Shalulu the rabbit girl kept silently staring at the female huntress who was scouting far ahead, already far ahead of the main group.
The Shepherd believers carried large and small bundles, looking exactly like a beastmen tribe migrating with their entire families.
Rage-Horn skirmishers spread out on both sides, using great axes and giant swords to deal with every dangerous creature that dared approach this direction.
Their group numbered thirty. Excluding the old and young, there were only seven adult male beastmen, two half-sheep, and one lone wolf.
It was an extremely small tribal formation.
The Eternal Champion had given them this mission:
To enter human cities and live there just like an ordinary Shepherd believer tribe that wanted to join the civilized world, while gathering information on every aspect for the tribe — especially news about the war in the south.
Shalulu's task was twofold. On one hand, she served as Al's eyes and ears, passing every sight and piece of information she collected back to the Eternal Champion.
On the other hand, as the most outstanding scout and assassin in Al's entire tribe, she was responsible for monitoring whether the huntress Fiona showed any signs of trying to escape or betray the tribe.
It was worth mentioning that even Al himself felt puzzled and confused by this.
The rabbit girl who had once led her little companions to assassinate Al and nearly ended the Eternal Champion's great cause before it even began had, after that night when Al encountered her while walking by the river with his Rage-Horn guards, suddenly changed from an attitude that was neither cold nor warm — even somewhat resistant — toward Al's rule into one of unquestionable loyalty.
Through the blessing of the All-Knowing Mother, Al accidentally discovered that Shalulu's green dot was extremely active. When he tried to establish a link with her, the connection formed smoothly and easily.
Generally speaking, although the All-Knowing blessing could not let him visually see anyone's loyalty — something that was inherently difficult to judge, even the All-Knowing counterpart of Tzeentch could not fully control it.
Perhaps He could see countless branches and futures of betrayal and loyalty, but in the ever-changing mortal world, even beings as mighty as the Four Gods could not grasp every direction.
But at the very least, those who appeared green in the blessing belonged to Al's faction and would obey his orders in the vast majority of cases.
And the ability to establish a stable mental link proved that the person was psychologically inclined toward or identified with Al, or at least did not resist him. Otherwise such a link would be difficult to keep stable and smooth.
Of course, some special methods could achieve the same effect, such as self-suggestion or mental isolation. Some beastmen simply had too low intelligence, were slow or even insensitive to mental links, or were too wild, so their connection with Al was not tight enough. Yet they were still willing to march onto the battlefield and even die under the God-Chosen's orders.
Shalulu did not seem to have any problems, but Al still could not let it go. His understanding of the Old World made him unable to easily ignore anything abnormal around him. Even one of Sigmar's brother-in-law tribal chieftains (Azazel, the legendary Slaanesh Daemon Prince among the Chaos Warriors in Warhammer III) could betray the human Emperor.
Tyrion could betray Teclis because of Lilith's deception, harming his niece and stealing the sacred flame.
And the most unquestioningly loyal and filial Manfred in the entire Old World could suddenly lose his mind in the decisive battle:
If Order won, he would have to remain a filial son to Nagash or Order for the rest of his life with no chance to rise, so he betrayed the incarnation of the Wind of Metal, Gelt, causing the Eight Winds to lose their bindings, Teclis to fall, Nagash to lose his body, and the End Times to become irreversible.
So betrayal was one of the great specialties of the entire Old World — something that must be tasted.
Al simply placed Shalulu on the route led by the huntress, using one potential threat to monitor another potential threat. As long as Shalulu could maintain the mental link and let Al receive messages, it was not a loss.
After they left, Al also sent several other groups disguised as ordinary Shepherd believer tribes heading to the human world, leaving the forest from different directions toward human cities.
Al not only made two preparations, he made preparations for the preparations.
As long as my plans are complete enough, accidents will never catch up to me!
He had the flavor of a Tzeentch worshipper.
But judging from Al's usual lifestyle, he looked more like a Slaanesh worshipper, and the thing he shouted most often was still "Blood for the Bloodmother."
Chaos makes no distinction! Eternal Champion!
Shalulu had no idea that the boy who valued her, never mentioned her past assassination attempt, and instead entrusted her with heavy responsibility had so many twists and turns in his mind.
