Chapter 972: Cannon Fodder First

Zhang Lie grimaced. "Ignore the commotion. As I mentioned earlier, don't approach the world of black fog or the unclean worlds' forces. Beware of the death spirits—but also of our allies."

The draconians and various aliens gulped. Although Zhang Lie had warned all of them before, there was a marked difference between a verbal warning and what they were observing before their very eyes.

In the last big war in the third realm, many such aliens had been devoured by the unclean world's monstrosities unknowingly.

The aliens representing the Zongming world breathed a sigh of relief that they were far from the path of those monstrosities, who treated all the aliens like nothing but cannon fodder. Either the aliens would charge into the enemy lines out of fright, or they would transform into monstrosities themselves and bolster the unclean world's strength.

Many would rather die than become such monstrosities.

The monstrosities didn't seem to have a single leader or commander; they dominated the battlefield by sheer numbers.

The frost spirits had also finished their preparations and set off. Compared to the monstrosities of the unclean world, the frost spirits were far more normal.

Snow began to fall over the battlefield, and a blizzard roared. The frost spirits' forces charged forward amidst the blizzard, each riding on a spectral, snowy-white horse. The frost spirit commander followed on a massive chariot. The frost spirits were the vanguard of their forces; the aliens they controlled followed tightly behind.

Hong Xi reported, "Master, our preparations are complete!"

Zhang Lie nodded. "We'll set off immediately! Don't lose out to the other superior worlds' forces and have them look down on you."

Following Zhang Lie's command, the warlords took the lead. Zhang Hanxiang shouted, "Charge!"

The aliens and draconians set off together, the aliens surrounding the draconians, and the draconians surrounding Zhang Hanxiang. This was a formation Zhang Lie had devised.

Zhang Hanxiang wondered, "Hold on, as commander, why am I in the middle of the Zongming forces? Shouldn't I be at the vanguard?"

Hong Xi rolled her eyes. "That's not your role. You need to be thinking about how best to reposition our forces and to deal with unexpected variables in battle, not participating in direct combat."

Zhang Hanxiang gritted her teeth. "I feel like I've been scammed!"

Hong Xi rolled her eyes.

Zhang Hanxiang continued, "Brother said that you'd aid me, didn't he? What if you became the commander and I participated in the vanguard instead?"

"That's ridiculous! Look at the situation before us. Do you think it's reasonable for us to charge forward?"

Zhang Hanxiang scowled. "Isn't everyone doing that? Even Brother and the warlords are right there in front! Why can't we do the same? This is unfair!"

Hong Xi rolled her eyes again. "Those on the frontlines will die first."

"But then, why would the other two superior worlds' forces try to take the lead? If we don't catch up, we're going to lose out!"

"The unclean world's monstrosities are thoughtless, and the frost spirits are overconfident in their strength. They haven't analyzed their enemies carefully."

As Hong Xi and Zhang Hanxiang spoke, the death spirits made their moves. The pyramids that hovered around each octahedral battleship flashed with purple light.

Hong Xi continued, "Whoever rushes forward now will die."

All the battleships emitted purple light at once, dyeing the sky and battlefield a lurid purple.

Xing Ying, who had been scouting at the front, reported, "It's a high-energy attack!"

The death spirits' battleships finished charging up and shot beam after beam of purple lasers toward the vanguard of the allied forces in a wave of screams and shouts.

.

A number of those beams shot toward Zhang Lie and the warlords. The warlords prepared to defend themselves—only to see Zhang Lie punch forward and dissipate the energy from those lasers.

The warlords looked at Zhang Lie in shock. The purple lasers had a frightening concentration of energy which even they could keenly sense. None of the warlords were confident in being able to shield against such a barrage by themselves, but Zhang Lie had easily done it.

Zhang Lie looked toward the battlefield down below, which was suffering from the laser barrage. He sighed. "Science truly does change war."

The death spirit king was a madman, but he was also the only one in the third realm who could boast of significant research and investment into science.

Compared to the death spirits, the other superior worlds might as well be barbarians. After all, the death spirit king and his research advancements had allowed him to break free of the control of all the other superior worlds.

The charge of the allied forces was completely crushed by the fusillade of purple lasers.

Hong Xi shrugged. "Didn't I tell you? Those people who rushed forward perished because of their haste."

Zhang Hanxiang's eyes widened. "Can you predict the future?"

"No, of course not. I'm simply more careful—more experienced, let's say. You'll understand once you participate in more wars. The death spirits are an enemy that took all the other superior worlds to even handle. How could they fold so quickly? They would surely have some means of dealing with the vanguard."

Hong Xi had had the Zongming forces hold back so that the unclean world's monstrosities and the frost spirits could scout for them and uncover the death spirits' repertoire of attacks.

The frost spirit commander was aware of what the death spirits could do, but he nevertheless had his men charge forward because of absolute confidence in his own strength. He believed that he could handle whatever the death spirits could bring to bear against him—but the moment he saw his troops suffer and perish, he couldn't sit still any longer.

He punched forward as the temperature on the battlefield dropped precipitously. A white glow, like an avalanche, split the sky. A flurry of snow blocked the purple lasers as the frost spirit commander's fist shot toward the death spirits' octahedral battleships.

The pyramids surrounding each battleship began to spin rapidly, forming hundreds of black twisters that coalesced into one, forming a huge barrier against the avalanche that threatened to overwhelm them.

The frost spirit commander scowled. His attack had done nothing to the death spirits at all—at this rate, the situation would spiral out of control...