Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Alice: [Huh? Oh… the operation hasn't started yet. Now we're just waiting for you. Anyway, proceed according to the original plan. Zheng Zha and I will lead the attack, and Zhang Jie, you'll provide support for the two of us.]

Zhang Jie: [Uh...wait a minute, what you told me before wasn't like this? Has the plan changed again? I remember my responsibility didn't involve the combat aspects of this operation...did something unexpected happen?]

Alice fell into deep thought. Zheng Zha, standing beside her, also looked at her with a pensive gaze.

“Zhang Jie,” Alice suddenly spoke, her tone tinged with melancholy. “Tell me, what would happen if a mental power user who hasn’t reached the fourth tier and hasn’t mastered S-level enhancements tried to have a mental exchange with a mid-stage fourth-tier expert who might have flaws and injuries, but whose essence is certainly unchanged?”

Zheng Zha: "………………"

Zhang Jie: 【………………】

A deathly silence fell over the air.

Then, a rain of fire swept in along with Sauron's gaze.

"Very good." Alice nodded inwardly. "It seems I did indeed have a plan for how to act before the separation. So now all I need to do is..."

She raised her hand, and the now-unimportant concealment barrier appeared before them, accompanied by a suddenly unfolding, high-intensity magical shield. Sauron's gaze and the torrents of fire he unleashed shattered upon impact with the outer edge of the magical shield in the blink of an eye. Simultaneously, the Black Gate of Mordor opened, unleashing an overwhelming army of evil that swept in!

"To hell with the so-called plan and Altair! This is no time for nonsense, everyone. Proceed according to the original plan. Or just do whatever is convenient for you!"

The war began in a rather unserious way. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, another Alice opened her eyes in a rural village.

She showed no signs of energy, and her body was untouched by any enhancements or even the unlocking of any first-tier genetic locks—just an ordinary mortal. Yet, her deep blue eyes shone as brightly as the morning stars.

She was currently in the Shire, not far from the Hobbitonian farm—the very place that inspired The Lord of the Rings and its prequel, The Hobbit. This was the birthplace of both epic tales. And Bag End, the ancient Hobbiton that produced the two main characters of The Hobbit, was less than a hundred meters away.

She was even able to detect the people living in Bag End using this ordinary girl's hearing and sense of smell.

An ordinary person who does not belong to this world and cannot be detected by any natural or supernatural means of detection.

Section 51 Altair

This is the Shire, the Shire inhabited by the hobbits. With its lush vegetable fields, tobacco, plump onions and round carrots, and the air thick with the aroma of beer and parsley, the Shire is a land of tranquility and peace, far removed from war, and the land of the hobbits—but not the land of mortals.

Mortals would not live in the Shire, even though it is one of the most peaceful and tranquil places in Middle-earth. This is because humans are social animals, and long-term survival outside one's own community is extremely difficult. There are numerous obstacles, both physiological and psychological. Even for the occasional hermit who escapes the hustle and bustle of the city, living next to noisy hobbits is not their first choice.

Of course, all of the above explanations are actually useless. Just as banks will never lack misprinted coins, the world will never lack eccentric people. Alice deliberately prepared a completely mortal body to come to this place not to study the settlement patterns of the hobbits, but because this place held a target she had already determined.

A target, insignificant before it was discovered. But once discovered, it became a target capable of influencing the entire course of the Lord of the Rings war.

—A mortal.

Her boots shone lightly as she walked straight toward the iconic treehouse of Bag End. Although, in her current mortal perception, the treehouse was empty, she knew she had chosen the right path. And when she reached the door of Bag End and gently knocked on the oak door knocker, the absence of the musty smell of uninhabited dwellings further confirmed her suspicions.

'Knock knock knock—knock knock knock—'

The door didn't open, and her hands didn't stop. After knocking for two minutes, she knew she should conserve some time for herself and the person she was about to talk to.

