The Xia expedition arrived in a new region; the orcs were Xia's people...

"Albero!"

Jiang Yunlan's voice came from behind. The wooden beast Albero quickly turned around to look back, its movements light and agile, without damaging the crops in the planting area.

“Plant, healthy,” Albero said, his round eyes widening and the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, clearly a happy reaction. After it decided to stay in the Xia tribe, Sveta gave it a name in the language they used to speak.

Its name, translated into the language of Xia, means "a creature that dwells in the forest." It is transliterated as "Albero."

"Are they fully recovered? That's wonderful! Albero, thank you for taking care of them all this time. Their quick recovery is all thanks to your treatment." Jiang Yunlan was overjoyed, strode forward, gently patted its forelegs, and praised it repeatedly.

Although Xia has developed a method for caring for crops, and Xia's orcs can handle crop diseases that occur during the hot season, if only Xia's orcs cared for the sick plants, it certainly wouldn't be possible to save all the plants as it is now.

The wooden beast Albero chuckled, lowering its head to nuzzle Lan with its cheek. This meant it was also happy that the plants had survived.

Happiness is contagious, and thus, they gained a happiness boost. Jiang Yunlan and it stood there, both wearing similar smiles.

Just then, the blazing sunlight slanted down, shining on the plants stretching out all around, and on them as well, making their smiles even more dazzling.

The orcs in the planting area looked up at the sound and saw the wooden beast half-crouching, its head bowed, meekly close to Lan. They had often seen the wooden beast talking to Lan like this lately, and their surprise had long since become a habit.

What they cared more about was the news that Lan had mentioned that all the crops were in good condition.

After carefully confirming with their companions several times to make sure they hadn't misheard, they cheered happily and shouted across the distance, "Lan! Albero is so capable, can't it stay in our planting area and grow crops with us? We'll treat it very well, just like warriors treat their war beasts."

Even though they knew that the giant beasts wouldn't harm them because of Lan, they were still afraid of Albero, who was a giant beast.

But now, fear is out of the question. It's a healer who can cure plants... a beast! Even more powerful than a wood-elemental healer. If I don't recruit it into my party soon, it'll be snatched away by other beastmen eventually.

The forest beastmen in the planting area tensed up at the thought of this, temporarily putting aside their work and eagerly looking at the wooden beast and Jiang Yunlan not far away.

“Albero. They welcome you to the planting area. Would you like to come? I remember you really like plants, and the tasks here are perfect for you.” Jiang Yunlan looked up at the wooden beast that had been in the planting area for a few days.

It did not agree immediately, but straightened up and looked around at the Xia beastmen. After thinking for several seconds, it slowly nodded in agreement.

"Great! Welcome to the team, Albero!"

The orcs in the planting area, who had been holding their breath, suddenly erupted in a loud and boisterous cheer.

Albero listened to the welcoming cheers coming from all directions, and a moment of regret rose in his heart. Orcs really were noisy creatures; he shouldn't have chosen to join them just because they had been quiet a few days ago.

It let out a worried sigh, only to see several summer beastmen running over and offering it different kinds of food.

"Thank you for curing the crops in the planting area." They said to it with smiles, some shy and some hearty, holding up food that was too small for it to see.

They had never seen it eat, and didn't understand that its usual food was energy stones, so the food they brought out was a pre-arranged mix of meat, vegetables, and nectar. If it only ate one of these, they would bring it that food from now on; if it ate them all, they would bring it all from now on.

They promised to take care of it like warriors would take care of their war beasts, and their Albero would have the same snacks that the war beasts had.

Albero was stunned to be given food by an orc other than Jiang Yunlan for the first time, and subconsciously looked at Jiang Yunlan.

Jiang Yunlan, receiving its somewhat bewildered question, calmly explained, "If you want to eat, you can pick some. These foods all appear in Xia's territory and contain some natural power. You can eat them, but don't eat too much. Your constitution is not as good as Long and Zelan's, so you can't digest too much food other than energy stones."

Other foods are too varied for it; eating a little occasionally is fine, but eating too much will cause stomach aches. This was the advice 022 gave earlier.

After listening to Lan's suggestion, Albero blinked, hesitated, and lowered its head to approach the orc holding the vegetarian dish, curiously trying a bite of Xia's vegetarian food. After swallowing a small amount of food, it found that it couldn't even taste it. The beast froze on the spot, a clear look of confusion on its face.

Did it eat anything? This food tastes just like air.

