Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 371 The Bone Man

For a moment, Thales thought Tomding was about to cry.

In the firelight, his upper and lower lips moved back and forth, his small eyes perched on his cheekbones blinked hazily, and his greasy hair swayed slightly on his forehead.

But the caravan's owner took a deep breath and managed to steady himself, which was on the verge of collapse.

Tom Ding curled his cheeks into an extremely ugly smile.

"Ok."

"Do you know what this reminds me of?"

Tomdin coughed, the necklace around his neck swaying. "In those war-torn years, my great-grandfather fought under the 'wise king' Mindis III. His Majesty told him at a banquet: 'The more difficult the situation, the more confidence we need.'"

Quick Rope clutched his forehead in pain, mouthing "Here we go again." Thales noticed that many people in Dante's Greatsword were making similar gestures.

But Dean remained calm as he looked at Tomding, his expression unchanged.

“Now is the time when you—no, we all need more confidence,” Tomding tightened his belt, his protruding belly jiggling elastically in the air, as if to give them some confidence:
“Good Dean, dear Dean, you know I’ve always admired you, so I think your fee could be a little higher…”

Dean smiled.

“You didn’t listen. What we lack is not confidence, but security, and it’s not that we’re inflating prices,” Dean smiled politely, as if this were just a routine negotiation. “We can’t go any further—who knows what’s waiting for us ahead.”

"The bodies in the camp were so fresh that the yellow sand hadn't even had time to cover them. This means we were only one step away from unknown dangers. If you ask me, we should have considered turning back yesterday morning."

Tom Ding was slightly taken aback.

“Dean, you promised me you’d come,” the businessman’s chest heaved as he stared wide-eyed at Dean. “You can’t let me leave empty-handed and at a loss! Otherwise, I won’t even be able to pay your commission!”

Quick Rope's eyes lit up.

“In that case, I suggest you deposit some money with the tavern owner Tampa next time. If you come back empty-handed like this, he will repay you… um, um, um…” But before he could finish speaking, the northerner Kanze viciously covered his mouth, and he struggled helplessly, waving his arms and legs with tears in his eyes.

“Things always change,” Dean laughed at Tomding. “So you mean, compared to that, if we die out there, we don’t have to pay commission?”

Tom Ding's face stiffened, and he hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Finally, he raised his finger, staring intently at Dean, his eyes filled with unease and anxiety—and a barely concealed anger and resentment.

"This also concerns your reputation, Dante's Greatsword!"

The caravan owner seemed to have lost his temper, and was quite exasperated: "What kind of mercenaries are these? What kind of bodyguards are they?"

"I humbly begged you to come, generously paid you, and provided you with the best food and drink. I didn't even say much about you picking up trash along the way, wasting resources, and adding to the burden on the caravan..."

The trash he found along the way—Tails raised an eyebrow, then lowered his head and scratched it.

What happened to the wise ruler we were promised?

What happened to the promise of "shouldering responsibility and having a passionate heart"?

"And what you're best at, after taking the deposit, is abandoning your employer halfway through and betraying them?"

"The entire Baki Dunes will know!"

Upon hearing this, the mercenaries' expressions changed.

“Let me tell you, I originally planned to praise you in front of Baron Williams after this trip and try to get a reduction in your taxes and venue rental fees. Now, should I go back and tell His Excellency the Baron or the other colleagues that you were so terrified by a few corpses that you don’t even have the most basic manners—”

But Tomding was interrupted.

“In the desert, you should never question your guide and protector, Fatty,” McKee said coldly, his face contorted with rage. “You’re underestimating the desert. Believe me, think about the coffins of those who sleep eternally in the desert—they’re made of sand, and they’re free.”

Tom Ding was slightly taken aback and subconsciously shrank back.

“Furthermore, if you are really close enough to Baron Williams, a businessman, to the point that a single word from him can decide our fate,” Old Hammer said calmly from the other side, “why would you be afraid to go back to Baki Dunes?”

