Chapter 562

Chapter 562: The Agreement Must Be Torn Apart

“What are you saying? This is impossible!”

In the vast blood pool, Duke Farah could not believe the report from a surviving strong fighter from the Deserted Star.

According to this survivor, the Undying Race army on the Deserted Star was attacked by an assassination team from the Great Flame Empire.

Two Marquises and more than fifty Counts were all either killed or captured.

Hundreds of Viscounts and Barons were also mostly killed or captured, losing communication.

Only a few escaped without being targeted by the assassination team from the Great Flame Empire.

This outcome left Duke Farah in disbelief.

The gathering of over two billion troops was a secret within the Undying Race, known only to a few Marquises and Counts.

Even most Counts and the strong fighters had no idea why this army was being assembled.

Ordinary soldiers didn’t even know what mission this gathering had or what Deserted Star they were on.

In just four or five days, how could the Intelligence Organization of the Great Flame Empire have learned about it?

Moreover, on the Deserted Star, after receiving a warning from Marquises Hippo, Duke Farah repeatedly advised the two Marquises to be on guard against a sudden attack from the Great Flame Empire.

The two Marquises had also established a detailed defense and surveillance network to ensure monitoring within a radius of millions of kilometers.

In the end, the army from the Great Flame Empire did not appear, but their assassination team infiltrated the Deserted Star?

And, as if entering a deserted land, they killed or captured all the Marquises and Counts among the over two billion troops, as well as over half of the Viscounts and Barons.

This was too outrageous and absurd.

One must understand that no matter how powerful the Intelligence Organization of the Great Flame Empire was, even if they could locate the assembled troops, they should not have known the whereabouts of the Undying Race leaders.

Unless…

Duke Farah’s heart skipped a beat.

Unless the Great Flame Empire had an insider among the high-ranking leaders of the Undying Race!

Could it be Marquises Hippo?

His first thought was Marquises Hippo.

After all, after the decision to mobilize troops, the first person he contacted was Marquises Hippo.

As for Marquises Hippo’s warning about the attack from the Great Flame Empire, it could very well have been to absolve himself of any responsibility.

But upon further thought, he dismissed this suspicion.

Marquises Hippo was indeed the first to know about the troop mobilization; if he had sent his subordinates to gather information right away, it wouldn’t have been difficult for him to find out where they were gathering.

However, Marquises Hippo could not possibly know the distribution points of the Undying Race fighters.

Although he had decided to let Marquises Hippo command the entire Undying Race army, Marquises Hippo was not currently in Undying Race territory; he was leading an assassination team to the territory of the Flying Wolf Tribe.

Thus, even as the commander, Marquises Hippo would not know the distribution points of the Undying Race fighters.

The only ones who truly knew were the two Marquises and a few extremely powerful Counts.

But the two Marquises and all the Counts had been captured or killed…

“Damn it!”

Duke Farah couldn’t help but curse.

The capture or killing was very likely staged.

He firmly believed that there must be an insider among the high-ranking leaders of the Undying Race working with the Great Flame Empire.

This insider was either one of the two Marquises or the Counts who knew the distribution points of the strong fighters.

What to do?

Duke Farah tried hard to calm himself down.

Now was not the time to investigate who the insider was and how the Great Flame Empire had bribed them.

That could be pursued slowly.

The pressing issue was to figure out what to do next.

After the Undying Race erupted in civil war and Duke Layton raised the banner of rebellion, Duke Farah managed to maintain good relations with both sides by sending an army to support the Undying King while also supplying Duke Layton with vast resources and treasures.

However, the strong fighters under his command had not been affected by the civil war and remained stationed in the Tianling Star Cluster.

He still had many Marquises and Counts he could mobilize.

He could send more Marquises and Counts to take charge of the over two billion elite army at any time.

But what if they ended up being targeted by the assassination team from the Great Flame Empire again?

No matter how many strong fighters he had, they should not be treated like grass, being cut down batch by batch.

The best solution, clearly, was to withdraw the elite army back to the various life planets controlled by the Undying Race.

But doing so would mean tearing up the agreements with the Flying Wolf Tribe, Poxin Tribe, and Cangyu Tribe, which meant he couldn’t send troops within ten days or reach the territory of the Flying Wolf Tribe within twenty days to suppress the army of the Great Flame Empire.

Everything planned before would vanish into thin air.

Duke Farah felt unwilling.

After much hesitation, he took out the communication stone and contacted Marquises Hippo.

“Duke, have you already sent your troops?”

Marquises Hippo immediately connected the call.

“Not yet…”

Duke Farah replied helplessly, “I just received news that the assassination team from the Great Flame Empire has killed or captured both Marquises in charge of the army and all the Counts. Most of the Viscounts and Barons are also heavily lost.”

“This is impossible! The assassination teams from the Great Flame Empire are indeed elusive. Our own assassination team has been pursued and attacked several times, relying on the number of strong fighters to escape smoothly.”

Marquises Hippo’s voice was full of disbelief: “Even if the assassination team could sneak in silently to the assembly point, how could they know where these commanders’ headquarters were?”

“Furthermore, as far as I know, the assassination team from the Great Flame Empire lacks top-tier combat power and is divided into at most two or three groups. These commanders, knowing that others have been attacked, wouldn’t they change locations immediately?”

“What if a Marquises or Count-level strong fighter was bribed by the Great Flame Empire?”

Duke Farah countered.

“…”

Marquises Hippo was left speechless.

It seemed he couldn’t refute this.

What he truly thought, only he would know.

Duke Farah had no idea that after hearing about the leaders of the elite army being killed or captured, Marquises Hippo was actually extremely excited.

Because these captured Undying Race strong fighters would soon be able to join their ranks, becoming a driving force for their future rebellion and unification of the entire Undying Race.

“Right now, we either send a strong team to take over the army, or we tear up the agreements and order the army to withdraw to our territory. What do you think?”

Duke Farah asked.

“…”

Marquises Hippo fell into silence again, seemingly contemplating this difficult decision.

It wasn’t until several minutes later that Marquises Hippo’s reluctant voice finally spoke: “Let’s withdraw to our territory! The Military intentions of the Great Flame Empire are clearly to block us, the Undying Race, from sending our troops.”

“This assassination team is too strange; we can’t find their whereabouts at all. Unless you personally take command, otherwise we will just face second and third attacks.”

“Even if you personally oversee command, it doesn’t guarantee that this assassination team won’t infiltrate the various life planets to kill our Undying Race strong fighters.”

“Until we find a way to deal with and resolve the threat posed by this assassination team, we simply cannot contend with the Great Flame Empire. If the Great Flame Empire spreads the news of our Undying Race strong fighters continuously being assassinated, it might even accelerate the formation of alliances among the tribes, leading to a worse situation.”

Duke Farah remained silent.

His thoughts were actually in line with Marquises Hippo’s deductions.

However, the shattering of his hopes left him feeling very reluctant, wanting to seek inspiration and comfort from Marquises Hippo.

But it was clear that Marquises Hippo could not provide him with either.

Tearing up the agreements with the three tribes was the only way to minimize the losses right now.