Crossing the wilderness to survive, starting with a broken kitchen knife.

Zhao Feng led the charge, swinging his battle axe with great force. Each swing carried immense power, sending the approaching lizardmen flying. As he fought, he shouted, "Shitou, I'm here to help you!"

Zhang Shi was delighted to see Zhao Feng arrive, and shouted, "Get rid of the leader first!" The two men stood back to back and fought a desperate battle with the lizardmen.

At this moment, Ge Dalong also began to unleash his powerful magic. He waved his hands, muttering something, and instantly, the temperature around him plummeted. Icy spikes flew from his hands, shooting towards the lizardmen. Wherever the icy spikes touched, the lizardmen were frozen, their movements becoming sluggish.

Liu Yu led the warriors of the Alliance of Light, working closely with other alliance members to form a tight battle formation and gradually advance towards the command ship. Their weapons gleamed coldly in the sunlight, and each attack was precise and powerful, putting tremendous pressure on the Lizardmen.

With everyone's concerted efforts, the Lizardmen's defenses were gradually breached. The two Lizardmen guards were also entangled by Zhao Feng. Zhang Shi seized the opportunity and charged towards the silver Lizardmen leader again. This time, he focused all his strength on Old Duan, and his blade emitted a strong black light.

Seeing this, the Silver Lizardmen leaders didn't dare to be careless and quickly raised their cyan orbs to block. The orbs created a blue ice shield, which collided with Zhang Shi's black sword energy. With a loud bang, powerful energy waves spread out in all directions, knocking some of the surrounding Lizardmen away.

Zhang Shi used this reaction force to flip in mid-air and attack the Silver Lizardman leader again. His eyes revealed determination and resoluteness, and he had only one belief in his heart: to kill this Lizardman leader and destroy their command system.

During the fierce exchange, Zhang Shi discovered that the Silver Lizardmen's high-ranking guards were well-defended. He used his Shadow Step to swiftly circle behind the Silver Lizardmen's leader, then struck with a fierce blow. The Silver Lizardmen's leader was much slower than the guards. Although he sensed the danger and tried to dodge, it was too late. Zhang Shi's blade struck him on the back, and although the armor partially blocked the force, it still wounded him.

The silver lizardman leader roared angrily, turned, and spewed a stream of cyan flames at Zhang Shi. Zhang Shi hadn't expected this move and quickly dodged sideways, but the edge of the flame 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 Lizardmen fleet fell into chaos. Many Lizardmen warships were sunk, and they jumped into the sea and fled in all directions.

Under the siege, the Silver Lizardman leader finally revealed a flaw. Zhang Shi seized the opportunity and slashed his arm, causing the blue orb to fall from his hand. Quick-witted, Zhang Shi snatched it up and pocketed it.

What surprised Zhang Shi was that the other party did not show any emotional fluctuations. Instead, he stopped attacking and looked at him with burning eyes.

Suddenly, the azure orb blazed with a powerful light, freezing the air around Zhang Shi. A hemispherical shroud of ice instantly formed above Zhang Shi's head, enveloping him. Zhang Shi sensed danger and attempted to escape with his Shadow Step, but found himself completely desensitized. With no target, Shadow Step could not be activated.

Zhang Shi waved Lao Duan to try to cut the ice cover, but found that the ice cover on the outside was still expanding, and his destruction speed was far less than the speed of the ice cover's expansion.

Outside, the people of the alliance also noticed the situation here. They fired all kinds of fire magic, swords and guns at the ice shield, but they could only leave faint scratches on the solid ice shield.

Seeing Zhang Shi trapped, everyone became increasingly anxious and attacked more fiercely, but the ice shield remained motionless. Ge Dalong shouted anxiously, "This won't work! This ice shield is too strong!"

Liu Yu frowned and said after thinking for a moment: "Everyone, please calm down and get out of the way!" Upon hearing this, everyone immediately made way for him.

