Western Fantasy: Don't Mess with This Black Dragon King, He Knows Science

Lin Mo, a materials science PhD from the 23rd century, died suddenly in his laboratory.

When he opened his eyes again, he had become Nidhogg, the last Dragon King.

The good news: His body was invincible, his magic was boundless, and he'd inherited the previous king's well-chewed World Tree roots, gnawed on for ten thousand years.

The bad news: Only thirteen old, weak, and sick dragons remained. Their habitat was deteriorating, their eggs wouldn't hatch, and an alliance of the three great races, humans, elves, and dwarves, was already on its way.

The previous Dragon King entrusted the last of his kind to him with a dying plea: “Use the knowledge from your world to save the dragons.”

Lin Mo looked at his new twenty-meter-tall body and fell into thought.

The humans advised him: “For the sake of the world's balance, your dragon race should go extinct voluntarily.”

The elves advised him: “The transformation of life requires sacrifice. You should be proud of your noble end.”

The dwarves advised him: “Once you're dead, can we buy your scales?”

Lin Mo smiled.

Moral blackmail? Sorry, I come from a civilization that believes in things being “quantifiable, verifiable, and reproducible.”

He sneaks into the imperial library and makes off with the core theories of alchemy;

He infiltrates the dwarven kingdom's underground forges and learns their finest metalworking techniques;

He stakes out the edge of the elves' Eternal Forest and uses modern psychology to coax the secrets of life magic out of them.

The three races think the dragons are preparing to fight to the death.

Until they see it...

The first electric light shining above the dragons' territory.

This dragon isn't playing with magic. He's building a tech tree.