Worm Zero / Discussing Tactics

Andras felt the pressure ease and, having narrowly escaped death, quickly flew into the air.

"You have ruined a fair duel," You Zhi said, flashing in front of Valkyrus and delivering a powerful downward kick that knocked him Drop Off the ground. "You will take his place in the punishment."

"Get out of my way, you mere human!"

Knowing that Naturia Exterio would arrive soon, Valkyrus dared not waste any time. With a roar, his muscles bulged, Dark-type energy erupted, and he clenched his teeth as he threw a punch that exploded through the air—it was Netherdark Strike.

"Using only brute force is too crude. Who do you think you can threaten with a fist that's so Detect?"

You Zhi dodged the attack by falling backward in an Iron Bridge, and at the same time, he hit Valkyrus's elbow joint with a Flying Knee, interrupting his skill. Then, he used the power of his single foot to stomp on the ground, his body twisted, and he hit the opponent's neck with an exaggerated Whirlwind Kick, knocking him to the ground again.

Taking advantage of the moment Lunalight Cat Dancer threw two daggers, which instantly unleashed a violent electric current upon impact, numbing Valkyrus's entire body and rendering him unable to move. Meanwhile, Naturia Exterio had already arrived.

Andras, who had initially intended to intervene, shook his head regretfully upon seeing this scene and said, "Rest assured, Valkyrus. I will carry on your last wish and dethrone Liber. I will not let your good intentions go to waste."

After saying that, it flapped its wings and quickly fled.

"Andras, you bastard!"

Valkyrus cursed and was filled with remorse. What camaraderie did they, the Fabled, have? He should have run away alone back then. How could he have suddenly lost his mind?

Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets. Even if You Zhi stopped attacking, Valkyrus was ultimately unable to withstand the combined attack of Lunalight Cat Dancer and Naturia Exterio, and was destroyed and killed by the bombardment of Thunderbolt and Leaf Storm.

Lunalight Cat Dancer absorbed the scattered spiritual energy, and combined with the large number of the Fabled she had previously destroyed, she instantly leveled up 3 levels!

In addition, the Silent Magician and the Celestial Gold Knight eliminated a large number of Worms, with the former leveling up by 3 levels and the latter by 2 levels.

It's important to understand that for a level 40 spirit like the Celestial Gold Knight, leveling up is extremely difficult, especially when facing lower-level spirits where the experience gained is negligible.

In the two battles she fought before, landing on the planet and rescuing the Naturia Forest, she eliminated over a thousand Worms, yet she didn't even gain a single level. This shows just how many Worms she eliminated on the battlefield today; they are probably already countless.

With one leader dead and the other fleeing, the remaining Fabled had no will to fight and turned tail and ran.

Although the Ally of Justice were utterly disgusted by this act of treason, with a formidable enemy at hand— the Worms —they could only reluctantly let the enemy go and refocus their efforts on the final battle against the Worms.

With the Worm Queen killed, the Worm King was left to fight alone. He led the Worms army in a fierce battle for a while, but was eventually killed by a single Electromagnetic Cannon shot from the Lamp-Eyed Monster.

The Worms's barely established defenses were torn apart once again, with breaches appearing everywhere.

Although the lower-level Worms have no concept of morale and only follow orders, the higher-level Worms that have evolved intelligence know what it means to be defeated. Without the command of these higher-level Worms, the lower-level Worms are just a disorganized mess and are powerless to resist the organized and coordinated Ally of Justice.

Of course, they are still better than a defeated army; eliminating them is much more difficult than eliminating the same number of pigs.

With victory in sight, the Allied Forces soldiers, exhausted after fighting for half a day, unleashed renewed strength, advancing slowly but powerfully and crushing the enemy's scattered resistance.

"Finally, we won..."

Exhausted, Jasmine recalled the nearly depleted Cyber End Dragon and the Ancient Gear Dragon into her Pokémon Card. She had little motivation to eliminate the demoralized Worms.

"Did we really win?" You Zhi suddenly asked.

"Hmm?" Jasmine tilted her head. "You have a different opinion?"

"From the beginning, we were determined that eliminating the Worms was our mission. But what does it mean to eliminate the Worms? Generally speaking, there are only two possibilities: one is to wipe out all the Worms without leaving a single one, and the other is to destroy the core Worms force."

"If it's the former, it will be very difficult for us to go back, because as long as there is still a single Worms in some remote corner of the world, the mission is not considered complete. But I think the possibility of this is extremely small. It's like a role-playing Yugi, where as long as the player defeats the final villain, it's considered a success. The remaining enemies and side quests along the way do not affect the completion of the game."

