Since entering the battlefield, the most frequent task of Bone Two, Bone Three, and other Skeleton Soldiers has been to clear away the corpses and traces of battle.
Nevertheless, Mu Yuan found it inspect that Bone Two and its fellow simple-minded Skeleton Soldiers had somehow learned to clean up after a battle. This, he felt, was a great improvement.
What defines a soldier? The ability to fight, certainly, but there is more to warfare than combat alone.
If players commanded their forces to do something beyond fighting—something outside the scope of their original programming—they would fail, like an AI asked a question beyond its databank's capacity.
But the Skeleton Soldiers have learned to do these things, and, although newcomers like Bone Six and Bone Seven were still clumsy, they also seemed to be picking it up.
It was undoubtedly easier for them to learn from fellow Skeleton Soldiers like Dead Bone, but it provided further evidence...
"Are Bone Two and Bone Three gaining intelligence? They seem to be developing a bit of wisdom."
Of course, they only showed signs of low level intelligence so far. Dead Bone had been teaching them patiently.
...
Goblins, being inherently slothful, were lackadaisical in their defense. Their only merit was to deploy patrol teams, but their defensive lines were far from thorough.
The goblins were also not very good at executing orders.
At this point, Dead Bone and the others had started their wholesale slaughter, already killing more than 20 goblins. Among the casualties were a few two-star Goblin Spearmen.
However, an even larger group of goblins soon gathered, making it hard to continue with assassinations and sneak attacks. Instead, they had to resort to brute force, accepting the corresponding risks.
Mu Yuan looked on.
'Big Goblin (Common★★★): Level 6 of Zero-order'
'Goblin Spearmen (Common★★): Level 4 of Zero-order, Level 5 of Zero-order' x 3
'Goblin (Common★): Level 4 of Zero-order' x 8
In front of the goblin camp, a group of goblins sat around a campfire. Their levels were generally high, with a red indicator.
Even the weakest goblin had a level comparable to the Wolf King from the first day.
They held clubs in their hands. Compared to ordinary goblins, they looked much more vicious, and also seemed a bit taller and stronger.
They were elites!
Dead Bone looked serious. After all, he was only at level 4 himself, equivalent to a common goblin.
When dealing with these enemies, extreme caution was required indeed.
Whizz--
The sound of a wooden spear piercing through the air.
Dead Bone was the first to attack, aiming at a Goblin Spearman with ranged attack capacity.
This time, there was no need for stealth. He didn't need to silence the goblin, and thus aimed for the larger target of its torso.
He threw three spears in two and a half seconds.
Like bullets fired from a gun, the first and second Spearman were shot down consecutively. But the last Goblin Spearman somehow avoided the fatal spear at the critical moment and was only injured.
No wonder it was a Level 5 elite, its power was simply formidable.
Dead Bone muttered to himself, taking a serious approach.
Then, he fired another spear, finally killing the elite spearman.
After such continuous bursts of attacks, Dead Bone needed a moment to recover. The Big Goblin in the distance let out a beast-like roar and charged towards him.
At the same time, the whole camp stirred up. One goblin after another ran out from their corners, growling and hollering.
More than thirty goblins in total.
Their number might seem small, but only Mu Yuan understood how overwhelming and shocking they felt when they all charged at once.
Dead Bone and a few other skeletons faced these green monsters like rocks meeting a giant wave.
Although the wave was strong, the rocks held their ground against the onslaught.
"The decisive battle has finally arrived."
Mu Yuan mused.
The next moment, Dead Bone and the bravely presented skeletons...
Turned and ran.
The goblins were stunned, and after a moment of hesitation, chased after them in a rage. However, the Skeleton Soldiers were not slow, and even the higher-level Big Goblins couldn't catch them right away.
The guerrilla warfare led by Dead Bone had begun.
Mu Yuan was also taken aback, his mouth twitching slightly.
"Although this is indeed a tactical move."
"Although one side has rare rank and five Three-star soldiers, while the other side only has three Three-star soldiers, it's only right that some strategy is needed."
"But they could just have a direct face-off and end it all!"
All Mu Yuan could do was continue munching on melon seeds, watching in anticipation.
Both sides clashed a few times around the mountain basin, with Dead Bone managing to get a hit and escape each time, refusing to engage with the Big Goblin directly.
Even though, when using his skills, he could probably kill a high-level Big Goblin in one or two hits, he still wouldn't go for it.
It was too risky.