"The most dangerous place is indeed the safest place. Ordinary reincarnators wouldn't dare visit this land where there's almost no possibility of triggering side quests. But since I'm here, it means I'm absolutely certain. This conversation with you is for the benefit of both of us. And if you're unwilling to accept this friendly hand, that's fine too." Alice's voice was calm, without the slightest inflection. It was like the night wind rustling through autumn grass—the wind doesn't care about the grass, but the grass needs the wind to spread its clumps.

The door in front of her remained unmoved.

“I believe I have shown sufficient sincerity. If I didn’t expect peaceful dialogue, this entire space, along with everything living or dead within it, would have been captured. And I guarantee you wouldn’t have time to react.” Alice’s voice paused slightly. “Having observed me in the shadows for so long, you should be able to confirm that this body of mine is undeniably a mortal one. If you are unwilling to reveal yourself, you still have one last chance to escape. After that, our Central Continent Team will make you our primary target in this cycle of reincarnation.”

Alice stopped what she was doing.

“It’s you who’s being excluded, not the East Sea team—do I need to repeat myself, Ms. Altair?” Her halt was an ultimatum, and her words were the weight that made the ultimatum valuable.

With a creak, the oak door that had been tightly closed in front of her loosened slightly the instant she uttered those words. A narrow gap appeared in her field of vision, and it quickly opened up, revealing just enough space for a person to squeeze through sideways.

Alice didn't squeeze through; she simply stood in the doorway, smiling and waiting. She hoped the door would open wide enough instead of forcing her through the narrow passage that would leave her mortal body disheveled. Her stubbornness was rewarded half a second later—the door swung open wide, unleashing a sudden gust of wind from behind her!

It seems the temporary owner of Bag End is a little unhappy.

[But it doesn't matter. The more unhappy she is, the more she cares. Looks like I've got her sore spot.]

Alice stumbled abruptly—she didn't mind landing on the ground with a thud like a soaked rag. But it was clear her words had had some effect on the conversation. The ground that had appeared before her and was rapidly approaching her upper body had turned into a soft, thick carpet before gravity took effect. As a result, when she was blown away by the wind from behind, her fall wasn't too unsightly.

A voice came from about five meters in front of her where she had fallen. It was a voice that Alice, though not recorded, recognized as one she had encountered before. As she slowly got up from the carpet and casually found a chair to sit down, a face she had seen in the simulated message came into view.

Long, flowing white hair, square pupils, and an oddly shaped military uniform incongruous with the times. An old-fashioned military saber hung at her waist, never leaving its sheath. These elements combined to form the image of Altair, whom Alice had, in a sense, encountered in the White City. But unlike the composed, even slightly mischievous Altair of that time, she was now undeniably impatient and furious.

“Alice, Alice Margotrovid.” Altair spat out the name through gritted teeth, his face so dark it seemed he wanted to add salt and flour to the name, roast it over a high flame until it was charred, and swallow it whole. “There’s no bread or salt for you here, no honey or tea for you to drink. Say what you have to say quickly, so I can send you on your way!”

"Can I assume you're not planning to continue this discussion and are going straight to war with our Zhongzhou team?" Alice slightly turned her head, her gaze fixed on a tightly closed door behind her and the wall beside it—she knew she couldn't see anything, and she knew she couldn't feel anything. She even knew that even if she rushed over in her full form and forced open the door, she would gain nothing. But she still knew, knew that behind that wall, behind that door, there was a person, an ordinary, unremarkable person, as fragile and insignificant as she was now.

One... who is crucial to Altair, who has clearly lost his composure.

She watched with satisfaction as Altair 'naturally' swayed his body, blocking her view of the wall behind him.

"...When did you find out?"

“I had my suspicions when I first investigated the past, and they were confirmed when you killed that newcomer from the Southern Flame Continent team.” Alice tilted her head slightly. “While the power of the Prayer system is indeed strong, it has weaknesses. You know what it is, but not why it is. Although you used methods to cut off my access to information about the Hobbits before they crossed the river, the very act of cutting off this layer of history proves something.”

"You want to conceal something that happened at the beginning of the story, and something that happened before the arrival of the East American team. At first, I thought you had tampered with one of the initial story characters, in a way similar to possession, directly attaching yourself to one or two of the four hobbits. Then you used them as a springboard to corrupt and infect the other story characters in Rivendell."

