Chapter 148-3: Reshaping Order, Taunt Tactics (3) |
Emperor’s Mound Mountain Range, Abyss of Heaven Territory Node.
On the platform atop the Evil Eye Tower, the Earthmind Evil Spirit was linked with the Evil Eye, controlling the Black Tide to fight the player race.
Recently, the frequency of appearances by the player race in the Emperor’s Mound Mountain Range had dropped sharply.
In the eyes of the Earthmind Evil Spirit, this was undoubtedly a good thing.
Clashes with the player race always made him feel strapped, and resources could not be properly consumed for the growth of the Black Tide.
His hunger for resources had also grown ever more severe in the course of his clashes with the player race.
Just then, the Evil Eye floating behind him suddenly opened its eyes.
“Earthmind, a request has come from another node. A Black Tide node has lost its commander and is being invaded by the player race. They are asking whether we can provide remote command assistance.”
Hearing this, the Earthmind Evil Spirit was stunned at first, then decisively asked.
“The other party has lost command, but still has absolute control over the Black Tide, unless I can replace them.”
“I have a way for that. Agree first.” the Earthmind Evil Spirit said at once.
“Alright, I will reply to them now. Prepare for consciousness projection.”
Before long, the node connection was completed.
The consciousness of the Earthmind Evil Spirit descended by way of projection into the depths of the dense forest at the Colorful Mist Coast, onto the platform of the Evil Eye Tower in the Evil Moon domain scene.
At this moment the blue-skinned Evil Eye linked its consciousness to that of the Earthmind Evil Spirit via telepathic transmission.
“Hello, Earthmind. Thank you for your support. I will assist you in fighting the player race next.”
The Earthmind Evil Spirit nodded.
“Evil Eye, interface with me. I need to observe the battle situation in the scene, and provide me with resource data and battlefield environment analysis data.”
“Understood.” The blue-skinned Evil Eye extended multiple tendrils and connected them to the back of the Earthmind Evil Spirit’s projection.
At once, the perception view expanded outward rapidly with the tower as the center. Black Tide nodes continuously linked consciousness, and the entire Black Tide came under control.
At this time the Earthmind Evil Spirit asked.
“Evil Eye, explain the specific situation. Where did the Evil Spirit warrior you follow go?”
Faced with the question, the blue-skinned Evil Eye did not answer, but transmitted a piece of information into the Earthmind Evil Spirit’s mind.
In the image, a figure wreathed in blazing vitality flames flew straight in from outside the Evil Moon domain.
Sensing an enemy attack, the Evil Spirit warrior atop the Evil Eye Tower decisively linked to the blue-skinned Evil Eye and controlled endless Evil Entities to surge toward the incoming figure.
Faced with the tide-like rush of Evil Entities, the intruding figure did not retreat in the slightest. Their form turned into blood-colored lightning, shuttling through the tide of Evil Entities. With hands waving, blood-red threads shot from their fingertips, turning into strands of blood. Wherever the blood threads passed, the Black Tide’s Evil Entities trembled violently and then suddenly perished, turning into wisps of black smoke and dispersing in the air, suffering backlash from the Black Tide.
But the vast tide of Evil Entities was not something this figure could contend with.
Just as the Evil Spirit warrior in the image thought the battle was about to end, an accident occurred.
Countless red tendrils rose from the intruder’s back, sweeping up a great number of nearby Evil Entities.
Accompanied by a hearty, unrestrained laugh, boundless amounts of pain used the Evil Entities as a medium to swiftly transmit to the Evil Spirit warrior atop the tower.
At that moment the intruder’s body exploded, turning into a red sun.
The burst of mental shock in that instant left the Evil Spirit warrior stupefied. Even through the recording, the Earthmind Evil Spirit could not help but grimace.
He could imagine the power of that strike.
The opponent actually used the connection between the Evil Entities and the Evil Spirit warrior to employ an unknown energy and complete a decapitation strike in an instant.
This scene chilled his heart.
If the one who encountered the mysterious intruder had been himself, the outcome would obviously not have changed. He too would have had his consciousness erased in an instant by that strike.
