After a moment of mental preparation, Colin finally made up his mind to speak his mind.
This is why he was willing to expend precious items to connect to [ Hard Armor ].
Just moments before the communication was cut off, Colin's forced, calm voice traveled through the Psionic Energy connection to the heavily Hard Armor fortress hundreds of miles away:
"[ Hard Armor ], although Sandcastle Number Fourteen is not large in scale, it is located directly opposite a 10,000-strong army of the Empire and undertakes a very difficult intelligence mission."
"Now that Sandcastle Number Fourteen has been completely wiped out, the patrol pressure on Sandcastle Number Fifteen will increase accordingly..."
" Colin."
[ The Hard Armor ]'s majestic voice, unique to the commander, rang out:
"Say something I don't know, say what you really want to say."
The sudden interruption caught Colin off guard, but he quickly regained his composure and finally spoke his mind:
"My lord, though I am unworthy, for the sake of the great Skeleton Alliance, I hereby request to concurrently hold the position of the Sandcastle Number Fourteen Guard Knight. I hope you will grant my request!"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communication, then [ Hard Armor ] asked a question instead of answering:
What does Faulkner mean?
Faulkner, of course, was the fortress knight guarding Fortress Number Thirteen, the one who had made a wasted trip with his messenger.
Upon hearing this question, Colin no longer hesitated and directly expressed his thoughts:
"[ Hard Armor ] My lord, Sandcastle Number Fourteen is in a strategically important location. It would be best if you could send a trusted and capable general to guard it, but it would be difficult to guarantee the safety of the sandcastle during the journey."
"However, if two people are appointed as the fortress guards, it is difficult to determine responsibility if problems arise."
"I personally acknowledge Sir Faulkner's abilities, and his Imperial swordsmanship is exceptional, but I believe I am more capable of handling this concurrent position!"
Colin had gone all in; he lowered his head and awaited the verdict from the Alliance's supreme commander on the Western Front.
After a moment, [ Hard Armor ]'s majestic voice rang out:
" Colin, you have three crimes—"
"Firstly, you neglected public duty for private reasons. There was a contingency plan in place for the fall of the sandcastle, which was to have the other sandcastles in the surrounding area take on the responsibility of protecting the sandcastle while waiting for reinforcements. However, you were unwilling to do so because of your personal desires."
"Secondly, he ostracized his colleagues. Faulkner was not at fault in this matter, but you seem to say he was completely worthless."
"Thirdly, it's blind arrogance. Shalier is already dead. How much stronger do you think you are than him? And you dare to use emergency supplies to contact me..."
"What are your objections to the above three points?"
Colin felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water from head to toe. His fragmented memories of his past life appeared like snowflakes and Passing in an instant, leaving him momentarily dazed and almost forgetting the abyss he was in.
"Your subordinate... dares not refute."
Colin's trembling voice no longer carried its previous confidence:
"I may indeed be overly self-serving, but the interests of the Skeleton Alliance will always be my top priority!"
He gritted his teeth and almost growled as he said:
"[ Hard Armor ], your subordinates swear to defend the sand fortresses number fourteen and fifteen to the death!"
"If any part is breached..."
On the other side, [ Hard Armor ] picked up where he left off:
"Then he shall be punished for all his crimes and need not live any longer."
"Yes, sir!"
His answer had never been so resounding, while hundreds of miles away, [ Hard Armor ] asked another question:
How many soldiers do you need?
"I do not want soldiers!"
Colin said loudly:
" Sandcastle Number Fourteen has not yet assembled its Soul Returner mercenaries. I humbly request that Lord [ Hard Armor ] allocate this portion of the troop quota and military funds to me, allowing me to recruit more Soul Returner for defense."
"You plan to use those Soul Returner to defend the sandcastle? Aren't you afraid they might have ulterior motives?"
Colin mustered his courage and said:
" The Soul Returner, after being implanted with crystal clusters, cannot harm us Alliance skeletons, and they are indeed brave. As for loyalty... as long as they are adequately rewarded, they have no excuse to betray us."
How do you plan to counterbalance the Soul Returner?
Upon hearing this new question, Colin immediately replied:
"Reporting to Lord [ Hard Armor ], once the Soul Returner expand their recruitment, the number of mercenaries under my command will completely surpass that of ordinary skeleton warriors."
"Therefore, I plan to have both sides supervise and check each other, while also selecting elite members of our own forces, namely the Skeleton Warriors, as the supervisory team."
"At least you have some brains."
[ Hard Armor ]'s tone was no longer so serious, shifting from reprimand to instruction:
"Remember the principle that those who are not of our kind will surely have different intentions. Don't be blinded by these foreign mercenaries; they will do anything for money."
"Your subordinate will obey your instructions, sir!"
"Alright, let's do it that way then."
The communication abruptly ended, Colin collapsed to the ground, his bones clattering against each other.
Colin realized he had passed the test of the [ Hard Armor ], and he had finally taken that step. After holding out in a sandcastle on the border for more than a decade, he finally saw hope for further progress.
All of this hinges on the fact that he must completely defend these two sandcastles against random attacks from a large number of imperial elites, without making any mistakes.
If you succeed, then you will have enough merit to climb the ranks.
Failure? That's easy too.
Filled with the relief of surviving a close call and the exhilaration of accepting his appointment, Colin put away the somewhat faded skeletal artifacts, walked out of his room, and gave orders to the skeleton soldiers:
"Gather all soldiers and mercenaries, this knight has something to say!"
To the sound of the Skeleton Alliance's special war drums, a large group of Soul Returner and Skeleton Soldiers gathered in the open space inside the outer walls of the Sandcastle.
Sandcastle Number Fifteen is larger than Sandcastle Number Fourteen, with 150 ordinary skeleton soldiers alone. After previous recruitment, the number of permanent Soul Returner is now over 140, which is roughly one to one with the skeleton soldiers.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Colin stood on the high place and announced to all the humans and skeletons:
"I have just officially received the appointment from Councilor [ Hard Armor ], and from this moment forward, I will also serve as the fortress knight of Sandcastle Number Fourteen!"
"As you all know, Sandcastle Number Fourteen was breached by the Imperials last night, but our cavalry recaptured it!"
"If we can defeat the imperialists once, we can definitely defeat them two, three, or even countless times!"
"[ Dark Archmage ]!"
The sudden roll call made the [ Dark Archmage ] tense up instantly. She looked at Colin above in confusion, wondering what madness this skeleton was up to now.
Colin's gaze was intense, and his tone was firm:
"You and [ Clear Soup Master ] were the first Soul Returner I recruited. Of all the mercenaries, you are the one I trust the most."
"The imperialists were driven out once, they'll definitely want to come back!"
"I have decided to personally lead one hundred Soul Returner and fifty Skeleton Warriors to relocate to Sandcastle Number Fourteen!"
"While I'm away, Sandcastle Number Fifteen will be under your command. Everyone must obey your orders!"
"Yes!"
The three hundred people shouted in unison, leaving only the [ Dark Archmage ] pointing at himself in confusion:
"I?"