Tempest of the Battlefield

Wang Tong kept his silence and didn’t reply. Samantha reflected on her answer and immediately realized that something was amiss. The Queen mother supreme had striven to maintain the balance between the two powers; therefore, she must have requested help from Patroclus to save the dark ones. So, why did Patroclus maintain his silence?

There could be only one explanation: Patroclus had gained dominance over the queen.

Without the swarms of Zergs, the immortals were not to be feared, but after they had gained control over the countless Zergs, they would become infinitely more difficult to deal with.

Wang Tong cracked a smile and then yawned again. “Patroclus had been working on the queen for many years. It’s about time for him to make a breakthrough. These Zergs are really naive in thinking that they can control him.”

Samantha nodded in agreement, as Wang Tong’s words had hit the mark. The Zergs had thought that they could control the humans once they took the human flesh as a host, but little did they know about the boundless capabilities of humans’ intelligence. Patroclus was not the only person who could have overcome the Zergs’ spell. In the last five years, Patroclus had waited patiently, biding his time as he learned the weakness of the queen.

Thanks to his perfect genes and the new abilities he had picked up from the Zergs, Patroclus had quickly learned everything about the supreme mother.

“Although Mars has provided us with a capable fleet, if we meet the Immortals now, the war would drag on forever.”

“Are you proposing to pulverize the moon as you did to the Saturn’s asteroid belt?”

Wang Tong was amused by the question, “Haven’t I already told you that I am not a god?”

“You are closer to a god than anyone could ever be. You might have to get used to your soldiers calling you a god by now. Although you are on my ship, everyone expects me to serve you.” Samantha jested.

“Haha, I appreciate it. But, the answer to your question is no. The Saturn’s asteroid belt was unique in its structure, which made our spell possible. The moon is a different story. Plus, Patroclus is not going to fall for it.”

“So, what is your plan?” Samantha asked.

“To be honest, my power right now is at par with Patroclus at best. Therefore, I have to try to gain an edge strategically. But first, I need to figure out what my enemy is thinking.”

“Are you implying that he could return to the humans?”

“Not a chance! I am just not sure what his real goal is. The birth of immortals was not purely to aid the Zergs’ war against the humans…It was also a manifesto of Patroclus’ personal belief. Although I know that the battle between us is inevitable, part of me still likes to think that this is not going to be a war, but only a battle between the two of us.”

“Don’t try to carry all the burden by yourself. The human race is not as fragile as you think. Let them come!”

“Haha, you sound like Karl!”

“Buzz off! Don’t hold everything inside. You need friends more so than Patroclus would.” Samantha rebutted with a smile.

“I know.”

Samantha noticed the flickering in Wang Tong’s eyes, and knew he was about to leave. “Are you leaving?”

“You know me the best.” Wang Tong nodded.

“It’s too dangerous to go by yourself. Why can’t you wait for the fleet to get ready?” Samantha asked concernedly.

“Hehe. I know you want me to stay, but I need to figure these things alone.”

“You are going to the moon?”

“Yes. I am going to Patroclus’s home base. I need to see the situation there with my own eyes before I draw any conclusions.”

“Be careful!”

“Haha…don’t worry about me. I don’t think anyone in this world is able to harm me.” Wang Tong said confidently. His confidence was not unfounded, since during his slumber, he had gained new insights into the world. This new enlightenment had also spurred him to go to the moon as a part of the re-examination of the situation.

Wang Tong had never doubted the malignant nature of the dark ones, but what about the immortals?

“Should I stop you?”

“You won’t because you always agree with me.”

“Sometimes I wish I could be dumber so you could protect me.”

“I will protect you nonetheless.”

“Yeah, yeah, I believe you. What about Michaux?”

“I won’t tell them about my departure, but they will understand. After the last battle, Michaux and Guan Dongyang should have improved their mastery significantly, so the team should be in good hands after I am gone. The Confederation shouldn’t rush to the Moon right away. Instead, you should focus on rebuilding the communication lines and warp portals around Mars.”

“Why don’t we press on while the soldiers’ spirits are up?”

“We are not ready yet, but the Zergs are. The immortals knew that they are the next target, so they must be prepared for our attack. We need to journey far to get to them, and the trip would be taxing on the soldiers’ vigor. I say slowly does it, what say you?”

“I see sense in it. Maybe I have been taken away by our series of victories. Time to take things slowly, I guess.”

“It’s not a bad thing for the soldiers to have a high spirit. The key is to channel their energy toward a positive outcome…”

“Are you preaching me?” Samantha cut Wang Tong short.

“No, no. I am always your student.”

“Very well, I thought so too. So, do we wait for your signal for a full-on attack?”

“Nah, don’t mind me and carry out your task at your own pace. We have lots of talents on our ships, such as Karl.”

“Ok, I will wait for your good news then.”

…

The survivors of the immortals’ attack had spun wild tales about the brutality of the divine lord and his heinous crimes against the people on the moon. However, when Wang Tong sneaked through the nearly impenetrable security system and landed on the moon, he found the scenery rather peaceful.

There were no monsters roaming on the streets, and neither were there signs of mass killings of the public. Over ninety percent of the population on moon was still human, and they plodded on with their daily life just as they had five years ago.

Without any notable geographic barriers on the moon’s landscape to stop the immortals, taking over it had been swift and almost effortless.

Before the war, the moon boasted the strongest defense of all the human settlements. However, as a native resident of Earth’s moon, Patroclus knew that the defense was much weaker than it appeared on paper. After the moon fell into the immortals’ hands, the humans on Earth panicked. Meanwhile, they were concerned about the fate of the Ivantians who didn’t make it out of the moon in time. Would they be forced to turn into hideous monsters or would they be killed in cold blood? The earthlings wished that their Ivantian counterparts would choose the latter. However, neither of that was true. Despite Patroclus’ strong-handed approach in the makings of many new policies, he had left most of the Ivantians in peace. His Zerg army was well disciplined and lacked the appetite for human flesh. After the war, the primitive Zergs were turned into free labor to rebuild the cities that were destroyed by the war. In an ironic way, these monstrosities had even contributed significantly to the local economy.

Over time, Patroclus convinced more and more Ivantians about his cause, and the ranks of the immortals swelled. Amazingly, most of the new members joined Patroclus’ army of immortals willingly; some had even become fanatics.

Ivantians were the most open-minded human sub-race. In order to alleviate the public’s fear of things that they didn’t understand, Patroclus even built museums to educate the public on what it meant to be an immortal. The key takeaway of all the exhibitions was that while coexisting with the Zerg parasite, the human host still remained in full functional control of his or her body and mind.

After a while, even the fear surrounding being an immortal disappeared, and the public started to see the benefits of becoming one of Patroclus’ followers. Not only would the Zerg parasite grant the humans an invincible body, but also the gift of immortality.