You used the annihilation of the East Sea team as a cover, then took the opportunity to infiltrate the main characters' group. As long as the plot progressed smoothly, no matter which reincarnation team won in the end, you could strike at the crucial moment and seize the greatest spoils—I originally thought you were that kind of person, with such a plan, and I took corresponding measures accordingly.”

Alice gently placed her ten fingers together.

"To verify my idea, we captured all the main characters' team members. And after fighting you, we used your power mode as a model for verification. Although the result was not as I expected, the message you left when you attacked the one from the Southern Flame Continent team verified another possibility for me."

She stared at Altair in front of her, her gaze burning with both intensity and confidence.

"You are not actually a reincarnator. Right?"

She saw Altair's fingers tremble noticeably—clearly, a supernatural being wouldn't lose control of its limbs in front of a mortal. This was obviously a tacit signal, representing the white-haired creature's deliberate display of weakness and disbelief.

“…You’re right, I’m not a reincarnator.” She pressed a finger to her forehead, her square pupils almost distorted by the surge of emotion. “If I had known, I shouldn’t have killed that guy from the Southern Flame Continent team.”

“There’s no such thing as knowing too early or too late. It’s precisely because you’re not a Reincarnator that you’ve revealed such a huge flaw. And judging from the fact that I haven’t heard any warnings from the Main God after revealing so much to you, you should be the type who belongs to the Reincarnation Team but isn’t a Reincarnator… I think the person you’re connected with is a newcomer to the East Sea Team, right?”

Altair remained silent for a long while.

"...You guessed right."

"Wow, that's really interesting." Alice tilted her head slightly, her gaze towards the white-haired creature filled with admiration.

"The newcomer, the East Blue Team, and all the things that have happened. Some things that I only had a vague idea about before can now be completely confirmed. To be honest, your logic is very confusing to me. You have done a lot of things that a reincarnator should not do... Let me think, this world should be the first reincarnation world you have come into contact with. You did not even arrive with the East Blue Team at the beginning, but after they arrived here, you arrived here by some accident... No, it may not have been an accident for you, but you eventually arrived here."

Alice tilted her head slightly.

"The reincarnators of the East Sea team actually died at your hands, just to vent your anger, right?"

"………………" The white-haired man sitting opposite her remained silent.

Alice smiled, pursing her lips. There were some things she didn't need to say. Pointing things out to this extent was merely to prove she already possessed this level of information. After all, while some things weren't exactly private, bringing them up directly was still slightly detrimental to further communication between the two parties.

If she guessed correctly, the relationship between Altair and the mortal behind the wall was similar to that between the Overlord and Chelsea. Although she didn't know, and couldn't deduce, how a mortal could form such a bond beyond life and death with a transcendent being like Altair, and how he could fall into despair under Altair's protection, this should be a given fact, so there was no need to deduce it.

The mystery hidden behind this Lord of the Rings world becomes quite simple: First, the person destined for Altair, for some strange reason, went into despair and was then pulled into the Mainworld. The most likely candidate is a newcomer to the East Blue team in this battle—preferably female—who, upon arriving in this world, was abandoned by the veterans of the East Blue team.

The reason for abandoning her is unknown. Perhaps it was due to her personality, perhaps due to some innate flaw, or perhaps because she was already severely injured and crippled when the main god brought her over. In any case, the East Sea team abandoned her, and then, due to the team battle, sealed off her mobility—given their technical capabilities, they probably could only cut off her limbs and hide her in a medicine jar. Then, when this person destined for her was on the verge of death, Altair crossed worlds to come to her side.

[Although it's absurd, this is probably the most plausible possibility. To transcend worlds through the power of prayer... that's truly an enviable and genuine sentiment. But it's precisely for this reason that she directly cursed the entire East Blue Team to death with a prayer after her arrival. However, after awakening her destined one, she discovered that her destined one was already on the verge of being annihilated.]

