616 The Meaning Of Intelligence

The immortals were born as the dark one's sidekicks; however, they had turned the tables around and become equals of their masters. Patroclus' intention was clear: he would conquer the human world first, and transform as many humans into immortals as possible. By then, he would be regarded as the god by both the Zergs and the humans, making the immortals a master race of both.

The humans still fighting against Patroclus were born in the old human world and had the old mindset. As Patroclus would bring the war to an end, he could easily remold the humans' mind using religion and make his subjects worship him like a god and savior. While the humans could achieve immortality by binding themselves with a Zerg, the Zergs could also gain what they wanted for centuries: a soul.

It was a match made in heaven.

Moye was certain that the mother supreme wanted the dark ones to gain the upper hand in the competition, since the immortals were still half human in nature. However, like all Zergs, the mother supreme believed in the survival of the fittest; if the dark ones could not prove themselves worthy in time, the would be replaced.

Enough time had been wasted here in the solar system as mother supreme eagerly waited for the defeat of the human race and set sail to another system. Moye felt that he was running out of time.

Besides the competition, both Moye and Patroclus shared a second concern that could potentially render both of them irrelevant. It was the possibility of reconnecting with the Zergs' main force. The Zergs' main force could easily devour an entire planet in two seconds flat, so what would be the use of immortals and the dark ones? They would be spurned and cast aside right away. 

Therefore, despite the rivalry, Moye and Patroclus had reached a consensus on one matter: they wouldn't welcome main force to the solar system. Once the dark ones were capable of thinking for themselves, they started to disobey the mother supreme's orders secretly.

…

The human soldiers inside Antonio had been fighting for over twelve hours. By then, the news about their situation had reached every corner of Mars. No one knew who had leaked the information, and some believed that it was the dark ones' scare tactics to deliver a blow to the human soldiers' morale.

Despite the waves after waves of Zergs being thrown at the human defenders, the dark ones were not able to take the structure down.

Michaux and Lie Jian were lighthearted after they sensed that the Zergs intended to capture them alive. This would leave lots of opportunities for them to strike back. The soldiers were all in high spirits, ready to kill as many Zergs as possible.

Even if they died, the stories of their bravery would live, and that would be enough. 

Jiezhe couldn't help but admire the human soldiers' resolve. Both humans and Zergs were martial oriented races, but the human were even more obsessed with the beauty of war and death than the Zergs. To the human soldiers, dying on the battlefield was the ultimate form of art.

Jiezhe had just received orders from the dark lord: to keep the soldiers contained using any means necessary. The purple guards were already on their way.

These powerful warriors would be precious delicacies on the dining table of the dark lord. They were hard to come by, and even harder to catch.

Before Jiezhe had received these instructions, he thought about sending the tank Zerg to scorch the area where the building was standing. That would definitely kill the human soldiers inside. However, he thought better of it after he received Moye's instructions to keep those soldiers alive. Knowing the purple guards were coming, the Zerg lord finally felt that a heavy weight was off his mind. 

Inside the large structure, some soldiers had already fallen asleep despite the din of war surrounding them. Most of the warriors had reached their limit, and any usage of soul energy would cause a severe headache.

No one knew how much longer they could last, but Lie Jian still kept his silence. Lie Jian didn't take a break, his mind racing constantly. He wagered that the Zergs were also gathering their elite warriors in order to subjugate them. He was racing against time; if the opportunity for breakthrough still didn't arrive in a few minutes, he might have to lead the charge himself in a last ditch effort to escape.

By then, many mastery casters had died in agony. Drawing too much natural energy would sometimes cause the sea of consciousness to collapse. Being devoured by rogue energy was the most painful way of dying. At that point, the best a field medic could do was soothe their pain and accelerate their death. This kind of death came very suddenly without any warning, since it was triggered as soon as the rogue energy inside of caster reached a threshold.

The Zergs intended to kill them slowly by consumption, and their plan had worked. Michaux was overtaken by guilt; if he hadn't decided to come to the Zerg land, his followers would not have suffered so much. On the contrary, Lei Jian was indifferent toward his soldiers' torment. Lack of compassion and care was a necessary prerequisite for a competent commander.

Lie Jian did not plan to die here, so he wondered that he would have to create an opportunity to escape one way or another.

"Lie Jian, they are going to break our line sooner or later. We need to do something. Let's charge out!" Michaux suggested. 

Lie Jian shook his head. "No. This is a golden opportunity." Hope flashed across his face as a moment of epiphany struck him.

Michaux was confused, "What opportunity? What are you talking about? Do you want to sacrifice yourself?"

"Haha, dream on! I am waiting for Wang Tong!"

"Wang Tong? We don't even know where he is! Are you nuts?"

Lie Jian's lips twisted into a smile, "Trust me, he will come. Our goals are the same, and so I wager he must have already been looking for us. Now the whole world knows we are trapped in here, so he will come to us for sure."

Michaux grimaced; this was Lie Jian was an arrogant risk taker.

Michaux had heard bits and pieces of information about Wang Tong's arrival at the core district, but nothing had guaranteed that he would come for them. How could Lie Jian be so sure without even talking to Wang Tong? Plus, Lie Jian had not been very nice to Wang Tong from the start, so Michaux doubted that Wang Tong would offer his help willingly.

Michaux wanted to press Lie Jian for more questions, perhaps even change his mind; but he thought better of it. If Lie Jian could be persuaded, he might as well be someone else. Michaux swallowed down his doubts and agreed to Lie Jian's crazy plan.

"Your suggestion is not entirely bad either. We could start a counterattack and show these Zergs what we are made out of." Lie Jian looked through the window at the hordes of Zergs that charged at them mindlessly. 

"Our first target will be their leader."Michaux smiled and said.

"Do you mind if I join you? " Lie Jian asked with a smile.

"Might as well." Michaux smiled back. By far, no one had seen these two warriors fighting side by side.

A fireball wheezed across the air and exploded in the mass of Zergs. "I am Lie Jian. I am your death!"

Lie Jian's army was covered with blue flames. A few powerful dark ones threw themselves at him, but they were reduced into ashes by his poison fire attack. He had fused his attack with natural forces, and it was so powerful that it could cut through the dark one with ease.

Jiezhe was first startled by the development, but quickly a smile appeared on his face. How stupid was Lie Jian to come out of his cover and challenge his entire army? 

Lie Jian charged up his soul energy and started the onslaught. His heroic action had encouraged the soldiers fighting inside the building.

When the Zerg's attention was all set on Lie Jian, Michaux sneaked closer to the Zerg lord like a shadow in the moonless night.