Tempest of the Battlefield

There were over a dozen immortals who had followed Candler to Mars, and their main mission was to capture Wang Tong.

Harmon had made a name for himself not because of his brute strength, but his astute judgment and keen observations. Patroclus knew that he would need all kind of talents in order to rule his kingdom; therefore, he had personally persuaded the former vice principal of the Capth Academy, an excellent administrator, to join him.

Harmon had already been a renowned leader before he joined Patroclus; therefore, his decision had spurred many other students from the Capth to join Patroclus.

Candler didn’t answer the question given to him. The immortals beside him turned on their Skynet terminals and started researching. The dark ones regarded the strange machine with strong aversion; human technologies were garbage in their opinion.

“Danube, Kazakh, Bore, and then Mephisto… I think his next target is us, Spider Fort. He is well known for his audacity while he was at school. He didn’t change at all in these years.” Candler said.

“How do you know?” Blu asked.

“All the five cities are lined up on a straight line…He did it on purpose. He might play some tricks with us…for example, attacking another city as a smoke screen. When we dispatch our reinforcements, he will turn around and attack us while we are defenseless. It’s a common strategy, simple but effective. As for why I am so sure of his motives, you need to look no further than here…” Candler pointed at the map. The dark lord’s palace lined up perfectly at the end of Wang Tong’s marching trajectory.

“You mean…Wang Tong is after the Dark Lord himself?” Blu asked incredulously, his throat making a wet croak out of sheer astonishment. Candler frowned with aversion on his face. These dark ones were not any more civilized than their primitive cousins.

“Well, humans are the arrogant lot. The four victories came so easily for him that he will be convinced that he is on the right course.” Candler said.

“He is not afraid of the might of Spider Fort?” Blu asked. He doubted that even an Einherjar would dare to attack the mighty stronghold with only a small force.

“My lord, let him come. We will make him stay forever.” A few hulking frames put in. Despite the rumors about this terrifying human devil, these high-level dark ones considered them only high tales or excuses for the other cities’ defeat. Sometimes, these dark ones even wondered if the Blade Warriors was as powerful as he sounded. After all, it all had happened so many hundred years ago, and Zergs had terrible memories.

Candler cracked a smile and said, “You are right. Fort Spider is indeed a mighty powerhouse, and that is why we need to give Wang Tong a helping hand.”

“A helping hand?”

“Indeed! To do that, we will need to march our troops out of the fort and circle around the district, then come back. The more noise your men can make, the better.” Candler said with a smile. After all, these youngsters used to be his students, and surely they wouldn’t outsmart their teacher. He was confident that Wang Tong would not be able to resist attacking the fort while knowing that the main force had marched out of the walls. As an expert in human psychology, Candler knew that Wang Tong was already carried over by his stunning success so far, and would march straight into the trap.

…

“It is so strange! The Zergs’ northern regiments have almost halted the reinforcements.” A human intelligence officer murmured.

“I hope they are not up to anything.”

“It’s hard to say. Could this be a bait and switch?”

“Very likely. The Zergs are quick learners.”

“Sh*t! the war is getting harder and harder. ”

“What can we do anyway? It’s not like we have the Blade Warrior with us.”

“Ah-Have you heard about the new Einherjar? He had finished off a level twenty-five EB unit!”

“I have heard the same thing. They said that he didn’t even use any weapon, just bare hands! He killed the Zerg like squashing a worm.”

“Yes, that’s amazing, isn’t it? Without him, our home cities are screwed. If our brothers and sisters had to worry about their safety constantly, they wouldn’t be so eager to come to the front line. Although life is hard right now, at least our families are safe under the Einherjar’s protection.”

“That’s true! All cities are expecting the final battle. Ah, right, have you heard about the other news?”

“What is it?”

“Once he has helped a city, he would leave a golden sword behind and anoint a knight.”

“Yeah, yeah, that was old news. Those knights are all the leaders of the resistance forces behind the front lines. What about it?”

“I have heard that there are great secrets hidden in those golden blades.”

“Secret? What kind of secrets?”

“Some kind of tactics that were able to transform a single circulation of GN force into double circulations. These tactics are gradually gaining popularity in those cities led by knights.”

“Order from the command center…troop mobilizes toward the northern regiment number twenty-three. ” A messenger shouted at the officers.

Everyone looked at each other with disbelief. Although the Zergs’ reinforcements had been sluggish at the northern front, that didn’t mean the situation would last. What if the Zergs started to pick up their reinforcement speed?

However, an order was an order.

…

Michaux and Lie Jian hovered over a table and studied a giant map with grave expressions. Neither of them had smiled once ever since the war broke out. The final battle came a bit too soon.

“You don’t think it’s too risky? Maybe, it was not Wang Tong.” Michaux was taken aback by Lie Jian’s daring decision.

“Hehe…I know you like Wang Tong, but you don’t know him half as much as I do. There is only two persons that I feared…One is Patroclus, and the other is Wang Tong. I cared about Wang Tong’s actions on Mars more than anyone else. I can tell you this for sure…The current inactivity of the Zergs was definitely the work of Wang Tong.” Lie Jian said.

“So, you believe his strategy has worked?”

“Very much so. Although we can’t get hold of him, no news is good news. If Wang Tong was captured or killed, we should have already heard it by now.” Lei Jian’s face finally showed a faint smile and then continued.

“Although Wang Tong is my rival, I know what is the best for everyone right now. We can continue our competition once the Zerg problem is gone. However, I doubt that Wang Tong will be enough to avert the crisis completely.”

“You mean…you want to join Wang Tong?”

“If he can do it, I can do it better. Besides, the front line is not going to feel any different without a few hundred soldiers, but we can significantly slow the Zergs down from within.”

“It’s too dangerous. Einherjar Lie Jintian wouldn’t approve it.”

“He can’t control me.”

Lie Jian was tempted to copy Wang Tong’s strategy after seeing how effective it was. His father was the absolute commander of the war, and therefore, he felt useless staying with the army. If he could sneak behind the lines, his abilities could be put to better use.

“Very well then, maybe I should join you too. I am sure Moye would want to meet me.” Michaux said.

“Not you…You need to show the public that we are still with them.”

“So, you get to be a hero while I stay home and be a statue? No way! I have already arranged everything on my side. If anything happens to me, Susu will inherit my title. Although I hope she can be more mature, she has accumulated enough prestige to stake her claim now.” Michaux said.

Lie Jian knew he couldn’t refuse Michaux, so he left the conversation at that. He wagered that his and Michaux’s names should be able to attract the Zergs’ attention. In addition, he reckoned that the elite soldiers could contribute much more to the war behind the enemy lines than on the city walls.

Just as Candler had expected, the Samgha city reported human activity. Wang Tong had used this trick once at Mephisto City. He would feint attack an insignificant target to bait the real target to leave the city, and then attack the real target while it was ill-prepared. This time, Wang Tong would not be able to pull the trick off so easily, since Candler was in charge.

“What exactly did the scouts say? How many humans did they see?” Candler asked.

“They had spotted two very powerful human soldiers. I think they work for the human devil.”