Nearly ten thousand people stood in orderly formation across the enormous plaza.
A powerful pressure swept past. A woman in deep teal battle armor appeared in the air, seemingly out of nowhere. Her face was completely covered, leaving only her eyes visible.
The woman hovering above them was slender and graceful. Her calm, fathomless eyes seemed like a deep pool. She merely stood there, yet nearly ten thousand people fell silent.
"Army Lord!"
Nearly a hundred World Lords, led by Zhu Ang, bowed in greeting.
Dongluo waved a hand, and a disc-shaped spacecraft more than four hundred meters in diameter appeared in the air. An entrance nearly a hundred meters across opened beneath it.
"Move out."
She was the first to fly through the spacecraft's entrance.
"First squad, board the ship."
Zhu Ang led the nine Domain Lords and ninety Universe Ranks under his command swiftly through the entrance.
Soon everyone was aboard. The entrance closed, and after a slight shudder, the spacecraft sped out of the barracks.
After verification, the spacecraft quickly left the 049 Barracks Base and headed for the jump point.
As the lowest-ranking soldiers, Bai Muye and the others naturally had no chance to admire the grandeur of the AAA-Rank Deity Base from the spacecraft. They were currently standing beside their squad leader, Zhan Qiu.
"Captain, where are we headed?" Bai Muye asked in a low-voiced transmission.
Seeing the other Universe Ranks looking their way, Zhan Qiu replied through a transmission, "That depends on where the Army Lord wants to go. Among all the Immortal Gods at the 049 Barracks Base, our Army Lord is one of the strongest. So we usually operate around Red Waterfall Lake. Chaotic Star Isle is considered a relatively high-level battlefield within the area controlled by the 049 Barracks Base..."
"Sometimes we go to lower-level places like Dragon Mountain Pool or Chaotic Star Isle. Other times, we head to higher-level places like Black Meteor Mountain Range or Flowing Light Valley. Of all those places, Flowing Light Valley is considered the highest-level..."
"What's the highest-level battlefield in the area controlled by the 049 Barracks Base?" Bai Muye asked curiously.
"Miya Continent!" Zhan Qiu answered without hesitation.
"Miya Continent is the most dangerous battlefield in the area controlled by the 049 Barracks Base. They say only the most powerful Immortal Gods dare to venture there..."
In the disc-shaped spacecraft's Main Control Room, dozens of World Lords had gathered. A graceful silhouette stood with her back to them, gazing out through the window at the boundless starry sky. Her cool voice carried throughout the room.
"The battlefield we're heading to is Black Meteor Mountain Range. Do you remember the battle more than fifty years ago? We were attacked by two Mo'er Race units. If our allies hadn't happened to arrive nearby to support us, we would have suffered an even greater loss..."
She turned around. Her features were exquisite, and beneath her dark teal eyes, her willow-shaped brows arched slightly. A sharp glint showed in her gaze. "Though I held off two Immortals from the Mo'er Race, our unit couldn't stand alone against two Mo'er Race armies. We lost twenty-three World Lords, 279 Domain Lords, and even more Universe Ranks..."
Many of the World Lords looked ashamed. Zhu Ang stepped forward and bowed slightly. "The Army Lord is right. Our strength was insufficient..."
Dongluo waved him off. "That had nothing to do with you. You held off five enemy World Lords by yourself. Though you were badly wounded, you killed three of them. You did well..."
"But," she continued with a soft snort, looking at the World Lords under her command, "I, Lily Dongluo, have waged war on the Outer Battlefield for dozens of eras, and I've never suffered such a heavy loss. All these years, I've been asking people to investigate those two Mo'er Race Immortal units. Yesterday, an ally sent word that they had spotted one of them in Black Meteor Mountain Range..."
"The Mo'er Race is a vassal race of the Zerg. They're not even considered a powerful race. With the strength of our Dongluo Legion, if we face one unit, the Army Lord should have no trouble killing their Immortal. The rest will be up to us..."
Zhu Ang spoke loudly, and the other World Lords voiced their agreement.
"Excellent!" Dongluo nodded with satisfaction. "I'll handle the Mo'er Race Immortal. The rest are yours..."
There was an unwritten rule on the Outer Battlefield: Immortals were not to slaughter large numbers of those below their rank. Otherwise, once one side's Immortal killed or drove off the enemy Immortal, the enemy World Lords might still escape, but the Domain Lords and Universe Ranks would have no chance of survival.
If everyone fought that way, there would be no opportunity for Universe Ranks and Domain Lords to gain experience. They would be going there purely to die.
The spacecraft traveled through the Dark Universe for more than two days before returning to the Original Universe. Then it flew for over three more days, finally approaching an immense mountain range in the void.
The endless mountains stretched into the distance, all of them iron-black. Even the plants growing on them were a deep, somber black.
"Are we just going to stay on the ship and wait?" Feng Yi, who was beside Bai Muye and never one to hold his tongue, quietly asked Zhan Qiu through a transmission.
"If the whole force moves together, it makes too much noise. Our usual approach is to wait for the Army Lord to spot a target and move closer. Then we attack..."
"Then..." one of the ordinary Universe Ranks murmured from within the squad. "What if we can't beat them once we attack..."
Zhan Qiu looked at him, feeling helpless. They had run a few drills in the Virtual Universe, but on a real battlefield, ordinary Universe Ranks like them were often the first to die.
"Remember what I taught you. Don't rush in at the start. Wait for the generals to intercept the enemy World Lords, then stay calm. Don't get carried away, and above all, don't stray too far from your teammates..."
Zhan Qiu spoke slowly. This was the experience he had gained over the years. He told the Universe Ranks under his command every time, but few of them could truly follow his advice.
"You all came to the Outer Battlefield for different reasons, myself included. But now that we're here, we have to be ready to face death head-on..."
He looked around at the ten Universe Ranks under his command. "There's no use being afraid to die. Once you're on the battlefield, the more afraid you are, the faster you tend to die..."
Bai Muye and the other three elite Universe Ranks were all calm and composed. Those ranked as elites had naturally fought their way through countless dangers. They might not have the same experience as Bai Muye, who had killed a thousand enemies, but they certainly weren't hothouse flowers.
Of the six ordinary Universe Ranks, most appeared calm on the surface, but their darting eyes betrayed their unease.
"Usually, I'll lead the charge. If I have to support another captain, then command of the squad will go to Luoluobai Muye. Understood?"
"Understood."
The others looked at Bai Muye, feeling a little more secure. After half a year together, they knew how strong he was. With such a powerful ally on their side, they felt their chances of staying safe had improved.
"Xiao Si, how far can you detect now?"
Bai Muye communicated with Xiao Si in his Consciousness Sea.
"About one-hundredth of a light-second," Xiao Si replied lazily.
"That's nearly three thousand kilometers." Bai Muye had a rough idea. Seeing its languid attitude, he couldn't help but laugh in exasperation. "Weren't you always eager to come to the Outer Battlefield? The fighting's about to start. Can't you perk up a little?"
"Fourth Master's wide awake," Xiao Si grumbled. "I'm scanning the space within one-hundredth of a light-second right now, looking for souls..."
The spacecraft flew at sublight speed. In the Main Control Room, Dongluo stared at her Detector.
"I finally saved enough Military Merit to sell the old Detector and exchange it for a more advanced one. Don't let me down. I hope that Mo'er Race unit is still nearby..."
Half a day later.
"Beep!"
The Detector gave a soft chime.
As Dongluo looked at the image on the Detector, her eyes lit up. Her teal pupils were filled with a sharp, piercing gleam.
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