Chapter 667.5: "Scorched Earth" Tactic
The Evil Shadow Spirits were sharp in their predictions—Yaya and the wyvern riders were indeed off doing something nasty.
They pierced through thick clouds swiftly, arriving above their destination.
However, they didn't launch an attack right away—instead, they quickly dispersed.
Several concealed figures slowly descended from the sky. With the help of invisibility spells, they silently hid atop the large trees.
They acted like seasoned Catachan elite warriors, making no sound or movement, swiftly and cautiously setting up hidden spaces.
Before long, a group of professionals emerged from the space and skillfully began setting up a large teleportation array.
Within just a few minutes, hidden by spell effects, an elite team of wyvern knights appeared.
They were all clad in thick mechanical armor suits, standing motionless as they awaited orders.
Jifan didn't act immediately. He waited for the other operation teams to be in place.
Meanwhile, a large monitoring device had already marked all nearby large twisted creatures.
The deputy captain was quickly assigning missions to each wyvern combat team.
After half an hour, the long-awaited red signal light finally lit up.
"Action!!"
Without hesitation, Jifan gave the attack order. The eager wyvern knights instantly stepped forward.
They raised their massive ghost blades made from Catachan demon claws and hacked at anything in their path.
Some of the threatening twisted plants were cleaved in half before they could even react.
The death of the twisted plants didn't make much noise.
This area was a habitat for large twisted beasts, with very few twisted animals living here.
Faced with the enormous "monsters" that were the wyvern knights, they hid themselves well.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The wyvern knights advanced in straight lines at full speed, not even bothering to conceal their presence.
Their goal was to slay all the large twisted beasts in the shortest time possible!
The rampaging Thunder Bulls, with strong senses, soon noticed the wyvern knights' arrival.
Panting and red-eyed, they launched an attack on the wyvern knights without hesitation.
"The Thunder Bulls haven't been affected or controlled. Proceed as planned."
Jifan announced the high-level battle helmet's judgment and was the first to charge in.
Raging lightning howled as it smashed toward the Thunder Bull.
Never having seen lightning attacks before, the Thunder Bull didn't dodge. It lowered its head and charged straight at Jifan with its horns.
Crack!
The highly penetrative lightning instantly entered the Thunder Bull's body.
Despite its immense physique, the savage beast suddenly went rigid and crashed hard to the ground.
Its struggling movements were modeled on the high-level battle helmet's display screen.
Against such large, clumsy monsters, the helmet's combat analysis was highly efficient.
It could easily predict their next move and expose their weaknesses.
"Too bad it's kind of useless against agile and strong enemies."
"But that's fine. It prevents soldiers from becoming too dependent and losing their drive to improve."
That thought flashed through Jifan's mind. With reflexes far beyond normal, he lunged forward.
He adjusted his blade swing mid-motion, deftly twisting his wrist and slightly raising the tip of the sharp ghost blade.
The gray-black edge collided with the charging Thunder Bull.
The deadly monomolecular blade slid smoothly into the gap in the bull's gray-black armored hide.
The Thunder Bull's eyes went wide instantly!
Jifan pressed downward, and the massive ghost blade embedded in the Thunder Bull's body effortlessly sliced through most of its internal organs.
The heavily wounded Thunder Bull struggled madly to stand up.
Jifan simply twisted the hilt, shredding the bull's ruined organs and slicing it open from the side.
Squelch!
The staggering Thunder Bull collapsed heavily to the ground.
This tenacious twisted beast wasn't dead yet, still struggling to lift its head.
Whoosh!
A gust of black wind swept past, and Jifan cleanly chopped off its head.
Without glancing at its gaping mouth, he simply stored the helpless body into his storage space.
Jifan moved fast—he took down the Thunder Bull in just over ten seconds.
The other wyvern knights weren't slow either.
They had clearly defined roles and experience hunting massive creatures like abyssal demonfish.