Having finally escaped Kanze's clutches, Kuaisheng chuckled: "Or perhaps you could bring up the fact that your noble ancestors drank with the king, which might surprise the baron and prompt him to eagerly compensate you for your loss?"

Tom Ding was speechless, only pointing at McGee and Old Hammer: "You guys..."

“Alright boys,” Captain Louisa, who had been silent, coughed, raised her hands, and spoke with a smile like a peacemaker, “We don’t need to make things so tense. I promise we’ll find a good way to resolve this, right?”

She smiled at Dean and winked at him.

Finally, Dean sighed and touched his bald head.

"Alright then, let's find a compromise."

Tom Ding looked at Louisa with gratitude, as if he had found a savior.

"Captain Dante! I knew you were reasonable..."

Louisa waved her hand.

“If we go in a certain direction for twenty or thirty miles, we will come across a remote oasis outpost that few people know about, where a small tribe is stationed,” Dean said softly. “We know their chief, in fact, we are quite familiar with each other, we are like brothers and talk and laugh together. They should have migrated to the vicinity at this time of year.”

McGee gave a cold laugh.

"You can trade some goods there, exchange them for desert specialties, replenish your water and food supplies, at least sell some of the stockpiled goods, and then decide on the next step, how about that?"

Tom Ding was slightly taken aback.

"Wait, the tribe of the Bone People? They're nearby?"

Upon hearing this, Thales was taken aback, and the water bag in his hand trembled slightly.

His surprise was the same as Tom Ding's.

Skeleton People?
A familiar face appeared before my eyes, and what impressed me most were the person's red eyes.

But Dean didn't let him continue: "If you're worried, Sepp, that tribe... they know everything about the area, at least better than we do. Ask them, and we'll find out what's going on—whether some terrifying killer has appeared in the desert or the sand bandits are just boredly killing each other, and then we can decide whether we continue or..."

Tomding waved his hands anxiously: "But those are skeletons! Those cannibalistic bastards... How do you know, and how can you guarantee it..."

McKee slowly stood up and walked over to him.

“Because that’s the tribe I’m from,” the warrior with black markings on his face gently tapped Tomding’s belly. “Don’t worry.”

McGee chewed his teeth, his eyes piercing:

“As a ‘cannibalistic bastard,’ I would tell them in advance: You can’t eat them.”

The caravan owner turned pale, took a step back in fright, and fell to the ground.

Kuai Rope chuckled.

Thales was stunned.

The Bone Man.

Skeleton People?
He stared intently at McKee, especially into the latter's eyes.

But they were just ordinary brown eyes.

“Desolate bones…”

Tom Ding glanced at the other mercenaries instinctively, only to find them all staring at him with displeasure, which made him shudder slightly.

"nearby?"

“Now you know why we can move freely in the desert,” Dean sighed. “It’s our biggest secret, sir. We have a Bone Man as our guide.”

Tom Ding shuddered again.

Louisa helped Tomdin up and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Then...we'll go to that tribe tomorrow..."

A smile instantly spread across Tom Ding's face.

"Ahem, I understand!"

The caravan leader chuckled, looking somewhat reluctant: "We'll head back tomorrow! Tomorrow, tomorrow!"

Before he could finish speaking, he scrambled out of the camp, looking as if eight hungry wolves were chasing him.

The greatswordsmen of Dante laughed easily.

Thales sat silently in the corner.

“But we all know there are no Bone Tribes there,” Old Hammer shook his head helplessly and patted McGee, who had sat down again. “Besides, that’s the supply point we were supposed to go to, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right.” Dean shrugged and nodded toward Tom Ding’s retreating figure.

"But he didn't know that."

Another burst of hearty laughter filled the camp.

"Problem solved. No more searching those corpses on edge. To be honest, there were a few exiles among those dead sand bandits. I even recognized some as members of the Shalaren tribe. Some of them had at least twenty Shalaren markings on their bodies—meaning they'd won twenty battles, and might even have been Extreme Realm experts," Dean sighed.

