Jiang Zheng, Liu Che, Liu Xiu, and Wei Qing stood on the city wall, watching the dense pack of hyena-men below.
"Holy hell, there are quite a lot of these bastards. But they're not even 30 million. At least a fifth are missing. Looks like Lin's missiles were quite effective," Liu Xiu said with a laugh.
Jiang Zheng, his face serious, gazed at the hyena-men below. "This shouldn't be right either. We've tested the power of missile number four multiple times. It shouldn't have caused such massive casualties. What's going on? Did these hyena-men all gather in one spot?"
What Jiang Zheng didn't know was that when missile number four exploded, it happened to be when Erisnu and Yenogu, those two brainless wolf kings, were holding a pre-battle pep rally. Combined with the hyena-men's generally poor intellect, when they saw their kings giving speeches, they all crowded together like old ladies scrambling for free eggs, pushing forward. It just so happened that two missile number fours arrived and detonated in the crowd.
Erisnu and Yenogu swaggered into the sky above the battlefield and shouted, "Little human young lord, surrender! We hyena-men are a peace-loving race and will not harm you. As long as you obediently surrender and have your family pay a ransom, your safety will be guaranteed by us hyena-men."
Jiang Zheng and the others stared blankly at the two shouting hyena-men kings. "Holy hell, since when do hyena-men know how to trick people? It sounds like they plan to kidnap me. Did Lin the Black recruit disciples here too?"
Liu Che shook his head, a helpless expression on his face. "Ever since I met that Lin kid, I feel like everyone's got a screw loose. Did I catch idiocy from that Lin kid too?"
Wei Qing blinked. "Your Majesty, you might be onto something. I have that feeling too. Now, everyone looks like they're mentally ill."
Liu Xiu covered his face. "No, you two ancestors, can we hold off on the banter for a bit? The hyena-men kings are still calling us out there. Besides, do you think idiocy is like a cold? It's contagious."
Jiang Zheng shook his head and sighed. "I've had that feeling for a long time. Besides, who would associate with Lin Zhan if they weren't a little off?"
Hearing Jiang Zheng's complaint, Liu Che gave him a thumbs-up. "Young Jiang analyzes things thoroughly." With that, he flew up alone, facing the two hyena-men kings. "You want me to have my young lord surrender? Beat me first."
The Liu family, true to their lineage as inheritors of the Imperial Dragon clan, had a similar style of operation. Liu Che, that old schemer, was originally a peak High-tier King, stronger than both Erisnu and Yenogu. But at this moment, he intended to play the pig to eat the tiger, hiding his true strength and appearing as a Mid-tier King.
Erisnu looked at Liu Che and turned to Yenogu. "It seems this human king is that human young lord's bodyguard. He's a Mid-tier King. We have one Mid-tier and one High-tier King. We'll definitely win, but we'd best not injure him either. After all, a king is quite valuable."
Yenogu looked at Erisnu with admiration. "Erisnu, you truly are the wise one of the hyena-men race. Your brain is just too good."
Erisnu shouted at Liu Che, "Human king, we accept your challenge. However, you are alone. This is unfair to you. We will allow you to go back and find another person so we can have a fair contest."
Yenogu anxiously said, "Why are you letting him go find reinforcements? That's too disadvantageous for us."
Erisnu shot Yenogu a look. "What are you afraid of? If there were a stronger human expert than him, would he be the one challenging us? If another, weaker one comes, we'll capture them both and have another person to exchange for money."
Liu Che flew back, completely bewildered, and said to the group, "T..."
"That human king, you should speak. Otherwise, even if we wait until tomorrow morning, we won't reach an agreement."
Liu Che said helplessly, "My apologies, you two. This is my grandson. He never stood up straight when he spoke as a child. Let's battle above the clouds. As for the common soldiers below, let them fight for now."
Erisnu and Yenogu nodded in agreement. They then addressed the hyena-men pseudo-kings. "Prepare to attack, but do not harm that human young lord. He is the key to the hyena-men race's rise," he said, pointing at Jiang Zheng. With that, the two hyena-men kings flew into the sky first.
Liu Che and Liu Xiu, the two old ancestors, followed closely behind. The soldiers on both sides, seeing their kings leave the battlefield, began to mobilize. The hyena-men soldiers, led by their clan leaders, began to attack the human fortress.
"My warriors, for our fallen masters, for the rise of the hyena-men, charge!"
Jiang Zheng looked at the charging hyena-men below and said to the military advisor beside him, "Set the coordinates. Half of the light artillery will engage head-on to block the enemy's advance, and the other half will conduct destructive bombardment."
The military advisor conveyed the order, and ten thousand light artillery pieces divided into two groups began to fire. "Boom! Boom! Boom!" Continuous artillery fire sounded, not only halting the enemy's advance but also inflicting heavy casualties. Jiang Zheng, observing the results of the light artillery, said to the advisor, "Make sure to record the data in detail, especially the casualties inflicted on different enemy ranks, as well as the artillery's accuracy and rate of fire. All of these must be recorded."