Faced with Fang Senyan's slightly skeptical inquiry, the Black Thorn Brain Worm’s greatest advantage was possessing a vast swarm of employees who could work twenty-three hours a day without overtime pay, social security, or supervision, so it scoffed:

"Even if a mountain held only a tiny sliver of Pandora Ore, the diligent younglings of the Black Thorn Tribe would undoubtedly dig it out! Besides, does our magnificent Zerg mining require cost? However..."

The Black Thorn Brain Worm spoke with a tone of slight difficulty:

"We just reached an accord with the Earth Mother, Eva. She shouldn't tolerate such actions, should she?"

Fang Senyan smiled faintly:

"Your agreement is that the current area of the Black Thorn Tribe's territory is the absolute limit, and you cannot expand further, right? Let me see, your current base covers about ten square kilometers. If you shrink this base area down to five square kilometers, wouldn't that allow you to activate a sub-base covering five square kilometers?"

"In any case, according to the agreement, you are currently unable to hatch high-tier troops, so any organ structures temporarily unused can simply be allowed to wither. Some Beast Dens dedicated to excessive larval production can also be abandoned. Reducing the base area by half would be simple; must I elaborate on such an obvious matter?"

The Black Thorn Brain Worm instantly understood, its mind clearing completely. If it followed Fang Senyan's suggestion, it wouldn't violate the pact with Eva in the slightest; the Earth Mother would have no grounds for complaint, and an extra base meant an extra fallback position!

Even taking a massive step back—if Eva did turn hostile, she lacked the direct capacity to attack. She could only mobilize beast tides, which would require considerable preparation time. As long as he utilized countless Hosts to manage intelligence and early warning, he could secure at least an hour's buffer! That would be enough time to hastily construct new defenses!

Expansion was the inherent nature and instinct of the Zerg. With this thought, the Black Thorn Brain Worm urgently inquired:

"Where is this place you speak of?"

Fang Senyan replied:

"It's quite a distance from here, a place called Triangle Shoal... Although we could utilize Hosts for direct airlift, I still recommend dispatching an escort force for the Worker Bees. Just to prevent any unforeseen incidents. After all, the wild beasts in this world are quite fierce."

The Black Thorn Brain Worm deeply agreed, unaware that Fang Senyan held back a crucial piece of information:

Directly west of Triangle Shoal, less than fifteen kilometers away, lay the territory of the Mosak Tribe—Windstone Heights! If a few Thanator beasts ran at full speed, they could reach it in ten minutes! Using Hosts for transport would halve that time again!

However, given the current rapport between Fang Senyan and the Black Thorn, even if he were clearly exploiting them, they wouldn't raise the slightest objection.

In the distance, gray smoke billowed, and the sound of hooves thundered from afar. Birds scattered from the surrounding jungle, and great herds of beasts galloped across the horizon like a crushing wave! On the plains, baked by the sun all day, they kicked up clouds of gray dust that rose and hung suspended like a gray dragon that refused to dissipate.

The setting sun stretched the shadows of these lithe beasts long upon the ground. Anyone familiar with the creatures of Pandora could easily identify them as the most common hexapod species on the planet: the Heavy Armored Steed.

Typically, a herd of Heavy Armored Steeds numbered fifty at most, but the approaching group contained at least three to four hundred animals. Scattered among the herd were a few riders—seven or eight Na'vi with blue skin and bows slung across their backs. Unlike other Na'vi, these wore dark crimson bands around their necks, indicating allegiance to the Fallen Tribe. It was clear this herd was artificially managed, similar to how nomads manage livestock on the plains, explaining their massive scale.

Ambling unhurriedly amidst the steed herd, with slow, rhythmic "thud-thud-thud" steps, were two colossal beasts. One was a Banyan bull, bearing a cage nearly two meters high on its back. The other beast's eyes gleamed intensely, seemingly holding a savage emotion like lightning brewing within dark clouds. Its concave horns looked formidable, yet a Na'vi warrior, whose musculature was sharply defined across his entire body, was lounging upon its back, leaning casually against the giant horn to rest.

