On the front lines, the situation on the ground and in the high skies presented two completely different scenes.
In the high skies, although the team led by Steve relied on the Totem of Undying to fight back and forth with the two Fifth-Order powerhouses, it was more of a stalemate where "you can't kill me, and I can't seriously injure you".
However, on the ground battlefield, the situation was a one-sided crush.
More than a hundred super zombies at the peak of the Fourth-Order charged into the Fourth-Order Awakened Ones" formation of the Divine Judgement Base like tigers entering a flock of sheep.
This should have been an evenly matched contest, but these zombies were all unkillable.
"Awesome! This is too damn awesome."
A super zombie, spewing flames in mid-air, let out an excited roar.
Its controller was originally a Third-Order Fire-element Awakened One under Garry, but after connecting to this genetically modified Fourth-Order zombie body,
he was pleasantly surprised to find that his Fire-element ability was amplified by the body, forcibly raising it to the Fourth-Order level.
Boom!
A thick pillar of fire swept out like a fire dragon, directly forcing several unprepared Wind-element Awakened Ones on the opposite side to flee in disarray.
"Damn it! Who is that? That flame-spitter is too arrogant."
In the Divine Judgement Base camp, a leading Fourth-Order powerhouse watched his comrades being beaten and scurrying around, immediately becoming furious.
'these monsters are too strong. Brothers, focus fire and take down that flame-spitter first. The others will hold off the rest."
"Yes!"
With his command, more than twenty Fourth-Order powerhouses instantly disengaged from the battle. Various storms, ice cones, and wind blades converged into a torrent, smashing towards the flame-spitting zombie.
"Holy crap! Calling for backup?!"
The flame-spitting zombie turned and tried to run.
But just then, dozens of super zombies, who had been waiting on the ground, suddenly looked up, black light flickering in their eyes.
Streaks of ink-black energy bombs rapidly condensed in their hands—this was one of the special abilities inherent to Fourth-Order super zombies.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Dozens of black energy bombs surged upwards, arriving later but striking first, fiercely crashing into the torrent of attacks from the more than twenty powerhouses.
Boom!
A violent explosion erupted in mid-air. The corrosive nature unique to this energy instantly disintegrated most of the elemental attacks.
Several of the fastest Fourth-Order powerhouses, unable to dodge in time, were affected by the energy wave and screamed as they fell from the sky.
Before they even hit the ground,
several purple figures appeared in their falling trajectory.
Endermen.
They extended their slender arms and grabbed these heavily injured Fourth-Order powerhouses.
"These are excellent control bodies; they mustn't be wasted."
With a flash of purple light, both the people and the monsters instantly vanished, directly sent to the rear detention area.
In the strategy formulated by Steve and his team, these Fourth-Order Awakened Ones with inherent abilities were valuable resources.
In the future, whether used as zombie controllers or as special genetic samples, they would be of great use.
As for the two Fifth-Orders... it was explicitly stated in the pre-battle meeting:
Kill them.
The Fortress currently had no reliable means to suppress Fifth-Order living beings. If they were captured and lost control, it would be a disaster.
Moreover, once the zombies evolved to Fifth-Order, the value of these two would be negligible, and the captured Fourth-Orders would also become Fifth-Orders.
Therefore, Fifth-Orders must be killed. Below Fifth-Order, capture if possible.
High in the sky.
"The totems are almost gone; switch places."
Steve sensed the number of totems on his body and decisively gave the order.
Whoosh.
Steve and the others, who were entangled with Zeus, suddenly withdrew their strength collectively, using the rebound force to plummet rapidly towards the ground like meteors.
"Trying to escape?!"
Zeus' killing intent flared in his eyes. Just as he was about to pursue, he saw a scene that made him sick to his stomach.
The second echelon, consisting of thousands of fully-charged super zombies that had been hovering outside the domain watching the show, forcefully rushed in from all directions.
They said nothing, launching suicidal attacks, using their bodies to form a human wall, blocking the path of Zeus and Burning Void.
Meanwhile, on the ground.
Steve and the others landed heavily, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Quick, cover me with totems."
Tens of thousands of Endermen, who had been waiting for a long time, instantly teleported over. They held golden Totems of Undying in their hands, their movements incredibly skillful.
"Absorb them directly into your bodies."
Steve shouted loudly.
In the past, sticking totems on the body like amulets was too primitive. It was fine for fighting those mindless zombies.
If they still hung them conspicuously like before, and Zeus watched them explode, anyone would know that the immortality came from these. Wouldn't that be insulting Zeus" intelligence?
Now, inspired by source crystal energy, Steve discovered that with mental guidance, the Totem of Undying could directly merge into the body, becoming an intrinsic life rule.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
As everyone absorbed them, the totems transformed into golden streams of light and drilled into their chests.
Want to blast the totem?
Alright, blast through me first.
But the moment I'm blasted through, the totem triggers, and I'm revived with full health.
It's a dead loop.
Zeus, watching this scene from high in the sky, trembled with rage. The deep sense of powerlessness filled him with disgust.
"These beasts... this fighting style is too disgusting!"
He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and turned to Burning Void, saying,
"Burning Void, don't waste time with me here. Did you see clearly? Those golden things are the source of their immortality, and they are consumables."
"Go down and interrupt their resupply during their gear change. If you can snatch some of those golden items, we'll have a life-saving trump card too."
This was truly a divine item that could bring the dead back to life.
Who wouldn't be envious?
"Good idea."
Burning Void's eyes lit up, instantly understanding the tactical intent.
Boom!
He no longer paid attention to the annoying meat shields in front of him. He transformed into a falling meteor, enveloped in monstrous flames, and charged directly towards Steve and the others who were resupplying below.
"A bunch of ants, hand over those treasures."
While still in mid-air, Burning Void unleashed a punch.
A massive flame fist print, a hundred meters wide, carrying destructive high temperatures, smashed towards the resupply area like Mount Tai pressing down.
"He wants to cut off our supply."
Randy and the others were still absorbing totems when they saw Burning Void approaching with a destructive aura.
Steve, quick-witted, immediately roared,
"Don't worry about anyone else for now! All Endermen, cover me with totems first! Quick!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The surrounding thousand Endermen instantly changed direction, purple afterimages flickering madly around Steve. In just one second, a thousand Totems of Undying were absorbed by Steve.
"Enough."
Steve's eyes widened, and the huge wings covered in frost on his back suddenly unfurled.
Bang!
His legs pushed off, and the ground instantly collapsed into a large pit. Steve shot into the sky, not retreating but advancing, charging towards the giant flame fist print.
"Want to cut off our supply? Get past me first."