"Astrid..."

Looking at the girl's angry face, the Northern Territory Warrior sighed slightly:

"This decision was made unanimously after a vote by all the tribes."

"Duke intends to completely unify the Northern Territory, and the migration of our people to settle and cultivate inland. He will not allow tribes like ours to continue existing."

"If we refuse to submit, the only thing that awaits us... is the military suppression."

"Duke has already unified the inland of the Northern Territory, his army is not something we tribal warriors can contend with. Then, our fate will no longer be in our own hands."

The girl stubbornly raised her head:

"Then we'll just continue to migrate northward!"

"Our ancestors, to avoid the turmoil of war, migrated from the south to the north; our ancestors, to uphold honor and faith, came from the continent to the seas."

"What we desire is freedom, what we seek is battle. Now, we can still continue to migrate, just like our forebears, in search of a new home!"

Hearing the girl's words, the Northern Territory Warrior showed a complex expression, letting out a long sigh:

"Migrate? To where can we migrate now?"

"Our ancestors moved from the fertile south to the barren north, from the lush grasslands and forests to the hostile straits. We've reached the end of the world; there's nowhere else left for us to go..."

"All the churches view us as fake believers, even our former allies, Harcos, have parted ways with us... Ever since our ancestors lost divine protection and refused to submit to other gods, there has been no place for us in this world."

"Then we'll head south! We'll take ships to Yonette! Like our ancestors, like the historic Roman people, to search for a new home in Falling Star and New Moon!"

The girl insisted obstinately.

The Northern Territory Warrior chuckled bitterly:

"Astrid, do you think why the descendants of Northern Territory pirates gradually gave up venturing south and instead turned to hunting sea monsters?"

With that, he sighed softly and shook his head:

"Because... times have changed, oh."

The girl fell silent.

She pursed her lips tightly, her eyes filled with unshed tears, her expression brimming with reluctance:

"So... we just have to bow our heads to the Grand Duchy?"

"They want us to submit, only to use us as vassals and labor for cultivating the Northern Territory forests—they don't even want our old, weak, sick, or disabled!"

"They just want the able-bodied; submitting to them means abandoning our tribespeople. Without the protection of warriors, how can the weak survive in these straits?"

"We, the Free Tribe Alliance, hold our elders in the highest regard. Are we to abandon our last traditions now, leaving behind even our nearest and dearest?"

Hearing the girl's words, the Northern Territory Warrior also fell silent.

After a while, he spoke:

"In this world, nothing is entirely as one desires. I've consulted with the elders; for the future of our tribe, they are willing to stay."

"The people of the Northern Territory are never afraid of sacrifice, and the Free Tribe Alliance is the same. For the tribe, they are willing to make a choice; this too is their battle."

The girl shook her head, persisting:

"Father, this is wrong! This is a betrayal to our tribe! We, the Free Tribe Alliance, have never feared battle, but we despise betrayal!"

"Abandoning our kin, abandoning our faith, what is left for us? We will only be slowly consumed by the Isaac people, gradually assimilated, gradually forgetting ourselves, forgetting our roots..."

The Northern Territory Warrior paused momentarily, then said:

"Yes... but what of it?"

"At least, our people have survived; at least, our children have a new foothold now."

Saying this, his expression turned solemn:

"Astrid, to tell you the truth, the ocean began to change three years ago."

"In recent years, the demon beasts in the sea have become stronger and more restless. The pollution of transcendent powers is increasingly rampant, and the difficulty of hunting demon beasts grows ever higher..."

"If not for the protection of the Divine Hall, even our villages would probably have fallen to the Demon Beast Tide by now."

"Have you not noticed? Our hunting yields are dwindling year by year, while the casualties with each voyage are on the rise?"

"We are not like other tribal alliances that can draw strength from their Faith Totems, that can receive the healing of Divine Arts immediately after injury. Our people, when attacked by demon beasts or corrupted by the pollution of transcendent forces, can only rely on their own willpower and transcendent strength to resist... Although our alliance's combat strength is formidable, we can only rely on ourselves."

"Even if Duke hadn't issued an ultimatum, staying here would just mean our people's lives ebbing away little by little. We need to make a choice."

As he said this, the warrior paused for a moment and his expression became complex:

"Astrid... it's not that we've abandoned our faith and honor. It's that faith... has already abandoned us since our ancestors' time of migration."

Hearing the warrior's words, the girl's eyes widened.

She bit her lip, shaking her head while stepping backward:

"No... I can't accept such a choice!"

"There must be another way, there must still be another way!"

With that, she turned and ran into the distance.

"Astrid!"

The Northern Territory Warrior called out, but the girl... had already run far away.

The voices of the two were gradually fading away, and the scene was becoming somewhat blurry.

