Right!
Shen Ye's gaze swept the ground.
He remembered, the human officer Roman had left him a combat pack, which he hadn't had a chance to check yet.
He quickly opened the brown cowhide combat pack.
Inside was a set of brand new Undead Soldier's Armor, a Nightmare Crystal, a flask of clear water, and a small amount of dry food.
When he crushed the Nightmare Crystal, a series of fine whispers immediately filled the room:
"The Brotherhood has established an intelligence transmission point where the army has encamped. If you see a tent with three upright short swords, you can come to complete your mission."
"Hand of Shadow awaits your news."
Shen Ye was disappointed.
The crystal only contained a few sentences; there was nothing useful.
Could it be that the officer named Roman took him for a member of the Hand of Shadow?
He remembered now.
It was seeing the face armor on his hand that Roman left the combat pack behind.
Shen Ye came to a realization and immediately asked,
"Hey, big skeleton, what's the origin of this Centurion Face Armor you gave me?"
"Picked it up on the battlefield, how would I know." The great skeleton replied.
"Where did you pick it up? Can you find that spot again?" Shen Ye asked.
"It was near the secret passage, I don't remember exactly—it was too chaotic—but do you really plan to disguise yourself as a scout, or as a human assassin, and show up on the battlefield?" the great skeleton inquired.
"I don't want to attract attention again. How about this, do you have any human equipment on hand? This time we won't disguise ourselves as undead, we'll go as human soldiers." Shen Ye said.
"Wait a moment, I think I have some stuff that could help you." the great skeleton said.
There was a pause.
With a movement of the ring, many things fell to the ground.
Broken and rough leather armor vests, soldier helmets stained with blood, a broken spear, a shattered Tower Shield, and a Nightmare Crystal.
"See the Fierce Dog emblem on the Tower Shield? That's the emblem of the Rhine Territory on the human border; we wiped out the entire territory." the great skeleton said.
Shen Ye tugged at the Tower Shield but couldn't budge it.
He added 4 Attribute Points to his Strength and pulled hard to finally lift the Tower Shield.
"So I can pretend to be someone from that territory?" Shen Ye asked.
"At the time, several soldiers followed the Lord's orders and left the territory to seek help elsewhere, but they all were killed as well."
"You could just pretend to be one of them."
"All people from Rhine Territory have been killed by the undead; no one can doubt your identity."
Shen Ye looked at the Nightmare Crystal.
"Is this a crystal for summoning help?"
"Yes, it's a plea for help from the Lord of Rhine, also a token. When you go out later, it'll come in handy." the great skeleton said.
"Eh? Why have you suddenly taken such an interest in my affairs?" Shen Ye curiously asked.
"Because you saved me last night." the great skeleton said.
"Tell the truth." Shen Ye said.
"We have a pact of fair trade; I need to repay your favor." the great skeleton said.
"If you don't tell the truth, I'll stop your calcium supplement." Shen Ye threatened.
"I must help you gain a certain status in the Nightmare World, so you can purchase some high-level materials to heal my wounds." the great skeleton said.
"That's more like it." Shen Ye said.
He walked to the wall and pressed his hand against it.
A door quietly appeared.
Looking through the window in the door, he saw that the secret passage had returned to calmness.
Not a soul in sight.
A great opportunity!
"Are you sure you picked the face armor near here?" he asked again.
"I'm sure it was nearby—although the battlefield was too chaotic for me to remember the exact spot." the great skeleton said.
Shen Ye, now fully dressed, pushed open the door and followed the secret passage to the end.
Outside the secret passage.
The battlefield was littered with corpses.
A few human soldiers moved slowly through the position.
Whenever they saw an undead still moving, they would go up and finish it off.
Seeing any human soldiers still alive, they would blow the whistles around their necks, calling for the medical team to come and carry the wounded away on stretchers.
"Are there any survivors?"
"Anybody still alive?"
The soldiers shouted from time to time, gradually spreading outwards.
The sky in the Nightmare World was also growing dark.
Taking advantage of the nightfall, Shen Ye rolled out but hit a body and came to a stop.
It was an Undead Giant about three meters tall.
Half of its body had been cleaved away, exposing a ferocious chest cavity, but it still clutched a heavy stone hammer in its hand.
Shen Ye cleared his throat softly, lowering his voice to ask, "Do you know the origin of this face armor?"
"Whispers of the Dark" activated!
The soul of the Undead Giant returned to the body and glanced at the mask, saying in a low voice:
"I have no idea."
Shen Ye was shocked.
—With that way of speaking, could it also be from Blue Star?
"Heaven and Earth, Who Dares Disturb?" Shen Ye tried tentatively.
"?" the Undead Giant.
"Odd or even, nothing's given?" Shen Ye.
"??" the Undead Giant.