[That's why she had to hide so carefully, and why she was secretly trying to instigate conflict between the reincarnation teams while performing so many strange maneuvers. Because she had to do it... She had to weaken the other reincarnators enough so that her destined one could kill them with a mortal body and score points, while also ensuring that the only remaining rookie on the East Sea team could become the final winner of the team battle. Tsk, this kind of emotion... is a bit jarring.]

She didn't voice her suspicions, but Altair's silence confirmed her correctness. And it was in this awkward silence that Alice voiced her demands for negotiation.

Section 52. Altair II

“First and foremost, the most basic point,” Alice said, her fingers gently touching each other, “those reincarnators from the Southern Flame Continent team belong to our Central Continent team.”

"...They've always been in your hands." Altair's expression remained unchanged. "How you deal with them is your own business; I have no say in it."

“That’s hard to say,” Alice raised an eyebrow. “In previous reincarnations, I had some dealings with the Southern Flame Continent team. Unfortunately, I have over three hundred pages of personal files and personality profiles of Neos from the Southern Flame Continent team. I know very well what level of intelligence and strength he can unleash. However, his performance this time has greatly disappointed me.”

"In my original estimate, having reached the third tier and mastered high-level enhancements, he should have been able to defeat the combined forces of the lower-tier reincarnators in our team, either alone or with one or two assistants at most. Even in a surprise attack, he should have been able to prepare a plan in time. Even if his strength is insufficient, arriving so early would have been enough for him to set up a suitable trap, causing us to suffer some losses, big or small—which would also serve as training for the lower-tier reincarnators in our team."

Alice sighed softly.

"However, this guy, whose intelligence should be above average by any means, not only failed to demonstrate any talent in command, planning, strategizing, or maneuvering during the skirmish, but he also made a complete mess of managing his own power – knowing that our Central Continent Team would arrive as the strongest team, he failed to win over any allies – whether in the storyline or in the Reincarnation Squad, he accomplished nothing."

"You know what? When I arrived in this world, my initial prediction was that 'after we arrive, we will be attacked by four reincarnation teams plus the protagonist groups from both the good and evil sides, all without the right timing, location, and people.' For this reason, my companions and I made many, many, many, many preparations. However, when the final battle was revealed, I didn't even encounter two or three of the kittens."

She used "many, many" three times in a row. Although she was smiling, there wasn't much of a smile in her eyes.

"This put me in a very awkward position during the post-arrival planning and analysis phase. While it's not really shameful, all the plans I had made beforehand have been ruined. Of course, that's just my grumbling, it's not important. What's important is that Neos and Esdeath shouldn't have behaved so poorly—considering our less-than-pleasant meeting in White City. I think the others in Southern Flame Continent probably experienced similar treatment to me there."

"Perhaps you can't directly control Esdeath, but the rest of the South Flame Continent team... I think their bodies and minds are no longer under their control—this must be the part of your history hidden in Rivendell. You don't understand the strength comparison between the Reincarnation Teams at all; you simply want to instigate war between them so that your destined person can reap the benefits. And it is precisely because of this that the relationship between the South Flame Continent team and the East America team is so bad, and that the Celestial team and the East America team clashed several times before we arrived."

“Am I right, Ms. Altair?” Alice tilted her head and looked at the white-haired man in front of her.

—She sensed that the white-haired man before her was probably experiencing the equivalent of having smashed up a sauce shop. A mix of all five flavors—sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty—all stemming from incomplete information, leading to this terrible situation. If prayer could change the past as observed by the supreme god, then this guy named Altair would undoubtedly reverse time to the moment of his arrival and awaken the self that had been consumed by vengeful rage upon his arrival. However, while there was a way to undo mistakes in this world observed by the supreme god, the white-haired man's current level was far from accessing such a high-level 'medicine'.

She was pleased to see the struggle and inner turmoil flickering in her negotiator's eyes. But that brilliance eventually turned into dejection—the white-haired man decided to concede.

