This was what Chu Xuan had said to the others after he and Xiao Honglü had jointly laid out the plan for this battle.

The entire plan essentially boiled down to a single objective: making the Heavenly God Squad believe the Central Continent Team had been defeated. Whether judged by Chu Xuan's probabilistic analysis or the reaction of the remaining Central Continent members to sudden events, the Heavenly God Squad needed to slightly underestimate the Central Continent Team. Only then would they remain unaware that the Central Continent Team had encountered the clone of Zheng Zha.

“This is extremely important; we absolutely cannot let the Heavenly God Squad know that their ability to traverse the horror film worlds has been exposed. Only then can it be leveraged to maximum effect in the final battle.”

This was the reason the Central Continent Team had to appear to lose to the Heavenly God Squad. To claim it was merely to feign weakness in the final battle was laughable. The final battle was when all teams would be fighting desperately; being weaker would only invite more enemies. Even the Heavenly God Squad wouldn't spare the Central Continent Team out of consideration for the Demon Squad. Therefore, feigning weakness held almost no meaning; in the eyes of an intellect like Adam, such a ruse would only earn disdain. The true reason for this apparent defeat was this: letting Adam believe he had won, while the Central Continent Team was defeated due to a lack of crucial knowledge.

“...But I feel like something is off. Ah, right! Even if we don’t know the Heavenly God Squad can cross the horror film worlds, we can still defeat the East Sea Team. As long as we capture the East Sea Team…”

Zheng Zha asked curiously, “Can't we learn about this matter from them then?”

“Ahem.”

Xiao Honglü cleared his throat and said with a smile, “Let me answer that. To be precise, it doesn't matter if we know about the Heavenly God Squad's existence, but we cannot know about it ourselves. We must learn of it through the East Sea Team. This is precisely why we must lose.

And why we need to allow one or two people to be captured.”

“Why?” several people asked in unison.

“Because the clone of Zheng Zha never appeared—at least, the Heavenly God Squad is unaware that he did. If we allow Adam to confirm our defeat, he, severely lacking in information, will have no idea that the Demon Squad has visited us. This fact can then be utilized in the final battle to orchestrate a scenario where the Central Continent Team fights the Demon Squad King-for-King, Soldier-for-Soldier, while minimizing interference from the other teams.

That is the reason,” the one with the preceding strand of hair said with a smile to the crowd.

“Then why do we need to be captured by them? If that’s the reason, couldn’t we just intercept them at Diaoyu Island and engage them in a fierce battle?”

In truth, this was the detail of the plan Zheng Zha loathed the most. How could the lives of team members be so casually used as bait? Who knew what kind of people the East Sea Team were? If captured, would they ruthlessly kill them immediately, or perhaps use other skills to control them? Zheng Zha found the idea of using his companions as bait incredibly difficult to accept; this very point was the epicenter of the conflict when he first met Chu Xuan.

“Because… we need their mental power controller. If it were a direct fight, killing them would be no issue.

But safely capturing their mental power controller… that is extremely difficult. Remember, they are also a Reincarnator Squad. To underestimate them is to underestimate yourself… That is the general situation. They are expected to launch a surprise attack within a few hours.”

Chu Xuan glanced at Zheng Zha and murmured.

The preceding discussion covered all these points. The Central Continent Team, fully aware that the East Sea Team was planning a sneak attack,

still had to divide themselves into several small teams to continue patrolling… A significant part of the reason,

in fact, was to facilitate the enemy’s ambush.

This fact was rather ironic.

