The expedition team smoothly climbed over the hill.

Samuel was leading the group with great haste, saying that they needed to go past the hill before the end of the day. However, he suddenly came to an abrupt halt. Seol Jihu immediately went on alert, wondering if they were being attacked again, but he soon realized that they had arrived at the hill's summit.

Standing in the front of the group, Samuel pointed to the other side.

“The Forest of Denial.”

Seol Jihu also arrived at the summit and dazedly cast his gaze down below.

The dense forest below him boasted a colorful cacophony of many different shades of green as it spanned across a massive area that went as far as eyes could see. It was so big that the sea of green seemed to stretch on forever and ever, well beyond the horizon.

'We're going in there?'

Something certainly set the Forest of Denial apart from every other forest they've been through until now. Could this be down to the fact that no humans set foot inside there in ages? The forest that did not permit anyone to set foot inside for many years possessed this indescribable pressure than caused the onlookers to feel just a bit nervous.

Ian caught up, his breathing in total disarray. He wiped the sweat away and tried to regulate his breaths.

“Apparently, as long as we go past this forest, we can go anywhere we want. That’s including the Federation and the Parasites’ territories.”

“Now that you mention it, I hear that the conflict between those two are intensifying lately.”

Seol Jihu chimed in off-handedly while nodding his head before he sensed the gazes focusing on him and blinked his eyes in confusion. Ian's eyes opened wider still, while Samuel was staring at him with a face that said, ‘Just what the hell could be this guy's real identity?’ Even Dylan was displaying a similar type of reaction too.

Well, he only muttered out what he heard from Kim Hannah, that was all.

A bit of awkward silence later, Ian began guffawing out.

“Well, I'll be! You continue to surprise me, young friend. You're right! Not too long ago, the Federation announced that they were getting in bed with the Cave Fairies. Without a doubt, they now have one more...