Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"You mean to say..."

“There might be a fake among the Fellowship of the Ring,” Chu Xuan added. “The switch likely happened after the events of Windrise – any one of those four hobbits is a strong possibility. Since forging the Ring is too difficult, forging the ringholder directly is a better strategy. I’m certain that if we try to let the Fellowship verify the ring’s authenticity peacefully, they will eventually conclude that the ring is genuine. But if we go further and question the authenticity of the team members, even the most patient person might pull out a knife and fight us. Besides… there might not even be a fake among them.”

"Half true, half false, but we still have to join this gamble." Chu Xuan's lips curled slightly. "Without any other judgment, truth and falsehood are both fifty percent. Very interesting."

“But we can’t take risks.” Xiao Honglu continued to try to insert himself into the discussion. “This is a team battle. We need to participate in the storyline, collect reward points, side quests, and win the team battle. Our current position makes it difficult for us to join forces with any other reincarnation team. So the only option now is to use brute force to overcome any clever tactics.”

However, Chu Xuan still didn't look at him. Instead, he stretched out his hand and drew a dense screen of light in the air. He pushed up his glasses and said in his usual calm tone, "In short, that's the basic situation. Negotiation is useless, so let the battle unfold according to our will—I've prepared a tactical plan, and everyone just needs to follow it."

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

Neos's hand holding the chocolate trembled slightly, and the perfectly shaped chocolate instantly cracked into several irregular pieces. He was filled with unease, and his unusual behavior obviously did not escape the notice of the other members of the group. Several people around him cast surprised glances at him.

The Fellowship of the Ring had left Isengard and, with the support of the King of Rohan, was heading towards Gondor. With Saruman no longer a problem, they were no longer in danger in Rohan. Of course, given the need for considerable secrecy in delivering the Ring to Mordor, the Rohan cavalry did not accompany them—the Fellowship continued to operate independently, while the cavalry cleared away roaming monsters in the rest of Rohan and created decoys for them.

Sauron is powerful, but he cannot directly pinpoint the location of the Fellowship of the Ring. Furthermore, the Nazgûl were all recalled by Sauron after the defeat at Isengard, to form a powerful legion for a relentless war of revenge. Clearly, with the Celestials as reinforcements, Sauron will undoubtedly deploy a large force around Mount Doom. However, aside from this, his options at this moment are limited.

In other words, according to Neos's calculations, the only opposing force the Fellowship of the Ring might need to deal with at this point in time was the Celestials. And given that the Celestials had recently engaged in a probing battle with the East American forces on the outskirts of Isengard, and the two sides were still locked in combat, the worst-case scenario they faced was merely a probing attack from the Middle-earth forces.

[At most, it will only be a test. The Central Continent Team's style of operation means they will not directly oppose the righteous faction... unless the situation becomes urgent.] Neos thought to himself, and he was certain that the time when the reincarnators would have to fight to the death was still some time away.

“What’s wrong, Neos, my friend?” Aragorn tugged at the reins, spurring his horse toward Neos’s mount—the Ring couldn’t teleport them, so this was their only means of transport—“You don’t look well. Are you worried about your captain? Or Zhao and the others?”

“No, I was just thinking about other things.” Neos smiled and shook his head. “The captain just thought we were moving too slowly, so he went ahead to clear the way. He’s no more than fifty miles away from us. Zhao Zhuikong and Xilin are both masters of stealth. Even if they can’t defeat Soren’s evil mercenaries, they won’t lose… If all else fails, they can escape unscathed. What I was really thinking about was whether another famous foreign mercenary group might also join Soren’s side.”

“…Another one?” Aragorn’s face showed a thoughtful expression. “You’ve mentioned that mercenary group more than once since you met Neos…Are they really as powerful and unpredictable as you say?” Aragorn waved his hand apologetically. “I’m sorry, it’s not that I don’t believe you, but perhaps we shouldn’t waste so much time and energy on this group that has never shown itself. You see, you’re already very tired, and everyone else is concerned about your health, Neos.”

