The moment everyone's eyes snapped open, there was a brief pause, only broken about a second later when Zheng Zha roared.

"Damn it, Chu Xuan, you idiot! That was too much! 'Main God,' full repair for everyone, deduct the reward points from me!" Though shouting, Zheng Zha’s mind was clear as he called for collective repair. Despite his own injuries being completely healed by merging with the Guide, the rest of the team had suffered injuries to varying degrees, especially Zhang Heng and a few others whose auras were noticeably faint. He didn't know what Reinhardt meant by 'absorbing power'—was it like turning people into blood slaves, as in legends? Therefore, the standard full repair was mandatory.

Just as he had imagined, those few individuals, like Zhang Heng, who had their energy drained, remained suspended in mid-air for a period longer than the time required to repair the Gene Lock after unlocking it. After a long while, these few finally descended. The moment they touched the ground, An Su'na burst into tears and threw herself toward Imhotep. The handsome bald man actually showed a flicker of awkwardness; An Su'na had always been a figure of cold, stunning beauty, so a situation like this was exceedingly rare.

Wang Xia, Cheng Xiao, and Zhang Heng shared knowing smiles. Zhang Heng subconsciously glanced toward Ming Yanwei, but the girl didn't look his way at all, appearing utterly unconcerned. This action instantly chilled Zhang Heng’s heart. He gave a bitter smile, shook his head, and quietly looked toward his other companions. Of course... he remained unaware of her actions back at the alien headquarters. Over on the other side of their comrades, Chu Xuan was being yanked up by his collar by Zheng Zha. This enraged man raised his fist, ready to strike Chu Xuan, when suddenly the sound of an ancient bell chimed. A small, brass bell appeared above Chu Xuan's head. Zheng Zha, who was about to land a blow, immediately plummeted to the ground instead, his entire body twitching uncontrollably as if enduring immense agony.

"Does it hurt?" Chu Xuan held the small brass bell in his hand, quietly asking Zheng Zha.

Zheng Zha convulsed on the floor, roaring, "Damn it, what the hell is this thing! Why does it hurt so much? Is my physical capacity really incapable of enduring mere pain? Little Dingdang, what did you do? That little bell, could it be—" "Uh... yes, it is the Donghuang Bell... But why is it different? This wave pattern should directly stimulate the pain receptors. You're in so much pain, yet why can't I feel anything?" Chu Xuan looked at his palm, then closed his eyes. After a long moment, he opened them, and everyone else had gathered around, including Zheng Zha, who was still writhing on the ground. More than anything else, everyone was concerned about whether Chu Xuan had overcome his inner demon.

Chu Xuan calmly shook his head. "I haven't overcome the inner demon, but I've suppressed it. It seems I still need to..." Hearing this, everyone around them trembled slightly, as if Chu Xuan were about to attack them. What they feared most wasn't his attack, but his endless, unpredictable schemes—they truly didn't want to experience being schemed against by their top strategist, especially this man named Chu Xuan, ever again.

"...I need to switch to a different approach."

Chu Xuan shook his head. "I originally thought the inner demon could be overcome through this method of using brute force to counter finesse. I finally had an opportunity to scheme against the 'Main God,' so I should have used it to accomplish this. Who knew that it would still only be suppressed? Although this time the suppression is absolute—even if I used my early Fourth Tier power, it wouldn't flare up again... this doesn't really differ much from using my Drive to suppress it, other than the potential for the suppression to weaken. I still need a different method to overcome this inner demon."

As Chu Xuan spoke, Zheng Zha suddenly slapped the back of his head with a sharp crack. The seemingly frigid man stumbled, and Zheng Zha immediately grabbed his collar: "Damn it, was everything I said before just BS? I told you to just say if something was wrong, just say it! Did you say you wanted to die? Do you think I wouldn't agree with your layout and plans?" Chu Xuan didn't mind the action. He adjusted his glasses and asked, "If I had told you beforehand... would you have agreed to my layout and plans this time?" "Absolutely not!" Almost unbelievably... Zheng Zha's answer was firm and decisive. To the observers, the conversation between the two seemed to have accomplished nothing.

