The Situation... Is Under Control / You... Old Coot!!!

Seaweed Guard stood there dumbfounded, its leaves slightly spread, but it had no idea which side to block.

...Magic-shroom, isn't this way of fighting a little too economical with the seaweed?

It wasn't over yet.

On the submarine's right side, Power Lily's second complete Energy Pea had finished condensing.

Bok Choy had just finished one round of punches. When he saw the Energy Pea flying over, he opened his mouth and swallowed it without a word.

That surge of green energy erupted from his body once more. His arms swelled again, and the calluses on his fists glimmered once more.

"Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora!"

A new round of fist shadows blanketed the waters to the right.

The zombies that had just been intimidated and were still hesitating over whether to charge never imagined that the cabbage's stamina hadn't been depleted at all—it had activated its ultimate again.

And this time it was even fiercer than before. After Bok Choy's martial arts had broken through, every use of his ultimate became a new tempering.

The zombies didn't even have time to think about retreating. In the 5×5 area before them, they once again gathered in front of Bok Choy.

Power Lily's third Energy Pea had just taken shape. Before it could catch its breath, Magic-shroom's cap tilted over again.

Magic-shroom: ???

How about one more? You saw how effective that last wave was. Six Bucketheads—is that fierce enough?

Power Lily looked down at the Energy Pea it had just condensed, then at Magic-shroom's shameless, ingratiating smile.

Power Lily: ? ? ?

That's all! You squeezed the energy out of me! Squeezed me dry... I get it! Take it. Anyway... even if I say no, you'll keep staring at me. I can't stand that expression.

[Evil Kitty: ?(o?o?)??????... Kitty still hasn't tried an Energy Pea!!!]

The Situation... Stabilizing

Power Lily: ? ? ?

Another surge of energy flowed into Magic-shroom's body.

The amount was even less than last time—Power Lily really was nearly drained dry. It had never worked this hard before.

But it was enough.

Six more top hats appeared. And one of them was a full circle larger than the other five.

The zombies saw the six top hats appear again from far away.

They were already struggling with six Rebel Bucketheads, and the battle was chaotic enough. Now six more top hats had appeared.

What would come out this time? Six Gargantuars? Six Football Zombies? Or—

Zombies: [stunned]

Is this ever going to end?! We haven't even finished fighting those six Bucketheads, and now there are six more hats? Is this mushroom part of a factory team? One after another? Can't you give us a chance to catch our breath? We're zombies, not punching bags! Zombies have dignity too—

The top hats vanished.

Six new zombies appeared in the waters to the left—two Coneheads, three Bucketheads, and one more.

The one standing at the very back was a full three times taller than the other five.

Golden armor reflected a heavy golden radiance under the searchlights. A huge wooden shield was held in his left hand, and a thick stone pillar in his right.

Gargantuar.

The morale of the zombies on the left—if zombies could even be said to have such a thing—collapsed in an instant.

One Gargantuar was frightening enough. Now this Gargantuar was standing on the side of the Rebel Zombies.

Before long, an incomprehensible scene appeared on the seafloor.

A lone submarine was stopped in the center of the battlefield.

On the right, a single Bok Choy held the line alone. No matter how many zombies surged toward him, his fists only grew more violent.

The corpses of the zombies before Bok Choy had already piled into a small mountain. The mud and sand had been dyed dark brown by black blood, while severed limbs slowly drifted through the seawater. The entire right side of the battlefield reeked of iron.

On the left, a zombie civil war involving over a hundred combatants was raging.

Although the Rebel Zombies were few in number, no zombie could stand against the Gargantuar. With every rise and fall of his stone pillar, the remains of ordinary zombies were flattened into pancakes.

The Rebel Bucketheads and Coneheads desperately blocked the gaps, biting and tearing at the zombies outside.

The zombies that were bitten to death sank to the seafloor. New zombies surged up to fill the gaps, only to be flattened by another swing of the Gargantuar's pillar.

Among the zombies on the left, a Deep-Diving Zombie whose arm had been scraped off by the Gargantuar's stone pillar clutched the seafloor mud with its remaining hand and struggled forward.

But its oxygen tank had been crushed by the Gargantuar during the melee. It was drowning—if zombies could drown, that was.

Deep-Diving Zombie... raised its head with its last breath and looked toward the black top hat that was still constantly summoning new zombies, issuing its final complaint.

Deep-Diving Zombie: [fleeing in panic]

Can we still have fun?! I'm going to report you to Dave!!! You're a mushroom—what are you doing summoning things? Fine, summon if you want, but you summoned a Gargantuar?! Do you know the balance of this game is completely broken? I demand a rematch—wait, I can't float—glug glug glug—

The light in Deep-Diving Zombie...'s eye sockets went out. Its entire body slowly sank to the seafloor and stopped moving.

As zombies died in droves, Starfruit and Kitty's firepower never stopped.

Golden Star Projectiles and red spikes intertwined into a constantly expanding web of death, spreading outward from the submarine and covering more and more of the surrounding waters.

Gold gradually dyed the entire sea. The deep ocean looked as though it had been plated with flowing golden stars.

The Deep-Diving Zombies that were still far away and had yet to approach were precisely singled out by Cattail Cat's spikes long before they reached the submarine.

Cattail Cat: /? ≧?≦ ??

Kitty was in an absurdly good condition today—every spike precisely pierced the oxygen tanks on the backs of the Deep-Diving Zombies.

Those Deep-Diving Zombies didn't even have time to accelerate into a charge before oxygen leakage robbed them of their ability to move halfway there. The following barrage of Star Projectiles then harvested them with ease.

