Draven did not leave together with Bran; instead, he went alone to Village No. 3. This village held great significance for him—it was home to the surrendered serpent people and the place where he had to make a crucial decision.

  After Gregor returned, he also went to Village No. 3. This time, Draven came to officially notify Green Serpent, the serpent leader in charge of Village No. 3, to prepare himself.

  Once the rainy season ended, Village No. 3 would undergo a complete transformation, becoming the first formal combat unit of the Black Flag Territory.

  Although these serpent people had already pledged allegiance to Black Flag Territory and stopped causing trouble, Draven understood that only by making them experience bloodshed and sacrifice, winning battle merits for Black Flag Territory, could they truly be integrated into his camp.

  Even the Black Wolf clan's adult slaves had not changed their status.

  Draven's attitude was clear: making them hunters was only the first step. The hunting process was not just about filling their stomachs but also about honing their bodies and combat skills.

  Once these serpent people became strong enough, they would be sent to the battlefield to kill enemies and earn merits for Black Flag Territory. If they wanted to shake off the identity of slaves, they had to exchange it for enemy heads.

  In Draven's view, the serpent people of Village No. 3 were by no means free people; their status was even lower than slaves.

  When Green Serpent saw Draven, he greeted him with a servile and flattering demeanor. Draven walked straight into the chief's large house in Village No. 3, pretending to formally order him to send someone to call Gregor.

  He casually asked about the progress on the poisonous mushrooms he had entrusted to him for research last time.

  Sylvia had almost collected every type of mushroom near Village No. 2 and had compiled them into an illustrated guide. Draven picked several specially poisonous varieties from it and gave them to Green Serpent for study.

  Serpent people were naturally skilled in using poisons, so perhaps they could create unexpected effects. For example, the mushroom powder Draven once used to sedate Martha, although effective, had a strong and unpleasant smell and could only be used as a makeshift anesthetic—not very convenient.

  Hearing the question, Green Serpent smiled proudly. He asked Draven to wait a moment, then walked to the wooden rack in the corner of the stone house and selected several jars to bring out.

  "Chief, please take a look. Although the results are limited, these poisons are all very practical," Green Serpent said with a smile as he handed the jars to Draven.

  Draven listened carefully, his eyes gradually becoming focused, clearly surprised and satisfied with the research results. The serpents' mastery of poison was indeed profound.

  Green Serpent picked several highly toxic mushrooms from the illustrated guide, combined them with the serpents' signature snake venom, and concocted three special poisons.

  The first was the sedative Draven had specifically instructed before. Draven looked at the white powder in the jar and lightly fanned it with his hand—there was no strange smell at all.

  Even the Black Wolf clan's sensitive sense of smell could not detect any odor, indicating that this improved sedative was very successful.

  He carefully dipped a finger into the powder and lightly tasted it with his tongue. Then he took the horn cup Green Serpent handed him and rinsed his mouth. The sedative caused a slight numbness on his tongue but was unobtrusive and nearly undetectable in daily life.

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  "You've tested it, right?"

  "Yes, we fed a small amount to a wild boar. It collapsed in about five seconds."

  Draven nodded and put the sedative aside, signaling Green Serpent to continue.

  The second poison was a bright red powder. Green Serpent explained that once dissolved in water and applied to a weapon, if it pierced a wild boar, the toxin would cause the boar extreme pain, even driving it temporarily mad and uncontrollable.

  "That wild boar almost tried to kill itself—pure agony!" Green Serpent described the effect with pride.

  To him, this crimson poison was his favorite among the three.

  Draven, however, was not very optimistic about it. He thought this stuff was at best useful for torture and interrogation, with limited use on the battlefield. He lightly waved his hand and asked Green Serpent to introduce the last one.

  Green Serpent carefully took out the last poison, handling it as if it were something extremely dangerous. Seeing this, Draven instinctively leaned back a little, sensing that this was no ordinary substance.

  Sure enough, Green Serpent gave a sly smile tinged with mystery:"This last one isn't really a poison. Its effect is even more special—when a wild boar eats it…"

  Before he could finish, Draven's expression turned strange. He thought for a long time and flipped through the mushroom guide Sylvia had given him, but he had never seen any mushroom with such an effect.

  Green Serpent opened the jar lid, and a pungent smell immediately burst out—so strong it was almost unbearable. Draven only fanned the jar mouth gently with his palm, but his nose started to wrinkle.

  "This smell is really something," he muttered.

  Soon after, he felt a strange restlessness slowly spreading from within his body. It felt like his blood was being stirred, and the power coursing through his veins trembled lightly before gradually calming down.

  Draven immediately realized this was no poison at all—it was clearly an aphrodisiac! He couldn't help but roll his eyes and quickly closed the jar, his expression full of disdain.

  However, the next moment, with a casual flick of his wrist, the three jars on the table vanished into thin air, as if he had just collected them.

  Draven lightly cleared his throat and turned to Green Serpent:"Give me the formulas for all three poisons. Prepare extra of the first one—the sedative."

  Green Serpent lowered his head, his eyes flickering as he pretended not to notice Draven's small trick just now.

  He himself wasn't very confident about the other two poisons, but Draven clearly saw value in the first sedative.

  Especially considering they also had the demon-attracting formula passed down from the Serpent Ancestor. Using both together could greatly increase the success rate of capturing magical beasts.

  Draven then instructed Green Serpent to arrange further testing specifically on the sedative and detailed its potential uses in combat.

  Hearing this, Green Serpent's eyes lit up as if he had found a new direction, almost excited enough to applaud.

  Green Serpent's expression grew increasingly eager, but just then Gregor entered the chief's house, interrupting their conversation. Green Serpent reluctantly stopped his explanation and put the jars away.

  Draven gestured for Gregor to sit down—the real topic was about to begin.

  Actually, earlier he had asked Gregor and Green Serpent to quietly gather some intel, so when Draven proposed some changes for Village No. 3, Green Serpent remained relatively calm and did not resist too much.

  Draven made it clear to both of them that starting today, the number of hunters in Village No. 3 would be cut by half. Hunting would be done in shifts, with some serpent people staying in the village to receive combat training under Gregor.

  This was a transitional measure. Once the rainy season ended, Village No. 3 would completely stop hunting and transform into a fully combat-ready unit, fully subordinate to the Black Flag Territory's commands and deployment.

  Hearing this, Green Serpent couldn't help but open his mouth, seemingly ready to argue, but in the end swallowed his words and remained silent.

  After all, he knew the serpent tribe had offended Draven before, and the days ahead would not be easy.

  Green Serpent forced a bitter smile and agreed, but inside he was already scheming how to persuade his people to temporarily accept this unwanted change.

  In fact, Green Serpent didn't need to worry much—Draven had already made arrangements. Viola was always concerned about having too many female slaves, so those hundred or so serpent female slaves would be handed over to Green Serpent.

  That way, with female slaves around to motivate them, the serpent people would train and fight even harder.

  Currently, there were about three hundred serpent warriors but only a little over one hundred female slaves—a clearly unbalanced situation. Now it was a matter of who had the ability to secure the female slaves in this brutal competition.