The individual capabilities of these Legendary Creature Knights, while formidable, were insignificant against the boundless, reckless charge of the insect tide. For them, the inevitable outcome awaiting them was nothing less than fighting to the point of utter exhaustion and eventual death.

Regrettably, because the Black-Spine Brain Bug was in command, Fang Senyan and his group gained nothing from the engagement—well, perhaps that wasn't entirely true. At the very least, of the twenty-three hearts designated for sacrifice, all had been procured except for the one still beating within the chest cavity of Chief Qil'uo'ke.

Just as Fang Senyan and his team were planning to press their advantage, an unfortunate message arrived from the Black-Spine Brain Bug: Mother of the Earth, Eva, had contacted it and delivered an ultimatum. She deemed the Black-Spine tribe's previous acts of war to defend their sub-base justifiable, but now that the base was secure, they could no longer violate the existing agreement.

This meant that if the Black-Spine tribe wished to avoid another war with Mother of the Earth Eva, they would have to recall their Mammoth Beasts, Scorpions, and other troop types back to their base for demobilization and reorganization. This, in turn, meant the forces Fang Senyan could command reverted to the previous situation: limited to eight to nine hundred personnel, totaling around 1600 to 1800 Carno-Zerg units, supplemented by an extremely limited number of rare elites.

Frankly, a force of this scale was insufficient to crush the severely weakened Mossak tribe in one swift stroke. Carno-Zerg units were simply too fragile; when facing narrow, treacherous terrain and the enemy's area-of-effect abilities, they died far too quickly. They needed to be combined with conventional Mammoth Beasts, using the latter’s bulk to absorb incoming damage.

Faced with this situation, even though Fang Senyan had foreseen it, he could only let out a slight sigh and order the pursuit halted. Nevertheless, the battle had largely achieved Fang Senyan's intended goals. The active fighting strength of the entire Mossak tribe had been reduced by at least sixty to seventy percent, and their stored provisions had been completely depleted.

Beyond that, only four of the thirteen Legendary Creature Knights—the core members of the tribe—remained, and every one of them was wounded. The total number of casualties among the Mossak race, including those killed, captured, or missing, approached nearly one-third! If calculated strictly, the casualties among the various controlled creatures reached over half!

Watching the retreating backs of the Mossak tribesmen, Fang Senyan turned, fixing his gaze on MCDH, the powerful Colonizer. A faint, knowing smile played on his lips: "The three hours are almost up."

MCDH’s expression was deeply dejected. He sighed, shaking his head slightly: "I know. To you, my strength was indeed superfluous."

Heige grinned at Fang Senyan, then walked over to clap MCDH on the shoulder with a loud whistle, laughing heartily: "Well then, I hope our future cooperation will be more pleasant."

MCDH started in surprise: "What did you say? Cooperation?" He snapped back to attention, astonishment coloring his voice: "You still intend to cooperate with me? But Fang Senyan laughed meaningfully: "We don't mind lending a hand, but the premise is that the person receiving the help must at least be grateful for it. Whether or not that debt is repaid is another matter entirely."

MCDH took a deep breath and stated seriously: "Fine, I owe you a favor! As long as I live, I will certainly repay it."

Heige interjected at this point: "I heard that the resurrection process for the Seed of the Elven Hymn requires hunting powerful creatures to acquire their souls as material—have you achieved this step yet?"

MCDH nodded: "That's right. It sounds simple, but I’ve traversed several worlds. The creatures I’ve hunted, even if I managed to secure their souls, often proved incompatible with the Seed I hold. It was while hunting a female Legendary Peacock Deer they had tamed that I was accidentally spotted by Knight Oot of the Hammerhead Thunderbeasts, leading to my capture."

Fang Senyan nodded: "Understood. It seems we don't need a special plan for you. Our current objective aligns perfectly with yours: continuing to weaken the Mossak tribe. By the way, have you tried collecting souls from those powerful creatures just killed by the Carno-Zerg?"

MCDH replied with a wry smile: "No, because the corpses of the slain Legendary Creatures were either dissolved into the Creep sludge or directly devoured by the Carno-Zerg. I never even got the chance."

At that moment, Jiao Shi approached, frowning at Fang Senyan: "We currently have one hundred and thirty-one captured Mossak tribesmen, and we anticipate this number rising to about one hundred and eighty in half an hour. At least half of them are women, elderly, and children. What do you suggest we do?"

