The traces left by Randall's expeditionary force through the forest are particularly visible, not referring to the heavy paw prints of alchemy dragon lizards or the droppings left behind by war dogs, but the effects of disturbing the environment.

Each forest maintains a balanced ecology, and the arrival of the Randall Expeditionary Force inevitably upsets the ecological balance of the forest. Even if the expeditionary force leaves a certain forest, the predatory beasts in the forest will not dare to come back until the intruder's breath dissipates. During this blank period, the number of herbivores in the forest increases, attracting wandering beasts, and when the original owner returns to the territory, it is necessary to use fangs and claws to decide who is the king of the forest.

The beast's uncanny howl is as striking to a seasoned tracker as a beacon in the night.

Randall's Expeditionary Force moves through the forest like a giant beast swimming through a calm lake, leaving a conspicuous ripple on the surface of the water even if it does nothing.

With this in mind, Victor avoided the Ant-Man Marching Trail and chose to travel from the primeval forest to the ruins of the Assyrian Empire from the primeval forest to the north, thanks to the curious cane that Bobo and Sweet brought with the Great Adventurer's Oak Barrel, otherwise Randall's expeditionary force would have to risk being discovered by Ant-Man and trek through the forest close to the marching path.

Passing through the forests on the outskirts of Silver Eagle City, Victor considered that the elves would send scouts to track down Randall's expeditionary force. However, the thread of fate was already wrapped around him, and there was no point in escaping contact with the elves. As for the tracking measures that Silver Eagle City might take, Victor didn't really care.

After all, elves can communicate, and Ant-Man is his mortal enemy.

In the past few months, Victor has learned Elven language from his halfling brothers, and through communicating with them, he has gained a clearer understanding of Silver Eagle City, including the Elven Empire's battle inheritance system and life rank system.

While scouting the undead in the Black Forest, he found the scouts of Silver Eagle City 120 kilometers behind. There were 15 of them in total, 10 war beasts, 5 Wild Elf War Dancers, 3 Dryad Wind Marksmen, 4 Dwarven Ridge Guardians, 1 Dwarven Prophet, and 1 Halfling Adventurer.

The dwarven warrior brought eight bighorn sheep as mounts and camels, and the halfling adventurer's animal companions were two ferocious black wolves. Elven warriors are all on foot, and Victor knows one of them, a wild elf female who was rescued by Victor in the Wild Bee Valley, and is now a third-order war dancer with war paints on her cheeks.

With the strength of this team, it is unlikely that they will be able to chase them from Silver Eagle City to the vicinity of the Forest of Despair. The orc lords along the way did not dare to provoke Ranvicto, but they would not be merciful to the small group of elven scouts. They were well-armoured and showed little sign of battle, and Victor believed that there was at least one true powerhouse among them. She is most likely Bobo and Tian Tian's best friend, the general of Silver Eagle City, and the fifth-order wild elf war dancer - Elus Moon Song.

According to Victor's understanding, the Botian brothers and Elus Yuege are in a group, at least Bobo and Tiantian went to the Temple of the Azores to find the elven relics, and Elus Yuege was the one in the know.

Originally, Victor sensed Elus Moonsong with gold-level strength in the Wild Bee Valley, and she was now able to avoid Victor before he found his companion. With this keen intuition, she can lead her men safely through the territory of the forest monsters.

Elus Moonsong should not plunge headlong into the dangerous Forest of Despair, and Victor asked the halfling brothers to leave elven texts as a gesture of kindness to the generals of Silvermoon City. But as a human nobleman, Victor can be said to be unkind to the elves.

The alchemy tower rune crystal that the alchemy ant queen longed for was on Victor's body, and his original idea was to use the rune crystal of the No. 7 alchemy tower to absorb and control the crystal of the ant queen, and at worst, he could use himself as bait to attract the attention of the ant-man army and help the human alliance gain the initiative on the battlefield.

