Having landed the blow, Fang Senyan pressed the advantage without pausing, lunging toward another Crimson Gold Spine Ripper. He couldn't help glancing at the combat feedback: "You used Song of Rum to shoot the enemy, dealing X amount of damage and stunning it for 2.71 seconds." "You used Ghost Whetstone; your next three melee attacks will deal defense-ignoring damage to the enemy." "Your normal attack was a critical hit, dealing 200% damage, inflicting 132 points of damage upon the enemy." "Your Strength is 27! The enemy's Strength is 12; you will inflict an additional 6-4 points of crushing damage!!! This damage ignores enemy defense!" "Your attack now possesses defense-ignoring damage (from the Jiling Whetstone), which stacks with the defense-ignoring effect of crushing damage." "The crushing damage dealt this time will result in a critical strike, with a damage multiplier of 200%." "You will inflict an additional 128 points of crushing damage. 'You have slain the Crimson Gold Spine Ripper!'" "Crushing damage... So that's how it is! I never expected to land crushing damage myself!" An ineffable feeling swelled within Fang Senyan: "Is this the terrifying power of Dark Gold equipment? It doesn't weaken the holder and can instantly transform a Contractor!" ………… Prior to this, Fang Senyan had no concept of what it felt like for one of his eyeballs to explode like a rubber ball with a pop. But this time, thanks to that damned Crimson Gold Spine Ripper, he gained a brand new experience he had no desire to repeat. As repayment to the accursed Ripper, Fang Senyan, bloodied and his face contorted, approached and slammed a kick into its abdomen!

This kick completely disregarded the Ripper's tensed abdominal muscles, driving through its tough hide and creating a deep indentation! Had its body structure not been different from a human's, it likely would have burst open with its intestines spilling out!

"Aaaaargh!" In the throes of pain and the tension of facing death, Fang Senyan couldn't help but roar. He felt as if the blood in his entire body was boiling. His outstretched left hand clamped down fiercely on the Ripper's scaled neck, hoisting it up as if it were a mere sandbag.

This action finally silenced the Crimson Gold Spine Ripper, choking back its disgusting, continuous spewing mid-throat. Its slimy, partitioned nostrils were assailed by the potent, mingled odor of sweat and blood. Fang Senyan’s fiercely burning eyes were inches away, and his solid right arm was already cocked back, its corded muscles taut! Solid as iron!

The next second, Fang Senyan slammed a heavy punch into the Ripper’s jawbone. That unfortunate bone instantly shattered into seventy or eighty pieces. If not for the tough fascia and blood vessels enveloping it, it would have scattered like fragments of a broken bowl. With the punch landing true, as if yanked by an invisible fishing line, the Ripper shot upward diagonally at high speed, slamming into the nearby rocky hillside!

Rocks and dust on the hillside immediately exploded, launching the contorted Ripper back, only for it to hit the ground—it flopped around like a violently wrung-out towel—already twitching violently. Pale green, viscous fluid seeped out everywhere. It looked like even if it survived, severe paralysis was inevitable.

Though Fang Senyan had psychological preparation, he hadn't anticipated his own attack being this devastating. However, it was logical that Ripper-type units, specializing in ranged combat, were naturally disadvantaged in close quarters, especially with Fang Senyan operating at his peak state, unleashing such terrifying melee impact.

But Fang Senyan had no time to savor the pleasure of this dominance! The immediate priority was to eliminate the Elite Spinetongue Emitter!

And battlefield variables were always emerging. When Fang Senyan lunged at the two Rippers, he never imagined he could dispatch these two biggest threats so cleanly. Meanwhile, an unexpected situation developed with Mogensha: following Reef's command to close ranks, both Mogensha and the three Elite Machine Gunners converged toward him. The Blood Gold Stripe Vipers naturally focused their frenzied charge toward them. But... the variable manifested right then!

When Reef unleashed his "heart-rending" roar ability, a staggering six out of the eight Blood Gold Stripe Vipers resisted his skill! This was the inherent flaw of abilities lacking priority; they often failed at critical moments, leading to fatal drawbacks!

As those six vicious creatures surged into the surprised ranks of ranged firepower, Reef was powerless. His main task was to grit his teeth and hold the line against the Elite Spinetongue Emitter's assault, and the eight charging Vipers already added considerable pressure. Even though Reef had exceeded his stamina limit of 50 points, it certainly didn't mean he was invincible.

