Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

And fear gripped the two little ones' hearts once again.

“In my hometown, fools who gossip behind others' backs are made to swallow a thousand needles. I’ve always thought that was a bad idea. After all, I’m a kind-hearted person, and whether you shove needles into a fool’s mouth or make them swallow them themselves, it’s a cruel act. And more importantly—” He tilted his head slightly, glancing at the two poor little ones. “Needles are expensive; using them like that is a bit wasteful, isn’t it?”

The hobbits felt a chill run down their spines; the young man's words seemed to materialize into reality. A tangible, needle-like sensation and the icy coldness of steel filled their mouths, and they almost let out a piercing scream!

They restrained themselves, not by their own will, but by the youth's indifferent gaze. This man was theoretically their ally, and they had indeed fought alongside him not long ago. But with the keen senses of a hobbit, they could clearly discern beneath his kind expression an almost undisguised coldness and icy indifference, like a thousand feet of ice.

—This man is no joke.

“What you say is indeed very, very true, but it was wrong of us to talk about you behind your back—” Merri’s mind suddenly went blank, and a string of words that even he himself didn’t understand came out. “It was a mistake, and mistakes need to be corrected—is there anything we can do for you?”

The young man raised an eyebrow and glanced at the sky, which was blocked by the stone wall of the storage room, as if he had something in mind.

“It’s not that serious, I’m not angry. But—” A smile appeared on his lips as he raised his hand. The little pigeon that had been shivering and curled up on Merri’s shoulder was restrained by some unknown force, moved, and landed in his palm.

“I really like this little bird. Could you give it to me?” he said.

The instant he uttered those words, Merry felt a surge of blood rush through his veins. Something—a mixture of courage, shame, and pity—filled his mind almost instantly. He clenched his fists, stood up, and prepared to protest loudly. Then—the young man's figure vanished without a trace the moment he stood up, just as it had arrived.

The little hobbit then deflated and plopped down on the still slightly muddy ground, without saying a word.

..........................................

Something's not right.

Zhao Zhuikong appeared on a hill about ten kilometers outside Isengard, holding a small, trembling pigeon in his hand, his gaze toward Isengard somewhat solemn.

He had just sensed something unusual, something he couldn't quite describe, but something that felt extremely discordant to him. This unusual feeling subtly affected his behavior and judgment even before he realized its existence, causing him to do things that were different from usual.

That's abnormal and irrational.

But this suits me perfectly.

He examined the little bird in his hand closely, his gaze transforming into a tangible blade. In an instant, the bird's feathers were dissected into countless molecular fragments, each no larger than a hundred nanometers. Behind the feathers lay the pigeon's muscles and skin.

His will became an extremely precise scalpel, dissecting the pigeon's body layer by layer, unit by unit of cellular radius. Without a doubt, any disguise that still possessed a physical form in the material world would be utterly shattered under his gaze, revealing its true appearance.

He knew Neos's plan perfectly well; he knew it was an arrangement that benefited the entire camp, the East American team, and even himself. Neos should have acted directly in that storage room, which would have had a high chance of triggering a counterattack from the Middle-earth team, forcing them against the Justice League. Even if they weren't there, the deaths of those two hobbits could have had a greater effect—that's what he should have done. Instead, he ended up rambling on like a tasteless scoundrel, only to leave anticlimactically with the pigeon that shouldn't have been there.

after all--

What does Neos's plan have to do with him?

He didn't care about Neos's plan, nor about the victory Neos promised—in fact, his willingness to cooperate with the Southern Flame Continent team was merely out of consideration for another rare strong individual on his team who could speak to him on equal terms. After all, that girl, who didn't seem to be from Earth at all, did possess a talent or two that transcended boundaries, so as long as she wasn't interfering with his affairs, occasionally listening to a few words of advice wouldn't be a big deal.

then……

He stared at the pigeon until its form completely crumbled, vanishing from the world without a single intact cell remaining.

Very good, no trace of the Zhongzhou team. Perhaps the other side adopted a more covert infiltration strategy, which is why Zhao Zhuikong's reconnaissance operation came to nothing.

However, it's really not a big deal.

Although he found no evidence, and did not force the Central Continent team out of the shadows as Neos had planned, both the strange feeling he had in the storage room and the intuition that now lingered in his mind clearly told him one thing—a powerful Reincarnator was nearby, watching him.

So, what other creature could remain hidden right under the nose of an assassin who has crossed into the realm of the extraordinary—besides another assassin of equal or even greater power?

He sighed deeply.

“Originally, I thought I could approach you with a different face, Sakura.”

"But by now, you should have woken up earlier than expected."

Section Fourteen: Shifting Circumstances

He stood there for a full five seconds.

Then, nothing happened.

