Age of Evolution#

Chapter 1018: Chapter 1021: Tactical Planning_1 Chapter 1018: Chapter 1021: Tactical Planning_1 As Lin Zhen expected, three days later, the expansion of the Hall of Fame had been completed.

This time, the number of Hall of Fame members had increased to three hundred!

This was the result of negotiations between the Ground Clan and the Endless Species.

They each increased the number of their Hall of Fame members by two hundred.

Most of these new additions, namely ninety percent of them, were former members of the Hall of Fame.

These individuals’ attempts to ascend to the Deity status had failed and they were currently at the Demigod Realm, but they each possessed remarkable strength.

Initially, Lin Zhen had envisioned that re-ranking the Hall of Fame would prove challenging.

…

However, it was quickly settled.

The newly added members were all elderly individuals who had been alive for countless years, and they chose to automatically place themselves in front of the current Hall of Fame members.

Qiong Jing, previously ranked number one, was now ranked two hundred and one; whereas Lin Zhen was ranked two hundred and three.

According to them, this ranking was temporary, and expected to change after the Skyfire War, when the elders would once again withdraw.

This method appeased some of the discontent brewing amongst the current Hall of Fame members.

The current highest-ranked member in the Hall of Fame was a Martial Artist of the Human Clan named Nine Profound.

Others might not know him, but Lin Zhen did.

He was the Hall of Fame’s top ranker nine billion three hundred million years ago, predicted by everyone to successfully breakthrough and become a Deity.

However, due to unfortunate circumstances during his attempt, he only reached Demigod status.

More so, there were suspicions that Nine Profound had reached the Complete Realm of Demigods, as he had a history of defeating Lower Gods directly.

Those from distant eras, despite having immortal lives, accidents were bound to occur in the long river of time.

People from too long ago were essentially all dead by now.

Nine Profound’s survival for over nine billion years was considered record-breaking.

Most Deities, who used to be juniors to Nine Profound, maintained a certain level of respect for him.

Thus, his position as the top ranker in the Hall of Fame this time faced no objections.

Ranked second in the Hall of Fame, after Nine Profound, was Shadow Kill.

Shadow Kill was considered a super master, and was close to two hundred million years old.

Like Nine Profound, people believed him to be at the Complete Realm.

Lin Zhen knew it wasn’t just a suspicion, it was certain because he had previously escaped from Shadow Kill himself.

Aside from Nine Profound and Shadow Kill, there was a star beast named Duobi that was also considered to have reached the Complete Realm and was ranked third in the Hall of Fame.

Everyone had thought that despite the unprecedented scale of the forthcoming Skyfire War, these unambitious strongmen might not participate.

Unexpectedly, three of them showed up at once, and their reasons were unclear.

Was the fate of their races and the survival of ordinary people that important to them?

This was highly suspicious.

Not just on the Ground Clan side, but even more ruthlessly on the Endless Species side.

Reportedly, five Complete Realm strongmen from their side had joined the Skyfire War, adding immense pressure to the Ground Clan.

As the day of the Skyfire War drew nearer with every passing day, preparations were underway on both sides.

The war clouds loomed, and all eyes in the Original World were on it.

Everyone felt weighed down, under immense pressure.

**********

This battle was a matter of life and death for both the Ground Clan and the Endless Species.

Everyone was engaged in the discussions about the war.

Every day, across the Dimensional Universe, tens of trillions of posts on scrolls from both the Ground Clan and the Endless Species were being updated, discussing the war situation.

Technical experts, data analysists, moral supporters, blind fans supporting their own idols, the excitement levels were extremely high, just like a final frenzy before the apocalypse.

“Analyzing the data for the outcome of the Skyfire War, the Endless Species have less than 30% chance of winning!”

“The Ground Clan will undoubtedly win!

I am willing to donate all of my property, totaling four hundred thousand Da Zhao currency, to the frontline Warriors!”

“Real talk, our Ground Clan will achieve a tragic victory.

Augustine will decide the outcome.”

“Augustine?

He’s nothing.

He couldn’t even beat Lin Zhen.

Shadow Kill is the real deal.”

“Hold the ancient hype, please.

After watching a few video clips and blurry images you think you’re an expert?

Shadow Kill is outdated.

I bet he can’t even beat Ye Xingcai one-on-one.”

“I believe Nine Profound, Qiong Jing, and Lin Zhen will dictate the course of the battle.

They are our weapons of mass destruction.”

“Heh!

For mass destruction, who can beat Lin Zhen’s Black Hole Devour?

All the members of the Endless Species can do is tremble.

Lin Zhen’s secret tech is like a bug.”

“We can’t be so sure.

You think the Endless Species are all fools?

Who knows, maybe the tactics we’ve been researching have already been divulged by spies.”

“Yeah, as if your tactics matter, keyboard warrior.”

While these heated discussions could be disregarded, some posts were indeed constructive.

