The Ultimate Evolution

Next, they went to the aid of the Zealot hero, the muscular red caped man Sokada. There was not much to say about the operation. Two well-placed Psionic Storms killed off most of the Devourers and Zerglings. And then, after a simple skirmish, the Zealot hero was successfully rescued.

Red Cape Sokada was covered in wounds. He still cut a proud figure, but he probably would not have hung on for much longer if reinforcements had not arrived. In other words, their assistance was very timely. Fortunately, human medicine worked just as well on the Protoss, so after giving Sokada a series of injections for treatment, his condition rapidly improved.

At first, Sokada was very surprised to see Sheyan, a Terran, there, but after Aldaris’ explanation, his perception quickly changed. In fact, he and Sheyan hit it off instantly, probably because they were both monsters that could take an Ultralisk head on.

But one thing that dissatisfied Sheyan was, Sokada firmly believed that Sheyan must have some Protoss blood in him, because he believed that only someone who possessed the noble Protoss bloodline could accomplish the feat of taking an Ultralisk head-on! Such a strange belief truly made Sheyan speechless!

But other than this problem, the forthright Sokada was actually a pretty agreeable fellow. He had a loud voice, which was much better than Tochego’s cold, mechanical, synthetic Dragoon voice. But Tochego’s coldness stemmed from his physical limitations as a Dragoon. It was not his fault.

Sheyan naturally had to distribute some of his gene-mixes to the group to earn some friendship points. No fighters would dislike Sheyan’s mixes that could enhance their strengths all around.

Each of them reacted differently to Sheyan’s mixes. Sokada instantly asked if Sheyan could give him a few more, but he gave up the idea when he found out that the mixes had a shelf life. Tochego tried to find out the recipe from Sheyan to see if there was a possibility to mass produce the mixes. Aldaris did not say anything, but he took his full share nonetheless.

They rested up for about half an hour until they recuperated to an extent. The small unit of wounded soldiers then decided to return to reinforce the Protoss base. When they approached the base, they saw from a distance away a large amount of glowing spots and buildings that were taking shape on the hillside. Although the sight was beautiful, there was a rushed feeling to it.

And when they got closer to the base, they did not hear the harsh screams of the Zerg, nor the blasts of the Photon Cannons…

The group exchanged glances and saw the look of surprise on each other’s face.

What they were seeing were clearly the aftermath of a war, and new buildings being rebuilt on the ruins after the fight had concluded. However, before they left, the Protoss base was clearly in a dangerous predicament, like a taut string that would break if it was pushed just a little harder.

Logically speaking, the Zerg would never have stopped attacking under those circumstances, because if they did, their previous efforts would have all gone to waste!

The Zerg would absolutely not give up the chance to win. They would never have retreated if they did not absolutely have to. So what exactly happened to make the Zerg withdraw so abruptly?

In any case, it was good news that the Protoss base had not been captured yet. When Sheyan stepped into the Protoss base, he saw the terrible traces left by the war everywhere he looked, but a large number of Probes had been cleaning the place up, so the base was now once again enshrouded in that unique Protoss feel, an atmosphere that was both sacred and piercing.

Sheyan had now been marked as a Protoss ally, and because he could actually defeat an Ultralisk despite being a puny human, both Sokada and Torchego believed that Sheyan must be a hero unit himself. Therefore, he would be afforded certain privileges in the base, but he needed to perform further registration first.

Sheyan, of course, would not refuse that advantage. He followed a Zealot to the main building of the Protoss base, the Nexus. The Nexus was the heart of a Protoss base and served as a psychic anchor, allowing the Protoss to access the psionic matrix from even across the galaxy. It was a colossal building, similar in shape to the pyramids on Earth but with many additional components on the exterior, so its design had a sci-fi vibe.

( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Nexus )

The outer wall of the Nexus was built from a type of unknown metal that was engraved with a large amount of Protoss runes. These runes comprised of various circles and lines of different lengths. They appeared very mysterious.

Large transparent crystals that were over 5 meters tall were embedded into each of the four corners of the Nexus. Another large crystal over 10 meters tall was also placed at the very top of the building. All these crystals were formed by smelting the Pandora crystals collected by the Probes. They looked quite spectacular.

