Silently gazing from atop the giant tree for a moment, Udi's eyes narrowed, his Dragon Wings unfolded, and he leapt toward the south.
Falling barely seven or eight meters high, Dragon Wings quivered gently, and Udi's body transformed from a diving posture to an ascent.
Moments later, beneath Udi, the forest revealed some wooden structures vaguely.
Dogmen wandered amid these low wooden buildings.
Udi opted not to land directly in the Dogman Camp but instead landed at least a hundred meters away from the camp.
He folded his wings and hid within dense woods outside the camp, observing those Dogmen.
The names of Dogmen and their appearance don't match; they aren't sporting dog heads.
Outwardly, Dogmen stand less than one meter tall, their bodies covered in deep brown scales, appearing quite skinny, with an ugly lizard head atop them. Above the head extends a pair of small horns backward; their eyes shine like bright red sparks, and their tails seem slender and agile.
They are called Dogmen mainly due to their language resembling a little dog's barking.
Most Dogmen wear just a simple leafy skirt for covering, only a few wearing ragged clothing.
The latter's bodies are significantly taller and stronger than regular Dogmen, approximately about one meter twenty tall.
The weapons in their hands have shifted from sticks, javelins, or empty-handed combat to rusted Iron Swords and Long Spears.
These should be the elite warriors amongst Dogmen.
"Pathetically weak." Udi thought silently.
Be it ordinary Dogmen or those stronger Dogman Warriors, in Udi's perception, they are merely Level 0 Creatures.
Such weaklings could be easily slain in groups by Heloise and Brook, let alone Udi himself.
Even if they stood letting them attack, they probably wouldn't break Udi's scale defense.
However... in Udi's perception, there were several not-weak presences in this Dogman Camp.
Among them, there was one presence quite strong, far exceeding the Level 3 Demon Wind Wolf, making Udi wary.
Yet, that presence felt familiar to Udi... after contemplating for a moment, he found the reason for the familiarity.
It's the scent of the Black Dragon Maiden.
Then it was certain, the powerful presence within the camp was a follower of the Black Dragon Maiden!
"I thought so, after all, it's an Adult Black Dragon, how could it not have follower monsters..." Udi internally mocked.
Though confirmed that this Dogman Camp was a force of the Black Dragon Maiden's followers, Udi still had no intention of exposing himself.
He silently lurked within the dense jungle.
Until a certain moment, when a lone, frail and skinny Black-scaled Dogman carrying a tattered basket came near him...
Udi made his move.
His large Dragon Claw instantly grabbed the head of this Dogman, and his originally folded broad Dragon Wings instantly unfolded. With a single flap, he disappeared from that place.
The substantial noise attracted a nearby Dogman team. They sniffed the air like little dogs, emitting a burst of intense barking communication.
One Dogman swiftly ran towards the direction of the camp.....
The view shifted to another side.
In a clearing in the woods several miles away from the Dogman Camp.
A massive Dragon Shadow swept across the sky, descending, and the Dragon Wings retracted.
Udi released the Dogman he was holding in his Dragon Claw.
The Dogman's body immediately crumpled onto the ground.
Udi's eyes narrowed, realizing the Dogman wasn't dead, merely fainted, only then did he feel relieved.
Udi extended a sharp Dragon Finger and gently poked the Dogman's arm.
The arm covered in fine black scales was instantly pierced by the sharp Dragon Finger, exposing the fresh red flesh within.
The pain woke the Dogman.
The Dogman Shiji felt intense pain in its arm, instantly waking from faintness.
It suddenly opened its eyes, looking up to behold a robust Black Dragon.
The Black Dragon's huge figure completely overshadowed its small body, the unfurled Dragon Wings seemingly could cover the sky and block the sun....
"Great Black Dragon, your Dragon Wings are as wide as the sky, your body as strong as a mountain...."
Udi pulled back the deliberately spread Dragon Wings, slightly lowering his head, looking at the Dogman kneeling and worshipping before him, a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.
This must be what they call, the Dragon Body trembles and the Dogman worships.
"Alright, shut up, now answer my questions." Udi said in a low voice.
The Dogman Shiji was swept by the Long Wei, shivering all over, immediately shut its mouth, respectfully looking at Udi.
"Around here...." Udi began questioning.
That's right, he caught this Dogman intended to gather intelligence and information about the surroundings.
Time passed, with the progress of questioning, Udi collected quite a bit of information.
Initially, he only knew this place was the Dark Forest, and the place where the Dragon Nest located was the Rotting Swamp.
Now, he understood the general force distribution within the Dark Forest.
With the Dragon Nest as the center point, heading north, which is the inner direction of the Dark Forest, the Forest Elves reside there.
However, according to the Dogman Shiji, it's been decades since Forest Elves appeared here; it knows because there are records and traditions within the tribe.
West of the Dragon Nest direction remains the continuous expanse of the Dark Forest, inhabited by many powerful demons and Demon Tribes like the Ogre Tribe, Green Demon Tribe, etc.
East of the Dragon Nest, hundreds of miles away, lies a plain, ruled by the Centaur Tribe, which is in an adversarial relationship with the Dragon Nest.
South of the Dragon Nest, close to it are three Monster Tribes, namely the Dogman Tribe, where Shiji belongs, a small-scale Forest Giant Tribe, and a Goblin Tribe.
These three tribes are all followers of the Black Dragon Maiden's influence.
All followers combined exceed fifteen hundred in number, paired with a few Dragon Descendant elites, overall strength is not weak.
Further south several hundred kilometers away, connects to the territorial border of the Human Kas Duchy.
After understanding the surrounding force distribution of the Dragon Nest, Udi squinted his eyes and fell into contemplation.
"Developing north might encounter Elves... too dangerous, Elves aren't beings to be trifled with." Udi shook his head.
"South is the Human Duchy, that's certainly ruled out first... east is the plain, environment unsuitable for hiding and developing, plus the Centaur Tribe mentioned by Dogman Shiji has strength to contend with Dragon Nest's influence, thus unlikely to be weak...."
After careful analysis, Udi discovered he actually had only one option.
The west.
An area occupied by numerous demons, beasts, and Demon Tribes.