157: Chapter 157 Dead Zone Captain

When the iceberg cracked, Lin Ye did not move.

Zhao Mengmeng had already raised her crossbow to shoulder level, the arrow tip aimed at the densest part of the ice mist.

A six-meter-tall monster rose from the shattered iceberg.

Its body was draped in large patches of black ice.

Its ancient armor was layered, and the half-meter-wide heart guard on its chest was sealed shut by frost and rust.

It dragged a giant frost battle-axe, the blade carving a deep groove into the ice surface.

Normal ice statues had a ghostly green cold light in their helmets.

This Commander Statue did not.

Its face was just a hollow iron mask, with only darkness behind it.

In Lin Ye's Left Eye, its entire body was glowing with a blinding white-red light.

This was not the pinpoint danger of a normal living ice statue, but an entire Dead Zone bearing down on them.

The light screen did not display any weaknesses, names, or attack prompts.

There was only the air of the Sixth Floor, frozen hard, and the muffled footsteps growing closer.

Thump.

The Commander Statue took a step, and a half-meter-deep crater was stamped into the ice field.

Cracks spread from under its feet, causing two nearby dead statues to tilt.

Zhao Mengmeng tightened her grip on the crossbow: "Brother Lin, is staring at this one useful?"

Lin Ye stared at the Commander Statue's iron mask: "No."

Zhao Mengmeng cursed: "Then we're done for, it doesn't play by the rules."

The Great Xia Live Stream chat feed changed instantly.

[ This thing is three times taller than the previous ice statues! ]

[ You could still block the line of sight for normal ice statues, but this one doesn't follow the mechanics, how do we fight it? ]

[ The axe is taller than a person, one hit and you're gone, right? Run, Lin Ye! ]

The overseas livestream rooms also showed activity.

Someone from the USA livestream room immediately popped up.

[ The Great Xia people have finally encountered a true floor guardian monster. ]

[ His little tricks are useless now; this is pure, overwhelming power. ]

In the ice mist, the Commander Statue turned its head.

The iron mask locked accurately onto the position of the two people on the platform.

Zhao Mengmeng glanced at the ice door behind her, then looked at the suspended ice bridge ahead.

The path back was the Tomb of Soldiers, and the path forward was the Commander Statue.

They couldn't go back to the Fifth Floor, and the blue ball algae were gone too.

"This tower really knows how to pick its customers to slaughter."

Lin Ye did not respond.

His Left Eye was only open for a brief half-second.

He saw the dense crowd of normal ice statues to the right of the Commander Statue.

Normal ice statues were restricted by the line-of-sight mechanic, but the Commander Statue was not.

Lin Ye reached out and pressed on Zhao Mengmeng's shoulder armor, pushing her half a step to the right.

"Don't retreat."

Zhao Mengmeng's eyes were still locked on the Commander Statue: "Don't retreat? Wait for it to stamp us out?"

Lin Ye pointed toward the group of statues to the right of the Commander Statue: "Lean that way."

There were at least a hundred ice statues over there, with living red dots mixed in; making a sound would wake a whole group.

"Are you sure you want to dive into a pile of monsters?"

"It isn't restricted by line of sight. The other statues are."

Lin Ye's voice was short and sharp.

Zhao Mengmeng understood immediately.

The Commander Statue could kill them by force, but the normal ice statues could be controlled by line of sight and sound.

"Fine, today let's make it experience some internal friction from its colleagues."

The Commander Statue raised its giant axe.

The movement was not fast, but the ice mist around it was forcibly pushed to the sides by the axe blade.

It wasn't locking onto the people, but the ice roller where the two were hiding.

Lin Ye raised his right arm, and the remaining anchor slots of the Dark Weaver clicked softly.

"Get ready to jump."

Zhao Mengmeng put away her crossbow and grabbed the animal tendons at his waist: "What are the odds?"

"Fifteen percent. The rest depends on its mistakes."

Zhao Mengmeng gritted her teeth: "It's a monster, not a college entrance exam candidate!"

The giant axe fell heavily.

The four-meter-high ice roller was cleaved in half and exploded.

The thick ice shattered into countless pieces, and the surrounding dead statues were struck with a clattering sound.

The Commander Statue dragged its wrist horizontally, and the entire giant axe swept across the ice surface.

Lin Ye fired an anchor before the axe blade fell.

The anchor nailed into the gap in the back armor of a collapsed knight on the right.

The Dark Weaver's winch retracted, and the two were suddenly pulled away from their spot.

Their bodies grazed past the flying shards of ice.

A piece of ice grazed Zhao Mengmeng's shoulder, tearing a gash in her animal-skin armor.

The two slammed into the edge of the statue group on the right.

Lin Ye landed, bent his waist to absorb the impact, braced his right hand on the ice, and slid two meters before stabilizing himself.

Zhao Mengmeng rolled behind a kneeling statue.

Just as she was about to look up, Lin Ye pressed down on her collar: "Don't look around."

She immediately locked her gaze onto the helmet of the spear-wielding knight directly in front of her.

Thump.

The Commander Statue's six-meter body slammed directly into the statue array.

Two dead statues were shattered by its knees.

A slumbering living ice statue was struck by the handle of the giant axe; its ice shell cracked, and a ghostly green cold light lit up inside its helmet.

A dozen normal knights woke up simultaneously.

"So many woke up." Zhao Mengmeng tightened her finger on the trigger.

Lin Ye didn't lower his voice; instead, he raised his Fire Axe and struck the ice surface under his feet heavily.

Clang!

The sound of the impact echoed wildly under the dome of the Tomb of Soldiers.

After that sound, the entire group of statues on the right began to move.

A massive series of ice cracking sounds merged into one.