Most of these captured Mossak tribesmen had severely damaged legs, rendering them unable to flee. Their previous purpose was to slow down the fleeing Mossaks, forcing them to return to rescue them, only to be caught themselves. Now, falling into Fang Senyan's hands, they were a troublesome burden.

Mogansha hesitated: "...Perhaps we could release them? These people will become a heavy burden for Qil'uo'ke."

MCDH immediately urged: "Don't! You underestimate Qil'uo'ke. Putting aside whether the Mossak tribe has methods for rapid healing, if pushed to the absolute limit, Qil'uo'ke will certainly order the heavily wounded tribesmen killed and used as food! Releasing them rashly will only make their strength rebound!"

Jiao Shi slammed his fist against a nearby tree in frustration: "This bastard! Doesn't he fear being deserted by his own people?"

MCDH stated calmly: "Based on the information I acquired, all the Mossak tribesmen will likely place the blame for this debt squarely upon us."

Jiao Shi raged: "What kind of garbage logic is that?"

MCDH answered: "That is the logic of the Na'vi!" Heige muttered under his breath: "Are we just supposed to feed them to the bugs? Damn it, I bet Black-Spine would be thrilled to hear this good news."

Fang Senyan's gaze swept over the terrified Mossak children. He instantly dismissed the suggestion in his mind. Everyone must have a bottom line. Fang Senyan could use any means necessary in battle against the enemy, but that should not extend to children—even the children of aliens—they were, at least, innocent.

The mere thought of "aliens" suddenly sparked an idea in Fang Senyan's mind. He realized he had found a superb method to perfectly manage these troublesome hostages who were too difficult to kill and too difficult to release. If handled correctly, he might even reap significant benefits.

...

By this time, nearly all the wild flying raptors in the vicinity had been wiped out in the beast tide. Therefore, Fang Senyan dispatched a large number of Zerg Hosts to establish surveillance around the Windstone Plateau, closely monitoring the movements of the Mossak tribe.

To put it plainly, he was openly taking advantage of the Mossak tribe's lack of air superiority. These jellyfish-like floating organisms made for the best sentinels; their sensory perception could detect even cloaked entities.

The total number of Carno-Zerg units Fang Senyan could currently mobilize was about 1,600 to 1,800 (two Carno-Zerg per handler). Gathered together, if the Mossaks dared to charge out of their lair, the Carno-Zerg would engage them head-on.

The logic now was that every Mossak killed was a permanent loss, and given the current production capacity of the Black-Spine Zerg, even if all these Carno-Zerg were wiped out, replenishment would take a maximum of three hours. The problem was that if they engaged the Mossaks within their heavily fortified lair, the complex terrain would restrict movement, leading to an indefensible bottleneck.

In such a situation, Fang Senyan himself might be able to kill hundreds of Carno-Zerg. Considering there were dozens of individuals stronger than him in the Mossak tribe, direct engagement within the lair was impossible. They needed a pitched battle on the wide, open plains where 1,800 Carno-Zerg could surround the enemy from all directions, maximizing their advantage in numbers! Even if they were all annihilated in the process, it would be worthwhile!

Even if a temporary vacuum in troop strength occurred, Fang Senyan could exploit the Mossaks' lack of air superiority by using large numbers of Hosts to track their movements. Within a few hours, he could lead another assault of 1,500 Carno-Zerg via Overlord air transport. This way, in two or three days at most, the Mossak tribe would be subjected to relentless, continuous assaults, effectively being ground down to death!

More importantly, how could Qil'uo'ke, having just suffered grievously at the hands of the Black-Spine Zerg, know that Fang Senyan only had 1,800 Carno-Zerg to throw at him? Therefore, even if he witnessed the force, he would likely dismiss it as a trap. Thus, him charging out was a low-probability event.

After making these arrangements, Fang Senyan whispered a few words to Mogansha. Heige’s face immediately lit up with comprehension, and he burst out laughing: "Wow, Boss, you've really thought of everything! Alright, leave this to me. You guys go ahead; I'll be right behind you."

Fang Senyan nodded, bringing along a slightly bewildered Jiao Shi, and also calling upon... Zhuo (possibly a typo for a character name, keeping as is). They boarded a flying Host. Jiao Shi looked at the direction they were flying and exclaimed in surprise: "Where are we going?"