However, the effectiveness of this wave of attacks is indeed impressive.

Although the explosion site was shrouded in smoke, from the map in his mind, he could see that the front line of the mutated creatures was blown to pieces!

In such a massive explosive barrage, the mutated creatures at the forefront were almost entirely wiped out, with only a few lingering red dots emitting faint light, barely clinging to life.

Severed limbs were scattered everywhere with the explosion, and despite the smoke after the blast, the scene was strikingly gory.

"Damn! Damn!!"

"Oh my gosh! This is so satisfying!"

"Ugh... I’m feeling a bit queasy..."

"So... so bloody!"

"I blew these bastards to hell!"

The attackers had varied reactions, some excited, some pale-faced.

But none forgot their mission, ready to fire more crossbow bolts at any moment.

The group of mutated creatures paused their advance due to the large-scale explosions, each hesitating before the wall of smoke.

No, it wasn’t the creatures that were hesitating, but the person controlling them from behind!

The explosive crossbow bolts scared them, halting their attack momentarily.

The person controlling the group of mutated creatures was likely a survivor from the outer region.

According to Shi Wanyun, those survivors should be far away in the outer region, controlling the mutated creatures from their treehouses with specialized devices.

...Wait.

What was the control principle Shi Wanyun mentioned?

It was to control one leader of the mutated creatures to indirectly control the whole pack!

If...

They could find this leader and kill it...

Would that solve the problem?

No, there could be a substitute leader.

But at least it would cause some chaos, hindering and disrupting them!

Xu Xin immediately said in the group, "Prioritize attacking the stronger and bigger-looking mutated creatures! They might be the leaders controlling them!"

"Roger that!"

"Just aim for the big ones!"

"Feels like farming monsters, the big ones give more experience points!"

"Too bad, no points system now, or else this bombing would be super satisfying with points rolling in."

The creature swarm began advancing again.

This time, since they were closer to the World Tree, the swarm moved even faster than before, aiming to damage the World Tree.

The cost was a much more chaotic formation, no longer as intimidating as before.

"Boom boom boom boom!"

As the swarm entered within the 200-meter firing range, the survivors launched another volley of heavy crossbow bolts to intercept them.

This time, the swarm showed no hesitation, powering through the casualties!

Over 200 nearby treehouses immediately joined the battle.

Flames soared into the sky, the deafening noise of explosions resounding non-stop, the flames forming a continuous ring of fire around the World Tree!

And countless mutated creatures perished within this circle of fire.

Despite the rolling smoke from the explosions, the blast waves scattered the smoke, and the continuous explosions surprisingly clarified the situation on the battlefield.

Even though they had to withstand the extremely glaring firelight and deafening sounds from the explosions.

Even without replying, everyone in the group heeded Xu Xin’s suggestion, targeting the stronger mutated creatures if they could spot them.

However, it didn’t seem to have much noticeable effect.

It seemed he had oversimplified the situation.

The leader directing the swarm of creatures likely wouldn’t be at the forefront.

The swarm of mutated creatures gradually approached the treehouses amidst the bombardment.

And just then, a particularly powerful-looking mutated creature suddenly leapt from the swarm towards the treehouse, swinging its claws at the firing treehouse crossbow!

Its aim was to destroy the treehouse crossbow! 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

But all the treehouses were equipped with agilely controlled ballistae, and the focused survivor controlling that particular treehouse reacted swiftly when noticing the anomaly, firing two explosive bolts directly at the leaping mutated creature!

"Boom boom!"

In mid-air, the mutated creature had no escape, blown apart by the two exploding bolts!

But this wasn’t an isolated incident!

All around, mutated creatures were leaping from the swarm, recklessly targeting the heavy crossbows!

To protect the heavy crossbows, everyone had to bombard these leaping mutated creatures.

Meanwhile, the non-leaping members of the swarm surged towards the World Tree, protected somewhat by these suicidal leaps!

"Damn, how are they so smart!"

"These must be controlled by survivors from other regions!"

"Damn it, my heavy crossbow was destroyed!"

Although the treehouse ballistae were flexible, the operators could make mistakes. Errors caused damage and even destroyed the heavy crossbows.

The destroyed crossbows still had many explosive bolts, which exploded fiercely by the treehouse, even blowing a considerable hole in it.

Fortunately, these mutated creatures didn’t seem inclined to attack the treehouse itself.

And under the influence of the World Tree, the treehouse was rapidly repairing itself.

The survivors within the treehouse weren’t harmed.

"Keep attacking!"

"Don’t relax!"

Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang both expressed in the group.