More than 400 people quickly assembled in the center of the barracks. Although they were still sleepy-eyed, their posture was already impeccable, clearly showing that the training [ Ginseng Rooster ] had been doing for more than a week had yielded initial results.
Once everyone had arrived, the squad leaders began taking attendance as usual, but some militiamen were starting to panic.
Where did my roommate go?
They soon found out the answer.
One by one, militiamen, bound hand and foot, were thrown in front of them. Upon closer inspection, they were horrified to find that they were their missing roommates.
"What... what's going on?"
Someone couldn't help but ask in confusion.
"Don't you understand?"
A familiar voice rang out, and [ Ginseng Rooster ], with his arm in a sling and leaning on a cane, slowly walked over from behind the crowd.
Everyone was utterly astonished by this sight.
Although they knew that [ Ginseng Rooster ] was not dead, they did not expect that he would be able to stand up again in less than a day, and even be able to move with just a cane.
[ The Ginseng Rooster ] limped (pretending) to the group and said earnestly:
"I am aware of everyone's plan, and I fully support it."
He then looked at the few people wriggling on the ground:
"As for them, they seem to want to betray us; it appears they don't support our plan."
As he spoke, [ Ginseng Rooster ] slowly bent down and pulled out the vine ball stuffed in one person's mouth.
"Vomit!"
The man who had been captured immediately gagged, and after a few retches, he glared angrily at the militiamen:
"You bunch of idiots! You don't even realize you've been scammed!"
He headbutted [ the Ginseng Rooster ]'s good leg hard:
"The tactics they used were exactly the same as those of the enemies who descended from the sky. They... they were spies sent by the enemy!"
Upon hearing such explosive news, the militiamen all stared wide-eyed at the neatly arranged Soul Returner standing before them.
But when [ Ginseng Rooster ] heard this man's rebuttal, he simply smiled and asked:
"What tricks did they use in the same way?"
The prisoners on the ground said angrily:
"One blow to the mouth, one blow to the leg, one blow to the waist—aren't these the enemy's tricks?"
[ The Ginseng Rooster ] tilted his head, seemingly puzzled by his foolishness.
He randomly selected someone from the crowd:
" Joel, did you hear what he said?"
The militiaman, all brawn and no brains but somewhat slow-witted, stepped forward and said:
"Understood, Captain."
[ The Ginseng Rooster ] handed him a stick:
"If you understand, then put it into practice."
"Wh... what?"
The prisoners on the ground were extremely surprised upon hearing this. They looked away from the [ Ginseng Rooster ] and found that the burly Joel was already standing in front of them.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Three blows landed, and blood splattered everywhere.
[ Ginseng Rooster ] leaned down with some difficulty and asked:
"So, Joel is also a spy sent by the heretics outside the city?"
"You... you!"
The prisoner was speechless and could only glare angrily, whether out of genuine inability to refute or simply from pain.
[ Ginseng Rooster ] chuckled, glanced at the crowd, and said to him:
"You can accuse a few more people; I guarantee they are all the heretics and spies you're talking about."
Hearing that he might be beaten again, the prisoner immediately showed a pleading expression, silently muttering "No, no."
Seeing that he had already given in, [ the Ginseng Rooster ] became even more dismissive.
He stood up and addressed the crowd:
"Brothers, these men were spies bribed by the Archbishop. Now that we've removed their spies, the militia will no longer be at the mercy of others!"
He looked at the crowd, whose eyes still held a hint of doubt, and said:
"Furthermore, since everyone has already decided to cooperate with the Son of God from within and without, wouldn't it be a good thing if we really were spies?"
Leaving behind this ambiguous answer, [ Ginseng Rooster ] instructed the Soul Returner to take the bound prisoners back to their tents for interrogation, while he announced the order to disperse, and then limped away from the training area.
Having removed these thorns and won over the loyalty of the ordinary NPCs, he also escaped his critically injured and near-death state...
[ Ginseng Rooster ] felt that his plan was all set, except for... a favorable opportunity.
This is roughly the situation inside Black Pine City. If the legion commander receives this intelligence before launching the general offensive, we can coordinate smoothly.
The Soul Returner Legion came from the north, so the south gate must be the weakest point in Black Pine City's defenses.
All that's needed is to send a force to storm the south gate. When the other sides of the city walls are too busy to divide the forces, the archbishop will inevitably dispatch militia to reinforce the south gate. Then, with forces attacking from both inside and outside, we can directly bring the main army into the city...
"Good!"
Duma clenched the paper covered in writing in his hand, marveling at the powerful infiltration abilities of the Soul Returner.
During his centuries-long tenure as commander of the Demon Allied Army, he had also assigned powerful shapeshifters to do similar things.
But no matter what form those guys took, they always had a stupid expression. When they were sent to human towns, they were always discovered in less than a day, then beaten half to death, which incidentally made the enemy even more vigilant.
In comparison, while the Soul Returner ' disguise and infiltration techniques may not match the inherent abilities of their demon race, they are still quite outstanding.
How long has it been? The Soul Returner have already built up a completely loyal army in Black Pine City, right in the heart of the enemy territory. Although there are fewer than 500 people, according to the letter, dozens more have already joined several knightly orders that were attacked by " First Air Transport " under the pretext of filling vacancies.
When the battle becomes intense, these spies will also launch backstabbing attacks to disrupt the enemy's morale.
Thinking of this, Duma's heart burned even hotter.
He called Duolin over and shared the information that [ Ginseng Rooster ] had provided with him.
"I think we can start taking action now."
Duma suggested with a serious expression:
What do you think?
"Yes, there's never been a better time."
Duolin nodded in agreement, then twisted his wrist, which was wearing a limiter, a few times:
"This time, I will personally lead the team up the city wall. It's time to see the results of our special training over this period."
"Good!"
Duma crossed his four hands in front of him, looking incredibly confident.
"Now that we've all agreed to launch an attack, I'll go and issue the call to arms."
After seeing Duolin off, Duma sat down at his desk and began editing a notification message using his Root Network privileges:
[Legion Call to Arms: Fellow Soul Returner, Black Pine City, the last remaining city in the Fitz Province, has been putting up a stubborn resistance for a long time, under our constant harassment and infiltration...]
He typed out a lot of text, but he still felt that his reasons were sufficient but his conviction was insufficient.
After much deliberation, Duma deleted all the text and rewrote a more concise and efficient version:
[Legion Call to Arms: All Soul Returner, prepare for battle!]