Chapter 36: The Raid

The undead army has departed, followed by Hu Yu and the Demon Emperor, who did not even linger to look back at the ghost fighters. Although Hu Yu was reluctant to leave, he felt compelled to do so after hearing the Demon Emperor’s analysis.

Left behind were the city’s residents, who remained blissfully unaware and were still cheering. Throughout the night, they reveled like madmen, celebrating this magnificent victory and the god-like methods of their Commander.

"When I saw those iron lumps falling from the sky, I thought, what could it be? Turns out it was pure terror!"

"You said it! My mind went completely blank at the time; I even forgot how to breathe. I was so scared afterward that I nearly suffocated myself!"

"I think we need to work harder, too. Otherwise, how can we keep up with the pace of the gods?"

"I, for one, think that after this, we have truly gained a firm foothold in the Boundless Forest. No one will dare to lay a hand on us easily anymore."

Everyone was ecstatic, for this was an unprecedented victory—a battle where their side suffered almost no losses while the enemy was decimated and sent fleeing in disarray.

Shen Yi wondered if he should tell them the truth, but decided to wait. He did not want to ruin the atmosphere. He felt quite frustrated that the prey he had in his grasp had slipped away. Why did they have to associate him with ancient myths? It had absolutely nothing to do with him! He had merely dropped a nuclear bomb. Why hadn't anyone suspected him before? Wang Sheng, at the very least, hadn't.

Elsewhere, the Orc army, which was supposed to arrive the next day, received the news that evening and chose to retreat. The Zerg ambush Shen Yi had prepared for them went unused.

Yang Dianfeng was dissatisfied when he received the message from Shen Yi. After all, having spent so much time developing his forces, he harbored a deep, irreconcilable hatred for the Orcs. Being forced to return just as he was about to slaughter them was agonizing.

"So, what do you want to do? You don't want to let these Orcs leave?"

A delicate, petite figure with shoulder-length black hair stood atop a dirt mound in the fields. Her eyes shone with cold light as she watched the direction in which the Orcs were retreating. The knuckles of her left hand were white from clenching her fist, while her right hand held the phone the Commander had sent.

"I don't want to let these invaders leave without a scratch!" Her cold, clear voice reached Shen Yi through the phone signal.

"Fine. Do as you wish, but be careful." With that, Shen Yi hung up.

The screen in the command hall switched to Yang Dianfeng’s location; he wanted to see what Yang was planning. Standing alone in the fields, Yang Dianfeng seemed somewhat solitary—but was he?

Moments later, the camera captured countless Zerglings and Hydralisks emerging from the vast, open fields, along with a significant number of Overlords. After such a long period of development, the Zerg had begun to take shape. While they could not yet clash head-on with the main Orc force, they were well-suited for ambushes. In particular, the addition of Lurkers—which burrowed deep underground to launch attacks—made them incredibly difficult to counter. Lurkers resembled giant spiders; evolved from Hydralisks, their primary means of attack remained bone spines, but instead of firing them from the surface, they launched surprise attacks from beneath the earth.

Yang Dianfeng first ordered the Lurkers to return to the Boundless Forest. He then mounted a Zergling and led the Zerg army in a mad sprint toward the direction of the Orcs' retreat. Their speed was half again as fast as the initial Zerglings, leaving behind a blur of shadows in the dark of night.

Some say the undead are the darlings of the night, but Yang Dianfeng would tell you that the Zerg are the true kings of the darkness. If one were to zoom in on his dark, star-like eyes, they would be filled with madness and revenge.

The Zerg moved quickly and soon caught up to the Orc army, which was busy setting up camp for the night. Standing on a distant hillside, Yang Dianfeng looked out at the endless sea of Orc tents.

"Since you've come, don't even think about leaving," Yang whispered.

The Zerg’s primary combat units could adapt to all sorts of harsh environments; naturally, the night was no different from the day to them. Yang did not attack immediately. He was waiting. The best time to strike was when the majority of the Orcs were fast asleep.

The longer Yang Dianfeng spent with the Zerg, the more he understood the terror of this race. Every unit seemed born for war; one could not even find an ounce of excess muscle on them. Their entire bodies were weapons of slaughter. Most terrifying of all, the race knew no fear; even in the face of death, there was no flicker of emotion in their eyes.

Thinking of this, Yang sent a mental command to the Zerg units lurking around the Orc camp. All of them froze instantly. Their obedience was absolute, their movements perfectly synchronized—even the world's most elite soldiers could not achieve such precision. This was the Zerg. They were not bloodthirsty; they were perfect soldiers.

