The Lord

Hearing the words "Night Owl Squad," Gao Zhan's heart tightened instantly.

He knew Zheng Yi was the squad captain of that unit. If the man deliberately stirred up trouble at this moment, the consequences would be disastrous.

"All units, full speed! Break out of the encirclement immediately!" Gao Zhan shouted over the all-channel.

The Chasing Wind Squad opened fire with everything they had, a dense web of suppressive fire temporarily holding back the Earth-drilling Bulls surging in from all sides.

But just then, alarms rang out one after another in the squad channel:

"Captain! My mecha's energy is depleted!"

"I've got less than five percent left!"

"My energy warning light is already on!"

The sustained high-intensity combat had drained most of the mechas' power reserves. They urgently needed to return to the starship for resupply.

Yet the battlefield was still not cleared. No temporary station could be set up, and the starship simply couldn't land to provide support.

Worse still, Zheng Yi's voice suddenly cut through the all-channel:

"Attention, all units of the 116th Legion. Our energy is critically low. Withdraw from the battlefield immediately. Repeat: withdraw immediately."

The moment he finished speaking, the Night Owl Squad was the first to turn around, retreating without a moment's hesitation.

"That bastard!" Hong Kun couldn't hold back his curse.

Everyone knew that the 116th Legion's withdrawal at this moment meant shoving the remnants of the 115th and 121st Legions back into a desperate situation. Both legions would likely be wiped out here.

"Zheng Yi! You're deserting under fire, abandoning your comrades! I will report this to the Commander and have you punished!" the captain of another squad in the 116th Legion roared over the all-channel.

Zheng Yi had originally belonged to the 113th Legion. He had only been temporarily attached to the 116th Legion for this "Spirit Slaughter" operation under special approval.

No one had expected him to pull a stunt like this.

"Report me if you want." Zheng Yi's voice was calm, almost cold. "Military rules are clear: when mecha energy is insufficient, any unit has the right to withdraw to preserve life."

"You..."

"Bastard..."

The channel erupted in a wave of indignant curses.

At that moment, Lu Feng, who had been fighting alongside the Chasing Wind Squad, suddenly felt his heart clench. A powerful wave of unease washed over him.

He immediately shouted into the all-channel: "Spread out! Everyone, spread out now!"

"What's going on?" Gao Zhan, who was directing the retreat, turned to look at him.

"I sense... something extremely powerful is about to emerge from underground!"

Before the words had even faded, the ground at the center of the battle zone suddenly trembled violently.

Hundreds of Alloy Mechas wobbled unsteadily in the quake, and dozens crashed to the ground as they lost their balance.

Gao Zhan instantly grasped the severity of the situation and barked out orders: "Everyone, scatter! Fall back now!"

But it was already too late.

Dozens of Purple-eyed Earth-drilling Bulls, far larger than their kin, burst out of the ground. The one at the lead stood over ten meters tall, rising from the earth like a moving fortress of steel.

Several mechas nearby couldn't dodge in time and were instantly swallowed by the collapsing ground.

"It's over... those are Leader-level and Lord-level Exotic Beasts!"

A Military Region Warrior had barely shouted that into the channel when a Leader-level Earth-drilling Bull slammed into him head-on.

The hardened Alloy Mecha shattered like paper. The pilot's body was exposed to the alien atmosphere.

He clutched his throat, struggling painfully for a few moments, then quickly went still.

The already distant Night Owl Squad turned back to witness this scene, their hearts trembling with fear.

"Mom's, good thing this Old Man ran fast." Zheng Yi curled his lips, casting a cold glance back at the distant Chasing Wind Squad.

With a Lord-level Exotic Beast appearing, Gao Zhan and his people were as good as dead.

The all-channel was instantly drowned in despairing wails:

"It's over! We're dead!"

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die..."

That Lord-level Earth-drilling Bull led dozens of Leaders as they rampaged through the mecha formation, while countless Tier 3 Earth-drilling Bulls surged in like a tidal wave.