Even if he did kill Big Goblin A, there were still Big Goblins B and C around. The risk was too great; his armor might get damaged, and to round up, it could put him and his comrades in danger.
As Dead Bone was entrusted by the Lord, he would not take any risky moves.
Outside the hollow,
the ash-grey skeletons and green-skinned goblins were still fighting. The battle had lasted for more than ten minutes, causing the ground to be scraped and universe to collapse, until finally...
Splutter——
Bone Three made a sudden thrust forward, then a lift upward, directly stabbing into the back of the strongest and most muscular Big Goblin, at a point below his waist.
The Big Goblin let out a horrifying scream that echoed around the area.
Mu Yuan felt a tightening in his stomach.
Dead Bone gave Bone Three a thumbs-up, signaling his approval for the move which was both safe and effective.
The Big Goblin, fatally injured, soon expired.
The other goblins, who had been under the Big Goblin's command, scattered at once and fled back to their camp.
The camp had fences and watchtowers, making it difficult for Dead Bone and the other skeletons to overrun it. However, after the war that saw most of the goblin's soldiers obliterated, the camp was more than half empty.
The three strongest Big Goblins had all perished under the hands of Dead Bone, Bone Two, Bone Three, and the other skeleton soldiers.
Dead Bone continued to steadily advance toward the camp, methodically disabling the traps one by one.
Not far away, the goblins and spearmen showed signs of fleeing in disorder, but the next moment, the goblin's eyes gradually turned a bloody red color, much like the earlier Wolf King and other monsters.
They had completely lost their sense and nature was supplanted by increasing ferocity. They were more fearless in combat than the skeleton soldiers, and their combat power soared.
Of course, no matter how explosive they became, goblins were still goblins. When they hit the skeleton soldiers with their clubs, they only made a dull thud.
They did cause some damage, but it was only minor.
"The outcome is settled. I didn't expect Dead Bone to be more reliable than I thought. He already has the bearing of a great general."
Mu Yuan took a few large gulps of water and brushed away the shells of the melon seeds he'd eaten, preparing to control his character to finish off the enemy.
Suddenly, a Falcon hovering in mid-air gave a sharp screech.
Mu Yuan's eyebrows furrowed.
Dead Bone paused in his tracks.
From afar, deep inside the camp, three figures appeared.
Two of them were burly Big Goblins, and the other figure was quite small, similar in size to a normal goblin, yet this figure stood in the central C-grade position.
This one had a hunched back, dressed in animal skins that were much more intricate than the other goblins. Around its neck was a necklace made of beast teeth, and in its hand held a crooked stick embellished with several skulls, much like a staff.
It was...
A rare-ranked Goblin Shaman!
How could a Shaman appear in such a small camp?
Didn't the forum say that Shamans only appeared in big camps?
This was a bad situation!
Dead Bone, being a skeleton, would not understand what a Goblin Shaman represented. As expected, it was time for him, the Lord, to step in.
Mu Yuan began to control his character.
The Goblin Shaman who just came into view was already raising his staff, murmuring as if chanting a spell.
The air gradually became sticky, and there was an ominous atmosphere that made people feel irritated.
But Dead Bone made his move!
Burning with soul flame, a brand new greyish-white bone spear of about two meters long had somehow ended up in his hand.
His body slightly bent, his right hand raised back.
Skeleton Warrior's throwing technique, full strength!
He kept his eyes locked on the hunched figure.
Charge!
Energy surged and filled his whole body in an instant, gathering in the palm of his right hand holding the bone spear.
Throw! Throw! Throw!!
Dust was kicked up from the ground, his shoe scraping obvious marks.
A sharp sound of breaking the air passed.
Followed by a loud booming noise from the distance.
Boom——!
The bone spear thrown with the charged strength was like a shell piercing through the air, violently tearing apart and smashing the body of the Goblin Shaman, and with the remaining force, blew apart the gate of the camp.
The dust quickly dispersed, and there was no trace of the Goblin Shaman left.
On the side, the two big brother Goblins had just given a threatening roar when they became frozen on the spot.
And a hundred meters away, Dead Bone, still in a throwing pose, wiped off a nonexistent sweat, feeling relieved.
"That was close! Too close! Too close!"
"That was an incredibly thrilling battle."
In front of the computer, Mu Yuan looked at the corpses strewn all over the place and the Soul Sand and Remnant Souls being extracted from their bodies, commenting while cracking melon seeds:
"Yeah, that was really... thrilling, wasn't it?"