169: Chapter 169 The Team is Initially Formed

The Seventh Squad formed a defensive formation, backing themselves against the three massive Earth Lizard corpses.

The corpses were behind them, blocking attacks from the North; the newcomers were inside, protected in the safest position; the veterans were on the outside, building a wall with their Pet Beasts; and the two Silver Rank experts stood on the flanks like two pillars, bracing the entire formation.

The scouts nearby could not believe their eyes.

In this situation, this young master was still thinking about leading the team to fight back?

That was the encirclement of over a hundred mutated Earth Lizards!

A scout from the Wang family, wearing a gray jacket, stood beside an off-road vehicle. The cigarette in his hand burned down to his fingers, but he did not flick it away; he simply extinguished the butt, his eyes fixed intently on the young man standing atop the corpses down the hill.

"This tactic... did he come up with it on the spot? His judgment of the battlefield situation is truly sharp. This method of defending with one's back to the corpses is the most appropriate, but can his ragtag group really hold them off?"

No one responded to these words.

Because everyone's gaze had returned to the battlefield.

The next moment, Qin Ce, who had a clear view from atop the corpses, commanded Tianlu—who was also on the corpses—to directly unleash [Lumeng] against the foremost Red-Scaled Earth Lizards surging up to surround them.

Six streams of cloud-like light talismans flew from above Tianlu's head, like six arrows released from a bowstring, accurately striking six Red-Scaled Earth Lizards thirty meters directly ahead.

Those six Earth Lizards were charging extremely fast, running at the very front of all the Earth Lizards, and were now less than twenty meters away from the squad.

Then, the six talismans landed on them head-on, and instantly, their bodies froze simultaneously before they crashed to the ground as if all their strength had been drained.

The six charging Earth Lizards fell at the same time, tumbling into a heap, and formed a wall of flesh two meters high and ten meters wide in front of the Seventh Squad's defensive formation.

Behind them, the surging Earth Lizards were instantly blocked.

But their original, extremely fast speed could not be stopped, and they crashed into that wall of flesh one after another.

Collision after collision followed, instantly bunching them into a mass, with countless hissing sounds erupting along with the trampling and struggling between them.

"Focus fire! Attack!"

Qin Ce's cold voice rang out.

Instantly, having performed this operation once before, the Beast Tamers of the Seventh Squad launched their attacks without a second thought.

A Profound Fire Crow flying in the air launched the first attack, spraying a fan-shaped flame directly at the group of Earth Lizards.

An ice-type Thorn Beast released several ice spikes, shooting them at the legs of the Earth Lizards.

A Great Earth Bear slapped the ground, raising rock spikes to inflict damage on the Earth Lizards from below.

In an instant, countless Wind Blades, fireballs, ice cones, rock spikes, and lightning flashes—skills of various colors—poured down like a rainstorm.

Then, the wall of flesh, which had originally been formed by only one layer of Lumeng control, was reinforced by the countless attacks, preventing the following Red-Scaled Earth Lizards from getting back up, forming an even thicker city wall of flesh.

The Earth Lizards further back, wanting to charge over and attack, had to bypass this "wall of flesh" or climb over it.

But their bodies were too large; climbing over was simply unrealistic.

And as for going around...

After Qin Ce dealt with the six Earth Lizards in front, he did not follow his subordinates in launching attacks.

Instead, he chose the two directions on the left and right flanks, having Tianlu use Lumeng to knock down the Red-Scaled Earth Lizards on both sides respectively.

Four on the left, five on the right—the same method, the same result.

Two more walls of flesh.

After this, Tianlu's Lumeng was like a precise scalpel; every strike cut into the gaps where the Red-Scaled Earth Lizards could attack, sealing off all directions from which they could launch an assault.

This kind of control caused the pressure on the squad to drop again and again.

The original encirclement had actually been turned by Qin Ce into a defensive battle with a city wall made of Red-Scaled Earth Lizard corpses!

The crisis was directly reversed into an advantage.

However, there was still danger in this.

Some Red-Scaled Earth Lizards had a rank higher than Bronze, and Tianlu's control skill could only hold them for less than two seconds.

This brief second or two was not enough for the squad to focus fire, nor was it enough for the newcomers to kill them, and they were even of a higher rank than most of the team members.

Once they broke through and attacked, the damage they caused would be fatal.

This was also the fundamental reason why the scouts on the periphery felt that Qin Ce and his team would not last long.

However, they did not know.

Qin Ce had long since appraised the levels of all the Red-Scaled Earth Lizards through Nine-Star Insight, and the distribution of the high-rank Earth Lizards was clear at a glance in his mind.

He knew exactly which of the Bronze Rank Earth Lizards that exceeded Tianlu's control ability were hiding where, and which ones were attempting to flank and attack.

And when these Earth Lizards broke through to close range.

Qin Ce would directly issue orders to the two Silver Rank Beast Tamers in the squad.

"Sun Lie, ten o'clock direction, the red one, Upper Bronze Rank, stop it."

"Feng Bao, two o'clock direction, mid-grade bronze, cut it down."

The Pet Beasts of the two Silver Rank Beast Tamers would act like two sharp knives, charging out from the squad to meet those high-rank Earth Lizards.

Although these two Pet Beasts had not fully recovered, especially in terms of defense, a siege by Bronze Rank ones could put them in danger.

However, their attacks were still Silver Rank.

In a situation where the whole battle could be held and an encirclement would not form, their attacks would become sharp weapons for controlling the situation!

The Ice-Armored Blazing Rhino's lava bombs, the Chi Tiger Beast's Thunder Light Claw—one strike, two strikes, three strikes.

Bronze Rank Earth Lizards could not last more than five seconds in front of them.

Once solved, they would retreat and guard the two sides of the squad, waiting for the next order.

Thus.

An offensive and defensive battle that seemed exceptionally balanced to outsiders played out on this red land.

Over a hundred Red-Scaled Earth Lizards besieged a team of twenty-five people; the attacking side could not get in, and the defending side would not go out.

The initiative of the battlefield had actually fallen into Qin Ce's hands.

Afterward, the corpses of the Earth Lizards piled up higher and higher, the "city wall" around the squad grew thicker, and the Seventh Squad's morale became increasingly stable.

The newcomers no longer shrank back, the veterans were no longer nervous, and even the Pet Beasts fought more fiercely.

Their coordination became more and more proficient, their mindset grew steadier, and their attacks became more ruthless.

From the initial frantic panic to the current orderly conduct;

From the initial fear and retreat to the current proactive strikes.

The corners of Qin Ce's mouth curled up slightly.

Morale that had completely stabilized.

Everyone attacking with full concentration.

Increasingly proficient coordination.

And a mindset adapted to the desperate situation.

Qin Ce knew that his first step in training the troops could be considered a success.

However, just at this moment.

Standing on the Earth Lizard corpses, Qin Ce, who was in the highest and most conspicuous position on the battlefield, suddenly had a burst of fiery light shoot toward him from behind!

...