A slightly chilly wind swept past Zhao Zhuikong, flattening the grass blades and causing several panicked wild animals to scatter in all directions.

He fell silent.

This silence soon turned into a volcano about to erupt.

....................................

Somewhere, two wills collide and exchange messages...

[Is it really okay to ignore him? Even with the information we've gathered so far, it's enough for us to make some basic adjustments. And for him, as a devoted older brother, being ignored by his beloved younger sister is a very painful thing.] A will conveyed this message.

[No need. He's an adult; he should know how to handle unexpected awkward situations. The world doesn't revolve around him, and besides, there are others who will entertain him, aren't there?] — And that was the response from another will.

The exchange of intelligence has ended.

It was obvious. Of the two wills communicating somewhere, the first was Zhao Yingkong, and the other was Alice. And their gazes had indeed just passed through the boundary membrane of the Tower of Babel world and landed on Zhao Yingkong in the wilderness—it was unnecessary to investigate whose gaze triggered the other's alertness. After all, at this moment, they were rapidly departing from the area where Isengard was, along with the reality medium of the Tower of Babel world.

A slightly chilly wind blew across the wasteland outside Isengard.

The information obtained from Isengard was already sufficient; the two hobbits knew only a limited amount, and mental interference against hobbits was essentially a waste of time. Therefore, when Zhao Zhuikong's physical form arrived at Isengard, the will of the imposter Chelsea left the storeroom, and her actions were so secretive that they did not arouse Zhao Zhuikong's suspicion at all.

—The wind swept through the woods and through the low bushes.

Indeed, those who have unlocked the fourth-order gene lock possess unparalleled perception. Zhao Zhuikong, who has been at this stage for some time, can even perceive changes in every particle with a radius greater than one micrometer within a kilometer radius. If the perception range is narrowed to ten meters around him, he can even observe the subtle changes in every cell group—he can monitor and observe everything around him on both macroscopic and microscopic levels, and neither deformation nor parasitism can actually disguise themselves under his nose.

He noticed the bird instantly, and it was indeed connected to Chelsea. He concluded that the Middle-earth's infiltrator was on the bird—or had some kind of medium implanted in it. However, the pigeon was actually there from the start to attract the attention of someone like him. After all, while the Hobbits in the original stories loved nature, they weren't actually that close to small animals. This was a flaw, a flaw specifically designed to be discovered.

The wind reached a town, then quietly ceased in the streets. As the wind stopped, ripples appeared on the small river beside the town.

Clearly, even implanting one's will into an animal's body still carries the risk of being detected. Therefore, abandoning the direct control of the entire animal and instead controlling a small portion undetectable to the animal itself becomes another option for the imposter. Like ants, a single ant possesses only a few active ganglia, while a colony of ants can possess rudimentary intelligence, exhibiting simple order and coordination. A group of ants can even simulate a small collective consciousness, granting them intelligence far exceeding that of an individual.

This was Chelsea's method. She didn't entrust her will to the pigeon, but rather inscribed it into the entire ecosystem surrounding Isengard—the wind, the light, the grass, the water, and the scattered thoughts of the small animals—all of which constituted a vessel for her will. And these fragments of the vessel could be discarded at any time, thus preventing Zhao Zhuikong from noticing her.

She became part of nature, but nature was not her. She relied on the property of matter's 'flow,' but matter itself was not interfered with by her.

The pigeon was actually just bait. It was bait, and also a marker. Its sudden appearance among the hobbits was merely to convey to others the message that a certain force was lurking near the hobbits, a message that would soon take effect, becoming the fuse for battle between the Reincarnation Teams. After all, there were three factions in this world. The righteous faction might be mindful of their identity and refrain from openly planting traps on these two 'unfortunate' departed hobbits. But the Reincarnation Team, as part of the evil faction, clearly had no such reservations.

After all, the Central Continent team was the last to arrive and, according to the Supreme God's assessment, the strongest. Regardless, the Central Continent team's appearance signified an impending imbalance of power between factions—the Southern Flame Continent team, possessing some intelligence on the Central Continent team, had decided to try and exclude them from the righteous camp while simultaneously making them hostile to the evil faction. The Celestial God team, knowing nothing about the Central Continent team, had to consider the situation more thoroughly.

They might glean clues from the Southern Flame Continent team's strategy, such as the Southern Flame Continent team holding an intelligence advantage over the Central Continent team. However, the most crucial intelligence would inevitably be kept secret by Neos—naturally, the Celestial Team, as the theoretically strongest team in the entire God Realm (though this isn't actually the case), would possess wise individuals with above-average thinking abilities. They only need to carefully assess the situation to conclude that the forces of the righteous faction are too powerful, and they must find a way to disrupt their internal balance to have any chance of victory. In other words, they must amplify the conflict between the Central Continent team and the righteous faction, while ensuring they don't completely side with the evil faction, to create the most advantageous situation for themselves.