News of the Abyssal Demon has reached the Centaur Hills, and it is unknown whether Sylvia will be able to assemble a powerful mobile legion. Then, if necessary, Victor can only hide in the sphere of influence of Silver Eagle City, drag the elves into the water, and force them to send troops to destroy the main force of Ant-Man.

Victor is not ashamed of this, he is actually helping Eloth Moonsong himself. The problem with the Randall Expeditionary Force is that there is no backup, and the Wild Elf generals are strong enough to protect themselves, and they are qualified to become Victor's backup without involving the energy of the expeditionary force.

If there is no fundamental conflict between the two sides, Victor can exchange the elven relics for the cooperation of Elus Moonsong.

He didn't really want to touch that thing at all.

The appearance of the Lords of Despair puts Victor under pressure, as the undead are fearless and will attack creatures that pass by. If the Azores experienced the accident 1,500 years ago, it became a nest of undead creatures. The good days of easy "tourism" of the Randall Expeditionary Force should come to an end.

Frequent battles will compress the space for explorers to move around, and even cause casualties and attrition. Neither Randall's Expeditionary Force nor Elus Moonsong's scout team could safely explore the ruins of the Assyrian Empire.

If the wild elf general is smart enough, she will soon join Randall's expeditionary force with her men.

Of course, Victor won't come to the door on their own initiative, and they will have to ask for protection from Randall's expeditionary force.

For the sake of prudence, Victor asked the team to maintain abundant material reserves, and the Randall Expeditionary Force became sluggish, stopping for ten days every half a month, while scouting the environment to see if there were any undead nearby, and also collecting resources and setting up hidden supply points to prepare for the next rainy and snow season.

The situation of the Azores Tower is still unclear, and if there are powerful undead creatures there, the Randall Expeditionary Force must prepare for the worst. In the event of a high-intensity confrontation, these hidden supply points will be the key to the survival of the expeditionary force.

In February, the Season of Water, the expeditionary force traveled more than 3,000 kilometers from the outer circle of the Forest of Despair, and the mountain and forest heights pointed by the wayfinding cane were clearly visible.

Klaus, the commander of the scouts on the right flank, sat cross-legged on the ground, side by side with the sword-wielding maid Molina, and his back against a towering tree of five people hugging each other. He dictated his expedition diary, written on parchment by his beloved concubine.

"It's been almost a year since the expeditionary force was launched, and with the exception of one fight with the Half-Dragons in the Swamp, we have hardly encountered a decent battle, let alone attrition. It is a miracle, a miracle brought to us by my master, His Highness the Noble Randall. ”

"The primeval forest is full of dangers, with powerful monsters, ferocious beasts, insidious vipers, terrifying undead creatures, but the most terrifying thing is the boundless darkness. It erodes people's hearts and minds all the time, little by little they get lost in illusions, and finally they are swallowed up by darkness and become part of the endless forest. ”

"Yes, the Endless Forest has a will, and its vastness and shadow assimilate any intruder, even if a veteran knight like me cannot find his way, either die of wandering, hunger, or being killed by monsters or beasts, or adapt to the will of the forest, forget the faith of being a knight, lose the glory of his family, turn away from the glorious path, and become a humanoid beast of the forest. What's the difference between that and death?"

"The perception of the forest will gradually form a terrifying impression in the mind, 'Where am I?' 'Am I lost?' 'This place is safe, I don't know what danger lies ahead, so I just stay here......?' Fortunately, the noble master led me and my companions to conquer the forest of terror in our hearts. ”

"It's important that Fierce Warriors and Fierce Wardogs can anticipate danger, but what is the danger? Do you take the initiative to attack, defend in place, or retreat backwards to remove the danger? Fierce Warriors and Fierce Wardogs cannot answer the most critical questions, and if we choose the wrong way to deal with it, the result may be fatal. ”

"Always spotting the enemy in advance is an advantageous condition for victory, and wise decision is the key to victory. We see trees, humus, birds, animals, insects in the forest, and the master sees the traces of changes in time and space, and the light of his wisdom illuminates the entire Black Forest. ”

"The expeditionary force moved from the edge of the Forest of Despair, where the edge is safe because powerful monsters or beasts fear the undead in the Forest of Despair. We don't know where the edge of the Forest of Despair is, but the master does. Forests with the same trees are distinct areas in the eyes of the master, and he can accurately calculate the domination range of the undead, and if it were someone else, he would have to find out the route through groping and testing. It is precisely because of the extraordinary wisdom of the master that the expeditionary force has created a miracle of trekking tens of thousands of kilometers in six months without a single casualty. ”

"Halfling adventurers Bobo and Tian Tian call Randall master a ninth-order demigod, I don't think they're exaggerating......."

