Chapter 974: Rules of Combat

Upon witnessing the unclean world's atrocities, the young Zhang Hanxiang couldn't sit still.

Zhang Lie noticed his sister's unease, but he wasn't too concerned.

The superior worlds of antiquity treated everyone else as lower-class citizens, though the king of evil was the most extreme even among the superior kings. In essence, the king of evil and the king of black fog were both one step away from becoming the next death spirit king—they simply hadn't done anything that would warrant equally harsh censure yet.

Zhang Hanxiang clenched her fists, cursing at her powerlessness, unable to do anything to change the aliens' plight.

The other aliens sighed upon witnessing what the unclean world's monstrosities were up to. Weakness was original sin.

Hong Xi rolled her eyes at Zhang Hanxiang. "You're wrong."

Zhang Hanxiang criticized, "Don't you think these monstrosities are truly monstrous? All life should be respected—the ends don't necessarily justify the means!"

"No, you're wrong."

Zhang Hanxiang was so infuriated she began to laugh. "And where am I wrong? Surely you don't think what they're doing is just, or moral, or right!"

Hong Xi responded calmly, "From an ethical standpoint, you're quite right. However, you're mistaken about two points. First, this isn't a tactic aimed at slaves. In ancient China, one tactic of war was to tie a torch to a bull's tail, then to light it on fire. At that point, the bull will charge straight ahead, dealing as much damage as if it had a rider on it."

"Then you're simply treating these aliens like livestock!"

These aliens were intelligent lifeforms too. How could Hong Xi justify treating them in such a manner? Zhang Hanxiang was stupefied.

"I'm not discussing tactics of war with you, Hong Xi! You—it's like you're turning into my brother!"

Zhang Hanxiang was looking at the situation from the perspective of morality, and Hong Xi was treating it like a discussion of war tactics. It was as though one party had brought up love, and the other principles of physics.

Hong Xi sniffed. "You're mistaken again. If your brother were here, he wouldn't even bother pointing out these mistakes—he'd just ignore you."

Hong Xi frowned at herself. Even she felt as though she should have been more affected by the scene.

"I expect the pressure and stress I'm suffering from having to command such a large group of forces is taking its toll on me," she analyzed calmly. "My thoughts and emotions have changed."

Zhang Hanxiang asked, "What's the second mistake I made?"

"Those aliens are warriors, not slaves."

Zhang Hanxiang: ...

Hong Xi wasn't wrong, but even so, the unclean world's actions were too inhumane.

Hong Xi shook her head. "I won't comment on others' tactics. At the very least, if it means that my teammates and companions will be saved, as the commander, I'll use the dirtiest tactics I know of."

"I can't say I agree with the unclean world's tactics, but it is effective, and it benefits the rest of us. Don't you think so?"

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Zhang Hanxiang didn't know what to think. It was true that the unclean world's underhanded tactics would prevent the death of some of their own forces. But was she to pity those warriors chased by the monstrosities, to get angry, or to be relieved?

Hong Xi shrugged. "Victory in war is built on the bodies of the dead. Being overly merciful to others is equivalent to being cruel to ourselves."

These monstrosities, which had been birthed by the king of evil, possessed near-limitless regenerative abilities. The black spirits were unable to kill the monstrosities, but the monstrosities could easily devour the black spirits.

The only problem was that the monstrosities would also devour all allied forces in the vicinity. Of course, it was hardly as though they were invincible on the battlefield—the death spirits' battleships had purple lasers which would evaporate the gray fluid that constituted the monstrosities.

At the start of the fight, before Zhang Lie could do anything, the purple lasers had wiped out a large swathe of the monstrosities.

The frost spirit commander screeched shrilly, summoning a blizzard as he did so. The sound waves seemed able to penetrate the souls of those who heard it, allies and enemies alike. Large patches of the black spirits were frozen solid. Alien fighters rushed forward and shattered the ice.

Compared to the unclean world's tactics, the white world's tactics were far more ordinary. The frost spirits and the alien fighters they commanded acted in harmony to take down the black spirits.

Whether the superior worlds' forces behaved largely like those of the unclean world or those of the white world remained to be seen.

The death spirits unleashed another barrage of attacks.

The warlords rushed forward, stepping through the air as they swept aside horde after horde of black spirits.

Whenever a death spirit battleship fell from the skies, it cracked open to unleash a new tide of black spirits. As black cloth bandages covered the battlefield, a group of death spirits, wearing black cloaks, with black masks over their faces and scepters in their hands, emerged from their battleships.

"Are you cowards finally emerging from your shells?"

After the death spirit king swallowed the will of his world, the death spirits grew far less populous than before. That, combined with the fact that they waged endless war, led Zhang Lie to suspect that each battleship was commanded by just a single death spirit.

The death spirits wore unusual masks, which gave off an unknown light. Affixed to the forehead of each mask was a mysterious tablet.

The scepters in their hands were shaped like ankhs. They raised those scepters high into the air. Purple light gathered around the scepters and shot out through the eye of each ankh, straight at the heart of the allied forces.

The allied forces continued charging forward, only to be blocked by black bandages from the battleships.

The death spirits looked toward Zhang Lie, hovering in the sky. Their eyes, like those of a cobra, seemed to pierce his soul.

Zhang Lie ignored the death spirits. The pale blue genetic energy around his body turned black and rose from his body like black fog.

"[Ninecarp Transformation]!" A black serpent materialized behind Zhang Lie, by now so large and so developed that it resembled the world-swallowing serpent Jormungandr. It let out a threatening hiss as its scales clicked together.

The death spirits floated into the air. Three black pyramids revolved around each one as they flew toward Zhang Lie.

Gold Comet whizzed to Zhang Lie's side, its wings whirring in a threatening fashion.

Zhang Lie asked, "You want to participate in the battle?"

Gold Comet held up its two scythes in the shape of a cross, nodding seriously.

Zhang Lie patted Gold Comet's back. "You're my secret weapon, and I hadn't planned on revealing your talents just yet, but if you want to participate, go right ahead!"