"It's hard to imagine what could have killed them."

Louisa smiled gently at him: "Don't worry, we'll head back tomorrow."

Thales huddled silently in the corner, watching the group suspiciously, his gaze occasionally sweeping over McGee.

Louisa noticed Thales's gaze.

“Don’t mind it, Wyman, and don’t be too surprised. I know what you’re thinking,” Louisa said understandingly. “Things like the Bone People having blue faces and fangs, and eating human flesh…”

Everyone's eyes turned to him, making Thales feel very embarrassed.

Old Hammer even started laughing out loud.

The female captain shook her head: "First of all, the so-called Wild Bone Tribe does not exist, and we have no intention of visiting any tribe."

Kuai Sheng flashed his big white teeth: "Just kidding."

Thales forced a weak twitch at the corner of his mouth.

He cleared his throat, feeling he should say something: "Okay, of course, but you just said, McGee, he..."

Louisa laughed, “That’s right, Mackey is a Boneman. See the markings on his face? Those are battle markings, one of the proofs of being a Boneman. Obviously, he doesn’t eat people, and Bonemen don’t…” “No, not all,” Mackey scoffed, seemingly quite disdainful, his gaze cold.
"It's just that my tribe doesn't eat people."

Thales was taken aback again.

"Go to hell, McGee," Old Hammer grumbled, taking a bite of his food.
"Every sentence sounds like a ghost story."

Thales still felt somewhat embarrassed, after all, he was in someone else's camp, but Louisa's smile made him feel much better. However, Dean stared at him thoughtfully, making the prince quite uneasy.

He turned to the fast rope.

"So, what I've heard..."

“Oh, forget what you’ve heard,” Old Hammer sighed, swallowing his food. “Madness, brutality, cannibalism… People from outside the desert always describe this place as—you know, some people are too lazy to distinguish, or can’t distinguish, so they just make do with it, and the rumors spread, calling all humans who are forced or willing to make a living in the desert “wild bone people,” and even including foreign sand bandits and thugs.”

Thales listened, his brows furrowing slightly, as if he had just realized something.

"Of course, I doubt whether any of them have ever seen the truly troublesome and terrifying kind of skeletons."

Old Hammer snorted, "Even in the Desert Wars, the real Bone People aren't people you can just meet whenever you want."

Dean spoke, and his calm voice gradually quieted everyone down so they could listen to him.

“I know you’re confused, Wyman, and I know what’s going on about the Bone People, but you don’t need to be afraid—the desert is vast, and the Bone People are not a simple, clear-cut race,” the bald mercenary politely gestured to McKee. “Their history is probably not much shorter than the desert itself, and their diversity is not much less than that of the animals in the desert.”

"Some tribes are wary and xenophobic, some are hospitable, some are cruel and warlike, some are friendly and peaceful, some are small in number, and some are so powerful that they dare to challenge the orcs, or even go to the border of the two great powers to see the scenery. They are very different, that's how it is."

Thales nodded as if he understood.

"But I've heard that the Bone People all... all have red eyes?"

At that moment, McGee looked up, his gaze cold and aloof.

"red?"

Despite the other party's unfriendly gaze, Thales' heart stirred.

Did he say the wrong thing?

“Many soldiers have heard the same thing,” Dean laughed. “Obviously, they haven’t encountered any real Bone People—or they haven’t encountered many.”

But this time, McGee interrupted him.

"No, the red-eyed skeletons do exist."

The skeletal man raised his head, the black markings on his face faintly visible in the firelight, and looked directly at Thales: "You've seen him before?"

The tone was aggressive.

Thales scratched his head.

“I’ve met…I’ve met those who have heard of them,” Thales stammered, “just like, just like you.”

McGee stared at Thales, his gaze lingering on him.

“Only a small number of the Bone People have such eyes,” he said slowly, as the other mercenaries listened attentively. “They are descendants of the progenitors, and in your terms, they are probably the nobility of the Bone People.”

