Hujian Grand Canyon
The Serpent Priest's eyes snapped open, a flash of delight in his narrow, yellowish eyes.
He swished his tail and quickly reached the mouth of a cave. With utmost respect, he called inside:
"Great Elder, I spotted many humans wandering outside the canyon. Some of them are the bait we planted."
"Lord Ig's plan worked!"
Scritch, scritch, scritch.
From inside the cave came the faint sound of something scraping against the ground.
Soon, a slightly aged Snake-man emerged.
"About how many are there?"
The Serpent Great Elder asked slowly, his voice tinged with a rasp.
"I saw more than two hundred on my own, all wearing the Human Empire's Special Forces Uniforms."
The Serpent Priest spoke excitedly. "That means all two hundred are Psionic Users and Ability Users. If we can eat them, our Green Snake Tribe will have rendered a great service."
"Just two hundred? That hardly counts as a great service."
The Serpent Great Elder spoke calmly. According to Lord Ig's plan, they would use the Imperial personnel they had turned to lure in more members of the Special Forces Teams and devour them one group at a time.
Some would be taken back to the tribe, where they could fully exploit their knowledge and experience.
The rest would be sent back to the Empire as Deep Cover Agents, to pass information to the tribe on a regular basis.
"Great Elder! Great Elder!"
Just then, another Serpent Priest hurried over, speaking excitedly:
"I spotted a lot of human special forces soldiers—at least a hundred. They've already entered the canyon."
More?
The Serpent Great Elder was startled. Different Serpent Priests were responsible for different areas, sharing their Snake Spirit Vision to survey the area outside the canyon with almost no blind spots.
Now, hundreds of human special forces soldiers had appeared in each of two areas outside the canyon.
Things were going even more smoothly than he'd expected.
"Great Elder!"
"Great Elder!"
Within minutes, seven or eight Serpent Priests had gathered before the Serpent Great Elder to report what they'd seen.
They'd actually lured in so many people!
The Serpent Great Elder was startled by the number the priests reported. He hadn't expected the human Military Department to make such a show of force this time, sending out a Transcendent force of more than a thousand.
That number was far beyond what the Green Scale Tribe could handle.
"Great Elder, should we withdraw from the canyon first?" one Serpent Priest asked cautiously.
"Withdraw? Why would we?"
The Serpent Great Elder barked. "If our Green Scale Tribe can't handle them, aren't there other Serpent Tribes?"
"If we can devour all these Transcendents, it'll deal a crushing blow to the humans."
"I'll report this to General Kuiling personally. Tell the other tribesmen to stay hidden and make absolutely sure the humans don't discover them."
"Yes!"
The Serpent Priests answered in unison.
The Serpent Great Elder entered the cave and took out a Seven-Colored Conch. He channeled Psionic Energy into it. When the conch began to glow, he quickly described what he'd discovered in Snake Language and requested reinforcements from the other Serpent Tribes.
"Good!"
A deep voice came from inside the conch.
The Serpent Great Elder was overjoyed, a fierce gleam flashing in his eyes.
This time, the Green Scale Tribe would surely render a great service.
If General Kuiling took notice of them and they entered the Royal Family's field of vision, the Green Scale Tribe would truly soar to greatness.
Dusk fell.
Thousands of Imperial Soldiers wearing Special Forces Uniforms entered the grand canyon. But in the vast, magnificent canyon, their arrival was like a drop of water falling into the sea—they vanished from sight in an instant.
The steep cliffs, deep ravines, and crisscrossing stone paths formed a vast, complex web that quickly swallowed them up.
Below the canyon, dozens of Giant Burrowing Snakes tunneled through the earth, transporting elite warriors from several Serpent Tribes to the area.
"Great Elder, the warriors from the various tribes have all arrived."
The Serpent Priest spoke excitedly. "They've sent more than twenty thousand Serpent Warriors in total, including ten Fifth Order and two Sixth Order experts. Add our Green Scale Tribe's full contingent of elites, and devouring this group of humans will be a piece of cake."
"Good."
The Serpent Great Elder's lips curled up. General Kuiling had taken this operation very seriously, sending tens of thousands of elite Serpent Warriors, along with twelve experts of the Fifth Order or higher.
In that case, he had to make sure they won this battle decisively.
Hiss, hiss, hiss.
Little snakes lay hidden in the grass and between rocks, secretly watching every move the human soldiers made.
Using shared vision, the Serpent Priests learned how the soldiers were distributed and reported back to the Great Elder, helping him draw a rough battle map.
Soon, a map dotted with red marks was ready.
The Serpent Great Elder quickly sent out his orders. The various Serpent Tribes began to move, spreading a vast net with the intent of wiping out every last human.
The night was pitch-black, and fierce winds swept through the canyon.
The human soldiers continued searching the canyon. They wore Multifunctional Helmets and carried rifles and various melee weapons. Strangely enough, not one of them spoke to their companions during the search. They remained silent the entire time.
But the little snakes hidden in every corner failed to notice this detail.
A squad stood at the mouth of a cave, its searchlight switched on and shining so brightly that the inside was as clear as day.
What they didn't notice was that several shadows were slowly approaching from behind.
The faint scrape of scales against the ground was drowned out by the howling wind in the valley.
Pfft—
Pfft—
Sharp blades pierced their backs, and scorching blood splashed across the Serpent-men's faces.
Hiss—
A forked tongue licked at the blood. The Serpent-men wore expressions of cruel satisfaction.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
The fierce gunfire shattered the canyon's silence.
The Serpent elite forces poured out in full, surrounding and attacking the human soldiers inside the canyon.
Gunshots, explosions, and screams rang out without pause.
The little snakes spread throughout the canyon relayed everything that happened to the Serpent Priests in real time.
One red mark after another disappeared from the map.
The Serpent Priests' smiles grew brighter, as if they could already see glory beckoning to them.
"Something's wrong."
Just then, an old, stern voice suddenly rang out.
The Serpent Priests turned and saw a face drawn with deep concern.
The Serpent Great Elder stared intently at the map and murmured:
"This is going too smoothly. Everything is going too smoothly."
"Great Elder, isn't it good that things are going smoothly?"
One Serpent Priest couldn't help asking. "Our warriors outnumber them several times over, and we know the terrain. I think this is perfectly normal."
The Serpent Great Elder stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down over the entire canyon. An inexplicable sense of danger lingered in his heart, growing stronger by the moment.
"Abu, you're underestimating human Psionic Users. They—"
Before he could finish, a sharp whistle suddenly came from the distant sky, and an orange-red glow lit up the heavens.
The Serpent Great Elder turned to look. His pupils contracted in an instant, and icy dread swept through his body.
Missiles!
Hundreds, even thousands of missiles!
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