Suggestions such as strictly holding the Heavenly River frontline, clear division of tasks among Hall of Fame members to prevent any section from being breached, assembling reserves and assault squads were made.

Some even discussed contingency plans if the Heavenly River’s defense fell, though most didn’t think it would get to that point.

Despite being two major races, the Ground Clan had a larger population than the Endless Species, primarily due to occupying a vast expanse of land and neighbouring star space.

The Ground Clan had a larger habitat, which was also richer.

Therefore, people’s general attitude towards this battle was optimistic.

Even if they couldn’t take down Demon Capital, the sheer mass of humans should be enough to stop the Endless Species at the Heavenly River.

Some even suggested a direct attack on Demon Capital.

Such suggestions received much support.

After all, with the vast Participation of Ground Clan, “in a large enough forest, there will be all kinds of birds”.

Some used the name of the war to raise funds, only to be directly arrested by people from various countries or cities, and were severely punished.

**********

At first, Lin Zhen logged on to the forums to check.

However, the forums were so overcrowded with posts from every country and city that it was impossible to glean any useful information.

So he simply filtered those posts, choosing to only read statements made by those at the Hall of Fame level.

This was a requirement set by Nine Profound.

He wanted every Hall of Fame member to read his posts, because a command center had been formally established by him, Shadow Kill, and Duobi, three temporary commanders sharing the duty of issuing orders.

In addition to sending out individual orders, they would also post them in their forum threads, so everyone could see and responsibilities would be clear.

You see, war was about to break in just a few days and Nine Profound issued his first command – delineating battle zones.

The strategy laid down by Nine Profound was that of defensive counterattack.

The present number of people on both sides stood approximately at 60 billion for the Ground Clan, and 40 billion for the Endless Species.

Even though the ratio was 6 to 4 in favor of the Ground Clan, it didn’t guarantee their victory.

In such super warrior battles, the outcome often depends on the performance of the top elites.

Over the years, Nine Profound had confronted many top-notch warriors of the Endless Species and was keenly aware of their prowess.

Thus, he decided to leverage their larger population for a war of attrition against the Endless Species.

The greatest strength of the Ground Clan was their large population, hence their large potential for war.

As long as they manage to prolong the war, the Endless Species would lose their edge.

That would be the right time for the Ground Clan to strike back.

Having decided upon a defensive strategy, the most important aspect was the division of the battle zones.

The Heavenly River area was divided by Nine Profound into nine battle zones.

Each battle zone stretched a hundred ‘star miles,’ and every zone required the presence of a Hall of Fame strongman.

Nine Profound, as the leading figure, took personal charge of the fifth battle zone.

The fifth battle zone was right in the middle, covering the original area of Skyfire City, which was bigger in both length and width.Nine Profound, along with fifty seasoned Hall of Fame strong, guarded this central sector.

The first battle zone was entrusted to Shadow Kill.

The ninth battle zone was given over to Duobi.

The second, third, and fourth battle zones were in the charge of the renowned seasoned Hall of Fame elites.

The current members of the Hall of Fame were responsible for the sixth, seventh, and eighth battle zones.

Qiong Jing led some people in the 6th battle zone, Ye Xingcai was in charge of the 7th battle zone, while Lin Zhen was in charge of the 8th battlezone.

Since the three of them were initially the top three in the Hall of Fame, capable and powerful, each of them was responsible for a section.

Nine Profound had also considered prudently.

For instance, as Lin Zhen ranked third, his ability was relatively weaker, thus he needed a stronger assistant.

Under Shadow Kill’s suggestion, Nine Profound assigned the fourth in rank in the original Hall of Fame, Augustine, to assist Lin Zhen, in guarding the eighth battle zone, ensuring the stronghold was impregnable.

Such matters couldn’t be kept secret for long.

Neither did Nine Profound manage to keep it that way, promptly disclosing his orders within the Dimensional Universe.

The responsibilities of each person were explicitly demarcated.

As soon as Nine Profound’s orders were issued, they caused a fervent discussion amongst the Ground Clan.

Some questioned Nine Profound’s conservative way of war, calling him a great pretender, who had some personal abilities but was incompetent to lead a large-scale war, and suggested inviting capable generals from the Life Stars.

Others doubted the abilities of the defenders.

Their doubt targeted not Qiong Jing and Lin Zhen, but the renowned martial artists.

After all, they were oblivious to the strength of these established martial artists and had serious doubts about their capacity to hold their battle zones.

In contrast, they had no worries about the sectors under Qiong Jing, Ye Xingcai, and Lin Zhen.

In their opinion, these three represented the strongest combat power of the Ground Clan below Deity.

Their temporary relinquishment of the top spots in the Hall of Fame was out of respect for their seniors.

They had all proven themselves reliable.

Upon hearing these discussions, Lin Zhen sensed trouble.