Lord: I can see loyalty.

The group proceeded cautiously amidst an increasingly heavy atmosphere of corruption, the ground beneath their feet gradually turning a black, asphalt-like color, slightly sticky and soft to the touch.

The attacks by the Haro tribe became more frequent, with them rushing out from treetops, behind rocks, and other places, throwing poison needles or launching suicidal charges.

However, these attacks posed little threat to the knights' shield formation and the archers' assault, merely draining the team's strength and arrows.

As they passed through a woodland covered with giant plants and filled with glowing creatures, a sharp bird call suddenly came from the shadows to their side. Clearly, it was not a real bird call, but an imitation of a communication signal.

"Be on guard!" Jimmy immediately raised his hand, and the knights instantly tightened their formation.

However, what emerged from behind the bushes were not the Haro barbarians, but several tall figures dressed in animal skins with totems painted on their faces.

The leader was none other than the tall and imposing Albright.

Holding a wooden spear, his face bore the weariness and frost of a long journey. When he saw Vio and his group, his eyes flashed with intense surprise, even a hint of astonishment.

"Count Vio?" Albright blurted out, her voice exceptionally clear in the silence of the forest.

He strode forward, his gaze sweeping over the fully armed knights and the slightly disheveled but spirited militiamen. His brow furrowed. "What are you doing here? Didn't our king agree with you that outsiders should not venture deep into the sacred forest?"

Vio waved to his men to calm them down and stepped forward.

He was equally surprised to encounter Cooper warriors in the perilous heartland of the Haro tribe, and judging from their numbers, there were only about a dozen of them, more like a small squad.

"Albright? I'm also surprised you're here. And with so few men?" His gaze swept over the Cooper warriors behind Albright, who also looked weary but had determined eyes.

A look of embarrassment and indignation flashed across Albright's face. He gripped the spear shaft in his hand, his voice low and filled with suppressed anger: "We... are sinners, banished by the king."

"Expel?" Vio raised an eyebrow.

Jimmy and Glenn exchanged puzzled glances. The Cooper Clan had just suffered an attack on their homeland and needed manpower right now, so why would they expel an elite like Albright?

"Yes." Albright took a deep breath, as if she had made a decision. "The last time the Harlow barbarians attacked our village, although we were repelled, their location was exposed."

"My brothers and I believed that we should strengthen our defenses, no, we should take the initiative and wipe out the nearby Haro tribe strongholds! But the king... he made a decision to abandon the current village and migrate deeper into the forest once again."

He paused, his eyes filled with incomprehension and disappointment: "I simply cannot understand! With our current strength, we can clearly protect our homes. Relocation means that the elderly and children will have to trek long distances in danger, which carries a higher risk of death. In my haste, I went to find Wang..."

Albright's voice grew agitated: "I told him that there's already an earl outside the mountains who also wants to deal with the Harlow threat, and his warriors are very strong. Why can't we try to cooperate? But the king... he simply wouldn't listen!"

"He just kept repeating old sayings like 'the forest doesn't trust outsiders' and 'the Coopers have to protect the forest on their own.'"

The Cooper warriors behind him also showed indignant expressions.

"So... that's why you spoke rudely?" Vio had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going to happen next.

Albright nodded heavily, her face showing annoyance, but even more so, dissatisfaction with the decision.

"That's right, I said he was running away. I said, if you don't even know how to use your allies and only know how to retreat and hide, what kind of 'guardian of the forest' are you?" He gave a bitter smile again. "Then the king used the excuse of disobeying the chief to banish me and my brothers from the territory."

"According to tradition, we need to hunt outside for a month before we can apply to go back."

Vio listened and remained silent for a moment.

He truly didn't understand why Ronan was so reluctant to cooperate with them; it seemed that the Cooper tribe wasn't so xenophobic after all.

However, his choice, though seemingly conservative and even somewhat cowardly, was not entirely unreasonable given his lack of understanding of the strength and resources of those outside the mountains.

"Your king," Vio began slowly, "maybe he has his reasons. Migration is certainly risky, but getting entangled with the outside world, in his eyes, might be even more dangerous than fighting the Haro..."

"Consider? Cowardice is cowardice!" An excited voice suddenly rang out from behind Albright.

The crowd looked and saw a young Cooper warrior who looked to be under twenty years old. His face still had a hint of childishness, but his eyes were full of ferocity.

He had clearly been holding back for a long time; his face was now flushed, and ignoring the disapproving looks from Albright and the others, he shouted, "That Ronan! He's a complete coward! All he ever talks about is migration and patience! How many of our brothers did the Harlows kill last time? He didn't even dare to think about revenge!"

"They've already come to our doorstep, and he's still thinking of running away! If you ask me, he's not fit to be our king at all! Big Brother Albright is much braver and more knowledgeable than him. If only Big Brother were leading us..."

"Vance! Shut up!" Albright shouted, veins throbbing on his forehead. The other Cooper warriors rushed to pull the young man named Vance away.

But Vance had already spoken. He broke free from his companion's grasp, as if he were throwing caution to the wind, and shouted at Vio and the others, "You've all heard... that Ronan, he might not be the real 'descendant of the forest' at all!"

"He always spoke vaguely about the ancient rituals and songs that only the chief knew, even when the village elders spoke of them. What makes him our king? Just because he's strong?!"

"Descendant of the Forest?" Vio raised his eyes slightly, his panel locking onto the emotionally agitated Vance. The information was simple, but the status clearly showed [Excitement], [Unwavering Belief], and [Fear].

Albright and the other Cooper warriors' expressions instantly turned extremely grim, and their character panels displayed the words "Thinking" and "Hesitation."

Albright pulled Vance behind her, covered his mouth tightly, and then looked at Vio with a very complicated and slightly embarrassed expression.

"Your Excellency, the young man is talking nonsense. He's just angry about being expelled... Please don't take it seriously." Albright's voice was hoarse as she tried to salvage the situation.

But Vio had already taken it to heart, and his mind involuntarily recalled his strange behavior in Ronan and his unusually resolute rejection of cooperation...

When Vance said this, it was clear from the other warriors' stats that this information was not unfounded.

The mountains and forests were silent for a moment, with only small creatures among the giant trees glowing faintly.