He condensed a golden blade of light and, with a casual stroke, created a large gash on the deck beneath his feet. Everyone suddenly realized what was happening and began to attack below the ice cover.

Zhang Shi also discovered the blind spot. He took a deep breath, channeling all his strength into Old Duan. Then, he leaped high and slashed with all his might at the deck beneath the ice cover. This single blow embodied all his strength and determination. The moment the blade made contact with the deck, there was a dull thud as Old Duan pierced through the entire deck. Zhang Shi seized the opportunity to free himself from beneath the deck, not forgetting to stow the cyan orb in his backpack.

Seeing this, the high-ranking Lizardmen knew that the situation was hopeless and quickly ordered their men to evacuate.

The lizardmen leaped into the sea in an orderly fashion. A gigantic mechanical turtle loomed beneath the surface, and the lizardmen all slipped into it. Zhang Shi, worried that if they pursued too closely, the enemy might become desperate, ordered them to stop and let them go.

As the Lizardmen retreated, the Alliance fleet began to regroup, treating the wounded and tallying the losses. The wind still howled across the smoke-filled sea, and the warships rocked slightly on the waves, as if taking a breather from the brutal battle.

Zhang Shi stood at the bow, gazing at the receding Lizardman fleet, a mixture of emotions welling up in his heart. While the Alliance had achieved a temporary victory in this battle, inflicting heavy damage to the Lizardman fleet and disrupting their deployment, they had also paid a heavy price, with many brave warriors forever lost in these waters.

"Zhang Shi, what should we do next?" Liu Yu stepped forward and broke the silence. His face was tired from the battle, but his eyes remained firm.

Zhang Shi withdrew his gaze and turned to Liu Yu. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "This battle has shown us the strength and cunning of the Lizardmen. They will definitely not give up. Let's return to the Alliance headquarters first. On the one hand, we will strengthen our defenses. On the other hand, we will study this cyan orb. Perhaps we can find the key to defeating the Lizardmen from it."

Everyone nodded in agreement. After a brief cleanup of the battlefield, the Alliance fleet sailed majestically towards headquarters. Along the way, everyone was silent, each preoccupied with their own thoughts, and the atmosphere was somewhat solemn.

Upon returning to Alliance headquarters, Zhang Shi immediately assembled elite scholars from various factions to begin research on the cyan orb. Ge Dalong, with his extensive magical knowledge and experience, became the primary investigator. He placed the orb within a specially constructed magic circle and carefully injected magical energy into it, attempting to probe its internal structure and the underlying principles of its magic.

However, the power of this orb seemed extremely mysterious and powerful. Ge Dalong's exploration was repeatedly frustrated, and the magic circle also showed unstable fluctuations many times. But he did not give up. After several days and nights of unremitting efforts, he finally made some discoveries.

"This orb contains an ancient and powerful ice magic power, which is different from the common ice magic we see. It seems to be able to mobilize the surrounding water elements and transform them into extremely tough ice. It also has a certain self-repair ability, which is why it was difficult for us to break it before." Ge Dalong explained to everyone.

Zhang Shi frowned after hearing this. "Is there any way to break its power, or use it for our own benefit?"

Ge Dalong shook his head. "I haven't found a definitive method yet, but I will continue my research. However, based on my speculation, this orb may be related to some ancient heritage or mysterious power of the Lizardmen. Perhaps we need more information to fully unlock its secrets."

While Ge Dalong was researching the orb, Zhang Shi was also busy. He organized his soldiers to strengthen the fortifications of the Alliance Headquarters, setting up more magic traps and defensive formations. He also increased the intensity of the soldiers' training and developed more comprehensive tactics tailored to the Lizardmen's combat characteristics.

As the days passed, the Alliance gradually recovered from the intense preparations for war. However, the peace did not last long. One day, a reconnaissance team suddenly received news that the Lizardmen had made new movements in another sea area. They seemed to be gathering more forces and preparing to launch a larger-scale attack.