[Countdown: 21s]
An enormous pod of Cloudwhales leaped up directly ahead of Zhou Heng. Layer upon layer, they sealed off the west like an iron wall under the Abyss Succubus's control. On either side were Beasts of Longevity that had arrived through Spatial Warp. But just as they were about to seal Zhou Heng in, countless trees grew from the surface of the Sea of Clouds, forcing the Cloudwhales and Beasts of Longevity apart. At the same time, countless illusory giant palms slammed down from every direction, drawing all the Cloudwhales and Beasts of Longevity into combat. Then towering waves surged skyward, working with bitterly cold ice to freeze everything.
Zhou Heng took advantage of this opening to pierce the enemy blockade and keep charging forward...
[Countdown: 15s]
The Abyss Succubus's head was submerged beneath the Sea of Clouds, her face grave and solemn. She kept mobilizing the charmed units under her control, sending as many as possible charging toward Zhou Heng. She had received word from that little fellow, the Calamity Lord: in just another fifteen seconds, the Barrier-Breaking Ship would ram Zhou Heng. As a supremely powerful Starship that the Vast Star Nation used to break through the barriers of the Sea of Stars, it was something Zhou Heng had absolutely no means of resisting. Then she could use the Barrier-Breaking Ship's Spatial Warp to drag Zhou Heng into the Abyss...
The Calamity Lord sat upright aboard the Barrier-Breaking Ship. Its body, which had filled out thanks to vast numbers of the Longevity-Cursed Species using Lifespan Contracts, had shriveled again, becoming even more emaciated than before. From a distance, it looked like a humanoid monster of skin and bones. But the Calamity Lord did not care. It stared fixedly in Zhou Heng's direction, continually