Seeing the expression of doubt on its life, Jiang Yunlan suppressed a laugh and slowly said, "I'll bring you more of the food you just ate tonight."

The summer beastmen who brought it food also said that they would bring it large bowls of food in the future.

Albero was annoyed. He turned his head away from the laughing Xia beastman, raised his paw and gently nudged Jiang Yunlan, urging the beastman who was trying to suppress his laughter to take him away quickly.

Sensing the urging, Jiang Yunlan obeyed its wishes and led it away from the planting area.

"Lan, don't laugh." It walked behind Jiang Yunlan, scratching the ground with its paws in a hurry, making quite a noise.

Jiang Yunlan blinked, controlled her expression, and said seriously, "I'm not laughing anymore." After she finished speaking, she patted Freya in her pocket to remind Freya who was laughing loudly.

The air fell silent for a moment, and Albero, satisfied, stopped digging.

Jiang Yunlan leisurely escorted the wooden beast back to its dwelling place and asked it, "Are you getting a little used to living with the beastmen now?"

It let out a whimper, indicating that it was alright.

Jiang Yunlan understood and continued, "When you left the place where you woke up and headed to the wasteland, did you have no companions with you?"

It rummaged through the depths of its memory for a while, then shook its head and said, "When I woke up, I had companions. We didn't leave together. We went to different places, we weren't together."

Since it started talking to Jiang Yunlan, it spoke much more frequently and its language skills improved significantly. Jiang Yunlan realized that its language talent was even higher than that of the wolf-beastman; it not only memorized Chinese but also some of the languages ​​of other beastmen.

The summer beastmen who later saw it found it hard to believe that just a few seasons ago it neither understood language nor spoke. If it weren't for its inability to transform into human form, the summer beastmen would have thought it was a beastman they had never seen before, rather than a giant beast.

Albero almost overturned the Xia beastmen's understanding of giant beasts, and also allowed Jiang Yunlan to gradually understand the race that the beastmen called "giant beasts".

It possessed the same intelligence as the orcs, unlike the wild beasts Jiang Yunlan knew. As she looked at it, she increasingly felt that it was a new race, distinct from both orcs and wild beasts.

Could they be a new race created by nature spirits? Jiang Yunlan didn't understand.

She couldn't help but raise her head and look at Albero, who had circled around to her side. "Xia only has one giant beast, do you feel lonely?"

Xia has not yet found a second giant beast.

“Lonely? I don’t understand. In my memory, when I came to my senses, I was already in summer,” Albero said.

It couldn't remember what it felt like to have its own kind around, nor did it understand if it felt lonely. The orcs of Xia were incredibly noisy; it heard their voices every day, even when it was in its own dwelling, it would see orcs patrolling in front of it.

"Do you want to see them?" Jiang Yunlan asked again.

It followed Jiang Yunlan's side, taking a dozen or so steps, then turned its head to look at Jiang Yunlan, who had already turned her head to look ahead, and said hesitantly, "I don't want to. It would be better if we didn't meet, that's what my feeling tells me."

Hearing it say it didn't want to, Jiang Yunlan knew that deep down it wanted to see them.

But Jiang Yunlan remembered Shui Liujing saying that wounded giant beasts would gather in lifeless places, exchanging their remaining life for new life. She knew that Albero was afraid of lifeless places appearing on the continent. They couldn't sense the presence of their own kind and could only encounter them in lifeless places.

Because their mission is to protect nature, the only place they will stay is a place where nature cannot exist. Albero, the giant beast brought to Xia by the Xia beastmen, is an exception.

“But if I could, I would like to go back to the place I saw on the day I woke up. But I can’t go back. The waters from there to this side are very wide, and the moment I climbed onto this side of the land, I realized that I couldn’t find my way back.” Albero said, his calm voice revealing little sadness.

It had more important things to do, and it didn't matter that it couldn't go back. It was just a little regretful that it couldn't tell the nature that had awakened it that it had eliminated the orcs who had harmed the elves.

Jiang Yunlan could hear the regret in its voice and said loudly, "After we defeat the Apocalypse Tribe, I will accompany you to find your birthplace. The place where you awakened is on some island in the sea, right? No matter how difficult it is to find, we will definitely find it."

The Xia tribe originally planned to explore the ocean, and finding the mountain fish that 022 wanted, the original habitat of the unicorn people, the lost Dragon Island, and the birthplace of a giant beast was not a problem at all.

