The Soul Returner to the boy's words from a minute earlier, and sure enough, he saw the same defiant expression on the boy's face:
"Brother, you said it yourself, everyone dies eventually."
"Since my older brother is going, I'm going too. Unless I fail the test, I'll be a support soldier, and we'll dig ditches and move things together."
The Soul Returner looked at the short, thin boy in front of him and began to feel conflicted.
From a more pragmatic perspective, having an acquaintance in the auxiliary troops is always better than having none, not just for sleeping, but also because they can help with many other things.
On the other hand, there's really not much a short, thin teenager can do, especially since he doesn't know the level of the Empire's military technology.
If the fighting had remained at the level of infantry charging, cavalry observing, and catapults hurling at each other, their chances of survival would have been even greater.
However, if it has developed to the level of "line infantry being shot in a row" and modern "wall formation" cavalry, then their chances of survival would plummet.
Seeing the less-than-determined look in the eyes of his follower, the Soul Returner sighed:
"Do as you please."
After saying that, he led the Vine Dog out of the tattered tent and prepared to head towards the city gate to participate in the assessment.
The young follower, having received his elder brother's approval, immediately beamed with joy.
Seeing that his elder brother was about to leave first, he quickly stepped forward to stop him. [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ]
"Big brother, wait for me, my 'symbiote' is still over there."
The Soul Returner frowned slightly upon hearing this:
Why did you let it go again? What if...?
He didn't finish his sentence, but he knew the young man in front of him understood.
"Don't worry, brother. It has a hard shell, little meat, and is poisonous. Nobody wants to eat it."
As he spoke, he jogged towards a clearing in the distance, not forgetting to turn back and shout:
"Big brother, wait for me a moment, I still need to Blood Exchange."
" Blood Exchange..."
After repeating the uncommon word, [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] stood still and began to wait.
Blood Exchange are one of the most common practices among the lower classes of the empire who live in symbiosis with animals.
Unlike the Tree Worship Church Theocracy, which directly coexists with plants, the Empire has its own "good methods" for resisting the invasion of the Demonic Tide.
To suggest directly merging with animals would be far too bizarre, and the level of disorder involved would be beyond what modern humans can handle.
So people eventually came up with two solutions. One was to mutate little by little under the influence of a more powerful animal, like the Dragonborn, and gradually move closer to the other in appearance.
Some of these mutations are systemic, while others target specific limbs or organs.
The disordered logic is bound to Aberration, and what they want to do is use powerful animals to guide this Aberration, so as to make people live as long as possible.
It's always better to be a descendant of a powerful being than a short-lived, insignificant creature.
But powerful animals are limited, and there weren't two dragons to be found in the entire empire, so another method was born.
Many people sought out ordinary, unremarkable animals that had survived the Demonic Tide, attempting to share in their resistance to corruption.
It's impossible to become a descendant of these animals, because these animals are generally not very powerful and have no way of having a significant impact on humans.
But it didn't matter. After turning their attention to these animals, the people who were determined to survive quickly came up with a better solution, which is now the foundation for the empire's continued existence— Blood Exchange.
Since weaker animals cannot influence you, you manually increase your influence; this is the underlying logic of Blood Exchange.
Due to environmental factors, the people of the Empire, whose Animal Compatibility, don't even need knives to perform Blood Exchange. They can simply place their palms against the animal's body to temporarily create several blood vessels for the Blood Exchange.
As long as the frequency of Blood Exchange is not too low, the people of the Empire will not exhibit obvious mutation characteristics, or rather, they will not exhibit mutation characteristics different from those of the symbiotic beasts.
Moreover, this method does not require a high-quality symbiote; one symbiote is sufficient for three or four people to use simultaneously, and a family only needs one to ensure stability for a period of time.
This operation may sound bizarre, but it is actually beneficial to both parties.
Humans, needless to say, can maintain their own stability in this way.
These animals, on the other hand, can obtain nutrients from human blood.
Of course, the flow of nutrients is directional, and the direction is obvious: from more to less.
For these guys living outside the city, they often need to get some nutrition from animals. Fortunately, most of the symbiotic animals or symbiotic beasts they raise can feed on plants, which is one of the reasons why they can survive in the outer city.
For a frail child like A Luo, each Blood Exchange is essentially a form of plunder from the symbiotic beast.
Fortunately, his symbiotic animal is a good-natured herbivore, which is neither able nor willing to interfere with such predatory behavior.
The summons, personally signed by the Grand Master of Ceremonies, Ignite the entire outer city like a spark.
Even those who hadn't planned to join the auxiliary troops were now engaged in heated discussions with those around them about the job duties and benefits of auxiliary troops.
A Luo weaved through the dense crowd and arrived at a riverbank less than a hundred meters away.
Because of its proximity to a water source, the population density in this area is astonishing.
Even so, some unpalatable and poisonous aquatic plants still take root here, which is one of A Luo's food sources.
He plunged into the murky river and quickly found the small symbiotic beast at the bottom.
At that moment, the somewhat strange-looking animal was munching on patches of green algae growing on the rocks at the bottom of the water. When it realized that the person was A Luo, it did not resist at all and let the other person pick it up and drag it to the surface of the water and pull it ashore.
Only then did [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] in the distance clearly see the appearance of the symbiotic beast in the boy's hand. It was not large, had a dull gaze, a gentle temperament, and thick armor plates—it was clearly a Kapibala with an armadillo shell!
Without even bothering to dry himself, A Luo scooped up the creature in his arms in a pose reminiscent of cuddling a pet from another world.
After a brief moment of connection, his palm began to automatically connect with the blood vessels on the surface of the symbiote, and their blood gradually mixed evenly under the combined pumping of their two hearts.
The Blood Exchange has begun.