The crossbow-wielding knights fired their dragon-hunting bolts, usually draining most of the Thunder Bulls' ability to resist.
Assault troops would then stride forward, and as long as they dodged the dying strike, they could easily behead their targets.
Even if one enemy escaped the first strike, the second charging assault knight would finish it off.
Battles typically ended in under 30 seconds, including battlefield cleanup.
The first objective was secured.
Jifan quickly tallied the battle stats, selected new targets, and reassigned combat tasks at lightning speed.
From now on, each large twisted beast would be handled by at least two wyvern knight squads.
Among these twisted giants, there were occasionally mutated variants—larger and more powerful than their kin.
But even they couldn't withstand the onslaught of more than ten wyvern knights.
The second wave of Thunder Bulls quickly fell. After a fast cleanup, Jifan clearly felt a strange gaze coming from the surrounding trees and instantly realized—
The mastermind controlling the Catachan jungle had noticed their actions. But Jifan showed no fear. He simply shouted into his magical wristband:
"Quick retreat, let's move!"
As he spoke, Jifan decisively tore open an invisibility scroll and fled the area at top speed, evading detection and surveillance.
He led the wyvern knights to the emergency teleportation array zone.
The knights and spellcasters stationed there double-checked the array, and once they confirmed it was intact, they activated it without hesitation.
Fwoosh!
The teleportation array's fluctuation immediately drew the attention of the Evil Shadow Spirits.
But it was too late!
The array, having completed its mission, exploded in a thunderous blast under the grip of massive vines.
"Damn it! Damn those Bay Territory bastards! Damn that magic!"
"What did they do to make you this furious?!"
"Don't you get it? They attacked the large twisted creature nests!"
"What? That's impossible! Their main army is still over 150 kilometers away from our reinforced nest!"
"Go see for yourself! Haven't you noticed yet?"
"Damn it! All my Thunder Bulls are gone! I was saving them to attack the Catachan tribes!"
"Only bloodstains and battle marks remain—everything else vanished."
"What kind of magic did they use? How did they strike from such a distance?!"
"Over a hundred kilometers away, and they just pop in like that—they're too dangerous."
"Damn it, we can't let Bay Territory expand unchecked!"
"If they attacked the twisted beasts today, they might slaughter us tomorrow!"
"Enough arguing! Call everyone together for a meeting."
"What's there to discuss?"
"Let's gather our forces and crush Bay Territory's army in one sweep!"
"Exactly! They dare come out and fight—they clearly don't respect us!"
"Sieging might be tricky, but field battles are way easier."
"Hold on, a few haven't arrived yet."
"..."
Bay Territory's surprise attacks on over a dozen large twisted beast nests had completely enraged the unprepared Evil Shadow Spirits.
Unlike common twisted creatures, which could be summoned in bulk anytime, producing and mobilizing large twisted beasts was much harder.
They took significant time to cultivate and raise.
They also required a great deal of attention and care.
Enhancing their combat ability demanded specialized modifications.
Safely transporting them to the battlefield consumed even more energy.
The dangers of the Catachan jungle didn't vanish just because these creatures were under control.
All these issues made the Evil Shadow Spirits treasure their large twisted beasts.
Even when used in battle, they were only deployed at the most critical moments—as the most valuable cannon fodder.
After all, delivering the final blow to the highly tenacious and powerful Catachan tribes...
Absolutely required the help of these massive twisted monsters!
Now, the nests closest to the battlefield had been completely wiped out by Bay Territory.
For the next 3 to 4 days, they wouldn't be able to mount a proper assault on the Catachan walls.
While the Evil Shadow Spirits debated how to concentrate their forces and devour Bay Territory's army in one gulp—
"Bay Territory destroys large twisted monster nests!"
"Bay Territory seizes vast swaths of the Catachan jungle!"
"Bay Territory is advancing deep into the Catachan jungle!"
"Bay Territory plans to build a new city!"
All kinds of news, accompanied by vivid magical recordings, circulated among the outer Catachan tribes.