There was a rustle of footsteps in the woods, and Klaus stopped speaking, turning his head to see Rogers' majestic figure. Dressed in a full suit of leather armor and carrying a small bag, he walked over and greeted, "Klaus, you are writing a diary again? What is the use of writing this? With this time, it is better to practice the contemplation of the master or Randall's combat breathing method." ”

Another takeaway from the Black Forest march was the deep friendship of their companions, as Rogers and Klaus, who were originally from two worlds, were now like brothers.

Klaus sat on the ground, tilted his head and smiled: "In the future, I will revise my diary into a biography, which is a precious treasure for future generations." If my biography could elevate the family and be put on the shelves of the Vault, it would be a glory for Knight Klaus Randall. ”

Rogers shook his head, he could not understand the knight's brother's thoughts, threw the small pocket in his hand to the other party, sat down on the ground, and said, "Then, this is the treasure I am going to give to my master, and when he rewards me with a part, I will give you half of it." ”

Klaus opened his pocket, took out a handful of green amber from it, and said in surprise: "So many green amber, it should be worth a lot of money, right?"

"When Uncle Hammer and I were smuggling mountain goods, this grade of green-veined amber was sold for this amount. Rogers held out three fingers and said smugly.

"30 gold soles a piece?"

"Haha, it's 300 gold soles, and here are 76 of them, worth 22,800 gold soles. ”

Klaus was taken aback by the price of green-veined amber, and quickly put all the amber in his hand back into the bag, scratched his head, and said hesitantly: "The master told us to only collect food, medicinal herbs, and useful resources, and not to do superfluous things." If you offer amber, the master will be displeased. ”

Rogers grinned and whispered, "I had led people to hunt wild boars and forest deer nearby, and as soon as I caught four wild boars, Lady Digri came running and asked us to go to the woods to collect the treasure...... It's amber. We rummaged under the leaves for a long time, and found hundreds of purple amber that I had never seen before, and gave them all to Madame Dilly. I picked up some green-veined amber that she didn't want, and I was going to give it to my master. ”

He paused, and gave Klaus a vague look. Klaus had no choice but to let his sword-wielding maid avoid it first, and when Molina walked away, he heard Rogers say in a lower voice: "Madame Dilly has taken all the purple amber, you go and persuade her, the purple amber should be offered to the master." Anyway, I don't hide treasures, it's not in order. ”

The prey captured by the mountain hunters must be distributed to the chief, and the leader will give priority to the hunter to give priority to the fattest part of the prey. Since joining the Randall Smuggling Caravan, Rogers has always adhered to the rules of the mountain people, and has been unanimously praised by the caravan leader. The simple-minded young mountain man took this set of rules as a guideline, and he was worried that Di Li would fall out of favor in front of his master by hiding amber in private, so he asked his best brother Klaus to persuade Di Li to change his mind.

Klaus = younger than Rogers, but he knows more about the world than him, and said with a smile: "The relationship between the master and the four ladies is not something we can ignore, even if Lady Dilly protects the right-wing scouts all the way, we can't get involved in the court affairs of the Earl." ”

"Court affairs?"

"Oh, it's the housekeeping of the lord's mansion. Klaus patted his head and admonished, "You have to remember that Lady Sylvia is the matrium, and you don't care about anything else...... If you don't listen to me, you'll die ugly. ”

Rogers nodded and said, "Okay, brother, I'll listen to you." By the way, when we were digging for amber, we found the remains of a spotted tiger, which had been dead for 2 months, and I picked up a feather next to it. Look at ......"

