Chapter 126: The Rampaging Puppy Zerg Rush [Eighteenth Update]

"Well played!" Allen Adham gauged the situation and figured that since their military strengths were roughly equal, it was a fair fight—a fifty-fifty chance.

To his utter shock, however, before the two sides could even engage, a freezing rain descended from the sky, drenching Allen’s main force and causing their health bars to plummet rapidly.

"Blizzard!" Allen exclaimed. He hadn't expected Huang He’s mage to have already learned level-two Blizzard. While the damage wasn't overwhelming, it was enough to shave off about a quarter of his Night Elf units' health. Facing a fully healed Human army charging in, he had almost no chance of winning.

"Retreat!" Allen realized he had to pull back immediately. But as he prepared to flee, he realized with dismay that his pursuit of Huang He’s workers had led him deep into the gold mine area. The mine was blocked on two sides by forests, and the front exit was sealed off by the Town Hall and two farms. The only way out was the path he had used to enter.

In other words, Allen’s army was completely trapped inside Huang He’s base.

When he tried to use a Town Portal scroll to escape, he realized with even greater agony that he had already used it. Having lost his only means of retreat, he was forced to stand his ground and be slaughtered by the Human forces.

Although Huang He’s micro-management seemed amateurish, he managed to trade all of his Footmen for Allen’s entire army, despite having a massive advantage. While Allen’s main force was wiped out, Huang He still had seven or eight Riflemen left.

The rest of the battle was a foregone conclusion. Huang He didn't even bother upgrading to Tier 2; he simply kept pumping out Footmen and Riflemen, camping outside the Night Elf barracks to finish them off and picking off Allen’s Wisps. Allen tried to spend his last remaining gold to establish an expansion, but before the Tree of Eternity could even finish rooting, it was spotted by one of Huang He’s workers. A squad of Riflemen arrived shortly after, and in a fit of rage, Allen quit the game and conceded.

"Looks like I won," Huang He said with a grin.

"Mr. Huang, have you played our *Warcraft III* before?" Allen asked, his face flushed with frustration.

"Mr. Adham, do you have so little confidence in your own company? Besides, while *Warcraft III* has seen significant changes compared to the second game, it still follows the fundamental rules of real-time strategy games. I just needed to adapt a little," Huang He laughed.

Allen thought about it and concluded that a leak was unlikely. The beta version had been out for less than a month, and the company maintained strict internal security. The external network was monitored closely, and no one was allowed to bring in external storage devices like discs. The probability of a leak was extremely low.

"It seems this guy is actually quite talented," Allen muttered, though deep down he felt unconvinced. "Let’s go another round!"

"I’m happy to, but what about what you promised me..."

"Don't worry, I’m a man of my word. I agree to the previous conditions. And if you can beat me again, I’ll send my programmers to help you build your Battle.net!" Allen declared.

"Then I won't hold back!" Huang He chuckled. As they entered the second match, a determined Allen decided to hit Huang He with something vicious: a "Ghoul Rush" designed to end the game in under five minutes.

Allen chose the Undead race and sacrificed his economic development to quickly mass a swarm of Ghouls. Since Undead Ghouls also served as lumberjacks, Allen could indeed field a high-quality force early on by neglecting his wood production.

Huang He stuck with the Human race. Seeing this, Allen felt relieved; among the four races, only the Orcs could reliably defend against an early Ghoul rush. Unless the opponent was exceptionally well-prepared, there was no way to stop it.

With a pack of twelve Ghouls, Allen launched a ferocious assault on Huang He’s base. At this stage of the game, the Humans would have at most a few Footmen or Riflemen. Without prior preparation, it was impossible to stop twelve Ghouls. If he could wipe out all of Huang He’s workers, his economy would collapse.

Allen’s strategy was sound—it was a classic "Ghoul Rush" tactic. Even in professional tournaments, players had been known to concede within five minutes after being hit by this strategy.

But when Allen arrived at Huang He’s base, a sickening sight greeted him. Huang He had completely sealed off his base using two farms, a lumber mill, and a barracks. There wasn't a single gap. His workers were all laboring inside the enclosed area; to reach them, Allen would have to destroy a building first.

Ghouls were great at killing units, but they weren't designed for siege work. Still, he couldn't just walk away empty-handed, so Allen ordered his troops to tear down the structures to get to the workers.

Just then, Allen heard something land behind him. He turned around to see three Scout Towers already rising from the ground, quickly morphing into defensive towers.

Once the towers were finished, they would start firing arrows. A fragile Ghoul would fall in about four hits, and even with twelve Ghouls gnawing at a tower, they wouldn't be able to destroy it before it decimated them. These three towers were enough to wipe out his entire force.

Allen was in an incredibly awkward spot. If he attacked the towers now, he might take one down, but the other two would kill at least eight of his Ghouls, effectively ending his early game. If he retreated, it would be a wasted effort; he would have squandered a massive amount of wood-gathering time, leaving his economy behind by at least 300 wood—a figure that would likely grow to 500 by the time he returned.

As Allen agonized over his next move, the white-bearded old man appeared in his field of vision—Huang He’s hero had arrived.

This old man was the one who had placed the towers!

Allen’s eyes filled with murderous intent. The unique feature of the Human shop was the ability to purchase defensive towers that didn't require workers to build—they simply formed instantly when placed. It was a balance design meant to compensate for the Humans' early-game weakness, and now, Allen was being defeated by his own design.