Chapter 1929: A False Victory

The drizzling rain fell, cooling the scorching forest considerably, but the rain did not last long before the clouds in the sky gradually dispersed.

Water droplets slid down the green leaves, gathering on the rising heat within the dense forest, causing the area above the forest to appear hazy and misty.

Su Xiao sat cross-legged atop the insect nest, watching the sun gradually reveal itself behind the dissipating clouds; having sat here for so long, he had gained no insight into his swordsmanship, instead devising several schemes against his opponents...

It was now around five in the afternoon, the World Core had been placed at the Ancient Ruins·Babaka Bo, and in 11 days and 15 hours, the enemy's world coordinates would form—at that moment, Su Xiao would be defeated.

The good news is, there are about 11 days to develop the Zerg; the bad news is, because the contractors of the Reincarnation Paradise did not participate in the decisive battle, the Ancient Ruins·Babaka Bo remains in an open state.

That is to say, the contractors of the Three Paradise Alliance can move freely, needing only to leave some personnel to guard the world coordinates.

Su Xiao exhaled a turbid breath; he had a rough understanding of the Three Paradise Alliance's overall strength, but as for their scheming abilities, he remained unclear for now.

However, Su Xiao could be certain of one thing: the enemy must have anticipated his development of the Zerg, capable of advancing to the fifth tier, and would not be foolish—moreover, the enemy contractors would soon locate this insect nest, which is nearly inevitable.

Finding the World Core is as difficult as searching for a needle in the ocean, yet even so, the maidens of the Holy Light Paradise still found it, using only three days.

Compared to the World Core, Su Xiao's Zerg is much easier to locate—the former is like a needle dropped into the sea, while the insect nest is akin to a lamp in thick fog; given enough time, finding this place is only a matter of when.

As for how to avoid this, it becomes a struggle of old schemers—once, Su Xiao would dodge if he could, and if he couldn't, he would brute-force his way through, killing opponents with sheer martial strength.

But after enduring the trials of Old Lion, Harold, and Blue Mold, these old schemers from other paradises now seem rather ordinary to Su Xiao.

Old Lion and Harold left too deep an impression on him—both were kings or monarchs, though their personal combat strength was low, their scheming and calculations sent chills down one's spine; a single misstep could result in being sold out by these two, even while cheering them on.

After serving alongside Old Lion and Harold, when Su Xiao encountered the old schemer Blue Mold in the Black King's World, he suddenly realized this fellow was nothing special—though troublesome, he had not yet reached the level of being utterly impossible to out-scheme.

The clouds dispersed, and a dim yellow sunset cast its glow upon the insect nest.

Having completed his meditation, Su Xiao opened the mission list, and the war mission's content had completely changed.

【War Mission: Turn the Tide】

Difficulty Level: lv. 59

Mission Information: Shatter the enemy contractors' alliance, and interrupt the formation of the world coordinates.

World Coordinates Formation Remaining Time: 279 hours.

Mission Reward: The Hunter's Obtained Merit Rewards will be increased by 300%.

Mission Penalty: Forced Execution.

……

From the lv. 59 mission difficulty alone, one can see how perilous Su Xiao's current situation is—fifth-tier mission difficulties generally range from lv. 40 to lv. 50, while sixth-tier ranges from lv. 50 to lv. 60.

That is to say, even a top-tier sixth-tier contractor could not complete this mission alone—the Three Paradise Alliance simply has too many members.

Su Xiao currently has several plans to deal with these people, but these plans must be implemented step by step; swallowing the Three Paradise Alliance whole in one gulp is nothing but a daydream.

As Su Xiao sat atop the insect nest pondering, the surrounding forest emitted faint rustling sounds—soft, but numerous.

Several demon beasts ran out from the forest, arriving beside the insect nest; these emotionless war machines would only develop dependence on the insect nest, after all, it is their homeland, their birthplace.

By six in the evening, Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang, Ba Ha, and Am returned with the demon beast troops; the ten spore tanks' bodies had swollen to dozens of times their original size, requiring dozens of demon beasts to pull them forward.

When the spore tanks reached the vicinity of the insect nest, they unfolded like soft mud, and the insect nest fragments inside surged out.

