Chapter 2801: Chapter 2801
Whenever Ye Liuyun subjugated surrendered enemy troops, he would have them collectively sign soul contracts pledging allegiance to the entire army, rather than just to Broken Horn. This was to prevent the forces from immediately falling under enemy control should Broken Horn be recaptured by the alien race.
The same principle applied to the alien elites—they swore loyalty to their respective units. Yet whether it was the elite squads or the massive alien armies, the ultimate supreme commander remained Ye Liuyun.
With the growing number of alien forces under his control, Ye Liuyun implemented additional safeguards. After every battle, no matter how tedious, he would have his clones transport them into his spatial realm to verify whether any of their souls had slipped beyond his dominion. If the aliens could be absorbed into the space, it confirmed their souls were still under his command.
As for the rank-and-file soldiers, regardless of their numbers, he always had his clones personally oversee the signing of their loyalty contracts.
Meanwhile, Yu Xiaofeng and the other commanders were strategizing how to assault the alien strongholds. Eventually, Yuan Hao proposed a plan: using Spirit Cat battleships to launch a swift, devastating raid on an alien planet, deploying elite martial cultivators to demolish their altars before immediately retreating via the same vessels.
They conducted tests and found that nearby alien forces truly couldn’t mobilize reinforcements or intercept them in time.
Ye Liuyun observed the effectiveness of this tactic and concluded that with precise targeting, it could indeed succeed.
From then on, they refined this strategy while sweeping through alien-occupied planets. Before long, they had cleared most of the surrounding territories, leaving only a small star system untouched.
Through careful observation, Ye Liuyun suspected that Fuyang had laid a trap there. Despite their relentless purging of neighboring planets, the aliens in this system showed no signs of vigilance—clearly a deliberate ruse.
Thus, he saved this system for last, intending to test their new tactics here.
This time, he personally led Broken Horn, Dragon Fang, Yu Xiaofeng, and other commanders in a direct assault on the alien core planet. Meanwhile, he dispatched forces to simultaneously strike the remaining planets, aiming to obliterate the entire star system in one fell swoop.
Once preparations were complete, they released their Spirit Cat battleships from a distance. At Ye Liuyun’s command, all vessels accelerated simultaneously, warping through space to appear before their target planets.
The moment they disembarked, the group unleashed their assault on the alien-held worlds. One powerhouse was tasked with shattering a planet in a single strike, another with harvesting its primordial energy, while the rest monitored the situation and struck opportunistically.
The operation proceeded with astonishing smoothness. In an instant, the combined might of the group reduced every planet in the system to ruins—leaving not a single alien altar standing.
"Kill!"
At Ye Liuyun’s command, the elite warriors around him immediately charged forward, cutting down the remaining alien stragglers.
Ye Liuyun, his doppelgänger, and Lei Ming all scanned their surroundings warily, searching for any hidden ambushes. Suddenly, Ye Liuyun spotted the distinct form of the Fire Lizard—exactly as Longya had described. Without hesitation, he motioned for Longya to confirm.
"That’s definitely the Fire Lizard!" Longya confirmed instantly.
As it turned out, the Fire Lizard hadn’t been hiding on the core planet but had instead lurked among the surrounding celestial bodies. Now that all the altars had been destroyed, their ambush plan had failed completely.
Panicked, the Fire Lizard immediately reported to Fuyang, seeking instructions. Fuyang ordered it to flee the star system while the perimeter was still lightly guarded. So instead of heading toward the core planet, the Fire Lizard blended in with the fleeing alien forces, attempting to escape unnoticed.
At the periphery, only a few elite warriors were bombarding the planets, with no large-scale blockade in place to intercept fleeing enemies. Under normal circumstances, the Fire Lizard would have had a clear path to freedom.
But fate had other plans—Ye Liuyun’s golden eyes locked onto it instantly.
Without hesitation, Ye Liuyun gave chase, freezing time with his temporal power before branding the Fire Lizard with a slave seal. A quick soul search revealed an astonishing secret: hidden within the Fire Lizard’s spatial realm were Fuyang’s elite army of 100,000 soldiers.
Thrilled by this unexpected windfall, Ye Liuyun swiftly stashed the Fire Lizard into his own spatial world, guarding his newfound treasure from potential thieves.
Then, boarding the Lynx Battleship, he raced to the outer edges of the star system to hastily organize an interception force. The Fire Lizard’s escape had exposed a flaw in their strategy—they had focused too narrowly on key planets while neglecting the bigger picture. But it wasn’t too late to adjust. With the Lynx Battleship’s support, hunting down and driving off the scattered remnants proved manageable.
Without the Fire Lizard’s 100,000-strong army and with the altars unable to summon reinforcements, the remaining alien defenders stood no chance against Ye Liuyun’s forces. Soon, countless enemies were either captured or slain.
The core planet’s alien garrison was the first to fall, followed swiftly by the others, each surrendering one after another.
After the battle, the troops marveled at their success—the Lynx Battleship’s surprise attack had been devastatingly effective, catching the enemy completely off guard. Yet some still questioned: where had the aliens’ supposed ambush been hiding all along?
"Ha! I’ve got even better news to share! The enemy’s ambush force is right here in my hands!"
Ye Liuyun declared triumphantly as he released the fire lizard from his grasp.
"Is that... the fire lizard carrying their elite troops?" The moment the group laid eyes on the creature, they recognized it instantly.
"Exactly! A hundred thousand enemy soldiers, all at the fifth or sixth level of Dominance..." Ye Liuyun pointed at the spatial world within the fire lizard, grinning from ear to ear.
The crowd erupted in cheers, astonished by the sheer scale of their victory.
"With all their altars destroyed, the enemy’s top fighters couldn’t teleport in. Fuyang decided to abandon this place and let the fire lizard slip away in the chaos. That gave me the perfect chance to capture it—and now we’ve gained a hundred thousand enemy troops for free!" Ye Liuyun explained.
Yu Xiaofeng, however, remained level-headed and cautioned the group, "That means Fuyang is now aware of our Spirit Cat ambush tactic. Even if we use it again in the future, we’ll need to be extra careful."
"True! Every gain comes with a loss. From now on, the Spirit Cat tactic might only work for small-scale surprise attacks," Ye Liuyun agreed, reminding everyone to use the strategy sparingly.
Next, the group gathered around to watch as Ye Liuyun subdued the enemy army.
First, he had the strongest enemy warriors form multiple tight circles around him, sealing off any possible escape. Then, the fire lizard released the army’s commanders one by one. Ye Liuyun branded each with a slave mark before moving on to the soldiers, subduing them in small groups.
Though the process was slow, it was foolproof. Any resistance was swiftly crushed by the surrounding elite warriors. And once the commanders were under control, the soldiers fell in line much more easily.
In the end, the hundred-thousand-strong army was entrusted to Broken Horn to lead.
