[ Ginseng Rooster ] trudged through the bloody mud, his feet sinking deep into the mud, and quickly approached the skeletal soldier carrying the broken sword in the crowd.
As long as we deal with him...
[ Ginseng Rooster ] suddenly thought of something, and at that moment, he unexpectedly felt empathy for the cannon fodder characters in many novels he had read before.
In the classic wish-fulfillment novels from my hometown, the protagonist always travels the world with a priceless treasure in hand.
Once discovered, a group of guys will regularly appear, shouting lines like "Youngster, why don't you put down your opportunity?"
These beings often appear in groups, with the leader typically being a bit more powerful than the protagonist, but not by many means.
This allows him to make some minor mistakes that are understandable within reasonable limits, which allows the protagonist to gradually turn the tide and ultimately achieve victory against all odds.
If you're lucky enough to get a rare cannon fodder character, there's even a hidden line like "Everything else is ready, except for this crucial one thing."
In this way, winning this skirmish will not only demonstrate the protagonist's strong ability to make quick decisions, but will also provide the protagonist with a huge amount of equipment, feeding the protagonist all the accumulated knowledge and skills gained over decades or even centuries, greatly shortening the protagonist's development time.
It was absolutely exhilarating.
Now, [ Ginseng Rooster ] finds himself suddenly understanding these cannon fodder.
From their perspective, personally eliminating a lowly henchman was already a significant undertaking; who could have imagined they'd backfire?
Just as [ Ginseng Rooster ] was about to obtain the broken sword from the skeleton soldier through threat or trickery, a gaze suddenly swept over from above.
Such a strong sense of oppression!
It's the warlord!
[ Ginseng Rooster ] looked up and, sure enough, less than ten meters in front of him, Grant had already turned his head to look in his direction.
Seeing this, the skeleton soldier quickly took a few steps and escaped before [ Ginseng Rooster ] could make a move, arriving next to Grant Grant's skeleton horse.
There's no chance anymore.
[ Ginseng Rooster ] was completely stunned by this scene.
Isn't this just like a protagonist who possesses a priceless treasure but can't defeat the enemy, yet can still summon a powerful figure through some kind of cheat code like an old man in their ring?
I'm sorry, you cannon fodder in wish-fulfillment stories, I'll never slander you again!
At this moment, the [ Ginseng Rooster ], on the verge of tears, chose to fiercely immerse himself in the role of a supporting character in a wish-fulfillment novel.
He was about to turn and leave, and had just sent a message in the group chat saying that the situation had gone wrong and that his companions should intensify their search, when Grant's questioning voice came through:
"Stop."
[ Ginseng Rooster ] paused, feigning confusion as he looked at the warlord.
"A new face, who are you?"
As Colin's recruit, [ Ginseng Rooster ] at least has some form of identification.
He first showed off the crystal cluster between his eyebrows, then took out a domino that was enough to prove his identity.
Grant glanced at it and gave a disdainful snort:
"So you're under the command of a minor lord. You've come to the wrong place. Get back to your troops now, or I'll execute you according to military law!"
Faced with such a critical situation, [ Ginseng Rooster ] immediately made a difficult decision--
What is the point of going through life and death like this?
Isn't it all about using the chaos to climb the ranks?
Since things have come to this, we might as well continue to muddy the waters!
He stiffened his neck and said to Grant:
"Sir, I need to correct a mistake you made."
"Um?"
The tall, muscular skeleton's eyes blazed with fury, revealing its intense rage.
"Lord Colin is now a full-fledged Border Garrison Warlord, holding the same rank as you. Please watch your words."
Grant neither confirmed nor denied the " Ginseng Rooster " claim, but he was clearly quite angry.
"Roll."
"Another matter, sir."
[ The Ginseng Rooster ] spoke in a tone that was neither humble nor arrogant:
"The councilors have already retreated. In order to discuss the next steps of the allied forces, Governor Colin proposed to hold a meeting in the center of the camp where the councilors were originally located, at dusk."
"I will be informing the other warlords later; I hope you will arrive on time."
Grant's non-existent brow seemed to furrow for a moment, making no attempt to hide his confusion:
"What should we do if the enemy attacks while we are not in our own army?"
[ Ginseng Rooster ] thought of his previous agreement with Ed and knew that Duma would prioritize attacking the Blood Corpse, so the Blood Corpse would naturally prioritize fighting the Soul Returner Legion.
In this way, the pressure on the Skeleton Alliance will be much less in the short term. Taking advantage of this information gap, he said confidently:
"Please rest assured, Lord Colin's command has been inherited from Osmond and Palmer, and he is able to maintain stability at the front for the time being."
Grant couldn't help but feel disgusted upon hearing this.
He was just a minor lord who had been promoted on the spot, but just because he had gathered the troops of two warlords, he became so arrogant that he dared to hold a meeting on his own initiative!
Do you really think that without High Tier, no one else can deal with him?
Grant looked down at the skeletal soldier beside his warhorse, and at the gleaming broken sword in his arms, his confidence grew.
Okay, you like fighting for power, huh? Then let's see who's more capable.
He looked up at the [ Ginseng Rooster ] and nodded arrogantly:
"That's settled then, I'll be there on time."
"Yes, sir."
[ The Ginseng Rooster ] bowed, turned and left.
There's no turning back now that the arrow has been released; since we've already used Colin's name to hold the meeting, we have to grit our teeth and see it through to the end.
After syncing his impromptu new plan to the group chat [ The Most Loyal Retainers in History ], he checked the direction and flags, and quickly ran towards the location of the next warlord's flag.
Meanwhile, on a hillside outside the battlefield, with his companions providing real-time alerts, [ Gill's Cuisine ] climbed up a rock face, panting, and sure enough, found a gleaming one-handed sword stuck in the rock.
The weapons that Palmer and Osmond transformed into were not very long when used individually; they only appeared as a greatsword when combined.
Judging from the battle situation at the time, the most severely damaged item was obviously the sword that Osmond had transformed into, which was the one picked up by the skeleton soldier.
This blade, which Palmer transformed into, is entirely composed of crystal clusters. Although it has some cracks, it is not completely broken. It could even be used on yellow seafood and labeled as "99% new for personal use" to swindle money from college students.
Looking at the melted and then Solidification rocks around the sword, [ Gill's Cuisine ] was certain that even though its durability had been reduced, its power was still far beyond that of ordinary weapons.
After catching his breath, he finally climbed to the narrow stone platform located on the cliff.
The moment [ Gill's Cuisine ]'s palm touched the sword, a force like a mixture of electricity and heat instantly Spread throughout his body.
He stood there, gripping the sword hilt, motionless.
"Hey, hurry up!"
His companion below the cliff saw this and said anxiously, worried that the delay might cause some unexpected problems.
Unexpectedly, [ Gill's Cuisine ]'s ethereal yet authoritative voice came the next moment:
Do not hasten my departure.