Several bronze-level shield guards exchanged glances, conveying a sense of intelligence.

He then threw down his shield, picked up Jiang Hao, and ran.

"Hey? Hey hey hey? Put me down! Put me down now!"

Jiang Hao was being carried upside down by them, unable to see the dark gold-level boss, and immediately started shouting anxiously. But the shield guards dared not let him go to his death, and just carried him away for their lives, running towards the foot of the city wall.

The Eastern Kingdom's military regulations stipulate that any soldier who deserts on the battlefield out of fear of battle shall be sentenced to death!

But if one were to carry their superior away, that would be a different story. At least in a military court, one could defend themselves, claiming it was for the sake of their superior's life and they had no choice but to do so. This would make them a loyal and courageous person, and even if punished, the punishment wouldn't be too severe; on the contrary, they might receive covert support from their superior.

Seeing the shield guards rush ahead, the nearby spearmen were in a dilemma. If they followed and fled, they would be executed. If they didn't flee, staying on the city wall with the dark gold-level monsters would mean certain death sooner or later. The clever ones turned around and saw Zhen Nantian still sitting under the general's platform, lost in thought!

So several spearmen followed suit, laid Zhen Nantian sprawled out on his back, picked him up, and ran off with him.

Jiang Hao was anxious. Without his control, who knew how many people that dark gold-level skeleton monster would kill in five seconds? While struggling, Jiang Hao turned around and inadvertently saw a commander in black armor being carried aloft and hurriedly running towards them from the base of the eastern city wall. That commander looked strangely familiar to Jiang Hao.

As if by telepathy, the soldiers glanced in this direction, then quickened their pace and moved closer.

Jiang Hao then noticed that the soldiers' attire was rather strange. Each soldier carried seven or eight bundles, bulging on their shoulders, chest, and back. One soldier even had a small bundle wrapped around his neck.

"Hurry, hurry, run! Oh, right, did you get all the packages I packed? Don't forget anything. Hey, hey, hey? Why are you guys running this way? No, no! Go to the back peak, go to the back peak! Why are you running this way...?"

Jiang Hao immediately recognized who the general was.

Nock, commander of the Qiongfeng Pass Legion!

Jiang Hao simply watched him quietly, wanting to hear what other outrageous things he might say.

As if sensing something was wrong, Nock finally turned his head this way.

Their eyes met, and they remained silent.

After a long while, Nock grinned.

"What a coincidence, Commander Jiang! Running for your lives? Want to come along?"

There was only a brief pause here, but the soldiers carrying Zhen Nantian also rushed over. Seeing that Commander Nok was also there, the soldiers were immediately at a loss.

Only Zhen Nantian remained in a dazed and foolish state.

"Oh, I've learned something. I didn't expect Brother Zhen Nantian to be so knowledgeable about this."

The Nok Legion Commander looked at Zhen Nantian with a curious expression, and began to hang his head in dejection.

Jiang Hao felt too ashamed to look at himself.

"Screw your teaching! Put me down right now!"

On the city wall, the skeletal monster had awakened and was gnawing at an archer's neck, while the other soldiers dared not even approach, each keeping a great distance. Finally, an archer managed to fire an arrow from afar, but the monster easily dodged it. Jiang Hao, with a somersault, broke free from the shield guards' grasp.

"Hey? Commander Jiang, why did you come down here? Come back up quickly, you'll have a hard time facing people if you keep doing this!"

Lying on the shoulders of several soldiers, Nock tilted his head and urged Jiang Hao on.

Jiang Hao ignored it completely, raised his staff, and swung it down at the monster on the distant city wall. The monster vanished instantly, and the soldier he had just tackled was still lying there with his eyes closed, awaiting death. A dark gold-grade skeleton monster instantly appeared beneath Jiang Hao's staff, still kneeling. Jiang Hao observed that its bones were strong and muscular, each bone radiating a pale golden light, as if it could unleash terrifying power at any moment—clearly much higher-grade than the small skeleton.

"Holy crap! Where did this thing come from? How can there be a Dark Gold-level monster?"

Nock jolted awake and sat up abruptly from the shoulders of those men.

Jiang Hao thought to himself, "You're a legion commander, and you haven't even figured out what the battle situation is like outside, yet you're already planning to run away?"

Are all the NPCs in this game this unreliable?

The shield guards who had carried Jiang Hao off the city wall were so frightened they almost wet themselves. They exchanged glances again, reached out and bent down to lift Jiang Hao onto their shoulders again, but Jiang Hao, who was prepared, easily dodged them.

"Monsters have appeared inside the city walls. Everyone prepare for battle."

In the distance, a guard in white armor ran around in front of the tent, shouting loudly. In the blink of an eye, thousands of guards emerged from the tent, quickly formed ranks, and rushed towards Jiang Hao and his group.

Upon seeing the guards, Nock immediately became anxious. He straightened up, lay back down on the soldier's shoulder, and while pretending to be dejected, urged Jiang Hao on.

"Brother Jiang! Brother Jiang! Come on up quickly! If the guards arrive, there won't be another chance!"

Jiang Hao had already taken control of the monster, and suddenly felt playful. He spread his hands and said helplessly.

"But I haven't packed my things yet."

"Oh dear, what's the point of packing at a time like this? Escaping is the priority!"

"But you've packed so much, and I'm not taking anything. How am I supposed to escape with you?"

Looking at the guards over there, who were not far away, Nock said repeatedly, "If we don't run now, it will be too late."

"Hey, here, here, big brother! My dear brother! Come on up!"

Seeing Nok's anxious look, Jiang Hao felt quite pleased.

This Nock is quite interesting.

Although he was afraid of death, he was quite loyal to his friends.

Jiang Hao didn't dislike him. At least he handed over command of the battlefield and the bag of silver-grade energy crystals to Zhen Nantian, unlike the commander of the personal guard who simply ran away with the energy crystals.

"It still doesn't work. Look, this monster has developed feelings for me. Wherever I go, it kneels down. I can't keep carrying it around with me all the time, can I?"

Nock sat up straight again, his face full of suspicion.

"Such a strange thing?"

Jiang Hao shrugged and nodded helplessly. Nock carefully observed the skeleton for a long time but couldn't see anything unusual. He pointed to the open space behind Jiang Hao and said, "Give me a demonstration. If it's really like that, I'll believe you."

Jiang Hao did as instructed, taking several steps back, raising his staff, and then, under the watchful eyes of Nok and the soldiers, swung it down.

"This...this..."

"You, you, you..."

Nock looked like he'd seen a ghost!