TSA Chapter 70

Tang Man and Lin Mo donned their battle armor and, one after the other, charged toward the resource planet occupied by the Zerg at high speed, landing in a dense forest.

Lin Mo silently found a vantage point and concealed himself under the cover of the trees. While closely watching his surroundings, he set up his long-range ray gun and used the scope to lock onto Tang Man’s position, ready to provide support at any time.

Tang Man’s battle armor was equipped with a mimicry function, allowing him to disguise himself as a Zerg for a short period. He wouldn’t be exposed if he avoided close contact with other Zerg. He carefully advanced toward the base, encountering a patrol unit of Zerg and seamlessly blending into the swarm, moving along with them.

Zerg always traveled in groups, and it was rare to see a lone one. If his movements were too deliberate and he went alone, he would be easily discovered.

Although the Zerg weren’t highly intelligent, they weren’t completely brainless either.

Sure enough, by integrating into the swarm while keeping a slight distance from the other Zerg, they didn’t detect anything unusual. Tang Man carefully followed the group, trying to locate the Zerg’s main nest.

As he cautiously moved forward, he suddenly heard gunfire in the distance.

“Lin Mo, what’s happening?” Tang Man immediately contacted Lin Mo through his communicator, assuming there was a problem on Lin Mo’s side.

“Not sure. The sound came from the C3 direction—probably another team. I’ll switch my scope to check,” Lin Mo replied.

He quickly adjusted his scope to the C3 area and saw a battle-armored warrior engaged in combat with the Zerg. The markings on the armor were yellow—it was someone from the Yellow Team. This person was likely here to scout, just like Tang Man, but somehow ended up running into a Zerg patrol and got exposed.

Realizing the danger, the warrior immediately launched an attack, temporarily pushing back the Zerg with gunfire before attempting to retreat.

However, once they found their prey, the Zerg never gave up. They let out high-pitched calls to summon reinforcements, and in no time, a massive swarm of Zerg gathered. Many of them were flying types, forming a dark cloud that completely blocked out the sky—a terrifying sight.

The lone warrior was soon surrounded and eliminated from the competition.

“Tang Man, how’s your situation? Do you need to retreat?” Lin Mo asked, worried that the swarm attracted by the commotion would affect Tang Man.

“No need, I’m fine,” Tang Man replied. He had no intention of leaving—he had been struggling to find the Zerg’s nest, and now this situation was actually a perfect opportunity.

“Alright,” Lin Mo trusted Tang Man’s judgment and switched his scope back to provide cover.

By observing the direction from which most of the Zerg were emerging, Tang Man quickly located their nest—it was the planet’s original resource extraction base. As the only defensive stronghold on the resource planet, the mining base had been the Zerg’s first target for elimination. After wiping out the defenders, they had taken over the base as their new nest.

The base was now in ruins, with broken walls and shattered structures everywhere. Anything containing energy—ore, alloy-built mechas, or steel-reinforced walls—had been devoured.

Zerg had overrun even the underground storage rooms, which had been used to store mined ore, but, the ores inside remained untouched—they were all top-tier energy minerals, glowing faintly even in the darkness.

These Zerg were the vanguard, clearing the planet of all other lifeforms. Once only pure energy resources remained, they would welcome the arrival of their Queen. The high-grade stones stored in the underground chamber were meant to be offered to her, providing the power needed to breed more offspring.

After thoroughly scouting the base, Tang Man sent a signal to Lin Mo, preparing for a quiet retreat.

He moved at a steady pace, mimicking a real Zerg, ensuring that his withdrawal didn’t appear abrupt or suspicious.

At that moment, another team was discovered by the Zerg. As the swarm surged outward in pursuit, Tang Man seized the opportunity to activate his mimicry ability again—this time, disguising himself as a rock. The Zerg completely ignored him.

Once the Zerg dispersed, Tang Man deactivated his mimicry and sprinted toward Lin Mo’s position.

After quickly regrouping, Tang Man relayed the intelligence he had gathered from the resource planet to Han Xiao. Using the data provided, Han Xiao swiftly estimated the number and general distribution of the Zerg.

