World-Shaking Shock

As someone who had once played the game, Fang Zheng had always believed that when it came to frontal assaults, the Zerg brought the greatest sense of oppression.

The human steel tide seemed invincible—a beauty of metal and order. When they advanced, it was like a massive iron machine rolling forward, making one tremble. The Protoss had the strongest individual combat power in the world, and when they charged, it felt like a fearless assault by warriors, inspiring awe.

But the Zerg were different. When that overwhelming Bug Tide appeared before your eyes, it was more like a natural disaster you couldn't stop, resist, or even avoid. Like an avalanche, a flash flood, or a tsunami, the Zerg's combat style pushed numbers to their extreme. Facing a Zerg charge, you didn't feel the courage to fight, nor anger or madness—instead, you felt the insignificance and instinctive fear that arose when an individual confronted numbers beyond comprehension and acceptance. This was an indispensable part of any creature's natural evolution. You could block a breached dam, resist a raging flood, but when faced with a tsunami tens of meters high or a sky-covering hurricane, there was little you could do to change things.

And that was the Zerg.

Tens of thousands of Zerglings surged from the forest, turning into a murky tide rolling forward. From a distance, you could even see the entire battlefield covered in a blood-red carpet in an instant. Above them, Mutalisks flapped their wings, forming an endless, dense cloud. This wave of attack made one feel as if they were witnessing the arrival of hell itself—the gates of hell had opened, and the crimson flames of the abyss were scorching everything from the ground to the sky, rushing toward them at breakneck speed.

Team Wang lowered the machine gun he had raised, staring blankly at the Bug Tide before him, to the point where he no longer cared about the Alien Monsters behind him. Fear taken to its limit brought despair. They hadn't felt this way facing those Mimic Aliens, because while those Mimics were numerous overall, their attacks lacked any real strategy, and since they often hid underground, their offensive didn't seem as fierce as it actually was.

But the Zerg were different. Even before they reached the battlefield, their terrifying aura was enough to seize one's soul.

This was the Swarm.

No one opened fire. They had even given up struggling. Faced with such numbers, all they felt was helplessness and despair. A few soldiers had even closed their eyes, waiting for death.

But... a miracle happened.

Those terrifying monsters didn't kill the soldiers. Instead, the rushing Zerglings even deliberately made way, their massive bodies seemingly unaffected, and the entire Bug Tide, like real water, flowed around the warriors before continuing forward, forward, and forward again.

"What's going on?"

Team Wang opened his eyes. He had already prepared to die in battle, but after waiting for so long without meeting his end, he couldn't help but take a look. To his astonishment, those fearsome bugs seemed to have no intention of harming him—they had even gone around him?

Not just him. When Team Wang looked around, he was also surprised to find his other subordinates standing there unharmed. Some were dumbfounded, while others still had their eyes tightly shut, waiting for death. It looked somewhat ridiculous, but at that moment, no one could laugh.

A moment later, the Bug Tide had vanished from their sight, entering the battlefield and beginning to fight. Everything around them was eerily quiet, to the point of feeling unreal. A few soldiers stood frozen in place, completely at a loss.

"My god, what was that?"

After who knows how long, one soldier broke the silence, turning to look behind him. The others, still unsettled, also turned to gaze at the battlefield behind them. There, the Zerg were frenziedly slaughtering everything they saw, while the Mimic Aliens couldn't even stir up a ripple.

"They're... attacking those Alien Monsters?"

This scene was hard for the soldiers to believe, but the fact was that these terrifying, ugly creatures, as if released from hell, seemed to be... on their side?

"Regardless, we need to leave here immediately!"

No one had figured out what was happening, but Team Wang made a quick decision. The situation had exceeded their scope of handling; they had to return to headquarters to report immediately, then consider the next move. Hearing his order, the other soldiers obeyed without hesitation, following him out of there.

This was no longer their battlefield. Though they didn't know where these monsters came from, since they were attacking those Alien Creatures, they could only hope the monsters didn't lose.

And if Fang Zheng knew what these soldiers were thinking, he would have sneered and told them.

How could you lose with Mutalisks in their face?!

Fang Zheng wasn't worried about being jinxed at all. A comeback was impossible—it would never be possible in this lifetime. With such a population advantage, all he had to do was push with Dragon Dog. How could he lose?

And the facts proved Fang Zheng's guess was correct.

Although these Mimic Monsters indeed had versatile attack capabilities, their fatal flaw was the lack of air forces, and their numbers were far inferior to the Zerg. So in the first wave of the charge, those Mimic Monsters were instantly torn to shreds by the Zerglings and Mutalisks, routed and broken. If viewed from the air, those previously arrogant Mimic Monsters were like seashells on a beach, washed clean by the Bug Tide several times their size.

But Fang Zheng didn't just A-move straight in. He knew well that the Mimics' greatest strength wasn't fighting on the battlefield, but their Save Load ability. To avoid being hit by their SL cheat tactic, Fang Zheng ordered his Zerg to not kill those strange node monsters immediately upon discovery, but instead capture them like Tom Cruise, drag them back to the base to bleed them, and only finish them off after absorbing their gene sequences.