She only wanted to complete this mission properly and then return to the tribe.
The destruction of the old tribe and Sal's death had engraved hatred for the Empire's army into the tribe, but apart from Sal, almost no one knew why that war had broken out.
Even the clever beastmen who understood in their hearts would not point the finger at Al. The seeds of conflict had already been planted during Beastlord Zhakun's time, and Al had simply been born at the exact moment the fire was ignited.
Perhaps only Sal truly understood that the Empire's army had come to kill Al and eliminate the threat at its root.
Now, under Al's leadership, the tribe was developing at ten times its previous speed. The army loyal to the God-Chosen, the men, women, and children loyal to the God-Chosen — the entire tribe contained no force that opposed Al.
Shalulu's change had also come from this. The peaceful, hidden life of the past had been easily trampled by war, dealing a heavy blow to this rabbit girl who had only just reached adulthood.
The old, beautiful life had been shattered like fragile glass. After reflection and witnessing the tribe's rapid development, the rabbit girl understood a simple truth: We are too weak!
Because we are too weak, we are hunted and slaughtered just like wolves eat sheep, snakes eat frogs, and spiders eat insects.
If the tribe becomes strong, such things will never happen again! We will be the wolves, the predators, the ones others fear will destroy their tribes!
And under that boy's rule, the tribe developed with each passing day. Strong warriors increased every single day. The massive legions were unstoppable. Even the terrifying monsters deep in the Pina Forest had to submit to Al and bow their heads in respect to the Eternal Champion.
"He is doing very well. Following him is the right choice!"
Thus Shalulu completed her ideological transformation. Although the memory of the past assassination still stuck in her throat like a fishbone, and she had even decided that if Al held her accountable she would confess on her own and accept any punishment or death as long as it did not implicate others.
But Al paid no attention to any of that. First, he did not like killing girls if he could avoid it, and second, Shalulu was still useful.
So Shalulu carried her own little thoughts, worked hard, and earned considerable merit during the encirclement and extermination of Chaos beastmen. In the end she entered Al's sight, and he realized there was such a capable individual.
Then he decisively pulled her in to work.
As for the huntress Fiona…
"Huntress sister, you don't want anything bad to happen to your companions either, right?"
Holding a chain in one hand, the other end attached to the holy knight Claudia, she looked extremely evil — truly like a demon who had defeated a holy knight and imprisoned her as a slave for all kinds of acts.
The little nun Elia held the huntress's hand, trembling on the side, while constantly watching the holy knight's condition with fearful but concerned eyes.
"No matter… no matter what you want me to do, as long as you spare them, I will do it!"
The aloof and proud huntress who unexpectedly valued her companions bit her teeth and met Al's gaze with firm eyes.
"Your mission has already failed. It's over."
"I need you to do some things for me as repayment for your attempt to assassinate me."
"Don't worry, it's nothing evil or difficult. Just take my people into the city, help them deal with any trouble they might encounter, and… help me contact some people. That's enough."
"The reward is your lives. Freedom will depend on how well you do."
Al smiled, looking at the frightened nun.
"In the middle you can come back once. If you do well, you can send her out. As for the other two, we'll talk about them later."
"Do you agree?"
The holy knight remained completely silent and did not speak.
Fiona glanced at Claudia and felt a little disappointed when she saw she was still the same, but then she looked at the innocent little nun.
"Deal."
The huntress said in a low voice, "I hope you will keep your word."
"Good." Al nodded and added, "If I really were a demon… none of you would escape. So you can move freely now. We leave tomorrow."
"Mmm~"
Al stretched, stood up, and the blanket slid off his naked body.
The nun screamed and covered her face.
The dignified God-Chosen hurriedly squatted down, grabbed the blanket from the ground, and shouted in Goat Mom's light laughter, "Go go! Take the child back."
Fiona led the little nun out of the Beastlord's great tent. Behind them came the sounds of Al joking and playing with the centaur and the sheep girl.
Her heart was still filled with confusion and fear about the future. She did not know where she and her companions' fates would be led, but for some reason — perhaps because of the dramatic scene just now — she felt a little more trust that the boy would keep his promise.