Neos turned his head and saw several young hobbits looking at him with inquiring eyes. Not only them, but Boromir, whose life he had saved, also looked at him with a slightly concerned gaze—he smiled and shook his head at them to indicate that he was alright.

“No, I’m fine now. Thanks for your concern,” Neos said. “The reason I was worried about that was because I suspected that the mercenaries had already arrived here… I heard there was a big fire in the Fangon Forest before the Treants attacked. I’m not sure if it was related to them. But…” He paused, shaking his head. “But at least they didn’t directly join Sauron’s side, which is perhaps a good thing.”

Aragorn patted him on the shoulder.

"Notify me immediately if there are any other discoveries." The future Human Emperor tugged at the reins and returned to his position in the ranks, and the Fellowship of the Ring, which had slowed down slightly, resumed its original pace.

[Very good, this level should be fine. From now on, I don't need to say anything more about the Zhongzhou team, or even if they bring it up themselves, I'll have to make excuses for them. After all, the final stage is still far off. Although the Zhongzhou team is generally benevolent, pushing them too hard might backfire. The team needs a solid shield to hold the line to maximize its gains; those two mentally ill people from East America are simply too difficult to control.]

Neos thought to himself, he hesitated for a moment, but finally touched the mental link hidden deep within his heart and contacted the psychic in his team.

[Xuelinger, please connect me to the team leader.]

There was a moment of silence in the spiritual connection, and soon Esdeath's voice rang out.

[Neo, what's going on?]

[I have a bad feeling. I suspect the Central Plains team might start interfering in the plot soon, and their actions might be more intense than I expect. In the worst-case scenario, a fourth-tier battle could break out.]

"...Understood, I'll be prepared. I'll be on my way now."

Esdeath cut off the communication.

Having secured this temporary safety net, Neos quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

He was unaware that the shadow beneath his feet trembled slightly.

Section 20. Combat. Please bring your own tuition and fees.

The shadows became hunters, and silence bred murderous intent. The momentary movement of the shadows went unnoticed by Neos but was observed by the others. Just as the poor, sharp-eyed man was about to shout a warning, the shadow reflected in his eyes transformed into a tangible blade!

The blade passed silently.

His flesh and blood then tore and shattered under the blade!

—'The Nan Yan Zhou team has lost one player, resulting in a negative point.'

The divine pronouncement suddenly rang out, and Neos's eyes instantly shrank to a pair of tiny dots—he slid off his horse abruptly, and as he landed, his gaze swept over the others present.

The one who died was a newcomer, and everyone else's face was filled with horror and anger!

What's going on?! This shouldn't be happening at this time—

Why didn't the main god specify who would receive the points?!

He suddenly opened his mouth, and as he shouted, his heart clenched against the deepest spiritual connection of his soul. In that fleeting instant, he realized a terrible possibility, and he knew he had to stop his teammates' inappropriate response immediately!

"Watch out! Don't—"

Before he could finish speaking, the spiritual link deep within his soul abruptly severed. This brief mental shock caused him to momentarily lose consciousness. The instant he regained his senses, he heard a sharp scream from Xue Ling'er, a spiritualist!

"It's the Zhongzhou team! Zhang Jie!" Two streams of dark red blood suddenly streamed from Xue Ling'er's eyes. The next moment, her entire body began to crack and split open, as if countless sharp blades were struggling to grow from her body, and large amounts of blood gushed from the cracks!

"Get out of this body, you demon!" Gandalf, in the middle of the group, roared, and a holy white light surged forth with the swing of his white staff, instantly forcing the spurting blood back into Sheryl's body. A blurry figure appeared and disappeared behind Sheryl, like a demon from the shadows about to be forced out of her body.

"Leave this world, Maiar." A cold voice suddenly rang out from behind Gandalf. The white-robed wizard, without turning his head, raised his sword and parried, but the empty sensation made him realize that the enemy was not behind him. Without hesitation, he roared and pushed the light bursting from his white staff to its maximum. And in that instant, a gaping maw, as deep as an abyss, appeared beneath his feet!

