"Send me to reinforce?"

Chen Ning's expression was very grim, dark, and gloomy.

This hunt had been his moment to shine. Under his command, the Second Regiment had reaped abundant rewards. Perhaps this achievement would hold as the top performance even by the end.

Yet, Chen Ning also knew that his actions over the past three days had exhausted the Second Regiment. They needed rest.

To go and rescue the First Regiment now could easily get them caught up in the fighting as well—potentially even sacrificing themselves.

It was not just Chen Ning who was reluctant; the other members of the Second Regiment were unwilling as well. They were tired. And to be honest, while there was no explicit rule, the relationship between them and the First Regiment was competitive. The more the Second Regiment gained and the less the First Regiment gained, the more the final distribution would tilt in their favor.

Rescue the First Regiment? That was a thankless task.

Yet neither Chen Ning nor the others could refuse. On one hand, they were subordinate to the Star-Eye Clan's orders within the alliance. On the other hand, the First Regiment also contained members of their own clans. Both for the common good and for personal reasons, they should go to the rescue.

After receiving the order, Chen Ning hesitated for a moment, then gave the command to head toward the First Regiment's position. As for whether they could save them—that would depend on fate.

………………

Ye Zhongming and Cheng Liujin also entered the battlefield. By now, they were thoroughly frustrated with the Huandu Wolves.

Those cunning creatures, upon realizing they were caught in a pincer, had first tried to break out through the sides. But the First Regiment had anticipated this, and after several failed attempts, the wolves gave up.

The First Regiment had originally planned to keep the wolves pinned down, letting the attacking mutant horde behind them force them to shift their focus rearward. Then the First Regiment could simply coast along.

But no one had expected the wolves to be not only cunning but also remarkably clear-headed in their decision-making at this critical moment.

Contrary to the First Regiment's expectations, the wolves did not throw themselves into a desperate fight against the crazed mutant horde attacking from behind. Instead, their thinking was chillingly lucid.

They quickly assessed the situation: if they fought the frenzied horde behind them, it would be a fight to the death with slim chances of survival. Even if some managed to break through, a few hundred would be a miracle.

If they chose to confront the invaders head-on, that would lead to total annihilation—caught between two forces, they would have no escape.

So what about the invaders?

The wolves identified the invaders as their breakthrough point. The invaders were fewer in number and more dispersed in formation.

Though many wolves had already been killed, they still matched—or even slightly exceeded—the invaders in numbers.

Thus, the wolves launched a frenzied assault on the First Regiment, determined to break through and escape.

If they succeeded, they would still suffer heavy losses, but enough survivors might remain to carry on. If the invaders were unwilling to fight to the death, perhaps twenty or thirty thousand wolves could escape.

This immediately put the First Regiment in a dire position.

A decision had to be made.

Either open a path and let the wolves break through—they would not fight the First Regiment to the death.

Or stand firm and hold the line, waiting for the mutant horde behind to tear through the wolves' formation.

Either choice carried immense risk. If the wolves broke through, the First Regiment would also have to retreat immediately to avoid encountering the oncoming mutant horde.

But that would essentially declare this hunting operation a failure—losing personnel and resources while gaining nothing.

After all, without the corpses of the prey, killing them was as good as not killing them. The First Regiment could not possibly return to attack the horde controlled by the Double-Tailed Gouwo; that would be suicide. The corpses would surely be devoured.

Stand firm? The losses would be enormous. While holding out might lead to the wolves being annihilated between the two forces in a short time, the First Regiment would pay a heavy price. And even after wiping out the wolves, they would still have to face the next mutant horde bearing down on them.

After an already hard-fought battle, that would be a fight they could not win.

Yet the entire First Regiment chose to… stand firm!

Because it was Ye Zhongming's suggestion.

Cheng Liujin did not ask why. He simply agreed.

Ye Zhongming entered the battlefield, took out an item, hesitated with reluctance, then tilted his head back and drank it.

It was a bottle of "Dry Rain Dew," an ability equivalent to a full-cooldown elixir. On Earth, it was priceless. Among the cosmic races, it was even more precious. This single bottle had cost Ye Zhongming a full one million Moonspan Gold.

Only because he had returned from the Su Clan with substantial wealth and a stroke of luck had he managed to buy this bottle. Otherwise, he would never have considered using such a thing.

But regardless, this was a top-tier item—one that could turn the tide at a critical moment.

After taking it, even his minor injuries healed almost completely. He then transformed, and a massive black-mist giant appeared on the battlefield.

The black-mist giant spread his hands. No one knew what he did, but vast amounts of energy surged from his hands, rippling through the entire space.

Then, from afar, came a rumbling, cracking sound. Seconds later, countless mountain peaks came flying in from all directions.

Such a spectacular sight slowed the movements of both people and beasts below, as they kept stealing glances upward.

At nearly the same moment, both the Wolf King of the Huandu Wolves and the Double-Tailed Gouwo let out long howls toward the sky.

They sensed something was wrong. They sensed danger.

But it was too late…

Ye Zhongming let out a tremendous roar that shook the entire battlefield. Every living being paused for an instant.

Then, the mountains fell—swinging, crashing, crushing. This was the ability of the Mountain King's Crown: Command of the Mountain!

This Ye Zhongming was one who had made great progress, who had activated his bloodline, and who was in his transformed state. The Command of the Mountain unleashed under these conditions was terrifyingly powerful. In mere moments, it inflicted even greater casualties than all the fighting before.

The mental shock turned both the Huandu Wolves and the horde controlled by the Double-Tailed Gouwo into helpless targets during the first wave of the Command of the Mountain. Unable to dodge in advance, they stood densely packed, as if waiting to be slaughtered.

Just one strike from those mountains created countless large and small clearings on the battlefield.

Whether Huandu Wolf or minion of the Double-Tailed Gouwo, any creature struck by those mountains was either killed outright or severely wounded, unable to rise again.

In an instant, Ye Zhongming single-handedly reversed the First Regiment's grim situation.