December 24, 2020, 9:00 p.m.

Christmas Eve in Christenfield was sleet, and the town was miserable, the streets were deserted, and there was no Christmas atmosphere. However, in the hall on the first floor of the Taiji Dragon Twin Towers, it is as warm as spring and brightly lit, filled with the smell of festivals.

A tall navy blue Christmas tree was placed in the center of the hall, with twinkling lights and colorful wishing cards that looked like fruitful fruits. Some of these cards are simply written words, while others have hand-drawn drawings. However, there are few paintings that are eye-catching, and most of them are miserable, almost all of them are soul painters, which loses the face of Qinghua. But there are a lot of good handwriting, most of the girls write literary sentences, about blessings and hopes, while the boys are stick figures and expectations for the future.

In short, Christmas Eve for Chinese people is completely different from Christmas Eve in the West, there is no need to eat turkey and go to church to pray. On the contrary, it is more like Valentine's Day, and compared with Valentine's Day, Christmas Eve has incomparable innate advantages, after all, the big IP of "Valentine's Day" has been demonized.

On this day, both parents and couples are strictly guarding their children and their other half, which makes "Valentine's Day" lose a lot of meaning and fun. In contrast, the deceptive name "Christmas Eve" makes confessions or appointments not so obvious and blatant.

Of course, the Tai Chi Dragon students in Christianfeld at this moment did not have the opportunity to indulge in carnival as they did in China.

Originally, they thought that they would not even have the opportunity to add food to the cafeteria, but to their surprise, today they not only provided food that is usually scarce, such as chocolate, candy, snacks, potato chips, spicy strips and instant noodles, but also prepared auspicious cola and apples.

This made all the Tai Chi Dragon students overjoyed, although the above are all used to the delicacies of the mountains and seas they usually don't look at the cheap food, but after so many days of embarrassment of eating compressed food, everyone's tongue and taste buds are almost all about to become decorations, suddenly there are so many snacks, no matter what they didn't see before, at this time they feel extremely delicious, it is comparable to three Michelin stars.

In particular, instant noodles, spicy noodles and cola caused a scramble, and if it weren't for the instructor in charge of distributing the food saying that everyone has a share, it is estimated that the scene would be like a movie set in a zombie siege.

At present, the students are all having dinner in the cafeteria, playing some small games in groups or chatting. The setbacks encountered in Asgard these days have made the atmosphere less cheerful, but it will not make these "unknowing" teenagers sad and worried, as long as they do not mention the "Asgard" and those students who have sacrificed their lives, everyone can still talk and laugh, and many people have begun to talk about where to spend New Year's Day.

"I don't know if we have to go back to China together? If we don't have to go back to China, let's go skiing in Switzerland?" Jin Zihan peeled a wine chocolate and fed it to Gu Feifei's mouth, and said softly at the same time.

The base does not provide alcohol or alcoholic beverages, but there are a lot of Moutai chocolates.

Gu Feifei was obviously not very interested, lowered his head slightly and ate the wine chocolate in Jin Zihan's hand into his mouth, and then said absentmindedly: "Whatever." ”

Jin Zihan pursed his lips, turned his head to ask Cai Shufeng on the side, and said, "Brother Feng, do you know when we can go back?"

Cai Shufeng, who was sending WeChat, raised his head and said, "It stands to reason that Asgard's mission will go back after it is over." As for whether you have to go together, I don't know, you have to ask the instructor. ”

"I don't think we need to act collectively, right? After a pause, Jin Zihan asked, "Brother Feng is going to go skiing in Switzerland together?"

Cai Shufeng hesitated for a moment and said, "You two can go, it's not interesting for me to be a light bulb alone." ”

"Call Chen Fang and Nie Rujun up!" Jin Zihan lowered his voice very actively and persuaded him, "You see if you have any girls you like, I can help you make an appointment..... Several freshman girls are quite good. I think that spoonful of soup is pretty cute......"

"Soup spoon?" Obviously, Cai Shufeng was not familiar with this girl.

Jin Zihan pulled Cai Shufeng's arm, turned his head and guided the direction with his gaze: "Oh, it's the ..... over there who is eating melon seeds."

