that Leon only knew so much.

"I have a question." Tassera listened with interest, as her thirst for knowledge surpassed even for material wealth.

"You have questions, I have questions too." Leon didn’t dare to answer Tassera’s question because he couldn’t guarantee he could answer it correctly, "Do you know why the sea is so blue?"

Leon began again, from why the sea is blue, to how sunlight is made up of various visible lights, to water’s buoyancy, density, mass, the law of conservation of energy... He paid no mind to the many differences between Earth and this world.

Back to the Talia Alliance.

Just stepping onto Raffi’s dock, Leon began chattering incessantly: "Unlike our Zhen Dan Kingdom, the Talia Alliance is a Merchant Republic... Unlike our Zhen Dan Kingdom’s conscription system, the Talia Alliance uses a recruitment system, and their entire military consists of mercenaries."

Leon explained the differences between recruitment system, militia system, conscription system, and hereditary soldier system, finally stating that no matter the military system, nothing compares to one person becoming an army, gathering the great power of heaven and earth into oneself.

Compared to an alliance, Leon prefers a grand unification. Grand unification differs from mere territorial unification as a concept; it refers more to political uniformity in the country, highly concentrated economic systems and cultural ideology, doing everything possible to impart to Sharon the importance of grand unification.

From feudalism to the divine right of kings, from local conquest to national identity—due to the varied races settled in the Zhen Dan Kingdom, each with different languages, cultures, and beliefs, the country has not done well in terms of national identity. To this day, it has not integrated; it has never fully digested. Leon spoke on this for half a day.

Sharon is still a Young Dragon, still a child. Leon wasn’t too harsh and instead had a good time with her. They wandered Clock Tower Street, attended an expo, went to the theater, and indulged in delicious food... Leon doesn’t focus much on entertainment, which is why the Zhen Dan Kingdom really doesn’t compare to the Talia Alliance in terms of entertainment.

Even though this is a world with supernatural powers, where ordinary people are not much better than ants in front of the strong, Leon still taught Sharon the principle that "water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it." Ordinary people can provide tax revenue; ordinary people can provide faith.

No rules, no standards. To govern the country and bring peace to the people, every citizen should abide by the law. However, the greatest threat to the state’s power does not come from the people but from the abuse of power by officials, corruption, and graft. This explains why governing the country is about managing officials... As Leon spoke, he couldn’t help but miss the days when he engaged in online political discourse.

"Don’t just nod." Tassera had many questions, but Sharon hardly asked any, prompting Leon to speak up, "Did you really listen carefully?"

"I listened carefully." Sharon nodded vigorously, bending over as she nodded, her bottom sticking up.

"Did you understand everything?" Leon asked, "Feel free to ask about anything you don’t understand."

"Okay." Sharon raised her hand and waved it, "I have a question."

"Speak." Leon’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.

"Dad talks about grand principles one after another, as if you understand everything, and no one can compare to you." Sharon blinked, speaking candidly, "According to what you’ve said, our Zhen Dan Kingdom should have long surpassed the Talia Alliance and Empire..."

"Isn’t this giving you a chance to perform?" Leon reached out and pinched his daughter’s cheek, without changing his expression, "If I did everything, what would you do in the future?"

Sharon suddenly realized.

Leon crouched down, his eyes level with his daughter’s, gently holding her shoulders, and said, "My dear daughter, after teaching you so many ways to govern a country, do you have the confidence to build a powerful empire spanning the continent?"

"Yes." Sharon replied crisply.

"A little louder, even louder." Leon said, "Don’t you have any energy?"

Unable to resist provocation, Sharon blushed and yelled, "Yes."

"After building an empire, what should you do?" Leon pursued.

"Collect taxes, collect taxes fiercely." Sharon blurted out instinctively.

"After collecting taxes and having money, what will you do then?" Leon squinted, "I told you, storing money in the Treasure Vault is the most foolish thing."

"Invest, lend, make money from money." Sharon’s eyes lit up.

"And then?" Leon said, "Once you’ve made so much money, what do you plan to do with it? Earning money is a process, not a result."

"Enjoy." Sharon raised her eyebrows high, her eyes wide open, "I like eating meat. After having money, I want to eat the freshest tenderloin every day. I like eating ice cream, eat one and throw one away. I also want to buy lots of beautiful clothes."

Leon suddenly sighed, his shoulders sagging, dispirited.

"Why is Dad sighing?" Sharon immediately sensed something was wrong.

"As parents... we always want to give the best to our children." Leon gave Tassera a reproachful look; your education is problematic, "We give everything to the children, and when they have money, they only care about their own happiness. How can we not sigh?"

Sharon was initially stunned but quickly understood, hugging Leon’s leg tightly with her two little arms, then looked up at Tassera and said, "I won’t forget Dad and Mom."

"Like a lamb kneeling to drink, a crow returning to feed its parents. Even animals know to honor their parents, let alone us." Leon spoke earnestly, "As children, filial piety is our duty. Parents raise us, work hard for us; we should do our best to repay them."

"Unknowingly, we might get used to relying on parents, thinking everything they do for us is expected, which is wrong." Leon knew the importance of education well, "Parents unconditionally give to us, using all their strength to protect and nurture children. If unfilial, even heaven and earth will not tolerate."

Tassera stood aside, initially a little embarrassed, but quickly understood that when parents care for their children, and the children honor their parents, this is a truly harmonious family. She resolutely joined Leon.

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