Wo Biao, the lion-headed Orc, was feeling irritable. As the commander and leader of this expedition to conquer the Commander's forces, his mood was foul. His frustration stemmed from the defeat, which had led his father to assign him a group of military advisors. And yes, this group of advisors was currently holding a meeting in his command tent.

Wo Biao usually didn't have a problem with advisors; he knew war couldn't be won by brute strength alone. But watching this so-called "advisory group"—ten Orcs, five Pig-men, and five Dog-men—bickering incessantly, he felt worse than if he had eaten excrement.

"I've heard humans have a saying, 'lower than pigs and dogs.' What does that mean? Is my old man trying to tell me something else in a roundabout way?"

Wo Biao’s ears had long since filtered out the advisors' chatter. He was lost in his own thoughts, afraid that if he listened any longer, he would go insane.

"Our retreat is a last resort. Even the undead were defeated; if we go, we’re just offering our heads. We won't return."

"We’ve mobilized such a massive force and spent so much; if we don't achieve something, going back now will only make the tribe's situation worse."

"Then what are we supposed to do? The Orcs cannot afford another failure. The great Beast God will not allow the defeated to survive on this earth!"

"To hell with the Beast God! Have you ever seen him? Stop spouting nonsense. We need a plan to minimize our losses!"

"You heretic! You’ve betrayed the faith! I’ll burn you at the stake! My Lord, you heard that—the words of this Pig-man!"

"My Lord! My Lord!"

After calling twice with no response, the arguing advisors looked toward the Orc commander, Wo Biao.

"Snore... snore..." At some point, Wo Biao had fallen asleep.

They looked at each other in confusion. They were in the middle of a meeting!

With no other choice, it seemed there would be no conclusion today. The advisors silently exited the commander's tent. By now, it was the dead of night. Most of the Orcs were asleep, and the camp was quiet, save for the occasional "sizzle" of the scattered torches.

Yang Dianfeng, standing on the distant hillside, had been observing the Orc camp. When the number of people moving about dwindled until only the patrolling guards remained, he acted.

"All Hydralisks, fire bone spines. Eliminate the guards. Kill as many as you can!" A mental command echoed through the lurking Zerg.

Like arrows released from a bow, the bone spines tore through the night sky.

"Zerglings, attack!"

With another command, the previously motionless Zerglings transformed into blurs of shadow, charging straight for the Orc army.

From his high vantage point, Yang watched the Zerg swarm launch their assault under the faint, bloody light. Thousands of bone spines, imbued with immense piercing power, tore through the bodies of the sentries and continued deep into the camp.

A second wave of spines followed, and the Zerglings surged into the camp like a burst mudslide. The slaughter began. The Orcs on the perimeter were killed before they even realized what was happening. The Zerglings' attacks were incredibly bloody; they would continue to assault a target until they were certain of its death. Combined with the long-range support of the Hydralisks from the rear, their advance was relentless.

As time passed, more Orcs woke up and began to organize a counterattack. Chaos and the sounds of battle erupted throughout the camp. The Orcs did not lack strong warriors, and after leaving a field of corpses, they finally managed to stall the Zerg swarm.

"What are these monsters? Why are they attacking us!" a Leopard-man shouted, gasping for air. His left hand deflected a bone spine with his axe, while his right hand wielded a spiked club to smash an incoming Zergling.

Before he could recover, another bone spine whistled toward his chest. He didn't have time to gather his strength to deflect it, so he could only raise his axe to his chest. *Clang!* The force sent him stumbling back several steps. Looking at the dent in his axe, he cursed under his breath, "That was close!"

The Orcs had many powerful warriors, and as the battlefield expanded, they began to push back as the front line stabilized. However, because the Zerglings were so fast and the Hydralisks provided constant support from afar, the Orcs' efforts were largely ineffective.

Yang Dianfeng knew that his twenty thousand Zerglings and Hydralisks could not finish off such a massive army. Seeing that the objective had been met, he ordered a retreat.

The Orcs watched in fury as these monsters vanished into the night, leaving behind a field of dead. Some of the faster Werewolves tried to give chase, only to be pierced by bone spines flying from the darkness. They could only watch as the attackers disappeared completely.

Wo Biao had just arrived at the front line and hadn't even killed a few before the Zerg retreated. He was enraged, thinking to himself, "I’m never coming out again once I get back! I can't keep enduring my father's wrath!"

The mere thought of his father sent a cold shiver down his spine.

"What are you all staring at? You idiots! Pack up and march, travel light!" After saying this, he turned and left. He didn't want to spend another second in human territory; it was no place for a living soul.