This Na'vi displayed the lean, powerful build of a leopard, combining supreme agility with raw strength. He carried no bow, but two massive beast-bone boomerangs hung at his waist, their pendants seemingly woven from the manes and hair of hunted prey. This Na'vi of the Mosak Tribe spoke without even lifting his eyelids:

"Outsider, I have granted your request. I respect your formidable killing power, yet I despise your method of striking from the shadows. I offer you one final chance: if you agree to fight me face-to-face, I will consider burying you within the belly of my companion, allowing your soul to abide with its great strength."

The speaker was the mighty Hammerhead Titanothere Rider: Ote, one of the few Legendary Creature Riders in the entire Mosak clan. His words were not mockery but carried a deep, reverent sincerity—much like the mutual respect between heroes in ancient Chinese novels or xianxia literature, where being killed by a worthy opponent is an honor in itself.

While having one's mount consume an enemy's corpse sounds brutal, similar customs exist even in the real world; for instance, a seemingly sacred ritual often involves dismembering the body and feeding it to birds... and only figures of high standing are afforded such treatment. However, this outsider clearly had his own agenda. After a moment of silence, he replied in a hoarse voice:

"If you regret agreeing to my terms, you are welcome to kill me now. I promise not to resist."

Ote snorted in anger, likely feeling his goodwill had been rebuffed. He turned his head away and remained silent, instead shouting a few sharp words at several nearby Na'vi of the Mosak Tribe. These Na'vi responded with evident panic, meekly urging their mounts forward at a faster pace.

The sky held not a single cloud, the setting sun resembled blood, and there was still a significant distance to the horizon. High temperatures dominated the land, and the scorching air showed no sign of moving. As the Heavy Armored Steeds galloped faster, the distant Hell's Flower pasture came into view, yet the impression it gave was one of profound quietude, the stillness of a tomb, coupled with intense, suffocating pressure.

The eyes of the armored steeds were no longer fixed on the refreshing nectar they craved. After this hard gallop, they yearned desperately to leap into the clear river for a long drink and a playful splash. Upon entering the flower field, the herd's tight formation had already scattered. Some of the more aggressive steeds even began shoving and crushing their kin, attempting to reach the water first! At this moment, the human imprisoned within the wooden cage suddenly frowned, letting out an astonished "Eh?"—hesitating as if wanting to speak more.

The Na'vi, of course, paid no mind to this anomaly; in their eyes, this outsider was already categorized as someone destined for a quick death. Just as all the horses halted and began bathing and frolicking in the river, a rapid, subtle sound of 'boom-boom-boom-boom' echoed through the air!

This sound should have been faint, but when thousands of similar noises converged, it became a terrifying death knell that shook the soul!

—From the dense woods flanking the flower fields, at least seven to eight hundred ferocious Thanators (two Thanators equal one population unit) erupted instantly, forming a perfect encirclement. They savagely lunged at the now-relaxed herd of steeds and the Na'vi warriors! They bared their fangs and claws, reveling in the joy and frenzy of the hunt! Although each Heavy Armored Steed dwarfed a Thanator, as herbivores, they showed sheer terror and awkwardness when faced with these formidable combatants!

Ambushed suddenly, Ote, instead of anger, was overjoyed. He threw his head back in wild laughter, and his ** massive Hammerhead Titanothere snorted plumes of excited white vapor with a deep 'hoolong hoolong' sound!

Just as Ote raised his beast-bone boomerang to throw, sand and gravel erupted diagonally from beneath the ground, and a powerfully built figure burst forth from the earth. He swung a black light sword and savagely stabbed it directly into the Titanothere's snout! The giant legendary creature let out a cry of sharp pain and enraged fury. The electric energy that had been crackling around its concave horns immediately dissipated. It whipped its head around and roared in rage.

Although only the Hammerhead Titanothere was struck, strangely, Ote also frowned. He immediately turned around, as if he felt whatever happened to his mount affected him directly. With a fierce roar, he threw his beast-bone boomerang toward the figure who had just emerged from behind.

The person emerging was naturally Reef Rock. The three of them had painstakingly laid their plans, and they were unwilling to walk away empty-handed (if the Black Thorn Tribe's creatures had attacked, the spoils would have been significantly reduced, or eliminated entirely). Therefore, according to their pre-arranged plan, if Reef Rock could withstand—even simply endure—they still had a chance to exhaust the Na'vi rider mounted on the legendary creature to death right there!