After they left, the skeleton soldiers, led by the knight, filed into the fortress, only to find it completely ransacked, with bloodstains splattered everywhere on the walls, floor, and even the ceiling.
And it is a well-known and obvious fact that skeletons do not have blood.
So, to whom did this horrific amount of bleeding originate?
Of course, it refers to the mercenaries who just left and the imperialists they drove away.
Surely they couldn't have shed their own blood to make everything look realistic, could they?
That doesn't make any sense logically!
Seeing this, Lide, the skeleton messenger who had previously questioned [ Aluode ], also felt somewhat embarrassed, while the fortress knight who had acted as a peacemaker for him, seeing that the evidence was conclusive, also felt that he shouldn't have so easily trusted this common soldier.
He had already made up his mind—the documents would state that the sandcastle was reclaimed by the mercenaries, and that his reinforcements had only done some simple cleanup work.
That should allow us to reconcile, right?
Hopefully, that mercenary wasn't a petty guy.
Wuhu~
On the way back to the sandcastle, [ Aluode ] and his party galloped on horseback, shouting incessantly. Their voices carried far across the vast desert, truly displaying their extreme arrogance.
Players always enjoy the thrill of combat, but if there's anything even more satisfying than combat, it's getting the same rewards without fighting.
At this moment, everyone carried with them bones that had been stripped from the dead skeletons, as well as well-preserved armor and weapons.
Needless to say, the bones belonging to the skeleton soldiers are strategic resources of the Skeleton Alliance and must be handed over to the Fortress Knights.
But who else can get the remaining weapons if not the mercenaries?
Moreover, this is a special case outside of normal patrol missions, and according to the previously signed mercenary contract, the Skeleton Alliance Council will also provide an additional salary.
Not only did [ Aluode ] figure out the value of this, but the players who followed him, and even those who initially planned to have fun fighting [ Howling Pothos ], gradually understood the meaning of cost-effectiveness on their way back.
As a result, the crowd's spirits rose even higher, to the point that they almost began to sing songs of triumph.
And so, the group returned to their assigned " Central Border Sandcastle No. 15 " before dawn, while the skeleton sentries on the outer wall keenly spotted the approaching group.
Despite knowing it was most likely mercenaries who had been sent out on patrol a few hours earlier, the skeleton sentinel still dutifully shouted:
"Who goes there? Stop right there!"
"Whoosh!"
Faced with the questioning from the sentries, [ Howling Pothos ] did not answer, but slowly raised its right hand, revealing a half-crystallized skull to the guards at the watchtower.
"This, this..."
The sentry felt a blur before his eyes and could hardly believe what he was seeing.
Crystallization, and crystallization of most of the skull—as an Imperial border soldier, he knew all too well what that meant.
This is the skull of a Middle Tier skeleton knight!
That's the guardian knight of Sandcastle. Normally, if he makes a move, ordinary Low Tier soldiers like them would have nowhere to escape. He's a Middle Tier knight!
"Open the gates! Good news! Open the gates! Good news!"
The astute imperial sentinels immediately realized this was no small matter, nor was it a bad thing, so even though it was still dark, they immediately began to shout.
His voice wasn't loud enough to wake the ordinary soldiers sleeping in their tents, but it was enough for the nearby sentries to hear him and go in to report.
Soon the camp gates opened, and [ Howling Pothos ] and his group of ten—no, nine—rode into the camp on skeleton horses, carrying a large pile of military equipment and bones that could prove their military achievements.
The centurion [Practice More If You're Bad] and the deacon [Soaring Clouds 3773 ], who were familiar with them, happened to be online at the time. Upon hearing the news, they immediately came out of their tents to welcome everyone in.
It's worth mentioning that, due to his bravery in combat and his smooth interpersonal skills, after achieving some merit in several minor clashes with the Alliance, [ Practice More If You're Bad ] has officially been transferred to the position of Centurion.
Although he was still a centurion, the value of an auxiliary soldier and a combat soldier was definitely very different.
This is reflected not only in the quality of subordinates, but also in their compensation.
Moreover, the 100-man squad of "[ Practice More If You're Bad ]" is not an ordinary combat soldier, but a scout combat soldier who needs to perform many difficult tasks, with an extremely high mortality rate and equally high pay.
With his transfer, [ Soaring Clouds 3773 ], who was his subordinate captain, and several other NPCs who enlisted with him also became soldiers.
Whether it's the skinny boy who can't even lift a stone weight, or the unlucky fellow whose back is ripped open by a horsewhip, they are now receiving decent treatment.
The advance recruitment commissioned by [ Practice More If You're Bad ] to [ Xiexie Huigu ] resulted in the "Soul (Returner) Content" of the 100-person team under [ Practice More If You're Bad ] exceeding 70%.
The Soul Returner are always full of energy, and when they have no missions, they can even cause the risk of brawls in the camp to rise rapidly.
The young viscount who commanded the 500 men in this camp didn't have much of an impression of these high-quality able-bodied men, but as a young descendant of a military noble family, he knew at least one thing: on the battlefield, elite soldiers were the key to survival!
Based on this principle, the young military noble viscount was exceptionally lenient towards the Soul Returner, and the players naturally reciprocated with one small victory after another. The two sides were currently in a harmonious and blissful phase.
However, if you open the roster of the 100-player team in [ Practice More If You're Bad ], you will see many familiar names:
The veterans like [ Howling Pothos ] go without saying, but there are more than twenty professional players from the guild alone, such as [ Retreat Drum Player ] and [ Elderly and Children Fly First ].
All things considered, the "soul content" of the entire 500-person team has reached 15%!
Given this ratio of personnel, the young viscount sometimes didn't even have enough reconnaissance missions to go around.
As a result, his scout squads were able to detect additional enemy activity each time, which earned the young viscount praise from his marquis father, who commanded 10,000 troops, several times.
So, under everyone's well-intentioned teasing, the less than thirty NPC soldiers in [ Practice More If You're Bad ]'s hundred-man team had completely transformed into "logistics soldiers."
Because they didn't have to risk their lives on the battlefield, these strong local men felt only gratitude towards the players.
As conscripted laborers, their way of expressing gratitude was:
We will cook with care, sharpen our knives with care, polish our nails with care, and take good care of every old man who risks his life for us!