"If it's the latter, then we'll face a very scary problem: if those two giant Worms aren't the final villains, then who is? Does this mean the Worms might have an even stronger trump card?"

"... I sincerely hope your guess is wrong."

The two exchanged a glance and quickly shared their concerns with the Naturia Exterio.

However, since this concern is based on reasoning about "clearing the level," which is neither common sense nor logical to others, its persuasiveness is inevitably greatly reduced.

Without asking too many questions, the Naturia Exterio chose to believe it based on its past performance and immediately sought out its leader Thunder Oni, to give it a reminder.

Unfortunately, his unconvincing concerns were not enough to persuade Thunder Oni to issue an order to halt the advance. The opportunity to annihilate the Worms was right in front of him, and he had just lost face in front of the Allied Forces soldiers and desperately needed to save face. Therefore, he only thanked Naturia Exterio for exposing the evil plan of Fabled and helping him avoid being Mind Control, but he did not take any further action.

Feeling helpless, everyone could only be on high alert to guard against any possible accidents.

Chapter 153 Worms - Zero

Under the pursuit of the Ally of Justice, the Worms collapsed completely, suffering more than half of their casualties.

Even if the Worms were not afraid, without a commander, an unorganized army would be unable to exert much strength against an organized army, not to mention that the Allied Forces also had two giant war machines.

While eliminating the Worms, the Army Marshal was also able to create new weapons of war. These weapons of war were also devoid of fear, and they were constructed from Worms data, making them well aware of their opponent's weaknesses and giving them a natural advantage against the Worms.

Just when everyone thought this battle would secure victory and restore peace to the planet, an unexpected event occurred!

The first sign was a spatial anomaly, and the victims were the Worms.

An irresistible force of void distortion suddenly appeared in mid-air, swirling like a vortex and absorbing a large number of Flying-type Worms, coalescing them into a fleshy mass.

Even though the Worms's body was very flexible, it could not withstand the almost twisted shape. Its internal organs and blood were directly exposed, but under the powerful suction force of the vortex, not a drop leaked out. They all gathered together to form a bright red lump of flesh.

This void-distorting force expanded and moved, like a giant vortex, absorbing all the Worms along its path. Some Allied Forces soldiers who rushed too fast were no exception and became part of the flesh mass. However, the Allied Forces weapons were twisted into a pile of scrap metal and thrown out without being absorbed.

Upon witnessing this, observant individuals immediately realized that this force belonged to someone and was not a natural phenomenon.

They understood, but they couldn't think of a way to fight back. Close contact would result in their energy being directly distorted and absorbed, while releasing skills from a distance would cause them to be dispersed into spiritual energy.

Faced with this irresistible spatial force, even the Allied Forces soldiers, who were in high spirits, scattered and gave way. The enemy did not seem to have any intention of eliminating the Allied Forces. Instead, they focused on absorbing the Worms. Wherever they passed, the space became blank, like the marks of a pen being erased by an eraser.

The Worms did not flee, not even the intelligent higher-ranking Worms; they even went to meet them head-on, only to be twisted into a mass of flesh by the power of space.

Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand...

When most of the Worms had been absorbed, the two giant war machines finally arrived. However, even the Army Marshal was helpless against such an enemy. Its strength did not lie in combat, and in terms of destructive power alone, it was not necessarily comparable to the tribal chief.

The Lamp-Eyed Monster was quite decisive, firing a thick, bright laser cannon straight out. With its terrifying attack power, it forcefully broke through the spatial distortion, hitting the lump of flesh and melting a large hole in it.

The master of the spatial power seemed like a ferocious beast awakened, immediately ceasing its absorption and movement. The enormous mass of flesh writhed violently, spitting out threads that instantly formed a giant circular cocoon, emanating a strange and malevolent power. A face could be vaguely seen on its surface.

[Worms Zero (10 stars) Light]

[Lineage: Insect]

[Level: 80]

[Attack Power: 0 (10,000,000+)]

[Defense: 0 (0)]

[Reptile-Type, Effect: This card's ATK becomes 500 times the number of monsters used as Polymerization Xyz Material. This card gains the following effects based on the number of monsters used as Polymerization Xyz Material: ● 2 or more types: Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 Reptile-Type monster from your Graveyard in face-down Defense Position. ● 4 or more types: You can banish 1 Reptile-Type monster from your Yugi and send 1 monster on the field to the Graveyard. ● 6 or more types: Once per turn, draw 1 card from your Deck.]

As a mechanical life form, the Lamp-Eyed Monster was unfazed by the eerie aura and continued to carry out its attack orders. Moreover, based on the limited damage caused by the previous attack, it decided to combine all the laser cannons on its body and launch a simultaneous attack to inflict maximum damage on its opponent.

