[ Practice More If You're Bad ] He nodded contentedly.
"Given that marquis's status, if the entire army were to set out, he should have around ten thousand soldiers under his command. I've also checked the number of men he brought with him recently, and considering I'm new here, I estimate I'll only be assigned twenty or thirty men."
"Um?"
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ]'s expression twisted again—I've been praising you for so long, and all you bring are twenty more people than me?
This guy can be called a centurion?
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] seemed to sense what he was thinking and shrugged, saying:
"Isn't your position as a centurion just a nominal one?"
"Besides, the Empire is not Second Holy See, and soldiers don't grow out of the ground."
"How can a newcomer like me possibly compete with them?"
He said with a smile:
"So I directly jumped out of the involution zone and proactively switched to a blue ocean industry."
Can you speak human language?
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ]'s lips twitched.
"Simply put, they were all scrambling to become combat soldiers, but I did the opposite and offered to lead auxiliary troops to assist them."
"This works?"
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] was utterly astonished upon hearing this.
"Of course."
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] patted him on the shoulder:
"Now that's great, instead of worrying that I'll steal the credit, everyone should thank me for delivering the supplies in time."
"Those other centurions are probably afraid I'll cause trouble for them; they've been treating me exceptionally well these past few days. They probably all hope I'll prioritize their rations during the war."
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] thought for a moment and said:
"But ultimately, you still don't have enough men under your command..."
"Yes, that's what I'm worried about too."
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] Skillfully performed a "Big Dragon" pantomime without any props:
"But since the Marquis has given me a quota of one hundred people, he doesn't care how I manage to gather them."
"These past few days I've been following the Marquis's son around, picking up any suitable people I see. I've gathered almost forty now, and they all call me a scavenger."
"I would like to attract some players, but as a half-dragon, I can't use the Temporary Resurrection Tree at all, and I didn't buy it when I went out. Players can only come by walking."
"I really had no choice but to find some NPCs that looked decent enough..."
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] heard this, his eyes darted around, and he asked with a smile:
"Hehe, I wonder if you'd be interested in my six auxiliary soldiers?"
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] He glanced at him, and the two smiled at each other, revealing a standard villain smile that was a combination of "You understand me" - "I understand you understand me" - "You understand me understand you understand me".
After a moment of silent staring, [ Practice More If You're Bad ] grabbed [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ]'s shoulder:
"What else is there to say, buddy? You're the 50th Sergeant!"
"The auxiliary soldiers are chosen by everyone themselves, so I'll just go first—tomorrow you guys will move to the tent closest to me, so we can discuss things more easily."
"Sure, sure, I'll do whatever you say, buddy!"
The lightning-fast advancement within a single day left [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] feeling rather euphoric.
"Good brother, we must pull off a big heist in the Empire!"
"That's right, let's pull off a big one!"
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] and [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] have already begun to forcibly cast a spell on the empire based on their fantasies:
"If the royal army wants to rise to prominence, it must first suffer some defeats..."
"Yes, Your Majesty's army..."
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] Halfway through my repeat year, I suddenly realized I hadn't yet confirmed a very, very, very important question with the other person--
"By the way, bro, it might sound silly to ask, but is war really on the horizon?"
"Right."
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] looked tense:
"With whom? It can't be the Tree Worship Church Theocracy, can it?"
"Although I would love for the Empire to stab the Theocracy in the backside, our Second Holy See is marching south next month."
"Is the empire trying to reap the benefits?"
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] paused for a moment, then shook his head:
"That's really not the case."
"I overheard some information from the Marquis and his staff: it's true there's going to be a war, but it's against the Skeleton Alliance in the east."
"It's said the vanguard has already set off, and it'll be our turn soon. Everyone says this is a war of national annihilation; after this battle, only one of the Empire and the Skeleton Alliance will survive..."
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] was surprised to find that there was something bigger waiting for him, and asked in return:
"A war that could destroy an entire nation? Is the empire really that powerful?"
"It's hard to say."
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] Shakes head:
"I think the Starlight Empire is a pressure cooker right now, and attacking the Skeleton Alliance is just a way to relieve that pressure."
"However, the Empire does have the legal grounds— the Skeleton Alliance has only been broken away for less than a hundred years, and the people always support wars to reclaim territory."
"Moreover, it seems the Empire is really going all in this time... I heard that the south is suffering from a severe insect plague this year, but the capital is practically ignoring it all and focusing entirely on the war."
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] thought for a moment and asked:
"Since it's a war that threatens the entire nation, is it possible that the emperor himself is leading the army?"
Upon hearing this question, [ Practice More If You're Bad ] instinctively looked around before whispering in his ear:
"No, I heard the emperor was seriously ill, really seriously ill, so he wanted to do something big before he died."
"As for the commander, it's the Grand Seal Keeper whose name is on today's conscription order, the one named Luokenuosuos i."
"I see..."
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] noted down all this information and planned to make appropriate modifications to his protagonist's script after logging off.
Now that he's found good buddies, he can try to transition to a more ensemble-like style. After all, after chatting for a while, he discovered that [ Practice More If You're Bad ]'s social experience and problem-solving skills seem to be stronger than his own.
While you're still flamboyantly trying to win people over, the other side has already risen to the rank of centurion-in-arms...
"It's getting late, let's go back to the tent and log off. Tomorrow, move to the auxiliary soldier's tent closest to Camp Number Two, just like I told you."
"Good."
The two shook hands in the darkness, and [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] suddenly said:
"Maybe other players will join us later, so let's come up with a name for our group first."
"Naming things? I'm quite good at that."
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] he muttered to himself, head bowed in thought:
"It needs to be energetic, grand, catchy, and clearly express our feelings."
He looked up at [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ]:
What was the purpose of forming our small group?
"Of course, it's for pulling off a big heist."
"You're wrong about that. What do you mean by 'doing a big heist'?"
A strange smile appeared on [ Practice More If You're Bad's ] face as he leaned down to [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ]'s ear:
"We formed this small team to better serve the Empire, so how about we call it—"
"' One Heart Society '."
[ Soaring Clouds 3773 ] was taken aback, but then couldn't hide his smile and asked in return:
"Isn't this a bit too subtle?"