Chu Xuan seemed to anticipate Zheng Zha's answer. He simply placed the ancient bronze bell on the ground before saying, "Ever since learning you didn't qualify to be Captain, I have been waiting for this... My inner demon probably originated in that Transformers horror movie world. At that time, I knew I was approaching the threshold of mid-Fourth Tier. Although I don't know why, I had a feeling that once I broke through this barrier, I would obtain what I have always desired..." "Based on the information gathered previously, after the team's Captain disappears, the 'Main God' generates a new Guide to enter the team. Then, in one of the horror movie worlds, the team members will be tested. Once a Captain is confirmed, the entire horror movie world will pause..." "Wait a moment."

Xiao Honglu suddenly interrupted him. "How can you be so certain that the world pauses the moment a Captain is confirmed, or even if it pauses immediately upon confirmation? Wouldn't your inner demon plan be useless then? To be honest, I only have about a sixty percent chance of being certain. Are you that sure?" "Uh..." Chu Xuan nonchalantly pulled a tomato from his pocket and took a bite. "I never claimed to be certain..." (Right, I almost forgot this guy's fundamental flaw. Regardless of whether he's certain or not, as long as there's a greater than fifty percent chance, he'll gamble on anything. Although he hasn't lost anything he's gambled on yet... he's a complete gambler!) Everyone recalled this with a shudder in their hearts. Chu Xuan continued eating the tomato. "The general situation is like this. Synthesizing all the data, there are two possible outcomes after the Guide confirms a Captain: one, the team successfully completes the horror movie world; two, the team fails to complete it safely. If we analyze based on Zhang Jie's case, regardless of the outcome of the first scenario, the second one is certain: when the team faces extreme danger, the Guide will likely stop the entire horror movie world directly. That's why Zhang Jie said what he said back then. In other words, the situation at the time led him to believe he was safe. Although he died afterward, that should be unrelated to the environment and connected to the special circumstances he encountered. Therefore, I have reason to believe Zhang Jie was recognized as Captain in that horror movie world. That's why when he was the last one left, the Guide stopped the world. In other words, the Guide will halt the entire horror movie world when the Captain is in danger!" "If we think along these lines, my planned method of using brute force to counter finesse against the inner demon can be executed. Since the layout requires killing everyone, and it must happen after the Guide confirms the Captain, and the Captain must be among the dead—under these prerequisites, the only place I could conceive of executing this was in the horror movie world where the new Captain would be chosen..." Everyone listened to Chu Xuan's words in silence. Only after he finished speaking did Cheng Xiao curiously ask, "Uh, let's set aside the layout details for now. Given you're a freak and Xiao Honglu is a little freak... I want to ask: How did you distinguish which of the two newcomers was the Guide? It seems both you and Xiao Honglu were quite certain."

Xiao Honglu cleared his throat lightly, tousling his hair as he smiled. "Let me answer that question... As a Guide, even a half-Guide like Zhang Jie, a semi-Reincarnation Squad member, has one crucial point they must adhere to. Even Zhang Jie violated it, resulting in the 'Main God' increasing the difficulty of the horror movie world... which is that they absolutely cannot interfere with the progress of the horror movie world. That is, they cannot meddle in changing the world's events, cannot interfere with the survival of other Reincarnation Squad members, and cannot attack other squad members... Of the two newcomers, only Yang Xuelin has never done any of these things. Lin Juntian, however, tried to change the world's progression from the very beginning. Therefore, identifying the Guide was the easiest part... Beyond that, it was a matter of layout details. Once I grasped the situation Chu Xuan left for me, I followed his arrangements perfectly and executed this plan all the way through..." "Wait just a moment."

Zheng Zha suddenly asked, "Chu Xuan, was that just now... the Donghuang Bell? Can you use that Cultivation artifact now?" "No."

Chu Xuan answered very directly. "Do you remember what I told you? The preliminary method to use the Donghuang Bell can be obtained immediately, but it requires an immense amount of energy to sustain it. My Drive can function as the processor to control the Donghuang Bell, but to provide the energy... it could only have been obtained from the alien headquarters. That's right, the Donghuang Bell has been secretly stealing energy from the alien headquarters. That painful stimulation just now was the last of the energy. Come back and use this thing after you are ten thousand times stronger... Using the Donghuang Bell is still too early for you right now. Before that, why don't you tell me..." "The data regarding the Primordial Era and the creation of the universe."

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