In just twelve short hours, the number of Cold Energy Mutated Zombies had swelled from three thousand to thirteen thousand.

Naturally, most of these were former Cold Energy Monsters, with only a few survivors among them.

After all, the survivors on the Ice Continent had either fled or died; there weren’t many left alive.

With these zombies in tow, Qi Suian began to swagger directly toward the depths of the Ice Continent.

He made no attempt to conceal his movements. Any Cold Energy Monster that dared to approach was immediately swarmed by the zombie horde under his control.

The lucky ones became zombies; the unlucky ones were, of course, devoured without a trace.

Fortunately, the ones dying were all ordinary-grade Cold Energy Monsters. Qi Suian would never let his horde devour a Beast King-grade one; he would choose to use it as fuel instead.

This behavior naturally infuriated the ten Venerable-grade monsters.

"This violator has really become a menace," Celestial Might Venerable said, his voice thick with anger.

But it was all just talk. He made no move to volunteer to go and fight.

Right now, they needed to head into the depths of the Ancestral Court to retrieve a sealed holy relic.

If they were truly held up by Qi Suian, they would be stuck in a quagmire.

If he were alone, they would have unhesitatingly gone to surround and kill him.

But with thirteen thousand Cold Energy Mutated Zombies at his side, the outcome was no longer certain.

"These living corpses are truly strange. It seems to be caused by some kind of disease. It has no effect on us, or even on Beast Kings," said Celestial Patrol Venerable. "But there is one very tricky point."

"This group of living corpses actually possesses the clone link previously created by the humans."

"It’s now connected to the violator, allowing the living corpses to also gain that power which ignores our defenses."

"If we get tangled up with them, it will definitely be a case of a thousand ants biting an elephant to death."

Celestial Patrol Venerable was an eagle-type Cold Energy Monster, so it had flown a circuit to observe and had gathered a great deal of useful intelligence.

It had even personally tested them to understand this much.

If their defenses couldn’t be broken, they wouldn’t necessarily be afraid. But since the zombies possessed the power to ignore defenses, if they attacked without regard for cost, the Venerables wouldn’t even be able to escape.

They could only be overwhelmed and killed.

As Celestial Patrol Venerable finished speaking, the remaining Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters fell silent.

"Since we can’t solve it now, let’s adopt a containment strategy like the humans before us. After we’ve grown stronger with the holy relic, it won’t be too late to come back and resolve this living corpse crisis," Celestial Dragon Venerable chimed in with an idea.

It wasn’t a terrible idea, but it was essentially sacrificing the lives of their fellow Cold Energy Monsters to buy time.

"With this living corpse disease, the more of our kin die, the faster the number of living corpses grows. In the long run, we will lose our advantage," Celestial Patrol Venerable stated directly.

Getting stronger via the holy relic definitely wasn’t something that could be done in a minute or two. It would take months at the very least.

"We all saw how the humans failed. If we use the same delaying tactics, we’ll just be repeating their mistakes."

"We need another solution," Celestial Patrol Venerable said helplessly.

"This won’t work, that won’t work... why don’t you come up with a viable plan, then?"

"Anyone can just point out problems," Celestial Might Venerable shot back. "If you’re so smart, you bird, you come up with a plan."

"Let’s rotate. We’ll split into two groups. One group will go to hold back the violator and his living corpses. We don’t need to kill them, just hold them off."

"The other group will go to the depths of the Ancestral Court to retrieve the holy relic and become stronger."

"We just need to set a rotation schedule." Celestial Patrol Venerable had actually provided a solution.

Having everyone go or everyone stay were both bad ideas. Since that was the case, a compromise was the best option.

This way, everyone could save face, and they wouldn’t have to worry about future problems.

"Alright. We’ll decide by drawing lots." As he spoke, Celestial Dragon Venerable plucked ten stalks of grass of varying lengths, tossed them into a box, and shook it several times. "Who wants to go first?"

Celestial Might Venerable indicated that he would go first.

Soon, nine straws had been drawn, and the last one naturally belonged to Celestial Dragon Venerable.

"We’ll sort them by length. Do the long straws go to fight the violator, or the short ones?" Celestial Dragon Venerable asked.

He was asking for the conditions after the draw to prevent cheating.

"The short ones," Celestial Patrol Venerable replied.

No one had any major objections to this, and the groups were quickly decided.

Afterward, Celestial Dragon, Celestial Might, Celestial Patrol, and two other Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters headed into the depths of the Ancestral Court to retrieve the holy relic and grow stronger first.

In seven days, they would return to switch with the remaining shift.

It was just a matter of who went first, so there was no need to worry about anyone going back on their word.

Because they were all Venerable-grade; if one could act shamelessly, the others could too.

If it came to that, they would be the only ones to suffer the loss, no one else.

"In that case, our priority should be to hold our ground. We’ll delay and defend as much as possible, no more proactive attacks," one of the Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters suggested.

This suggestion was naturally approved by the remaining Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters.

Qi Suian had managed to escape even when it was ten against one. Now it was five against one, and he had reinforcements. They definitely couldn’t afford a head-on clash.

