Skeleton Soldiers, Can They Evolve?
The skeleton soldier obeyed instantly.
At Kim Tae-hee's command, it squatted down on the ground.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Really?"
She quickly tried again.
"Everyone—squat!"
A dozen skeleton soldiers immediately dropped into a neat row, crouched in unison like obedient soldiers.
Kim Tae-hee's heart raced. This wasn't a coincidence—they really listened.
"Wait!" she shouted toward Bell, who was already walking away.
Then she gestured, and the skeletons rose and marched after her.
She wasn't about to let those bastards off so easily. Bell's grief was his own, but she had her own reason for revenge—the men had shown their intentions toward her clearly enough.
Now that the skeletons obeyed her, she intended to make them pay.
---
Under their protection, she arrived at the warehouse doors.
Inside, John and Jim had been peeking through a crack, watching.
Their faces drained of color when they saw her standing there, flanked by armed skeletons.
The connection was obvious—the monsters were hers.
Still, they forced down their panic.
The warehouse was built like a vault, its walls lined with silver goods, no windows, and a reinforced metal door more than fifteen centimeters thick. Even a rocket would have trouble breaching it.
There was no way these bony freaks could cut through.
Kim Tae-hee rapped on the metal with her knuckles. The sound was heavy, unyielding. Her brows furrowed.
But she couldn't just walk away.
"Cut it open," she ordered.
A skeleton soldier strode forward, bone blade raised, and hacked at the door.
Boom!
The impact echoed, but all it left was a shallow groove, barely two or three centimeters deep.
The skeleton staggered back two steps from the recoil.
Inside, John and Jim let out nervous laughs of relief.
"As expected… they can't do it."
Their confidence began to return.
Bell, however, was seething. He stepped up and slammed his fire axe against the door over and over, but the blows only numbed his arms.
From inside, Jim's mocking voice rang out.
"Save your strength, idiot! That door's not opening from out there!"
Kim Tae-hee's jaw tightened. She wanted nothing more than to claw their eyes out. But she forced herself to breathe. Xu Mo would come soon—and with him, this vault of silver would fall easily.
Then something changed.
The skeleton soldier who had struck the door suddenly stiffened.
Its soul fire flared, glowing brighter than before. Flames licked from its hollow eye sockets, washing over its bone blade until the weapon burned like molten steel.
With a hiss, it drove the flaming knife forward—
Chhhh!
The blade slid into the metal as if it were warm tofu.
Kim Tae-hee's eyes widened. Inside, John and Jim froze in horror as the tip punched through.
The burning knife carved along the surface, drawing a glowing oval more than a meter tall.
"No—no, no!" John's voice cracked.
They turned to run, but too late.
BOOM!
The cut section of the door exploded inward. The metal slab slammed into Jim, flattening him against the floor with a sizzling hiss as molten heat seared his back. His scream tore through the warehouse before he collapsed unconscious.
Outside, Tae-hee and Bell stood stunned.
The skeleton calmly tossed aside the ruined blade, then stepped back into formation as if nothing had happened.
Bell's grip tightened on his axe. Tae-hee, recovering first, pointed toward the opening.
"Seize them!"
The skeletal warriors obeyed without hesitation, ducking low and crawling through the breach.
Moments later, they returned with John and Jim in their grasp, dangling like caught animals.
Jim stirred awake, eyes rolling in terror as he saw the monsters surrounding him.
"P-please! Ma'am, forgive us! I apologize!" he babbled at Tae-hee.
"Apologize?" Her voice was cold. "If apologies worked, why would the world need laws? Why would we need police?"
She turned to Bell.
"They're yours."
Bell met her eyes, then gave a curt nod.
She didn't stay. She turned and walked out, unwilling to watch what came next.
Behind her, the warehouse filled with screams—raw, animal howls of terror and agony that dragged on for nearly ten minutes before finally going silent.
When she returned, there was nothing left but blood. Two mangled corpses sprawled in the crimson pools, hacked to pieces.
"Dispose of them," she ordered.
Most of the skeletons stood still, awaiting command. But the one that had wielded the burning blade stepped forward.
Its hand sank into one of the corpses. Soul fire surged from its bones, and flesh melted away like wax. Even the skeleton beneath crumbled into liquid ash and was absorbed.
Then it turned to the second body. The process repeated.
When it was done, the creature's form had changed—its frame bulkier, its bones thicker, its presence heavier.
A new bone blade materialized in its hand, sharper than before.
Kim Tae-hee's breath caught.
"...Can these things evolve?"
She didn't linger on the thought. Raising her hand, she pointed at the silver stockpiled in the warehouse.
"Gather it. All of it."
To make sure they understood, she demonstrated by lifting a silver necklace.
The skeletons immediately moved into action.
Within moments, the vault was alive with clattering bones and rattling metal.
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