Crash... rustle...

The obstructing branches were violently broken through.

After leaving the camp, the group switched to having the physically strong and terrain-savvy "Brown Bear Warrior" Uwakaza as the spearhead, clearing the way.

Charging forward with immense force, he truly resembled a gigantic brown bear reigning supreme in the forest!

Behind him.

The tribe chief Apsuova, Chief Nekado, and Aiven, along with ten indigenous Phaletis mixed guards, proceeded in a single file column at the fastest speed.

As they ventured deeper into the primal forest, riding horses was impossible in such complex terrain.

To accommodate Chief Nekado, who was determined but physically holding them back, they had to have two members of the guard team drag him along after walking for a while.

Later, seeing that he was indeed slowing them down.

Gary simply hoisted him onto his shoulder. Even with the weight of two hundred pounds, wearing heavy armor, it was nothing to someone with Gary's innate divine power.

The team's speed immediately surged a notch!

But, even so...

Following a path trodden by hunters, crossing a sprawling deciduous forest, they had been running for nearly an hour before finally hearing the sound of water in the distance.

That was their destination for this trip, the Yucatan Tribe's beaver hunting ground: Cold Water River Bay.

However.

Clang... clang... clang...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Alongside the sound of water came the clash of weapons.

The sound of flintlock pistols echoed for a long time in the forest.

The birds residing there squawked and fled one after another.

Slowing their steps and continuing to approach, they soon heard voices emanating from the other side.

"Damn it, they're charging again!"

"Those bastards from the Northwest Fur Company, what the hell did they mess with this time?! I swear I'll never cover their mess again!"

"Shut up! Keep shooting, this time aim for their heads."

Moreover, it wasn't the local Atrean dialect but the Tulip Alliance's common language!

Along with it came an incredibly thick and nauseating stench of blood.

Without recklessly rushing out, the leading "Brown Bear Warrior," experienced and careful, stayed at the edge of the forest, observing the movements on the riverbank before taking action.

Otherwise.

If they were to charge out recklessly, they might get caught in a crossfire from those battling over there, which would be a tragedy.

Aiven, who followed closely behind, also saw the situation on the battlefield firsthand.

Or rather, after determining the location of the hunting ground based on the direction of travel and the bloodstains on the ground, the few Needle-tailed Swifts that he had brought ashore had already transmitted the information to him.

"Those are... the Crowman Team under the Kingdom?"

Aiven saw a three-person team.

They wore long black leather coats with wolf-fang buttons, military boots with suspended sheaths, and their shoulder belts had three slots for short firearms. Their hands were gloved in leather, not a single piece of skin exposed.

On their heads were their iconic full-face bird-beak masks, with only transparent crystal pieces at the eye area to see through. Together with their black attire, they looked like three humanoid giant crows from afar!

The Crowman Team's mission: with their flesh and blood, they block the dangers of the Extraordinary World and the Mysterious Side from the world of ordinary people.

Clearly, on the land where pioneers forge ahead, this special team provides crucial protection.

Especially on this mysterious continent filled with bizarre occurrences.

By the time Aiven arrived, their firearms were already emptied.

The Crowman Team was swinging longswords, with a silver humanoid crow emblem, fighting against a terrifying "human" group covered in blood, with no skin except on their heads.

Squish—

Crack—

Limbs torn asunder, flesh and blood splattered...

Yet, even though these individuals were skinned, with almost no blood left, they were still lively, or one could say even stronger than they were in life.

They seemed to have released all the limits of their bodies, not needing to consider the endurance of bones, muscles, or tendons, destructively unleashing power under a bizarre force.

Ferociously swinging hunting knives, they charged at the Crowman team's triangular defense formation.

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

Even more bizarre, among them were fellows wielding hunting rifles, who knew how to load ammunition from afar and shoot back.

This situation couldn't merely be explained by "living corpses."

So, even if the Crowman clearly had superior individual power, those bizarre entities used their numerical advantage and coordination, gradually squeezing the space of the three Crowman.

As they arrived, the Crowman team, with their Peak of Apprentice Knight strength, was already in a precarious situation.

"Chief Apsuova, that is the Kingdom's official Crowman Team, specialized personnel handling bizarre incidents.

Perhaps this strange occurrence isn't just affecting our camp; other places are also impacted."

Aiven explained to the aboriginals around him to avoid any friendly fire.

In fact, strange events occur frequently on this land.

The so-called normal world and the Mysterious Side are essentially indistinguishable, so neither the aboriginals nor Nekado were unfamiliar with the Crowman Team.

Moreover, because the skin on the heads of those "Skinless People" was preserved, they easily recognized the identities of these over twenty "people."