The Deep-Diving Zombies collectively... fell silent.

They had encountered this situation for the first time. In the past, they had always relied on their oxygen tanks to accelerate and ambush others. Today, the oxygen tanks had become their own fatal weakness.

Some Deep-Diving Zombies tried to take a detour, but Kitty's eyes were sharper than an osprey's. As long as you had an oxygen tank on your back, no matter which angle you approached from, the spikes would find it with perfect accuracy.

The Deep-Diving Zombies began to question their undeath—Should we change to another unit type?

Deep-Diving Zombie: [fleeing in panic]!!! So frustrating! This is too frustrating! What happened to the dignity of us Deep-Diving Zombies? We're being used as target practice by a cat! Could you show us a little respect?

The Seaweed Guards that were still struggling desperately at the edge of the gap witnessed everything.

They saw the human charging at the very front, leading the plant army to reinforce the weakest point of the defense line;

They saw Bok Choy use his fists to carve out a vacuum zone on the right;

They saw the Rebel Zombies summoned by Magic-shroom tearing into the enemy on the left;

They saw the golden barrage of Star Projectiles dye the entire sea a flowing gold;

They saw Kitty's spikes pick off the Deep-Diving Zombies one by one along their path of attack;

And they also saw... a whole nest of little mushrooms!!!

An old Seaweed, its leaves completely broken off and only a bare stem remaining, was supported by its companions.

Its body could no longer hold out. Two-thirds of its roots had been swept away by Blue Whale's tail fin, and green sap continued to drain from the severed roots.

But it... did not close its eyes. With the last of its strength, it watched the golden barrage, the submarine shrouded in the radiance of four Starfruits, and the cabbage before the submarine that was still throwing punches.

The corners of the old Seaweed's mouth curved upward.

Seaweed could smile too.

The smile wasn't on its face but in the curve of its leaves. At the tip of the old Seaweed's bare stem, the last tender leaf that had not fully fallen away slowly, slowly curled upward.

The Seaweed Guards supported one another as they watched the submarine's departing silhouette and the human who had charged into the chaos like a madman.

They had guarded this place for who knew how many years, yet this was the first time they had encountered such an outrageous human.

This was the first time they had seen... well... such an exaggerated human.

Seaweed Guards: (T.T)—(T.T)

Find the boss. Acknowledge the boss. There really are plenty of good people on the seafloor. From now on, we'll follow this human—nobody stop me. I want to be his algae.

The two Seaweed Guards standing on either side of Lin Yue's submarine heard their companions' overlapping cries of "acknowledge the boss" from behind. Their leaves remained perfectly still, and their stems stood straight.

They did not turn around, but the smug curves hidden at the edges of their leaves betrayed them.

These two Seaweeds had been Lin Yue's earliest bodyguards, and they were also the first algae to decide that this human was worth following.

Now, seeing their entire tribe drawing toward the same side, they had only one thought—We told you so.

But the battle was far from over.

The zombies' offensive had been forcibly suppressed by Lin Yue and the plants.

The zombies still surging into the gap were either being brutally pummeled by Bok Choy's fists on the right, torn to pieces by the Rebel Zombies and Gargantuar on the left, or harvested halfway there by Kitty and Starfruit's crossfire.

The number of zombies was visibly decreasing. The pressure on the gap was easing, and the Seaweed Guards finally had enough strength to carry their injured companions backward. The remaining defensive line was slowly being repaired.

But... Blue Whale was still there.

Blue Whale continued charging back and forth through the Kelp Defense Line. Every time it slammed into the net wall, the entire defense line shook violently.

The sound of net ropes tearing rang out one after another, while fragments of seaweed leaves drifted through the water like snowflakes.

Damn... Old Geezer!!!

"Fortunately, they're all Tier One Zombies." Lin Yue stood inside the submarine, watching the data jumping across the panel.

The zombies' levels really weren't high—Tier One, ordinary Tier One Zombies, with no special abilities beyond their numbers and speed.

That was why he could hold the situation in check.

If Tier Two or Tier Three Zombies had come, even Bok Choy's fists wouldn't have been able to withstand the level suppression.

But now—the zombies had been stopped. What about Blue Whale?

Lin Yue had tried.

He had ordered the Peashooter to attack Blue Whale, but the effect was negligible.

The peas struck Blue Whale's skin with dull thuds, and then—Blue Whale showed no reaction at all.

Its skin was at least a dozen centimeters thick, with another thick layer of fat beneath it. The impact of the peas was probably equivalent to being bitten by a mosquito.

Not scratching an itch—it didn't even count as itchy.

Blue Whale... didn't even look back. It continued using its enormous tail fin to batter the defensive line woven by the Seaweed Guards.

Weren't neutral ocean creatures supposed to stay neutral?

Lin Yue leaned against the control panel with his arms crossed over his chest, his brows furrowed tightly enough to hold a pen.

He searched through every plan in his mind—Plant Food ultimate?

The strongest area-of-effect attack was Magic-shroom's summoning, but the summoned zombies were equally ineffective against Blue Whale.

Physical attacks wouldn't work.

Control?

Lin Yue... currently had no plant capable of controlling Blue Whale.

Use ocean currents?

Forget that... ocean creatures aren't afraid of ocean currents.

Lin Yue... needed a method.

A method he hadn't thought of yet, but that could truly work.

Lin Yue... bit his lower lip, his fingers tapping unconsciously and making a rapid "tap tap tap" sound.

The plants inside the submarine... all waited quietly for Lin Yue to speak. They knew he was thinking of a way.

Chomper: [sniffing]... I think I've smelled a familiar scent!!!