That wasn't the mouth of a living creature, but a rift in spacetime, within which lay a bizarre and wondrous continent—Gandalf yanked the reins sharply, and his white horse, King Gandalf, trampled through space, attempting to lift him upwards to escape. However, the next instant, Shireen's blood-soaked eyes became empty, unhesitatingly absorbing the holy white light, while an invisible wave of psychic energy pressed Gandalf's white horse downwards!

That wasn't from Shering's spiritual power; it was another will, another soul. Gandalf might try to crush it, but crushing it meant wasting time. He didn't hesitate, but the spiritual confrontation reached a stalemate in that extremely brief moment. And in that instant, the spatial rift that opened beneath his feet suddenly snapped open like the jaws of a predatory beast. The instant the maw closed, the wizard's form vanished completely from this world!

Gandalf, comparable to a fourth-order warrior, was banished from this world—he was a Maiar, a servant of the gods, whose power came from the Valar. Banishment from Middle-earth meant his already limited power would be further diminished. He could not possibly win in a world with a master, and even if he survived, he could not escape. With his departure, the strongest member of the Fellowship of the Ring vanished, and the attackers' offensive had only just begun!

"Gandalf! No!" cried the hobbits in panic. The dwarf and the elf prince drew their axes and longbows, unsure where to point them. Aragorn gripped his longsword, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at the clearly possessed Shireen. Had he not retained his sanity, he would likely have already drawn his sword and brought it down on Shireen's body!

"Get out of her body! Monster!" he roared, and Boromo, whose life had been saved by the Reincarnation Squad earlier, rushed forward to try and take down the possessed creature. But before he could get close enough, a series of violent thunderclaps resounded from the sky!

The sky darkened, and a lightning storm was imminent. The moment the thunder roared, Xue Ling'er's open eyes went from blank to vacant, and the next instant, she collapsed to the ground with a thud like a broken rag doll. At that very moment, the first bolt of azure lightning struck, its point of impact being Xue Ling'er's head!

[Psychic Lightning, a Reincarnator's Tactic—Impossible! The Central Plains Team shouldn't have acted at this time!! They shouldn't have shown such ruthlessness!!!]

Neos's mind raced, yet his actions didn't falter in the slightest. The instant the sky filled with thunderclouds, a magnificent black robe materialized around him. And the moment the lightning struck, a bamboo-like staff appeared in his right hand!

"Avatar—Dark Mage! My staff, take it from my hands!"

"Spell - Black Magic!"

A large, chaotic ball of light suddenly shot out from the end of his staff, and that ball of light instantly disintegrated and exploded. It burst forth with chaotic colors, surging into the sky at a speed faster than the falling lightning, instantly turning the thunderclouds and the shattering lightning into nothingness!

"I deny your magical power!" he declared, his gaze shifting to a point hundreds of meters away. His lips trembled slightly, and a thousand floating blades appeared before him!

"Spell - Thousand Blades!"

At his command, a sharp stream of magical blades surged forth in the direction he pointed, like a torrent of water! The distance of several hundred meters was covered in the blink of an eye, and then the thousand blades turned to dust under a suddenly erected shield of light.

[The power of shared origins... The Central Continent Team also has enhanced individuals with Three-Eyed Clan bloodlines!?]

“Let me introduce myself. You can call me ‘Xiao’.” A short reincarnator, also dressed in a robe, appeared behind the light shield. His features were blurry, but his voice, still somewhat childlike, was very clear. “I’ll be in charge of handling this part of the battlefield. If you’re willing to surrender directly, it will be a happy ending for everyone.”

"Don't even think about it!" A wave of energy erupted from beneath Neos' feet, propelling him towards 'Xiao' like a cannonball. "Once I defeat you, your Central Continent team will pay the price for this arrogance!"

Before he finished speaking, Boromir, Gimpulse, Legolas, and the other one—a dwarf and an elf—simultaneously rolled their eyes back and fainted. Aragorn's eyes also instantly became bloodshot, only finding some relief when a soft light emanated from the amulet on his chest, protecting him—the future King of Men growled and raised his sword, and at the end of the line, he clearly saw a wolf-like giant, most of its body encased in strange armor!