Cai Shufeng turned his head to look over, Tang Xiaoscoo's figure was petite and exquisite, sitting at the table like a squirrel snorting melon seeds, the unprovoked Cai Shufeng remembered Xie Minyun's cold face, he thought that Xie Minyun would definitely not swallow melon seeds in such a disregard for manners, even if Xie Minyun swallowed melon seeds, it must be elegant and cold, and he breathed out an otherworldly feeling, so Cai Shufeng shook his head and said: "The name is quite interesting, but it's not my dish." ”

"I know you don't like this hanging, but I think this girl is good, cute and straightforward, don't do it at all, don't look tall, but she has breasts and ass, and her figure is very good!"

Cai Shufeng smiled "hehe".

"What about that Tan Yingjie, it should be your dish, right?"

Cai Shufeng didn't look at it this time, and said directly in a low voice: "Forget it! I don't have the heart to fall in love for the time being." ”

"I said Brother Feng, if you look for a girlfriend according to Xie Minyun's standards, then how can you find it!" Jin Zihan said.

Gu Feifei on the side frowned, and said: "Do you care if you can find it? We boys don't just care about falling in love! Is the world not fun, or is the carrier boring? Why do you have to fall in love!"

Jin Zihan threw the potato chips in his hand and said angrily: "Aren't I kind?"

Seeing that Jin Zihan was a little angry, Gu Feifei softened again and whispered, "There's no need to ......"

Cai Shufeng laughed "haha" and said, "It's okay, it's okay." In fact, it doesn't matter if I have a female companion or not, but Chen Fang didn't even find Ulopolos, probably because he didn't have the heart to go skiing. ”

"I don't think he's in a good mood, right? Jin Zihan said with some confusion.

"Also, if you can save your life, it's already considered luck. Cai Shufeng's tone was low, "I want to see Liu Jiayuan and Han Jiji....."

Hearing the names of these two people, the surrounding voices suddenly became quieter, everyone stopped chatting, and began to eat in unison, and the atmosphere became dull. Perhaps eating can relieve the pain and stress in the human heart, and after a while, in the sound of chewing, the mood is slowly repaired.

After a long while, Jin Zihan finally couldn't stand the oppressive atmosphere, and said: "To be honest, I can't stand it anymore, if you don't let me have a good time and release the pressure, I'll go crazy." ”

"Let's see when the time comes!I don't know when we will be able to end Asgard's mission!" Cai Shufeng said with a smile.

"The Star Gate is so strong, we can kill Alkan tonight, if it's fast, maybe Asgard's mission will be over tomorrow! Jin Zihan said.

Referring to "Asgard", Cai Shufeng sighed and said: "Xingmen is strong, but it is not so strong that we can't fight against us." ”

"To be honest, I don't think I can blame Cheng Mo, the main reason is that Xingmen is too shameless, and he got two Heavenly Chosen People in, and he is still in the top 100 on the Heavenly List..... Even if Instructor Chen went in, there was nothing he could do. Jin Zihan said.

"It's not a shame to not get the artifact, it's a shame to lose too ugly. Gu Feifei said coldly.

"Yes, that's what I mean, no one wants him to win, but at least he has to be a human being, right? How many times have we seen him in the Land of Asgard's Ruins? I don't know what he's doing! It's really in vain that the instructor is so partial to him....." Cai Shufeng said indignantly.

Jin Zihan looked left and right, and found that Chen Fang was sitting next to Fu Yuanzhuo, and felt a little strange in her heart, but she didn't think much about it, just subconsciously said: "It seems that I didn't see Cheng Mo people today." Didn't he inform everyone of the offline time yesterday......" Jin Zihan stopped and lowered his voice, "Could it be like the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, hiding a big move?"

If we find a way to do the task from the beginning, instead of giving up resistance and cooperating with the Sunflower Banner, there is still a chance to grab it, and now we don't even have our own regiment, what else can we do?" Cai Shufeng scoffed.

"Then why did he notify the offline time one by one, and let everyone be ready to go online at all times?" Jin Zihan asked.

"Ho! I guess, he wants to organize a wave of attacks when he fights Alkang at the Star Gate today, so that he can give an explanation to the above, otherwise he will not be able to save face? Let him be a team leader, he will not be beaten up when the time comes to hold the summary meeting? If he makes some achievements tonight, and even helps the Russians grab the first kill of a mission, then there will be credit to be repaid?" Cai Shufeng said with a smile.