The water began to flow, converging from the small streams into the great river, and then splitting back into smaller streams. Along the riverbed were many glittering stones, their radiance radiating into the sky.

The Celestials' objectives differed subtly from Neos's, yet largely overlapped. It was precisely because of this that Merry and Pippin, the two hobbits, were able to unknowingly become separated from the Fellowship of the Ring due to an 'accident,' reunite with the Ents seemingly without any protection, and subsequently trigger the Battle of Isengard.

It's not hard to understand now. If the righteous faction's reincarnators can gain reward points and side quests by defeating powerful monsters and saving characters destined to die, then the evil faction can rightfully gain rewards by destroying or killing characters who shouldn't die. And since Merry and Pippin, these walking reward points, were able to leave the Fellowship of the Ring and arrive in Isengard unscathed without any clear victor, it can only mean one thing—'the sages of the Southern Flame Continent team and the Celestials team have reached some kind of tacit agreement.'

This tacit understanding could only be directed at the Central Continent team, and the entire Battle of Isengard was a platform for the game between Southern Flame and the Celestials. Both sides had prepared countless hidden plans, waiting for the Central Continent team to appear so they could launch them and push this most powerful Reincarnation team in a direction favorable to their own side—While Neos of the Southern Flame team certainly had an advantage in intelligence, it didn't mean the Celestials team didn't have even a single trump card to turn the tide. Both sides had been preparing extensively, waiting for the Central Continent team to enter the game—the Battle of Isengard was a very suitable entry point, and also a very obvious area with a high concentration of reward points, which a Reincarnation team shouldn't ignore.

Embarrassingly, the Middle-earth team saw through this tactic and didn't make a move from beginning to end. They waited until the entire Battle of Isengard was over, and a large number of reward points and side quests naturally disappeared because no one picked them up, before casually placing a pigeon next to the two hobbits that was bound to be discovered—and this pigeon was actually just there to deliver a message to the others.

—"I understand, do as you please."

The Central Continent team demonstrated its presence without taking sides. This indicated that they had seen through the schemes between the two groups of reincarnators and expressed their unwillingness to engage with either side. Since the Central Continent team had ignored the temptation of the entire Battle of Isengard and chosen the position of a bystander, all the initiative accumulated by the remaining two sides had turned into passivity.

Neos was actually in a stalemate; otherwise, he wouldn't have rushed to send Zhao Zhuikong to Isengard. Nor would he have had to stand outside the hall with his team captain at the victory banquet in Helm's Deep, frantically munching on chocolate while explaining his plan—his actual audience wasn't Esdeath, but the messenger left near him by the East American team. Even if he managed to get away with it this time, the South Flame Continent team's standing would be damaged.

So the person who arrived here was Zhao Zhuikong, completely unconcerned about Neos's plans. His early arrival meant that the Southern Flame Continent team had given up any gains from fighting the Celestial God team. The Celestial God team would obviously deploy its forces here, as both sides knew that the Central Continent team, having figured out this arrangement, had a much bigger appetite and wouldn't waste precious time on this land. Before the Central Continent team officially entered the fray, gaining the upper hand was the top priority in both factions' strategies!

Soon, a major battle broke out on the outer perimeter of Isengard. Zhao Zhuikong, who was in a very bad mood, got the scapegoat he had been hoping for, and the Celestial Team's plan against him was immediately put into action.

Just as they were clashing, a ray of light, refracted through the clouds, fell back to earth. Its point of impact was the Prancing Pony Inn, where the Ringwraiths had their first direct contact with the Fellowship of the Ring.

....................................

Alice's will detached from the Tower of Babel world and, along with Patchouli's, attached itself to two travelers at the Prancing Pony Inn. They did not interfere with the travelers' thoughts and will, but allowed them to act freely, doing what normal patrons should do.

The wine here wasn't particularly fragrant, and the various smells in the inn weren't exactly pleasant either. But the two possessed drinkers didn't care, and neither did the two witches possessing them. As the drinkers sat down and quickly became completely drunk, the witches' conversation unfolded on another level.

Alice: [According to current information, the East Sea Team has been eliminated, and the South Flame Continent Team and the East America Team have formed an alliance. The Celestial Team has joined the villainous camp and is currently at a stalemate with the forces of good. At this point, both sides have already begun fighting around Isengard.]

Alice: [The main fighting force of the Southern Flame Continent team is Esdeath. Neos should be a psychic who has unlocked the third stage of his genetic lock. His combat strength is lower than Zhang Jie's, but higher than Xiao Honglu and Zhan Lan's, though he might not be able to defeat them combined. The others are not a concern.]