The confused Catachans, wondering why the Evil Shadow Spirits had slowed their assault, watched the footage and understood the situation. Only then did they realize...
Bay Territory was indeed still "helping" them!
The chieftains and leaders of the major Catachan tribes were clearly moved by Bay Territory's support and its overwhelming combat strength.
Taking advantage of the moment, Bay Territory representatives stationed in the tribes began promoting their military products and inventions.
"With this flamethrower, you can easily deal with large waves of twisted creatures."
"Its range is considerable, and its damage is powerful. It runs on pure Fire Oil..."
"Just twenty of these can defend an entire city wall."
"Look at the footage—this thing doesn't lie, right?"
"Price? Don't worry. Bay Territory never cheats our partners."
"Just 20 grams of refined adamantite, or 10 high-quality magic plants, plus materials and rare flora worth 16,000 gold—that buys you one hell of a defensive weapon."
"And to care for our old friends, we even include enough fuel to fight continuously for 20 hours—free of charge!"
Spittle flying, Da Peng eagerly promoted the flamethrowers to Chief Robert.
Nearby, the towering Da Zhuang was showcasing the weapon's might to a group of Catachan warriors.
The scarlet flame lit up Chief Robert's face.
He stared intently at the footage of twisted monsters being easily roasted by the flamethrower.
Especially after seeing it work just as well against the more sluggish large twisted beasts...
He decisively pulled out a large chunk of gleaming adamantite and said under Fatty's ecstatic gaze:
"We need at least 100 flamethrowers, along with fuel for over 48 hours of operation."
Overjoyed, Da Peng accepted the adamantite, never once thinking of cheating Chief Robert.
Cheerfully testing the metal's purity, he saw it exceeded the price by 30 grams. Immediately, he continued promoting:
"In addition to the flamethrowers, we can offer your tribe a special solution!"
"A permanent fix to stop the Catachan jungle from growing and spreading within a 20-kilometer radius!"
Chief Robert's eyes widened instinctively.
He stared at the grinning Da Peng, finding it hard to believe, and asked again:
"Are you sure? Bay Territory really has this method?"
Da Peng nodded firmly and secretly handed over another recording crystal.
After studying it, Robert turned back to the confident Da Peng and nodded without hesitation:
"This plan is exactly what we need. How do we implement it?"
Rubbing his hands excitedly, Da Peng skipped to the detailed section of the video and whispered eagerly:
"It's actually simple. Bay Territory will create a Fire Elemental Energy Pool and set up a wide-area Scorched Earth Array for your tribe..."
Scorched Earth Array?
Chief Robert investigated carefully, and his eyes began to shine.
Knowing the deal was almost sealed, Da Peng patiently explained:
"Setting up the array isn't hard. Aside from leaving space for the central water supply, the 20-kilometer area will be fully affected."
"However, there are two downsides..."
"First, it's expensive. One Scorched Earth Array costs 20 million gold coins!"
Hearing about the drawbacks, the slightly overexcited Chief Robert calmed down and listened intently.
"Second, it's dangerous. Our tests proved the array works, but it draws attacks from the nearby Catachan jungle and its monsters..."
That's it?
Eyes wide, Chief Robert suppressed his excitement and laughed heartily:
"Even without the array, we'd be attacked anyway. So what do we have to fear?"
To his surprise, Da Peng smiled mysteriously, leaned in, and whispered sneakily:
"We know that, but this thing is hard to sell. And unfortunately, we have a heavy quota."
"We couldn't bear to see the Ironbone Tribe get singled out, so here's a special offer for you."
A discount?
Chief Robert blinked suspiciously.
"If you promote the Scorched Earth Array to other Catachan tribes and sell just one..."
"You get a cut of one million gold, or equivalent supplies."
"Sell ten, and your tribe gets a free Scorched Earth Array!"
Chief Robert's mouth opened slightly.
A tactic this good—how could Bay Territory be the only ones to enjoy it?