The Ultimate Evolution

Sheyan would still think about the causes and consequences of Uraki’s order, but the rest of the people here were all hardcore fans of Uraki who would probably jump into a sea of fire without any hesitation should he order them too. Sheyan could not get used to this fanatical atmosphere, so he instinctively looked for an ally.

Fortunately, although Aldaris was a noble Protoss Archon on the surface, he was still a filthy contestant at heart. When Sheyan saw the guy cast an inquiring gaze at himself, the two of them quickly exchanged their thoughts with their eyes. Sure, there were some friction between them on a personal level, but they were currently on official business, and Sheyan had also accepted Ol’ Kido’s mission, so he nodded his head in reply….

A number of high-mobility Protoss troops had assembled within the base, accounting for about one third of the mobile forces the Protoss presently had. They were mainly ground units – Zealots, Dragoons, and Archons.

Several fully-loaded Shuttles were flying at low altitudes under the protection of Dragoons. Under normal circumstances, they were deployed to make sure that slow but powerful forces such as the Reavers and the High Templars would not fall behind. Any enemy attempting to attack the Shuttles from the air would have to endure the bombardment of the Dragoons’ antimatter bolts.

This was also the standard configuration of the Protoss in ground warfare, tried and tested through countless battles to make sure it could cope with any dangerous situations – under the premise that the strength disparity between both sides was not too vast, of course.

Sheyan was currently disguised as a Zealot, standing alongside Sokada. The latter had been forced to give up his trademark giant hammer and red cape. He was currently muttering a string of curse words under his breath to express his strong dissatisfaction.

Tochego was intermixed within a large number of Dragoons. His two extra legs were not too conspicuous when he was among his kin, especially when he had deliberately camouflaged himself.

The Shuttles were actually loaded with very few Reavers and High Templars. They were mostly carrying the heroes that had distinct features.

Divina, the ace Phoenix pilot, was naturally staying in the base. She had high mobility, so she could provide reinforcement at a moment’s notice.

Sheyan took Ramtas with him. He wished to use his servant’s sensitive sense of smell to acquire the most benefit for himself. Suddenly, the sound of battle and a violent explosion came from the south of the base. The squad did not move, because they knew that the distance was too far. If they rushed over, the only thing they would see when they arrived was the Zerg disappearing into the darkness.

This squad had received orders from Lord Uraki. It was of the utmost importance for them to choose the right time to join the fray. They must cause damage with the first strike! Until then, they should continue to lurk in the darkness.

Yes, they were doing something that seemed very foolish. They were waiting for a chance to present itself.

They were waiting for a Zerg attack to happen near them, at which time they would move out in an all out offensive!

The Protoss who was leading the squad in Uraki’s stead was staying in the heroic Shuttle that had been disguised. He also had very strong mental powers and could pass his orders to every unit directly with his mind. Sheyan had yet to see his face and did not even know what type of Protoss soldier he was. He only knew that the guy was very strong, because he could sense it. The Protoss was like a highly alert spider that was pressing its front foot gently on the web it weaved, holding a tight grasp over the whole squad through the dense threads!

Ramtas, who was also disguised as a Zealot, twitched his nose a few times, then looked silently at Sheyan. He clenched his left hand, loosened his right hand and slightly skewed his left foot, indicating that he had smelled the Zerg and they were in the direction his toes were pointing at.

Of course, Sheyan would not give the Protoss squad a warning. He was only testing the accuracy of Ramtas’ sense of smell. Sure enough, in about 20 seconds, the sound of a Photon Cannon shot came from that direction, as well as the angry shouts of Zealots and the screams of Zerglings.

The whole squad moved out at once, joining the fight like an arrow flying into the battlefield. They had been waiting for half an hour like the most patient hunters, and they were now charging forward like the most ferocious beasts, pouncing on the Zerg assault troops who thought they had succeeded in their ambush!

The area the Zerg chose to attack was not that far away, so when the Zealots sprinting at the very front arrived at the scene, they could just see several defending Zealots being killed and turning into smoke, and the plasma shield of a Photon Cannon breaking under the attack of a group of Zerglings. The Photon Cannon instantly ignited with a blue flame.

But the Zerg’s joy was coming to an end. Usually, a Zealot’s fighting power was equivalent to three Zerglings, so even if the Protoss side had a certain disadvantage in terms of numbers, the quality of their troops could make up for it. Well, this Protoss reinforcement squad actually outnumbered the Zerg troops.