"It's impossible to grab the first kill!" In the face of absolute strength, it's useless!" Gu Feifei sneered, and then his expression became a little gloomy, and he waved his hand and said, "Forget it, don't mention him, it's not manly, it's boring." ”

At this moment, Nuwa's voice sounded in the air: "Now issue the order issued by Instructor Bai, all the members of the Asgardian Combat Regiment return to their rooms, go online on time at ten o'clock, and then immediately rush to the Gisfield Monastery at full speed......"

Then the badges of all the members of the Asgardian Combat Regiment flashed, Cai Shufeng stroked the badge, indicating that he had received the order, and then said, "Look, I'll just say it!" He spread his hands and sneered, "Is it according to my script?"

There are not a few people who think like Cai Shufeng, and they feel that Cheng Mo is looking for trouble, so there are complaints in the hall one after another, but everyone is just complaining, and they don't intend to disobey the order, they all stand up slowly, and walk towards the stairwell in twos and threes.

Gu Feifei also stood up and said coldly: "No matter what Cheng Mo plans, as long as he dares to fight with Xingmen, it's a good thing." ”

"I don't think it'....." Cai Shufeng also stood up, he shook his head and said, "It's all this time, what's the point of wasting resources and fighting with Xingmen? Since you were cowardly from the beginning, you will admit it to the end! Why lose people or lose money?" Then Cai Shufeng sneered again: "The main thing is to be for his own future and face!"

"It doesn't matter what he's for, I just don't think I can admit it at any time...... Dignity and pride are not things that money can buy. Gu Feifei replied to Cai Shufeng's words, and quickly walked towards the stairwell with the flow of people.

Seeing Jin Zihan staring at his boyfriend with a nymphomaniac face, Cai Shufeng shook his head with a wry smile, and said self-deprecatingly: "Originally, I thought that Gu Feifei's character should be hated by girls, but now I know that women actually like domineering presidents, otherwise how could Xie Minyun like Cheng Mo......?

————————————————————————————

Bai Xiuxiu issued an order through Nuwa and went directly to the battle conference room on the fourth floor, the reason why Cheng Mo did not issue an order directly was because he could not communicate with the outside world in the "Land of Ruins", and only a weak signal could be received at the entrance, so a liaison officer was usually set up at the entrance to communicate with the people in the "Land of Ruins".

Just now, Bai Xiuxiu received a request from Cheng Mo from the liaison officer in the Sisdu Church, and after thinking about it, she changed the name of the order to Cheng Mo's to her own. Then Bai Xiuxiu received a message from Xie Guangling, telling her to come to the combat conference room immediately.

Standing at the door of the conference room, Bai Xiuxiu took a slight breath and tidied up her uniform a little. These days are busy with the twenty-four hours of continuous rotation of the carrier body, not to mention maintenance, even the time to wash her face is tight, she guesses that her face must be bad, don't let Xie Guangling think that she can't stand the criticism and be embarrassed.

So Bai Xiuxiu raised her hands and rubbed her stiff face, then smiled at the air, and then knocked on the door of the conference room.

"Knock, knock, knock!" a rhythmic knock echoed through the empty hallway, and a hoarse and dull response came from the conference room after a moment, "Come in." ”

Bai Xiuxiu pressed the handle and pushed the door open, and unexpectedly it was dark in the conference room, only a faint light from the window. "Bang!" There was the sound of fireworks exploding in the distance, a flash of light swaying on the wind-blown curtains, and Xie Guangling's rugged side face also appeared and disappeared in the light of the fireworks.

"Team leader. I'm coming. Bai Xiuxiu stood at the door and said.

Xie Guangling glanced back at Bai Xiuxiu and let out a faint "um".

"Team leader, do you want to turn on the lights?" Bai Xiuxiu raised her hand and pressed it on the switch next to the door and asked in a low voice.

Xie Guangling shook his head and said: "No, the rice people are setting off fireworks, so if you appreciate it like this, the color saturation will be relatively high." ”

Bai Xiuxiu said "oh!", put down his hand and walked towards the window, when he got closer, Bai Xiuxiu found that Xie Guangling had opened all the windows one after another, and the cold wind wrapped in snowflakes and drizzle poured into the room, at this moment the scarlet flannel curtains were already half wet, and Xie Guangling's body and face were also stained with a lot of rain, no wonder the moment the fireworks exploded, his face would be reflected in the color of fireworks.

