670 No Pain No Gain (1/2)

Without the queen, the Immortals were deemed to lose control over the Zergs, significantly reducing the threat toward humanity. Wang Tong should be able to face Patroclus with abandon by then; otherwise, he would be constantly worried about the fate of humans should he die during the fight.

Without being able to commit himself fully to the fight, Wang Tong was deemed to be defeated.

The key to winning the inevitable fight against Patroclus was to find Ark and kill the queen. For the longest time, the immortals had had the upper hand, and leveraging his advantage, Patroclus had forced Wang Tong to reveal a significant degree of his power. He kept a close eye on Wang Tong's every move and every fight, hoping to find his flaws.

Once Wang Tong located the queen, he would be able to avert the situation and gain the initiative. Otherwise, the terms of the battle, such as when, where, and how the battle would be carried out, were at Patroclus' discretion.

Despite the uncertainty in the future, this was the closest the humans had ever gotten to see any signs of hope during the six years.

Wang Tong's challenge was much greater than his illustrious predecessor—Li Feng's. Five hundred years ago, humanity's biggest enemies were the Zergs, but now, Wang Tong had to deal with someone much more powerful than the Zergs: Patroclus.

Although Patroclus' ancestor, Rilangalos had also risen against Li Feng, Patroclus' skills and abilities had surpassed his by a great measure. Therefore, he was a much greater threat to the heir of the Blade Warrior than his ancestor had ever been.

…

Dimalis had soon received a message from the Divine Lord, ordering the Immortal fleet to press forward. Divine Lord had deduced the weakened state of Mars' defenders and thought that it would be a great opportunity to strike.

None of the mastery casters who had helped Michaux in the last spell were conscious, and it would take them at least six months to recover. Without the protection from Wang Tong's soul essence, many casters' sea of consciousness was assailed by the raw and unforgiving energy.

Nevertheless, the Immortal armada's hesitation had given the Martians time to prepare for a full-on war. They reopened many shelters and bunkers under the large buildings and evacuated people into the well-defended cities from the countryside. It would still take Dimalis a while to reach Mars, and by the time he was here, the Martians should be ready for war.

The biggest threat the Immortal fleets could impose was bombardment from space, which wasn't really much of a threat if one asked a battle-hardened martian. With the population staying safely in the shelters, the immortals would be able to destroy the buildings on the surface at most.

It had occurred to Dimalis that he was faced with a dilemma: if he used a planetary destruction weapon, Patroclus would have nothing but dust to lord over; however, his current weapon loadout could do nothing more than demolish a few buildings.

Meanwhile, the harassment from the human fleet started to gain more strength and frequency. They still kept their distance from the Immortals' armada, and only struck from the rear and flanks.

Having lost five fleets, Dimalis hesitated to split his forces further as he would lose the advantage in numbers. Therefore, his information about his surroundings and enemy ships were very limited. He knew that the manufacturing plants down on the Mars were cranking out more battlecruisers each day, but he no longer had enough men to send down there while maintaining dominance in space. As Dimalis approached Mars, his fear grew even greater. Although the Divine Lord had deduced that the casters were exhausted from the last spell and would take a while to recover, he didn't mention how long the recovery would take. The Armada could not afford to be struck by another one of the world-devouring spells.

After much deliberation, Dimalis concluded that he shouldn't rush to Mars at a current weakened state. He would take his time and wait for the reinforcement of Zergs. Suddenly, he felt grateful for his human heritage; it gave him insights into the Martians' strength and his weaknesses. Without it, he would have plunged straight into the Martians' trap like the dark ones did.

Meanwhile, inside the Immortals' Divine Hall, Patroclus sat on his throne with an eerily placid face. The change in the Divine Lord was palpable to the immortals ever since Zhou Sisi was kidnapped. As a matter of fact, if Patroclus had acted on that day, Wang Tong might not have been able to take her away so easily. However, no one dared question Patroclus' inactivity.

”My lord, the situation on Mars has deteriorated significantly. We are cranking out enough spaceships, but most of the crews are humans. I suggest increasing the rank of Immortals.” Harmon said. Ever since he had completed his Mars mission, Harmon had risen in ranks quickly and become one of Patroclus' most trusted advisers. All leaders present in the Divine Hall knew that the real goal of Harmon's mission was to eliminate unwanted members of the Immortals in addition to gaining more information on Wang Tong's power. Harmon had reached both of these goals successfully.