"But of course, the main offensive is about to begin. All source worlds are deploying troops, preparing for a frontal war assault."
The King of the Mayfly’s antenna twitched, and the map of the Wilderness World appeared before him.
According to the intelligence, the entire Wizard front line displayed signs of an attack. These attacking corps were not pure Wizard Armies, similar to the mixed brigades that emerged in the previous assault.
However, compared to the last assault’s army, this time the army seemed to have some changes, appearing somewhat weaker than before.
"It seems the last assault cost you quite a few elites," the King of the Mayfly murmured as he looked at the map.
In accordance with the intelligence, markers representing losses emerged on the map one by one.
These markers appeared quite evenly distributed, but if timestamps were added, small encirclements would become apparent.
The Wizards were like insects, taking small bites here and there, slowly devouring the Galaxy Mayfly’s node nests.
"Strange, why isn’t there a main attack direction?"
The King of the Mayfly gazed at the front lines repeatedly, but even with his super brain of a Level 5 Creature, he couldn’t discern the Wizards’ main attack direction using the intelligence and the map.
The King of the Mayfly’s antenna kept shaking. To him, it seemed that this Wizard operation should have been planned for a long time, intending to reclaim certain lost territories.
But the intelligence indicated that the Wizards’ army seemed poised to annihilate the Galaxy Mayflies all at once, with all troops advancing along the earth veins.
"Could it be there’s really no main attack direction? Are these Wizards simply exhausting our forces?"
Various pieces of intelligence from the frontline flashed through the mind of the King of the Mayfly. He wove them together, like strands of yarn.
"No, I’ve overlooked something. These are all mixed brigade attacks, where did their Wizard Army go?"
The King of the Mayfly’s antenna shuddered violently; he felt he’d pinpointed the crucial issue.
"Jiu, Yan, Wu, have you discovered any traces of the Wizard Army on the front lines?"
"Your Majesty, our clansmen haven’t found any traces of the Wizard Army."
"Not a single trace?"
"Your Majesty, I am very certain." (×3)
Upon receiving the answers, the King of the Mayfly’s antenna calmed once more.
"Almost got duped, using mixed brigades to attract attention while hiding traces of the Wizard Army.
What a cunning tactic."
The King of the Mayfly felt he had seen through Richard’s strategic deception, exuding a faint cheerful chirp in his tone.
"Wu, deploy the Sky Dome Mayflies along with the reconnaissance Mayflies. I need to know where the Wizards have hidden their main attack forces. Also, notify the frontline nests to halt all non-essential actions and organize patrols.
I want every inch of the frontline to be within our sight."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
"As expected, once the Galaxy Mayflies reacted, the war didn’t progress as smoothly."
Richard sighed somewhat helplessly as he looked at the battle report handed over by Abel.
Half a month into the warfare, the first three days progressed smoothly, but since then, each battle for the Mixed Species Army grew increasingly difficult.
The Galaxy Mayflies leveraged their advantage in numbers, deploying patrols across the plains. With such exaggerated patrol density, sneak attacks like those in the initial days were now entirely out of the question for the Mixed Species Army.
According to the battle report, the current attacking corps were engaging in swift warfare.
Meaning, upon confirming the nest’s location, they would send the vanguard for a rapid advance. Then, before the Galaxy Mayflies were fully prepared, they would conduct a magic concentrated fire and shield breakthrough.
Such a battle style severely tested the Legion Commander’s command skills and was overly risky.
Richard had already issued orders to the frontline to stop these corps’ attacks, to regroup and reorganize with the remaining corps—this time the gains were already very remarkable, preserving them was the priority now.
The Wizard Construction Team had commenced fortress construction at earth vein nodes near the defense circle, intending to link the fortresses together, creating new fortress clusters.
Thus, until the fortress clusters were completed, the Mixed Species Army had to restrain as much of the Galaxy Mayfly’s main force as possible.
"Has the survey result of the earth vein nodes come out?" Richard asked Abel.
The earth veins are part of the world’s energy cycle, and technically shouldn’t change easily. Yet, the Galaxy Mayflies possessed a technique to guide or even forcibly alter them, creating larger earth vein nodes artificially.
This technique’s primary use was to provide a favorable environment for the incubation of Galaxy Mayfly seedlings, as they are highly sensitive to energy concentration. The higher the energy concentration in the incubation pool, the stronger the hatched Galaxy Mayflies, and correspondingly, the greater potential they possess.
"A portion has been found."
Abel tapped the crystal ball twice, projecting a map.
"In the direction of the New Northern Battle Zone, there is a large Earth Vein Node. The large Earth Vein Node in the Southern Battle Zone is too deep, and the General Staff suggests abandoning it in favor of attacking the outer medium Earth Vein Nodes instead."
Richard looked at the marked Earth Vein Node on the map, a hint of surprise on his face.
