The soldiers inside the dark palace had all but fallen asleep after a brief celebration. They had completed their final mission, and they could now finally rest. Then and only then had they realized the bad shape they were in; some of them had carried wounds and injuries that they had sustained ever since the first day they entered the Zerg territory.

w.a.n.g Tong didn"t rest until he had seen to it that all the injured soldiers were attended to. All the while, Lie Jian stood beside him but didn"t say anything to express his grat.i.tude. Lie Jian was not the type who would express his feelings easily. However, it was not difficult to catch the approval in his eyes.

Lie Jian would neither be in thrall nor afraid of anyone. However, he was deeply impressed by w.a.n.g Tong and felt beholden to him for giving him an opportunity to prove himself and redeem his family"s dignity.

Lie Jian was badly injured during the fight with Moye, so he went to bed as soon as the battle was over. However, w.a.n.g Tong had found it hard to fall asleep as he was engrossed in reflections. He walked to the guard tower of the dark castle and looked down at the sprawling structure underneath him, wondering what the dark lord would be thinking every time he stood here and looked to the same vista.

Someone walked toward w.a.n.g Tong and sat down right beside him without making any noise.

"It"s like a dream," Heidi spoke in a dreamy voice. She had taken off her military uniform and changed into a flowy dress.

Over the days, Heidi had seen w.a.n.g Tong"s strength and resolution. She reckoned that he was the only person who could measure up to Patroclus" standards.

Five years ago the two had fought for the first time, but unlike their predecessors who ended up as comrades, w.a.n.g Tong and Patroclus went on their own ways and became rivals.

However, Heidi had sensed that both of them rather enjoyed their rivalry. She wagered that w.a.n.g Tong was thinking about Patroclus while he starred in the direction of earth.

"At least it"s not a nightmare."

"Who are you thinking about?" Heidi asked abruptly.

"Who? How do you know it"s not "what"?" w.a.n.g Tong asked.

"Because your eyes had betrayed your thoughts."

"I am thinking about someone, indeed." w.a.n.g Tong cracked a smile.

"Patroclus?"

"Why would I think about him? He is not my wife." w.a.n.g Tong laughed wryly.

"Ma Xiaoru." Heidi murmured. "Is she really that nice?" She asked.

w.a.n.g Tong smiled knowingly and answered, "She is, and she completes me. No matter how far away I am from her, the thought of her always brings me warmth. Hehe…Am I too dramatic?"

The answer caught Heidi by surprise. She couldn"t make the connection between the deadly warrior who had killed the dark lord with the romantic and committed husband. Suddenly, she was seized by a fit of jealousy.

"Will you marry me?" Heidi heard herself blurt out very quietly.

w.a.n.g Tong thought he had heard a question, so he sat up and asked, "Pardon me?"

Heidi blushed and replied, "Nothing." Then, she skittered away sheepishly.

w.a.n.g Tong looked at the starlit sky and lamented how difficult it was to be so popular.

After the dark lord was killed by the humans, the Zergs on Mars had fallen into chaos. The power vacuum left by the dark lord created numerous factions, giving the humans the opportunities to strike one faction at a time.

The Kaedeian force was the first to respond to the Zergs" weakened state. They dove right into the heartland of the Zerg territory to protect w.a.n.g Tong.

After the Kaedeian main army joined forces with w.a.n.g Tong, he had finally solidified his foothold at the dark castle. With the help of the Kaedeians, w.a.n.g Tong had made the castle an impenetrable fortress. Little did he know that he had overestimated the Zergs" unity; as the Zergs fragmented into smaller and smaller factions, they were too busy squabbling with each other to wage a counterattack.

That being said, the large number of dark ones on Mars still posed a threat to the humans. It would take all the human forces years to get rid of them completely.

Nonetheless, the final liberation of the human race seemed to be only a matter of time. After the Kaedeians had taken over the castle, w.a.n.g Tong returned to humans" command center; he was told that a friend was waiting for him there.

Knowing that w.a.n.g Tong was going to return to the human world, Zambrotta had planned an extravagant welcoming ceremony for the savior of Mars. However, the former had politely refused the proposal. He never liked to be at the center of attention; plus, it was time to plan their next move.

Zambrotta adjusted his plan so that w.a.n.g Tong would not meet with the media directly. Everyone on Mars knew that the Zergs" fate was sealed. More and more Zergs were being eliminated by the day. Meanwhile, w.a.n.g Tung and his research team had also made significant progress in their research. Soon, the GN crystal gun would become mainstream, and the Zergs would not stand a chance against the fully equipped human force.

The visitors from the Confederation"s last armada had landed on Mars. Zambrotta had sent in his representatives to discuss plans of recapturing Mars" outer s.p.a.ce with the visitors.

Before that, the dark ones" fleet and the human fleet had fought a few skirmishes in the s.p.a.ce with no clear winner. However, the dark lord"s sudden demise had rendered the Zergs lost all of a sudden.

It wasn"t long before the dark ones received the Divine Lord"s instruction to retreat to the Moon. Most dark ones were hesitant to follow Patroclus" orders, and confusion and chaos soon followed suit.

