266: Chapter 266 Pre-Battle Arrangements

Just as Zhang Huaiyuan launched his attack.

The other examinees were also working non-stop, seizing resources and territory.

The fifth month of the descent.

The other eight examinees from the Time Book House struck out simultaneously, advancing in all directions from their locations.

As the rolling torrent of steel ground forward, the local forces were rapidly vanishing.

In the same month.

All local forces in the region quickly formed an alliance to resist the powerful offensive of the mechanical legion.

Legendary terrifying creatures like dragons and Behemoths also joined the battlefield one after another.

The advancement process was interrupted.

By the end of the following month.

The group manufactured counter-weapons one after another and launched another counter-offensive.

Within just three months, they had occupied a total of over ten million square kilometers of land in the surrounding area.

The tenth month of the descent.

The nine Missionaries of the Holy Light Monastery gathered together and successfully converted the last resisting area, completely taking control of over 50 million square kilometers of land in the west of the continent and commanding an army of over a billion fanatical believers from various races.

The twelfth month of the descent.

The ten students of the Leviathan Academy each transformed into insect hives and launched an attack simultaneously.

Wherever the endless Zerg Swarm passed, not a single blade of grass remained; everything was devoured.

The entire southern region of the continent was completely turned into a dead zone.

In the same month, the students of the Time Book House, who had been advancing on multiple fronts, finally successfully linked up, occupying a portion of the eastern region of the continent.

They then began mechanized construction across the entire region.

A large number of engineering robots and similar entities were dispatched to begin full-scale mining of various resource points.

Steel walls and a large number of automated turrets were quickly erected, protecting the perimeter of the entire region.

In low Earth orbit, over a hundred satellites operated around the clock to prevent invasions by other forces.

On the internal lands, the group recycled almost everything that could be dismantled and reused, clearing large areas of land to place solar energy absorption devices.

In addition, Zhang Huaiyuan designed a core energy extraction device.

It could continuously penetrate deep into the planet to extract energy from its interior.

—This method was far more efficient than others, but excessive absorption would be accompanied by planetary instability, triggering various natural disasters or even disintegration.

However, in the current situation, they naturally couldn't afford to worry about that.

This was also one of their greatest advantages.

As long as they held out, they, with more energy sources, would eventually gain the upper hand.

The examinees of the three major academies were all well aware of this, and they were all frantically constructing defensive facilities or gathering troops to prepare for the final battle.

At this time, in the area where the Time Book House was located, by a communication terminal.

Since war could break out at any time, everyone was guarding key positions and did not dare to leave easily, so they could only communicate through this means.

Talix's voice came through:

"According to the intelligence from the satellites, the Holy Light Monastery is currently developing the fastest and occupying the most land by means of faith. Furthermore, many local experts have been converted into believers of the Holy Light."

His voice paused for a moment and became somewhat solemn:

"As far as I know, with the blessing of faith and Holy Light divine arts, the strength of these local beings will become extremely terrifying, far beyond what we dealt with before. Moreover, our points are close, so there is a more than 90% chance they will move against us directly."

"Additionally, for the Zerg Swarm, although they need flesh-and-blood life forms more for devouring and evolving, their commanders also understand that if things drag on, our advantage will only grow. It's not out of the question that they might join forces to attack us."

Talix analyzed calmly.

"What are our chances of winning? If we face attacks from both sides at once."

One of them asked.

"As of right now, zero percent."

Talix added in a calm voice: "If we can hold out for 100 days, it's one percent; twenty percent after a year; and seventy percent if we hold out for three years..."

"Of course... that's based on my level. If it were Junior Classmate Zhang, it might be different."

"Senior, you think too highly of me. Under the current conditions, what we can do is about the same."

Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head and said:

"However, I think there's a high probability the Zerg won't act directly. For them, they can just sit back and watch the tigers fight. The harder we fight, the more it benefits them. After all, their points are currently the lowest."

"Then what do you mean, Junior?"

"Currently, in terms of both time and resources, it's not enough to achieve perfect defense on both sides. We have to take a gamble."

Zhang Huaiyuan looked at the map provided by the satellites in the thought network and said with certainty:

"If the Holy Light Monastery wants to attack, it can only be from these three directions, and the one with the highest probability is here."

Zhang Huaiyuan sent the marked coordinates to his other companions simultaneously.

"Currently, most of our resources are invested in border defense. If it's breached, we will completely lose our ability to resist."

"Furthermore, the territory we occupy is the smallest, and our total resources are far less than the other two sides. We can only rely on the energy extraction devices to bridge the gap."

"I've calculated that completing the urbanization of the entire region will take at least three months, even with four students participating. We must hold out during that time."

Having said this, Zhang Huaiyuan paused for a moment to give them some time to think before continuing:

"I will personally guard the route with the highest probability. Although we have the satellite system for monitoring and time to adjust, they might have countermeasures, so we must also be careful with the remaining two routes."

"Senior Sister Qingran, I'll leave this upper one to you."

"No problem, don't worry, Junior."

Fang Qingran spoke with some delight, "Even if their entire main force arrives, I will definitely hold them off until your reinforcements arrive."

"Mhm, I believe in you."

Zhang Huaiyuan nodded.

As the Seventh Princess of the Silver Splendor Empire and having passed the Scholar examination of the Tower of Time, Fang Qingran's overall level was definitely among the top tier of this batch of examinees.

"As for the last route, the two of you will guard it together."

Zhang Huaiyuan thought for a moment and then instructed the two people ranked third and fourth in performance.

"Leave it to us."

The two of them also agreed without hesitation.

"As for Senior Talix, your task is the heaviest. Although the probability of a full-scale attack from the Zerg side isn't high, small-scale harassment and sneak attacks are inevitable."

After arranging the defense against the Holy Light Monastery, Zhang Huaiyuan said solemnly once again:

"The remaining seniors must focus entirely on logistics and construction; there are no spare hands to help you."

"I understand."

Talix's voice rang out, filled with determination:

"Rest assured, no matter what, I will definitely keep them outside the defensive line."

"Victory will surely belong to our academy!"

...