Of course, they were not ornamental. They had a very important function – whenever there was an invasion attempt, the five crystals would resonate with each other and glow dark blue, then form a powerful plasma shield to protect the Nexus from the enemy.

When there was a need for rapid healing and recovery after a war, these five crystals would emit a green glow instead, converting their energy into healing energy so as to heal the units inside the building.

Sheyan’s appearance in the Protoss base naturally attracted a lot of attention, many of which were hostile. Fortunately, Red Cape Sokada was walking beside Sheyan all the time. Whenever Sokado felt an overly hostile gaze, he would stare back fiercely! He was an idol among the Zealots, which made up the majority of the Protoss forces, and the other Protoss soldiers could also tell that he was not to be messed with when they saw his giant hammer. Therefore, he saved Sheyan a lot of trouble along the way.

The moment Sheyan stepped through the gate of the Nexus, he felt an indescribable calmness, as if his soul had been shocked once, then washed clean with water. The vast space inside the Nexus actually gave him the feeling of being underwater – extremely clean and clear water, like the water that had just melted from thousand-year-old glaciers – just without the bubbles or breathing difficulties.

At that moment, the usually arrogant Sokada suddenly knelt on one knee and said in a panicky and respectful tone, “Lord Uraki! You’ve actually come here personally instead of just descending with your consciousness!”

“The whole base would have fallen if I hadn’t come here personally. The Bloody Hand would not have the time to finish construction,” an old, soft voice slowly said.

“But if you’re here, why didn’t you join the fight from the start?” Sokada asked in surprise.

Sokada’s question was actually quite presumptuous, but this Lord Uraki seemed to favour him. He actually explained to Sokada, “That’s because…*cough*”

When he coughed, it felt as if the calmness and quiet inside the base shook together with him. The violent cough of Lord Uraki lasted for ten whole minutes before it subsided. He panted in exhaustion after that.

Sheyan whispered to the simple-minded Sokada, “I believe Lord Uraki was deliberately luring the Zerg out full force to deplete their numbers. If Lord Uraki had shown up from the start, the cowardly Overmind on the other side would surely have retreated.”

Sheyan’s voice may have been soft, but how could it escape the ears of Lord Uraki, a powerful Protoss of a leadership level? He should be someone on the same level as the Queen of Blades, Kerrigan. The reason Sheyan said those words was naturally to attract his attention.

Sure enough, although Sheyan could not see this Uraki guy at all, he could distinctly feel a clear energy scanning himself. Soon, the big-wig said in a slightly cold voice, “First of all, human, I must thank you for siding with the great Protoss race. You have won our friendship. I hope you can cherish it and maintain it well. It will be the most important asset of your life.”

The pride and arrogance of the Protoss were vividly embodied in his words. Sheyan bowed sincerely, but he was sneering in his mind at the same time.

‘The Pandora crystals and gas resources on this planet are almost depleted having undergone large-scale mining before. The amount of crystals that you can bring here through long-distance interstellar travels are also limited, which can only mean one thing – be it the Protoss or the Zerg, both of you can only produce a limited number of forces.’

‘You sly old fox. You hid yourself in the beginning to make use of your advantage in defence to dwindle down the Zerg’s numbers. The attacking Zerg would naturally suffer more casualties than the defending Protoss,so the more aggressively the Zerg attack, the less troops they would have in their hands after this… I see. So someone on the Zerg side saw through your intentions and ordered a full retreat. And you’re actually hurt – it must be because you were chasing after the retreating Zerg too hastily, so you fell for an ambush. An enemy on the same level as you had appeared!! ‘

Uraki seemed unwilling to have a long conversation with Sheyan. He did not even appear before Sheyan personally. He only sent a blue globe of light to the spot between Sheyan’s eyebrows and left a mark there to show that Sheyan’s ally hero identity had been recognised. That afforded Sheyan the same amount of privileges as Sokada and the other heroes.

After that, Sheyan was sent out of the Nexus by a gentle but resolute force. Uraki seemed reluctant to let Sheyan stay in the Nexus any longer than was necessary.