Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, summer gave way to autumn.
Su Xingyu's packed daily routine made it hard for him to even notice the changing seasons.
Over the past few months, the Night Tribe had grown rapidly, fully absorbing the benefits brought by the unification of the Black Soil Plains. During this time, Ye Zhan led several successful campaigns, capturing multiple plane fragments and greatly expanding the tribe's mineral reserves.
After wrapping up his daily governance work, Su Xingyu sat back and scrolled through the information channel, watching players share their bizarre, often amusing experiences from across various dimensions.
Just as he was idly browsing, a sharp "beep, beep, beep" broke his focus—it was a private message alert.
Assuming it was Wang Dong, he casually opened it, only to find the sender was someone else: Wang Dong's brother, the highly skilled and notoriously powerful player Lin Ye.
"Hm?" Su Xingyu raised a brow. The two of them had interacted a few times since their previous transaction, so they could be considered acquaintances, if not quite friends.
The message was short and to the point.
[Glorious]:"Brother Xingyu, I have a friend who discovered a large plane fragment during an exploration. The natives there are strong and the situation is tricky. I'd like to invite you to join us in exploring it."
Su Xingyu frowned slightly as he considered the proposal.
The Night Tribe had explored several plane fragments of its own recently. The largest among them rivaled the size of the Black Soil Plain, while the smaller ones spanned tens of thousands of square kilometers. However, Su Xingyu wasn't entirely sure what Lin Ye meant by "large." Was this an exaggeration or an actual threat?
Curiously, Lin Ye didn't follow up with more information. It seemed he was giving Su Xingyu time to consider the offer.
After a moment of thought, Su Xingyu replied.
[Eternal Night]:"How large is it exactly? And what's the upper limit of extraordinary-level creatures?"
He had to ask. The Night Tribe's military power had grown, but strength alone wasn't enough. The real threat lay in the existence of high-level extraordinary beings.
Epic-tier creatures were a whole different battlefield.
Right now, the Night Tribe had no reliable countermeasure for facing epic-level opponents. If this fragment housed such beings, recklessness could lead to heavy casualties. It was a gamble he wasn't willing to take without all the facts.
[Glorious]:"At least 100,000 square kilometers. The upper limit for extraordinary beings is level 6, but there may be multiple such creatures."
Su Xingyu rubbed his chin in thought. That was quite a massive space. And multiple level 6 enemies… That complicated things.
[Eternal Night]:"How are we dividing forces and spoils? What's the cooperation model?"
[Glorious]:"I'll add you to the group chat. We're discussing the details there."
[Eternal Night]:"Alright."
[System Prompt]: Glorious invites you to join the 'Plane Exploration Group'. Accept? Yes/No.
"Yes."
[System Prompt]: Player 'Eternal Night' has joined the Plane Exploration Group.
[Glorious]:"Brothers, the boss is in."
[Lava]:"Welcome, welcome, warm welcome."
[Black Star]:"A real powerhouse!"
[Bull Warrior]:"Glad to have you."
[Forest]:"Welcome."
[Eternal Night]:"..."
[Glorious]:"Lava, recap the plane details for everyone."
[Lava]:"Got it."
[Lava]:"I discovered this plane during my last exploration. The environment is mainly grassland, with abundant natural resources. On the outer edges, three major monster tribes dominate: goblins, gnolls, and murlocs. Each tribe numbers in the hundreds of thousands, with many extraordinary warriors among them. Deeper in the central region lies a kobold empire. The goblins, gnolls, and murlocs all serve under this central kobold tribe. From the captives I interrogated, it appears there are multiple level 6 extraordinary creatures leading them."
He then uploaded all relevant data to the group.
"Gnolls," Su Xingyu muttered to himself. A nasty species, infamous for their savagery and battlefield tenacity.
[Eternal Night]:"With that many monsters, this won't be easy. How many troops are we each bringing? And again, how will the cooperation be structured?"
[Glorious]:"I'm bringing 30,000 troops, all extraordinary-tier warriors. If we agree to cooperate, I'll arrange a directional portal based on the plane's coordinates."
[Bull Warrior]:"I can send 40,000. Ten thousand are elite orc warriors, the rest are auxiliaries. Don't use them as cannon fodder though."
[Lava]:"My force is smaller—20,000—but every single one has entered the extraordinary realm."
[Forest]:"I'll contribute 16,000, all extraordinary. Mostly ranged classes."
[Black Star]:"You're all monsters! I'm low on forces right now. I'll send 5,000 but I'll handle the logistics."
[Eternal Night]:"I'll contribute 40,000."
[Glorious]:"That brings us to almost 150,000. Good. Now let's go over our troop compositions to prevent coordination issues later. Also, we should decide on a command structure. Individual battles are fine, but in larger engagements we'll need a unified command."
[Black Star]:"I agree. I'll stay behind and assign my troops to your command, Glorious."
[Glorious]:"..."
[Bull Warrior]:"You guys figure it out. I'm just muscle. My minotaurs are best used as front-line tanks. Just don't send them in to die for nothing."
[Forest]:"I'm not a strategist, so I'll leave the decisions to you all."
[Lava]:"I'd rather not lead. I'm prone to overextending."
[Glorious]:"..."
[Eternal Night]:"You take the lead, Glorious. If anything comes up, we'll reassess."
[Glorious]:"Understood."
With leadership settled, everyone began listing their unit types for coordination.
Each player brought unique strengths. Aside from Su Xingyu, Lin Ye (Glorious), and Wang Dong (Black Star), the other three didn't lead human factions.
The Bull Warrior commanded orcs, primarily minotaurs. Though not as elite as lion or tiger tribes, minotaurs were formidable—tough-skinned, heavy-hitting, and dangerous when they charged in formation. Even top-tier tribes would hesitate before engaging them head-on.
Lava's faction was mostly lizardmen, including a significant number of lizard priests, which gave them a robust magical backbone.
The Forest faction was composed of elves, mainly archers and spellcasters, known for their precision and devastating long-range firepower.
As the group finalized their battle strategy, they made several minor adjustments to their unit composition. With the basic structure in place, they were ready to mobilize.
A storm was brewing on the edge of a new plane, and this time, Su Xingyu wasn't going alone.