Chapter 445: ‘Handling’ the elderly, the sickly, women and children
Translator: Editor:
Though these legendary beast-riders’ abilities were formidable, amidst the boundless sea of crazed arachnids, what awaited them…....was without an exception, exhausting their strength till they finally succumbed to death.
Regrettably, with the Blackthorn Overmind prevailing, Sheyan and the rest could not hope to earn any benefits. Oh, wrong, one cannot put it that way. At least, those 23 hearts required for the sacrificial ceremony, minus the beating one still inside Chieftain Cherokee’s chest, had all been assembled.
While Sheyan and buddies were plotting how to follow up from their victory, Blackthorn Overmind transmitted an unfortunate news – Mother Nature Eywa had contacted him, and issued an ultimatum. She believed the Blackthorn tribe’s war conduct was understandable in terms of safeguarding their base, but since they’ve already succeeded in doing so, the regulations cannot be violated any longer.
This signified that if the Blackthorn tribe didn’t wish for war to erupt between themselves and Mother Nature Eywa again, they could only pull back those Ultralisks and Defilers to their own base, and decommission them. Thus, it implied that Sheyan’s plausible mobilizing fleet had returned to its earlier state – limited to 800 - 900 headcount, which totalled to 1,600 - 1,800 zerglings; coupled with a minute few rare elites.
For an army of such scale…..truthfully speaking, attempting to defeat the Mosake clan with an outburst of vigor was still beyond their reach. Besides, the zerglings were really too weak, and to confront the large-scale killing capabilities of their enemy back in their home ground, death would not come any faster. Minimally, the army must comprise of normal Ultralisks that could absorb the majority of incoming damages.
In his current situation, though Sheyan had already anticipated this, he still sighed humbly and halted any form of pursuit. Still, this single campaign had already attained his primary objective. The entire fighting force of the Mosake clan had been weakened by 6-7 folds, and their food storage had been utterly wasted.
Apart from that, amongst the core strongholds of the clan, only 4 remained from those 13 legendary beast-riders. Moreover, each sustained injuries. Minusing the slain, captives, or missing Mosake clansmen, their manpower had declined by close to a third! If one were to strictly analyze further, even their various tamed creatures had a mortality rate of half!
Watching the fleeing figures of the Mosake clan, Sheyan turned back and gazed towards the powerful Growth-hunter, Mcdh. He exposed a cheeky expression as he teased.
“Our 3 hours duration is nearly over.”
Mcdh’s expression was relatively dismal. He sighed as he shook his head faintly.
“I get it. To you guys, my strength is indeed dispensable.”
Concurrently, Brother Black made eye contact with Sheyan, as he whistled and laughed heartily before slapping Mcdh’s back.
“So, I wish that our upcoming collaboration will be a slightly more pleasant one.”
Mcdh was stunned.
“What did you say? Collaboration?”
He immediately retracted his gaze and suspiciously doubted.
“You guys still intend to collaborate with me? But……”
Sheyan chuckled and spoke with profound interpretation.
“We wouldn’t mind helping while we are at it, but the premise is the receiver of this help should owe us a favour. As for whether he chooses to repay this favour, that will be another matter.”
Mcdh breathed in deeply as he earnestly replied.
“Alright, then I’ll owe you guys this favour! As long as I remain alive, I’ll definitely repay this debt.”
Brother Black abruptly interrupted.
“I’ve heard before, a requisite resurrecting sequence for a ‘Fairy’s Praise’ seed, is hunting down powerful creatures to acquire their soul as resurrection essence. Could it be, you’ve already accomplished that step?”
Mcdh nodded and answered.
“That’s correct. It sounds rather simple but I’ve already wandered through several worlds. Though I’ve acquired souls from the creatures I’ve hunted, they aren’t compatible with the seed in my hand. Furthermore, back when I was about to hunt down a legendary female Hexapede that they’d tamed, my carelessness allowed Hammerhead-Titanothere rider Authe to lock onto to me. In the end, I failed and got caught.”
Sheyan nodded and replied.
“I understand. Looks like we wouldn’t have to specially craft out a plan for you. Our current goal of debilitating the Mosake clan is unanimous with yours. Oh right, have you tried harvesting any soul from those powerful creatures that had been ravaged by the zerglings?”
Mcdh smiled bleakly in response.
“I haven’t, because the carcasses of those legendary beast had all been dissolved into the ‘Creep’ carpet, either that or devoured directly by those zerglings. I didn’t even have a chance.”
At this moment, a frowning Reef strolled over and reported to Sheyan.
