A momentary stunned silence fell over everyone. After all, the trap laid by the Saints and the Cultivators mentioned in the analysis was drastically different from the final battle they had originally envisioned. Once they boarded that path after acquiring the information, returning to the real world would become incredibly difficult. Furthermore, to return to reality, they would inevitably have to strengthen themselves, perhaps even recruiting allies from the real world, as Xiao Honglü suggested, thereby enhancing both their own strength and humanity's overall power. The Saints and the Cultivators indeed had cunning plans.

“Alright, everyone stop thinking about it.”

Zheng Zha suddenly spoke up loudly. “Now is not the time to dwell on these matters. Whatever the true meaning of that final battle is, for us, it is the definitive last stand. If we win, if we defeat the Demon Reincarnation Squad and claim the apex position in the entire Reincarnation World, then there will be a future. If we lose... thinking about the future is meaningless. So, instead of spending so much effort contemplating the Saints’ and Cultivators’ traps, or whether we can ever return to the real world, we should focus far more energy on this final battle... No matter what, this battle is the ultimate one for us!” Zheng Zha's words were not without merit. The Mid-Continent Team’s strength had already reached an extraordinary level. Surveying all the Reincarnation Squads, no more than three could stand against them.

Among them was the so-called strongest team in the Reincarnation World: the Demon Reincarnation Squad. If the Mid-Continent Team could defeat the Demon Reincarnation Squad in this final confrontation, then leveraging Zheng Zha’s might and Chu Xuan’s intellect, virtually no other team would be comparable.

Thus, this battle held a truly final significance for the Mid-Continent Team.

When everyone else started to leave, Zheng Zha stopped Xiao Honglü with a hand on his shoulder.

The young boy paused, yet obediently remained behind.

Only after everyone else had gone did Zheng Zha speak. “Before returning to the room earlier, I checked with the ‘Main God’ about the next horror movie world. It’s a team operation, fighting the East Sea Team, set in a disaster world called The Perfect Storm. That’s fine, but the ‘Main God’s’ hint was chilling... This is the second-to-last horror movie world.

Following this is the final battle. The ‘Main God’ has already given a clear indication.”

Xiao Honglü froze, not rushing off, but finding a chair to sit down.

He mused aloud, “This is quite normal, almost exactly as we predicted. The final battle will conclude within two or three horror movie worlds. Counting Dragon Riders to mature our young dragons, plus the East Sea Team mission which allows our dormant members to awaken.

The ‘Main God’ has indeed decided on the participants for the final battle. Any team reaching a certain level of power will participate as a main force. Horror worlds like Dragon Riders—other main force teams will surely encounter them too.

This is the kind of world that tests the combat power of teams like theirs. This aligns almost perfectly with our deductions.”

“Exactly.”

Zheng Zha nodded. “Precisely because it aligns so perfectly with your deductions, your analysis today startled me even more. Do you know? After I finished repairing and queried the next horror world, I also checked for an exchange item with a special function. That item indeed exists... It’s called the Shielding Rune Stone, which allows one to return to the real world ‘safely’ for a period, the duration depending on the energy stored within. The Rune Stone can store True Essence Power, Mana, Immortal Spiritual Energy, Divine Contract Power... these high-level energies. Do you understand? That word ‘safely’ is particularly suspicious. Combined with your recent deductions, we might truly have fallen into the Saints’ and Cultivators’ trap—the real world might be a death prison for us!” Xiao Honglü managed a wry smile, shaking his head, unsure what to say. He could only let out a sigh before silently walking out of the room.

Zheng Zha also sighed, suddenly pulling out the badge containing the black dragon. As he handed it to Xiao Honglü, he said, “I entrust this Priest Badge to you. You can summon the black dragon inside. It was raised by us from a young age, so it will naturally fight for us once released. Moreover, Little Dog is quite intelligent. I want to give it to you for protection. In the final battle, if Chu Xuan has to face the copied version of himself from the Demon Squad, the key to victory might very well rest in your hands. Use it to augment your strength.”