The Zergs" strength had always been their effective chain of command. The current state of disarray among the Zergs had significantly hampered their ability to fight despite their decisive advantage in numbers: the Zerg armada boasted five individual fleets while the humans had only one.

The Martians had guessed the purpose of the earthling officer"s visit: they were going to plead for w.a.n.g Tong"s help. w.a.n.g Tong would not hesitate even a second to offer his help, and everyone already knew that. But, the thought of w.a.n.g Tong leaving Mars made them feel gloomy.

The liberation of Mars was set in stone; everyone knew that w.a.n.g Tong was more needed on Earth than here. He would have to do what he had to do.

"Boss, wherever you go, I go. Don"t leave me here!" Tan Bu said with a big frown and a worried look.

"Same here! I will follow you anywhere." Duo Lun put in as well.

"w.a.n.g Tong, don"t forget that without me, your mastery is useless! So, take me with you too!" Guan Dongyang remarked.

"I can speak for the field medics, and we will go with you as well." Xiao Yuyu said firmly.

"Same here! My METAL warriors will join you." Bu Zhihuo announced.

w.a.n.g Tong cracked a smile. "Thank you for your offer, and I really appreciated it. Let me talk to the officers first, and then we will see. Mars also needs good warriors like you."

"w.a.n.g Tong, once I am done with my business in the sect, I will join you right away," Michaux said. He planned to check on the Sect for a few days and then join w.a.n.g Tong. He felt that his life was much more meaningful while fighting alongside him than sitting inside the ivory tower. Plus, he could not pa.s.s up the opportunity of witnessing the fight between w.a.n.g Tong and Patroclus, so he had made up his mind to accompany w.a.n.g Tong to Earth.

"I will have to say goodbye to you on Mars then. I got a lot to clean up here." Lie Jian said at last. No one expected to hear Lie Jian fawning over w.a.n.g Tong, but his voice was filled with respect and grat.i.tude.

"Very well! I want to see three regiments of s.p.a.ce marines from Mars when I ask for your help."

"Five regiments." Lie Jian said quietly. Nothing, not even a hundred regiments of s.p.a.ce marines, would be enough to pay back Lie Jian"s debt. House Lie was in charge of most of the resources on Mars. In between picking off the remaining Zergs and establis.h.i.+ng order, House Lie should be able to spare five regiments of well-trained s.p.a.ce marines with ease.

w.a.n.g Tong nodded. He knew Lie Jian wouldn"t make a promise if he couldn"t fulfill it.

"Heidi, what is your plan?" w.a.n.g Tong asked. He had expected the Kaedeian princess to stay with the rest of the Kaedeian forces at the dark castle. However, she had followed w.a.n.g Tong to the human territory.

"I will go to the Earth with you," Heidi said quietly but firmly.

"Why don"t you stay?" w.a.n.g Tong asked. Heidi shot w.a.n.g Tong a glace and fluttered her lashes as a slight hint of tears surfaced in her eyes.

"Er...that"s…fine. You can come with me." w.a.n.g Tong surrendered before it was too late. "But mind you, this journey is going to be dangerous."

"Never afraid of danger," Heidi said coldly; she was still mad at w.a.n.g Tong for suggesting her to stay.

The subtle exchanges of glances between w.a.n.g Tong and Heidi didn"t escape Tan Bu. He couldn"t suppress a snicker as he whispered to Duo Lun.

"Boss is a ladies" man…Hehe."

"No kidding! Heidi is such a babe!"

"Quiet! Ye Zi is right there! You don"t want her to poison your food, do you?"

Everyone who heard the comment laughed under their breaths.

"Do you think Boss will take us with him?"

"I think so. We got those fat transport s.h.i.+ps, should be plenty of room in them."

"Big s.h.i.+ps are dangerous for s.p.a.ce travel when so many Zergs are watching. "

"We have the big guns too. Those battlecruisers are commanded by no other than Admiral Samantha."

"If I land on earth, I HAVE to see what Ma Xiaoru looks like."

"Same here!"

Xiao Yuyu and Ye Zi"s affection for w.a.n.g Tong was no secret to the warriors. The Martian girls were brave and true to their hearts, so they wouldn"t consider the fact that w.a.n.g Tong already had a loved one.

In the three days that followed the killing of Moye, the human warriors had achieved more victories against the Zergs. The western warden was successful in his pursuit to become the next dark lord. But by then, the Zergs had lost most of the territory they had gained during the last few years, and the humans had started to gain the upper hand.

Despite the huge success, the human warriors were plagued by exhaustion, and therefore, they had also slowed down their advance in order to catch a breath.

Even during such favorable conditions, the humans could not let their guard down. They had to tread slowly and carefully, biding their time until their forces were fully equipped with the GN guns. Once they could counter the Zergs" advantage in numbers, they should be able to pick off the remaining dark ones with ease. w.a.n.g Tong had shown the world the power of mastery, and the world responded with the addition of many new mastery schools. The existing mastery casters were no longer treated as auxiliary forces; instead, they had become the backbones of every unit.

The few big players: Zambrotta, Lie Jian, and Kaedeians, had united together to rebuild Mars and plan for their next move.

However, w.a.n.g Tong had disappeared; other than those leaders, only one person knew where he was, and he was Syracuse.