As he spoke, he pulled out a long gray feather from behind him, the length of an adult's arm.

Klaus took the feather, looked at it carefully for a moment, raised his head, and said with a solemn look in his eyes: "This is ...... Feathers on the wings of a snake vulture. ”

The snake vulture, a widely distributed scavenging bird of prey, got its name from the fact that it dragged a snake's tail behind it. Due to their large size, snake-tailed vultures are not very good at flying, relying on an incredible number of animals to compete for food from their mouths, and they will spit out strangely smelling acid. If the predator doesn't want to stick to the stench of the snake-tailed vulture, it's best to give up the prey to the snake vulture robber.

Rogers knew the Plesiotail better than Klaus, and he nodded and said, "I think it's also the Plesio's feathers...... With such long feathers, the snake tail fell to the ground, probably as tall as me. ”

Among the core members of the Randall family, Rogers is second only to Caligula in size and is a fierce warrior with a height of more than 2 meters.

According to the common sense of monster science, the size of the bird is not too large, the snake tail is already the largest bird known to man, the average height of standing on the ground is about 1.6 meters, if they are larger, they can't fly at all.

The feathers that Rogers brought back were very abnormal, Klaus thought about it seriously, stood up and said solemnly: "You go and call all the scouts back, and I will go to Madame Delrie, and then go to the place where you found the feathers." ”

Commander Klaus gave the order, and the right flank scouts, including the dragon maid Dili, poured out, and they divided into 7 squads, alternately covering the infiltration of the suspicious woodland.

In February, the season of water, the sky is covered with dark clouds, even if the trees are sparse, the light is as dim as evening, and the white cold mist wafts through the trees, adding a touch of eerie atmosphere. The scouts didn't light their torches, their boots creaking on the rotting leaves. Klaus saw the wreckage of the spotted tiger that Rogers was talking about, and gestured backwards to tell the scouts to disperse, and he and Rogers stepped forward with four Bloodblood militiamen to inspect the wreckage, but found no further clues.

"Do you feel dangerous?" Klaus asked, turning his head as he held the unsheathed Adamantite longsword.

Rogers glanced at the ferocious war dogs that were sniffing around, shook his head, and said, "There is no danger...... There wasn't even any living thing nearby, except for insects. ”

Klaus listened intently, and then turned his inquiring eyes to Di Li not far away, and saw that the other party shrugged her shoulders to indicate that she did not feel danger either.

"Try a mouse, and everyone step back a bit. ”

With a wave of his hand, a monkey militiaman pulled a wildcat-sized alien rat out of its cage and whistled it out into the woods to feed.

The hungry alienated rat sprang under the dead leaves to catch insects, its arched blades swimming on the ground, and in a matter of moments it could run a distance of 100 meters.

Suddenly, a large chunk of thick rotten leaves protruded, and a two-meter-tall strange bird flapped its wings and came out of the ground, its wingspan was more than 6 meters, its hairless neck, snake-like tail, and it was a snake-tailed vulture that was three times magnified. Its eye sockets flickered with pale flames, and it opened its pitch-black beak and let out a piercing cry.

The alien rat, which was fleeing under the leaves, heard the chirping of the strange bird and immediately stopped moving.

"It's the undead!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Klaus launched a charge and lunge, and the whole person was like an arrow from the string, shooting like thunder towards the giant snake tail that had already broken off the ground.

But someone moved faster than the veteran knight, and a slender figure flashed in front of Klaus's eyes, and Lady Dili had appeared in front of the undead, and the huge moon-shaped axe blade spilled out three streamers, cutting off the wings and claws of the strange bird, and the wound sprayed black blood. Before the terrifying bird could make a second cry, Dilly caught its beak and pressed its head under the fallen leaves.

The dragon maid Di Li changed her position, stepped on the head of the undead with her long combat boots, and said with a smile: "Bring a thick cloth and tie its eyes...... The king will be interested in it. ”