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As Zhao Lun carefully observed the eyes of the Greatsword Skeleton, he noticed something unusual. Perhaps due to his inheritance of the Territorial Will, Zhao Lun could clearly see that the once proud and defiant skeleton was now filled with fear, its fiery eyes radiating unease as it locked gazes with him.
"Huh, weren't you quite tough before? Refused to yield even when you were about to die. So what happened? A few days without seeing me, and now you're scared?"
Noticing this, Zhao Lun felt a wave of relief, and it was as if the frustration from being backlashed repeatedly was finally released. The only thing he regretted was that he couldn't communicate with the skeleton and tease it a little.
To make up for this, Zhao Lun decided to tame the skeleton. Before starting, though, he couldn't resist giving it a little warning.
"I'm telling you right now—if you still refuse to submit, you might as well die right here!"
With that stern threat, Zhao Lun placed the skull on the ground, raised his staff, and began chanting the familiar incantation.
"Servant!"
As Zhao Lun's roar echoed, a grayish aura surged from his soul fire like a ravenous tiger leaping towards the Greatsword Skeleton's skull, burrowing into it and sinking deep into its soul fire.
To Zhao Lun's surprise, this Servant ritual went remarkably smoothly. The hesitant Greatsword Skeleton didn't resist at all. It obediently accepted the spell and became Zhao Lun's minion in less than a minute.
Zhao Lun was thrilled when he felt a bridge of connection form between his thoughts and those of the Greatsword Skeleton. This meant he could now communicate with this seemingly intelligent creature.
"Did I really make the connection?" Zhao Lun couldn't believe it. He immediately spoke through the mental bridge.
￥...&%（%...*
"What the hell is this?"
Apparently, Zhao Lun had gotten too excited too soon. The moment he spoke, the Greatsword Skeleton sent a brief, unclear message back. It seemed to convey some kind of warmth or fear, though it was impossible to tell what it actually meant. In the end, the emotions were there, but the communication was still incoherent.
After several failed attempts to make sense of it, Zhao Lun had to admit that while the Greatsword Skeleton now had a rudimentary form of will, it was still far from being able to communicate clearly. This discovery left Zhao Lun feeling somewhat disappointed.
"Ah, well. Let's just focus on putting you back together first. Right, I need to give you a name. Even though your IQ is a bit low, you've still got something, so I can't just call you Greatsword No. 2 or something like that. Otherwise, if you get smarter later, you might come after me."
Zhao Lun muttered to himself, feeling a bit lonely, and even though he couldn't fully understand what the Greatsword Skeleton was trying to express, he could still sense its emotional presence, which was far from the cold, lifeless messages he usually received.
"How about I name you 'Ollis'? A foreign-sounding name would make you seem high-class and sophisticated." Zhao Lun continued as he searched through the bones of the Greatsword Skeleton, thankful that he didn't go with something ridiculous like Zhang Dan or Li Dali.
"Why can't I find it? Ollis, do you know where I put your skeleton frame?" Zhao Lun scratched his skull, clearly frustrated, and spoke to the dismembered Greatsword Skeleton's head, not feeling even the slightest bit guilty for tearing it apart earlier. Surprisingly, even Ollis, whose IQ was too low to properly communicate, maintained a surprising silence on the matter.
"Why aren't you speaking? You don't know? I remember..." Zhao Lun suddenly froze. "Wait, I didn't bring it with me!"
"What now? What do I do now? Should I go back and get it, Ollis?"
Don't ask him, idiot. You really expect the skeleton's limited intelligence to give you advice?
"Going back for it is out of the question. I can't even remember where I killed you before. Finding it now would be a huge hassle." Zhao Lun wasn't too concerned; after all, Ollis's low IQ meant he probably wouldn't rebel after hearing this.
"But if we don't go back for it, what will we do? You can't just be a head—this is absolutely not acceptable."
Well, saying something like that shows that Zhao Lun isn't completely irredeemable after all.
"I was counting on you to protect me when I fight the mutated Giant Axe Skeleton!"
After reconsidering, Zhao Lun suddenly realized what a hopeless case he was.
"What do I do now?" Zhao Lun held up Ollis's skull, looking around helplessly. Then, his eyes lit up, and he suddenly exclaimed, "Got it!"
For a moment, it seemed like Ollis's skull was trembling slightly. Could it be that this poor skeleton had already somehow predicted its grim future?
On the other side, with his fiery eyes glowing green, Zhao Lun excitedly shared his brilliant idea as he looked at the towering Bone Mountain: "I can just put together a new skeleton for you!"
Of course... (The author is getting bored and sarcastic here.)
"Ollis, leave it to me! I'll assemble the most perfect skeleton for you!" Zhao Lun, completely ignoring any objections, eagerly dropped Ollis's skull on the ground and raced toward the Bone Mountain.
"How could I not have thought of this before? I can select the best bones from the 153 skeletons, then assemble them into one amazing frame! Ha ha, just thinking about it gets me pumped up!"
Zhao Lun was beyond excited, focusing all his energy on what seemed like the most ridiculous, pointless, and reckless endeavor.
He dove headfirst into Bone Mountain, sifting through bones here and there, carefully comparing the quality of each one. Zhao Lun didn't even mind spending more than two hours digging through it, looking for the perfect bones to assemble into one skeleton.
"Alright, materials ready, time to start the assembly!"
With his enthusiasm still high, Zhao Lun laughed joyously three times before diving into his great assembly project.
Ten minutes later, a well-proportioned, aesthetically pleasing headless skeleton frame stood before Zhao Lun.
"It still feels like something's missing," Zhao Lun muttered as he examined his creation, suddenly slapping his skull. "Oh right, weapons! I almost forgot!"
He spun around and dove back into Bone Mountain. Five minutes later, he emerged with a large sword and a bone shield, attaching them to the skeleton.
"Ah, much better! Now, it's got both offensive weapons and defensive armor! Perfect! Should I add a bone bow too? Absolutely!"
Greedy as ever, Zhao Lun didn't stop to think whether Ollis would even be able to use all of this.