The Zerg numbers were slightly higher than they had expected, but not beyond their ability to handle. The competition wouldn’t assign them an impossible task, so the Zerg presence on this resource planet was balanced in a way that all six teams could theoretically manage. Since there was no Zerg Queen constantly spawning new creatures, every Zerg they killed meant one fewer to deal with.

A large number of energy stones were stored in the base’s underground chamber. As long as they could enter the base successfully, Han Xiao was confident he could take on the Zerg using those energy reserves.

Although two reconnaissance warriors from different teams had already been eliminated, the status of the other two teams remained unknown. They might have also gathered information about the base, so Han Xiao’s team couldn’t afford to let their guard down.

Han Xiao quickly adjusted the battle plan. He decided to send Shi Qiuyan, Shen Ruoyan, and Wu Huan to divert the Zerg’s attention while he led the main squad straight for the base, employing a feint strategy. Zerg’s intelligence was relatively low, and without a Zerg Queen to coordinate them, their actions were largely instinct-driven. They relied purely on their destructive power and overwhelming numbers in combat, making them easy to deceive.

As long as Shi Qiuyan’s group could hold out for some time, it would be enough. Meanwhile, Jiang Yue and Wu Fei would hide outside the base, ready to provide support while also keeping an eye on other teams to prevent sneak attacks. After all, as the saying goes, ‘While the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole watches from behind.’ They had no intention of becoming the unfortunate mantis.

However, as the saying also goes, plans never keep up with change.

Before Han Xiao and his team could initiate their plan, another team had already engaged in battle with the Zerg—conveniently in the opposite direction of the base.

Watching the swarm of Zerg rush toward that area, Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and said, “Looks like we don’t need the feint anymore. Xiao Si, you and your group will move with us.”

“Got it.” The team boarded their mechas, suited up in battle armor, and flew out of their starship toward the resource planet.

Thanks to the coordinates provided by Tang Man, they landed directly near the base and immediately encountered the Zerg stationed there. A battle broke out instantly.

Han Xiao maneuvered his mecha with extreme agility, making it seem almost alive rather than a mere machine. He leaped through the air effortlessly, dodging Zerg attacks with ease, then fired his cannons, obliterating the approaching creatures. Lin Han’s mecha was surrounded by an electric grid—any Zerg that got too close was instantly fried to a crisp. He deliberately charged into areas with the densest Zerg presence. Liu Nian and Shi Qiuyan followed suit, each attack taking down swaths of enemies.

While the four mechas rampaged through the battlefield, Shen Ruoyan and Wu Huan weren’t idle either. Though their battle armor lacked the sheer destructive force of mechas, their efficiency in exterminating Zerg was no less impressive. Wu Huan wielded dual energy blades like a reaper harvesting lives, each strike piercing a Zerg’s head with surgical precision. Shen Ruoyan’s energy whip danced through the air like a shimmering wall of light, forming an impenetrable barrier that no Zerg could pass through.

Meanwhile, Lin Mo and Tang Man were rushing to join them, clearing out Zerg along the way.

The intense battle scene electrified the audience, who couldn’t contain their excitement. Even though the players inside the virtual battlefield couldn’t hear them, the spectators continued cheering loudly for their favorites.

In contrast, the most chaotic teams—the Red Team and Green Team—were riddled with internal conflict. Disputes over resource allocation and command decisions caused endless friction, and they split up almost immediately after landing on the resource planet. Operating independently proved disastrous—they hadn’t even found the base’s location before getting eliminated.

The Blue Team and Yellow Team fared slightly better. Knowing they couldn’t compete with the superior Black and White Teams, they attempted to form an alliance. However, their mutual distrust made cooperation difficult. Since only one additional team could advance alongside Black and White, neither wanted to be the one left behind.

Eventually, they decided to send scouts ahead to land first and gather intel before regrouping. However, coordination issues led to the elimination of three scouts in succession.

Meanwhile, the Red and Green Teams’ engagement with the Zerg diverted the swarm’s attention, allowing the Black and White Teams to launch their assault on the base.

Realizing they had no choice but to cooperate, the remaining members of the other teams quickly regrouped and charged toward the base as well.