Chapter 445: Chapter 264: Polluted Soldiers (3)
In this situation, even Curse Sealers would find these opponents a headache. A single polluted soldier might not be strong, but once they formed an army, they became an overwhelming force that could invisibly crush any normal human on the battlefield.
Fang Zhen glanced at the state of the battlefield, preparing to charge in once more.
Just then, however, his line of sight happened to be aimed toward the sea vessels. He saw some black dots appear high above the ships on the distant water.
Fang Zhen squinted but couldn’t make them out clearly. He immediately retrieved a spyglass from his King’s Belt and raised it to his eye.
What he saw made him frown.
At some point, hundreds, if not thousands, of monsters had taken to the sky.
These creatures looked very much like Abnormal Ghosts, as if cast from the same mold.
The difference, however, was a pair of fleshy wings sprouting from their backs. The wings were somewhat bat-like and looked quite revolting.
They were also covered in all sorts of strange tubes, through which a green pus-like fluid flowed.
Fang Zhen’s brow furrowed. Alexander was right beside him.
Seeing Fang Zhen produce such a strange object, Alexander gave him a curious glance.
Fang Zhen lowered the spyglass and handed it to Alexander.
"There’s something in the sky," Fang Zhen said.
Alexander took the spyglass and, mimicking Fang Zhen, raised it to his eye to carefully observe the sky.
"They’re Poisonous Soaring Ghosts." Alexander’s expression turned grave after he took a look.
He explained, "These monsters have poison sacs. Not only can they fly, but they can also spray venom. At that altitude, it will be difficult for us to attack them. And with such a dense swarm, it would be disastrous for us if they started spraying venom in unison from the air."
Fang Zhen nodded. He took the spyglass back from Alexander, widened his field of view, and peered out at the distant sea again.
What he saw made his brow tighten once more.
"Another fleet of ships is on its way. It looks to be at least as large as the one that’s already here," Fang Zhen said.
Alexander’s expression grew even more solemn upon hearing this.
The previous slaughter of the monsters had been exhilarating and thorough, but now they seemed endless. They had just killed over a thousand, and now another fleet of ships had arrived.
All told, the number of monsters and Eternal Night Council soldiers besieging them would be over twenty thousand. The Eternal Night Council had truly spared no expense.
Twenty thousand soldiers and monsters, all of them modified... who knew how many resources had been consumed to mount such a massive offensive!
They were clearly determined to annihilate the Whig Society on this island.
Fang Zhen also found the situation a bit strange.
He had this nagging feeling that Alexander was refusing to leave Lanxi City for a specific reason. The Eternal Night Council seemed to know this, too, which was why they were trying to take the city at any cost.
It was as if neither side cared about the cost in manpower or resources; one was hell-bent on defending to the death, the other on attacking to the death.
It seemed irrational—not the kind of strategic choice one would expect on a battlefield.
’Could there be some unknown reason, something I don’t know, that’s driving both Alexander and the Eternal Night Council to this desperate defense and offense?’ Fang Zhen wondered.
’So is that the real reason Alexander is determined to hold the city and the Eternal Night Council is determined to take it?’
Fang Zhen didn’t ask.
"Let’s return to the city," Fang Zhen said. "We won’t gain anything by continuing to fight like this. We can’t hit those Poisonous Soaring Ghosts in the air."
Alexander nodded. The two of them spurred their horses, leading the contingent of Curse Sealers back the way they came.
Fang Zhen and Alexander led the Curse Sealer forces back to Lanxi City.
The mood of the Curse Sealer contingent on their return was completely different from when they had set out.
When they left, they were facing an unknown enemy of overwhelming numbers. The disparity in forces had left the Curse Sealers feeling uneasy, with a sense of a perilous and uncertain future.
But after the raid led by Fang Zhen and Alexander, they had killed over a thousand monsters on the battlefield in less than twenty minutes.
This result made the Curse Sealers realize that perhaps the monsters weren’t so formidable after all.
With the help of the Blood Burst Secret Medicine, it had only taken a little over ten minutes to kill more than a thousand monsters. By a simple linear calculation, it seemed that even more monsters wouldn’t take much more time or effort.
This line of thinking brought the Curse Sealers a great surge of confidence, making them believe that they could defend Lanxi City.
If their hearts had been filled with unease and doubt when they left, they now returned with pride and confidence.
After returning to the city with their troops, Fang Zhen and Alexander immediately began preparing defensive fortifications.
From what they knew, the Eternal Night Council’s attacking force included not only the monsters, but also several thousand pain-immune polluted soldiers.
With them in the mix, the city’s defenses would have to be completely re-evaluated and recalculated.
「Nightfall.」
Lanxi City was ablaze with light against the darkness. The city was filled with small three- to five-story buildings, more than half of which were currently illuminated as people rushed to produce military supplies.
The prevalence of this architectural style in Lanxi City was due to the many skilled craftsmen within the Whig Society. They had somehow developed a substance similar to cement.
Using this material as a filler made the buildings incredibly strong, like true fortresses.
Although they didn’t contain steel rebar, they were reinforced with specially treated, resilient plants, allowing every building in Lanxi City to withstand powerful attacks.
Tonight, the city’s interior was lit by a sky-high glow, and the walls were manned by stationed soldiers.
Outside the walls, the monsters were already visible. At least ten thousand of them had Lanxi City completely surrounded on three sides.
And behind them stood a silent army.
These human troops were the ghost-faced polluted soldiers.
Yet even under this immense pressure, Lanxi City remained orderly, its war preparations proceeding in a methodical manner.
Moreover, everyone inside the city—be they soldiers, Curse Sealers, or common citizens—was busy but not flustered. They calmly and systematically went about their tasks, as if the people here possessed a unique, tranquil composure.
It was a transcendent state, one that came from a calm acceptance of life and death.
Fang Zhen witnessed all of this firsthand and felt a sense of admiration.
