He took a blow from the feedback, and although it didn't completely incinerate his psychic force core, he was badly injured. Coupled with the massive attack he had just launched, he was now at the end of his rope," murmured Glimmorun, the head of the Dark Arbiters, floating over.

Yang Ying nodded, activating his communicator. "Kalia, David has broken through the encirclement. Execute Supplemental Plan Number Three."

"Understood, executing Supplemental Plan Number Three!" Kalia’s image appeared on the screen. He was in the hangar bay on the first level of the base, behind him stood nearly a hundred formations of infantry, specialized troops, as well as mine layers, tanks, and gigantic robots, all fully armed and awaiting orders.

Supplemental Plan Number Three was simple: once David broke the perimeter, the base would be sealed, all exits locked, all flying craft destroyed, allowing David to leave the immediate area, only to then concentrate all remaining forces to besiege him outside.

Kalia shut down the comms and gave a single order. With a roar, the shuttle David arrived in was blasted skyward. As for the other spacecraft in Yang Ying’s possession, they had already been stored within the Interstellar in the Palm before the battle even began.

After issuing his orders, Yang Ying turned to the Protoss troops. "You have all seen it. There is always someone better, and a heaven beyond the heavens. Even among Terrans, there are warriors this formidable. Not to mention the true masters. You all must cultivate diligently to surpass the Psions soon. For now, return to the Floating Continent and use the armor batteries to recharge your plasma shields. A hard fight awaits us next."

"We understand, Commander," the Protoss troops responded with bows. Yang Ying returned the salute and dispatched them back to the Floating Continent.

Having finished this matter, Yang Ying approached one of the four walls and beckoned toward it. A hidden compartment slid open. The mechanism to open it was not on the wall’s surface but deep inside; one had to project their psychic energy inward to activate the switch. Without psychic ability, the compartment could not be opened.

Inside the compartment was a control panel. Yang Ying entered a complex passcode. Each button press required a different finger, as the corresponding fingerprint was part of the security measure. If the fingerprint didn't match, entering the code would only trigger the base's defense systems.

The code entered, a secret door hissed open in the wall. Inside was a compact elevator. Yang Ying stepped in. The lift shot upward with a whoosh, and the secret door and compartment sealed instantly, returning to their original state.

David was swept up by a gale, ejected from the massive hole in the command center floor. Blood streamed from his left arm. His body was scorched, clothes nearly shredded, and his ragged gasps sounded almost like someone suffering from a terminal illness.

The heavily sealed main door had been blasted open; the gaping maw remained, though the occupants of the command center were gone.

David took a deep breath, shaking off the daze. "Is this all? I’ve walked through places ten times more dangerous than this. A mere small base, plus a few aliens, and they think they can contain me? Wishful thinking! Though, I must admit, those twenty-odd pure spirit entities gave me a truly dreadful feeling. Their essential spirit had already reached the Master level; otherwise, with their meager psychic strength, equivalent to a low to mid-tier Psion, how could they have wounded me? This Yang Ying surely hides a massive secret. If I escape this time, I will repay him a hundredfold!"

David sensed many eyes watching him from the hole in the door, and he felt the presence of over a thousand ambushing troops outside. Yet, he felt no fear. He detected no other Awakened ones nearby; as long as there was no opponent of equal strength to impede him, escaping past a few Psions while facing hundreds of regular soldiers was not an insurmountable problem.

David employed his old trick, using an illusionary technique effective only against ordinary individuals to cloak his figure, and slipped out of the breached doorway.

The enemy forces were concentrated about a hundred meters from the entrance. A hundred-plus heavy, gigantic robots stood in the front rank. Nearly a thousand Riflemen occupied the middle ground, while several tanks, fully deployed, lined up at the rear, forming an arc hundreds of meters long that encircled the command center. As expected, they had not detected him yet.

However, barely a few steps outside, a series of sharp electronic beeps sounded near his ears. More than ten Jiao-Spider Mines, only reaching his knees, suddenly rose from the rocky floor and began closing in on him. David instantly leaped violently, covering twenty meters in a fraction of a second. The spider mines detonated with a thunderous boom exactly where he had been standing.

The scalding blast wave bleached the color from his face. At this point, his psychic power was nearly depleted; every further use brought permanent damage.

As he landed, another dozen spider mines rose from the ground to converge on him. Simultaneously, the troops, startled by the explosions, shook off the illusions. Spotting David, they immediately raised their weapons and fired. The few deployed tanks also swung their barrels in unison, opening a ferocious barrage.

David had no choice but to conjure another gale, propelling himself into the air to escape the proximity of the mines, having realized the spider mines only reacted to ground-based units.

Floating above, David reapplied his illusion, momentarily blinding the troops. However, the deployed tanks possessed devastating cannon fire with splash damage characteristics. A massive explosion erupted near David, swallowing him whole.

Twenty meters away, the wall of the command center also shuddered and collapsed from the force of the blast.

"The nerve to use such heavy firepower within his own military base—ruthless!"

David was wounded again. He felt his burns deepen, and his left forearm suffered a fracture, though fortunately, his legs were largely unharmed. He flipped backward in the air and landed, preparing to move. Suddenly, a cylinder rose from the distant ground—it was the very elevator Yang Ying had used to descend. The elevator door was aimed directly at him!

"Die!" David’s malice surged. He flung out a continuous stream of razor-sharp wind blades, forming a perfectly straight line aimed directly at Yang Ying.

Yang Ying slapped a single button, causing the elevator to rotate 180 degrees, presenting its reinforced back to the wind blades. The alloy-clad wall intercepted the barrage. Although the blades carved streaks across the surface, the entire line of wind strikes hit the exact same spot on the metal wall. After the final blade dissipated, it left a gouge two centimeters deep in the alloy.

It was important to remember that wind blades were essentially sculpted air. To solidify air into a blade capable of slicing metal was no simple feat.

Yang Ying mused, "David’s offensive power is still considerable. It seems I need some cannon fodder to distract him, or he will cause significant casualties within the base."

As for cannon fodder, nothing was more suitable than the Zerg!

They possessed no thought, only instinct, executing orders without fail—born war machines. Furthermore, they required no training; a Zerg that had survived a hundred battles possessed nearly the same combat effectiveness as a newly hatched one. They maximized the instincts coded in their genes; their innate advantages were top-tier, while subsequent environmental influence was negligible.

Although Zerg combat units were not Yang Ying's primary development focus at this stage, they were certainly useful as emergency reserve forces.

Additionally, Yang Ying was intensely curious: if a single Zerg died, would the mental energy they contributed simply dissipate, causing his own strength to diminish? A squadron of Hydralisks, a squadron of Mutalisks, over a hundred Zerglings, two Queens, and two Ultralisks materialized successively beside Yang Ying. Moreover, the Light Arbiter and the Dark Arbiter were summoned again by Yang Ying.

"The final round. Let us decide the victor. Though you are strong, you are already spent. What more can you do?" Yang Ying stepped forward and called out loudly to David.