Quick Rope popped up again: "Are you sure it's not albinism?"

Old Hammer slapped him from behind, making Quick Rope scream.

"Descendants of the progenitor?" Thales asked in confusion, ignoring the playful ropes.

McGee squinted and answered his question: "Red eyes... It is said that they are the origin of the Wild Bone People, the bloodline left by the first generation of Wild Bone People who settled in the desert. They would be treated well in any tribe and were born to be the tribe's priests."

So Thales frowned slightly in his heart: Raphael Lindbergh, the secret service officer with dark red eyes... is he the so-called "descendant of the progenitor"?
What is the origin of the Bone People?

At this moment, Quick Rope interjected: "But what I heard was that those red eyes are proof that the Bone People made a deal with the demons?"

McGee frowned.

"A demon?" Thales was startled again.

“Yes, I heard it from the old sailor, those demons living underground,” Quick Rope raised his hands and said in a ferocious manner, “evil, terrifying, insidious, chaotic demons, who are always thinking about coming to the surface to cause trouble.”

Quick Rope spoke with an air of seriousness: "Legend has it that the Bone People are a race abandoned by the gods. So they made a deal with the gods' enemies—the demons of hell—becoming their earthly servants and gaining the power to reside forever in the land of death. They became second only to the orcs in the Great Desert, a fearsome existence... So, Wyman, this world is very dangerous. As the saying goes, fate is unpredictable. We must cherish our lives in a suitable way and make them valuable, for example..."

Thales awkwardly curled the corners of his mouth; he knew what the other person was going to say.

Fortunately, before the rope could continue, Old Hammer slapped his words and his face into the sand.

"Come on, rumors stop with the wise. Almost all the Bone People worship and believe in the Desert God, and have even built sacred altars to influence a large number of outsiders. They have absolutely nothing to do with demons. Just ask McKee and you'll know," Old Hammer said quietly.

McGee shrugged.

Quick Rope raised his head defiantly, spitting out a mouthful of sand: "How do you know? Have you seen it?"

"how could I know?"

Old Hammer put down the food and smiled: "Didn't I tell you? I'm a Starman, born in the Western Wilderness Territory, right here in the Desolate Ruins."

"So, I have indeed seen them, quite a few."

Thales raised an eyebrow—it had been far too long since he had heard these familiar star-like place names.

“When I was young, I was a soldier of the Falkenhausen family. During the Bloody Years, I was conscripted to guard the Fang Dunes. During the Desert Wars, I also followed the king’s army into the desert and fought in the Altar Battle—ah, that was a great battle,” Old Hammer said with a nostalgic look. “But from then on, I realized that all I could do was swing a hammer. I couldn’t support my family by farming and the meager pay of conscripts. I thought about enlisting in the royal standing army because I heard their pay was higher.”

Quick rope blinked in surprise.

Thales stared at her blankly.

This bearded man... is actually a veteran of StarCraft...

"But fate played a trick on me, and in the end, I ended up becoming a mercenary."

Old Hammer turned his head and chuckled, "Then he even became sworn brothers with a Bone Man."

“I don’t know you well,” McGee, who was standing next to him, replied abruptly.

"Who said that!" Old Hammer laughed loudly, hugged McGee tightly, and used his elbow to choke him, shaking him back and forth: "I'm the one who saved your life!"

"Damn it... let go!" McGee's face was ugly, like he had eaten shit, but he was not angry or angry, he just struggled desperately.

“But he can’t save your life every time,” Quickstrip sighed, spreading his hands in feigned helplessness. “So I suggest, McGee, you might as well deposit some money with the pub owner… ouch…”

This time, without anyone reminding him, Kanze, the northerner, shoved the end of the rope into the sand.

“Sorry,” Louisa, the team leader, said helplessly, pressing her head and pretending not to see the mercenaries playing around. She smiled apologetically at Thales, “This is our daily life—you know, they’re under a lot of pressure.”

Thales stared in disbelief at the seemingly amiable mercenaries.

