Chapter 2859: Who Is the Traitor?

Zu An stood alongside the Conqueror King as they watched the battle unfold. This was his first encounter with the Reproduction army, and he finally understood how the First Elder’s army was defeated.

Reproduction soldiers were nowhere as strong as Order soldiers or Annihilation soldiers, but there were simply too many of them around. Furthermore, they had insect armies that flew in the sky and crawled on the ground—they were everywhere! This was a nightmare for those suffering from enochlophobia[1].

The insect army was a force to be feared. The cockroach soldiers on the frontlines scythed enemies with ease like the Grim Reaper. Behind them, beetles opened up their wings and gurgled out balls of acid that bombarded their enemies. It felt almost like a scene from Star Wars.

But that wasn't the most frightening aspect of the Reproduction army. Upon sustaining injuries, those fighting against Reproduction worshipers became vulnerable to the latter's contagion. There was a high chance of the wounded losing their rationality and becoming Reproduction worshipers as well.

Thus, the Reproduction army only grew stronger as the war dragged on. The pressure from facing such an enemy was bound to be immense.

The Second Elder’s army was filled with elites, but they were no match for the massive Reproduction army. Soon, they were cornered until they were on the verge of being wiped out.

The Conqueror King could also tell as much, so he immediately led the Annihilation army onto the battlefield.

That boosted the morale of the Second Elder’s army. They began fighting back with greater vigor than before.

In contrast, the Reproduction army descended into chaos. The Conqueror King lived up to his reputation as the conqueror of many worlds; his commanding ability was top-notch. Exploiting the opening created by the Reproduction forces' fluster, he charged in with his elites.

He knew the Reproduction army’s weakness. Even though there were many of them, they were controlled by a single brain—Li Zicheng. Once he was dead, the great Reproduction army would swiftly collapse by itself.

The countless insects and humans of the Reproduction army quickly surrounded the Conqueror King and his elites, but the Annihilation army was a force to be reckoned with. They proved why they were the destroyers of worlds with their skills.

Furthermore, the enemies who were killed by Annihilation power couldn’t be resurrected as zombies to continue fighting.

Zu An observed the fight.

No wonder the Deity of Annihilation and the Deity of Death are at odds with each other. The Deity of Death preaches that the dead enter a cycle of reincarnation, whereas beings slain by annihilation power means being reduced to nothing.

It was a terrible fight. Blood flowed like rivers. Stars plummeted from the sky. It felt as if even dao could be grated down.

Individual strength was negligible in a battle of such massive scale. There were so many experts on both sides that, more often than not, one would be bombarded to death by countless skills before even getting a chance to unleash one’s ultimate move.

In the end, the Annihilation faction proved to be the superior one. They had been in this world much longer, so it was only natural that they boasted greater military might.

Perhaps the Reproduction faction had more worshipers, but they didn’t have as much time to grow. Furthermore, during their fight against the Order faction, they had lost many of their top experts, and their new batch of experts hadn’t had enough time to fully mature.

That wouldn’t have been a problem against other enemies; the Reproduction army could compensate for quality with quantity. But the Annihilation faction hadn’t prepared for so many years just to let the Reproduction army grow under their watch.

Thus, the Reproduction army began to waver.

Li Zicheng noticed that the Conqueror King and his troops were closing in on him, so he hurriedly retreated. Unfortunately, his retreat caused the battle to descend from a roughly equal fight into a one-sided slaughter.

So, Li Zicheng fled back to Beijing with his remaining army.

He'd lost the battle, but he didn’t lose hope. Reproduction’s unique trait was that it produced soldiers quickly. As long as he had time to catch his breath, he could produce another hundred million-strong army. The only thing he needed was time.

But how could the Annihilation army possibly give him time? The Conqueror King and his army marched southward, and it didn’t take long for them to arrive at the outskirts of Beijing.

Beijing was the Order faction’s main camp. The Reproduction faction had only just conquered it, so they couldn’t fully exploit its defensive prowess as a mega fortress yet.

Under Zu An’s schemes, the Annihilation army steadily cornered the Reproduction faction.

In the Battle of Zhending, Li Zicheng attempted a counterattack, only to suffer a huge defeat. One of his key subordinates, the great General Gu Ying, died in the battle.[2]

Li Zicheng tasked Chen Yongfu to guard Taiyuan City, hoping to stall the Annihilation army’s footsteps using Shanxi’s defensive line and buy more time for the Reproduction army to rebuild its forces.

However, the Annihilation army employed a two-pronged approach of intense assault and diplomacy. It didn’t take long for Shanxi’s generals and officials to defect, causing the defense line to crumble.

Li Zicheng retreated to his old base located at Shanxi’s border. He gathered his remaining forces, hoping to stand his ground by utilizing Tong Pass’s treacherous terrain.

But after assimilating the Second Elder’s forces, the Annihilation army was now stronger than ever, boasting both the Annihilation faction’s experts and the Order faction’s energy cannons.

The Reproduction faction suffered huge losses, but they still just barely stood their ground.

However, news arrived that Zu An’s army had defeated Li Guo, one of Li Zicheng’s key generals; he'd crushed Shanxi’s defensive line and was gathering at Xi’an. With that, Li Zicheng’s army at Tong Pass crumbled.

Li Zicheng abandoned Xi’an and made his way through Lantian toward Henan and Hukuang.

However, Zu An caught wind of his plan via Tang Tian’er and attacked Xi’an.

In Xi’an’s city lord manor, the plump Fourth Elder Mastema glared at Tang Tian’er. “You little bitch! You betrayed us!”

Tang Tian’er revealed a sweet smile. “Didn’t you betray the Order faction yourself, Fourth Elder? How can you be so shameless as to talk about betrayal to me?”

Zu An finally understood how Li Zicheng had made such a huge comeback despite being left with only eighteen cavalrymen. He looked at Mastema with confusion. “Fourth Elder, you are already standing at the peak of the Order faction. What do you stand to gain by defecting to the Reproduction faction?”

Instead of answering the question, Mastema asked, “What is order to you?”

“Chaos is the natural state of the world. Order builds structures within the chaos, and it is the crux of the rise of civilizations," Zu An replied.

Mastema sneered in disdain, “Yes, that is indeed true... at the start. That was the faith that fueled me all this time. But it all changed.”

“Changed?”

“As the radiance of Order expands across the Myriad Worlds, its rules tighten. The slightest mistake is considered blasphemy. Order has already diverged from its primary objective, but the First Elder arrogantly insists on going his way. He refuses to seek counsel from the Deity of Order. On the contrary, he only grows more obstinate with time.”

“Many people have grown discontented with him. I am one of them. I’m not the one who betrayed Order. It’s the First Elder, and even the Deity of Order, who have betrayed Order!” Mastema cried with increasing agitation.

Zu An was perplexed.

He dares to blaspheme a universal deity. Is he not afraid of divine retribution?

Mastema suddenly burst into laughter. “Do you think I’m the only traitor? There are more disgruntled people in the Elder Council. Our Sixth Brother has defected to the Annihilation faction. Our Second Brother has done the same as well. We’re all outstanding talents who shine no matter where we go. Do you think we’ll guard the current Order to our dying breath?”

Zu An widened his eyes. “Which factions have the other elders defected to?”

Black blood seeped from Mastema’s mouth as he replied with a sinister smile, “You’ll know very soon.”

With that, he breathed his last. He had taken poison beforehand to end his life.

1. Enochlophobia is the fear of huge crowds. ☜

2. The Chongzhen Emperor, Li Zicheng, Huang Taiji, and Dorgon all lived in the 17th century, whereas the Battle of Zhending happened in the 14th century. ☜