He tried to charge, but the other reincarnators of the Southern Flame Continent team were terrified when they saw the two fully charged plasma impact cannons on the werewolf's shoulders!

A black mage suddenly tore open a scroll, but the protective shield he summoned shattered the moment the artillery barrage struck, overwhelmed by the immense impact and intense heat! It only momentarily halted the bombardment, but this brief respite bought time to deploy a second shield. And after the second shield crumbled, a third shield would appear!

The bombardment was barely averted by the sixth layer of shields. However, the rising seventh layer shattered under the heavy armored werewolf's claws—the shield, while protecting against the bombardment, also hindered Aragorn's charge. Having lost the initiative, he had no choice but to retreat temporarily when the werewolf's powerful claws, gleaming with a molecular disintegration field, swung towards him!

One step back, and you're back again. Richard, the main melee fighter of the Southern Flame Continent team, roared and tried to rush forward to assist Aragorn, but Zhan Lan, who emerged from the shadows behind the werewolf, used a series of consecutive psionic lightning strikes to force the reincarnators, including Richard, into a corner!

Before reaching the fourth tier, and even before the third tier limit, battles between reincarnators increasingly emphasize enhancement and equipment. Richard had just unleashed his power to unlock his gene lock, attempting to tear through the enemy lines with a powerful attack. However, a gravity ball that suddenly appeared in Zhan Lan's hand shattered his foolish hopes!

—Regional gravity, increased tenfold.

Everyone still able to move, including Aragorn, froze involuntarily. The newcomers even vomited blood; had it not been for their protective amulets, they would have been dead. However, that split second of death was the dividing line between victory and defeat—the joints of the werewolf's armor emitted points of light that counteracted the gravitational shockwave the moment it hit him. The Middle-earth team members, accustomed to the witches' various anti-gravity maneuvers, naturally had a solution for this situation. This difference in speed and slowness, strength and weakness, ultimately led to Aragorn's defeat.

He was knocked down, the elven protection provided by the amulet shattering under the brutal blow of the power claws—the Overlord had brought him down with a clean and decisive headbutt. As he fell, Zhang Jie unleashed a mental shockwave from the unfolding gravity ball, silencing all the Southern Flame Continent team's reincarnators except Richard.

With three against one, Richard's fate was obvious. Meanwhile, the magical battle between Neos and Xiao Honglu reached a stalemate.

"I originally thought your Zhongzhou team was a righteous team, but as expected, people's hearts change. The strength of the Senzhou team attracted you and changed you, didn't it?" Countless winds, fires, thunder, and lightning surged around Neos. He controlled them with runes and then rode them to launch wave after wave of relentless attacks on Xiao Honglu—he wasn't unaware that his teammates were in complete defeat, and he should have panicked, but the divine pronouncement that hadn't yet reached his ears gave him a strange sense of confidence. It allowed him to test the waters with words while fighting.

The situation is completely out of control. The Zhongzhou team is clearly on the side of good; they're not killing our people because of the main characters... No, they couldn't possibly be unaware of the surprise attack before this one. Damn it, where did this outside force come from?! Although I'm starting to get a clue... Could it be that the Zhongzhou team abandoned their previous stance because of them?

With a slight movement, he dodged a ray of light, and the several acres of land beneath his feet instantly transformed into a pool of fire. Several massive ice shields suddenly appeared around him. And a faint light burst forth from his staff!

"Spell - Great Whirlwind!"

A devastating tornado suddenly surged up, then vanished completely upon touching the feather patterns that had appeared around Xiao Honglu. The two instinctively created distance between themselves, and the next moment, the intertwined magical energy turned the fiery pool into wasteland!

Failure was inevitable, but the fact that they didn't kill us must have a reason. Perhaps it's out of respect for the captain, or perhaps it's for other reasons. In any case, at least I won't die here this time. So, I at least need to extract some information... I've never met 'Xiao' before... Is it to avoid being cursed by not giving his full name? Tsk, he must be a newcomer, so perhaps he has a strong desire to 'prove himself'.