Seeing Bai Xiuxiu coming over, Xie Guangling closed the window, shut out the bleak wind and cold rain, wiped the rain on his face, made a gesture of taking something out of his pants pocket, and immediately stopped again.

Bai Xiuxiu's gaze fell on Xie Guangling's wrist for a moment, and immediately said, "Team leader, let's smoke! ”

"Forget it! bear with me!" Xie Guangling said lightly, he took his hand out of his trouser pocket, put it behind his back, and turned to look at Bai Xiuxiu, "What's the matter?

Bai Xiuxiu looked back at Xie Guangling's Bai Yansong-style face that had not been bitter for thousands of years, showed a very professional smile, and said: "It's not anti-pot, he is the person I am responsible for, and he is also recommended by me, so it is appropriate to take the initiative to stand up." ”

"Actually, you don't need to resist this pot, just give it to Lao Li Kang, you don't need to wade into troubled water. After a pause, Xie Guangling said again, "You have borne enough for him, and you are benevolent and righteous." ”

Bai Xiuxiu was silent for a moment, turned her head to look at the fireworks through the hazy rain curtain, and said indifferently: "It's not all about him, although everyone doesn't think he can create any miracles, but I still think there is this in case..... I want to take a gamble, if I win, maybe I can make a third-class merit or something, and if I lose, I have nothing to lose, anyway, it's hard to keep the 'Time Rift' ......"

Xie Guangling shook his head lightly, and whispered angrily: "You don't get along with your subordinates like this, when you establish too many personal feelings with your subordinates, it is easy to disappoint each other, he will feel why you don't support him at a critical time, and you will also complain in your heart why he behaved unsatisfactorily at a critical time." As a leader, you have to keep an appropriate distance from your subordinates, which is my experience over the years, and the observation when I am a calm third party is not an intellectual superiority. ”

Bai Xiuxiu also shook her head lightly and said: "I think everyone has their own way of getting along, and they can't generalize, maybe the vast majority of people apply your approach, but Cheng Mo is not, he is a very sensitive person, who is really good to him, who just wants to use him so he is good to him, he can see it at a glance." ”

Xie Guangling didn't speak immediately, but subconsciously made a gesture of pulling out a cigarette, and after giving up halfway again, Xie Guangling lowered his head slightly and looked at Bai Xiuxiu in the occasional flashing fireworks, and said after a while: "When I was young, I also wanted you to think like this. At that time, I didn't have a little, full of enthusiasm and dedication as long as I served the country, and after reading some books, I thought that I had found the right way to unite my comrades, indeed, I got along very well with my comrades-in-arms, and each of them could be said to be a lifelong friendship, so they would disobey orders for me, and then what happened in Annam. ”

Saying this, Xie Guangling turned around and looked out the window, and did not continue to admire Bai Xiuxiu's loving and impulsive face, but stared at the fireworks rising at the Star Gate Base with gloomy eyes, and said in a low voice: "Actually, I didn't regret it too much afterwards, when the dean asked me to lecture, I still felt that I was indeed wrong, but my fault was that it was better not to plan, not to be wrong with self-righteous disobedience to orders, after all, I was outside, and the military order was not subject to it." The dean asked me again, have you considered the sacrificed comrades? I replied that the eldest husband sacrificed the horse leather shroud for the country, and it should be the same, if I die on the battlefield, I will not regret it. Until I returned to China, one day I received a phone call, I was suspended at that time, the dean called me over, I found some relationships at that time, admitted my mistake and asked for some mercy, and finally based on propaganda considerations, the organization still changed the punishment to a commendation, I was also glad that I could continue to stay in the institute, and quickly rode a bicycle to the institute, and then I saw a lot of people at the entrance of the institute, I have never liked to join in the fun, just glanced at it and prepared to go in, but I saw a few aunts crying loudly in the middle holding the urns of my comrades. I felt like I was being electrocuted and couldn't walk there. Seeing the black and white photos still pasted on the urn in their arms, and the bright smiles of their sons, my comrades-in-arms, I was instantly defeated, tears and snot fell together, and I couldn't help but tremble. That's when I realized what a cruel mistake I had made. ”

"Yes..... This has nothing to do with how I treat my subordinates, right?" Bai Xiuxiu questioned vaguely.

