This undoubtedly alleviated the pressure on the zombie army, allowing them to hold out longer.
These human evolved from Earth possessed various abilities, making them stronger than monsters of the same level.
Their combat prowess far surpassed that of the undead creatures Ye Zhongming had summoned earlier.
At some point, the dense gunfire and the sound of arrows and bolts flying through the air began to weaken. Many paying attention to the battle realized that the first wave of over 800,000 monsters had been nearly wiped out. Only those directly facing Li Qiang’s squad, separated by the zombie army, were still fighting, and their numbers had dwindled to less than 50,000.
For the first time, the Cloud Peak battle formation erupted in cheers.
The results of the battle had them excited.
Without moving the main formation, they had nearly eliminated a million monsters—over one-sixth of the total force—quickly.
Cloud Peak’s warriors were among the most disciplined and obedient in the post-apocalyptic world, but they still couldn’t compare to peacetime soldiers. The buzz of discussion grew louder, threatening to spiral out of control.
However, the commander-level figures like Ye Zhongming and Xia Lei were less optimistic than the ordinary soldiers.
“Additionally, among the long-range attack weapons, the Colorful Catapults have run out of ammunition. The demon crystals for the Crystal Cannons are nearly half depleted, and the Tossing Shock Cannons are in a similar state. The Giant Crossbows and Vertical Bows can hold out a bit longer, but they’re supporting the aerial battle and are constantly depleting. Also, the V1 Grenade Launchers have run out of ammunition.”
Ye Zhongming listened, checking his Battle Contribution Badge. He found that the battle contribution points gained weren’t substantial. During this phase, those wearing Battle Contribution Badges hadn’t participated in combat, making it impossible to replenish ammunition.
“We’ve also lost the swamp and gravel positions. The grassland only has one last barrier left. Once we exhaust all our ammunition, we’ll likely have to face… over three million monsters.”
Three million…
Ye Zhongming kept turning this number over in his mind.
Indeed, Cloud Peak’s main force hadn’t yet moved, and some trump cards were still left to play. But how many monsters could these trump cards kill? After that, how many monsters would the Cloud Peak warriors have to face? One and a half million? Or two million?
How many of these warriors, who had followed him through countless battles, would die?
Ye Zhongming didn’t want to suffer heavy casualties.
He frowned slightly, deep in thought.
“The area behind us, where there are only a few hundred monsters within a kilometer, is next, right?” Ye Zhongming suddenly asked.
“Yes,” Xia Lei replied, pulling out her computer again. “Since they’re closer, the images from the Exquisite Floating Ball are much clearer. Look.”
Ye Zhongming looked and saw that these few hundred monsters were quite peculiar, giving him a sense of déjà vu.
“I asked Sister Hong earlier, and she said these are likely the descendants of the Nine-Winged Crow.”
Ye Zhongming was taken aback. The Nine-Winged Crow was a flying creature, so how could its descendants be… land-based?
But then he thought that, like the Evil Dragon, the Nine-Winged Crow might not care about the purity of its bloodline, making the existence of these land-based descendants possible.
“Through long-distance scanning of the demon crystal colors, we’ve discovered that among these descendants of the Nine-Winged Crow, there are two level-eight, and the rest are level-seven.”
No wonder this area was sparsely populated. Not only were they related to a level-nine lifeform, but they also had extremely high levels.
Two level-eights and several hundred level-sevens…
Even the tens of thousands of zombies couldn’t stop them.
If they charged forward, their small numbers and high levels would make them difficult to hit with long-range weapons, and the large pit wouldn’t stop them either. They would inevitably charge into the Cloud Peak battle formation.
“Xia Lei, I’m handing command over to you. I’m going to check the situation.”
With that, Ye Zhongming patted Yellow Ball beside him, leaped onto its back, and charged out.
The Cloud Peak warriors watched as their boss, riding the golden Yellow Ball, soared over the pit and landed on the other side.
Ye Zhongming glanced at the opposite side, casually swinging his blade and killing seven or eight foolish monsters that charged at him. His attention was focused on the descendants of the Nine-Winged Crow.
These creatures came in all shapes and sizes. Perhaps because they were descendants of flying monsters, their ground speed wasn’t particularly fast. Most were covered in thick black armor, and some had wing-like appendages, though they were too small for flight. Like chickens, ducks, or geese, they could glide or hover briefly at best.
“Block them.” Ye Zhongming jumped off Yellow Ball, pointing at the approaching monsters. He then left the task to his battle pet, confident it could handle it.
He pulled out a sniper rifle from his space and fired a shot.
Though seemingly casual, the first shot was precisely aimed at one of the level-eight creatures. Ye Zhongming used Space Stack and the sniper rifle’s innate ability, and the bullet was a non-mass-produced gold-grade micro-engraved bullet.
The bullet reached its target almost instantly at a distance of only a few hundred meters.
The level-eight descendant of the Nine-Winged Crow, distracted by the chaotic battlefield and focusing on the massive Yellow Ball, only sensed danger when it was too late. The bullet pierced its head.
This micro-engraved bullet, imbued with fire elemental power, had consumed a significant amount of the micro-engraver’s mental energy. After several failures and wasting a lot of high-level materials processed by Ye Zhongming, only four such bullets had been successfully crafted in half a year. Their power was terrifying.
A powerful bullet, combined with powerful equipment and Ye Zhongming’s marksman job, was enough to kill a level-eight monster in one shot.
Ye Zhongming raised his rifle and fired a second bullet.
This bullet was a mass-produced micro-engraved bullet, processed to reach blue grade. In Ye Zhongming’s hands, it was enough to kill a level-seven monster instantly.
Thus, Ye Zhongming moved across the battlefield, his sniper rifle firing rhythmically. Each shot inevitably killed a monster.
During this time, he used another gold-grade bullet, closing the distance to the remaining level-eight creature to within a hundred meters and killing it with a single shot.
When the largest group of monsters approached, only a dozen or so of the Nine-Winged Crow’s descendants remained. Terrified, they hid among their comrades.
Ye Zhongming holstered his rifle, retreated, called Yellow Ball back, and leaped over the pit, returning to the battle formation. He was greeted by Cloud Peak’s second round of cheers.