Brand's mind was racing. He thought it would be great if he had some reconnaissance abilities. Like Eagle Eye Technique, Momentary Premonition, Realm of the Dead, Detect, and skills of that sort. But in thinking about reconnaissance, he suddenly thought of a possibility. Yes, that's it—
He couldn't help but clench his hand and then relax, trying to calm himself.
"Because right now, the Dagger River Beach is almost undefended for us. At most, there's just one squad of the undead stationed there. Why don't I break out toward that direction?"
Everyone's first reaction was nearly the same:
"What, is that true?"
"How is that possible!"
"How did you know that?"
Brand raised his hand to quiet everyone down. "Of course I know, Breson. Do you remember finding that half-destroyed statue in Qing Village?"
"The one that looks like a demon, really heavy and big." Breson suddenly realized. That object was found by Zeta and Lains under the collapse of a Karydas Temple. They had found a Knight's trail in the vicinity and conducted a search, which led them to that item.
Brand took out an ebony statue from his pocket. "It's called a Stone Statue Ghost. You must have heard of it. It's one of Bujia's basic war units, and it's controlled by the Wizards with this thing."
He placed it on his open palm to show the others. Most of the young guard team members who had participated in the action at Qing Village recognized it immediately—it matched the statue perfectly.
"Wait, you're saying you can control that thing?" someone asked.
"Can it move?"
"Does it have wings? Can it fly?" The Scout named Zeta watched Brand from the back and asked.
"It can definitely fly, and not any slower than Flying Dragons. You know our Flying Dragon Knights, right? In Bujia, they're the same rank as Flying Dragon Knights. The best reconnaissance soldiers on the battlefield. I use it to clear the way and avoid large units of the undead army."
"Yesterday morning, I noticed that Madara's advance to the North ran into some trouble. At least three of their companies were delayed at Weibin, unable to seal off the north bank of the Weishi River in time. Due to a coordination issue among themselves, I think the two undead armies ahead of us don't know about their comrades' mistake up north yet."
"But unfortunately, during further reconnaissance, the Stone Statue Ghost was discovered by the stationed troops, attacked, and damaged. When I ordered it to return, it crashed in Qing Village—"
Brand was about to explain more when Frey suddenly realized, "So that's how it is. Brand, you said you had personal matters to attend to. No wonder you always managed to lead us away from danger. No wonder why, even with such serious injuries, you insisted on going to Qing Village. You wanted to repair that thing—why didn't you tell us?"
Brand was about to explain, but the future Valkyrie had already lowered her head. "I'm sorry, Brand. I also made a mistake. I was mad at you then, but I didn't know you were thinking of everyone."
Ha?
Brand thought of himself as a genius, coming up with such a story under pressure. But seeing Frey link everything together so perfectly, he wasn't sure if he was too clever or if Frey was too naive. Seeing her apologetic face, Brand suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.
However, with Frey's words, the others, who were already 80% convinced, were now fully sold. Frey was the best militia member of this year and had a good impression on Madden. She was also a Buqi person, so there was no way she could be deceiving them, right?
Even Breson couldn't help but rub his temples and ask, "Can that thing move again?"
"It's hard to say. I will try my best. I've re-established contact with it. The rest is up to it recovering slowly." Brand said, making things up as he went along; thinking, if it could move, would I be wasting time here with you guys?
A level 23 Stone Statue Ghost—forget about a Corpse Witch, even Rosco himself would have a tough time.
Breson was not entirely satisfied with this answer, "You must be out of your mind, letting an airborne Stone Statue Ghost get discovered. If we had an aerial scout now, things would be so much better."
"So your talent is shirking responsibility? Can't you fight without me?" Brand sarcastically retorted, ready to confront him head-on.
"Hmph—"
"Alright, stop arguing. We still have to fight this battle ourselves. But kid, we're convinced that what you said is true. But Madara's vanguard is still watching us from the front. Moving a few hundred people is quite different from moving a few. Do you really think we can make it?" Madden pondered for a moment and then asked.