63: Chapter 63 The enemy was standing just outside firing range.

Inside the Floating City.

Xu Qin stood in the Watchtower, gazing down at the small troop fleeing in panic toward the north.

"I knew you would run."

Thirteen minutes ago, he had originally planned to wait in ease for the two reinforcement armies to walk right into his trap.

However, the Sand Rat transmitted the latest intelligence back... Both armies had turned around and retreated simultaneously.

Xu Qin judged right then that these two were capable; they weren't the impulsive or reckless type.

Therefore, they wouldn't just sit back and wait for death after returning.

Sure enough.

By continuously receiving reconnaissance reports from the Sand Rat, he analyzed the situation almost instantly.

After returning to his own territory, the Orc lord was doing his utmost to reinforce the city defenses.

Meanwhile, the other Earth Spirits lord had decisively abandoned his territory and was fleeing south with his core combat forces.

Since that was the case...

Which one should he deal with first?

There was no need to overthink it; he definitely had to chase the one running away first!

The logic was simple.

The one holed up in its nest couldn't run away,

but once the one on the run put some distance between them,

it would be truly impossible to catch up.

Furthermore, according to the data transmitted back by the Sand Rat,

this Earth Spirits troop numbered at most just over four hundred; the units were generally short, and their attack and defense stats were mediocre.

Although the Orc territory on the other side was being reinforced,

the territory had no Teleportation Array and was at most level three or four.

Therefore, eating the weak one first was the most efficient choice.

"Full speed pursuit!"

Xu Qin ordered loudly!

The Floating City's energy core operated at full power, pushing the speed to its limit of fifteen kilometers per hour, heading straight for Robert.

The distance narrowed bit by bit.

Forty minutes later, both sides could see each other.

At this moment, Robert completely panicked.

He no longer cared about any damn formation and simply bolted for his life.

Watching the four hundred plus little yellow dots running around in chaos,

Xu Qin snorted coldly.

He opened the operating interface for the eight Soul Energy Turrets, simultaneously adjusting the angles to aim the barrels downward.

"Fire!"

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

Eight ghostly blue beams poured down from the city walls.

Shadow erosion combined with physical impact smashed precisely into the fleeing ranks.

Bang, bang, bang...

The Earth Spirits warriors fell in droves.

The survivors tried desperately to flee in all directions, but they couldn't run out of the two-hundred-meter coverage range of the turrets.

Xu Qin nodded in satisfaction at this.

He raised his hand to control the Floating City, descending close to the ground.

Creak.

The Combat Readiness Platform unfolded,

and the gangway slammed into the yellow sand.

"Jackal Hunter, take the Sand Jackal soldiers and pursue!"

As the fastest unit under Xu Qin's command,

Jackal Hunter charged out first.

Then,

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

A dark mass of Undead Sand Jackals charged out behind Jackal Hunter.

[Blood Claw Frenzy] activated!

Jackal Hunter turned into an afterimage, plunging into the enemy formation with bone claws flying, each strike carrying tearing and bleeding effects.

Thousands of Undead Sand Jackals roared out, instantly submerging those remnants of the defeated army.

Robert was tackled to the ground by three Sand Jackals.

He struggled to stand up but was pinned by bone claws at his neck.

"No... I have resources! I can trade!"

No one paid him any mind.

The undead do not negotiate.

Xu Qin opened the command panel and found the descent platform interface.

There were twenty-five minutes of cooldown left.

"Tsk."

If the descent platform could be used, he could have just smashed the Minotaur right into his face, saving the trouble of chasing.

"It seems that to unleash the power of the descent platform, I need to reach level ten to barely make it useful."

Regardless, it didn't matter.

Jackal Hunter's speed was already sufficient.

Three minutes later.

Robert's four hundred Earth Spirits were wiped out.

Xu Qin couldn't even be bothered to look at the golden light of the loot settlement.

He directly entered the new target coordinates into the control panel.

Brennan's territory.

