Chapter 2316 Intention
The only upside was that the Wood tribe excelled slightly more in the skill of root entanglement than the Leaf tribe, enabling them to control more Lickers. Moreover, the Wood tribe displayed extreme caution, swiftly retreating after pursuing the Licker horde for a distance, steadfastly guarding their domain.

….
Now, it was time for the second wave, right?

Serge couldn’t help but glance at Fang Heng.

Fang Heng coincidentally looked back at Serge, a hint of a smile on his face. He said, “Serge, speaking of which, I wonder what tactics your Leaf tribe employs. You wouldn’t be letting me attract the attention of the Wood tribe here while you secretly do something sneaky elsewhere, would you?”

Caught off guard by the direct hit, Serge awkwardly chuckled.

“Hahaha, Fang Heng, you jest.”

D*mn it!

How did this kid guess it?

Fang Heng was right!

Tonight was the monthly gathering of the four major clans of the tree spirit tribe. They had an agreement with the Wood tribe to conduct a material trade after the meeting, with the Soul tribe and Root tribe acting as intermediaries to witness the transaction.

Taking advantage of the absence of the Great Elder from the camp, Fang Heng and the humans planned to attack the headquarters of the Wood tribe. Upon learning of the attack on their habitat, the Great Elder of the Wood tribe would undoubtedly rush back to oversee the situation.

Meanwhile, in the shadows, Vannes and his group would execute a plan to raid a Temple of Incantation belonging to the Wood tribe, seizing directly the sapling and the essence of the sacred tree seed.

After recent cultivation efforts, the Leaf tribe received intelligence that the essence of the sacred tree seed obtained by the Wood tribe had finished its cultivation and was currently being absorbed. This presented the perfect opportunity to seize it.

The Leaf tribe knew that within the Wood tribe’s habitat was a sapling of the sacred tree. With the power of the sacred tree, it would be difficult to conquer the area. Hence, by having Fang Heng attack openly and draw the Wood tribe’s attention, they could capitalize on the opportunity to seize the essence of the sacred tree seed.

Once they fully absorbed the essence and the sapling of the sacred tree, the strength of their tribe would see a significant increase. As for any objections from the other tribes later on, they could deal with that when the time came.

Fang Heng was unaware of the Leaf tribe’s tactical intentions.

Continuing as planned, he systematically controlled the Licker swarm to harass and drain the Wood tribe at the periphery of their habitat, much like two days prior.

The Wood tribe showed resilience.

Their guards maintained the defensive barrier around the perimeter, engaging in a war of attrition with the barrier and a team of zombies.

Whenever the barrier’s strength weakened to a certain point, it unleashed waves of sacred tree power.

It seemed like they were buying time.

Soon enough, Federation reinforcements arrived.

Having pre-deployed spatial transmission devices thirty kilometers away, the Federation completed the deployment and targeting of their long-range light beam arrays in just over half an hour.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!”

The long-range light beam attacks pierced through thirty kilometers, ultimately striking the defensive barrier at the periphery of the Wood tribe’s habitat.

The entire energy barrier violently trembled, showing signs of faltering.

Inside the Wood tribe, Elder Klonor, responsible for guarding the habitat, furrowed his brow.

Of all nights, they were attacked tonight!

During the monthly council of the major clans, the Great Elder and several other elders had personally gone there.

They had promptly informed the Great Elder.

The trouble was, the Licker swarm was like an adhesive layer they couldn’t shake off.

Coupled with the Federation’s subsequent light beam artillery support…

The outer barrier was already in danger.

The periphery barrier was now on the brink of collapse.

“Elder, the Federation’s long-range light beam attacks are very intense. We may struggle to hold out for long with such concentrated coverage.”

“Hmm, activate the sacred tree’s power, enhance the operation of the magic array, and block their attacks.”

Klonor was always cautious in his actions, preferring to avoid mistakes even if it meant consuming more of the sacred tree’s dimensional strength.

“Understood!”

…

Inner World.

The high-level meeting of the tree spirit tribe was interrupted halfway through.

A hurried figure entered and whispered a few words into the ear of Tam Sangga, the Great Elder of the Wood tribe. Tam Sangga’s expression changed slightly upon hearing the news.

Under the gaze of everyone present, Tam Sangga stood up and nodded, saying, “Our tribe’s habitat has come under attack. Today’s meeting ends here, my apologies.”

Without further explanation, Tam Sangga swiftly departed with several elders from his tribe. The remaining representatives of the other three tribes displayed various expressions.

Soon, they began discussing in hushed tones.

“Our habitat under attack? Is it the Human Federation?”

“When did humans gather such audacity to attack our tree spirit tribe’s territory?”

“Come to think of it, I heard the Leaf tribe was also attacked by the Federation a few days ago?”

“Fang Heng and the Federation mixed up in this, it’s going to be difficult to handle.” As the conversation turned to the Leaf tribe, Senzo remained calm. He stood up and addressed the gathering, “If any of you are here for amusement, spare yourselves. Since the Wood tribe’s elders are absent, we do not need to linger. We’ll take our leave.”

With that, Senzo waved his hand and departed with his subordinates, leaving the Soul tribe and Root tribe members exchanging looks.

Upon leaving the council hall, Senzo nodded approvingly, signaling, “Action.”

“Understood!”

…

Outside the Wood tribe’s habitat, Fang Heng cast a sidelong glance at Serge.

Clearly, the Leaf tribe was once again plotting something behind his back.

On the frontlines, the Licker horde remained advantageous, steadily depleting and consuming the Wood tribe’s outer barriers and sacred tree energies.

The Wood tribe’s strategy was overly cautious, preventing Fang Heng from finding opportunities to stealthily eliminate one or two elders and acquire rainbow crystals.

“So, Senzo still hasn’t arrived?”

“Rest assured, the operation is underway. Everything is going according to our plan.”

“Humph!” Fang Heng snorted coldly. “Can you tell me about your plan? And where is Senzo? If he doesn’t show up soon, our cooperation might just end here.”

Seeing Fang Heng’s impatience, Serge reluctantly revealed the prepared script. “Fang Heng, we’ve already started the operation.”

“Oh?”

“At this moment, the Great Elder of the Wood tribe is attending the tree spirit tribe’s high-level meeting in the Inner World. Senzo and the Elders Council are trying to engage the Great Elder of the Wood tribe to buy us time.”

“Tch, playing games.”

“We’re just concerned that information might inadvertently leak,” Serge explained, just as a call from the Federal Commander’s office came through on the communicator.

“Fang Heng, we’ve detected a significant power ripple in a nearby domain,” the message began. “Based on the ripple’s location, it appears to be emanating from a Temple of Incantation controlled by the Wood tribe. We’ve dispatched a team to investigate immediately.”

Upon hearing this, Fang Heng’s pupils contracted sharply as he looked towards Serge.

Serge clearly heard the Federation’s communication, but he remained composed and said in a low voice, “As I mentioned earlier, we’ve already taken action.”

Well played.

Fang Heng thought to himself, the Leaf tribe certainly knows how to play the game. While he was here, keeping the Wood tribe’s main forces engaged, they were off exploiting opportunities at the Wood tribe’s various sub-bases.