Chapter 1199 - 1199 666 The Death of Iron Armor

1199: Chapter 666, The Death of Iron Armor 1199: Chapter 666, The Death of Iron Armor “You need to be careful; he’s very strange.”

In the battle, Salius gave a kind warning.

But Matins had actually already sensed it.

And he thought it was normal, after all.

Humphrey Paolo was undoubtedly the earliest infected among the Ironclad Interstellar Soldiers, and perhaps the “favorite” of that “Queen,” having undergone a deeper insect transformation.

This Iron Legion Commander was significantly different from ordinary interstellar warriors, far more so than from humans.

On this basis, his original vital points might no longer be vital; his body could perform many non-human actions…

Perhaps this was all normal.

It was precisely on this foundation that Humphrey Paolo could display such formidable combat strength, even to the extent of being able to contend with Salius—ordinarily speaking, the “living” Humphrey Paolo might be a brilliant leader, possibly the strongest warrior among the Ironclads, but his strength, in the grand scheme of the cosmos, could not possibly reach the level of someone like Salius.

He should, theoretically, be killed by the holy spear after enduring twenty to thirty rounds.

But there’s no point in saying anything now.

After Matins joined the battle, no matter how exaggerated Humphrey Paolo’s enhanced insect transformation was, it couldn’t allow him to fight against two top warriors simultaneously.

Especially with the “Nirvana Guard” brought by Matins, dozens of them directly separated the battlefield, preventing other Iron Armor Soldiers from supporting Paul.

Ultimately, while Humphrey Paolo was dealing with the phase sword, Salius pierced his body with a spear, nailing him to the ground.

Seeing his body still writhing, trying to break free, Salius pressed down directly with his body, using the holy shield to pin him to the ground.

Matins seized the opportunity, quickly and agilely decapitating him with the phase sword.

Seeing Humphrey Paolo’s body still writhing, he went up with a few more strikes, thoroughly dismembering the body before it was over.

Now, even if the insect-transformed Humphrey Paolo could continue fighting without a head, it was useless.

Salius hoisted Humphrey Paolo’s head with a lance, loudly proclaiming their victory.

This leader, who had incited an earth-shattering rebellion, involved four Cosmos Domains in war, mobilized countless manpower and resources, and even triggered greater disasters, was finally slain.

His head was weighty, worthy of Salius spearing it on the holy spear as a trophy to flaunt victory.

Moreover, it held practical significance: demonstrating to all surrounding enemies that their leader was dead!

Of course, this act, when facing Green Skin Orcs or Chaos Traitors, would have a much greater impact.

Even dealing with Chaos Traitors, killing a traitor leader would greatly demoralize the remaining ones, not to mention the Green Skin Orcs, who might directly collapse.

However, the “symbolism of hoisting the enemy leader’s head” was meaningless against the infected or the Insect Swarm; yet, the significance of the leader’s demise was tremendous.

Even greater than against the Green Skins.

For the Green Skins, the death of a leader could cause panic and loss of morale, making them feel like losers unable to achieve victory, which is disastrous for the “think it and it happens” beastmen; not to mention, after the highest leader’s death, subordinate ambitious individuals of a lower tier would scramble for leadership, engaging in mutual slaughter and infighting.

This was already a horrific situation, especially if it occurred during a war.

However, compared to the Insect Swarm, the impact of the beastmen losing a leader might actually be smaller.

Beastmen losing a leader causes a drop in morale, infighting, panic…

Whereas, losing a leader for the Insect Swarm meant losing the ability to think.

The thought processes of the Insect Swarm and the infected rely on higher-tier units.

They might have “intelligence” to manage ongoing affairs autonomously, but there’s no existence of subjective initiative.

This means that for individuals within the swarm and the infected, they roughly understand “how to act” but not “what to do,” and definitely not “why do it.”

This becomes most apparent when, having completed the current command, without receiving another more advanced directive, they revert to true primitive beasts, remaining stationary.

Approaching them during this period indeed triggers attacks, but that’s merely the instinctual actions of beasts.

But at this stage, only a fool would use human lives to face them head-on.

Positioned tens of kilometers away, with cannons set up, bombard them one by one, that’s all—since they neither understand escape nor evasion.

For the infected and the Insect Race, if it’s just the death of some squad leaders, akin to mid-level officers in human armies, it’s manageable.

After all, the command structure of the swarm can extend downward.

At worst, high-level node units or peer node units can take over the subordinates of the deceased node units.

Unless acting independently.

Then there’s no remedy.

The swarm must dispatch new node organisms over to reconnect those out-of-control subunits to reorganize them and restore command.

Some scholars in the Empire who study the Void Insect Species even believe that the swarm’s structure is spread out like a network.