Chapter 2798: Chapter 2798
Ye Liuyun had just arrived at the devastated alien star system when he encountered a patrol squad of extraterrestrial beings.
"Perfect for some target practice!" Without a second thought, Ye Liuyun decided to engage, judging the patrol to be of low combat strength. He immediately led Zhuque, Leiming, Liang Xue, and the others into battle, swiftly annihilating the entire squad.
However, from that moment onward, Ye Liuyun and his team found themselves facing multiple patrol squads every single day.
After more than ten consecutive days of using these alien patrols as training fodder, Ye Liuyun suddenly sensed something amiss. Logically, after discovering their patrols being wiped out, the aliens should have dispatched stronger forces. Yet, they kept sending opponents of similar strength—clearly baiting Ye Liuyun’s team into a trap.
Realizing this, Ye Liuyun halted their advance and carefully surveyed their surroundings. The starscape around them was now teeming with alien patrols of varying strengths. The nearest squads matched their own level, while those positioned far to either flank were significantly more powerful. Worse still, these stronger units were quietly gathering behind them.
"It *is* a trap!"
Glancing ahead at the alien star system looming in the distance, Ye Liuyun pieced together the enemy’s scheme. The aliens had been sending out patrols not just to lure them into complacency but also to condition them into overlooking the more formidable forces slipping past. Meanwhile, high-level alien warriors were stealthily maneuvering from both flanks, encircling Ye Liuyun’s team from behind. Once they launched an assault on the star system ahead, these hidden forces would strike from both sides, sealing their doom.
Assessing the numbers, Ye Liuyun noted that a considerable force of elite aliens had already gathered at their rear—led by a ninth-level Dominator-class warrior.
"Let the Vanguard Squad handle the warm-up. Send the Demon Vine as well. As for that ninth-level Dominator... leave it to Broken Horn and his team."
Fortunately, the three ninth-level Dominator-class aliens Ye Liuyun had recently trained had broken through their limits and were now battle-ready. Without hesitation, he had his doppelganger don the Cloak of Invisibility and discreetly transport them into position.
But the moment they engaged, Ye Liuyun sensed something was wrong. Each of the alien warriors had summoned additional powerful reinforcements from their spatial realms. Fortunately, the Blade Corps outnumbered them, preventing an outright defeat. Yet, prolonged combat would inevitably inflict heavy casualties on his forces.
It was clear the aliens had meticulously prepared this ambush.
Ye Liuyun had initially intended to charge through the trap and press forward, but now he halted abruptly. Without hesitation, he summoned the Spirit Cat Battleship to provide cover for the Blade Corps while donning his Cloak of Invisibility to join the fray.
Thankfully, his doppelgänger was already in action—shrouded in stealth, it darted across the battlefield, firing lethal beams of white light that felled numerous alien overlords at the eighth level of dominance, significantly easing the pressure on the Blade Corps.
Ye Liuyun then unleashed the alien warriors he had previously subdued from his spatial realm, sending them crashing into the enemy’s defensive lines. Seizing the moment, he wielded his temporal power to launch soul assaults, branding the aliens with slave seals.
This time, instead of recalling them immediately, he commanded the enslaved warriors to turn on their own kind, sowing chaos within the enemy ranks as they tore into one another.
The alien strike force had only one warrior at the ninth level of dominance leading them. Once Ye Liuyun’s Broken Horn and the Three-Eyed Alien joined forces to eliminate it, the enemy lost their last elite combatant capable of standing against them.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun’s eight ninth-level overlords went all out, slaughtering the remaining foes. He himself dashed into the thick of battle, leveraging time manipulation and soul power to capture high-ranking aliens.
The Blade Corps held their formation steadfastly, repelling the enemy’s assaults with minimal losses. The Demon Vine gorged itself on alien flesh while firing deadly white beams, and the Demon-Suppressing Stele, unleashed by Ye Liuyun, crushed and devoured the enemy’s strongest warriors.
Reinforcement patrols from the alien forces were kept at bay by the Spirit Cat Battleship, preventing them from entering the battlefield. The main alien army stationed deeper in the star system had no time to mobilize in support.
The moment the battle ended, Ye Liuyun swiftly withdrew with his forces. Through the captured alien commanders, he had learned the enemy had amassed a massive force here—this skirmish had only involved a fraction of their strength.
His instincts had saved them. Had they advanced further, they would have faced an ever-tightening noose of alien pursuers. While they might have eventually broken free, the Blade Corps would have been decimated.
Worse still, the alien legions from the neighboring star system—numbering fifteen million, triple their own forces—stood ready to intercept them.
This star system had never housed such a concentration of alien troops before. Their heavy deployment was solely in anticipation of Ye Liuyun’s arrival.
What truly sent chills down Ye Liuyun’s spine was the realization that these alien forces had merely been mobilized from nearby star systems. The enemy’s main stronghold hadn’t even dispatched elite warriors or large reinforcements.
"The sheer numbers of these creatures are terrifying," Ye Liuyun muttered under his breath. "Just the local forces alone can summon such a massive army."
It dawned on him that reaching the heart of the alien stronghold would be no easy feat. Without delay, he led his troops in retreat, regrouping with commanders like Yu Xiaofeng to strategize.
"We can’t afford large-scale battles anymore—we’ll only bleed ourselves dry," Yu Xiaofeng proposed. "If they set traps for us, we can turn the tables. Lure them out, then ambush them with a sudden surge of our own alien captives to wipe them out."
"We should also capture more of them," Qin Peng added. "Doesn’t matter their rank—use their own kind against them. That way, we preserve our own soldiers."
Ye Liuyun nodded in agreement. Though their forces were still substantial, endless attrition wasn’t sustainable. If they exhausted their troops before even reaching the enemy’s core, they’d be powerless in the final confrontation.
This time, Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger had managed to capture over two hundred elite alien warriors, offsetting some of their own losses.
Miraculously, the Vanguard Battalion had suffered minimal casualties, shielded by the Demon-Sealing Stele, the Demon Vine, and the Spirit Cat warships.
Ye Liuyun allocated all the alien corpses scavenged from the battlefield to the Demon Vine, prioritizing its growth. Strengthening his own assets—the vine and the stele—seemed far more reliable than relying on captive aliens.
Though the enemy’s trap had ultimately failed, costing them dearly, it had also revealed the true extent of Ye Liuyun’s forces. Now, the aliens were scrambling to summon even more warriors and armies, pouring reinforcements into the region.
Worse still, Ye Liuyun had missed the chance to destroy their altars this time. With no way to track how many reinforcements were incoming, his only option was to gather intelligence slowly—one captured alien at a time.
