Tempest of the Battlefield Chapter 252

However, this time was different. The soldiers held the Queen's pair of eyeballs while howling and cheering for the platoon that had entered the cave and came back alive,

"Captain, I request re-entering that cave, I got a kid down there."

"Lieutenant, I am afraid your soldier is already dead. You have done a good job; you should be proud of him!"

"Captain, he is a tough lad. It was he who distracted the most powerful Zergs. I think he is still alive."

"Corporal, let us go!"

All members of the ninth platoon had emerged except for one. But, all of them were injured. Big O's wound was the most serious; his belly was cut open, revealing the pink innards.

Captain Sun Li considered Jansining's request for a while and agreed. "Ender, dispatch two extermination squads to the hive. We got a boy down there."

"Yes, Sir!"

"Jansining, take a rest. We will handle the rest from here."

"Captain, I'm fine. Let me go down there with them, please!"

"Take it easy, son. You will only increase our risk down there." Ender pointed out the truth bluntly.

Meanwhile, Wang Tong had already found his way out of the cave and found the human force. He couldn't see his platoon until he saw a crowd of soldiers and heard them shout "Queen's eyeballs!". Wang Tong pushed the soldiers away and saw the familiar faces.

"Lieutenant, sorry I am late!"

Jansining was persuading Sun Li to allow him to go with the extermination team when he heard Wang Tong's voice. Jansining looked at Wang Tong in disbelief, "You...you...For f*ck sake! it IS you!"

Jansining rushed to Wang Tong and embraced him, and the rest of Wang Tong's teammates followed his lieutenant and lifted their hero up while cheering for his return. Although he couldn't join his teammates, Big O laid on a stretcher and laughed with them. The ninth platoon had made a miracle. They had entered the queen's hive and killed the queen without losing a single man.

"Captain, this is Wang Tong. He did it! He killed the Queen!" Jansining shouted at everyone. "Hey everyone, this boy is our hero. He killed the queen!"

Wang Tong's young age surprised Sun Li, as he shouted out. "Bothers and sisters, it looks like our future is brighter than we thought! Let's kick more Zerg asses and cheer for our hero!"

Wang Tong was caught off guard by the unwarranted credit and tried to explain what had happened, "No captain, I didn't kill the Queen. It was lieutenant, it was lieutenant!"

Wang Tong shouted, but the thunderous cheers drowned his voice. Soldiers stood on top of the tanks and the boulders as they waved their weapons and cheered for Wang Tong and the ninth platoon's perfect success.

Still unknown to the ninth platoon was that the initial coordinates of the hive they were given were correct. However, the Zergs had moved away since the soldiers were given the coordinates. The Zergs had incredible hole boring abilities, so they were able to relocate their hive quickly underground. The HQ eventually received Overbite's distress signal, and the military immediately mobilized the army to the correct location.

The military had achieved a total victory over the Zergs. Not only had they kill a Zerg Queen, but they had also obtained two eyeballs, which could prove to be precious specimen for the scientists.

The ninth platoon had finished a mission impossible. They were a relatively unknown team, but right then, they had become the paragon of bravery among the soldiers.

Each member of the ninth platoon would receive a third rank golden shield badge, and Wang Tong and Jansining were guaranteed a golden shield badge of the second rank since being able to kill a queen and be back alive was unprecedented in the history of the military.

Everyone fell asleep right way as soon as they got on the transport vehicle. They had overspent their energy during the battle, so their body desperately needed the recharge. They didn't let exhaustion and injury slow them down during the fight, all because their iron wills supported them.

Three days later, everyone had received their badges. Wang Tong counted himself lucky to have the aid of Goldie. Otherwise, the entire platoon might still be buried deep down in that cave.

Both Jansining and Sun Li also understood the vital role that luck had played in the outcome of the event. The ninth platoon's strength was not remotely close to that of the extermination teams. Yet, not one extermination team had come out of a queen's hive alive.

Although luck might have caused their success, the military could not deny their mettle and bravery. Therefore, no one had opposed to rewarding the soldiers with high ranking badges.

While the ninth platoon waited for Big O's return from the medical facility, they were ordered to rest and recuperate.

After the battle, everyone felt respect for Wang Tong for his strength and bravery. Soon, Wang Tong's comrades started to ask his opinion on their skills and techniques.

After a few days, Wang Tong gained a better understanding of everyone's training background. Everyone practiced the standard thirty-two node version tactics. However, their results varied from person to person based on their inborn talents. Jansining was the only fourth level warrior, and rest were in their third level expect for Overbite who was still a second level fighter.

Wang Tong reasoned that if the soldiers were given a better set of METAL suit, their combat strength could be boosted. However, higher tier METAL suits were reserved for only the elite teams such as the extermination squad. Although the ninth platoon had become the hero, they didn't get any special treatment regarding their METAL because the military knew that a lucky miracle did not amount to a leap in their actual combat abilities. When the platoon members received their new METAL in replacement of their old ones that were destroyed during the battle in the hive, they found out that they had gotten the same tier of METAL as they used to wear. Wang Tong, however, was the exception, as his METAL was upgraded to the second tier from the first tier.

Truth be told, the soldiers didn't expect too much from the military to begin with. So, they were quite content with receiving a brand new set of METAL suit.

The first tier METAL had greatly hindered Wang Tong's defensive ability. Wang Tong always considered the defense the most critical element in surviving a battle. So, Wang Tong was pleased with his upgrade to the second tier.

In the days that followed, Wang Tong focused his attention on improving his comrades' skills. He concluded that improving soul energy was what his teammates needed to focus on during their training.

The lack of reliable soul energy was a problem at all levels of the military. Most of the soldiers were in their second or the third level, but this amount of soul energy was not enough when they needed to face enemies outnumbered them by hundreds or thousands of times.

On the day of the final battle between humans led by General Li Feng and the Zergs, the battle created the highest record of human casualties, as it claimed 60 million souls. The battle, although costly, had put the Zerg's advance to a jarring halt. The Zergs were caught off guard by their defeat as they didn't expect to encounter such a great power on a planet inhabited by the soft and squishy human.

Perhaps humans were not the most physically capable opponent the Zergs had encountered along their path of destruction, but they definitely were the most belligerent and cunning.

General Li Feng had insisted on confronting the Zergs outside the solar system despite the voice of opposition which had argued that fighting outside of the familiar solar system was suicidal. Eventually, General Li Feng was able to persuade everyone that the day Zergs entered the solar system would be the start of human annihilation from this universe.

The population of the Zerg grew exponentially. Therefore, if the humans didn't reduce their number early on and allowed them to reproduce, the solar system could be quickly overwhelmed.

Although the battle was costly, it had taught the human race the importance of uniting together. Therefore, the alliance of the Earthling and the Kaedians was born soon after the battle was concluded.

Chapter end