Xie Guangling let out a long sigh, "Do you know why I got married?"

Bai Xiuxiu thought to herself, wasn't it because of "love"? But what she said was: "I don't know." ”

"I think that having a family will increase my sense of responsibility and make me more careful in handling every order, but I have found that when you are in an era, sacrifice is always inevitable, so I am even more miserable. That's when I remembered what Li Jiting said to me when I got married. ”

"What did Team Leader Li say?"

"He said he really admired me for having the courage to get married. Xie Guangling grinned rarely, "I didn't understand when I got married, and then I realized that fear also comes from love and responsibility." Xie Guangling turned his head to look at Bai Xiuxiu, and said lightly: "If you invest too much emotion in your subordinates, it will not only prompt you to make a wrong decision, but also make you unable to make the right decision because of fear, no matter what kind of consequences are catastrophic, the pain of regret will follow you for a lifetime, so that as long as you think about it, it will hurt into the bone marrow." In fact, as a superior, you don't want to use your subordinates as tools or numbers, but you can only choose to do so......"

Xie Guangling's heartfelt reassurance caught her a little off guard, Bai Xiuxiu opened her mouth slightly, wanting to say something, but at this moment, her mind was blank, and she didn't seem to know what to say at all, she remembered that it was Xie Guangling who recommended Gao Xu to go undercover for the Black Death.

Xie Guangling didn't wait for Bai Xiuxiu to say anything, and said with a serious expression: "I didn't call you here to tell you this, in fact, it has nothing to do with Asgard's mission, just to inform you that you are ready to evacuate Christianfeld at any time, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, no matter how Asgard's mission is completed, as long as I give an order, everyone will follow Nuwa's order to evacuate immediately, and the convoy is ready." Maybe I'll stay behind then, and if I don't keep up, you'll have to take on the task of organizing a retreat!"

"What's wrong?" Bai Xiuxiu was a little shocked when she heard Xie Guangling say this, and blurted out a question.

"It doesn't matter what happens, just do what you are told. Xie Guangling said expressionlessly.

"Yes!" Bai Xiuxiu saluted.

"The retreat route will be arranged by Nuwa when the time comes, and you must ensure the safety of the students, especially Xiaojin. ”

"Yes!"

"Go ahead! This matter is currently Red Secret, don't reveal a single bit of information to anyone. ”

"Yes!" Bai Xiuxiu put down her hand, turned around and walked towards the door of the war conference room.

Xie Guangling stared at Bai Xiuxiu's back behind her, the fireworks reflected in his pupils and Bai Xiuxiu's slender curves blended into a fiery color, and he couldn't help but shout: "Xiuxiu....."

Bai Xiuxiu was stunned for a moment, this was the first time Xie Guangling called her by her name, instead of calling her "Captain Bai", her steps froze for a moment before she turned around and said, "Team Leader Xie, what else is going on?"

Xie Guangling heard Bai Xiuxiu call him "Team Leader Xie", and finally took out the cigarette that was already slightly damp from his pocket, he lit the cigarette, pushed the window open again, and said in a low voice: "It's okay, you go!"

—————————————————————————————

December 24, 2020, 11:30 p.m.

The land of Asgardian ruins, the thousand-year-old forest.

The Sunflower Banner and the members of the Taiji Dragon were already able to see the spire of Gisfield Abbey clearly, and at this moment, the winding road of the cone-shaped sacred mountain on the edge of the Millennium Forest was densely packed with torches, and from a distance, the mountain was like a giant Christmas tree lit up with countless colored lights, and it was spectacular under the dark sky.

Fu Yuanzhuo stepped on the tip of the swaying coniferous treetops, and used a pergola to look at Gisfield Abbey, this night was very weird, overcast, like a heavy black jacket pressed on the top of his head, Fu Yuanzhuo said self-deprecatingly: "It's not bad to spend Christmas Eve in the land of ruins, at least it's impossible to see such a big Christmas tree in the world!"

The soup spoon on the side rolled his eyes and said, "Well, I can't see or see the Christmas scene of burning witches, and I feel sick to think that all these women will be burned to death.... What a bullshit ruin, it's disgusting! If there really is this game, the old lady will definitely blow up this company!"

