The Unique Species—this was the name Earth’s evolved gave to monsters with special abilities, such as those that moved underground, within ice, or even in magma, including those on the Undead Hill.
These types of lifeforms had been continuously discovered over nearly a year of exploring the secret realm.
How could they afford to let their guard down against these Unique Species?
Progress was initially smooth and rapid when they began frantically digging tunnels beneath the Cloud Peak battle formation. However, they soon noticed liquid seeping out from the front. The “digging beasts” were puzzled and alarmed. The liquid then began flowing faster and faster. When one section of the tunnel was breached, even more of this substance gushed out.
Next, for some reason, the liquid started to burn.
Fire was something most monsters feared, and the flames here were unusually hot, though no one knew why. Once the liquid touched the monsters, it ignited them, causing chaos throughout the underground tunnels.
Many monsters, forgetting their initial goal of expanding the tunnels for their comrades, began frantically digging toward the surface. However, after breaking through the thick layer of soil, they encountered hard, bluish-gray boulders and the stone pillars supporting them. No matter how hard they attacked, they could only leave faint scratches on the surface.
These Unique Species had a variety of abilities, but when it came to offense and defense, they were far inferior to ordinary monsters.
They couldn’t break through to the surface.
The combination of fuel and the combustion accelerant crafted by Candy, the alchemist, had achieved significant results.
With the Magical Workbench, her exclusive weapon, and the numerous formulas and materials collected by Cloud Peak, Candy had now advanced to the rank of Advanced Alchemist. She could produce over twenty different types of potions and items. If not for the lack of job advancement scrolls, she could have already reached the highest level of her job, just like Ye Zhongming.
This combustion accelerant was a talent skill she awakened when she became an Intermediate Alchemist. Originally intended to aid her in alchemy, it was now being used for underground defense, with remarkable effectiveness.
Of course, there wasn’t just one tunnel. There were others, but they too were met with attacks—this time from Jiu Bao and Ye Zhongming’s battle rat army.
On the surface, Jiu Bao seemed more like a support battle pet, but it was a terror underground. Its skills were perfectly suited for subterranean combat. For example, its Soil Transformation ability allowed it to secrete a fluid that turned the surrounding soil into a sticky, gel-like substance. This substance had two effects: it could repair Jiu Bao’s body when injured, and it could slow down and mildly poison nearby creatures, reducing their combat effectiveness.
Another ability, Soil Swallowing, allowed Jiu Bao to move rapidly underground. Its massive mouth acted like a digging machine. The soil it consumed was converted into a liquid that could be sprayed out when needed. This liquid was highly corrosive, far more potent than strong acids.
Additionally, Jiu Bao’s massive, elastic body was incredibly strong and highly durable, capable of reflecting damage. Its head and tail could connect, making it a terrifying combat machine underground.
As for Ye Zhongming’s Battle Rat Army, which he had invested significant resources into building, they couldn’t move freely underground like Jiu Bao. Their ability to dig tunnels had degraded over time, and they couldn’t compare to the level-eight behemoth.
However, they could attack through the tunnels the mutated lifeforms dug.
Thanks to breakthroughs in Liu Zhenghong’s lab and the Rats’ reproductive capabilities, their numbers had now reached nearly 50,000.
However, Liu Zhenghong discovered that this number seemed to be a limit. The offspring produced either lacked certain abilities or were extremely resistant to following commands.
Liu Zhenghong attributed this to her own technical limitations, but many researchers believed it was due to inherent biological constraints.
After all, these War Rats were essentially a type of genetic lifeform, albeit created through a gentler process that retained most of their species’ characteristics. If they could reproduce indefinitely, there would be no need for genetic lifeform production lines—rats would simply dominate the post-apocalyptic world.
On this point, Ye Zhongming agreed with the researchers.
Still, 50,000 was a terrifying number. These War Rats could evolve; even with their limits, they were all above level five. Currently, the highest-level War Rat leader reached level seven, with several thousand at level six, over 20,000 at level five, and the remaining 10,000 or so at level four.
While mutated rats were generally weaker than other monsters of the same level, the War Rat Legion surpassed the average strength of their peers. Combined with their bizarre abilities and their swarm-like combat tactics, these little creatures were terrifying in battle.
They surged out of the tunnels, swiftly overwhelming the mutated lifeforms and killing far more monsters in a short time than Jiu Bao could.
One level-eight lifeform, 50,000 War Rats, and specially crafted Taining Bricks ensured the safety of the ground beneath the Cloud Peak battle formation.
As for the monsters dropped by the Sky Cavaliers, Cloud Peak had its own methods to deal with them.
The first was the grenade launchers exchanged through the Battle Contribution Badge. Two models were available, each with over 5,000 units, and ammunition was plentiful.
These weapons weren’t expensive, and their power wasn’t particularly impressive, especially the initial V1 model.
However, when anything is used in large quantities, it can produce unexpected effects. The same was true for these rocket launchers.
When 10,000 rockets were fired simultaneously, covering a section of the sky, the combined explosions and shockwaves blasted the monsters back into the air.
Moreover, these portable weapons had a fast reload time and a short attack interval. Even if some high-defense monsters survived the first wave, they would face a second, third, and fourth wave of attacks before landing.
After four waves of attacks, only the mangled remains of monsters fell into the Cloud Peak battle formation.
If these rockets had been capable of targeting the high-flying flying monsters, they might have completely dominated the airspace.
The results were impressive, but the cost was staggering.
Ye Zhongming and the members with Battle Contribution Badges had saved up for so long, only to spend almost all their points on the cannons and these rocket launchers. The ammunition was cheap per unit, but the sheer quantity required made the cost astronomical.
Just now, the monsters dropped by the flying creatures had been blown to pieces, ensuring the safety of the Cloud Peak warriors overhead. But four rounds of firing meant 40,000 rockets…
40,000!
With so many battle contribution points, Ye Zhongming had only prepared 20 rounds per V1 launcher and 10 rounds per V2 launcher, totaling 150,000 rounds.
In that one wave, over a quarter of the ammunition was gone.
This was also why Ye Zhongming felt uneasy. The cost of this war was too high. Only a complete victory would yield sufficient returns; otherwise, they would suffer a loss.