Mark paused in stirring the soup, but his smile remained unchanged: "May the Holy Light protect you. Perhaps it's because you've been keeping a low profile that they haven't figured out your methods yet."

"After all, you haven't been seen by anyone else in the buffer zone since that incident."

"If they can track your movements, it's either because a powerful diviner is involved, or because they're certain you're with us."

"The former is almost impossible. You are the chosen ones, and ordinary diviners can hardly predict your whereabouts. They can't possibly send diviners of legendary level or above to find you."

"But if it's the latter..."

Mark's eyes narrowed slightly. If it was the latter, then their recent speculation might be true.

Who knows, another chaotic scene is about to unfold in the Lor Swamp.

"Keep a low profile?" Enzo scoffed, pointing with the hammer handle at the still-smoking ruins around him and the pile of burning orc corpses in the distance. "I think you Holy Light Church members are practically branded with 'Orc Butcher' on your foreheads!"

In this raid on the orc camp, almost all the action was carried out by Kyle and Ruby's group; Mark's squad didn't participate.

He grabbed a piece of roasted, charred meat from the side and took a big, hard bite.

Kyle shook his head, his eyes sharp: "No. With the Corrupted Vine Alliance's intelligence capabilities in the buffer zone, our two teams moving together would make us quite a target. Even if we hide deep inside, they shouldn't have no one coming out to look for us, right?"

"They can accurately issue missions and track mission completion to upgrade their privileges. There's no reason they should be completely unaware of our movements, especially... the theft of a mission item like the Bloodvine Heart. This calm seems a bit off."

Monica's cool voice came from the shadows, carrying her usual calm analysis:

"There are two possibilities. First, they are assessing the situation, or have bigger plans, and are temporarily unable to attend to our 'outer' force, after all, too many powerful individuals have recently entered the buffer zone. Second..."

She opened her wine-red eyes, and the ring on her fingertip shimmered slightly. "What we consider 'concealment' is perhaps, from the perspective of those with higher authority, like looking at the lines on a palm. We have long since lost all privacy."

Her words instantly made the atmosphere a bit more tense.

Anna instinctively tightened her grip on the short bow.

Several hours ago, deep in the Lor Swamp, in a certain orcish black market.

A magical light screen, far larger and more intricate than the animal hide map in Mark's hands, floated in the center of the stone chamber.

On the light screen, the terrain of the Lor Swamp buffer zone was displayed in exquisite detail, with countless tiny points of light moving and flashing on it.

Among them, a special spot of light marked with a cross and several closely spaced spots with holy light symbols are clearly marked on the coordinates of a recently destroyed orc camp.

Next to that marker, the current status of two markers is even updated in real time: [Post-war Recuperation].

An exceptionally tall and burly orc sat in the main seat. His skin was a deep bronze color, and his muscles were like cast steel, exuding explosive power.

He wore a ferocious bone crown on his head, a symbol of tribal kingship, inlaid with several gems that shimmered with blood-red light, radiating a chilling aura of power.

He is none other than Grom Bloodhowl, the little prince favored by the Beast God and highly revered by the orc tribes in recent years.

There are rumors in the orc tribes that if the little prince hadn't gone to study in the territory of a green dragon, Alfonso Lin of the Holy Light Church would never have been able to roam freely in the orc territory!

Legends should not be taken lightly, but the legends of the orcs are by no means inferior to those of the charlatans of the Holy Light Church!

Grom's crimson eyes were fixed on the points of light marked with holy light symbols on the light screen, and the information next to them that read "[Possessor: Heart of Bloodvine]".

His thick fingers tapped the stone chair armrests, producing a dull sound that sent a shiver down the spines of the fierce-looking elite orc guards standing on either side.

"Withered Wood... having been away from the royal court for too long, it has truly become useless!" Grom's voice rolled like muffled thunder, filled with suppressed rage. "The tribute prepared for me was actually stolen by a bunch of lackeys of the Holy Light! It's simply a disgrace to the Beast God!"

Beside him, a relatively thin old orc shaman wearing a leather robe with intricate magical patterns bowed and said, "Your Highness, please calm down. Intelligence has confirmed that the one who seized the Bloodvine Heart was an elite squad under the Thirteenth Holy Knights, and the two leaders are quite powerful."

“Moreover… according to the real-time monitoring of the Rotten Vine Alliance’s level 7 map access, they are not acting alone. They have been cooperating with another squad recently. That squad…” the old shaman pointed to Mark’s glowing spot, “is the ‘Scavenger’ who goes around taking on orc quests in the Black Street under the guise of the Holy Light.”

Grom's blood-red eyes narrowed, and a chilling killing intent permeated the stone chamber: "The Thirteenth Holy Knights? Hmph! The only one they can boast of is a commander who hasn't even reached the legendary level yet!?"

"A bunch of ignorant insects! They think they can run rampant in the buffer zone just because they killed a few peripheral trash? The Heart of the Blood Vine contains the power of the Wood Ancestor, which is the key to my breakthrough! The Holy Light Church... and these sneaky rats... all deserve to die!"

He suddenly stood up, his tall frame almost touching the ceiling of the stone chamber, and a violent aura erupted from him:

"Summon the 'Skullbreaker' Guard! Bring the Ancestral War Drums! Target: the edge of Stonethroat Canyon, find those swarms of Holy Light Church insects! I will personally crush them, use the skulls of Holy Light Knights to hold wine, and use the spines of those charlatans to make new scepters! The Heart of Bloodvine must be retrieved for me!"

"roar!!"

The elite orc guards inside the stone chamber roared in unison, their bloodthirsty fighting spirit soaring to the sky.

A glint of light flashed in the old shaman's eyes. He quickly marked the precise coordinates and path on the map, and a hidden message was instantly transmitted through map permissions.

...

Stonethroat Canyon Camp, by the campfire.

The crackling sound of the flames suddenly stopped.

Perhaps it was an intuition brought about by the holy light.

Kyle's unease grew stronger. He stood up, walked to the edge of the camp, and looked into the depths of the grey-green swamp.

Ruby put down her bowl and gripped the yoke around her waist.

Enzo stopped chewing, casually tossing the leftover bones into the fire, sending sparks flying. His dark red face was full of vigilance.

Even Anna, who had been lost in thought, looked up.

Mark's smile finally faded. He put the pot lid on and unconsciously rubbed the cross necklace on his chest with his fingers.

In the suffocating silence, Monica's figure rose from the shadows like a ghost, her wine-red eyes sharp as knives, fixed on the swampy mist to the southwest.

"It seems the ones you wanted have arrived." Her usually cool voice carried an unprecedented gravity. "A large number... and extremely fast..."

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