Fu Yuanzhuo smiled bitterly and said, "As for it, it's just some NPCs..... And similar things have happened in history, witches in the Middle Ages are much worse than this, burning at the stake can be said to be a more merciful way to die, some witches because they don't recognize themselves as witches, they have to go through harsh punishments, pour holy water into their stomachs, pour them until their stomachs burst, and what strip naked and then ......"

"Hey, why are you so nasty, do your best to study some indiscriminate things!" Tang Xiaoshu glanced at Fu Yuanzhuo with disdain, and said fiercely.

Fu Yuanzhuo was speechless, he just wanted to show off the knowledge he heard from Cheng Mo, but he didn't expect to be said to be obscene by Tang Xiaospoon, this kind of pot Fu Yuanzhuo didn't want to memorize, anyway, Cheng Mo's reputation among the students was bad enough, and he didn't care about it, so Fu Yuanzhuo said with a look of grievance: "This is what Cheng Mo said, he has studied this, I just repeat it." ”

"Cheng Mo?" Tang Xiaospoon "haha" smiled, "It turned out that 'fart lice' said it?"

Fu Yuanzhuo frowned, turned his head to look at the laughing soup spoon and asked, "Fart lion?

Tang Xiaospoon waved his hand, and said while laughing: "Don't mind! It's not what I said, this is the nickname given to some boys and girls who like Senior Sister Xie and Cheng Mo, which means that a 'lice' who can jump like a fart when he brags...."

"Huh?"

Tang Xiaospoon winked at Fu Yuanzhuo and said: "This 'lice' is the 'lice' of 'flea', which has the same sound as the lion of 'Lion' Lion King Simba, and it is also ironic.... Don't tell Team Leader Cheng that others say that about him!"

Fu Yuanzhuo made a helpless gesture of looking up at the sky, and said: "Tell him that he probably won't care, he actually never cares what others think of him." ”

"Really?" Tang Xiaospoon touched his chin, "Then doesn't Senior Sister Xie care?"

"These two people are a natural pair, and they are both strange people who don't care about other people's eyes. ”

"I think so! If you have strength, you don't care, if you don't have strength, you can't care if you want to! Senior Sister Xie's strength is undoubted, but at present, Team Leader Cheng is not worthy of Senior Sister Xie. Many girls feel aggrieved for Senior Sister Xie....."

"Haha! Actually, Cheng Mo is already very powerful, so that others have become the Chosen One in two and a half years!

"When you say that, it seems to be uh! It's just that we really haven't seen Team Leader Cheng show any strength! You see the last time I was sniped by Danielle King and Captain, Team Leader Cheng didn't show his face.....

Fu Yuanzhuo also wanted to defend Cheng Mo, but at this time, a voice came from not far away: "Look!"

The two stopped talking, and when they turned around, they saw the top of the Holy Mountain, and a thick pillar of golden light shot out from the inside of the Abbey of Gisfield, and the pillar of light pierced the sky, and the clouds of the whole sky boiled like boiling water, and the dense water vapor was churning in the form of a mist visible to the naked eye. After a moment, the golden pillar of light disappeared, the thick dark cloud was pierced into a small hole, and the silver moonlight poured down from the mouth of the well like water, shining on the towering holy mountain.

"What happened? Did the people of the Stargate complete the ritual?" someone asked in a self-muttering voice.

But no one answered him, because everyone was shocked by what they saw.

An incomparably huge golden snake head poked its head out of the circular wellhead formed by the clouds, it seems inaccurate to say that it is a snake, its head has a pair of sharp horns, the golden scales are more shining than the golden python, just the head that can be seen, visually larger than the A225 transport aircraft with a length of more than 80 meters, the largest human being, can feel the crushing feeling of the body shape from afar.

This incomparably gigantic monster seemed to lie on top of the clouds, and with its hideous and majestic eyes, it peered through the large hole formed by the pillar of light to look down on the Giesfield Abbey at the top of the Holy Mountain.

It roared in a low voice, and the whole cloud churned like magma in an active volcano, and then the thunderous sound made the whole world tremble, and the wind swept in all directions like a herd of galloping wild horses, and the entire thousand-year-old forest was overwhelmed, and the taiga reverberated with "Boom!

The long hair of the wind-blown soup spoon floated back like a carp streamer, and Fu Yuanzhuo couldn't stand on the treetops at all, and when he fell, he muttered, "Damn! This is a dragon, right?"