Chapter 334 - 174: Plotting Against Each Other

"Urk..."

The Goblin Clan Leader clutched his severed arm, staring at Palamede in terror. He understood the Grand Marshal’s meaning. If he couldn’t lead the goblins properly, he would be worthless. And Palamede had no use for worthless people. He would surely die—hacked to pieces on the spot.

Sweat dripped down his face. Facing life and death, the Goblin Clan Leader could no longer feel the pain from his severed arm. He struggled to twist his body, kneeling before Palamede, and said with a tremble, "Grand Marshal, calm your anger! Please, calm your anger! I can do it! The goblins can do it! Just give the order, and the goblins will charge through mountains of blades and seas of fire for you."

Only then did Palamede nod in satisfaction. He stood up, turned his head to look at the others, and asked, "Does anyone else have an opinion?"

With the Goblin Clan Leader made an example of, how could any of the others dare to object? They were all silent as cicadas in winter, utterly docile. They didn’t want to be the next one served up. Palamede was clearly in a killing mood. Anyone who defied him now was signing their own death warrant.

Unless they wanted to challenge the Grand Marshal’s authority, none of them would dare step forward at a time like this.

’A bunch of bastards. They refused the easy way, so now they get the hard way.’

Palamede swept his gaze over the crowd, his eyes cold and menacing. ’I was originally counting on them to help me charge the Central Zone, which is why I was being nice. But these guys are insatiable. They actually thought I wouldn’t dare to kill anymore. How laughable.’

’After all these years, it’s still the same as it always was. Authority never comes from intellect. It comes from one’s own strength, from the fist. Only when your fist is hard enough will others listen to you obediently.’

’Seniority, intelligence, reputation—none of that shit matters. When it’s actually time for others to step up, all they do is object. Only the fist, only real power, can shut them up, make them tremble in fear, and do as they’re told.’

’It was like this hundreds of years ago, and it’s still like this now. The Wasteland has never changed.’

"Since no one has any objections, go and prepare." Palamede sheathed his Double-bladed Axe, walked back to his seat, and gave the order in a low voice.

"Yes, by the Grand Marshal’s command."

All the generals and clan leaders present bowed and acknowledged the order.

...

"Boss, you think they’ll attack again today?"

Inside the main building of the Undead Fortress, Li Ziyu and the other two were also resting. Liu Xingxing was the one who asked.

"They will. They will definitely attack again," Li Ziyu said with certainty.

"But it won’t be too soon, right? They just failed," Liu Xingxing said after a moment’s thought.

"That’s hard to say." Zhang Peng also felt that the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army would definitely attack again, but it was impossible to say when. It would certainly be while the sun was still up, though.

They were all well aware that since the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army had come, they wouldn’t retreat after a single setback. Their only window of opportunity was during the day. Once the sun went down, the question would no longer be whether the Alliance Army would attack, but whether the Undead would take the offensive.

The commander of the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army couldn’t possibly be ignorant of this. Therefore, they would surely launch another attack, and it would be a fierce one.

Li Ziyu didn’t speak. He had a feeling the next attack would come soon. He had observed the previous battle carefully. The goblins who had charged at the front hadn’t actually suffered too many losses. After clashing with the Skeleton Undead, they had held the advantage. Their morale was high, and they had practically been steamrolling the Skeleton Undead.

The turning point on the battlefield came after the Giant Monsters entered the fray. The Elite Heavy Hammer Skeleton Warriors had hammered a good number of them to death, which caused the goblins to rout. But without a doubt, the little runts had only suffered a morale collapse; their actual casualties weren’t high, not enough to reach the breaking point for a full rout.

The Skeleton Undead had sustained considerable losses in that first engagement. Li Ziyu was surprised by the combat effectiveness of the goblins in this Alliance Army; they were far stronger than any goblins he had encountered before.

Fortunately, he had the countless corpses of the Ghost Soul Mountain Range at his disposal. Li Ziyu wasn’t concerned about how many Skeleton Undead he lost. As long as he wished, he could summon more at any time.

He had already replenished the Skeleton Undead lost in the battle with the goblins. The army at the front was once again at full strength.

’What I need to do is drag them into a war of attrition during the day as much as possible. That’s extremely advantageous for me. You come, I’ll block. We’ll just wear each other down. Once night falls and the Undead are no longer weakened, that’s when I’ll launch my all-out assault. I’ll show you what a true Skeleton Sea looks like then.’

’I could unleash the Skeleton Sea now, but there’s no need. It would only increase my casualties unnecessarily. The weaker the Undead, the more severely they are weakened during the day. Low-level units like the Skeleton Undead can barely fight effectively.’

BWOOO—BWOO BWOO—

The three of them were chatting idly when the dull sound of a horn suddenly echoed from outside. They immediately scrambled to their feet, ran outside, and went straight up the White Bone Watchtower to look toward the Alliance Army’s position.

Sure enough, the Alliance Army was on the move. Their warriors were assembling and advancing. The goblins were once again sent to the front lines. Without a doubt, this was the start of the second wave of attack.

"KILL!"

"CHARGE!"

The goblins shrieked in their high-pitched voices as they charged the Skeleton Undead once more. This time, however, their morale didn’t seem as high as before.

They hadn’t wanted to charge the Undead again. Those things with the hammers had left a deep-seated fear in them. But they had no choice. Not only had their own Clan Leaders given the order, but the Alliance Army had also sent Commanders to oversee them. Anyone who didn’t fight would be executed. Better to take their chances on the battlefield than be killed by the Commanders. Maybe they could even survive.