After calculating the tasks to be accomplished on the ocean journey, Jiang Yunlan silently added one more thing to her mind: to take Albero to see the new giant beast after finding it.

It heard Lan say that it would return after defeating Tianqi, and it nodded repeatedly in agreement, letting out a soft "woof." Lan was right; it should kill all the orcs who had harmed the elves before bringing this good news back. Those who had awakened it would naturally be happy to hear this.

Albero happily stepped forward, facing the sunlight and talking to Jiang Yunlan, pestering her to ask how many more energy stones it could eat every day after becoming a healing beast in the planting area.

The sun moves forward, and day and night alternate.

Albero has integrated into the forest lake habitat. Not only have the orcs in the planting area accepted it, but other orcs also greet it when they see it, and occasionally even boldly pet it, without being afraid of the oppressive aura surrounding it.

“Time flies, it’s fruit season again soon,” Jiang Yunlan remarked, recording the condition of the farmland while speaking to 022 above her head. “As things stand, the output from the planting area is already sufficient to meet the needs of the Forest Lake Beastmen. The only remaining challenge in terms of food is the feeding area. Perhaps we can continue hunting wild animals on the grassland.”

The wild beasts around Forest Lake have been severely ravaged by the Summer Beastmen and can no longer hunt. If they want to hunt, they have to go to more distant places.

"We can send the Guardian's team to practice in actual combat," 022 suggested.

Jiang Yunlan shared the same idea and happily decided to send the new team to hone their skills in a difficult-level beast pack. Having set the new team's mission, she recalled the two pioneering teams that had set out in the latter half of the flowering season and at the beginning of the hot season.

"I really want to know how they are doing now."

"Agni, is the elf you saw really here?" Bai Youyouge asked the elf in his shirt pocket, puzzled, and shook the water pouch in his left hand. The water pouch was almost empty.

They had recently crossed a desert, and their water supply was extremely limited. Fortunately, plants were growing all around them, and if all else failed, they could eat plant roots and stems to replenish their water.

Agni looked at the place that appeared after crossing the desert and said blankly, "I'm not familiar with this place. We left the desert in the wrong direction. Let's go around the desert towards Forest Lake; maybe we can find the right way back."

Bai Youyou was dejected and resignedly informed the orcs in the group of the news.

Senhu Second Pioneer Team, a fresh start!

Meanwhile, the first pioneering team of Forest Lake was stranded in the area where the Butterfly Beastmen had once been. However, having set off too early, the first pioneering team of Forest Lake was unaware of the Butterfly Beastmen and was surprised to find that the beastmen here could understand some of the forest's language.

Jiang Yunlan rescued Bai Shui, a squirrel-like orc, from the bear-orc clan. Bai Shui subtly observed the new orc clan the group had encountered. They were of the same kind as Hati, but unlike all of Xia's wolf-orcs.

This was the first time Bai Shui had seen this tribe of wolf-beastmen, and also the first time she had seen wolf-beastmen who were lifeless and completely devoid of arrogance. The wolf-beastmen she had seen always stood ramrod straight, daring to look any beastman in the eye, even if that beastman was stronger than themselves. Even the shyest wolf-beastmen never showed any timidity on their faces.

She couldn't help but feel a sense of disbelief; they were so much like her past self. She wondered if Lan would feel the same way she did when she saw them.

"Hello, we are orcs from Xia," Bai Shui, the leader, mimicked Lan's gentle smile, gesturing as she asked, "Please don't be afraid of us, we won't hurt you."

The wolf-orc, understanding her meaning, straightened up in surprise and looked at the orcish group, which was some distance away from him and his people, with a puzzled expression.

"I have some questions for you." Bai Shui said this in several languages, and after confirming that the wolf-beastmen responded to the forest language, he switched to the forest language to speak with them.

The wolf-orc hesitated for a moment, then nodded to her, agreeing to talk to her.

The first pioneering team of Senhu launched a food attack, exchanging it for the number of orc clans in this area from the newly encountered wolf orc clans.

At night, the first pioneering team of Senhu set up camp in the territory of the wolf-orc clan, having contributed some supplies.

Resources were scarce in this region, and the orc clans had divided their territories, remaining on high alert against neighboring orc clans gathering and hunting in their own lands. With the fruit season approaching, the orcs of each clan were even more vigilant, clutching their bone weapons to guard against other orcs sneaking into their territories to collect supplies.

Although they might venture into the territory of a neighboring clan when they can't find food in their own, they always defend the resources of their clan's territory!