Neos's mind raced, but before he could even prepare his next probing question, Xiao Honglu ruthlessly snatched his chance to perform. Unlike Neos, Xiao Honglu's interference with runes was limited to light and fire. However, relying on his specialized experience in manipulating runes and his numerous witch-themed amulets—the latter being more important—he managed to fight Neos to a standstill despite being a level below him in terms of genetic lock!

“Meaningless probing, meaningless provocation.” Multiple shields appeared around Xiao Honglu, completely eliminating the elemental shockwaves released by Neos. “I do have a desire to confide in you, but it’s clear you’re not qualified to listen to me.”

He suddenly raised his hand and grasped the sky.

"We've wasted enough time, let's end this all."

"Summon—Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

The next moment, a massive claw descended from the sky. A dragon's head, wreathed in flames, seemingly slow yet incredibly fast, dropped from the clouds, its scorching breath poised to strike!

"Are you kidding me? The Main God Space hasn't even opened up this series of exchanges!" Neos's eyes widened suddenly. He constructed more defensive measures, but he quickly discovered some unusual marks on the dragon's form. "A wound in its chest!? This is a corpse dragon! It's Smaug, you actually—"

“The Supreme God doesn’t actually offer the Red-Eyed Black Dragon for exchange, but it can offer a concept.” Xiao Honglu’s finger flicked downwards, and the massive dragon head pointed in the direction of Neos. “All you need is a suitable dragon skeleton, enough gems, enough gold, enough offerings, enough magical artifacts, a perfectly crafted awakening array, and a powerful enough ritual. That’s how you get this result—when I heard the Southern Flame Continent team had a Three-Eyed Clan Enhanced Exchanger, I thought there was no chance of obtaining it. But I never expected you wouldn’t even bother with it—how foolish.”

"...These materials are enough for me to buy at least two dragons from the Supreme God!"

Xiao Honglu glanced at him indifferently. The next moment, crimson and black dragon fire completely engulfed Neos!

—"Tsk, poor bastard."

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

Seriously consider the possibility of writing a script in a trashy dog ​​game where the protagonist is blinded and dies violently.

Trash dog, trash 154

Trash, blind to death, trash Fate collaboration.

If we put them all together, doesn't that mean I can set up a main combatant to beat up those idiots in 154 in a way that's so bad it's practically a death sentence?

Section 21. Engagement: Face Your Opponent Head-On

For extraordinary life forms, fifty kilometers is actually a very short distance. Crossing it is equivalent to walking from the bedroom to the living room of a three-bedroom, two-living-room house. Even the most extraordinary life form, which is not good at high-speed maneuvering, would not take more than ten seconds as long as it has the ability to move.

Esdeath's area of ​​expertise is ice and the spacetime changes derived from ice. For her, even without going all out, she can return to the Fellowship of the Ring's area within three seconds. It is precisely for this reason that she feels at ease leaving the side of the characters in the story, because she believes that as long as she maintains uninterrupted telepathic communication, she is perfectly capable of handling any situation at this distance.

However, a full minute has passed since the announcement, "Southern Flame Continent Team has lost one member, resulting in a negative score of one point." Yet, she remains trapped in the same spot—she can even discern the surging flames and thunderclouds above the Fellowship of the Ring from fifty kilometers away, but her steps cannot be altered even slightly.

“Alice Margotrovid.” She gazed at the witch hovering a kilometer away, feeling the invisible force field around her, like a swamp—she had tried at least a hundred different methods to break free of this force field in the past minute. But the witch remained unmoved, still standing there, while the battle on the other side was perhaps nearing its end.

That swamp-like force field had a strange effect; under its influence, her direct interference with spacetime was weakened to the extreme in this area. Whenever she tried to pluck the strings of spacetime, she felt the surrounding space become as hard as iron. But even more difficult to deal with than this solid space was the gaze of the witch before her.