This indeed limited those monsters' reloading ability. For a time, the Zerg advanced triumphantly, capturing the entire frontline in just one day.

And at this moment, the entire Human World had fallen into complete chaos. The Zerg's sudden appearance shocked everyone. Humanity had thought that after fighting the aliens, they had developed immunity and wouldn't be surprised by any accident. But after seeing these terrifying Zerg, they finally realized they had been too naive.

The high-ranking military officials of various countries immediately gathered, holding meetings to study the matter.

The group that had just returned to headquarters didn't even have time to change clothes before being directly taken to the United Army command center to report.

"Fifth Armored Brigade Commander Wang Dong reporting!"

Wearing a bloodstained uniform, Wang Dong walked solemnly into the command center, saluted the person before him, and spoke.

"At ease."

Looking at the entering Wang Dong, the Old Man seated at the head raised his hand in a gesture.

"Wang Dong, I think you know why we called you here."

"Is it about those suddenly appearing monsters?"

"Correct."

Hearing Wang Dong's reply, the Old Man's expression turned serious. Beside him, the high-ranking military officials of various skin colors also changed expressions.

"I heard your squad had direct contact with those monsters? Can you share your thoughts?"

"My thoughts?"

Hearing this question, Wang Dong's expression shifted. He recalled again that almost unstoppable, sky-covering Bug Tide surging toward him. For a moment, Wang Dong even felt his legs go weak, but soon, relying on his strong willpower, he forced himself to pull together. Then, looking at the high-ranking officials before him, he spoke slowly.

"They... are almost unstoppable."

Hearing Wang Dong's answer, everyone present frowned, including the leading Old Man. They were all military men and naturally looked down on weakness, and what Wang Dong showed seemed like cowardice to them.

"You might think I'm making excuses, but everyone, I'm just stating this fact from the perspective of a soldier fighting on the front lines, a frontline commander. This was my first impression when facing them. Of course, if you don't believe me, I have battlefield footage. I believe when you see it, you'll understand what I mean."

"Let's have a look."

Hearing this, the Old Man made a gesture, and Wang Dong pulled a memory card from his pocket and handed it over. Soon, a dedicated staff member took the card, inserted it into the playback device nearby, and the screen behind them displayed the battle footage. The others turned to look at the screen's content.

The screen initially showed Wang Dong's squad fighting the Mimics. Though the battle was intense, everyone present was military, including many officers who had fought Mimics on the front lines, so they had no particular reaction. When it came to the end, with only Wang Dong and a few others left, about to be surrounded by Mimics, and hearing Wang Dong's shouted words, the leading Old Man nodded appreciatively and glanced at him. Clearly, the courage Wang Dong had shown at that moment was admirable.

But the next scene made everyone's expression change.

At first, the Mimic alien monsters that were about to launch an attack suddenly stopped moving. Seeing this, everyone tensed up. They had all read the battle reports and naturally knew what would happen next. But a report on paper, after all, was still less real than witnessing it with their own eyes.

Then, the camera angle shifted, and next they saw... the Bug Tide.

"WTF?!"

"Oh my god..."

"God, what is this?!"

When they saw the Bug Tide surging from the distance, everyone's expressions changed. Many screamed, some even cursed, and a few stood up abruptly, their faces pale. Yet even so, they persevered, forcing themselves to stay calm—after all, this was just a video.

But when the Bug Tide reached Wang Dong, and they watched those overwhelming numbers of bugs pounce toward him, these people could no longer sit still. Most of them instinctively stood up, trying to brace themselves. Some turned pale, letting their hands drop in despair. A few with even weaker composure let out a scream and toppled over, chair and all, hitting the ground hard. When those people rubbed their heads and looked around, realizing they weren't on the battlefield but in the conference room, they wore expressions of having survived a calamity!

And these were just the high-ranking military officers. The ordinary people nearby were even worse off. Several female clerks fainted from fright on the spot, and even the guards on duty stared wide-eyed, gripping their guns tightly, barely holding themselves back from opening fire.

Seeing this, even Wang Dong clenched his fists. To his shame, in truth, when the swarm had rushed at him, he had simply closed his eyes and waited for death, so he had no idea what those monsters were really like. But the camera on him clearly lacked the ability to shut its eyes, recording every scene in full. So Wang Dong watched as Zerg after Zerg sped past him, not even glancing his way, as if he didn't exist. Yet even so, seeing those sharp claws and fangs through the screen made Wang Dong gasp. He knew that back then, he had completely given up resistance—if those monsters had taken a swipe at him, he would probably be a mangled corpse by now.

Thinking back, it was truly a miracle that he had managed to come back alive!

The video finally ended, but everyone present remained motionless. Even the Old Man clenched his fist. He wiped the cold sweat from his brow, then looked around and gave a light cough. His expression turned grave as he spoke.

"It seems we must come up with a plan."