There was a soft cheer from the followers of the various faction leaders sitting at the back of the monitoring room.

The big shots at the front also felt a surge of morale, though they remained somewhat reserved.

Alamos was the first to glance at the machine representing energy levels. The numbers on it jumped sharply, rising from 29% to 49%!

This meant that winning this battle not only restored the energy Damov had consumed but also provided an additional 6% reward.

Amid the excitement, Alamos and the other leaders felt a slight disappointment. The outcome might have differed if Che Dongzhi had been an eight-star evolved. The energy reward would have been greater, possibly exceeding 50%. Unfortunately, despite the intensity of the battle, Che Dongzhi and his subordinates were of a lower level.

Still, Damov had won, and this battle had given everyone a glimpse of the Russian giant’s formidable strength.

“Is he… dead?” Someone asked, noticing that after killing Che Dongzhi, Damov had also collapsed to the ground and hadn’t moved for a while.

Alamos shook his head. “No. If he were dead, this space would have disappeared.”

As he spoke, Damov climbed to his feet. His body now resembled a tattered rag that might fall apart at any moment. Yet, he walked out of the space step by step.

However, upon seeing his body up close, they began to get an answer.

The distance from the space to the monitoring room was short, but when Damov reappeared, his steps were no longer unsteady. Up close, they could see his wounds healing at a visible rate.

“Can tank, can kill, can recover quickly. For an evolved individual, it all comes down to these three things,” Damov grinned. His injuries made his smile look fierce, but his words left everyone in silence.

Damov wasn’t just speaking casually. He had proven it himself. His metal body, powerful claw strikes, and now his freakish recovery speed had allowed him to triumph against overwhelming odds and survive the battle.

“Aside from the dried meat of the Frenzied Bear, I traded all the magic crystals and items I obtained for evolution potions, bloodline upgrade crystals, and skill enhancement scrolls. I don’t need equipment. As long as these aspects are strong enough, I’m invincible.”

The abilities granted by his bloodline—metal fur, claw strike, and rapid body recovery—were all skills Damov had upgraded to advanced levels.

To achieve this, he had sacrificed everything else. Whenever suitable scrolls or skill crystals appeared, Damov would buy them no matter the price.

This was how the bear-man had come to rely on just three combat methods.

Damov casually stuffed his intestines back into his abdomen and chewed on some restorative dried meat as he found a spot to sit down and slowly heal.

No one dared to underestimate him now.

“Who’s going next?”

Alamos and the others felt more confident with the energy reserves now relatively sufficient. Many eyes turned toward the spaces where the stronger people were.

“There are two approaches,” Alamos said, holding two fingers.

“First, we continue eliminating these… minor players, accumulating enough energy to use a numbers advantage then to take down the top-tier experts.”

“Second, we target the top-tier experts first, ending the battle within this space ahead of time.”

The first approach naturally wouldn’t involve sending out the eight-star top-tier experts. Instead, it would require the mid-level members of the various factions to step up. However, this carried risks. Factions in the post-apocalyptic world often had a pyramid-like structure, where the leader’s strength was exceptional, but the capabilities of their subordinates dropped off sharply.

This situation was somewhat better in the current super factions, but the disparity remained even in first-tier major factions.

The leaders weren’t entirely confident in their subordinates’ ability to secure victory.

On the other hand, choosing the second approach would mean the leaders themselves would have to risk their lives. They weren’t entirely confident in their own abilities either. For instance, while Damov had won, it was clear how close the battle had been. If Che Dongzhi’s sword formation had been slightly stronger, if he hadn’t been injured, or if he had some other trump card, it might have been Damov who died.

The situation was favorable, but the choice remained difficult.

“I think everyone should take a look at what he’s doing,” suddenly said Gyanendra, pointing at one of the spaces.

Everyone immediately turned to see Ruan Xiao from the Cannibal Chain taking out what appeared to be a drone. After manipulating it briefly, he released it into the air. The device hovered briefly before crashing into the space.

Alarms immediately sounded from the monitoring room’s instruments.

“What’s going on?!” asked Wen Yan. The unexpected turn of events in the space had already occurred once, and now another anomaly had arisen. This sense of instability left the leader of Pin Palace deeply dissatisfied.

Alamos also looked anxious and confused, clearly unaware of what was happening.

“Look at the energy levels!” someone exclaimed in surprise.

Everyone turned to see the machine displaying energy levels. The previously near-50% energy was now rapidly increasing. In just a few seconds, it had risen to 55%!

“Not good. The space is becoming unstable and won’t last much longer. That drone had something capable of breaching the space. While it didn’t succeed, it damaged the space’s foundation. Soon, it won’t be able to contain these people anymore.”

As the creator of the Spatitu Space, Alamos understood it best. After a quick analysis, he spoke rapidly.

“We need to know what to do! Will this affect us?!”

Now, Wen Yan was speaking on behalf of all factions except Alamos’s lab.

“It won’t directly affect us, but once the space collapses, we’ll have to face the collective attack of those trapped inside. Don’t forget, outside, there’s also Xia Bai and that all-female squad. Plus, we haven’t fully secured Thousand Beasts Villa.”

Alamos took a deep breath to calm himself. After a moment, he said, “Given the current situation, while the space can still hold for a while and the energy levels have significantly increased, we need to eliminate these individuals first!”

With that, he pointed at the spaces of Deacon Water and Ruan Xiao. “These two are merchants, more focused on profit. As long as we maintain the upper hand, they won’t turn against us. For now, we don’t need to deal with them. Our targets should be these three.”

His finger then moved to the spaces of Qin Ru, Li Daqian, and Ye Zhongming.