Chapter 1087: Blockade

At this critical moment, a guardsman by Wulu, armed with a crescent-bladed halberd, suddenly leaped up. With a flick of his halberd's prong against the wooden wheel, he skillfully deflected the broken log, sending another massive log flying.

He Lingchuan hadn't seen such an elegant display of leverage in a long time.

Wulu, for his part, personally hurled a boomerang directly ahead onto the road. Was the unseen, road-blocking weapon still there?

The boomerang was only fist-sized when he threw it, but it grew steadily during its flight. Beyond ten meters, it transformed into a man-sized projectile!

Large and rotating vertically, it bounced when it reached the spot where the guardsman had just fallen, as if hitting something incredibly resilient.

"Was that... a wire?" Wulu suddenly understood.

The enemy had set a trap on their unavoidable path—not a common tripwire, but a far more sinister beheading wire!

With the height precisely calculated, this nearly invisible wire hung suspended in mid-air. Combined with the cavalry's rapid descent from the hilltop, the seemingly soft wire instantly transformed into a deadly blade!

The so-called invisible, shadowless weapon turned out to be nothing more than a few tough wires?

Realizing this, Wulu didn't relax; instead, he frowned deeply.

The resilience of these wires was astonishing, as even the boomerang couldn't sever them. If more lay ahead, would his two hundred men dare to gallop on?

At this critical juncture, time was life and speed was victory, yet he was being delayed here!

The boomerang, upon contact, immediately spun back. However, instead of returning to its master, it shifted to horizontal rotation, flying over the guardsmen's heads and cutting directly into the tall grass!

With a few thudding sounds, it also snapped two trees.

A dull roar immediately echoed from deep within the jungle, and a giant ape burst forth, clad in heavy bronze armor and wielding a massive purple-gold club. Its very emergence was marked by a powerful sweeping attack!

The massive club could extend up to ten meters. The giant ape aimed at the height of a horse's neck, and with a single swing, the knights scrambled to dodge.

Still, several riders couldn't evade it and were swept away, man and horse tumbling six to nine meters through the air before landing or crashing into trees.

The lucky ones had the club strike their horses, the impact largely absorbed by the animals, leaving the riders dazed and possibly with minor fractures. The unlucky ones took the direct hit, their internal organs ruptured and bodies flattened, dying before they even hit the ground.

As the furious ape executed this sweep, a three-meter-long gust of powerful energy extended from the club's tip, sending sand and stones rolling across the ground and flattening all the wild grass.

Forced to scatter by the ape's rampage, the guard detachment was in disarray. The furious ape then made a massive leap, swinging its club down toward Wulu's head.

The guardsman with the crescent-bladed halberd leaped to meet the challenge, completely fearless. However, a large net suddenly shot out from the side, expertly trapping him!

It turned out that a large, jet-black spider, five feet tall at the back, had emerged from the grass, spraying nets with incredible precision. The guardsman, unable to maneuver effectively mid-air, was perfectly ambushed.

This black spider was a net-throwing catcher animated from Mother Zhu's eyeball. As soon as it ensnared someone, it would drag the net and swiftly pull them into the forest.

Others swung their blades to cut the net, but the Earth-Hole Spider Queen's web was so tough that even divine weapons struggled to sever it. Though their weapons were now imbued with primal energy, they couldn't saw through it in just a few strokes.

As the guardsman was dragged away, the furious ape's club was moments away from smashing Wulu's head. Wulu had no choice but to throw a finger-sized doll at it.

With a loud bang, the doll instantly transformed into a towering, stout, and broad puppet bear, standing one and a half zhang (approximately five meters) tall. Its two massive paws pressed against the club, and it charged directly at the giant ape.

Previously, Wulu had been surrounded by his guards, with people packed tightly in front of him, leaving no room to summon this golden-armored berserker bear, a creature capable of crushing a person just by sitting on them.

This creature was also covered in bronze armor, possessing true sharp claws and steel teeth. When its paws struck the purple-gold club, sparks flew.

It was equally immensely powerful, forcing the furious ape back two steps with its initial attack.

Enraged, the furious ape swung its club furiously, aiming a barrage of powerful blows at the berserker bear.

Mother Zhu, exasperated, instructed it in its ear: "Why are you hitting its head, face, or belly? It's not a real bear; it won't get a concussion!"

"Roar?" it grunted. "Then where should I strike?"

"Jab out its eyes, and it won't see you!" she retorted. "Puppets' eyes are also for seeing!"

"Stop joking!" He Lingchuan's voice cut in. "The golden-armored bear is controlled by a person in real-time; it can still fight without eyes."

He was certainly an authority on the matter.

"Hmph!" The furious ape let out a loud laugh upon hearing that Mother Zhu was also mistaken. However, it quickly roared in anger, baring its sharp fangs as the surrounding Yagu guardsmen painfully pricked its ankles.

The elemental energy stabs hurt intensely!

Being the largest and most conspicuous, it naturally became everyone's immediate primary target.

Even with its heavy armor, it wouldn't last long.

"Focus your attack on Wulu; don't be distracted by this puppet bear!" He Lingchuan instructed. "This metallic behemoth is mine!"

Then, with a rustle, another large creature bounded out from the bushes on the other side of the mountain path—

The gleaming Golden-Armored Bronze General made its entrance!

Over the past six months, the income of the Yangshan Archipelago had multiplied several times over, finally making He Lingchuan's title as island lord truly deserved. Yet, he still hadn't upgraded the Golden-Armored Bronze General.

Fang Canran had calculated that upgrading this behemoth from a Bronze General to a Divine General would cost a minimum of 1.3 million taels of silver!

Creating this item was like renovating a house: even a basic, low-spec version cost that much, and there was no upper limit if one desired a higher quality.

He Lingchuan immediately dismissed the idea; the cost-effectiveness was simply too low!

Moreover, while he was usually generous with the Yangshan Archipelago and occasionally with the people of Bailie and Dong Rui's research, he was extremely frugal when it came to himself.

There was no helping it; silver was simply too valuable.

His ambitions were vast, and he was unwilling to waste even a single coin in the future.

Otherwise, once upgraded to a Divine General, the Golden-Armored Bronze General would have been able to dismantle this puppet bear with its bare hands.

But for now, it could only hold its own against the large bear.

The two metal constructs, knowing neither pain nor fatigue, fought in an intense deadlock right beside Wulu and the furious ape.

The furious ape, the giant bear, and the Golden-Armored Bronze General—all three massive figures were crammed into such a small space, banging and clanging in battle, struggling to maneuver or even turn. The other guardsmen could only see sand and stones flying, obscuring their vision. If they dared to intervene, they would instantly risk being trampled by one of the colossal combatants.

The furious ape, following He Lingchuan's command, launched a fierce assault on Wulu.

In such a confined space, the heavy purple-gold club became cumbersome to wield. The ape simply retracted its club and moved to grab Wulu with its bare hands.

Wulu's preferred weapons were a pair of heavy maces, but they were clearly ineffective against a strength-based opponent like the furious ape. So, he switched to a pair of hand forks.

These weapons resembled oversized, slender, rounded needles equipped with handguards.

Wulu himself had steadily risen through military merit, his cultivation matching his rank. Now, he weaved through the gaps in the titans' struggle, his movements as fluid as flowing water, always managing to slip through the smallest openings.

The colossal feet stomped back and forth around him, yet never managed to tread on him.