CHAPTER 398: CHAPTER 398: PRELUDE TO THE COUNTERATTACK

Shangguan Zi stood on the deck of the Legendary Ship.

Beside her, Purple Cloud’s eyes flickered as she said in a low voice, "Your Highness, there is an official organization requesting to speak with you from the ground."

"Who is it?"

Shangguan Zi turned and looked at her.

"Zenith City’s military command.

According to them, after Zenith City was breached, this is a temporary command established by leaders from multiple departments, working together.

It includes the City Lord of Zenith City, the Anomaly Bureau, the Church..."

Purple Cloud explained in detail.

Shangguan Zi listened halfway and interrupted her: "Connect it; I want to talk to them as well.

If these people are still alive and not going out to stop this thing, it’s enough to drag them before the Imperial Judicial Court ten times over.

Also,

what about the army led by that useless Shangguan Hong?

Have they all gone to be fodder for the Evil God?"

Shangguan Zi murmured coldly.

Since the beginning until now, she had not seen the army led by Shangguan Hong, nor had she discovered any traces of major battles.

If she wasn’t sure he had entered Maple Leaf County,

Shangguan Zi would have suspected that this fool was still indulging in pleasures in the Imperial Capital.

She knew.

That was an army of several tens of thousands, well-equipped and well-trained.

There was even a part of the elite troops pulled from the Imperial Third Legion.

Even if they all jumped into a river, they should cause a splash.

Yet now, Shangguan Zi didn’t even see a bubble.

Her relationship with Shangguan Hong was terrible and she would happily see him fail.

But not at a time like this.

At present,

the foreign invaders are pressing forward,

the nation is in ruins.

The troops led by Shangguan Hong are his close kinsmen’s army, along with a small portion of the Imperial Third Legion’s loyalists. If they were silently lost here, it would be a heavy blow to the Empire.

In matters of great importance,

Shangguan Zi could discern clearly.

Thus, she fervently hoped her prince brother could lead his army to solve this bizarre, evil, terrifying sacrificial ritual in front of them.

However,

Shangguan Hong was still as useless as ever.

He never let anyone down when it came to disappointment.

Purple Cloud saw her master was in a fury, and didn’t dare to upset her. She took out a special phone from her pocket and said in a low voice, "I have accepted the ground organization’s request for a call; they have urgent matters for Your Highness."

Shangguan Zi took the phone.

As soon as it connected,

Yuwen Ba’s voice immediately sounded, "Third Prince, the situation in Zenith City has changed, and the Eldest Prince has retreated.

Whatever you do, don’t attack that giant egg in the center of the city.

It possesses a strange power, and any attack will be reflected back.

We’ve already lost a large number of troops on it, a bloody lesson. That thing likely contains the power of an Evil God."

Inside the mechanical battle vehicle.

Yuwen Ba held the phone, overwhelmed with worries.

He stared at the image of the giant egg sent back from the scene and felt deeply troubled. Over the past two days, he had watched the stone egg grow little by little.

From initially being only one person tall.

To its final size,

it grew to a hundred meters tall.

Layer upon layer of Demon Race, Ghost-faced Race, and Endless Exotic Beasts surrounded the outside of the stone egg.

Anyone attempting to approach the stone egg would face fearsome, deadly attacks from these alien races.

Along with Zenith City’s ground,

which, at the time of the city’s fall, had already become a paradise for Exotic Beasts.

Their mission to counterattack was extremely difficult, only having an opportunity to reclaim ground after the Eldest Prince’s army joined in.

However,

Yuwen Ba soon discovered that the situation was not as simple as it seemed.

They fought through layer after layer of obstacles, all the way in, only to make contact with the giant egg and have members begin mutating or defecting outright.

Even a Grandmaster was affected by the egg, attacking allies in a frenzy.

Later,

after sacrificing several experts, they confirmed that the lines on the egg were a kind of eerie code, just looking at it was enough to cause mutations.

The spiritual fluctuations from the egg could also manipulate minds.

The army manipulated by Shangguan Hong had been holding out around the egg, combating the three alien races for a full five hours.

And these five hours.

Were Yuwen Ba’s team’s only chance to destroy the egg.

Unfortunately,

they overcame the hurdle of reaching the egg but found at the last moment that they weren’t powerful enough to destroy it.

Their attacks, landing on the egg, did not cause any damage.

Instead, they were completely reflected.

Five hours of frenzied destruction rendered no effect.

The entire egg remained intact, instead leaving many of Yuwen Ba’s leading experts dead or wounded.

The Eldest Prince’s army was also broken through by the reckless counterattacks of the three alien races.

Unable to proceed,

they could only temporarily retreat, gather their strength, and clear out the seventh underground level of the entire Zenith City.

They killed off all the demons, alien races, and Exotic Beasts.

Evidently,

the three alien races realized the fortified power of Zenith City’s living forces.

Especially after the Flame Giant was defeated by the Church of the God of Steam and Mechanics, the alien races’ attacks, lacking high-level support, weakened significantly.

Therefore, they also promptly changed their tactics.

The Exotic Beasts and alien races throughout Maple Leaf County were all concentrated on Zenith City’s surface, entrenched on this territory, safeguarding the egg’s safety.

Evidently, they intended to stake everything on that unknown stone egg.

Later,

a large number of Endless Exotic Beasts gathered around the egg, chanting strange codes.

And the egg,

its growth speed increased day by day.

Yuwen Ba felt the fluctuations from the egg grow more intense, anxious at heart.

Even though the forces of these few alien races had been driven into a desperate situation,

the opponents still held an unknown trump card,

potentially involving divine power!

"Lord Yuwen, if we can’t proceed, we should carry out the previous plan, eradicating the alien races one by one before dealing with the egg in the middle."

The black-robed Sakura sighed deeply, her face full of fatigue.

This bishop of the Eternal Church looked indeed quite miserable at this moment.

She had always been blind, incapable of seeing, but now, she couldn’t even open her eyes, with blood-red tears staining her cheeks, extremely unsettling.

Her originally smooth skin,

was now covered with burn marks.

And the areas burned continually spread, akin to bone-bearing poison, constantly battling with her stubborn spirituality.

Her skin thus showed a strange trend.

Burn marks continually spread,

while under the effect of powerful spiritual recovery, constantly healed.

Every moment,

she endured recursive torment.

Both her body and mind continuously suffered agony and pain.

"Bishop Sakura, are you sure this method will work?

You must know that as soon as we approach that area, the alien races seem to be on a drug high charging forward.

Such suicide attacks,

combined with some form of blessing they appear to receive within a hundred-meter radius of the egg, make an assault with our current forces certain to suffer severe losses. If casualties become too great, being counterattacked isn’t out of the question."

Yuwen Ba furrowed his brow.

Bishop Sakura shook her head, "Previously, indeed it was not possible, but now with the Third Prince’s Legendary Ship joining, our odds have significantly changed.

August,

can that Titan from Steam City still be used?"