A beam of light nearly ten meters in diameter shot out, and the violent energy fluctuations were enough to shake one's mind. However, this energy was blocked!

The Worm Zero unleashed a jet-black beam of light that was in no way inferior to its opponent's. The two shockwaves collided head-on, plunging the world into a strange state of half-day and half-night.

After a brief stalemate, Worm Zero gained the upper hand, with the point of impact of the beams of light pressing towards its opponent's position.

The Lamp-Eyed Monster isn't Saiyan; it won't transform when angry, nor will it roar to increase its output. Full power is full power; it can't be temporarily enhanced.

Finally, the dark beam of light struck the Lamp-Eyed Monster, blasting this war machine, which had wiped out tens of thousands of Worms, into pieces mid-air.

Before the Allied Forces soldiers could recover from their shock, the Worm Zero shot out thousands of threads from its surface, entangled the Allied Forces soldiers, and then pulled them into their bodies without a sound, as if it were frantically devouring food.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

Thunder Oni realized once again that the warning given to him by the Naturia clan was true, but he had rejected this correct warning because of his personal pride, resulting in the needless sacrifice of many soldiers.

As he ordered the Allied Forces to retreat, he stepped forward, summoning lightning with both hands to strike the sky. The lightning bolt, as thick as a bucket, then crashed down— the Electric-type skill "Thunder."

However, Thunder Oni's all-out attack was easily blocked by a protective shield, and even the Worm Zero's skin was not charred.

The XX-Saber Gottoms, unleashed a massive, crisscrossing sword aura, Jurrac Giant Beast spewed out a huge fireball resembling magma. However, these attacks only caused the protective shield to shake slightly and failed to break through it.

Immediately afterwards, the Worm Zero launched an attack on the three leaders, spitting out strands of silk.

In order to cover their men's retreat, the three leaders had no choice but to stay behind and hold out for time.

Faced with such an enemy, even You Zhi dared not step forward. Once entangled by the silk threads, even if he could Mimicry the most robust structure of his body, he probably wouldn't be able to withstand the opponent's spatial distortion power.

The three leaders fought fiercely for a while. Thunder Oni could fly, and the Titan could burn its silk threads with flames all over its body, so it was not caught by the Worm Zero. However, Gottoms had exhausted a lot of energy fighting the Worm Queen and was also slightly injured. His dodging was a beat slower, and he was instantly caught by his opponent and tied up tightly. It looked like he was about to be dragged into the cocoon.

At this moment, the Army Marshal took the initiative to rush forward, using his enormous size to forcefully break through the protective shield, embraced the giant cocoon with both hands, and output high-energy current, which crackled loudly.

"Walk!"

After their brief exchange, the three leaders realized that the giant cocoon was the Worms's last trump card, and that the non-combat-oriented Army Marshal was no match for it. They could only grit their teeth and turn to flee.

A moment later, a jet-black beam of light shot into the sky, piercing a large hole in the upper body of the Army Marshal, but he still clung tightly to the enemy.

"Warning: Highest level damage suffered. Army Marshal to carry out final orders... Long live the Allied Forces!"

A deafening explosion erupted, and a burst of light engulfed the Worm Zero.

Chapter 154 Discussing Tactics

At the cost of two giant war machines, the Ally of Justice successfully withdrew from the Worm Zero's attack range.

This battle ultimately failed to completely eradicate the Worms, peace has yet to arrive, three leaders returned severely wounded, and the morale of the Ally of Justice, who failed to achieve a decisive victory... is still alright.

Judging from the results, the Worms suffered heavy losses. Although the Worm Zero, their ace unit, was very powerful, it was unable to move and had devoured all the Worms. On paper, the Allied Forces had actually achieved their objective in this battle.

Although we've lost our two trump cards, the Lamp-Eyed Monster and the Army Marshal, they are still two machines. While they consumed a lot of materials, none of them were particularly rare. With enough time and effort, they can be rebuilt.

Although the three leaders were seriously injured, they were not dead. With their strong physiques and the medical skills of the Allied Forces, their recovery was only a matter of time.

Although the betrayal of the Fabled was infuriating, it did not cause much damage as the Naturia clan repelled them, and Valkyrus, one of the Three Kings, was killed on the spot.

No matter how you look at it, the Ally of Justice are the victors, though they didn't achieve a complete victory and there were some flaws.

Therefore, overall, the morale of the Allied Forces was not bad. Most people were full of hope for the future, feeling that although the giant Cocoon was troublesome, as long as everyone worked together, they would destroy it sooner or later. On the contrary, the Allied Forces high command felt at a loss.