Suddenly, every mecha received a chilling message—

"Damn Alien Race, you all deserve to die!"

It was Luo Lin, the butler, who had translated the Lord-level Earth-drilling Bull's sonic frequency into human language.

Lu Feng's heart was shaken: this Exotic Beast possessed intelligence no less than a human's!

Before the Expedition, he had absorbed energy from plenty of Tier 3 Exotic Beasts in the Beast Fighting Arena, but he had never encountered anything higher.

He knew almost nothing about Leader-level and Lord-level Exotic Beasts.

He had no time now to ask Gao Zhan for detailed information about High-Level Exotic Beasts.

When that Lord-level Earth-drilling Bull led the herd in a charge, Lu Feng stared intently, his eyes locked onto the target.

In an instant, a surge of immense energy flooded into him, filling the mark on his chest.

A long-missed burning sensation returned, ten times stronger than before.

Inside the cockpit, Lu Feng's muscles tensed, veins bulging, cold sweat beading on his forehead in moments. The searing pain nearly made him lose control of the mecha.

And that single glance made the Earth-drilling Bull Leader pause mid-step.

It turned its head toward a certain figure among the mecha units on the flank, a flicker of doubt in its eyes.

"Among the human warriors, there's an ancient aura?"

But that aura vanished in a flash, having no effect on it.

"Roar--!"

It threw its head back and bellowed, opening its fanged maw wide.

The herd behind it grew even more frenzied under that roar.

The 116th Legion, humiliated by the Night Owl Squad's desertion, was the first to charge forward, meeting the Beast Tide head-on.

But beneath the pounding hooves, the earth cracked inch by inch, and hundreds of mechas were swallowed by the herd in moments.

Witnessing this, even Gao Zhan, Fang Qing, and Hong Kun stood frozen, their hope of survival nearly extinguished.

"No... I can't hold on..."

Lu Feng gasped heavily inside the mecha. He didn't understand why a single glance at the Leader had nearly driven him to unconsciousness from pain.

Perhaps it was because his cultivation level was too low.

What human warriors called "Leader Level" exotic beasts were actually Tier 4 Exotic Beasts, equivalent in strength to Innate Realm Warriors.

"Lord Level" corresponded to Tier 5, equal to a Martial Arts Grandmaster.

The energy contained within such High-Level Exotic Beasts was immense, far beyond what a Meridian Condensing Realm warrior like Lu Feng could endure.

The battlefield situation reversed completely in an instant.

Within a few minutes, the soldiers of the 116th Legion were nearly wiped out.

Then, the shadow of destruction fell upon the 115th Legion.

As the earth trembled violently, an endless tide of Purple-eyed Earth-drilling Bulls surged forward.

Gao Zhan issued his final order over the all-channel comm:

"Anyone with mecha energy above 20%, activate flight mode immediately, leave the battlefield, and preserve your lives!"

Everyone knew that an Alloy Mecha could only activate flight mode when its energy was no lower than 20%.

But after the order, only a dozen or so mechas slowly rose into the air; the vast majority no longer had the power to take off.

Even more despairing, those mechas that had just lifted off hadn't reached twenty meters in height before numerous Earth-drilling Bulls leaped up.

These exotic beasts could jump twenty to thirty meters at full force, easily crashing the airborne mechas back to the ground.

Only one mecha managed to climb to fifty meters, its pilot silently rejoicing at having escaped disaster.

Suddenly, the Lord-level Earth-drilling Bull in the herd raised its head and spat out a violent gust of air, a blast of terrifying energy shattering the mecha in midair.

Faced with this hopeless scene, the warriors of the 115th Legion had nearly given up resistance.

But just then, five or six figures shot out from the Dawn, high in the sky thousands of meters above.

They streaked across the heavens like falling meteors, appearing above the battlefield in an instant.

Can't find the book by title? Try searching by author—maybe it just changed names!

In response to our readers' requests, we are now launching an ad-free feature for VIP Members.

Click to View