After Moye had died, this S level dark one"s ambition started to grow. His armada was one of the reasons that Patroclus still hadn"t reached Mars yet. Despite Moye"s death, the compet.i.tion between the dark ones and the immortals persisted.

The Dark Lord"s death had ushered in chaos, and chaos was a ladder. S-Zhoudi quickly realized that he could be the next dark lord if he played his card carefully and turned the chaos into his favor.

Zhoudi was delighted after that moment of epiphany. Fertilized by the dead body of his former master, Zhoudi"s desire for power grew rapidly on the soil of greed.

Once he eliminated the pestering human fleet, he should be able to swoop down on the Martians. He could feel that the supreme mother hadn"t given up on them yet. She had worked industriously for countless decades to give birth to the dark ones, and she had been quite pleased with her creation until w.a.n.g Tong appeared. She was willing to give the dark ones more time. The dark ones had a special place in the queen"s heart because they didn"t require a human host, and therefore, were 100% Zerg.

In order to eliminate the human fleet, Zhoudi would have to get rid of w.a.n.g Tong. Once he could prove himself worthy, the queen would provide reinforcements with more ground force, so that he could retake Mars.

Zhoudi had sent out all the scout units in order to locate the humans" armada; He had never been so excited about anything, the desire for power superseding the desire for blood.

"The Zerg scouts are everywhere…I think it is only a matter of time before they catch our whiff," Samantha announced. Everyone noticed the change in her voice and fresh spruced up look.

In the meeting room sat Samantha"s advisers and w.a.n.g Tong along with his field medics. The rest of his crew were busy training, trying to adapt to the s.p.a.ce fighting environment.

The field medics had less to do in the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p battle than w.a.n.g Tong had expected, since the soldiers were protected by s.h.i.+ps. Meanwhile, the mastery casters had met with a significant hurdle in harnessing any natural force from the s.p.a.ce. So far, w.a.n.g Tong hadn"t shed any light on their conundrum as he waited for the casters to figure it out themselves.

Since w.a.n.g Tong"s party was not familiar with the situation in s.p.a.ce, they sat and listened carefully as Cao Yi and the other captains discussed the current issues. It soon became evident to Guan Dongyang that the Zergs had outnumbered them greatly. It was impossible to wage a full-scale attack on the Zergs, and the current aggression was limited to small skirmishes and hara.s.sment.

After prolonged deliberation, the captains failed to formulate a plan on crus.h.i.+ng the Zerg fleet. Samantha looked at w.a.n.g Tong and was amused by his languid posture.

"w.a.n.g Tong, what do you think of it?" Samantha shot him a glance and fluttered her lashes.

"In order to eliminate the Zerg fleet, we need to fight them head-on." w.a.n.g Tong said.

"We are outnumbered. How are we going to meet them "head on"?" Captain Sailuofu said, who was one of Samantha"s loyalists. He was in the prime age of mid-thirties, and was head over heels for Samantha. Needless to say, he was not very pleased with w.a.n.g Tong"s appearance. He had been chasing after Samantha for many years fruitlessly and tasted the bitter jealousy when he saw how much Samantha had changed after meeting w.a.n.g Tong. Sailuofu had heard rumors that she was in love with w.a.n.g Tong, but how was that possible? Sailuofu simply wouldn"t believe it.

"You are right only if we fight in the conventional method of s.p.a.ce warfare. Please turn on the star charts." w.a.n.g Tong said. The Zergs had such a huge advantage that if the humans fought without deploying any tricks, there was no chance of winning.

An officer brought out the star chart with locations of Zerg fleet mapped after tremendous scouting efforts.

"The Saturn"s asteroid belt, that"s where we will pick a fight with them." w.a.n.g Tong said.

The other officers furrowed their brows in disagreement. It was a common knowledge that the Zergs excelled in s.p.a.ce combats in cl.u.s.tered environments.

"Although we would be able to block the mother s.h.i.+ps of the Zergs, those asteroids won"t be able to stop the Zerg fighter jets. They are much better equipped than us in fighting in a confined s.p.a.ce." Sailuofu said disappointingly. He had hoped that w.a.n.g Tong would bring up some more constructive ideas. He wagered that if the humans" rank were swelled five times, they might have a chance against the Zergs within the asteroid belt. But, with such a limited number of jets, it would be suicide.

Everyone looked to w.a.n.g Tong and waited for his reply. But, he didn"t speak, dragging out the silence. After a while, he finally broke the spell, "That is all that I can think of."

A swell of dissatisfaction rose among the officers. The had expected w.a.n.g Tong to be more useful than that. Samantha cleared her throat and said, "We can"t just sit around and wait. The Zergs" frequent activity suggests that they are on the move. We need to contain them as soon as possible. I will communicate with Li Hong and Xiao Se on that matter."

w.a.n.g Tong was ordered to stay after the meeting was over.

"What was that?" Samantha asked bitterly.

w.a.n.g Tong cracked a smile. "Dear Admiral, I don"t think it"s in our best interest for me to disclose my plan too early."

"What do you mean?"

"However good my plan is, I will need support, which seems non-existent. Plus, you don"t want the plan to be leaked out, do you? "

Despite being a newcomer on the s.h.i.+p, w.a.n.g Tong had already gotten a handle on the overall situation. He knew that without the support from Li Hong and Xiao Se, he wouldn"t be able to command the fleet effectively.

Only in unity would his plan work.

"Do you mean there"s a mole among us?"

"No, that"s not what I mean. What I want to say is we have to solve the problem within our ranks first before we can make a move on the Zergs. I know you have been trying to strike a balance among all factions, but it has directly led to the lack of solidarity among your men." w.a.n.g Tong said readily.

Samantha smiled wryly. "People are always the problem."

w.a.n.g Tong cracked a consolatory smile "It"s not your fault. You have done a good job."

"A good job?"

"Yeah!" w.a.n.g Tong nodded.

Samantha had doubted herself, but w.a.n.g Tong"s approval boosted her confidence. She could have doubted herself, but she would never question his judgment.

"What"s your plan? I am always with you." Samantha pressed w.a.n.g Tong. She knew that he already had a solution, and had been testing her faith in him.

"How many of those X-6 light cruisers do we have in our fleet?" w.a.n.g Tong asked.

"A hundred or so under my direct control, and another hundred or so under those two d*ckheads."

"One hundred should be enough. I need the best pilots. Can you hand pick them for me?"

"Don"t you dare make any more trouble for me! I don"t want to hear Li Hong and Xiao Se complaining about you." Samantha shot w.a.n.g Tong a searing glance.

"Why do you think I am here? Haha! Anyways, make sure you draft the best pilots and the sharpest shooters."

"We don"t lack good people. Don"t you worry your pretty head about it." Samantha said proudly. Over the years, she had trained many capable warriors who had gained tremendous experience during the war.

After ironing out the details with w.a.n.g Tong, Samantha announced the initiation of the special mission: X-6

"Samantha, what is the meaning of this?" It wasn"t long before Samantha heard protests and questions rise around her.