Chapter 316

Time passed second by second in suffocating depression, waiting for that taut string to snap suddenly.

However, the expected final showdown with the Giant Spirit Realm army did not break out immediately.

A brand new and different energy fluctuation, like a giant rock thrown into still water, suddenly came from the flank of the battlefield, instantly attracting the perception of all wizards!

Thousands of reconnaissance sorceries, detection creatures, and energy sensors turned toward that direction simultaneously.

The next second, an atmosphere mixed with astonishment and solemnity spread silently in the wizard camp.

Jie Ming also felt that fluctuation; it was a torrent of pure, highly condensed mental energy!

He turned his head and looked, and with the feedback of his strengthened vision and reconnaissance talismans, he saw a boundless,

"ocean" composed of translucent or shimmering energy bodies!

They were of various forms, some like twisted human figures, some were pure geometric light spots, and others seemed to be the direct manifestation of some concept.

They had no physical warships, but the mental pressure they emitted combined together, as if to distort the reality of that airspace!

The Mind Realm army!

"How is this possible?!" Jie Ming widened his eyes in shock, almost unable to believe the scene he saw.

Although the Giant Spirit Realm and the Mind Realm had cooperative relations at the high level, it didn't mean that the two civilizations got along very well.

On the contrary, the blood feud between these two civilizations almost ran through their entire known history.

Because of the characteristics of the triangular plane cluster, there were natural space teleportation gates between the two sides.

From the initial struggle for living space to later mutual conquest, plundering technology, and enslaving subjects, the depth of their hatred could even be said to have reached the point of life and death.

Before the wizards descended, saying that the Giant Spirit Realm and the Mind Realm would fight side by side one day would be no different from a fantasy!

Even facing an enemy like the wizards, before the wizards' true purpose was exposed, the probability of the wizards and the Giant Spirit Realm forming an alliance was higher than the probability of these two civilizations cooperating.

After all, in order to prevent the other side from jumping over the wall in a hurry, the wizards had caused a lot of resource losses to the Giant Spirit Realm during this period, and the overall combat effectiveness of the Giant Spirit Realm itself had not reached the level of hurting muscles and bones.

And between the Giant Spirit Realm and the Mind Realm, it was a serious "blood feud"!

But the iron-clad facts were right before their eyes!

The metal torrent of the Giant Spirit Realm and the mental light sea of the Mind Realm were currently arranged on the horizon in the distance, distinct but parallel.

There was no sign of any fire between them, and all hostility was directed at the wizard camp without reservation.

"What exactly happened? What could make these two mortal enemies put down their blood feud and join hands to fight the enemy?" This question bit into the heart of every wizard like a poisonous snake.

However, there was no time for them to slowly find the answer on the battlefield.

Fortunately, the plane blockade led by Obolos had been completed.

Even if the decisive battle was forced to start early, even if the enemy joined hands unexpectedly, the wizard civilization had long since cut off the possibility of them escaping or calling for external reinforcements.

The only price might be that the expectation of fully receiving the Giant Spirit Realm's legacy in the original plan would be greatly reduced, and subsequent gains would inevitably shrink significantly.

"What a pity—" Jie Ming sighed inwardly.

Suppressing the chaotic thoughts in his heart, his gaze became sharp again, carefully examining the enemy's formation.

Soon, he discovered something unusual.

The Giant Spirit Realm warship cluster generally had a low hovering altitude and did not try to occupy the entire three-dimensional space from low altitude to high orbit as before.

As if deliberately avoiding something, or making space for something?

"There is indeed a conspiracy." Jie Ming felt solemn in his heart.

But this was also normal; the other side so abnormally and actively sought a decisive battle, they must have something to rely on.

"All units, listen to the order! Unfold the formation!"

Without needing more hesitation, the order was quickly issued through the magic network terminal.

Like other wizards, Jie Ming began to control the cannon-fodder legion under his command after receiving the order.

With his thought, the black giants let out low roars, stepping toward the front with steps that made the earth tremble.

The scout cluster was like a waking swarm of bees, emitting a tooth-aching hum, assembling into an attack formation in the air.

And more were various new types of cannon-fodder units hatched and cultivated on the spot using Giant Spirit Realm resources over these three years—"Iron-Eating Beasts" capable of devouring metal and self-proliferating, "Frequency-Wave Jellyfish" that could interfere with energy circuits, "Armor-Piercing Worms" specifically targeted at physical structures—their forms were strange and varied, and their numbers were as vast as the sea.

