Chapter 2309 Giant Spike
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!!"
Moments later, enormous vines and wooden spikes shot out from the ground within the Leaf tribe's territory.
The vast number of Lickers couldn't evade in time, getting ensnared by the vines and immobilized by the wooden spikes.
"Now's our chance! Take them down!" Simultaneously, Sergei, who had been hiding in the shadows, shouted out, leading the charge as he emerged.
Numerous enemies concealed in ambush also revealed themselves, targeting the immobilized Lickers with concentrated arrow attacks.
"Hmph... using the terrain to their advantage..."
This tactic...
Was indeed effective!
Fang Heng snorted disdainfully and activated his communicator, speaking in a deep voice, "Command post, maintain current coordinates. Requesting ritual strike immediately!"
"Command post acknowledged! Attack will arrive in 30 seconds. Please take cover!"
Moments later, Fang Heng stepped into the secondary space projection.
After 30 seconds passed, a dense barrage of beams shot from a distance.
What!?
Serge's pupils abruptly locked.
It was an indiscriminate attack!
He had expected that by luring the enemy into the heart of the Leaf tribe's habitat for combat, they would be cautious about harming their own. He didn't anticipate the enemy's complete disregard!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"
A series of beams landed, explosions echoing one after another.
Some of the Leaf tribe members, along with the Licker horde, who couldn't evade in time, suffered from the Federation's beam weapon's blanket bombardment.
Over ten Leaf tribe members directly turned to ashes in the high-temperature beams, while the rest sustained severe injuries.
As for the Lickers, after being heavily wounded, they lay sprawled on the ground, their vitality quickly recovering. They once again sprang to life and lunged ferociously toward the heavily injured Leaf tribe guards.
"Chi, chi chi..."
The vines on the ground surged out once again, swiftly stabbing towards the Licker group.
Serge's expression hardened as he glanced at his injured comrades, and he said in a deep voice, "Protect the sacred tree's core area. We cannot let them get close! Take them down!"
"Affirmative!"
In the next instant, a brilliant green light surged forth.
The sacred tree's power among the Leaf tribe surged once more.
Vines on the ground rapidly sprouted, transforming the ruined forest into a vibrant display of life once again. The charred earth was swiftly covered in lush greenery, extending towards the Licker group!
...
Meanwhile, in the underground domain of the Leaf tribe's habitat, observing the situation outside through a mirror image, including Senzo, three senior elders remained silent.
"Senzo, the consecutive use of the sacred tree's dimensional strength has greatly depleted us."
Another elder, looking dissatisfied, added, "The Federation's attack caught us off guard this time. I've always said, Senzo, we shouldn't trust humans..."
As they spoke, a faint glow emanated from the teleportation passage on the right side of the great hall.
Vannes brought his subordinates and hurried back from the 'Inner World'.
"Grand Elder! What happened?"
Vannes had entered the Inner World to investigate the attack on the Spirit Prayer Temple, but before arriving, he received word halfway that the Leaf tribe's habitat had come under attack. Immediately, he turned back to his team to provide reinforcement.
"It's Fang Heng," Vannes informed, "the Licker swarm is attacking our habitat, and the Federation is also involved in this assault."
What?!
Vannes' eyes were filled with extreme shock.
Fang Heng was still alive?
And he even dared to take the initiative to look for him?
"Great Elder! I'll go with my people and capture him!"
Vannes immediately volunteered, fueled by both new grievances and old grudges.
Senzo remained silent, turning to look at the mirrored projection beside him.
"Alright, the preparations are complete," nodded Yuri, the Elder of Honor, from within the projection. "The sacred tree's spatial sensors have been activated. We're just waiting for him to show up. When he does, I'll use the sacred tree's strength to seal off the space within our territory, locking down his position and leaving him with nowhere to escape."
"Vannes, you've heard the plan. Go ahead and bring Fang Heng back."
Senzo raised his hand in a gesture, saying, "He had what we needed on him. We need to catch him alive."
Upon hearing this, Vannes immediately felt energized and declared in a deep voice, "Leave it to me. I will definitely bring him back."
It turned out that everything was under the control of Great Elder Senzo!
In previous encounters, Fang Heng had clearly been trapped in dire situations during battle, yet managed to escape time and time again.
Judging from the spatial strength fluctuations sensed, Fang Heng mostly relied on some form of special spatial science ability.
Great Elder Senzo must have deduced this and intentionally lured Fang Heng into the Leaf tribe's outer periphery, even at the cost of its destruction!
As long as they could sever Fang Heng's ability to escape, they could absolutely bring him back.
"Follow me!'
Vannes waved his hand and immediately left the hall with his elite subordinates to pursue Fang Heng.
As soon as they left the underground central area, Vannes clenched his fists and his eyes were burning with anger when he saw the ruins and his home in the flames of war.
The Licker horde rampaged through the habitat, causing continuous destruction, punctuated by occasional beam weapon attacks from the Federation, resulting in widespread explosion damage within the habitat.
Serge was leading the Leaf tribe guards in using the sacred tree's strength to clear out the invading Licker horde.
Meanwhile, a guard asked in a hushed voice, "Elder Vannes, how should we go about finding Fang Heng?"
D*mn it!
At this moment, Vannes also realized the problem.
The battlefield area was neither small nor large. If Fang Heng appeared on the battlefield, they would surely perceive him.
But what if he infiltrated alone?
How should he find it?
Vannes wasn't good at this sort of thing; it gave him a headache just thinking about it.
"What are your thoughts?"
His subordinate stood there for a moment, thinking hard before responding, "I think we should focus on the reason Fang Heng invaded our habitat..."
The reason?
Vannes' eyes lit up.
Of course!
The Leaf of Life!
Fang Heng, that kid, kept talking about the Leaf of Life. It was very likely that he attacked their habitat for the Leaf of Life!
In the underground secret warehouse!
"Let's go! Go to the warehouse!"
...
Fang Heng, unaware of the tree spirit tribe's plans against him, was currently heading toward the direction where the ripple of the sacred tree's strength was sensed.
On the ground, chaos reigned as the attention of the Leaf tribe was focused on dealing with the Licker and Federation forces.
Maybe he could take advantage of this opportunity!
Emerging once again from the secondary space projection, Fang Heng had already arrived deep within the passages beneath the Leaf tribe's habitat.
He had been here before.
When Ovi had led him there previously, Fang Heng entered the cultivation area of the sacred tree to meet Yuri, the honored elder of the tree spirit tribe.
"It should be in that direction."
Relying on his memory, Fang Heng slowly felt his way forward and soon located the passage he had visited before, guided by the ripple of the sacred tree's strength.
"Found it."
Fang Heng thought to himself that his luck was holding, immediately hiding his aura and cautiously proceeding forward.
"Who are you?"