The leader of Black Flag Territory personally arrived early in the morning, which took Rhinoceros Man Sethric by surprise.

  Especially when he saw Draven's pale face and slightly ashen lips, Sethric immediately grew concerned. Could the werewolf leader be facing some trouble?

  Hearing Sethric's worried greeting, Draven's expression stiffened slightly, and with some embarrassment, he explained that the morning breeze was a bit chilly.

  He casually glanced at the Nightmare Horse behind him, causing Sethric to show a hint of envy.

  After being led into the main house, Draven declined Sethric's hospitality and straightforwardly brought up the issue of Rhinoceros Man's stored grass.

  Upon hearing this, the Rhinoceros Man leader's face grew somewhat complicated.

  The information came from Alaric, who had accidentally discovered during a hunt that many female Rhinoceros Men were harvesting grass along the riverbanks.

  They initially assumed, like Draven, that they kept beasts in captivity.

  But Alaric, relying on his youthful and handsome face, approached boldly and directly questioned a burly female Rhinoceros Man, uncovering the truth.

  It turned out that these females harvested grass to prepare for winter, cutting and drying it to store as food for the cold months.

  Alaric was very surprised by this and kept it in mind, especially bringing it up when he met Draven.

  If it weren't for this, Draven wouldn't have made the long journey to the Rhinoceros Man's territory so early in the morning.

  Sethric explained somewhat awkwardly, while Draven showed sympathy, gently patting the back of Sethric's hand."I know it's tough for Rhinoceros Men, but I didn't expect it to be this hard for you."

  Draven began his performance.

  After expressing sympathy for Rhinoceros Man's long-term food shortage, he shifted his tone, furrowing his brows and sighing,"Black Flag Territory can send more manpower, but we also have our difficulties…"

  Sethric narrowed his cloudy bull-like eyes; he wasn't a fool. The leader of Black Flag Territory coming early with a purpose was definitely scheming.

  Seeing Draven's pale lips, the difficulties must be serious. Sethric didn't want his people dragged into troubles Black Flag Territory couldn't handle.

  Sethric smiled and said,"Everyone struggles in winter. We Rhinoceros Men aren't the only ones who have to survive on hay."

  This surprised Draven, who thought things might be different. His pale lips had also affected his"performance."

  Seeing Sethric was not fooled, Draven didn't bother beating around the bush and got straight to the point.

  He said Black Flag Territory currently needed to build houses and city walls, so they couldn't spare more people to help Rhinoceros Man with hunting, limiting the benefits of cooperation.

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  "But if you're willing," he asked,"could you send some of your people into Black Flag Territory to help? That way, Black Flag Territory can free up more manpower, and both sides' gains will increase."

  Hearing this, Sethric was somewhat tempted. The Rhinoceros Man village's construction already showed their strength,

  but entering Black Flag Territory made Sethric hesitate. He wasn't afraid the werewolf leader would harm the people he sent.

  Draven had already demonstrated his strength and fairness last time.

  The Rhinoceros Men simply couldn't withstand the two leader-level high-tier warriors. What Sethric hesitated over was whether the input and return would be proportional.

  After all, summer was their crucial period for harvesting grass. If, for the sake of exchanging for some meat, they delayed the grass harvest, the winter days would only become harder to endure.

  Meat was good, but its quantity was limited and nowhere near the security that dried grass provided. Sethric hesitated as he expressed his concerns, hoping Draven could understand his difficulties.

  Only then did Draven realize what he was truly worried about. He immediately promised that if the Rhinoceros Men sent their people to help build houses and city walls,

  Black Flag Territory would not only send additional hunters to support them, but also arrange for female slaves to help harvest the grass. More importantly, the food for the people sent would be supplied by Black Flag Territory.

  Hearing this, Sethric completely set aside his worries and smiled, praising the werewolf leader for being honorable.

  The two sides quickly reached an agreement: Rhinoceros Men would send 200 strong warriors to Black Flag Territory to build houses and walls.

  In return, Black Flag Territory would expand the hunting team to 200 people and dispatch 200 female slaves to help harvest grass.

  To improve efficiency, Draven proposed that both sides send personnel to be stationed in each other's villages, saving the trouble and time of going back and forth.

  Though Sethric hesitated a little, when he heard the werewolf leader say that Black Flag Territory would provide food for their people, relieving the Rhinoceros Men of that burden, he immediately dismissed his concerns, happily rubbing his gray-white belly and readily agreed.

  To show sincerity, Sethric quickly gathered his people and selected 200 strong warriors, preparing to personally escort them into Black Flag Territory.

  Watching the remaining few hundred Rhinoceros Men, Draven couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth droop. If he didn't follow a conciliatory policy, he really wanted to forcibly suppress them and drag them over by force.

  But now wasn't the time to rush. Draven reminded himself that to maximize the value of the Rhinoceros Men, plunder was never a good method.

  For example, now, he was only investing some food and manpower, yet the Rhinoceros Men's construction team was enthusiastically following him.

  If he had directly plundered them, would the captured Rhinoceros Men be so motivated?

  Absolutely not. Cooperation and mutual benefit, as well as guided integration, though time-consuming, produce more lasting effects.

  Draven led the Nightmare Horse and accompanied the Rhinoceros Men on foot.

  Along the way, he chatted energetically with Sethric. Low murmurs rose within the group, and every Rhinoceros Man's eyes were filled with anticipation.

  The leader said that going to Black Flag Territory meant guaranteed meals!

  Even the leftover innards from yesterday along with cassava chunks could make the Rhinoceros Men quite happy to eat.

  When Martha and the others saw the leader return with two hundred Rhinoceros Men, they were genuinely surprised despite Draven having given them prior notice.

  Especially Bran, who, upon seeing the tall and sturdy Rhinoceros Men, insisted on testing his strength against their bloodline warriors.

  The result was predictable: in terms of strength, among demi-human races of the same level, very few could beat the Rhinoceros Men.

  In front of Sethric, Draven called over Alaric and Ayla, telling them to pack their things and prepare to return to the Rhinoceros Man village with Sethric.

  The two hundred black wolf tribe slaves were already accounted for, but another 200 female slaves still needed to be recruited from Village No. 2. Fortunately, Sethric was not in a hurry and was willing to wait until the numbers were complete.

  Draven summoned Ghost-faced Owl and tied the command order to its leg. Titus would receive the order soon and arrange for the female slaves to be sent over.

  Taking advantage of the time, Draven took Sethric on a brief tour of the village,

  roughly explaining the construction requirements. The city walls weren't urgent for now; they should focus on building houses first. The common stone houses no longer met his standards— Draven had his own plans.