Beasts Unleashed

On Giant Elephant Star, Shen Jun followed the passage to its end. It opened into a vast space where hundreds of Elephant Man workers frantically hammered at the stone walls with iron picks. The mined ore was hauled away by Alien Beasts. It was an exceedingly inefficient mining operation.

At the center of the space stood a stone platform, upon which rested a strange box. Ten fully armed Elephant Man soldiers stood guard around it. Unlike the soldiers outside the mine, they wielded iron weapons and wore armor forged entirely from iron. They were clearly elites of the Elephant Man army.

A faint smile curled Shen Jun's lips. He was certain the box contained something extremely important, most likely the key to controlling those Alien Beasts. The mine itself was not structurally sound, and the impacts of the beasts could easily cause a collapse. Therefore, an Alien Beast riot could never be allowed here. There were probably quite a few similar devices.

Remaining invisible, Shen Jun slowly approached the Elephant Man soldiers. He stopped roughly ten meters from the stone platform after calculating the distance.

"Rohana, use micro-warp technology to warp out the item inside that box."

"Yes, Commander. The warp will consume 100 Vespene Gas."

Shen Jun: "..."

After confirming it again, Shen Jun suddenly felt his hand sink, nearly losing his grip. Looking down, he found a cylindrical object, like a section of water pipe. It was small enough to fit in one hand, but its weight was utterly disproportionate to its size. After cultivating psionic power for so many days, Shen Jun's physical abilities had undergone a qualitative leap. He could lift a towering tree over ten meters tall and thick enough for three people to wrap their arms around. That was far more impressive than uprooting a willow tree.

Yet this tiny thing had nearly slipped from his grasp. It probably weighed a ton.

With the item in hand, Shen Jun immediately ran to a safe corner and connected with Zeratul and the other Dark Templars to exchange intelligence.

This mine had currently developed only one percent of the entire mineral vein. There were forty-three passages of varying sizes. Seventeen led to dead ends, twenty had been completely excavated, and only six could continue deeper. In other words, there were six identical devices.

"Rohana, analyze this device."

"Decrypting... Decryption complete. Modifying the core code of the mind-control device. Modifying first-use authorization into exclusive-use authorization. Authorized user: Protoss Executor Shen Jun."

Another 100 Vespene Gas allowed Shen Jun to fully understand the mind-control device. This device was a treasure bestowed upon Elephant Man civilization by the Trigonians. There were not many in total—only around a hundred across all of Giant Elephant Star. Each device could control one thousand Alien Beasts, regardless of species.

"Zeratul, take the Dark Templars and lie in ambush at the passage exits. I have control of the devices now. Soon, I'll command all the Alien Beasts to charge out of the mine and crush the guards outside in one stroke. The Elephant Man elites inside the mine will be yours to eliminate. I have only one requirement: don't let a single Elephant Man escape, and don't lose a single Protoss!"

"At your service, Commander. The blades of Shakuras will drink deep of alien blood."

"Good."

After ending the call, Shen Jun contacted the Dark Zealot unit left behind and ordered them to set out for the mine. Though Alien Beasts were scattered along the way, Shen Jun's group had already cleared out a safe route when they arrived, so they would not be attacked.

Once everything was arranged, Shen Jun had Rohana open the device's control panel. A sinister smile appeared on his face.

The beasts... had been unleashed!

"Being stuck in this pitch-black mine every day is boring me to death."

An Elephant Man elite said to his companion.

"Tell me about it. What self-respecting elephant doesn't like basking in the sun? But this is a Divine Order. We have to stay here and guard these rocks."

"Still, it's strange. The gods are so powerful that they bestowed divine artifacts capable of controlling those stupid savages, yet they refuse every treasure we offer them. Instead, they like these worthless rocks."

"These aren't worthless rocks. They're called crys... Crystal Minerals, right, Crystal Minerals."

"What kind of nonsense are Crystal Minerals? They're just slightly prettier rocks. Nothing special about them..."

"Wait, something's wrong!"

Elephant Man elite B suddenly felt that the atmosphere around him had become strange. The keen instincts of his Beast Body told him a deadly threat was nearby.

"Stop freaking out. No outsiders can get into the mine. What could possibly happen?"

Elephant Man elite A glanced around the mine and dismissed his companion's panic.

"...It's not an outsider. It's behind you..."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Cursing as he turned around, Elephant Man elite A froze. A giant Sabertooth Tiger was pressed right up against his back, its beastly eyes brimming with blood-red light.

"Roar!"

The king of the jungle was consumed by rage. Days of enslavement had left it stifled beyond measure, and its bloodthirsty desire overwhelmed everything else. It opened its gaping maw and swallowed the Elephant Man whole.

Elephant Man elite B stared in shock. It was not just the giant Sabertooth Tiger; every Alien Beast present had fallen into a berserk state. The rest of his companions suffered devastating casualties. "This isn't right! Why is this happening? How could these savages possibly resist the divine artifact?"

In a panic, he opened the box atop the stone platform, only to find that it was completely empty!

In an instant, the Elephant Man's face turned ashen. He knew perfectly well how much destruction uncontrolled Alien Beasts could cause. His own death was a minor matter. If the mine collapsed, their three years of effort would be destroyed in an instant.

What was worse... if they angered the gods, the entire Elephant Man civilization might be destroyed...

Just as this Elephant Man, who cared deeply for his people and nation, thought he was about to become the tiger's next meal, he squeezed his eyes shut. He could already smell the giant Sabertooth Tiger's foul breath.

But... the death he expected never came. Even the stench vanished. Confused, the Elephant Man slowly opened his eyes.

The Alien Beasts had somehow withdrawn their ferocity and become calm again. Then they left the mine one after another, leaving this Elephant Man alone in the chaos.

Then the joy of surviving filled his heart, even overwhelming his concern for Elephant Man civilization. He hurriedly got up and discovered that more than a dozen Elephant Man miners had survived.

He pulled the survivors to their feet, then searched the mine again. Anyone still breathing was dragged up. Those who could not be dragged were carried on his back.

In short, not a single living soul could be left behind.

Then, filled with the joy of escaping death, they rushed out of the mining site and ran toward the mine's exit passage.

But when they reached the final passageway, they saw... nothing at all. Blood suddenly sprayed from every surviving Elephant Man's body, and the next second, they were severed into pieces.

Zeratul and his Dark Templars had been waiting there for a long time...

The final thought of the Elephant Man who had led the survivors out before losing consciousness was, Why didn't it just eat me...?

The same thing was happening simultaneously in all six mine passages.