“We currently have 131 Mosake clan captives, but i can predict that this figure will raise to estimatedly 180 after half an hour. The majority of them are women, elderly and kids. What should we do with them?
Those Mosake clan members had mostly sustained grave wounds to their legs, and were incapable of escape. Their sole existential purpose previously was to hinder their fleeing comrades, implicating them as they recklessly returned to rescue. Having fallen into Sheyan’s hands at present, they were like sweet potatoes that were scalding to touch.
Megensha hesitated briefly before suggesting.
“Perhaps we could release them back? Those people will end up as heavy burdens for Cherokee.”
Mcdh urgently refuted.
“Don’t! You guys are belittling Cherokee too much. You mustn't neglect the possibility of speed recovery methods in the Mosake clan. And if forced to the last resort, Cherokee will definitely order to cannibalize the heavily wounded as food! A rashful release would only bolster their strength!”
After listening, Reef smashed his fist into a nearby tree, as he raged.
“That scum! Wouldn't he be afraid of his own clan rebelling as a result?”
Mcdh calmly replied.
“According to the knowledge i acquired earlier, the Mosake clansmen are very likely to place all accountable debts on our heads.”
Reef fumed out.
“What kind of dogshit logic is that?”
Mcdh answered.
“The logic of the na'vi race!”
Then, Brother Black grumbled.
“Is our only option to feed them to the bugs? Dammit, I’m guessing that brat Blackthorn will be elated to hear about such great news.”
Sheyan swept his gaze towards a frightened Mosake kid, an idea then directly firmed up in his heart. Everyone should have their own bottom line, though Sheyan could execute all means necessary against his foes, that should at least not include children. Even for kids of a different species, they were still innocent.
Upon thinking of the term ‘different species’, Sheyan’s eyes suddenly flickered. He momentarily realized he had discovered an optimal method, one that could perfectly handle this ‘scalding sweet potato’ problem. If he executed this well, then maybe, he could even rake in numerous benefits.
************
At present, the wild aerial creatures of this region had mostly perished previously in the beast tide*. Hence, Sheyan blatantly dispatched and stationed large groups of overlords around the periphery of the Windstone Highland, closely monitoring the Mosake clan’s activities.
(TN: *refers to the war between Eywa and the Blackthorn)
Putting it bluntly, he was clearly bullying the Mosake clan’s lack of aerial jurisdiction. These hovering jellyfish were the perfect sentinels, and could even perceive traces of invisible creatures as well.
Sheyan currently possessed the authority to mobilize roughly 1,600 - 1,800 zerglings; congregating them together to directly swarm forward in resistance should any Mosake clansmen dare to charge out of their nest.
Whatever the case, a death truly meant a reduction in forces for the Mosake clan. Instead with the Blackthorn tribe’s reproductive capabilities, even if all their zerglings were annihilated, they would at most require 3 hours to replenish them. Despite that, when the zerglings raided the Mosake clan’s nest, it only resulted in an awkward scenario due to the constraints of the Mosake clan’s complicated homeground base; a scenario of ‘one guarding the narrow pass preventing ten thousand from passing’ would occur.
Thrown into such a scenario, even Sheyan alone could personally slay hundreds of zerglings; what more the Mosake clansmen whose prowess far exceeded his? What more hundreds of them? Hence, battles should only be engaged over broad plains, where 1,800 zerglings could rummage in from the 4 corners and 8 directions; exhibiting their overwhelming strength in numbers! Only in such a setting, staking all in would be extremely worth it!
Still, even if the dispatched arachnids were totally annihilated, Sheyan could still exploit the Mosake clan’s absence of aerial jurisdiction, with squads of overlords tracking their every move. Moreover, at intervals of several hours, he would command 1,500 zerglings to board the overlords and initiate sneak assaults. Under such a state, 2-3 days would be all it takes to grind the Mosake clan to death. Ultimately, they would fall to the unceasing bouts of frenzied raids!
More importantly…...how would Cherokee, who had just suffered harshly to the Blackthorn tribe, be aware that Sheyan could only employ 1,800 zerglings against him? Hence, he could only deem such reckless assaults as a trap, and impulsively charging out would be a minute probability occurrence.
After arranging all necessities, Sheyan whispered several words into Mogensha’s ears. All of a sudden, Brother Black’s face revealed an enlightened countenance as he laughed loudly.
“Woah oh, boss. I really have to give it to you, to even think of a such an idea! Great, leave this matter to me. You guys can head off first, I’ll follow soon after.”
Sheyan nodded as he brought along the confused Reef along with Mcdh, and boarded an overlord. As Reef observed their flight direction, he asked curiously.
“Where are we headed to?”