Gregor sat cross-legged on the rough wooden bed, eyes closed in meditation, continuously drawing energy from the surrounding natural environment.

  The post-rain air was fresh with the scent of earth and leaves. Occasional bird calls echoed from afar, but he paid no attention to the endless provocations whispering in his ears.

  He knew better than anyone his true purpose and identity. Draven's actions were nothing more than a staged performance aimed at rattling the Serpent Ancestor.

  Dealing with an ancient, time-worn existence like the Serpent Ancestor, mere surface threats were completely ineffective.

  The Serpent Ancestor had long been bound by a forced contract. Even if Draven pressured him aggressively, it only forced him to appear more obedient on the surface.

  Draven's real goal was to extract more benefits and profits from the Serpent Ancestor. So he gathered the snake people's leadership—except for Gregor—and created a false show with only one purpose:

  To deepen the Serpent Ancestor's trust in Gregor, making him mistakenly believe Gregor was a loyal ally sharing the same goals.

  In the village chief's main house, Draven faced a group of bloodline warrior-level snake people, confidently boasting.

  He pointed to the four snake women selected by Green Serpent, his tone tinged with pride:"Look at them. There are more than ninety snake women like these in Village No. 2."

  "As long as you do your duty and contribute more to the territory, I can give you even better ones!"

  For a moment, the snake people's eyes gleamed with desire and excitement. Draven knew very well that what these male snake people needed most—besides strength—was the right to mate. By controlling these resources, he could firmly secure the tribe's loyalty and obedience.

  He made no attempt to hide his intentions, bluntly treating mating rights as a tool of governance. By artificially creating scarcity of what should be ample resources, he could motivate the snake people to work harder for him.

  Green Serpent was not to be outdone. Fully embracing his role as a traitor, he immediately took himself as an example, vividly describing the benefits and temptations of the snake women.

  Although crude and even somewhat explicit, his words struck a chord with the snake people present. The air filled with a heated atmosphere, low conversations, laughter, and occasional cheers intertwined.

  Seeing the scene grow heated, Draven pressed his hand to try to cool the momentum."The rainy season is still ongoing. Your main task remains hunting."

  He spoke with an authoritative tone,"After the rainy season, I will give you more opportunities. Then, whether you make great achievements will depend on yourselves."

  His words were brief but precise. For these snake people, the mere glimpse of hope was enough. More details and potential benefits were theirs to interpret and seize.

  Draven was in no hurry to reveal his true plans. Even if he told them now that in the future they would become full-time warriors, it would not help with hunting during the rainy season.

  After a few simple encouraging words, he sent these bloodline warriors back to their squads, leaving only Green Serpent behind to chat about the current situation in Village No. 3.

  Although Draven could always obtain detailed information through his secondary consciousness, he still preferred to hear the village chief's report in person. A village leader should have his own views and voice.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  For snake people like Green Serpent who had completely submitted to him, Draven knew nurturing them remained important.

  "Leader, the main issue is food storage," Green Serpent said candidly."Rain doesn't affect us snakes much. Fishing and mushroom gathering can make up for hunting shortages."

  "Fish can be raised in ponds, but other foods cannot." He sighed."Now I don't even dare let my people pick mushrooms. We can't even turn hunted beasts into jerky for storage."

  Green Serpent thought Draven had come to inspect the harvest and thus openly revealed the difficulties and troubles.

  However, Draven only smiled gently, calm and unhurried, which surprised Green Serpent a little."This problem, the territory already has a solution."

  "In the next couple of days, Viola and the others will take turns renovating drying houses in your two villages," Draven said confidently."All these difficulties you mentioned will be resolved."

  Green Serpent was overjoyed and eagerly asked for some details.

  After learning that the renovation of the drying houses brought great convenience, Green Serpent's attitude became especially enthusiastic, and his praise hardly ceased.

  Seeing Draven smiling broadly, Green Serpent redoubled his efforts to flatter him, as if the future of the entire territory depended solely on these drying houses.

  Draven did not hold back on sharing details:"After the renovation is complete, the first time it's started, Viola will need to use her magic to activate the formation. After that, it'll be much simpler and won't be such a hassle every time."

  He explained,"The door has a special mechanism— as long as the door is opened, the runes in the formation will break, and the drying function will automatically stop."

  "The next time it's used, just close the door, the runes reconnect, and the residual magic is enough to power the formation."

  Green Serpent listened and nodded, but Draven did not hide the reality:"However, Village No. 3 lacks the aura of faith to support it, so the accumulation of magic is slower, meaning drying takes longer than in other places."

  "At present, there is no good solution to this problem," Draven sighed."There are only two succubus statues in the territory, guarding two villages respectively. Village No. 3 has no protection— it's inherently disadvantaged."

  "The succubus statues can only be created by the Lord's Manor, each representing a village. According to regulations, there should be only one officially recognized village in the entire Black Flag Territory, and the other two aren't recorded in official documents."

  He frowned,"I want to try to get more statues, but that means paying a price— such as doubling tributes every year..."

  Green Serpent listened stunned, inwardly thinking how dangerous that condition was— it was definitely something the leader would be unwilling to accept.

  Moreover, apart from a slight shortage in numbers, the snake people already met the territory's development needs in other aspects. But Draven always believed that only snake people within the limits of strength were truly good snake people.

  While they chatted casually, Draven suddenly stood up, preparing to check on Gregor. Green Serpent appeared hesitant, pausing for a moment before finally summoning courage to block the leader.

  "Leader, there's something I'm not sure if I should say..."

  Draven raised an eyebrow, signaling him to speak freely without fear.

  Green Serpent finally revealed the long-hidden worry in his heart:"Gregor has been acting strangely lately."

  "He often disappears, isn't in the village, but never says where he's gone."

  "And that Serpent Ancestor who always follows him seems abnormal too."

  After hearing this, Draven smiled lightly. As a leader-level warrior, if Green Serpent couldn't detect any clues, it would make him seem incompetent instead.

  He patted Green Serpent's shoulder and casually took out a jar of blood wine from his storage ring, handing it over."Well done, this is a reward. Keep watching them closely and report any new findings promptly."

  The anxious expression on Green Serpent's face quickly turned to joy. He knew clearly Gregor was the leader's trusted aide, and that Serpent Ancestor was also a watcher sent by the leader.

  Logically, he shouldn't speak too much, but he understood that superiors never fully trust their subordinates. Gregor's existence made him uneasy, and since he couldn't eliminate him, he had to find ways to cause trouble for him.

  Draven was well aware of this; mutual checks and balances were better than hiding information. This situation also gave Serpent Ancestor more opportunities.

  Gregor, sitting cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes. The approaching aura and footsteps told him the main body was coming.

  He looked coldly at the Serpent Ancestor coiled in the corner, deliberately showing a hint of disdainful smile. The Serpent Ancestor, seeing this, was filled with anger but helpless.

  Now, in front of Draven, other than playing obedient and admitting faults, he truly had no options left. Yet even so, when the werewolf leader pushed open the stone house door and walked in, Serpent Ancestor still couldn't hide his nervousness.

  Facing Draven, he had no strength to resist, afraid that one careless move might get him dragged back to the gate or turned into a belt...