“I originally… intended to keep the Reincarnators from the Southern Flame Continent team to draw fire for me when the time was right. I need to ensure that Sauron’s Ring is thrown into Mount Doom, ending this world swiftly and decisively with no winners.” Altair managed to utter a few words with difficulty. “This is a… great fortune. I know the profits you Reincarnators can gain from team battles.”

“But I think this wealth is nothing compared to the person in that house behind you.” Alice replied lightly, “Our Central Continent team is very poor, lacking food and clothing, and resources are scarce. If this team battle hadn’t been so suspicious, we would have converted the South Flame Continent Reincarnation Team into points when we captured them.”

Alice paused, then continued, "And by then, the person you want to protect still won't get any points. After all, you're not a reincarnator, and even if you trigger the hidden hand within them and kill them all before we make our move, there won't be any reward from the main god. Rather than a lose-lose situation, it's better to use them to make a deal with us. That way, both of us will feel much better."

The white-haired creature in front of her fell silent.

Seconds later, a murky sphere appeared in Altair's hand. Alice detected the scent of a soul within it—though she was now merely a mortal, she could still sense an element within the sphere that resonated with the members of the Southern Flame Continent team. It was like a 'soul contract' often found in fantasy novels. Destroying this sphere would instantly kill the contracted party. And before the sphere was destroyed, even if the contracted party were blown to pieces, it wouldn't be considered a true death.

Death in the cycle of reincarnation is divided into many levels, and since both the physical body and spirit have the potential to regenerate after destruction, killing those fragmented individuals in the Tower of Babel world would naturally not be judged by the main god as 'killing reincarnators of the Southern Flame Continent team'. This is also one of the reasons why Chu Xuan kept those large groups of prisoners alive after capturing them—after all, the main characters of the story cannot kill indiscriminately; the fourth-tier Esdeath has research value, but those less than third-tier minions obviously do not require special space and food and lodging for them.

However, this necessity will soon cease to exist.

“These are the soul fragments of the entire Southern Flame Continent team. Crush them, and you will gain the team battle points you desire.” A table materialized in front of Altair. She then gently placed the small ball on the table. “This is all the wealth I possess. But I suppose your Central Continent team’s appetite is not limited to this, is it?”

"Unfortunately, this is all the food our Zhongzhou team can eat."

Alice shook her head, picked up the beads from the table under the blank gaze of a certain white-haired man, and turned to leave.

"Your previous schemes against our Zhongzhou team and your opposition to our team are wiped clean. In the upcoming war, we will not target you or the person you are protecting. Your information will also not be leaked to any other faction."

“As long as you remain silent and do not interfere with the affairs of our Central Continent Team in the coming period, we can pretend you don’t exist. However,” Alice paused at the doorway, “if you still wish to step onto this battlefield, then don’t expect us to show mercy. While our Central Continent Team is not one that habitually targets the enemy’s weaknesses, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t such individuals within our team. If you appear on the battlefield later, you won’t be the only one targeted.”

Alice's meaning was clear: due to a shift in her stance, she could persuade the team to let go of Altair and her destined partner—two huge uncertainties. The price, however, was that they would need to completely disappear from the battlefield. After all, once Altair exposed this fatal weakness, any fourth-tier warrior could easily exploit it. If Alice didn't intervene, they wouldn't have a good ending under Chu Xuan's scheme.

Even a small mosquito is still meat, let alone a highly venomous one. Even if we don't include it in our profits, we must be wary of it suddenly biting us at a crucial moment.

However, Alice's trading partner didn't seem to intend to end the conversation so easily. Just as Alice reached the door, the slightly ajar oak door suddenly slammed shut, and Altair's voice, strained to contain his emotions, came from behind her.

“Generally speaking, a transaction can only be completed if both parties agree on the value of the other party’s assets. You just unilaterally confirmed the value of the assets, but I still have other opinions about this transaction.”

Alice stopped in her tracks.

"Greed is not a good habit. Saving two lives should be a huge benefit for you. You have extraordinary power, after all. Even if you don't participate in team battles or interfere with the main battlefield, there is a very high chance that you can help your destined partner finish the reward points owed due to team battles before this world ends. If you want any other benefits, then you are being a bit ungrateful."