Gu Erdan could command the other skeleton soldiers at will, except for the advanced guards painstakingly cultivated by those skeleton wizards.
But he only had the right to command, which didn't mean he could override these skeletons.
It was the skeleton wizard who said he was the second-in-command, and that's why he became one. If one day the skeleton wizard no longer recognized his status, then Gu Erdan might be killed by these skeleton soldiers in an instant.
Facing this group of ungrateful wretches, Gu Erdan was at a loss. He had been with the skeleton wizard for over two months and had experienced dozens of battles, large and small. Most of them were about hunting down scattered newly-resurrected skeletons that hadn't gathered yet.
Sometimes he was also in charge of chasing dogs, rounding up sheep, capturing cows, and slaying horses.
There were also several large-scale battles. The first one was a fierce fight against two third-tier skeleton war generals. To be precise, those two reckless skeleton war generals, relying on their large numbers, insisted on taking on the skeleton wizard head-on.
It was in that battle that Gu Erdan shone brightly and was promoted to the second-in-command.
In addition, they also encountered clusters of mutated second-tier skeleton dogs and a sea of instinctively-gathered first-tier skeletons.
Although the team suffered heavy losses every time, this didn't affect their combat effectiveness.
After all, there were countless skeleton soldiers. As a skeleton wizard, the one thing he never lacked was cannon fodder.
As long as his trusted subordinates didn't die, such as those skeleton guards that had evolved with great difficulty and the archers whose mutations depended entirely on luck, even if all the other skeleton soldiers died, the skeleton wizard wouldn't feel the slightest bit of heartache.
Logically speaking, a skeleton wizard should be able to easily assemble a sea of skeletons.
Thousands upon thousands of skeletons, an overwhelming horde, this was the most terrifying thing about a skeleton wizard.
A small team of only a hundred people like this didn't look like the doing of a skeleton wizard at all.
Actually, this was mainly due to geographical reasons. The reason why skeleton wizards could cause small-scale undead disasters on Earth was mainly because they could intimidate skeleton undead whose strength was lower than theirs, especially those undead they had resurrected.
But in the Underworld, it was different. There were undead everywhere here, and low-level undead would instinctively submit to high-level undead.
If a skeleton wizard carelessly created a large number of subordinates without considering the consequences, it was very likely that in the next battle, when he encountered an opponent slightly stronger than him, these skeleton soldiers who were not under his complete control but only instinctively submitted to him would immediately turn against him.
A hundred. This was already the maximum number that a skeleton wizard could precisely control and prevent them from easily rebelling.
As for the question of whether these skeleton soldiers would rebel when they encountered a high-level undead far stronger than themselves?
If they really encountered such an existence, these hundred skeleton soldiers stacked up together wouldn't even be enough for that being to take one bite. What difference did it make whether they rebelled or not?
After resting for a while and slightly repairing the damaged bones of the skeletons, the mighty hundred-skeleton team set off again.
Twenty skeleton soldiers walked in front to scout the way, but actually, relying on them to scout the way was basically a wild goose chase.
The biggest use of them walking in front was simply to draw the enemy's fire and buy some reaction time for the rear troops.
The other skeleton soldiers trailing behind surrounded the skeleton wizard. The most central positions were occupied by either skeleton archers or skeleton guards.
They were the skeleton wizard's ace troops, numbering around 30 in total.
Gu Erdan, who was also beside the skeleton wizard, seemed a bit distracted at this moment.
In the past few months, after realizing that he had no chance of recruiting the undead on his own, he had already started hatching a new plan.
His new plan was simple. Put in two words, it was "to rebel"!
Kill the skeleton wizard, devour his soul fire, and boost his own power.
If there was a chance, it would be great to take over his underlings.
After all, skeleton guards were still easy to handle. Although it wasn't easy for them to level up, Gu Erdan had the system!
However, the skeleton archers, the ranged mutant variant of first-tier skeletons, were extremely hard to get.
For mutant skeleton soldiers like these, especially those that were ranged combat units, there were indeed some in the wild, but they seldom survived until the next day.
After all, if an archer fought alone with poor shooting accuracy, it was simply an easy target.
The skeleton wizard had painstakingly trained for over a year and had only managed to train fewer than 30 archers in total. It was imaginable how hard it was to make them mutate.
As for the skeleton guards? Actually, the number wasn't always this small before.
Through Gu Erdan's inquiries, from the stuttering and muddle-headed skeleton guards, he learned a secret.
That was, there had once been a rebellion among the skeleton wizard's subordinates. A highly intelligent skeleton guard had secretly evolved into a third-tier skeleton war general and directly led his subordinates to launch a surprise night raid on the skeleton wizard and revolt.
That battle ended in a lose-lose situation. Although the skeleton wizard finally suppressed the rebellion, his own troops also took heavy losses.
You know, a year ago, this guy's hundred-man team was so elite that it consisted of either skeleton archers or skeleton guards! It wasn't as pathetic as it is now.
After hearing this secret incident, Gu Erdan finally understood why he was treated so poorly.
So that's how it was! There was a precedent!
In fact, Gu Erdan wasn't an ungrateful person. If the skeleton wizard had treated him a bit better, he wouldn't have minded giving the skeleton wizard a high-ranking position after he grew up.
Even if he didn't want to join him at that time, they could part ways amicably, right?
But the problem was that this bastard not only didn't give him any direct underlings, but he was even reluctant to give him cannon fodder like easily summoned skeleton soldiers.
Secondly, he didn't allow him to absorb the soul fire. This meant that after Gu Erdan had been with him for over two months, his entire bony frame was still pitifully yellow and could be snapped with just a little force.
It was obvious that the other party intended to make him be a medic for him for the rest of his life and didn't give him any chance to develop.
If it weren't for the fact that his Skeleton Lord System could collect extra energy by killing the undead, how could Gu Erdan have nearly a thousand energy reserves now?
I'm afraid his energy reserve would still be zero by now!
Since he was heartless, then Gu Erdan couldn't be blamed for being unfair!
The soul fire within his chest gently revolved. Gu Erdan stole a furtive glance at the skeleton wizard. Looking at this guy riding a skeleton horse, swaggering and hiding deep within the team, Gu Erdan wished that an archery master could pop out from some corner right now and blast his head to smithereens from a distance of one thousand eight hundred meters.
Why does everyone walk on two legs, while he gets to sit on a skeleton horse and be taller than everyone else!
It's a pity that this is just a fantasy. Under natural circumstances, how could there be a ranged skeleton soldier above level three? There's a slight possibility of a level-three skeleton war general suddenly emerging from the grass.
Just as the small team was advancing mightily forward, the clumps of ghost yin grass in front, which grew relying on the aura of death and was extremely lush in the Netherworld, suddenly began to rustle.
The skeleton soldiers who heard the noise were in a panic. Some instinctively wanted to rush over, while those with a bit more intelligence followed the instructions of the skeleton wizard and prepared to gather for defense.
Some advanced, while some retreated. For a moment, the entire team was in complete chaos.
Finally, the skeleton wizard couldn't stand it anymore. He knocked on the head of the mount under his crotch with the staff in his hand, making two muffled thumps.
Hearing the noise, Gu Erdan instantly understood what was going on. He quickly retreated among the skeletons and began to direct them to form a formation.
But before the team could finish gathering here, a large number of skeleton soldiers had already rushed out from the distant grass, and the number was simply terrifying. From afar, it was a vast black mass. There were likely well over two or three hundred!
Behind these hordes of skeleton soldiers, a skeleton war general with one arm missing and holding a huge white bone ax in his hand, stepped towards this side.