"These bugs really have some tricks, being able to create a large Earth Vein Node. We should have a way to deal with such a node, right? The Wild Beastmen’s Qi Men Array has quite an in-depth study of the Earth Veins."
Abel nodded slightly: "Yes, my lord. Through the Earth Vein Disassociation Array, we can dissociate such artificially created Earth Veins, returning them to their original paths.
Moreover, this disassociation will also affect other Earth Vein Nodes. The larger the dissociated Earth Vein Node, the greater the Earth Vein fluctuations, in turn potentially causing neighboring artificial Earth Vein Nodes to dissociate as well."
"Oh? Chain reaction?" Richard asked in surprise.
"No, no," Abel shook his head slightly, "this process involves dissipation. Even a large Earth Vein Node can only influence artificial nodes in a limited area."
Richard looked thoughtful at the Earth Vein Node. He had to decide whether to launch a direct attack on this Earth Vein Node.
Attacking the node was inevitable, as he needed to draw the Galaxy Mayfly’s troops. But whether to feign or launch a direct attack required deliberation.
If the attack succeeded, the Galaxy Mayfly’s troop production in this world would be significantly impacted.
However, one must not only consider success.
The Galaxy Mayfly has an absolute troop advantage. If they cannot capture it quickly, the attacking army will surely be attacked from both sides, and the mixed brigade may be doomed.
"Too aggressive; better to play defensively."
After much thought, Richard finally abandoned the plan to directly attack the large Earth Vein Node. Although the plan had high returns, the risks were intimidating.
It was best to be cautious at this time.
Richard turned around to Abel and said, "Deploy the Wizard Army, have the Mixed Brigade feign an attack on the node, and have the Wizard Army and Mixed Brigade annihilate the reinforcing enemies."
In his hands, he still had half a million Wizard Army troops. These elite Wizard Armies could be considered the trump card of the Wilderness World, Richard’s lifeline.
But ultimately, armies are meant for the battlefield.
Abel bowed his head and replied, "Yes, my lord."
"Body complete, overall status good, no abnormal conditions."
Listening to the cold mechanical voice next to his ear, Tara slowly opened his eyes. The nutrient solution in the incubation chamber was drained, and the remaining nutrient solution was quickly absorbed by Tara’s skin.
The lid of the incubation chamber opened, and the helmet connected to Tara’s head automatically detached.
Tara rubbed his head, where the Maze Helmet had caused a wound that was slowly healing on his bald head.
After years of war depletion, the old wizards of the Wizard Civilization had become rare. The newly born wizards through the new wizard cultivation system had become the mainstream on the battlefield.
This mainstream also included elite wizards used for attacks.
To compensate for the pure experience gap, wizards used the Soul Maze to create the Maze System. Through the Maze System, a wizard’s consciousness would enter a virtual space with a different time flow than reality.
This space would simulate most conditions of reality, allowing wizards to train various skills in it.
The elite wizards trained in the Maze System have combat power equivalent to the former White Wizard Army of the military department.
Unfortunately, the Soul Maze’s carrying capacity is limited, so this system is only available to elite wizards.
If the entire wizard civilization could use the Maze System, the wizards, even without a counterattack, could at least stabilize the front lines.
Exiting the incubation chamber, Tara exchanged a few greetings with his comrades. In the space where they were located, there were tens of thousands of large and small incubation chambers lined up.
Leaving the incubation chamber square, Tara and his comrades stepped onto the conveyance line. Complex alchemy mechanical arms descended from the ceiling, and the light of runes shining on the somewhat grim mechanical creations gave them a unique beauty.
Like cargo, wizards moved along the conveyance line, gaining one alchemical part after another with each mechanical arm they passed.
When they stepped off the conveyance line, they were outfitted with a full set of alchemy power armor.
The Wizard Civilization does not lack resources. Even the servant armies can be provided with a full set of equipment. As the elite among wizards, all members of these elite Wizard Armies are equipped with alchemy power armor.
This armor can help them withstand energy attacks of up to ten thousand energy levels. With the addition of a shield, it can even temporarily resist attacks up to thirty thousand energy levels.
The power armor is equipped with a Mind Connection System, allowing full mind connection without needing a Soul Wizard. Additionally, the power armor of officers is equipped with a spiritual power amplification system, which makes it easier for officers to unify magic power for the release of Legion Magic.
Furthermore, the alchemy power armor is equipped with multiple element amplification rune arrays, allowing elite wizards to easily achieve a three thousand energy level with their witchcraft. The rune exoskeleton system it carries allows any wizard wearing the armor to possess considerable strength and agility.
Even a One Ring filling wizard can easily defeat a Second Ring elite old wizard without power armor.
Unreservedly, these wizards are arrows.
Any obstacle standing in their way will be instantly penetrated.