Zhao Feng charged ahead, wielding his battle axe with ferocious force, each swing carrying immense power, sending approaching lizardmen soldiers flying. As he fought, he shouted, "Stone, I'm here to help you!"
When Zhang Shi saw Zhao Feng arrive, he was overjoyed and shouted, "Take care of the leader first!" The two stood back to back and engaged in a fierce battle with the lizardmen.
At this moment, Ge Dalong also began to unleash powerful magic. He waved his hands and chanted incantations. Instantly, the surrounding temperature plummeted, and icicles flew from his hands, shooting towards the lizardmen. Wherever the icicles struck, the lizardmen were frozen solid, their movements becoming sluggish.
Liu Yu led the warriors of the Light Alliance, coordinating closely with other alliance members to form a tight battle formation, and gradually advanced towards the command ship. Their weapons gleamed coldly in the sunlight, and each attack was precise and powerful, putting immense pressure on the lizardmen.
With everyone's combined efforts, the lizardmen's defenses were gradually breached. The two lizardmen guards were also engaged by Zhao Feng, and Zhang Shi seized the opportunity to charge at the silver lizardman leader once more. This time, he concentrated all his power into Lao Duan, and the blade emitted a strong black light.
Seeing this, the silver lizardmen leaders dared not be careless and quickly raised the cyan orb in their hands to defend themselves. The orb created a blue ice shield, which collided with Zhang Shi's black sword energy, producing a loud bang. The powerful energy fluctuations spread outwards, blasting some of the lizardmen around them away.
Using the recoil, Zhang Shi somersaulted in mid-air and attacked the silver lizardman leader again. His eyes revealed determination and resolve; he had only one belief in his heart: to kill this lizardman leader and destroy their command system.
In the fierce exchange, Zhang Shi noticed that while the Silver Lizardman high command's defenses were tight, he used his Shadow Step to quickly circle behind him and then slashed down with his blade. The Silver Lizardman high command was much slower than his guards, and although he sensed the danger and tried to dodge, it was too late. Zhang Shi's blade struck his back; although the armor absorbed some of the force, it still wounded him.
The silver lizardman leader roared angrily and turned to spew a stream of blue flames at Zhang Shi. Zhang Shi hadn't expected this move and quickly dodged, but the edge of the flames still burned his arm. He endured the pain and continued his attack.
By this time, the Alliance warriors had gradually gained the upper hand, and the lizardman fleet was thrown into chaos. Many lizardman warships were sunk, and the soldiers jumped into the sea and fled in all directions.
Under the combined attack, the silver lizardman leader finally revealed a weakness. Zhang Shi seized the opportunity, slashing his arm and causing the cyan orb in his hand to fall. With lightning speed, Zhang Shi picked up the orb and put it in his pocket.
To Zhang Shi's surprise, the other party did not show any emotional fluctuation. Instead, he stopped attacking and stared intently at him.
Suddenly, the azure pearl emitted a brilliant light, freezing the air around Zhang Shi. A hemispherical ice shield instantly condensed above Zhang Shi, enveloping him. Sensing the danger, Zhang Shi tried to escape using the Shadow Step, but found he had lost all sense of the outside world. The Shadow Step had no target and could not be activated.
Zhang Shi swung Lao Duan in an attempt to cut open the ice cover, only to find that the outer ice cover was still expanding, and his speed of destruction was far slower than the speed at which the ice cover was expanding.
Outside, the Alliance members also noticed the situation and unleashed various fire spells and weapons at the ice shield, but could only leave faint scratches on the solid ice.
Seeing Zhang Shi trapped, the crowd grew increasingly anxious and intensified their attacks, but the ice barrier remained unmoved. Ge Dalong cried out in desperation, "This won't do! This ice barrier is too sturdy!"
Liu Yu frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "Everyone, don't panic, make way!" Upon hearing this, everyone immediately made way for him.
