*SCREEEE*
The Vitannia Le Roach let out an ear piercing screech that made the Elves and Ji Liu hold their head in pain meanwhile, the remaining enemy Orcs all shouted "Yes, Your Highness!" and immediately re-grouped with the Vitannia Le Roach at its center.
The Orcs' offensive that was just 'march forward and fight', was changed into a very complex and strategic movement that overwhelmed the Elves. Some Elves then started attacking their fellow Elves due to the Vitannia Le Roach's mind control ability, causing more chaos in the battlefield.
Ji Liu and his monsters retreated and were recovering at the back line when the Orcs broke through the defense and caught them off-guard. Twenty Orcs headed towards their direction and they were forced to react.
With Xiao Cike still unconscious, it was up to Xiao Su to buy time by shooting up strong winds with [Advanced Poison Attack] while Zhao, Mr. Krabs and Jinao quickly set up another poison swamp. When the Orcs got into the swamp area, they were greatly slowed down enough to get picked off one by one.
The plan was going well, but then, the Vitannia Le Roach suddenly appeared to help the Orcs. Just as Ji Liu was planning to blind it with his shield, the Vitannia Le Roach jumped to Xiao Su injuring one of its wings and fell down.
Ji Liu felt an extreme amount of pain that almost made him lose consciousness. Realizing that the situation is worsening and that he could faint any time, he decided to send his monsters back first to The Base.
Just as the Orcs were to kill Xiao Su, Ji Liu was able to send it back to The Base. He then turned towards Jinao, but as he turn around, he felt another pain coursing through his body and this time, he wasn't strong enough to keep consciousness. This time, he fell down and fainted.
******
'Dark. Where am I?'
Ji Liu opened his eyes but it was as if he hadn't opened it at all.
*Argh*
He tried getting up but felt pain all over his body.
"You finally woke up."
Hearing a familiar voice, Ji Liu looked at a silhouette finally getting his eyes accustomed to the dark.
"What happened?" Ji Liu managed to sit and lean on the cold wall on his right.
"We almost got wiped out, we have no choice but to retreat here, deep within the Ancestral Grounds."
"Where are the others?" Ji Liu finally got used to the darkness and looked around. Aside from Goldberry, there were only 16 other Elves along with Jinao and Zhao and 5 other monsters.
Goldberry just closed her eyes and shook her head. "We are all that's left."
"What happened? How?" Ji Liu was full of questions.
Goldberry just stared at the ground for a while, took a deep breath and said, "All was going well until the insect came out of the leader of the Orcs, it went on killing everything on its path. Everyone would have died if it didn't start to evolve in the middle of the fight."
"The insect ordered its remaining Orcs to stand guard while it evolves and that was when we got the opportunity to run away. The Elder opened the Ancestral Grounds and sent all who is incapable of fighting inside. He told us to recover here, but after a while, we can hear the Orcs fiercely trying to open the entrance to the Ancestral Grounds and even tried breaking the walls." After Goldberry told Ji Liu the story, they both fell into silence.
Ji Liu then looked at his two monsters. Zhao had both of its claws badly mangled and its tail was broken at its tip while Jinao had Its whole right arm missing and is heavily covered in bandages. Ji Liu looked at the two who were previously resting, and asked, "Where are the others?"
Zhao only looked down, Dejected while Jinao clenched Its spear tightly and said, "When you sent Xiao Su back to The Base, Mr. Krabs was fatally attacked by the cockroach causing you to faint. Xiao Cike participated in holding off the Orcs."
Ji Liu closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breathes before saying, "I can still feel Xiao Cike's consciousness although it is extremely weak. Perhaps it is injured and hiding."
Ji Liu then sent back Jinao and Zhao after some more small talks. He can already stand up so he grabbed his shield and went towards Goldberry before asking, "Can I walk and look around in here?"
"There's nothing here to do anyway." Goldberry smiled wryly.
The room they are currently in looked like a storage area and there is a distinct metal-like door that's producing thudding sounds. The building was designed to withstand a direct nuclear blast, so any monsters with a level lower than 5th stage Legend rank would not damage it.
Ji Liu walked around using his shield as a light source. The light was decent enough to distinguish thing 5 meters away. The shield can shine passively due to an altered phosphor protein that absorbs carbon, and when it slowly release the stored carbon over time, it emits the light.
Ji Liu soon found a room with old computers and thought, 'can this contain anything important?' and called Jinao.
{Sorry, calls cannot be made. You are out of coverage area}
He looked at his phone in disbelief and just went to summon Jinao instead.
"Sorry to bother your rest but can you search back if these things can still be used? And what are they used for?" Ji Liu asked Jinao while putting one at a more visible area.
"Looks like a computer to me." Jinao circled the computer.
"I mean what these computers are used for." Ji Liu was dusting the rusted metallic body.
"Oh, if that's the case why don't we bring it back?" Jinao suggested.
"Can these be even ported to The Base safely?" Ji Liu was questioning Jinao's ability to think.
"We won't know until we try anyway, let's try one."
Ji Liu then used two 'Monster Teleporter' to teleport the computer and Jinao back to The Base.