Joy groaned as his consciousness was coming back. He had been injured by his own sword, then had gone through several smashes and stomps. His body was tattered. He opened his eyes and saw several treants sitting around him. He regained his composure despite huge pain and tried to get up. He found himself bound by vines.

He looked around and found Bor at some distance.

"Oye! Bor! I have helped you guys to regain your freedom. Why the hell have you bound me like this?"

"..." Bor continued to do the work he was doing.

"Oye! You son of a tree. Can't you hear me now?"

"..." Bor completed his work at hand, discussed something with 2 other treants before looking at Joy, and grinned.

"What the! I have helped you. I have earned you freedom, you wretch! Wait, wait, we can talk everything out. No need to poison me to death", Joy started with confidence, but as he saw Bor approaching him with a wooden bowl in hand, he changed his tone. 2 other treants approached him, and started preparations to hold him down.

Once they pinned him with their superior strength, Bor started to put the extracts he made all over Joy's body. Joy felt immense pain as the extract seeped into his body through the wounds. He began to yell and tried to stop them. It was all over in a few seconds as he almost lost consciousness due to immense pain. He bit his tongue to stay awake and endure the pain. Because, as soon as it was applied, he could feel his wounds closing at an alarming speed. The only downside was the endless pain.

After a few minutes of struggle, he fought with the pain, to overcome the miserable state he was in. He looked at Bor, and he was still grinning ear to ear. Bor waved his hands and asked the 2 treants to step back. As soon as he waved, not only the 2 treants pinning Joy down retreated, the vine bound him previously also slipped away.

Joy took some time and adjusted himself. Then he slowly got up, did a few stretches, and found his body had recovered most of its strength. He looked at Bor with an incredulous look. Bor smiled a bit and spread his hands to show a welcoming gesture. Joy saw a few log seats at a vacant area.

He walked towards that area and sat down on one of the log seats. He faced the other treants and found many of them were extremely new to him. There were many types of treants gathered around him. Not only the treants he fought the day before, but some of the extremely weak treants were also staring at him.

"So I was right picking up the clues. There is really no mother tree", Joy asked Bor with curiosity.

"Yes, umm, umm, what should I call you?"

"Ah, sorry. Let me introduce myself. My name is J...Jeet. I have small land over there", Joy pointed towards the gorge.

"Jeet, you have hit the bull's eye. There is no mother tree. It all started with the illusion created by Dorub. He dominated everyone in the name of the mother tree. So, sir, you have gained our freedom from our devil brother. He was possessed by some wicked being to betray his own kinsmen. He deserved death, and you have punished him with your holy hand."

"Now, I suggested to my kinsmen, we should follow your lead, as we don't have anyone to lead us in this era of chaos. But most of them are skeptical about it. After a long and heated discussion amongst ourselves, we have reached a consolidated decision. But, before telling you about that, we need to know your intentions as well", Bor was suspicious about Joy. And it was natural. They have been betrayed by their own, and the human in front of them was an outsider. They will need time to adjust their attitude again before believing someone else.

"Only a unified force can support the world through this ordeal. I don't discriminate between species'. I will help this world to rebuild in a better and unified way. Thousands of otherworlders have come to this world to conquer. I will beat them all with the support of this world's strength." Joy declared his ambition in a way so that the treants who did not know anything, could understand.

"So in other words, you are also here to make us slaves?", Bor asked with a curious expression. 3-4 treants stepped ahead and started to circle Joy.

"What? Did I sound like that? Where? In which statement? I have said I will pursue everyone to fight for their own land, I will help them to regain their land from the otherworlders. Because I know what it means to be separated from family and loved ones. I am doing it all for their survival. I have only one thing to ask. I will help you to become powerful, in return, you have to help me with my own world's threats", Joy clarified.

"I think my clairvoyance didn't misguide me when it showed you as a savior. It is a fair deal to speak of. But, as we have suffered a betrayal just now, we can not accept as our new leader. We can become an ally for now. We will help each other until we gather enough trust to serve our loyalty to you."

"That's fine obviously, there will not be an issue" Joy heaved in relief as the treants retreated with a smile in their face.

Bor dismissed most of the treants. They went back to patrol the region. Joy quickly discussed with Bor the issues both of them were facing.

Joy was currently in the initial phase, where he wanted everything he could look around. His list started with meat, water, woods, stones, and it went on to hold every possible resource. Bor discovered his need and almost fainted. In return, treants only wanted to unite the whole forest and protect it from any harm.

Joy and Bor argued a lot about their mutual shortages. Eventually, they created a clear plan.

Bor would arrange the woods required to build the settlement, from the forest. They would systematically keep thinning the forest. That would lead to a healthier forest, with more favorable conditions for trees to grow. But they would never cut the trees without restriction.

The treants would also exterminate all the animals which were trying to hurt the forest. Human settlers lead by Joy would help them do so, and in return, they would receive all the meats and carcasses.

Joy would provide battle skills and strategies to the treants. There were different types of treants, but they were unable to coordinate with each other. Human settlers would train them to overcome this shortage.

Humans and treants would lead a joint campaign to unify the forest region.

Treants would help Joy to conquer more lands through different means.

In the name of protection, Joy exploited the treants' in all possible ways. He felt guilty for that reason. That's why he declared in the presence of many other treants, that if they could unify the whole world, Bor would be chosen as the forest guardian.

'So, I can conquer through alliance as well?'

On the other hand, Bor was flabbergasted. His heart shook, and he acknowledged the desire in his heart. It was not a desire to conquer and rule. It was the desire to protect the loved ones.

Joy began his preparation to return back to the Dungeon. But he did not achieve his goal out there. He spent much time and gained one ally. But, his workers were still hungry. He needed to find some food to bring back.

He began to scratch his head and asked, "Bor, do you have any meats right now?"

"Let me check."

He directed a treant to check. That treant paced, asked others, and searched a few places. He came back with one single wolf. He described something in a low voice to Bor.

"Ah! Sorry, my friend. We have already devoted the rest to the forest. We are unable to retrieve those. Once we catch any more, we will send it in your way."

Joy put the body into the spatial ring and started to depart. This food would give him some relief, but the measure was temporary. He required to focus on other projects as their population grew.

He reached the Dungeon. He saw the influence sphere increased in the direction of the forest. He grinned as he approached the door.

Once he entered the Dungeon dimension, he found himself amongst some of the most exhausted people in the world. Their eyes sparkled as they show their lord coming back.

"Welcome back, my lord. We have been expecting your return. It had been almost 2 days since you left. We have some development-" Kosax shouldered the issues in the settlement, and began to report.

"Wait. Gather everyone. I have something share. Ask someone to lit a fire", Joy shut him down before he could even start with the report.

"Yes, my lord."

After half an hour, Joy finished preparing the tandoori without a halt. Even Zoroth joined them to eat. Joy looked around and found one of the workers is missing.