Before the two could say anything more, the Essence Knight in front of them spoke first.
It was still the standard, albeit choppy, Imperial Common, sounding like the listening comprehension audio of some standard language proficiency test:
"You, the Soul Returner? Interesting."
Another round of negotiations?
Seeing this, [ Dark Archmage ] switched to AFK mode and handed over all speaking privileges to [ Clear Soup Master ].
"That's right, sir... Knight, we've given you everything you wanted to know. To show our sincerity, shouldn't you at least let us down from the beam?"
"Preferential treatment? The strong, the friends, deserve it. You? No."
[ Clear Soup Master ]'s lips twitched as he retorted:
"Since we have already chosen to surrender, there is no turning back."
"Either you kill us, or you give us work and pay; otherwise, what's the point of keeping us hanging like this?"
"Oh?"
The Essence Knight looked at this eloquent Soul Returner and recalled what his subordinates had reported to him:
Although these two Soul Returner are of the same kind, they are very different in personality.
The man was eloquent and persuasive, while the woman was always taciturn, but what they conveyed was indeed no different.
And now the other side's behavior seems to prove the accuracy of the confession. Generally, after surrendering, people are obedient and will not say a word no matter what orders they are given. They are born inferior to others in the new camp.
But this guy in front of me showed no awareness of being a prisoner or a traitor, and even brazenly made all sorts of demands.
If I kill him, he will probably be resurrected by Adrian soon, so killing him is tantamount to helping him escape.
The non-existent eyeballs rolled, and the Essence Knight felt that what he wanted to do was unlikely to be achieved.
Yes, immediately after reading the confession and receiving urgent military intelligence, the sandcastle owner already had a new plan.
The content itself isn't difficult to understand.
The Soul Returner as a whole need to find new jobs, and there are only two hundred skeleton soldiers in this sandcastle.
According to the recent military intelligence, the empire's borders will likely soon be garrisoned by tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of troops. In a real battle, our few skeleton soldiers wouldn't even make a splash against such an enemy force.
While I cannot solve the re-employment problem for all those Soul Returner, I can at least help some of them.
That's right, this somewhat intelligent Essence Knight had an idea after considering all the available information: he wanted to hire a group of Soul Returner to work for him in his own name in order to strengthen his border defense strategy!
As for the expenses, can't we just get reimbursed from the Supreme Council of Sand Capital afterwards?
Even the Essence Knight himself was surprised when this plan popped into his mind (did it really exist?).
However, it quickly determined that this was the most correct solution at present.
If my plan succeeds, I'll definitely get a huge credit.
It could even petition parliament to widely implement this method among the various sand forts along the border.
The border between the Empire and the Skeleton Alliance stretches for thousands of miles, and both sides have long maintained a large military presence along this line.
If the Soul Returner can be introduced, the military pressure on the Empire will inevitably increase significantly. I've heard that the Empire's harvest this year was poor, and its internal situation is not very stable.
If introducing the Soul Returner is such a brilliant move that it can ignite this pressure cooker, then this earth-shattering achievement might just propel me into Parliament as the sixth member...
Thinking of this, even this composed Essence Knight couldn't help but feel excited.
He suppressed his thoughts and looked at the [ Clear Soup Master ] in front of him:
Your statement, your reasoning.
"Now, the task is yours."
He was saying: Your statement makes sense, now I'll assign you tasks?
[ Clear Soup Master ] was overjoyed, looking at the Essence Knight:
"Please speak, sir. The Soul Returner mercenaries are of high quality, low price, and exceptionally capable; they will certainly serve you wholeheartedly!"
The Essence Knight nodded in satisfaction and said to the fawning Soul Returner before him:
"Hmm, ability, demonstration, sparring."
Then it turned its head to look at a Punisher and said something using encrypted Psionic Energy communication.
The punitive skeleton holding the bone whip paused for a moment, pointed to itself, and then to the languishing, muscular man hanging up.
The Essence Knight nodded, and the punisher reluctantly stepped forward to untie [ Clear Soup Master ].
The freed Soul Returner then discovered that the dungeon was quite large, even large enough to be used as a small battleground.
He quickly understood the meaning behind the Essence Knight's words: demonstrate your abilities through sparring.
Good grief, an onboarding test? Where did this outdated practice come from?
Thinking this, [ Clear Soup Master ] rubbed his aching wrist and looked at the punisher in front of him.
The professional who had been fighting him for two whole days was now fully engaged in combat.
It still held that whip with its distinct joints, but now it seemed to have grown many crystalline barbs, which flickered eerily in the dim candlelight of the dungeon.
The Soul Returner's lips curled slightly upwards. Looking at the Punisher before him, he didn't care whether the other understood or not, and asked in a somewhat inquisitive tone:
"I've heard from stories of exploring dungeons that skeletal creatures are immune to piercing attacks because they lack flesh, but they're also vulnerable to blunt force trauma due to the lack of flesh and blood to cushion their blows. I wonder if that's true or not? Hmm?"
As he spoke, his hands and forearms had grown several sizes larger, and gnarled, tough tree bark was visible beneath his ripped sleeves, making him look like Gray in his early days when he was still using brass boxing gloves.
"Bang!"
[ Clear Soup Master ]'s fists collided in front of him, and although they were just two pieces of wood, they produced a crisp sound like metal clashing.
The crisp sound of impact was like the bell announcing the start of the match in a boxing ring. The next instant, the Soul Returner leaped forward like a wild beast and launched an attack on the skeleton in front of him.
The punisher raised his bone whip, and the tip, covered in sharp crystals, shot out like a bullet, aiming straight for the Soul Returner's throat.
A fleeting ripple of Psionic Energy seemed to emanate from the skull's hollow eye sockets, reflecting the ferocious figure of the Soul Returner lunging forward.
Meanwhile, its hands, made entirely of bone, were making subtle adjustments to ensure that the whip tip would accelerate without missing its target.
With a powerful acceleration, the Punisher's whip, though launched later, arrived first, poised to pierce the Soul Returner's neck.
He had no choice but to back down!
The Punisher sneered inwardly; otherwise, he could have just waited to be killed by his own blow!
However, the expected retreat did not occur. Instead of retreating, the alien creature called the Soul Returner did not even change direction when faced with the fierce and sharp whip tip, and continued to charge forward in the same posture.