He conjured a golden blade of light, and with a casual slash, he created a large gash in the deck beneath his feet. The others suddenly understood and began their attack down into the ice cover.
Zhang Shi also discovered the blind spot. He took a deep breath, gathered all his strength into Lao Duan, and then leaped high into the air, slashing with all his might at the deck at the bottom of the ice cover. This strike contained all his power and determination. The moment the blade made contact with the deck, it produced a dull thud, and Lao Duan pierced through the entire deck. Zhang Shi took the opportunity to escape from below the deck, not forgetting to put the cyan pearl into his backpack.
Seeing this, the lizardmen leaders realized that the situation was hopeless and quickly ordered their men to retreat.
The lizardmen leaped into the sea in an orderly fashion, and a giant mechanical turtle could be faintly seen underwater. The lizardmen all crawled inside the turtle. Zhang Shi, worried that if they pursued too closely, the lizardmen would become desperate and resort to desperate measures, so he ordered a halt and let them go.
As the lizardmen withdrew, the Alliance fleet began to regroup, treat the wounded, and tally the losses from the battle. The sea breeze continued to howl, whipping across the smoke-filled surface, and the warships rocked slightly in the waves, as if they too were catching their breath after this fierce battle.
Standing at the bow of the ship, Zhang Shi gazed at the departing lizardman fleet, his heart filled with mixed emotions. Although the alliance had achieved a partial victory in this battle, severely damaging the lizardman fleet and disrupting their plans, they had also paid a heavy price; many brave warriors had perished in these waters.
"Zhang Shi, what do we do next?" Liu Yu stepped forward, breaking the silence. His face showed the fatigue of battle, but his eyes remained resolute.
Zhang Shi withdrew his gaze, turned to Liu Yu, and after a moment of contemplation, said, "This battle has shown us the strength and cunning of the lizardmen. They certainly won't let this go easily. Let's return to the Alliance headquarters first, strengthen our defenses on one hand, and study this cyan pearl on the other. Perhaps we can find the key to fighting the lizardmen within it."
Everyone nodded in agreement. After a brief cleanup of the battlefield, the Alliance fleet sailed in a grand procession towards headquarters. Along the way, everyone remained silent, lost in their own thoughts, the atmosphere somewhat heavy.
Back at the Alliance headquarters, Zhang Shi immediately summoned the elites and scholars from various factions to begin researching the azure orb. Ge Dalong, with his extensive magical knowledge and experience, became the main force in the research. He placed the orb within a specially made magic circle, carefully infusing it with magical power, attempting to probe its internal structure and magical principles.
However, the power of this precious pearl seemed extremely mysterious and formidable, and Ge Dalong's attempts to probe it repeatedly failed, with the magic circle also experiencing unstable fluctuations on numerous occasions. But he did not give up, and after several days and nights of tireless effort, he finally made some discoveries.
"This precious orb contains an ancient and powerful ice magic, which is different from the ice magic we usually see. It seems to be able to manipulate the surrounding water elements, turning them into extremely tough ice, and it also has a certain self-repairing ability, which is why we had difficulty breaking it before," Ge Dalong explained to everyone.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Shi frowned and asked, "Is there any way to break its power or to use it for our own purposes?"
Ge Dalong shook his head: "We haven't found a definitive method yet, but I will continue to study it. However, based on my speculation, this gem may be related to some ancient tradition or mysterious power of the lizard people. Perhaps we need more information to completely unravel its secrets."
While Ge Dalong was studying the precious pearl, Zhang Shi was not idle either. He organized the soldiers to strengthen the defenses of the alliance headquarters, set up more magical traps and defensive formations, and increased the intensity of the soldiers' training, developing more comprehensive tactics tailored to the combat characteristics of the lizardmen.
Days passed, and the alliance gradually recovered its strength amidst intense preparations for war. However, the peace did not last long. One day, a reconnaissance team suddenly reported that the lizardmen had made new moves in another sea area; they seemed to be gathering more troops, preparing to launch a larger-scale attack.
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