"?"
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] at this moment deeply resents that the World of Disorder doesn't have a real-time chat function with a semi-transparent dialog box—otherwise, [ Practice More If You're Bad ] would definitely see a string of question marks in his eyes right now.
Soaring Clouds 3773, who never expected to witness a scene of fellow townsmen meeting in a place like the capital, used all his strength to keep his expression in check.
In contrast, [ Practice More If You're Bad ], riding a tall horse, appeared relaxed and tense, which made [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] wonder if the other party had performed some minor surgery on his facial nerves.
Their eyes met briefly, then they immediately acted as if nothing had happened, while the leader of the caravan continued to press for answers:
"A centurion? Which unit are you from?"
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] still holds his head high and chest out:
"Sir, I'm not a combat soldier!"
The man on the Hoofed Beast's back paused for a moment, then gave a look of extreme anger and a forced smile:
"You're just a minor soldier, and you call yourself a quartermaster? Don't make me laugh!"
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] was speechless, his neck stiff.
Just then, [ Practice More If You're Bad ] suddenly spurred his horse forward two steps to the man's side and whispered:
"Your Excellency, we have important matters to attend to. What's the point of talking to this kind of scoundrel?"
It's nothing.
The leader waved his hand, tucking the riding crop back under his rather exquisite military outer robe.
"It was just a passing fancy, let's go."
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] He glanced back at his fellow villager, then suddenly whispered in the ear of the leading youth:
"But I think this guy has some guts and some strength, so perhaps..."
The Soul Returner its home on the Hoofed Beast winked at the young man before him, but the man who had just withdrawn his whip had already lost interest.
"If you like collecting junk, then keep it. It's not the first time."
Having said that, he had vented all the pent-up anger in his chest and shouted loudly:
"Come on, follow me into town!"
The men behind them responded in hushed tones, then urged their horses on, and the group quickly disappeared from the sight of the distraught auxiliary soldiers.
Amidst the rising dust, [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] saw the last of the group, Soul Returner, turn around and glance in his direction.
Before he could respond, a new friend request popped up in the upper right corner of the player panel. The sender was none other than [ Practice More If You're Bad ].
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ], who was just about to have a good chat with the other party, suddenly sensed that the atmosphere around him was off.
He looked up and was shocked to find that not only A Luo, whom he was protecting, but also the three auxiliary soldiers who had just fled in panic were looking at him with awe.
"Big brother!"
A Luo shouted excitedly, about to say something, when three other voices came at the same time:
"Big brother!"
The other three auxiliary soldiers had already gathered around and surrounded [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] in the center.
Ah, this...
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ], who has been alone for most of the past month, is suddenly a little dazed.
All he did was take a whip for her.
A single lash won't kill someone, right?
Just as he was about to say something, a voice suddenly came from behind him:
"Big brother!"
Who else?
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] turned his head to look, only to see that the person who suddenly appeared was actually the new auxiliary soldier who had been whipped before them.
Judging from the direction they came from, this person was probably one of the recruits selected by the officer next to them.
I don't know if that recruiting officer was stricter, or if the quality of that group of recruits was just too poor...
In short, the man was all alone, and with blood still dripping from his shoulder, he looked pitiful.
"Well..."
Before [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] could respond, the four people who had been chosen with him began to look at the newcomer with hostility, as if to say, "This is our eldest brother, why are you calling him that?"
"Never mind..."
The Soul Returner ignored the bloodstains on his back, looked at the pitiful fellow, and sighed:
"Since you call me 'Big Brother,' then come with me. Anyway, there aren't many of us left, so we can take care of each other on the battlefield."
Upon hearing this, the man immediately became happy and, ignoring the injury on his shoulder, took two more steps forward.
"Big brother, my name is Enoch, and I'll be working with you guys from now on."
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] twitched his lips and led the large force behind him, which had swelled to five people, toward the city wall and began to advance into the capital.
Others may not know, but this is the first time [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] has entered the inner city of the capital.
Although it is called the inner city, the walls of the capital city seem to stretch endlessly, and those who don't know the situation might mistake it for a long wall built to defend against nomadic tribes.
Fortunately, the recruiting officers did a good job of guiding them. Whenever the group felt they were about to get lost, random recruiting officers would appear nearby and use methods including but not limited to insults, reprimands, and beatings to show them the correct direction.
And so, after entering the city, the group received a bowl of porridge that seemed to have a historical flavor, a coarse cloth coat to prove their identity, and a pair of rough shoes with thickened soles. They registered their names on the auxiliary soldier roster and were told that their first month's pay would be issued a month later.
The group of people were like cogs in an assembly line, manipulated by everyone they passed through, with no end in sight.
As darkness fell, as the sounds of snoring rose and fell around him, and as the low, hissing moans of Enoch, drowsy and exhausted, reached the ears of the Soul Returner, the Soul Returner lying on the communal bed in the tent that housed forty people and over thirty symbiotic beasts finally realized their predicament—
So, these are just auxiliary soldiers?
"[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] has accepted your friend request."
A 360p Pixel Blue Dragon crawled out from the edge of [ Practice More If You're Bad ]'s viewpoint, tapped the screen somewhat perfunctorily, and then disappeared in the midst of a signal failure effect.
Almost the instant the friend request was accepted, a message was sent:
I was too busy before and didn't have time at all. I just got approved. Sorry.
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] could roughly guess what the other person had been through, and after thinking for a moment, replied:
"It's okay... How are things on your end?"
"Thank goodness, bro. But isn't this game a bit too realistic in some unnecessary places? There were even stones in my porridge today..."
"Just rocks? That's alright."
"?"
On the other end, [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] sent a question mark:
Are there any other limited-edition toppings?