At the edge of the Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis Wall, a large number of Serpent soldiers were busy reinforcing the Wall in a hurry, with each person fully engaged in their tasks.
Just then, a massive yellow smoke screen suddenly appeared in the distance, rising from the desert.
The first Serpent to notice this stopped working and imdiately signaled the others with a warning.
"A sandstorm is coming! Find sowhere to hide, quickly!"
As soon as the first warning was sounded, a large number of Serpents acted quickly, using their experience to take swift action.
Everyone did their best to warn those around them that the sandstorm was approaching.
Most of the soldiers rushed toward the fortress zone at top speed, seeking shelter from the storm.
Only a few of the stronger Serpent soldiers dared to stay behind.
So remained to ensure the safe escape of the other soldiers, while others watched the approaching sandstorm with confusion.
"What’s going on? There shouldn’t be a sandstorm at this ti of day!"
One of the Serpent soldiers standing next to Azka muttered in confusion.
Azka furrowed his brow tightly, his gaze fixed on the oncoming storm. He too was puzzled.
After a while, as the sandstorm was almost upon the Wall, Azka quickly ordered the nearby Serpents, "Don’t stay here. Find a place to hide!"
"And you? Aren’t you going to take cover?"
"I’ll stay here, in case sothing unexpected happens."
Azka’s biggest concern was that the sandstorm wasn’t a natural occurrence, but rather sothing deliberately created by the Stellar Empire.
It was highly likely that enemies from the Stellar Empire were hiding within the sandstorm, planning a surprise attack on the Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis.
Though he didn’t know that Charles had already left, Azka still believed that relying on Charles alone wouldn’t be enough to prevent the oasis from being attacked.
So, he had to stay behind.
The Serpents around Azka were still worried, but the overwhelming threat of the approaching sandstorm forced them to flee.
Azka stood firm, feeling the increasing intensity of the winds around him.
He had made up his mind.
If there were indeed enemies hiding within the sandstorm, he would fight to the death to stop them, buying enough ti to strengthen the defenses of the Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis.
The yellow sand blocked his entire line of sight.
The sand, whipped by the fierce winds, carried a terrifying destructive force.
Azka’s thick scales were marked with scratches from the sand grains.
Ignoring the pain in his body, he imdiately summoned all of his mystical beasts.
As the strongest Beast Master of the Serpent Empire, in a battle to the death, it was only natural for him to summon every mystical beast he controlled.
The massive yellow smoke billowed toward Azka with an unstoppable force.
Just as the sandstorm was about to hit Azka, the violent winds suddenly ceased.
The sky full of sand quickly settled back into the desert.
Azka stared in shock at the scene before him. Once all the dust had settled, he saw a large number of Sandworms.
At that mont, he decided to launch an attack.
The damage these many Sandworms could cause to Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis would be even greater than anything the Stellar Empire could do.
"Stop!"
Just as Azka was about to command his mystical beasts to attack the Sandworms, a voice suddenly rang out from within the Sandworm horde.
It was Charles’s voice.
Azka was stunned, and instinctively halted his attack.
Charles soon erged from the mass of Sandworms.
"Quick, go notify General Sost and High Priest Kent. I need them to send people to help move these Sandworms into the underground river," Charles said as he brushed off the sand from his clothes, looking at the confused Azka.
"It took a lot of effort to bring all these Sandworms here."
Azka was still frozen in place, confused and staring at Charles.
"Why are you just staring at ? Hurry up and go tell General Sost and High Priest Kent! I need to stay here and make sure these Sandworms don’t wander off."
When Charles’s voice reached him again, Azka finally snapped out of his stupor.
He looked at the large group of Sandworms behind Charles and asked, "Why bring these Sandworms here?"
"Of course, it’s for defense!" Charles answered quickly.
Then, in a slightly annoyed tone, he added, "What’s the deal with you? Stop wasting ti! Go do what I told you to do!"
Under Charles’s urging, Azka, though still puzzled, did as he was told.
He quickly found General Sost and High Priest Kent and carefully explained what had just happened.
General Sost didn’t seem too surprised. He just nodded and said he would et with Charles shortly.
With that, he set off alone.
Kent the High Priest, on the other hand, was clearly furious.
"Sure, he’s strong, and we can only rely on him if we want to win the final battle. But why couldn’t he tell us his plan in advance?!
With this many Sandworms, they’re almost impossible to manage. If so of them lose control, Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis will be thrown into chaos in no ti. Has he never thought about the worst-case scenario?!"
Kent snapped angrily.
It was obvious he did not approve of Charles’s thods.
But things had already reached this point, and anything he said now was a bit too late.
Since so many Sandworms had already been brought here, they couldn’t just be driven away easily.
Besides, Kent didn’t have the power to drive off that many Sandworms at once. If these Sandworms slipped out of Charles’s control, they would instantly go on a rampage.
While Kent was still complaining, General Sost had already arrived outside the Wall.
"You plan to use these Sandworms to defend Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis? As far as I know, Sandworms aren’t intelligent creatures. They can’t be controlled."
General Sost’s tone was very calm.
He didn’t directly oppose Charles. He was simply stating his view.
Charles nodded with a smile.
"That’s true for you. But I just found a way to control them. These Sandworms seem to be obsessed with spatial turbulence. That’s exactly how I managed to lure them all here."
General Sost accepted Charles’s explanation.
He could see that the Sandworms behind Charles were all behaving quite normally.
"Even if you manage to control them," Sost said, raising another doubt, "I don’t think they can play a real role in the coming battle. These Sandworms can’t tell friend from foe."
Charles answered calmly, "That’s why I’ll place them in the underground river area.
If we gain the upper hand in the final battle, we won’t need to send the Sandworms into the fight at all.
But if we start to lose, then it’s ti for them to appear. They’re an extra trump card I prepared—just like the Dark Gem I placed in the underground river."
His explanation finally made General Sost fully understand.
General Sost suddenly understood and said,
"So that’s how it is. Then I won’t question your plan anymore. But you probably don’t know that these Sandworms will also bring extra trouble, do you?"
"What extra trouble?"
"Even if Sandworms don’t move, their natural traits will make the water around them disappear. If you place them in the underground river, it won’t take long before the entire river dries up.
Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis beca the capital of the Serpent Empire because it has rich underground water. If all that water disappears because of the Sandworms, then the oasis will beco part of the desert."
Sost’s words pushed Charles into a difficult situation.
The Sandworms could indeed serve as a trump card in the final battle.
But their very presence was also a huge threat to the Serpent Empire.
If the underground water under Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis vanished, then the Serpent Empire would basically be finished. There would be no need for any "final battle."
Faced with this situation, Charles could only frown and think hard.
General Sost didn’t rush him. He simply watched calmly.
After around ten minutes, Charles suddenly spoke.
"Then I won’t place the Sandworms underground for now. I’ll wait until the final battle is about to begin, and only then move them into the underground river."
"That’s indeed one solution. But since you’re the only one who can control these Sandworms, if you do this, you’ll have to stay inside Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis for the next few days."
Sost’s words only made Charles more annoyed.
"Let’s do it this way for now. Maybe I’ll think of a better idea soon," Charles said helplessly after a brief silence.
General Sost nodded, then turned back toward Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis.
He needed to send a large number of soldiers to help Charles keep the Sandworms under control.
After Sost left, Charles looked toward the nearby Chrono Rabbit.
He muttered to himself, "Do you have enough intelligence to control these Sandworms on your own?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)