In the final frame, the Evil Spirit had its consciousness erased and died, leaving only a body. The conclusion was obvious.
Although the blue-skinned Evil Eye linked to it withstood the impact, it was also gravely wounded and fell into a coma.
After watching the footage, the Earthmind Evil Spirit could not help but ask.
“Evil Eye, had this intruder ever fought with you before?”
“There has never been any contact.”
“Are there any other lifeforms with similar abilities nearby?”
“No.”
Having clarified the situation, the Earthmind Evil Spirit immediately let out a sigh of relief.
Although he had descended by way of projection, his consciousness was already linked to the Black Tide here.
If this happened again, he would die as well.
He had better not try to take advantage only to pay with his life here.
However, he was already mentally prepared. If he discovered anything wrong, he could decisively cancel the projection and withdraw.
By now the interfacing was complete, and the perception view touched every scene within the Evil Moon domain.
He tried driving the Black Tide. After confirming there was no problem, the Earthmind Evil Spirit cast his gaze toward the player race members within the scene.
Unlike the legion-style mode he had imagined, the players within the Evil Moon domain adopted a free nibbling tactic similar to the Azure Star Sea Region node, and they had not launched any rallying charges. Combat was all carried out in the form of small-scale team fights.
Just then, the blue-skinned Evil Eye provided him with Black Tide resource data, Black Tide unit construction, recent battle losses, and a series of other information.
Upon seeing the energy intensity values of the Black Tide, the Earthmind Evil Spirit felt envious.
This Black Tide was far stronger than the one he had cultivated, and it also had much more reserve energy within it.
It was fully capable of generating powerful unit types of the fourth tier of the Temples of Destruction, whereas he was still at the third tier.
Although sufficient energy alone could generate higher-tier units, if the Black Tide’s overall strength could not keep up, it would not be able to provide sustained endurance support for powerful units.
The development weighting of the Black Tide must always take ‘endless’ as the core. Only in this way can it devour everything by virtue of scale, with the strength of individual unit types being secondary.
After understanding the details, the Earthmind Evil Spirit already had a clear plan in mind.
He was set on taking this Black Tide domain.
But before that, he needed to lay the groundwork for the next actions.
The situation at this Evil Moon domain node was different from the Azure Star Sea Region node.
The tower at the Azure Star Sea Region had not yet been fully constructed, and there was an issue of resources not being consumed in time. That gave him an opening to continually funnel resources to nodes under his own control under the pretext of helping with digestion.
But the Evil Eye Tower established at the Evil Moon domain node beneath his feet was a higher level than the one he controlled and simply did not have issues with conversion.
Proposing resource transfers would only arouse the blue-skinned Evil Eye’s suspicion.
With that in mind, the Evil Eye began controlling the Black Tide to generate natural-catastrophe series units.
This was the unit system within the Black Tide he was best at using. Its advantages were thick hide and tough flesh, powerful self-healing capability, and devouring recovery capability.
It was one of the strongest tank-type unit categories within the Black Tide system.
In a war of attrition against the player race, the natural-catastrophe series would help him minimize losses.
This was experience he had gained from countless clashes with the player race.
Before this he had also tried various brute-force schools of thought, such as area spell bombardment from the death-catastrophe series, or assassination sweeps from the frenzy tide series… but while those tactics were efficient at killing, the loss rate was extremely high.
Players could nullify and decompose slain Black Tide Evil Entities, preventing the Black Tide from carrying out backlash.
Damage output system unit types that performed brilliantly when clashing with other forces performed very poorly before players.
The Black Tide legion he constructed now used the natural-catastrophe series as the core combat power, focusing on half-loss feedback.
This time facing the player race, the Evil Eye had a different idea.
He planned to make contact first, then try combining other system unit types, feel things out, and see whether he could construct a unit-system combination more effective at countering players.
After all, it was someone else’s resources. He did not need to feel distressed, just treat it as training.
Under the control of the Earthmind Evil Spirit, the combat intensity of the Black Tide Evil Entities spiked in an instant, which made the players in the fight curse out uncontrollably.
The only consolation for the players was that the last-hit denial tactic developed by the Earthmind Evil Spirit did not make an appearance.