"Except for three Hunters from the Yucatan Tribe, most of them belong to the Northwest Fur Company's own hunting party!

Clearly, something happened to the Northwest Fur Company earlier than us, and they must have called the Crowmen to investigate.

Don't just stand there, go help them!"

With Chief Nekado's order, the armed guard behind them swarmed out. They lined up and directly opened fire on those seemingly insane "Skinless People."

Now, with the widespread use of paper cartridge fixed loads (which require biting through the paper cartridge in advance, still front-loading guns), skilled shooters can achieve a firing rate of five to six rounds per minute.

Ten people combined have quite considerable firepower.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!...

Amid the rising blue smoke,

a massive shadow had already charged out.

Uwakaza, the "Brown Bear Warrior," was now furious at seeing the three tribesmen who hadn't returned meet the same fate.

Roar——!

With a fierce roar during the charge, the totemic patterns on his body continuously twisted, faintly accompanied by a bear's roar that intimidated the woodlands. This aboriginal warrior's body had already expanded by one-third, and each step was earth-shaking.

Boom! Boom! Boom!...

This momentum was no less impressive than a several hundred kilogram real brown bear.

Holding a weapon made of the so-called axe-resistant white hard wood, resin, and sharp obsidian shards, further blessed by Shamanism, the obsidian saw sword in his hand was simply a god-slaying tool!

Crash——!

In the blink of an eye, the "Brown Bear Warrior" had plunged into the "Skinless People's" ranks.

As an Official Transcendent, Uwakaza was a force that crushed these enemies, who were originally ordinary humans manipulated to at most a Mid-Stage Apprentice Level by unknown powers.

For these creatures, which have long deviated from biological common sense, the damage from firearms lead bullets was very minimal.

Even being shot in the head was not lethal, with their blood already drained, their actions clearly no longer governed by the brain...

However.

They couldn't resist the brutal dismemberment by the "Brown Bear Warrior" at all!

Seeing unexpected reinforcements arrive, the three Crowmen who had been fighting for some time finally took a breather.

Even though the reinforcements were aboriginals, given their temporary honeymoon period with the Hurons, they were considered allies for the time being.

"Be careful, we suspect they've all been cursed by some Evil Spirit, the real culprit hasn't shown up yet."

Actually, the bizarre skinning incident initially started with the hunting party of the Northwest Fur Company.

The company residence seemed to have received warnings and intimidations from a strange entity.

A hunting party member was found brutally killed in the goods yard, with two pieces of skin around him, one belonging to himself, and the other to a "beautiful" beaver.

However, those ordinary people had none of the caution of the aboriginal chief. Upon seeing the hide, many couldn't resist the temptation and touched that beautiful fur, and the events that followed were as expected, leading the scene to almost spiral out of control.

After being suppressed by the company's upper management, they summoned the Crowman Team to dispatch a team of three, who followed the clues here, nearly overwhelmed by the swarm of cursed victims.

If it weren't for the unexpected actions of that bizarre entity at the back, which inadvertently led Aiven and his party here, today there would've been three more "Skinless People" here.

With the "Brown Bear" entering the scene, the battlefield situation had been easily brought under control.

On the other side, tribe chief Apsuova had already carried a white oak staff straight to the riverbank.

He knew that unless the source was resolved or driven away, killing more "Skinless People" would be useless, and as long as the tribesmen continued hunting, they would constantly face the threat of that terrifying entity.

Thus.

Standing by the river, Apsuova slammed the white oak staff in his hand onto the ground heavily, invoking a name with a cuckoo-like tone.

"Pocatello... Pocatello..."

Though his voice was not loud, it seemed to carry a magical power within his lean body, causing ripples to form on the river in front of him under the intimidation of his voice.

"Pocatello..."

"Ah! I remembered!"

The backstage manipulator watching everyone from the dark had no reaction yet.

Far behind Apsuova, Nekado suddenly shivered upon hearing that name, as if abruptly awakened from a half-dreaming, half-awake state.

"What's wrong, Chief?"

Since they didn't need to make a move, Aiven and his group were happy to stay idle, following the chief to the riverside.

And with a relaxed demeanor, whether it's merely Mid-Stage Apprentice Level "Skinless People" or possible enemies, in terms of curse intensity, they shouldn't reach the full level of an Evil Spirit.

Having significantly increased strength and numerous trumps, Aiven was naturally confident. If the aboriginal chief could wield his divine prowess to resolve the Evil Spirit in one fell swoop, this would truly become an outing.

"I might know where the curse from the beaver skin comes from!

It's Pocatello! The Atrean legend of the 'Childless Evil Spirit' Pocatello in this area!"

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