Charlotte knew her time to "lower her gaze" was almost upon her.

"The Free Tribe Alliance? Could it be... they are truly the descendants of the Free City State?"

"They worship me as the 'Savior'?"

Thinking about the previous conversation of the two, Charlotte was pensive.

Her feelings about the situation of the Free Tribe Alliance were complicated, filled with emotions of reflection and sorrow.

The Mireya Continent, after all, was a land with gods, and even transcendent powers originated from gods. Without the protection of gods, it was truly difficult for mortals to survive.

Without mastering advanced productive forces, they would be inevitably eliminated by history, and in Mireya, "advanced productive forces" meant the protection of gods on one hand, and on the other, the rapidly developing magic-guided and alchemy technology of recent years.

Neither of these did the Free Tribe Alliance possess, so what awaited them could only be gradual extinction.

Of course, now that Charlotte had "discovered" them, there was no reason to pretend not to see.

After all, these people had already been tagged by her. Even though they had not yet been formally incorporated into her Faith Network to become her "flock," they had already been marked by her.

However...

"I did not leave a Holy Emblem during my second crossing, so how have they established this elusive connection with my faith?"

"The warrior who seems to be the tribal chief mentioned a 'Divine Hall'; could it be related to that?"

Charlotte was curious.

Feeling the connection weakening, she increased the output of her Divine Power, hoping to maintain her "gaze" for a while longer, at the same time trying to see if she could communicate directly with these Believers in her mind.

But Charlotte failed.

She was surprised to find that although she could cast her gaze, see images, and hear sounds, she was unable to pass on her own voice.

At the same time, she was unable to bestow her own power.

She knew why this was so; these Believers were not in her Faith Network.

However, after Charlotte had cast her gaze upon them, she could feel that there was indeed a familiar and intimate aura about them.

"It must be something related to me that has become their object of worship, allowing them to establish a faith associated with me, but... this thing has not received my power, nor has it established a complete connection with me, so it could not enter my Faith Network."

Recalling some knowledge related to gods that she had read in the Elf Books collected in the central Tower during her second crossing, Charlotte made a judgment.

To become Believers, there must be an object of worship, which is also the core of maintaining the Faith Network.

This core could be a Holy Emblem, a symbol, a Divine Statue, or a Holy Relic...

And these cores of worship are connected to gods, ultimately forming the gods' own Faith Network.

Thinking this, Charlotte continued to increase the output of Divine Power, and at the same time, she followed that sense of intimacy in the obscure depths.

In the next moment, her vision changed again.

She saw a solemn and majestic Divine Hall.

The hall's style was strikingly familiar; it was an Ancient Hall that had been lost. Unlike those buried underground, this Ancient Hall was located in a magnificent canyon.

And within the hall, atop the altar, rested a small Divine Statue.

Underneath the statue, several individuals dressed as Priests of the Northern Territory were murmuring prayers.

"A Faceless... Divine Statue..."

Seeing the statue, Charlotte was momentarily stunned, and a sense of understanding dawned on her.

The Faceless Divine Statue!

In this canyon, there existed an Ancient Hall that enshrined a Faceless Divine Statue!

No wonder these people were classified as her Believers. It was probably not just because they worshipped the "Savior," but also because their object of worship was a Faceless Divine Statue crafted by the Blood True Ancestor!

The surprise came so unexpectedly that Charlotte really hadn't anticipated that a mere glance propelled by curiosity would lead to such an unforeseen finding.

"So that's it... that's their object of worship. So... they've built an ownerless Faith Network around the Faceless Divine Statue, and the statue is the core of the network."

It was like a local network.

If Charlotte's Faith Network were likened to the internet, then what these Believers had established with the Faceless Divine Statue as the core was like a local network.

Only, this local network was not entirely disconnected from the internet.

Clearly, as long as Charlotte could bring this Faceless Divine Statue under her control, she would be able to fully "incorporate" these Believers.

Charlotte thought for a moment and decided to attempt to establish a connection with this Faceless Divine Statue, and then... as expected, failed.

Unlike with Believers from the Dark Night Church, although these people from the Northern Territory Tribe were also Charlotte's Believers, they had not established a full connection with Charlotte.

Under these circumstances, Charlotte couldn't project her power through them as a pivot point, and naturally, she was unable to communicate with the Faceless Divine Statue through them.

Charlotte carefully sensed the coordinates of the Divine Hall.

Sss... it was rather far.

With an eruption of Divine Power, her Legendary-level strength would indeed allow her to travel back and forth within a day or two, but considering the consumption of Divine Power, it seemed unnecessary.

Because... she had a better option.

"It seems... it's time for Sebastian to make a move."

Charlotte murmured to herself.