this infinite world

"...We've finally arrived."

Gazing upon the goblin kingdom so close at hand, at this moment, everyone—whether it was the Arctic team led by Chu Hao, or the dwarves who had come with him, nominally to follow the dwarf prince Thorin Oakenshield and subdue Lonely Mountain—was filled with deep emotion.

After a long journey, they finally arrived at the end of what could be called the "Great Migration," the destined battlefield. The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo the Hobbit, Gandalf, and the epic battle against the Celestials... everything would come to an end here.

"Captain, we've discovered the cave entrance to the goblin kingdom."

Beside Chu Hao, Ochi, the mind controller of the Arctic team, had already shared his discovery through the mind chain: "At the same time, I also found traces of someone passing by and setting up camp, as well as related tools used by the dwarves... If I'm not mistaken, those should have been left by Thorin Oakenshield and Gandalf and others."

"Hmm, it seems they've arrived first and entered the goblin kingdom..."

Chu Hao nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the dwarf army behind him who had traveled through mountains and rivers to come here with him from Blue Mountain: "In that case, the Celestial Team should have been waiting for us in the Goblin Kingdom long ago."

As Chu Hao lowered his voice and gave some instructions to the dwarf officer beside him, one order after another was relayed to the dwarf army. The first order was... to rest on the spot for three hours, and then prepare to enter the goblin kingdom.

Rest is essential. After such a long journey, even the members of the Reincarnation Squad, whose physiques are several times stronger than ordinary people, would feel tired, let alone the dwarves who lack spatial equipment and have to carry their weapons, supplies, and other items. For these tough-skinned dwarves, three hours is enough for them to recover 90% of their combat strength.

"...The range of the mental energy scan is limited."

Just as Chu Hao sat down on the ground, gazing at the goblin kingdom in the distance and quietly pondering something, Oqi suddenly walked up to him, pointed to his temple, and frowned: "My mental power cannot penetrate too far into the goblin kingdom, as if there is some special force field inside that blocks mental power scanning."

"I can sense that if I really enter, my mental scanning range will be compressed to within ten meters, which will basically be useless."

"As expected."

Chu Hao wasn't particularly surprised by the result. He calmly replied, "The Goblin Kingdom is a labyrinth... This was already reflected in the original storyline. In such incredibly complex terrain, the role of a mental controller would be maximized. Presumably, this is one of the restrictions imposed on the Reincarnation Team by the Main God, just like how we can't use high-tech items in this world. After all, with a sweep of mental power, everything is visible; why would we need to search for the One Ring?"

"However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing for us. After all, Ochi, you haven't been a mental power controller for very long, so your strength is definitely not comparable to the Celestial Team. The restrictions imposed by the Main God essentially put all our teams on the same starting line. From now on, it's all about individual ability..."

As he spoke, Chu Hao fell into deep thought again. But it wasn't until several minutes later that he came to his senses and was surprised to find that Oqi was still standing there, looking as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"What's wrong? Is there something you want to say?"

"...Captain, is this really necessary?"

Meeting Chu Hao's questioning gaze, Ochi, after hesitating several times, finally mustered his courage and asked the question that had been buried in his heart: "I heard you just now, when you gave the order, you distributed all the enchanted C4 explosives you'd been researching to these dwarves, right...? Are you really planning to do that?" Speaking of the so-called enchanted C4 explosives, this was the result of Chu Hao's research over this period. When he first learned after entering this plane that all technological firearms were unusable, he began to find ways to circumvent this restriction imposed by the main god.

After dozens, even hundreds, of attempts, Chu Hao finally succeeded in using his divine particles to analyze the magical structure and runic properties of the Fireball spell. He then extracted the runes he had analyzed, condensed them into the C4 explosive pack he had brought into this world, and successfully detonated it…

In other words, these C4 explosive packs, imbued with fire runes, have become a variant of magic, no longer the original high-tech weapon. However, since the core of these explosives is the internal fire runes, all of which were created by Chu Hao, the enchanted C4 explosives that Chu Hao previously distributed to the dwarf soldiers have all become magical bombs that he can remotely control.

Of course, the dwarves were unaware of this, but they couldn't hide it from their fellow members of the Reincarnation Squad. And this was Chu Hao's plan: to turn all their allies who had fought alongside them and repelled the orcs into remotely controlled human bombs… a plan that could be described as anti-human.

At this moment, faced with Ochi's questioning that he couldn't go against his conscience, Chu Hao's answer was—

Yes, is there a problem?

Chu Hao rubbed his temples and asked, "Oqi, you're not going to soften your heart, are you?"

"But that's thousands of lives!"

Finally, unable to contain his excitement, Ochi gritted his teeth and said, "They are all living, breathing beings, with dreams and perseverance. They have journeyed with us for so long, participated in battles, and know all the wars and sacrifices—it was all worthwhile..."

"Captain, I have my principles, and I have my beliefs, I..."

“I know you’re determined, Ochi.”

Seeing that Ochi was getting more and more agitated, Chu Hao had to calm him down: "However, I also have my responsibilities. In order to fight against the Celestial Team, the power of the dwarves is necessary... So, if you really can't bear it, then close your eyes, cover your ears, and let me bear all the blame."

“I’ve said from the beginning that this is something I did all by myself and has nothing to do with any of you.”

Then, Chu Hao sighed and changed the subject, saying, "Believe me, when you understand the value of choice and the responsibility of choice, you will make your choice. I believe in your choice, whatever that choice may be—"

"Okay, stop talking."

But as Oqi's expression shifted between bitterness and resentment, and Chu Hao was about to finish speaking, a voice suddenly interrupted him, followed by Yang Yun's unyielding expression—

"I really can't listen to this anymore." (End of Chapter)