Twenty Zerglings and thirty Hydralisks became blood that littered the ground in an instant, but they were far from enough to sate the bloodthirst of the Protoss. This Zerg ambush squad was only the tentacle that the kraken had stretched out in the darkness. The tip of the tentacle had been severed, but the remainder of the tentacle was rapidly being retracted back.

Their job was simple – they had to pursue after the Zerg troops that were retreating in a hurry to chase them to the source, so that they could teach the Zerg a painful lesson that they would never forget!

This elite Protoss squad chased after the Zerg troops that were running away, pursuing them deep into the darkness without any hesitation!

A Zealot’s psi-blade fiercely pierced into the body of a Hydralisk. The Hydralisk’s sticky green body fluid sprayed out of its body and quickly evaporated. A Dragoon’s antimatter bolt exploded on a Zergling and burned it into smelly black garbage…

This crazed and resolute Protoss squad ruthlessly penetrated into the Zerg troops like a hot knife, abruptly setting off a bloody rampage in the darkness!

Until….

Until the trap the Queen of Blades laid down before she left reared its ugly head!

***

Sheyan ran away pathetically in a hurry. Behind him rose the strange sound of intense collision between metals. The soil on the ground rolled up, and a sharp wave of air over half a meter high surged like a tide.

It was not just simple air; it was a terrifying Lurker spine. After a Lurker burrowed into the ground, it could shoot its spines at a target through the ground. These spines would do the same amount of damage to all units they hit on the way to the target.

(TL: The Lurker is a Zerg unit that can attack only when burrowed. https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Lurker )

The fact that Sheyan was able to avoid the first round of Lurker ambush may still be considered a coincidence, but before the second round of sneak attacks came, he could no longer hide his real strength, because he already saw a Hydralisk in the distance spraying its acid here and there as if it was fooling around.

When Sheyan caught sight of the special Hydralisk from the corner of his eye, his heart immediately sank, because every time the damn Hydralisk spat, it was sure to find a near-death Protoss unit, thus making a kill with every shot!

The yellow Hydralisk started to turn towards this side. It slowly moved its body forward.

“Help!” Sheyan could not help shouting.

His cries were met with a faint “ding” in reply. On this chaotic battlefield, everyone knew what this sound meant.

That was the “ding” of the Protoss’ Observer. These small drones were usually deployed to reconnoitre vast unexplored areas, or to observe and record battle events for the scholars of the Protoss to study in the archives.

(TL: The Observer is a small, stealthy robotic Protoss reconnaissance unit. https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Observer )

The Observers were equipped with very complex sensor arrays, so they did not have enough energy left for defensive measures. However, they could easily detect invisible or hidden forces, and that alone made them very important on the battlefield.

The Observers usually did not have any active defensive systems at all when they fly at low altitudes to explore an area, but if they were deployed in combat areas, they could equip themselves with an invisibility force field to prevent detection by the enemies. Like the Arbiters, they did not need to expend any additional energy to maintain this invisibility force field.

When this Observer that was capable of detecting hidden units made its appearance, the Lurker that was lurking underground was instantly exposed. It was hiding behind a rock forty meters away!

The Observer had done its job.

Sheyan had been fighting tenaciously against this completely invisible enemy for ten seconds now. Although it had only been a short ten seconds, he felt like an eternity had passed. This time, with the Lurker exposed in front of him, Sheyan first dashed forward halfway, knelt on one knee and huddled up, taking a spine attack from the Lurker. While blood was still spraying from his body, he burst forward again, covering the remaining dozens of meters in the blink of an eye, and slammed his fist hard on the soft soil!

Soil scattered across the air. The underground Lurker felt the strong impact and pain coming from above, and let out a cry of agony. Sheyan, whose patience had worn thin, smashed eight more times into the ground until he heard the underground Lurker burst into bloody pieces.

But at that moment, Sheyan found that he had caught the attention of a ferocious enemy – the yellow Hydralisk that moved lazily! It was actually a heroic unit! That was why the Protoss expedition squad still fell into a bitter fight despite being made up of numerous heroes.

Because even though Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, had gone away, she had apparently anticipated this move by the Protoss.

And she had left behind enough Zerg heroic units to deal with it!!

Fight elites with elites, heroes with heroes!

It seems that the Queen of Blades was not only slightly stronger than the legendary Uraki in terms of personal strength, she was also slightly better in tactics!