Xiao Honglü did not refuse, tucking the badge into his robes, then smiled. “Do you have any other treasures? Bring them out now. The final battle is fast approaching, and it feels like you and Chu Xuan are hiding things.”

Zheng Zha blinked, then gave a self-deprecating laugh, shaking his head. “No other physical items, but I have accumulated over forty thousand reward points, plus one S-rank and two A-rank side plot points. I think I can exchange for some good items for everyone, at least reinforcing the weaker members of the team... Let’s wait until tomorrow. After everyone has rested, we can discuss how to use my reward points and side plot points.”

Xiao Honglü nodded. He was quite satisfied with Zheng Zha as captain. Compared to ruthlessness and decisiveness, where Zheng Zha lacked, he was otherwise a near-perfect captain. But Zheng Zha secretly stockpiled this many reward points and side plot points? When did he manage that? (Right, his development path has largely stabilized. Reinforcing other attributes now would be grasping at too many straws. He’s likely focused only on controlling and clashing True Essence Power and Mana. Thus, after several consecutive horror worlds, a team battle, and this Dragon Riders Abyss side plot, he accumulated so many points and plots. Then again, one S-rank and two A-rank side plots? This will require careful planning...) Xiao Honglü chuckled to himself as he walked away. Honestly, he really wanted to push his Net Magic to its absolute peak—the level where he could use Ninth Tier Magic. Among these Ninth Tier spells, there is an S-rank spell called Banshee's Wail. Within its howling radius, all living things have a very high chance of immediate death. It is an exaggerated skill even among S-rank enhancements, but because its effect is so extreme, its burden must also be immense, which is why Xiao Honglü hadn't decided whether to truly exchange for this attribute. (If I don't exchange for the Banshee's Wail, the reinforcements that would most boost the Mid-Continent Team's combat power would be the attributes for Qi Tengyi and Liu Yu. Qi Tengyi's hypnosis ability was indeed weak initially, but once successfully exchanged and developed, his ability to directly read and hypnotize others would make him terrifyingly powerful, almost like the monster in Nightmare on Elm Street. No, perhaps this enhancement is an upgrade of that monster’s skill. As for Liu Yu... if I could exchange for a God Card for him, like Obelisk the Tormentor, his combat strength would immediately reach at least Zero Point's level. Reinforcing these two would be the most cost-effective...)

Xiao Honglü pondered as he walked further and further away. Zheng Zha finally turned his head and smiled at Lori, who smiled back at him...

The next day, everyone gathered once more in Zheng Zha's room. Of course, everyone was present except for that fellow Chu Xuan.

Once the last person arrived, Zheng Zha disclosed the matter of the next horror world—the second-to-last battle—and revealed all the reward points and side plot points he possessed.

“Except for holding back ten thousand reward points for myself, the rest can be used to reinforce everyone. Speaking of which, you all should have quite a few reward points and side plot points as well, right?” Zheng Zha asked with a smile.

Setting aside the counterattack in the Battle of the Heavenly Fiend Sphere, the side plot in Dragon Riders granted everyone 5000 reward points and one B-rank side plot point. Added to their existing reserves, each person should possess a substantial amount.

Zero Point, Zhao Yingkong, and Wang Xia simply nodded silently, while Cheng Xiao and the others chuckled. Liu Yu, in particular, smugly took out a card: “This is a new card I exchanged for last night. It only cost one B-rank side plot point—Red-Eyes Black Dragon (Fake). Although it’s not as potent as the Red-Eyes Black Dragon card, which requires two A-rank side plot points, it’s still quite formidable. It can summon a black dragon for ten minutes, though it's only about ten meters long...”

Zheng Zha sighed. He couldn't really blame Liu Yu. After all, the horror world Liu Yu entered was when the Mid-Continent Team was facing extreme difficulty, and Liu Yu had died there. After he was resurrected, Liu Yu then created the move of Primordial Chaos, Splitting the Heavens, so Zheng Zha hadn't paid much attention to the reinforcement paths of individuals on the team. The veteran members already knew their direction for progress; only these two newcomers were still uncertain.

