Chapter 305 164: Night Raid on the Vanguard (Part 2)

The Vanguard Army dispatched by the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army was supposedly composed of elites, but goblins will always be goblins. Even the Warriors from the various Tribes couldn't change their inherently flawed nature. They knew they weren't far from the Undead, yet they still did as they pleased, showing no discipline whatsoever.

Within the Vanguard Army Camp, the goblins were the most numerous, occupied the largest area, had the worst-pitched tents, and were the most disorderly. Both the Headhunter Race and the Lizardmen couldn't be bothered with them, setting up their tents a little farther away.

The Headhunter Race was quiet. They stayed silently in their own camp, cleaning their weapons and organizing their gear. From time to time, they would cast ferocious gazes in the goblins' direction, like assassins ready to strike at any moment.

They disliked the noisy little runts, who were weak in combat and loved to cause trouble. If they weren't allies right now, these greenskins who dared to hold a "bonfire party" right next to the enemy would be their first target.

The Lizardmen were clearly far more methodical than the goblins. Their tents were neater and looked the part. However, their camp was sparsely populated at the moment, as most of the Lizardmen had been sent out on patrol. In the darkness surrounding the main camp, shadowy figures zipped past from time to time—the swift Lizardman scouts.

Five kilometers was not a safe distance. The enemy could attack at any moment. The Undead were especially difficult to defend against; they were different from normal living creatures, so they had to be extra vigilant.

They had been constantly harassed for some time now. Not many had died, but their march had been slowed down considerably. As a result, by the time they arrived, they discovered the Undead were already prepared for battle.

Their Vanguard Army had originally intended to catch the Undead by surprise, but they never expected that the joke would end up being on them. Still, they chose to make camp not too far from the Undead to prepare for the main army, which was still on its way.

The Lizardmen felt a constant sense of unease. Tonight's sky was foreboding. The bright moonlight that usually illuminated the land was absent, and the temperature in the Wasteland had also dropped quite a bit. They were, after all, cold-blooded creatures and hated this low temperature. Their limbs felt a little stiff, not as nimble as usual.

Under these circumstances, the Lizardmen were naturally on high alert.

The Lizardmen's worries were not unfounded. Li Ziyu had also noticed something different about the night. There was no moon, no stars; it was a darkness deeper than any ordinary night.

'Darkness is good. The Undead love the darkness.'

'A moonless, windy night… the perfect time for murder and arson.'

'To not ambush the Vanguard Army now would be a crime against the heavens. An opportunity like this won't come twice.'

'Since the Vanguard Army has already come, they might as well stay. For good. If I can't make you stay, I'd be doing a disservice to this night the heavens have gifted me.'

He would divide his forces into two prongs. One prong, the Beast Corps, would be led by the five Great Skeletons, commanding 5,000 Frenzied Skeleton Giant Tusked Boars and 20,000 Dark Skeleton Desert Wolves, supplemented by 1,000 Skeleton Short Bowmen, for a frontal assault. The other prong would be Zhang Peng, using his Gopher Fortress to transport 3,000 Barbarian Hammer Warriors through underground tunnels.

While Li Ziyu had been busy building up his power in the Wraith Mountain Range, Zhang Peng hadn't been idle either. The underground was already riddled with excavated tunnels, and one happened to be right near the Vanguard Army Camp.

Once the frontal assault began, he could have the Gopher Fortress burst out from underground, unleashing 3,000 Barbarian Hammer Warriors to deliver another blow. If the enemy routed, these 3,000 Barbarian Hammer Warriors would become the reinforcements that cut off their retreat.

Li Ziyu didn't dispatch the Skeleton Undead Corps, nor did he send any heavy troops. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't. The movement speed of the Skeleton Undead and heavy units was painfully slow. This was a surprise attack on the Vanguard Army; if he sent out the Skeleton Undead Corps, the target would be too large and easily discovered. Moreover, if the enemy tried to flee, the Skeleton Undead wouldn't be able to stop them or catch up.

As for loading heavy troops into the Gopher Fortress, that wouldn't work either. Whether it was the elite Skeleton Heavy Hammer Warriors or the Skeleton Ox Demons, their bodies were too large and extremely heavy. The Gopher Fortress had a limited weight capacity; it was a fortress designed for Gophers and couldn't accommodate too many of those behemoths.

So, Li Ziyu mobilized the Skeleton Beast Corps. The Skeleton Short Bowmen were lightweight and could be carried by the Dark Skeleton Desert Wolves; they just needed to get close enough to attack.

The Undead assembled quickly. The Barbarian Hammer Warriors lined up and entered the Gopher Fortress.

GO!

At Li Ziyu's order, the vast horde of Skeleton Beasts set out. Zhang Peng also took his Gopher Fortress and delved into the earth.

In the darkness, the Soul Fires of the Skeleton Beasts twinkled like stars before rapidly receding into the distance. Li Ziyu turned and went back into the main hall.

"It's so cold."

"Yeah, tonight's not normal. It's usually never this cold."

Two Lizardmen on patrol were running back and forth. Only constant movement could keep them warm in the cold, dark night. Suddenly, one of the Lizardmen stopped in his tracks and looked toward the distance in confusion.

"What's wrong?" the other Lizardman asked, confused, as he hopped in place.

"Do you feel something?" the first Lizardman asked in a low voice, his gaze fixed on the horizon.

"I feel cold! Are you coming or not? If you don't move, I'm going to run a few laps by myself. I'm about to freeze solid." The second Lizardman felt as if his blood was already slowing down from just that brief pause, and a deep chill permeated his body.

The first Lizardman ignored his companion. He suddenly crouched down, pressing his cheek to the ground. He wasn't listening for a sound, but feeling for vibrations; they were far more sensitive to tremors in the earth than to noise.