Upon a closer look, Shen Ye realized the Undead Giant's mouth had been slashed, causing it to speak with a lisping sound, and that's why he had misunderstood.
"Alright, go back." Shen Ye said, feeling relieved.
The Undead Giant's head lolled to the side, motionless again.
Shen Ye rolled a few more 360 degrees, lying in front of the corpse of a human knight and whispered,
"Buddy, have you ever seen this face armor?"
The corpse came to life, glanced around, and said, "No."
"Off you go."
The soul immediately departed, and the corpse returned to stillness.
Shen Ye continued to roll forward, stopping in front of a Wolf Demon corpse, he gasped for breath and, holding up the face armor, said:
"There is no such thing as a difficult job, only brave doggies."
The soul of the Wolf Demon instantly returned to the body and howled softly:
"I've seen that face armor, it belongs to a Centurion, just twenty meters to your left, the one with only one arm left."
——Damn, good boy!
"Thanks."
Shen Ye rolled twenty meters to the left, then stopped.
"What's the matter? Didn't you find it?" the Skeleton couldn't help asking.
"I'm dizzy from rolling," Shen Ye said, covering his head.
After a while.
He regained his senses and finally looked toward that body.
It was called a body, but in fact, only an arm was left.
What about the other parts of the body?
Shen Ye looked around.
All sorts of corpses in the area were torn to pieces.
"It was caused by a large-scale Technique strike," the Skeleton explained.
"With only an arm left, is my 'Whispers of the Dark' still useful?" Shen Ye asked.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
The Skeleton replied in a mysteriously indifferent tone:
"I have a deep understanding of the Sacred Corpse Form, and I also have a mastery of Undead Resurrection, but this is the first time I've seen someone use Whispers of the Dark like this."
"Forget it, I won't ask you, I'll just try," Shen Ye said.
He crawled over, stopped in front of the arm, and whispered:
"Buddy, are you there?"
The arm suddenly trembled a few times and slowly lifted, making an 'OK' sign with the thumb and forefinger, while keeping the other fingers straight.
Shen Ye immediately understood.
——Human Race officers like Roman used this gesture too.
This must be the signature gesture of the Hand of Shadow organization.
Got it right!
This person was indeed the owner of the mask!
"Buddy, do you have anything you can tell me?"
Shen Ye asked.
The hand immediately changed posture, pointing in one direction.
Following the direction it pointed, one could see a battered boot lying quietly in the grass.
Is there a secret hidden in this boot?
Shen Ye crawled forward to the boot and suddenly covered his nose.
——This boot stinks!
No choice, the clue was right in front of him, he had to grab the boot with one hand while holding his nose with the other and turned it upside down with a shake.
A small bag rolled out onto the grass.
There was indeed something!
Shen Ye tossed the boot away, picked up the bag, and opened it.
Inside the bag lay a round badge quietly, along with a crumpled letter.
Before Shen Ye could examine further, a line of light suddenly rose next to the round badge.
——After awakening gate power, Shen Ye naturally developed an ability to identify items, aided by this ability, he could recognize various things given by the Skeleton.
Now, this ability was activated again:
"Dark Night Shadow Badge."
"Blue grade (Outstanding)."
"The badge has high-level Technique Runes etched into it, capable of activating specific weaponry."
"——Without the matching weapon, it's a piece of junk."
Weapon?
The badge started to move.
It seemed to generate some kind of force, constantly pressing against Shen Ye.
Could it be...
Shen Ye quickly drew out the Dusk Shortsword.
The badge, like a magnet, hit the hilt of the shortsword with a "ding," drifted for a moment, then settled into a groove on the hilt.
——So it was this sword!
When he had awakened his "gate" power, a voice from the Nightmare World had found him right away.
That voice had explained the matters of the Fierce Dog Emblem's Curse.
Later——
This "Dusk" Shortsword was also given to him by that voice!
He had always thought the sword was to prove his identity, but he hadn't expected it to contain such a secret!
Once the badge was embedded, the shortsword trembled slightly, as if something inside had been activated.
Shen Ye raised the sword.
Lines of glowing text suddenly appeared beside the shortsword:
"Nightfall."
"Special shortsword for human assassins."
"Blue grade (Outstanding)."
"Trait: Sharpness (High level)."
"Trait: Piercing (High level)."
"Trait: Bleeding (High level)."
"This is a assassination shortsword that has also been blessed by the Hand of Shadow Brotherhood; only a high-level assassin can wield it."
"Shadow's Blessing: The sword emits a special power fluctuation that signifies your identity, allowing you to carry out various missions within the Hand of Shadow Brotherhood and receive your due rewards."
"——Shadow shelters everyone who upholds justice."
(Thanks to the Alliance Hierarch River of Fire in the Sky for the reward, and thank you all for following the story. New books need data, so please help with follow-ups and votes to nurture the growth of this book. Love you all, muah~)