Alice: [The main fighting force of the East American team is Zhao Zhuikong, but his behavior pattern doesn't match the predicted records. I deduce that the East American team should have another hidden fourth-tier powerhouse, and they get along well. Neos may intend to use him as a surprise weapon, but clearly the cooperation between the South Yan Continent team and the East American team is not smooth.]

Alice: [By extension, the Celestials should have at least two members with Tier 4 strength. Besides them, Gandalf the White also possesses strength similar to Tier 4. Characters like Aragorn are generally around Tier 2 to 3. The One Ring cannot be moved through spatial means, and Sauron's subordinates should also have several Tier 4 members. The Ring itself should be around Tier 4.]

Patchouli: [Better than expected. The Southborne team's changes to the story are significant, but insignificant. They killed the Balrog and saved Boromir, who was supposed to die—this will make the alliance between Gondor and Rohan easier. The Regent might survive, but he'll likely be powerless to stop Aragorn's ascension—]

Patchouli: [We may have overreacted. In the current situation, we actually have an overwhelming advantage. Their only chance of winning is to join forces and lure characters from both sides of the story to fight us, but they no longer have that opportunity.]

Alice remained noncommittal. Soon, when the patron she possessed was completely drunk, sprawled on the ground like a rag doll and was being lifted up by the tavern staff to be thrown outside, her spirit interfered with the staff through the patron's dark eyes.

There is a profound disharmony in this world. And she must verify it before the Central Plains team intervenes.

………………

I want to cause trouble.

Section 15: Tracing the Origins

The eyes are the windows to the soul. Through eye contact, a highly skilled psychologist can easily glimpse the thoughts and feelings of an ordinary person.

This is mind reading, a skill that mortals can master without any supernatural power. If mortals can do this, then naturally, the extraordinary can do even more. And the moment Alice intervened with the tavern waiter through the drunkard's gaze, the waiter's weak, bewildered, fragile, and worthless soul fell into her grasp.

She didn't need such a small and fragile soul, so she did nothing to harm its physical or mental well-being—no need to devour it, no need to destroy it, and even the soul she interfered with was unaware of the impact. And in this quiet act, she actually did only one thing…

'Backtrack.'

Alice gave her command, and the command quickly received the response it deserved.

It affected the tavern boy's soul like a breeze across a lake, and his body was thus guided—without the poor fellow realizing anything amiss, his brain began to function under the influence of a subconscious command. The physical manifestation was that he began to involuntarily recall everything that had happened around him not long ago. And soon, his memory turned to the page Alice needed—the night the four hobbits had braved the rain to arrive.

Memory itself has little value; even with the most vivid memories of what happened, a tavern waiter couldn't gather detailed information. However, his memory could serve as a beacon, activating information left over from that period of time. And once this beacon was activated, a vast ocean of information recording everything that happened in that area during that period appeared before the two witches.

Alice glanced at Patchouli.

'Proceed as planned?' Alice asked.

"You go forward, I'll go backward," Patchouli replied.

....................................

When Alice opened her eyes again, she had arrived at the record point in the ocean of information about the four hobbits' arrival at this inn—she was sitting in the same seats as the two drunkards from the future, surrounded by the usual tavern's noise and congestion. Well-dressed or hurrying about, drunk or sober, playing drinking games, singing, fighting… all sorts of patrons could be found in this somewhat famous town tavern. And among this diverse crowd, she effortlessly found her target.

【Aragorn.】She murmured the name in her heart. This Dúndern ranger had a lifespan far exceeding that of ordinary mortals. He was a descendant of an ancient dynasty, sharing the same blood as Isildur, the king who had once defeated Sauron. In the War of the Ring, he was undoubtedly one of the main protagonists. Unlike Frodo, the hobbit who needed to escort the Ring and was not skilled in combat, his skills and lineage determined that he would be responsible for handling the main battlefield against Sauron.

He was a battle-hardened warrior, and even in the records of the information world, Alice could clearly sense the powerful strength hidden beneath this ranger's black cloak—he sat in a position that offered a panoramic view of the entire inn and was extremely difficult to ambush. While waiting for the hobbits to arrive, he casually surveyed any incongruous spot in the entire inn.

A wary guy.

However, no matter how vigilant he was, he couldn't possibly notice Alice, who had no intention of exchanging messages with him here—he was ultimately just a record of the past, and a record, as long as it wasn't touched, would only operate according to the trajectory of fate that had already occurred.

[Unlocking the third stage of the gene lock... initial stage. Without external foreign energy operating within the body, is he fighting solely based on physique and blood essence? It's not much different from a blank third stage. However, since he's come into contact with the Reincarnation Team, the Southern Flame Continent or East America teams will likely not let this opportunity pass by to strengthen him.]