A dozen heavy-armored knights turned their helmets.

The Great Xia Live Stream chat was flooded with question marks.

[ What is he doing! ]

[ Actively waking up the ice statues? Beating the gong to start the feast himself? ]

Lin Ye opened his Left Eye.

Red dots were densely packed; between several awakened knights, there was an extremely narrow green gap cutting diagonally behind a collapsed statue.

It lasted less than two seconds.

"Follow my lead."

Lin Ye stepped to the left.

The two did not distance themselves, but instead dove into the middle of the awakened ice statues.

The sword-wielding knight on the left lost its lock and immediately moved laterally.

Lin Ye suddenly turned his head to stare at it.

The knight froze, and the hammer-wielding knight on the right moved at the same time.

Zhao Mengmeng locked onto it in the blink of an eye.

The hammer head stopped three feet above her head.

The two slipped under the shadow of the giant hammer.

A spear-wielding knight in front was woken up by the Commander Statue and thrust its spear horizontally.

Lin Ye did not retreat; he raised his hand and flung a fragment of an aluminum pot, hitting an ice shield to the left-rear.

Clang!

The spear-wielding knight's helmet turned toward the source of the sound.

Lin Ye seized that half-second and pulled Zhao Mengmeng through under the spear.

The Commander Statue chased them from behind, ignoring the normal ice statues, and swept its giant axe horizontally.

Three awakened knights were sent flying by the back of the axe, crashing into the ice formation in the distance.

An even wider range of ice statues was awakened by the sound of the impact.

This area was in complete chaos.

The Commander Statue's power crushed everything; the normal ice statues were constrained by sound, and the two sides overlapped.

Lin Ye pulled Zhao Mengmeng and rushed behind a partially broken stone pillar.

"Close your eyes!"

The two turned their heads and closed their eyes at the same time, pressing their bodies against the back of the stone pillar.

The normal ice statues, having lost their visual lock, went berserk, and three heavy-armored knights lunged at the spot where the two had just been.

The Commander Statue's giant foot was coming down.

Boom!

The normal ice statues collided with the Commander Statue's lower leg.

The ice armor shattered upon colliding with the ancient armor, and the Commander Statue's step veered off course.

The giant axe struck half a meter off, the blade cutting into the ice field and getting stuck in the waist armor of a fallen knight.

Zhao Mengmeng opened her eyes and exhaled: "Good grief, using mobs as speed bumps."

Lin Ye's Left Eye stung.

The Commander Statue was only blocked for a moment before pulling the giant axe out with force.

That normal knight shattered into a pile of ice shards.

The Commander Statue's iron mask turned toward Lin Ye once more; it had heard the sound of the Dark Weaver's mechanism.

Lin Ye quickly scanned the Commander Statue's entire body.

The red light deep within the armor obscured the internal structure.

He needed to get closer.

Lin Ye stared at the Commander Statue's chest.

Just now, when the Commander Statue raised its axe, a small patch of green light was revealed through the rusted gap at the lower edge of the heart guard.

The real drive mechanism was hidden behind the heart guard.

But the chest was four meters off the ground; going at it head-on meant certain death.

Lin Ye quickly planned a route in his mind.

The ice cones on the dome. The broken stone pillar on the left. The edge of the platform on the right.

The ice crack in the Commander Statue's left knee. A half-second delay.

Use its arm to jump a second time and pry open the heart guard.

Zhao Mengmeng stared at the Commander Statue raising its axe again: "Still stalling?"

"I need to find its vital point. I have to tear it apart," Lin Ye replied.

The Commander Statue took a step, and the ice field collapsed into another large crater.

The suspended ice bridge behind the platform vibrated, and layers of frost fell off.

In the distance, Ivan's figure appeared at the edge of the Tomb of Soldiers.

He was hiding behind a row of collapsed statues, wrapping a broken pickaxe in animal skin.

He saw the Commander Statue, and he also saw Lin Ye and the other one weaving through the statue group.

Ivan did not interfere, and even slowly backed away.

The Commander Statue was guarding the ice bridge, and no one could get up. Only after Lin Ye defeated the Boss would he have a chance to follow.

The Great Xia Live Stream captured this scene.

[ That guy from Russia is here! He didn't make a move! ]

[ He's very smart, knowing that Brother Eye is currently clearing the way for everyone. There is no such thing as free kindness in the Great Country Challenge. ]

The Commander Statue swung its axe for the third time, striking the top of the stone pillar where Lin Ye was hiding.

An ice storm descended.

The upper half of the stone pillar exploded on the spot.

Lin Ye grabbed Zhao Mengmeng and dove forward.

Debris grazed his back, making his armor clang.

Zhao Mengmeng's elbow hit the ice surface when she landed.

She propped herself up: "Let it smash us two more times, and I'll be frozen meat filling."

Lin Ye raised his right arm.

The anchor slots of the Dark Weaver were already bottoming out.

The Commander Statue dragged its giant axe as it approached.

Lin Ye tightened his backpack and gripped the blunted Fire Axe with his left hand.

"Mengmeng. Nock the alloy arrow."

Zhao Mengmeng's movements paused.

She only had one last high-carbon alloy arrow left. It could pierce armor and pin targets.

The crossbow mechanism was pulled to the max, and the alloy arrow was pressed into the groove.

"Shoot where?"

"The left knee joint."

Lin Ye raised the Dark Weaver.

"After the three anchors are fired, it will raise its axe to block me. You just need to pin it for half a second."

Zhao Mengmeng aimed the crossbow at the Commander Statue's knee: "You dare to go in for half a second?"

Lin Ye stared at the Commander Statue's heart guard: "It's enough to kill it."

Zhao Mengmeng placed her finger on the trigger.

"Go."