Within the Huaitang Clan, if any unexpected incident occurred, the warriors would inevitably respond immediately. Especially on this day when the Star-Eye Clan had come to discuss matters and all the high-ranking members were gathered in the meeting room, the slightest sign of trouble should have brought people rushing to the scene instantly.
Yet, even though quite a few windows and walls over there had been shattered, no one had rushed over.
It wasn't that the Huaitang Clan's warriors hadn't wanted to, but that they couldn't.
From the moment that spear, falling from the sky, had claimed the life of the manor's chief steward, an unknown number of deadly attacks had rained down upon them from above.
There were spears, mechanical axes, energy projectiles, electrified nets... everything imaginable. Every defensive weapon that existed on the city walls had fallen upon their heads.
The chief steward's death had only been the beginning of the attack, not its focus. He wasn't worthy of that. The focus of these attacks raining down from the city walls had been that contingent of forty thousand Huaitang Clan elite, fully equipped and ready to depart, who had been planning to participate in the Planet Hunting Grounds.
How many people were there in all of Dark Strip City? How many people could a single Huaitang Clan have? And what proportion of the clan's population did its warriors constitute?
Thus, these forty thousand people represented almost the entirety of the Huaitang Clan's current strength, apart from a small number of warriors left behind for defense.
They had originally been going to the Planet Hunting Grounds to make a substantial profit.
However, their dream had only just begun when it was engulfed by attacks coming from every direction.
They couldn't understand how the defensive weapons on the city wall had turned against them. Also, because the cosmic races were currently experiencing no internal conflicts, peace had prevailed for a long time. Many cities didn't even have walls anymore. Even when they did, like Dark Strip City, they were mostly remnants of the city's founding, used only for sightseeing or as high vantage points to meet certain city needs, such as broadcasting light screens or setting up transfer points for virtual battlefields.
Even if there were defensive weapons on them, they had long fallen into disrepair and were unusable. How had they acquired such powerful firepower?
What they didn't know was the extent of the preparations the Star-Eye Clan had made for this day.
Ever since Ye Zhongming and the Star-Eye Clan's high-ranking members had decided to act and annihilate the Huaitang Clan, the entire race had been operating at full capacity.
First came mobilization.
This was the easiest part. The Star-Eye Clan and the Huaitang Clan were already mortal enemies. Coupled with the other side's underhanded tactics during the Brave Trial, the moment the Star-Eye people heard they were going to fight an annihilation war against the Huaitang Clan, their fighting spirit was instantly ignited.
They had been suppressed for too long, bullied for too long. Now, the progress of their entire race was tangible every single day. They saw it with their own eyes, their excitement suppressed deep within their hearts.
They needed a way to see just how much progress they had made recently!
Undoubtedly, striking against the Huaitang Clan was an excellent opportunity for a test.
The courage and determination possessed by the people and warriors of a small race constantly on the brink of annihilation were often things that those born into comfort and ease could hardly aspire to.
Second came the plan.
Although the Huaitang Clan had suffered consecutive setbacks in the grain transport incident and the Brave Trial, with four to five thousand warriors killed, they were ultimately still a middle-ranking race. Their overall strength and foundation were considerably higher than the Star-Eye Clan's.
Take, for instance, the number of warriors. The Star-Eye Clan had a little over twenty thousand at full strength. However, the Huaitang Clan had nearly 60,000 warriors. Even accounting for their losses, they still had over fifty thousand, far exceeding the Star-Eye Clan.
Given this disparity in strength, the plan's importance became evident.
In this regard, Ye Zhongming naturally didn't need to worry. Although the Star-Eye Clan was a small race, they had once been glorious and had been involved in various types of conflicts over the years. Their military planning department was very mature and efficient. After thoroughly understanding all the assistance the clan and Ye Zhongming could provide, a battle plan was quickly drawn up.
This plan involved elements that the Star-Eye Clan either lacked or couldn't acquire. Ye Zhongming, through his relationship with the Su Clan, managed to obtain them as well. Naturally, some of it was also thanks to the intelligence network of the Library Palace.
With everything prepared, the final step was to execute the operation.
According to the plan, the Star-Eye Clan utilized their contingent of up to a thousand city guard members to secretly install various long-range weapons, obtained from the clan and Ye Zhongming, on the section of the city wall near the Huaitang Clan.
These weapons, originating from various races, were designed to target parasites or the cosmic races themselves. Their power was naturally formidable. During the preparation phase, they were installed one by one, and their aim was even calibrated.
Furthermore, although the Huaitang Clan's perceptive abilities were indeed very strong, strong enough to detect the Star-Eye Clan easily, they weren't invincible. In the battle plan, the core part was a decapitation strike against the Huaitang Clan's core leadership. However, achieving this without a surprise attack was very difficult, something even the two Star-Eye Clan leaders couldn't accomplish despite their significant progress.
Then, a staff officer had a wild idea: if only they could get some Illusionary Scent. It was a colorless and odorless liquid that could greatly conceal body shape, scent, and aura—practically the perfect companion for assassins. However, this substance was produced in very small quantities and was exorbitantly priced. To obtain it, both money and connections were indispensable.
Not to mention the Star-Eye Clan; even a large clan wouldn't find it so easy to acquire.
When Ye Zhongming learned of this, he hadn't held out much hope initially, but he notified the Library Palace's intelligence network anyway. Unexpectedly, five days later, a bottle of Illusionary Scent appeared in his hands, enough for twenty people to use once.
This provided the prerequisite and guarantee for implementing the decapitation plan.
In addition, there was the role of the remaining members of the city guard.
They were not only responsible for controlling the Huaitang Clan's first two blocks but also for secretly transporting the rest of the Star-Eye Clan's warriors to the Huaitang Clan's core block.
For this, the Star-Eye Clan employed a method combining formations and obfuscation.
The obfuscation method wasn't hard to understand. With the support of the city guard members, the Star-Eye Clan's troop transport went almost completely unnoticed. They blended in with the troop transport vehicles of various races, moving back and forth through Dark Strip City for a while, then disappeared from sight. When they reappeared, they were already inside the Huaitang Clan's first two blocks.
Previously, to raise funds for the other Eight Heads, the Huaitang Clan had sold off quite a few properties in the first two blocks. Some of these had, through various transfers, ended up in the hands of the Star-Eye Clan.
The locations of these properties were highly strategic, as they served as nodes for establishing a formation.
The renovation of the Star-Eye Clan's underground fortress complex wasn't complete yet, so that formation master was naturally still there. How could Ye Zhongming let such a valuable resource go to waste? By casually offering some Purple Luo Zinc, he got this formation master from the Su Clan to agree to set up a formation for the Star-Eye Clan.
When an expert takes action, the results are naturally extraordinary.
Why had the two Star-Eye Clan leaders been waiting for time to pass earlier? They had been waiting for the final completion of the formation!
Because no matter how much Huaitang Clan property the Star-Eye Clan had bought, the quantity was ultimately limited. To design a formation that could temporarily block communication with the outside, many locations needed to be set up. Some nodes were even right in the middle of main roads. Trying to set them up in advance would definitely have been discovered.
So, from the moment the two Star-Eye Clan leaders had entered the Huaitang Clan's central manor with their people, the final stage of the formation's setup had already begun. Naturally, the Star-Eye Clan's attack had also started from that moment.
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