"This is the intelligence we collected and analyzed after using a miniature reconnaissance drone to contact the Worm Cocoon. According to the intelligence, the Worm Cocoon itself is very fragile and can be easily pierced. However, it will activate a protective shield when faced with a powerful energy attack. Judging from the energy level emitted in the previous battle, it is probably only the laser cannon of the Lamp-Eyed Monster that can break through it. Otherwise, even the Army Marshal's close-range Self-Destruct would not be able to cause any damage."

The Mist Valley Shaman pointed to the data displayed on the giant screen and explained it to everyone.

"Energy attacks trigger the protective shield, but can physical attacks ignore it?"

The question was asked by You Zhi. Because he saw through the Fabled's conspiracy and prevented the enemy from backstabbing him, and because the number of Worms eliminated by the Celestial Gold Knight and the Cyber End Dragon was second only to the two giant war machines, he had made outstanding contributions. He and Jasmine were both qualified to participate in the summit meeting.

"The Worm Cocoon's shield can also block physical attacks, but it only activates when faced with energy attacks. Theoretically, as long as you don't use energy attacks, you can prevent the opponent from activating it. However, physical contact could very well result in the opponent taking the opportunity to devour you."

The prayer master pressed a button on the remote control, and the image on the screen changed to one showing the Worm Zero shooting out a large number of silk threads to entangle the Allied Forces and forcibly drag them.

"According to the investigation, the Worm Cocoon has two attack modes. One is an energy cannon, used to attack enemies with great threats. Judging from previous battles, this attack consumes a lot of energy, so it cannot be used continuously and has a certain cooldown time. The other is to bind the Zerg with silk threads and drag it into its body to become its own nutrients. The former can be used when the protective shield is activated, but the latter cannot."

The Woodscale Dragon, having separated and reverted to its original form, asked, "Does the expert team have any suggestions?"

"By exploiting the enemy's immobility, we can create an ultra-long-range cannon and fire it from outside the Worm Cocoon's attack range. As long as we can break through the shield and the damage exceeds the enemy's regeneration rate, we can gradually eliminate them. Therefore, the expert team recommends abandoning the remanufacturing of the Lamp-Eyed Monster and the Army Marshal, and instead using all the Allied Forces materials to create a decisive weapon that meets the requirements."

How long will it take to complete?

"At least one month."

"It's too long, and unexpected changes can easily happen during this process," Gottoms, who was still recovering from his injuries, shook his head.

You Zhi flipped through the newly printed intelligence report and said, "According to the intelligence, although the Worm Cocoon cannot move, it can create Worms. In a month, I wonder how many minions it can produce. In addition, there is the Fabled. Their failed backstab this time does not mean there won't be a next time. From my contact, the leader of the Fabled is very unwilling to accept defeat and will definitely look for an opportunity to make a comeback. At that time, he may even help the Worms to fight against us."

He remembered that the first effect of Worm Zero was "Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 Reptile-Type monster from your Graveyard Defense Position," which in reality meant being able to create minions.

Furthermore, while high attack power alone wouldn't be a problem, Lunalight Cat Dancer possesses the ability to be undestroyed by battle, rendering any increase in the opponent's attack power useless. However, Worm Zero's second effect is "You can banish 1 Reptile-Type monster from your Yugi and target 1 monster on the field to the Graveyard."

Although it's unclear how this manifests in reality, this alone confirms that the opponent possesses the ability to disrupt effects, making Lunalight Cat Dancer, who only has resistance to combat disruption, no match for them.

The prayer master shrugged and said, "This is the only solution we have at the moment; the expert team hasn't offered any other better suggestions."

Jasmine asked with concern, "What are your thoughts?"

"It's hard to say right now. This amount of information alone is not enough to make a judgment. I want to get a closer look."

Only through physical contact can You Zhi discern an opponent's weaknesses by Strength-Weakness Mimicry.

The Prayer Master said, "I do not recommend that you do this. Such an action is extremely dangerous and could very well just be a pointless death. As mentioned earlier, the Worm Cocoon craves to devour more lives to store energy. When you come into contact with it, you could very well be absorbed."

After working together for a while, Jasmine had a lot of confidence in You Zhi's abilities. "How confident are you?"

"About 60-70%."

Jasmine thought for a moment and said, "That's enough. I'll help you attract their attention."

Having witnessed the lake where You Zhi had brutally beaten Valkyrus, Woodscale Dragon offered no advice, only saying, "Be careful."

The prayer master insisted, "I think you should think twice. Gathering intelligence can be done with miniature robots; there's no need to risk your life personally."

"Let's proceed in two directions. I'll use my own methods here, while you continue collecting materials to manufacture new weapons of war, just like the experts suggested, building a cannon capable of ultra-long-range attacks. We can do both without delay."