Having only arrived in the dimensional battlefield less than half a day ago, they unexpectedly encountered someone acting alone. Lin Lei knew that ordinary soldiers would not be moving solo.
"Approach!"
Lin Lei transmitted via soul, now needing to determine whether this figure was on their side or an enemy. Lin Lei and Bei Bei crept silently through the grass toward the figure, not daring to let even a wisp of energy escape for fear of detection. In just a moment, the distance between them shrank to two or three hundred meters.
"Huh? Can't sense the aura of his identity badge," Bei Bei transmitted.
Lin Lei couldn't suppress his excitement: "It's an enemy!"
Those on the same side could sense each other's badge aura. If you couldn't sense it... that meant an enemy!
"Heh, didn't expect to run into an enemy so soon after arriving. Probably a commander too," Bei Bei's eyes gleamed. "Boss, leave this one to me. I'll handle him."
"Mm." Lin Lei also suppressed his excitement.
"Whoosh!" Bei Bei shot forward suddenly.
At the same time, a vast, indistinct phantom of a Soul-Eating Rat appeared behind him. In moments like this, Bei Bei never hesitated to use his ultimate ability—innate divine talent 'God Devour'! But strangely, the figure didn't collapse. Instead, it turned its head to look directly at Bei Bei.
"Boss, I can't sense his divine spark or soul!" Bei Bei transmitted urgently. "Oh, there's another person nearby! I sensed a badge aura. Somewhere close to me... it's someone on our side."
Just then, someone emerged from the distance, realizing they'd been discovered.
"You two!" the gray-robed figure called out. "Don't attack that black-robed figure—it's my Death Puppet."
"A puppet?" Lin Lei and Bei Bei were taken aback.
"It's actually a puppet. No wonder we couldn't sense its aura. And no wonder Bei Bei's innate talent didn't work," Lin Lei said with a mix of amusement and frustration. The gray-robed figure turned to leave, but Bei Bei quickly called out: "Hey, don't rush off!" As he spoke, he was about to fly over.
"Whoosh!" The Death Puppet darted forward to intercept Bei Bei. Simultaneously, it spoke in human words: "What are you doing?"
"We're on the same side. Can't we ask some questions?" Bei Bei looked at the Death Puppet before him.
The gray-robed person's true body had already departed, so leaving behind this Death Puppet didn't worry him. Even if it was lost, it would only be a puppet.
"You two..." the Death Puppet said coldly. "How do I know you're really on my side? Perhaps you killed an ordinary soldier of mine, then used blood to claim his identity badge. Who can confirm you aren't impostors?"
Lin Lei and Bei Bei paused.
Imposters were possible?
Thinking carefully, it made sense. Kill an ordinary soldier, remove one's own identity badge, then use blood to claim the enemy's badge—that would work as a disguise. Once the war ended, just switch back. Lin Lei and Bei Bei hadn't considered this before.
"Even if you aren't imposters, people on the same side might still kill each other!" With that, the Death Puppet departed.
Lin Lei and Bei Bei didn't try to stop the Death Puppet.
"Boss, I think I understand why that commander in the camp was wary of us," Bei Bei said. "Same as that guy—worried we'd deal with him." Bei Bei realized the other party wasn't afraid of them specifically, just didn't want to fight someone on the same side pointlessly.
Even if they succeeded in killing them, there'd be no merit.
If they failed, they'd die. Of course, the gray-robed figure would leave.
"He was worried we'd kill him?" Lin Lei said helplessly. "But killing him would gain us nothing. Oh, wait!" A flash of insight struck Lin Lei's mind. He finally understood why even people on the same side might turn on each other.
"Mm?" Bei Bei looked at Lin Lei doubtfully.
"People on the same side can indeed kill each other," Lin Lei remarked.
"How is that possible?" Bei Bei was confused.
"It's simple. Take two acquaintances—one joins the Dark Godrealm, the other the Light Godrealm. For example, if you and I were on opposing sides. I kill someone from my own side and get a red badge. It's useless to me, but I can give it to you. You kill someone from your side, get a gold badge, and I can use it," Lin Lei explained with a bitter smile.
Bei Bei understood now.
Many of the lords and prefectures at the peak of Highgod were friends. Like Beirut, perhaps he had peers in the Skyrealm as well. If they joined different factions, this trick would be entirely possible.
"So, even someone on the same side—if you don't know them well, you can't trust them," Lin Lei said helplessly.
It was no wonder that black-robed, bald youth, not knowing Lin Lei, had simply let him leave.
"Looks like we need to be careful now too," Bei Bei pouted. "Even if we meet someone on the same side, we can't let our guard down."
"Mm." Lin Lei also felt the danger of the dimensional battlefield now.
Apart from true friends, no one could be trusted. The identity marked by the badge might not be real!
"That guy was clever—using a Death Puppet as bait," Bei Bei chuckled. "Boss, we could do the same. No matter who it is, they won't sense any badge aura from the Death Puppet. They'll think it's an enemy and launch a surprise attack! Then we, hidden nearby, can counter-ambush."
Lin Lei couldn't help but smile.
This was indeed a good plan.
The dimensional battlefield spanned millions of miles. Flying fast might seem short, but in this kind of covert ambush combat, across such a vast area... dozens or hundreds of commanders within it were like drops of water in the ocean. Lurking somewhere, they were very unlikely to encounter each other.
Inside a cave, Lin Lei and Bei Bei were stationed, each controlling a Death Puppet somewhere nearby.
"Only just entered the battlefield, and we met one. Now it's been a whole month—haven't seen a single person," Bei Bei muttered. "Like you said, Boss, we even have to be careful while traveling. Moving this slowly... when will we ever reach the Starry River?"