"Take off."

The Floating City rose from the ground once more, pressing toward the Orc territory in the south that was desperately reinforcing its city defenses.

Less than half an hour later.

Brennan's Orc territory already appeared at the edge of the Watchtower's line of sight.

Xu Qin wasn't in a rush to get closer.

He first controlled the Floating City to hover one kilometer away, with all three layers of the Combat Readiness Platform's gangways fully deployed.

"Tian Ming, Blade Guard, Chuan Yun, you three take the first squad and flank from the left wing."

"Minotaur, Jackal Hunter, Shadow, take the second squad and go to the right wing."

"Before receiving my order, you are not allowed to step a single inch inside the encirclement I have marked."

The order was issued.

The two armies filed out from the Floating City,

a dark mass of undead spreading out to the left and right sides.

The encirclement that Xu Qin spoke of was precisely the maximum range of the defensive facilities, derived by combining the reconnaissance reports from the Skeleton Vulture and the Sand Rat.

For this battle, he wanted an S rating.

Therefore, his tactics absolutely could not be too reckless.

Xu Qin controlled the Floating City to ascend while opening the reconnaissance report.

Brennan's territory was much simpler than the Troglodyte side.

There were no complex underground works.

There was only one old passage connecting to the Troglodyte territory, but that passage had long since been collapsed by the Sand Rat.

The ground defensive facilities were quite numerous, though.

Three rings of trenches, two to three meters deep, were filled with sharpened wooden stakes at the bottom.

Two rows of giant wooden fences stood on the perimeter of the trenches.

On the east and west sides of the territory, there were three crude wooden arrow towers each.

Four primitive catapults were mounted on a high platform at the rear of the territory.

As for troops.

Just over six hundred Orc warriors, plus two Orc heroes, were all concentrated on the defense line.

As for Brennan, he was still desperately repairing defensive buildings.

"I have to say, he's quite determined."

Yes, only an opponent who fights back makes for an enjoyable battle.

Xu Qin closed the reconnaissance report and looked toward the increasingly clear Orc territory.

This Orc lord must have already received the news of the Earth Spirits lord's death.

...

Fifteen minutes later.

Xu Qin confirmed that both armies had reached their designated positions and immediately issued the second order.

"All troops, deploy in place."

Along two arcs, nearly eight thousand undead stopped in their tracks simultaneously.

Then, they slowly tightened the noose toward Brennan's territory.

But the army never stepped into the range of the defensive fortifications.

They just surrounded it from afar.

Brennan watched this scene from the high platform,

his face turning completely ashen.

This Undead lord was cautious enough.

Even though his military force was dozens of times greater than his own, he remained cautious.

The catapults' stone projectiles could go at most a little over one hundred meters,

while those undead had already stood their ground two hundred meters away, neither advancing nor retreating.

This was a posture of wanting to surround him to death.

"Fuck!"

Brennan punched the wooden railing beside him, blood seeping from the back of his hand.

But after cursing, he actually calmed down a bit.

Run now?

No, the best opportunity had already been missed.

There was a city floating in the sky and seven thousand troops surrounding him on the ground.

Even an Earth Spirits like Robert with short legs couldn't run away.

He, even less, could outrun them.

"Catapults, ready!"

He growled at the heroes beside him,

"Aim at the densest cluster of undead and smash them for me!"

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

The four catapults fired simultaneously.

The giant boulders tumbled through the air, smashing into the yellow sand and kicking up four pillars of sand.

But not a single one landed in the undead formation.

The distance was off by at least thirty meters.

"Fuck!" Brennan gritted his teeth, "Reload! Adjust the angle!"

The Orcs scrambled to reload the stone projectiles, the catapult arms creaking loudly.

The second volley.

This time it was slightly closer, with one stone rolling to the front of the undead formation.

But that was all.

Xu Qin saw it clearly from the Watchtower and curled his lip.

"Not bad, actually managing to shoot this far."