These cannon-fodder units were not created by Jie Ming, but were continuously manufactured by the command center using resources collected over these years to supplement combat power.

After all, the number of manipulations by a single wizard was limited, so the command center simply distributed cannon fodder to every participating wizard according to a quota.

As a Tier 2 wizard, the upper limit of cannon-fodder units that Jie Ming could finely manipulate simultaneously had reached a million.

And this was just a drop in the ocean of the massive cannon-fodder ocean of the entire wizard legion.

In an instant, with the wizard main camp as the core, a wriggling and churning "living" ocean composed of metal, flesh, and energy expanded rapidly on an unprecedented scale!

Fortunately, most of them had short-range flight or hovering capabilities, so they were not abruptly squeezed to death, but they were layered, dense, and completely filled the airspace and ground in front of the wizard camp.

Due to limited space, this terrifying cannon-fodder frenzy almost began to press toward the enemy coalition line involuntarily the moment it took shape.

And this action of the wizards also triggered tension on the opposite side.

The murderous intent, energy fluctuations, and mental pressure emitted by countless units had already collided and squeezed crazily in the middle zone, making the air there become sticky and distorted, as if a destructive storm could be ignited at any time!

High above, Tier 7 wizard Dickson hovered quietly.

His deep gaze swept over the massive coalition army below, lingering for a moment on the mental light sea of the Mind Realm and the Giant Spirit Realm fleet that deliberately lowered its formation.

"The true auras of Koge and Hila have both appeared—but the 'Fungus Master' is still nowhere to be found." He calculated rapidly in his heart, "It seems that the inference that the Fungus Master is the incarnation of the collective consciousness of the Reproduction Realm and has no fixed form has increased in credibility. This is good news."

This meant that as long as Koge and Hila could not immediately persuade the entire Reproduction Realm to die together, their ultimate means of trying to invoke the origins of the three planes for self-detonation would be greatly hindered by the instinctive survival will of the "Fungus Master," or even unable to be launched.

The wizards might be able to skip the most troublesome "prevent self-detonation" link and enter the stage of frontal crushing.

"However, the possibility that the Fungus Master possesses independent consciousness and is currently lurking somewhere, preparing to wait for an opportunity, cannot be ruled out." Dickson's thinking had no omissions.

He quickly exchanged information and judgments with Obolos at the void blockade node and Melist sitting in the rear ship plane through an encrypted channel.

In any case, the enemy army had already pressed the border, and the conspiracy was hidden behind the scenes.

No matter what the other side wanted to do, fighting a battle was the best test.

"Order!" Dickson's voice was calm but carried unquestionable majesty, entering the mind of every wizard, "According to the No. 3 plan, unfold the attack formation. Cannon-fodder legion, vanguard advance! All combat wizards, prepare sorcery!"

"No matter what tricks they want to play," Dickson looked down at the coalition army rushing over like two-colored tides below, a cold light flashing in his eyes, "in the face of absolute power, it is all in vain."

"Attack!"

Three years ago, Giant Spirit Realm, Wang Zuo Room.

Koge's massive semi-fluid body was no longer as stable as a rock as it used to be, but was slowly wriggling with a kind of restlessness that could not be calmed.

In the three pairs of compound eyes, a trace of shock and suspicion that it didn't want to admit even to itself was hidden under the cold luster.

Ever since those exotic existences calling themselves "wizards" tore through the plane barrier and forcibly broke into its world, everything began to spiral out of control.

The initial landing battle, although suffering heavy losses, could still be attributed to the other side's surprise attack and its own lack of preparation.

But what followed was a complete failure in intelligence gathering!

All actions attempting to obtain the other side's corpses, equipment, or even soul fragments were erased along with the executors by some unknown power the moment they succeeded, clean enough to make one's heart chill.

Helpless, it used the "Thousand Soul Gold Crystal" at the bottom of the box to contact the "Light Chaser" who claimed to know everything, trying to buy intelligence.

And the result?

That light cluster evaporated without a trace!

This was an unprecedented thing; the Light Chaser had always been known for his reputation, unless—he encountered trouble he couldn't deal with, or even perished because of it?