Thirty seconds later, two Blood Gold Stripe Vipers lay dead beside Reef, while he showed clear fatigue and new wounds. More worryingly, every member of the ranged fire team, except Mogensha, had fallen.

Logically, only six Vipers remained charging the ranged unit. Even excluding Mogensha, there were still three Machine Gunners! Numerically, the ranged units—four against six—were not at a disadvantage. Before this, the Blood Gold Stripe Vipers, these direct subordinates of the Queen Zerg, had been continuously suppressed; Fang Senyan and Reef had effectively curbed their performance. Only now, in close combat, did these frenzied beasts unleash their true power!

In a mere six seconds, excluding Mogensha’s group, the beasts plunged the remaining soldiers into a slaughter. At least two Machine Gunners were torn to shreds—utterly fragmented—within two seconds. But under the pressure of survival, Mogensha fought back desperately. He roared, pushing his talent, 'Primal Instinct,' to its limit. Every bullet he fired intersected, collided in mid-air! Then exploded! This seemingly meaningless action bought him a sliver of survival.

The 'Mang Ji' originated from inspiration.

Inspiration came from the previous battle: the multiple prototype Electromagnetic Cloud-Burst Bombs detonated by Fang Senyan!

The Zerg's greatest weakness is not their internal organs, but their auditory organs! The prototype Electromagnetic Cloud-Burst Bomb was designed to inflict massive damage and stun precisely because of this weakness. Mogensha's desperate act now was to send a barrage of bullets flying, causing them to refract and collide instantly, thereby generating sound waves similar in frequency to the prototype Cloud-Burst Bombs to bombard and stun these bugs, buying himself enough time to survive!

Mogensha succeeded, but the cost was the near-instantaneous depletion of his already limited Mental Power. Yet, Mogensha, having clawed his way back from the edge of death multiple times, grit his teeth and pushed through. Despite the side effect of near-exhausted Mental Power, he kept pulling the trigger, reloading magazines, sending bullet after bullet accurately into the Vipers' heads, though his vision was blurring into darkness. Baylongs, who had lost an arm and a leg, stubbornly refused to pass out, maintaining a single-handed firing posture!

After finally dispatching all the Vipers, Mogensha coughed up blood in great gulps. He tossed aside the Golden AK and drew the silver broken spear, staggering forward to mechanically stab at the Elite Spinetongue Emitter. He knew the situation was dire; his vision was dimming, and he could no longer guarantee accuracy, so he resorted to this method for maximum output! In the distance, Baylongs’ sporadic gunfire could still be heard. Though this attack seemed as faint as his remaining life force, it burned as stubbornly as his fighting spirit!

Time raced by. Another piece of crystal-clear Armor of Conviction manifested, reinforcing Reef’s body. The Elite Spinetongue Emitter before him appeared riddled with holes, continuously spewing bodily fluids and ichor, yet its attacks remained monotonous, mechanical, and seemingly endlessly powerful!

From the start of the engagement until now, it felt like a long, drawn-out period, but in reality, only a few minutes had passed. Everyone was under immense pressure, but ultimately, the greatest burden rested squarely on Reef’s shoulders! Because undeniably, he was the only one constantly enduring the fierce barrage from the Elite Spinetongue Emitter! Should he falter, death would claim him first.

But Reef's gaze remained unwavering. The hands gripping his shield and sword hilt were steady. Though his body was covered in wounds, his composed and resolute image never vanished. It was like the demeanor of old English or French nobility that had been passed down for centuries, adjusting a cravat or smoothing hair even before mounting the scaffold. He even murmured incomprehensible phrases: "I walk upon the earth, sowing loyalty and faith; valor and sacrifice are my tenets..."

Finally, the Elite Spinetongue Emitter exploded into a mist of purplish-black plasma. It erupted like a massive flesh fountain, spraying blood everywhere, drenching those nearby.

Superficially, Reef seemed capable of holding on. But when he attempted to lift his feet to search for the weakness of the Giant Spore Cannon Tower, the slightest attempt to move caused him to immediately collapse to his knees! A wry, helpless smile touched his lips. Every attack from the Elite Spinetongue Emitter had pierced up from underground. To have remained standing and fighting until this point was, in itself, an astonishing feat.