At dawn the next day, Draven rubbed his waist and helped Viola and Liliana mount the Nightmare Horse together.

  "Can you hold up? If not, take a day off," Viola asked softly, covering her mouth with a smile. Draven just pouted, offering no reply.

  Liliana had been restless during the night and kicked his waist. Yes, that's right—the strength in Liliana's legs was really something.

  He lightly patted Liliana's little bottom, signaling her to scoot forward a bit.

  He wondered if the deer people's liquor would help with this kind of back pain?

  Draven swung himself onto the horse, and the Nightmare Horse suddenly leapt toward the sky. Having absorbed the death aura, its power had increased greatly; now carrying three people was no problem at all.

  Even though it was raining, they still had to go to Village No. 1. That had been the plan set yesterday.

  To accelerate the development of the Black Flag Territory, many preparations had to be made in advance.

  By the time they arrived at Village No. 1, Green Serpent and Gregor were already waiting in the rain with over three hundred snake people.

  More than eight hundred slaves from the Black Wolf tribe also stood in neat formation.

  It seemed they were the last to arrive. Draven tapped Liliana's head irritably.

  "Ouch!" Liliana clutched her head with both hands, grumbling."It's all your fault for making me get up so early…"

  Before she could finish, Draven quickly covered her mouth. When it came to back pain, there was no explanation.

  He checked the leaders present and exchanged brief greetings. Viola and Ayla stayed behind with a few slaves, busy converting some drying rooms in the village.

  Village No. 1 didn't have many houses to begin with; after this, almost all except the chief's large house were requisitioned.

  The others followed Draven and all gathered at the riverbank. Today, they had a big task to complete.

  Draven planned to thoroughly clear the U-shaped canyon where Village No. 1 was located.

  Whether it was magical beasts or large and medium-sized carnivores and omnivores, they intended to catch them all.

  The entire canyon was about seven or eight miles wide and more than twenty miles deep. Clearly, the manpower of Black Flag Territory was insufficient.

  But since people were lacking, the insects would help! Besides the Gold-Devouring Demon Ants Martha brought, Liliana had also brought her Divine Power Insect Nest.

  She threw a palm-sized insect nest onto the ground, and it quickly expanded. From it flew buzzing Violet Carpenter Bees.

  With Liliana and Martha controlling the swarms through the queen bees and ant queens, there was no worry that the insects would fight each other.

  The snake people also used their snake-controlling skills—the forest was filled with hissing sounds. Each carried a spear, two combat daggers at their waists, wearing leather armor—looking like a proper army.

  Draven gave a simple task assignment. The leader-level members spread out, while bloodline warriors stayed in the center to provide support.

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  Two insect swarms were responsible for searching, driving, and encircling. Suitable animals for breeding would be captured alive; other carnivores and dangerous omnivores would be hunted down and killed.

  Once a magical beast was spotted, immediate warning was sounded, and the nearest leader would go check it out. If possible, they would capture it alive; if not, they'd call for backup.

  With the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent present, Draven didn't want to waste a single drop of blood.

  At his command, the Black Flag Territory's first large-scale hunt officially began.

  Acorn Oak and other treants also joined, but their task was different.

  They had arrived days earlier and were, under the leaders' orders, gradually shepherding out the large trees in the canyon.

  That's right—Draven wasn't trying to exhaust resources; he was initiating his fortress plan!

  With the Gold-Devouring Demon Ants, the problem of gathering stone materials was completely solved.

  Even though the rainy season hadn't completely passed, Draven could no longer hold back.

  He thought that once the magical beasts and wild animals were cleared out, and the flying ants guarded the canyon entrance, the safety inside the canyon could be initially secured.

  The next step would be to build walls to completely seal off the canyon mouth. But before that, he still hoped to preserve as many ancient trees in the forest as possible.

  It was fine if Acorn Oak and the others moved slowly; after all, the walls couldn't be built overnight.

  Riding atop the Nightmare Horse, Draven looked down at the vast hunting party. Unless something serious happened, he didn't plan to take action himself.

  He had more than a thousand demi-humans under his command, two massive insect swarms, and the hunting momentum was already quite impressive.

  Draven rode the Nightmare Horse while the Ghost-faced Owl kept watch nearby, guarding the people of their territory.

  Besides clearing the canyon, Draven also wanted to use this hunt to gauge the strength of his forces.

  He observed from the air for quite some time. The snake people's performance pleased him.

  More than three hundred snake people controlled various snakes, moving in an orderly and responsive manner, trying to avoid direct clashes with the beasts.

  They often coordinated well—some distracting, others suddenly ambushing.

  Draven saw a wild boar's eye pierced precisely by one of them; the boar struggled and fell, and he couldn't help but nod in approval.

  This was partly thanks to Gregor's recent intensive training, but the snake people themselves already had rich hunting experience.

  The performance of the snake teams was very good overall. By contrast, the Black Wolf tribe slaves performed much worse.

  Time was too short. Although the Black Flag Territory provided much better food than before, their bodies remained weak.

  When facing prey, they had no proper strategy. Even with the insect swarms helping to surround targets, most of the time they charged in a chaotic swarm, stabbing wildly with their spears.

  The prey was indeed killed by the stabbing, but the scene looked messy and unprofessional. Draven frowned deeply. If the Black Wolf tribe wanted to become a force to reckon with, they still needed a long time to train.

  The only thing worth affirming was that the Black Wolf tribe showed no fear of death—they really dared to fight desperately. But Draven had no plans to worry about that too much for now.

  With Martha leading, and Bran, Ayla, Alaric, and Kevin assisting,

  given time, the Black Wolf slaves would eventually improve. Besides, they also had experienced snake people supporting them.

  From Gregor's information, that group of snake women had already begun to get pregnant.

  Draven thought that once Village No. 1 was mostly expanded, he would have to transfer some Black Wolf female slaves there.

  There wasn't much hope for this generation of the Black Wolf tribe, but having more offspring couldn't hurt. Of course, he wouldn't give them away for free. If someone wanted wolf women or wanted to mate, they'd have to contribute something in return.

  The snake people operated the same way. Nearly a hundred female slaves were only primarily allocated to a dozen or so bloodline warriors.

  While patrolling, Draven pondered his thoughts. He still had two contract slots. If he could drive suitable magical beasts out of the canyon,

  he could take the opportunity to strengthen his own power. Unfortunately, things did not go as he wished.

  The entire hunt lasted until late at night, and the more than twenty-mile-long canyon was finally thoroughly cleared. Even if some were missed, it wouldn't cause much trouble.

  The large number of slaughtered beasts were immediately sent back to the village by the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent.

  The female slaves led by Titus also arrived on site. Viola directed the female slaves to cut up the meat. The whole Village No. 1 was filled with a strong scent of blood.

  Draven was worried and had Ragnar guard the village edge. Fortunately, until the hunt ended, no incidents occurred in the village.

  The village was bustling with activity, with bright red blood flowing along the stream into the river. The cleaned meat was moved into drying rooms, and the bloody smell gradually dissipated.