The subsequent second round of battle stunned Koge even more.

It assembled an unprecedentedly large legion, confident that it could crush any invader.

But as soon as the battle started, it presented a one-sided massacre situation!

The other side seemed to have fully understood the weaknesses of the Giant Spirit Realm army in a short time, and various strange sorceries that had never been heard of hit them precisely on their seven inches.

The ability that their Giant Spirit Realm was famous for, evolving rapidly by plundering others' talents, not only failed to gain any improvement in this war, but was instead countered by the other side with a set of methods!

This was too outrageous!

What kind of terrifying analytical ability and technical strength did this require?

What made Koge even more shocked was that when it personally tried to secretly collect the corpse of a fallen wizard, it encountered a hidden and powerful interception force.

Judging from the energy level, the other side was clearly lower than it, but the result of the confrontation was that it suffered a dark loss!

Such an eerie situation, coupled with those low-level wizards on the battlefield who could often rely on various strange sorceries to deal with or even counter-kill Giant Spirit Realm warriors who were one or two levels higher than them—Koge completely understood that it was not encountering an ordinary invader, but a terrifying civilization that was extremely perverted in terms of individual combat power, technical research, and information protection!

In the following days, the intensity of the wizards' frontal attacks decreased, turning into systematic city destruction.

But Koge didn't relax at all, because an unprecedented terrifying plague broke out in its territory!

The infected twisted their bodies, had fatal rejection with their symbionts, and eventually turned into grotesque sculptures in extreme pain.

The timing of this plague was so coincidental that one could tell whose handiwork it was just by thinking about it.

Under internal and external troubles, a huge sense of crisis, like a cold noose, wrapped around Koge's core.

It had to seek a way to break the situation.

And looking at the entire triangular plane cluster, the only one left who had the ability and might be willing to intervene was Hila of the Mind Realm, an old rival it had never liked.

Put down pride and ask Hila for help?

This thought made Koge feel a burst of humiliating heat.

It was foreseeable that that woman who liked to play with minds would never let go of this opportunity to mock it.

But—which was more important, dignity or the survival of civilization?

Koge's massive body heaved heavily on the throne, sighing helplessly.

It also knew clearly that it would be too late to regret when the foundation of civilization was completely shaken!

Finally, reason overcame face.

It activated the emergency communication channel with Hila.

Sure enough, as soon as the communication was connected, Hila's ethereal voice with mockery came over: "Oh? Our invincible steel master, Lord Koge, how do you have time to contact me, this 'weak' neighbor? Could it be that your new toys are not listening to you?"

Koge endured the boiling anger in its core, ignored her mockery, went straight to the theme, and described the strangeness of the wizards, the predicament they encountered, and that suspicious plague concisely.

After listening, Hila was silent for a moment, and the previous mocking tone converged a lot: "To be able to make you, this iron lump, feel tricky—it seems that this time the outsiders are indeed not simple."

She didn't agree or refuse immediately, but said: "Be patient, Koge. In three years, two old friends will come to visit us."

"Old friends?" Koge was startled.

"That's right, the two from the 'Contract' side," Hila hinted.

Koge understood immediately.

In order to obtain higher-level resources and technology, it and Hila had signed an "Auxiliary Combat Contract" with an extremely powerful external civilization, regularly sending troops to assist that civilization in fighting.

In this process, they also met some powerhouses in that civilization, who could be considered "comrades-in-arms" who had fought side by side.

"They—will come?" Koge confirmed, feeling a bit more settled in its heart.

"Of course, the time for the contract mission is almost up, they will come over to join us first," Hila affirmed.

"At that time, gathering me, you, plus those two 'old friends,' that will be four existences of the same level! Even if the high-level wizards on the opposite side are strange, can they still resist our joint efforts?"

The communication ended, and Koge remained alone in the throne room.

The anxiety in its heart finally dissipated for the most part, replaced by a rekindled confidence and a trace of cold murderous intent.

"Wizards—just wait." It hissed in a low voice, cold light flashing in its compound eyes, "When the reinforcements arrive, it will be the time of your destruction! The shame you have imposed on the Giant Spirit Realm must be washed away with your corpses!"

It began to secretly mobilize all remaining strength, shrink the defensive line, accumulate resources, and prepare to cooperate with the counter-attack three years later.