The atmosphere of this team suddenly struck him as novel.

This was the most harmonious team he had ever seen: the beggars in the abandoned house could only tremble with helplessness, the private soldiers in the Mindis Hall could only obey coldly, and the white-bladed guards of Nicolai were full of iron-blooded brotherhood. However, whether it was Gilbert, Yodl, Ginny or Putila, there was always an unspeakable sense of alienation between them.

If I had to pick the closest analogy, well… Thales thought of Ada, Wyatt, and Rolf, and suddenly realized that their interactions were quite similar to the people in front of him.

Kuai Sheng spat out the sand in his mouth for the second time, gritting his teeth: "Ptooey, I've got it... uh, maybe, maybe Mo Shen was originally a demon from hell?"

“Be careful what you say,” McGee said coldly as he broke free from Old Hammer’s embrace. “In the desert, many people die from heat and thirst, but even more die from a lack of reverence and excessive arrogance.”

Quick Rope winked at Thales, giving him a "here we go again" look.

Old Hammer laughed: "Come on, quick rope, stop spreading rumors. A bard who passed through the erosion path once swore to me that there was a giant dragon in the desert, nicknamed 'Heartwarming Girl'! A giant dragon, do you believe that? Those are just legends for fooling children, 'heartwarming'..."

Kuai Sheng's expression changed.

“But dragons aren’t just legends,” Thales joined the discussion in a low voice. “It’s said that Exter was founded by a dragon, and the noble rulers of Dragonsky City are proud of that.”

"That's right!" Quick Rope, having found supporters, was in high spirits and declared confidently, "There are people from the north in the tavern. They say that five or six years ago, a giant dragon descended upon Exter and Dragonsky City, waging a great battle against the legendary calamity..."

Thales coughed softly and lowered his head to focus on his water bag.

"Disaster? You believe in that?" Old Hammer laughed heartily. "Are you sure you didn't run into a priest from the Temple of the Underworld? One of those mystical drama queens?"

"Ha, a bunch of drunken northerners. You know their character. A few cups of horse piss and they start spouting nonsense. Who knows if they saw a dragon or a winged mammoth? Maybe they're just making up some legends to cover up the king's death..."

"Hey!" This time, the burly man Kanze, who had been silent all along, raised his hand in dissatisfaction: "Don't forget there are northerners here too!"

“Hammer, always keep a little respect for things you don’t understand,” Dean said, sitting to the side, watching his companions chat and smiling to himself, like a father watching his children play. “We’re still in the desert. Maybe if we’re unlucky, we’ll run into that ‘heartwarming girl’ tomorrow.”

“Then I’ll sleep with her,” Old Hammer shrugged. “My childhood dream has been to become a dragon knight!”

Louisa scoffed dismissively: "Before that, finish your food—Dragon Knight! And McKee, and you, Quick Rope, don't think that just because you're a rookie you can slack off and go outside to take turns with Breeze, Firewood, Harken, and Panga!"

“Hey, what about Dean? He has to work shifts too!” Quick Rope protested, raising his hand. “Why don’t you urge him?”

Dean shrugged.

Louisa gave a mysterious smile.

Seeing the captain's smile, Kaisen felt a sense of panic.

“As for Dean, he’s had a very busy day, both checking out the surroundings and negotiating,” Louisa said gently. “So, dear Quick Rope, you should sleep a little less tonight and take his shift.”

Quick Rope let out a wail, and the mercenaries burst into laughter, filling the camp with a joyful atmosphere.

Thales took a bite of food, silently watching their interaction, and suddenly a sense of peaceful comfort welled up from the bottom of his heart.

These are mercenaries.

It looks...not bad?

Just then, he suddenly noticed a pair of eyes fixed on him. Thales assumed it was McGee, who was rather unfriendly to him, but he was wrong.

Not a skeleton.

It's Dean.

The bald mercenary watched him silently, his gaze fixed on Thales as he ate his meal.

Dean's expression slowly changed.

(End of this chapter)