“Next time before exchanging items, you should ask me first. Captain's privilege allows quick querying of the ‘Main God’ for exchangeable items. Your Red-Eyes Black Dragon card is, at best, a summon beast card. That’s not to say it’s not strong, but there are clearly many stronger cards available. Now that I have a large quantity of reward points and side plot points to use, exchanging for this card is clearly redundant... Summon cards use your spiritual power, right?” Zheng Zha asked, frowning.

Liu Yu glanced nervously at the others, nodding faintly. He seemed somewhat intimidated by Zheng Zha.

Zheng Zha patted his hair gently. “Don't worry, it’s just a redundant exchange, nothing major. If this card consumes your spiritual power to summon, then more isn’t necessarily better. One extremely powerful card that you can consistently summon is definitely better than summoning a hundred pieces of trash monsters using the same amount of spiritual power. Do you understand?”

“I also looked up your summon cards. The three strongest summon beast cards are Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor, and The Winged Dragon of Ra. Slifer grows stronger by consuming the monsters you summon. The Winged Dragon of Ra is formed by fusing all the monsters you summon. For both of these, the stronger you become, the stronger they become. You don't have enough reward points and side plot points right now to become that strong quickly, so in comparison, Obelisk the Tormentor is the most suitable for you to summon.”

After addressing Liu Yu, Zheng Zha turned to Lin Juntian. The white-collar newcomer sat there looking composed, lacking the arrogant air he had when they first arrived. Zheng Zha asked, “Lin Juntian, have you exchanged for any enhancements?”

Lin Juntian paused, shaking his head with a bitter smile. “I’ve been eyeing an enhancement attribute that only has Novice and Advanced tiers. The Novice tier costs one A-rank side plot point, and the Advanced tier costs two A-rank side plot points, totaling the equivalent of one S-rank side plot point. I don't have that many reward points and side plot points to reinforce yet, so I planned to wait until after the team battle in the next horror world before reinforcing...”

Zheng Zha nodded secretly. He thought this fellow was quite sharp. Given the Mid-Continent Team's current power, unless they encountered the Celestial Squad, the Demon Squad, or certain highly reinforced individuals from specialized breeding teams, no other squad stood a chance of harming the protected members of the Mid-Continent Team. Thus, saving his points and plots to reinforce higher-tier attributes was perfectly reasonable.

“By the way, what attribute were you planning to reinforce?” Zheng Zha asked out of curiosity.

“Reality Materialization Fantasy Technique. The name sounds rather bizarre. It allows you to copy any non-living object you see based on the concepts in your mind and use it perfectly. Last time I saw the ancient bell Chu Xuan used to block your attack—if I could materialize that, I would never fear entering a horror world again...” Lin Juntian said with a smile.

“The Eastern Emperor Bell. If I could use that thing perfectly, I wouldn't fear entering horror worlds either,” Zheng Zha quipped teasingly, then looked towards Imhotep.

“Imhotep, although your constitution is special, you can still enhance attributes from the 'Main God' space, especially the Suna Suna no Mi reinforcement. Combined with your sand transformation and immortal body, it would be terrifyingly powerful. Even water, your only weakness, would be gone unless struck by pure energy attacks; your body would be nearly indestructible. And Anck-su-namun, your physical fitness is actually quite good, coupled with your combat skills. Perhaps you should reinforce some martial arts that involve internal energy...”

Zheng Zha utilized his authority as captain, continuously querying the 'Main God' and explaining their enhancement attributes and directions to everyone. Finally, he concluded, “That’s the general situation... Ugh, disregard that last sentence. In short, the current reward points are a bit tight if we want to reinforce everyone immediately. So, after the next horror world battle against the East Sea Team, we'll return and do a mass reinforcement then. And the dormant members can be reinforced simultaneously...”

“And then... comes the final battle!”

Just as Zheng Zha finished speaking, Chu Xuan happened to emerge from his room. He was holding a data chip, which glowed with a soft, translucent light. It was clearly the cultivation scripture Zheng Zha had seized from the The Mummy world...

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