Without the queen, the Immortals were deemed to lose control over the Zergs, significantly reducing the threat toward humanity. w.a.n.g Tong should be able to face Patroclus with abandon by then; otherwise, he would be constantly worried about the fate of humans should he die during the fight.

Without being able to commit himself fully to the fight, w.a.n.g Tong was deemed to be defeated.

The key to winning the inevitable fight against Patroclus was to find Ark and kill the queen. For the longest time, the immortals had had the upper hand, and leveraging his advantage, Patroclus had forced w.a.n.g Tong to reveal a significant degree of his power. He kept a close eye on w.a.n.g Tong"s every move and every fight, hoping to find his flaws.

Once w.a.n.g Tong located the queen, he would be able to avert the situation and gain the initiative. Otherwise, the terms of the battle, such as when, where, and how the battle would be carried out, were at Patroclus" discretion.

Despite the uncertainty in the future, this was the closest the humans had ever gotten to see any signs of hope during the six years.

w.a.n.g Tong"s challenge was much greater than his ill.u.s.trious predecessor—Li Feng"s. Five hundred years ago, humanity"s biggest enemies were the Zergs, but now, w.a.n.g Tong had to deal with someone much more powerful than the Zergs: Patroclus.

Although Patroclus" ancestor, Rilangalos had also risen against Li Feng, Patroclus" skills and abilities had surpa.s.sed his by a great measure. Therefore, he was a much greater threat to the heir of the Blade Warrior than his ancestor had ever been.

…

Dimalis had soon received a message from the Divine Lord, ordering the Immortal fleet to press forward. Divine Lord had deduced the weakened state of Mars" defenders and thought that it would be a great opportunity to strike.

None of the mastery casters who had helped Michaux in the last spell were conscious, and it would take them at least six months to recover. Without the protection from w.a.n.g Tong"s soul essence, many casters" sea of consciousness was a.s.sailed by the raw and unforgiving energy.

Nevertheless, the Immortal armada"s hesitation had given the Martians time to prepare for a full-on war. They reopened many shelters and bunkers under the large buildings and evacuated people into the well-defended cities from the countryside. It would still take Dimalis a while to reach Mars, and by the time he was here, the Martians should be ready for war.

The biggest threat the Immortal fleets could impose was bombardment from s.p.a.ce, which wasn"t really much of a threat if one asked a battle-hardened martian. With the population staying safely in the shelters, the immortals would be able to destroy the buildings on the surface at most.

It had occurred to Dimalis that he was faced with a dilemma: if he used a planetary destruction weapon, Patroclus would have nothing but dust to lord over; however, his current weapon loadout could do nothing more than demolish a few buildings.

Meanwhile, the hara.s.sment from the human fleet started to gain more strength and frequency. They still kept their distance from the Immortals" armada, and only struck from the rear and flanks.

Having lost five fleets, Dimalis hesitated to split his forces further as he would lose the advantage in numbers. Therefore, his information about his surroundings and enemy s.h.i.+ps were very limited. He knew that the manufacturing plants down on the Mars were cranking out more battlecruisers each day, but he no longer had enough men to send down there while maintaining dominance in s.p.a.ce. As Dimalis approached Mars, his fear grew even greater. Although the Divine Lord had deduced that the casters were exhausted from the last spell and would take a while to recover, he didn"t mention how long the recovery would take. The Armada could not afford to be struck by another one of the world-devouring spells.

After much deliberation, Dimalis concluded that he shouldn"t rush to Mars at a current weakened state. He would take his time and wait for the reinforcement of Zergs. Suddenly, he felt grateful for his human heritage; it gave him insights into the Martians" strength and his weaknesses. Without it, he would have plunged straight into the Martians" trap like the dark ones did.

Meanwhile, inside the Immortals" Divine Hall, Patroclus sat on his throne with an eerily placid face. The change in the Divine Lord was palpable to the immortals ever since Zhou Sisi was kidnapped. As a matter of fact, if Patroclus had acted on that day, w.a.n.g Tong might not have been able to take her away so easily. However, no one dared question Patroclus" inactivity.

"My lord, the situation on Mars has deteriorated significantly. We are cranking out enough s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps, but most of the crews are humans. I suggest increasing the rank of Immortals." Harmon said. Ever since he had completed his Mars mission, Harmon had risen in ranks quickly and become one of Patroclus" most trusted advisers. All leaders present in the Divine Hall knew that the real goal of Harmon"s mission was to eliminate unwanted members of the Immortals in addition to gaining more information on w.a.n.g Tong"s power. Harmon had reached both of these goals successfully.

The information on w.a.n.g Tong that Harmon had brought home with him was a shocker to most Immortals, as his power had greatly exceeded their expectations. Nonetheless, it was better to know the full extent of a powerful opponent than pretending they were fighting a weak one.

"My Lord, I agree with Harmon, and that was in line with what I heard from General Dimalis. Although we had gained the initiative in the s.p.a.ce, the Zergs alone won"t be able to take the Mars when we start to fight on the ground. w.a.n.g Tong"s recent...presence on the moon had fanned anti-Immortal sentiments among the humans. If we let their sentiment fester, there will be grave consequences." The lord of the lunar city Teluosu chimed in.

Despite Patroclus" shrewd statecraft skills, his reign remained an alien ent.i.ty in the eyes of most humans. The Ivantians might bow to Patroclus when they had no other options, but the moment they saw a sliver of hope—as they did in w.a.n.g Tong—they would rise up and rebel.

The immoral leaders offered their suggestions and advised while Patroclus listened quietly. He agreed with his advisers and conceded that it would take generations to make the humans accept the immortals. He had been on the right track until w.a.n.g Tong showed up. His very name was able to evoke hope and restlessness in the humans living under Immortal rule.

The so-called peace and prosperity on the moon was only a pretty facade, and Patroclus had never truly lorded over his human subjects.

Patroclus agreed that expanding the number of Immortals was an effective way of winning the war; however, transforming humans into immortals against their will would defeat his original plan for the two races to coexist.

He never sought to destroy the human race, as all he wanted was to improve it by making it more compet.i.tive.

Was he wrong from the very beginning?

The question became even harder to answer when he was a leader of tens of thousands of Immortals. He couldn"t give up his course even if he wanted to; he had created the immortals, and it had become his responsibility to lead them to a safe sh.o.r.e.

The birth of Immortals was not a mistake; it was the humans" reluctance to change. Without the immortals, the humans would have never defeated the Zergs.

"Lan Jia, what are the humans up to lately?" Patroclus asked.

"The underground resistance force is definitely up to something. They had been communicating with each other very frequently of late. This is rather unusual... I wager they are looking for something…perhaps, the queen."

Patroclus"s lips curved into a hard smile. "They have finally figured it out. It will be a huge blow to us if they succeed."

"Should we double the guards to make sure her safety?"

"Lan Jia, that is no different than telling them where the queen is." Harmon put in.

"Doesn"t matter! We remain dominant in the s.p.a.ce. They have zero chance of even getting near her. Bah, it is difficult for even us to get close to her, much less the humans." Lan Jian said.

The supreme mother was jailed inside the hypers.p.a.ce to confine her telepathic power. Once an immortal and the queen were in the same s.p.a.ce, she would have unbridled control over the immortals" actions.

"There is no need to do anything right now. Let me think about it." Patroclus said.