During this hunting expedition, 1,307 demon beasts were deployed, but only 1,005 survived, among which 5 of the 15 elite individuals perished—this can only be described as heavy losses.

The reason for these casualties is not that Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang, Ba Ha, and Am led the troops incompetently, but because Su Xiao ordered them to attack a three-stage insect nest.

If not for Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang, Am, and Ba Ha all participating in the battle, the casualties would have been far greater.

"Woof."

Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang leapt onto the top of the insect nest, gesturing that "that matter" had been completed.

"Good, is her resistance strong?"

"Woof~"

Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang's dog face twisted in embarrassment—that meant, not only strong, but when seizing the opponent, possibly driven to desperation, she actually bit him.

"190 kilometers, distance is sufficient for safety."

Su Xiao leapt down from the insect nest; although today suffered heavy losses, he also gained a large number of second-stage insect nest fragments—Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang, Am, and Ba Ha's squad, in one day, destroyed 57 second-stage mother nests; this is despite them spending most of their time on the road, otherwise the gains would have been greater.

Our insect nest began devouring the seized fragments, completing consumption in less than half an hour; after accounting for the converted life stones, the biological energy reserve reached 342,500 points.

340,000 biological energy—Su Xiao's gaze swept over the demon beasts near the insect nest; these demon beasts hardly look like 1,005 in number, possibly fewer than half, but this is quite normal.

The insect nest began spawning troops; seven minutes later, a single demon beast walked out from within the nest.

Over an hour later, troop spawning ended—this batch yielded 1,710 demon beasts, bringing our side's total demon beast count to 2,715, among which 27 are elite demon beasts.

During the troop spawning, Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang, Am, and Ba Ha all completed their preparations; this time, they were divided into two teams, with Am and Ba Ha each leading over five hundred demon beasts, and not all were deployed.

Worth mentioning is that Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang left a coordinate on Su Xiao's sleeve cuff.

The remaining demon beasts stayed at the insect nest; Su Xiao approached a few demon beasts nearby, who were guarding a large cloth sack, inside which something alive seemed to be moving.

Su Xiao picked up the large cloth sack, Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang followed behind him, and the man and dog quickly vanished into the forest at full speed—after all, they needed to travel nearly two hundred kilometers.

What Su Xiao is doing now is to make the Three Paradise Alliance feel at ease; in his view, the current situation is actually quite clear.

As long as the enemy are not all fools, they will certainly anticipate his development of the Zerg, dispatching numerous contractors to search, striving to exterminate his Zerg in its infancy.

If the Three Paradise Alliance wishes to destroy the insect nest Su Xiao has developed? Then good—Su Xiao will let them destroy it, let them flatten "our insect nest."

Su Xiao's plan proceeds as follows:

At noon today, he ordered Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang, Am, and Ba Ha to attack a three-stage insect nest without regard for losses, and also imposed four requirements.

1. That three-stage insect nest must be sufficiently far from our insect nest.

2. The mother body of that insect nest must survive, and the nest itself must remain intact.

3. After victory, clean up traces in the vicinity—not a single basic-type Zerg may be killed.

4. After the battle, leave over five hundred demon beasts at that insect nest, and for safety's sake, do not make it a round number.

When Su Xiao earlier surveyed the demon beasts near our insect nest, there should have been 1,005, but in reality, fewer than 500 remained—this is the reason: the missing 519 demon beasts were left near that already-captured three-stage insect nest.

The place Su Xiao is now heading to is precisely that three-stage insect nest; not only is Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Ignoring Bubu Wang accompanying him, but Su Xiao is also carrying the mother body of that three-stage insect nest.

A complete three-stage insect nest, a group of Zerg troops, and a three-stage Zerg mother body—this is already sufficient to fake the real thing.

To defeat the enemy, you must first let them swell, let them mistakenly believe they have already eliminated the hidden threat, let them… savor the joy of 'victory'.

As he ran at full speed, Su Xiao's vision suddenly brightened, and he emerged from the headquarters forest.

"Three Joy Garden Alliance, don't let me down too much."

A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face; although he preferred fighting strong opponents blade to blade, this feeling of wits and courage against the enemy was not bad either.