* * *

’They react pretty quickly.’ Qi Suian thought. Through his reconnaissance network and the zombie horde, he quickly noticed the Cold Energy Monsters’ movements.

"AI, what’s the status on the map route? Can we effectively avoid their interception?"

Qi Suian wasn’t leading an ancient army into battle. He wouldn’t just let them block his path; he could simply go around.

Neither he nor the Cold Energy Mutated Zombies needed supplies, so there was no fear of having their supply lines cut off if they took a detour.

On the other hand, *they* didn’t know his true objective, which gave him an information advantage.

[The Cold Energy Monsters are not immobile fortresses. It can be confirmed that avoiding them is impossible.]

[Furthermore, at the speed of the Cold Energy Mutated Zombies, it is impossible to escape the Cold Energy Monsters’ physical surveillance, unless you kill them directly.]

[However, this would be meaningless. Judging from their movements, the enemy has most likely completed their deployment.]

[If you wish to advance, you must punch through their defensive line. Otherwise, your only option is to abandon the zombie horde.]

In other words, there were too many of them. Even if he wanted to sneak past, it was impossible.

He had to fight his way through.

Either he ditched the horde, or he brute-forced his way forward.

As for stuffing them into his Subspace Pocket? He could manage ten or so Cold Energy Mutated Zombies, but there was no way to cram thirteen thousand in, even if they were compressed.

It was a "pocket," after all, not a warehouse. It couldn’t be used as a troop transport.

"Then we’ll fight our way through. It’s a good chance to replenish our numbers," Qi Suian said, choosing to brute-force it.

As for losing, Qi Suian hadn’t even considered it. With his protagonist’s halo, while not everything he wished for came true, things generally went smoothly for him.

"By the way, have you detected the presence of any Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters?" Qi Suian asked directly.

With such a huge commotion, those Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters certainly wouldn’t just sit back and wait for death.

[None detected yet. They are most likely on their way.]

[If they have not arrived, or if not all of them have arrived, you may need to increase your speed.]

[They might be preparing some powerful measures against you. Caution is advised.]

If they all came, it would mean they were at their wit’s end, with no choice but to engage personally.

But if some or all of them didn’t show up, it meant they were preparing for a decisive, killing blow.

"It’s best if not all of them have come. Given the current situation, a blitzkrieg is unrealistic," Qi Suian said.

Once all the Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters arrived, the battle would devolve into a prolonged stalemate.

This was not a good thing for Qi Suian.

After all, from the moment he arrived in the Cold Winter World until now, this world’s designated survivor protagonist had yet to even show his face.

Every day he was delayed, that opponent would grow stronger, which was extremely disadvantageous for Qi Suian.

Therefore, he also needed to get stronger.

So what if he had thirteen thousand Cold Energy Mutated Zombies? Never mind how many would be left after this battle; the enemy’s home-field advantage alone was not something his zombies could overcome.

Thus, if not all the Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters showed up, the stalemate would be at least two-thirds shorter.

If things went smoothly, Qi Suian could even kill some of the Venerable-grade Cold Energy Monsters ahead of time, laying the foundation for his eventual victory.

[Let’s hope your plan can be realized with the help of your protagonist’s halo.]

The AI couldn’t know the future, so all it could do was offer its blessings. What else could it do? It was just an AI, not an omniscient god.

* * *

"Dead? How is this possible!!!" Taiyin Celestial Monarch’s expression was one of pure shock. Just moments ago, through certain channels, he had obtained the latest news about Dragon Roar Daoist’s group and the Ice Continent from a survivor.

’Impossible. With the strength of Dragon Roar Daoist and the others, how could they possibly die?’

’They were all top-tier experts from various eras. No matter how strong the violator is, he’s still just one person. How could he be their match?’

’Not to mention forcibly abducting people from right under the noses of various nations. It’s simply...’

Taiyin Celestial Monarch never would have imagined that a simple reinforcement and acquisition mission would result in the complete loss of the powerful subordinates he had painstakingly accumulated over several eras.

It had instantly turned him into a king with no subjects.

’It’s for the best that they died. They could no longer keep up with the times.’ Taiyin Celestial Monarch thought, taking a deep breath and forcibly suppressing his rage.

The truth was, these old relics were in decline. A single bullet could take their lives, and a missile could inflict terrifying damage.

’It doesn’t matter that they died, but I cannot.’

’By my calculations, Tang Qing should be about done. After I kill him, I’ll need to lie low for the foreseeable future.’

’I can’t act like I used to anymore.’

’I just need to assimilate a new avatar, but because of the Doomsday Game, the human population is pitifully small.’

’It won’t be easy to find a suitable avatar that meets my standards.’

’Otherwise... should I join the Doomsday Game?’ The thought suddenly occurred to Taiyin Celestial Monarch, but he quickly dismissed it.

He had never been controlled himself, but he had controlled other avatars. He knew exactly how terrifying the power of life and death over another could be.

If he really joined the Doomsday Game, he would probably end up like his avatars—not in control of his own fate, his freedom lost.