Faced with the new War Saint Locustman, the Centaursprite tribe suffered devastating casualties. Those that survived fled back to their settlement.
Han Wu recalled both War Saint Locustmen. They had fought bravely and sustained significant injuries. Thankfully, Locustmen had powerful regenerative abilities. Even without treatment, a single day of rest would be enough for them to make a full recovery.
Han Wu’s gaze fell on the new Locustman. Its innate weapon had already transformed into the Thunder Halberd. When he checked its attributes, he was surprised to discover that it was slightly stronger than the first War Saint Locustman. The upgraded weapon was likely the reason.
To make things easier, Han Wu decided to give them names.
“From now on, you’re Stinger,” he said, pointing at the first War Saint Locustman.
Then he turned to the one holding the halberd. “And you’re Thunder Halberd.”
Stinger and Thunder Halberd knelt before Han Wu, grateful for the names he had bestowed upon them.
Han Wu had no intention of returning to the Centaursprite tribe just yet. His first priority was allowing his War Saint Locustmen to recover. At the same time, he needed to review the gains from the battle.
All the gifted Divine Essence he had received had been spent. His panel showed 120,000 energy points and 30,000 evolution points remaining. He still had a decent stockpile of materials, but the evolution points weren’t enough to unlock a full evolution line. He would have to proceed gradually.
Looking at his current roster, Han Wu saw that he already had two powerful War Saint Locustmen as frontline fighters and an Iron Abyss Bug as a tank. The Nuclear Locusts could occasionally serve as mages for firepower. What the team still lacked was a healer.
Han Wu opened his Evolution Tree and filtered through the species he had already unlocked. None of the locust units he had cultivated through conventional methods possessed healing abilities. However, the species obtained through Random Evolution offered several options.
He picked one of the cheapest choices: the Nightwing Butterfly, a mature-tier Digital Sprite under the Sprite Civilization’s system. Its skill allowed it to absorb life force from other living beings and transfer it to another target to heal injuries.
Han Wu linked the Nightwing Butterfly icon to the locust icon on the Evolution Tree. A transitional adolescent-tier species was needed to bridge the gap, and after a brief moment of consideration, he chose the Glutton Locusts.
He spent 2,000 evolution points, completing part of the evolution path.
[Locust (juvenile, Common life form) > Glutton Locust (adolescent, Elite life form) > Nightwing Butterfly (mature, Unique life form)]
Because the Nightwing Butterfly was relatively weak, its summoning cost was low. Han Wu easily summoned 200 of them and assigned them to heal the two War Saint Locustmen. As for the source of the life force they would use, Han Wu looked around before his eyes settled on the Iron Abyss Bug. The creature was massive, heavily armored, and clearly possessed an abundance of vitality.
At Han Wu’s command, the 200 Nightwing Butterflies latched onto the Iron Abyss Bug and started siphoning its life force to heal Stinger and Thunder Halberd. With the treatment, both recovered rapidly. Within four hours, their injuries had fully recovered. Meanwhile, the Iron Abyss Bug had lost a third of its life force and entered a weakened state.
Han Wu fed it several materials and estimated that it would recover before long.
With Stinger and Thunder Halberd restored to full strength, the first order of business was a counterattack against the Centaursprite tribe. After killing their king, the hatred between the two sides had reached a point beyond reconciliation. To prevent the Centaursprites from seeking revenge later, Han Wu decided to wipe them out.
Under his command, Stinger and Thunder Halberd charged into the Centaursprite settlement once more. Without the Thunder Halberd Centaursprite King to restrain them, the two tore through the entire tribe with ease. They also found the tribe’s treasure: the Centaursprite War Banner.
[Centaursprite War Banner: Grants endless courage to allies. Can be used as a weapon or as a material for ultimate-tier evolution.]
Han Wu immediately claimed it. This was now his fourth special material.
With the Centaursprite tribe eliminated, Han Wu once again followed his avatars’ guidance. If he ventured deeper into the mountains, he would find numerous tribes like the Centaursprites. Wiping out any one of them would yield substantial rewards. Meanwhile, continuing north would take him into a snowy region with frigid temperatures.
Concerned that the cold would reduce his Digital Sprites’ combat effectiveness, Han Wu abandoned the northern route. Instead, he turned his attention east and west, looking for a direction to explore.
While the avatars in his divine realm were surveying the eastern and western areas through the livestream feed, they spotted another contestant heading straight toward Han Wu’s location. Based on the trajectory, they were certain the contestant was coming for him.
After receiving the report, Han Wu muttered, “Riding a perfect-tier Metal Tyrannosprite with over a dozen Tyrannosprites in tow. That’s a pretty weak lineup. What does he want with me?”
Before Han Wu could figure it out, the contestant’s silhouette appeared in the distance. He had to admit that a pack of Tyrannosprites charging forward with tyrannosaur-like bodies did look rather imposing. The sight almost made him want a batch of his own to play with.
The contestant arrived before Han Wu. His gaze immediately fell on the empty Centaursprite settlement behind them. The corpses had already dissolved into data, but the wreckage spoke for itself. One look was enough for him to conclude that the person standing before him was someone he absolutely couldn’t afford to offend.
“Hello. My name is Loki. I’m a member of the Iron Fist family,” he introduced himself.
Han Wu didn’t know Loki’s intentions yet, so he kept his real name to himself. “I’m Locust Plague.”
Loki nodded approvingly. “Locust Plague. Strange name. Still, if you managed to secure a spot in this event, your background must be quite impressive.”
“Do you need something? If not, I’m leaving,” Han Wu said tentatively.
“Wait, brother. I’ll be straight with you. There’s something I want.” Loki glanced at the Centaursprite settlement behind Han Wu. “If I’m not mistaken, it should be in your hands.”
Han Wu could already guess that Loki was referring to the Centaursprite War Banner, but he played dumb. “What do you want?”
“A banner with a Centaursprite design on it. That material is very important to me,” Loki’s tone turned pleading. “I know it’s valuable, so I’m willing to trade a special material of equal value for it.”
Han Wu’s interest was piqued. “Oh? What do you have?”