“I have affixed this sliver of silver metal to the underside of your watches. As long as the watch isn't removed, communication will remain active for twelve hours. Since the metal piece is so small, contact will be lost after that time. During this period, you must clearly observe what methods they use to contact the Heavenly God Squad—that is the first objective. The second is to memorize who their mental power controller is. The third is to attempt to capture that mental power controller when we launch our counterattack, ensuring you are in close proximity. That is the general situation…” Zheng Zha recalled Chu Xuan’s instructions as he looked at the watch on his wrist. A small piece of silver metal had also been affixed to the underside of this watch. Although the probability of the enemy capturing him was infinitesimally close to zero, and even whether the enemy dared to capture him was debatable, he had still insisted on having a small piece of silver metal attached to his watch. Speaking of which, Chu Xuan truly possessed the potential to be called Doraemon; he was always able to invent so many useful gadgets… “Strictly speaking… wasn’t the Magic Drive Cannon also manufactured by this guy?” Putting aside Zheng Zha’s musings on the deck, far out across the sea from the destroyer, several assault ships were speeding toward them. A total of five members from the East Sea Team were participating in this raid aboard these warships: besides Captain Miyata Kuraki and the girl in the kimono who was the mental power controller, there was a tall, thin man, a fifty-year-old man in strange attire, and the bald brute whose eyes were filled with lewd desire. All five stood on the deck.

“Aoi Sora, how is it? Are there any changes in the Central Continent Team?” Miyata asked.

The kimono-clad girl named Aoi Sora shook her head. “No changes. That mental power shield still seems weak and listless. Either their mental power controller is weak, or they sustained a fatal injury, or…” Miyata Kuraki grimaced, taking up her sentence. “Or a trap is waiting for us, right? I know what you mean. This raid is indeed very risky, but before this, we didn't even have the chance to take a risk. Since we finally found an opportunity to gamble, we can’t afford to pass it up… The Central Continent Team of the Chinese… Do you think the East Sea Team can match them in strength? I have understood this very clearly for a long time. As a warrior, I naturally wish a thousand times over to face a strong opponent head-on. But do you know why I agreed to Adam’s proposal and plan?”

“More so because I am the captain of the East Sea Team. I must be responsible for you all. Since there is a sliver of chance, don't let fate decide for you; your actions should determine your own path… We have to raid them, otherwise, how can we have any leverage to negotiate with the Central Continent Team?” Aoi Sora paused, then quickly asked, “Captain, you mean…”

“En! If this raid manages to capture even one of their members, I will abandon the idea of a direct confrontation with them and only hope for a negotiated settlement so that our East Sea Team can safely leave this horror film world. I won't be foolish enough to trust the captain of another team, not even one in the same alliance. I only trust my own team members… Rest assured! I will never abandon any of you!” Miyata Kuraki stated solemnly with his eyes closed, his one hand gripping the scabbard of his Japanese sword so tightly that his fingers were white, clearly showing he was very emotional.

Aoi Sora gazed at him affectionately from the side, then her expression returned to normal as she said, “Then let’s first discuss this raid, Captain, everyone. Since the enemy’s mental power controller appears so weak—regardless of whether it’s a trap or not—since we are going to attack, we must assume they are very weak. Breaking through a mental power shield of this level is not difficult, but its duration is very short, and it will alert the enemy. Therefore, I do not plan to break through their shield. On the other hand, since they are so weak, we can sneak into this warship through another method and merge into their mental power shield, making them completely unaware of our presence.”

“Is that possible? Does a mental power controller have such a technique?” the bald brute beside her immediately asked, though his eyes kept staring at Aoi Sora’s chest, his lewd gaze seeming intent on seeing through her kimono.

Aoi Sora shifted her body slightly uncomfortably, then replied, “Under normal circumstances, no. But if one’s mental power is significantly stronger than the other’s, this can be achieved, though the duration cannot be long. And it’s not invisibility; it only means their mental power controller cannot perceive us. If they see us, hear us, or detect us by other means, we can still be discovered. So the possibility of this raid failing remains quite high.”

Miyata Kuraki sighed, “No matter what, we cannot lose to the Chinese… Shingu-dono, how is your Shikigami coming along?” The elder in strange attire shook his head. “The First Oni has been fully cultivated, but the Second Oni is still lacking…” “That is enough. Your First Oni is the Swift Wind Scythe Oni, right?” Miyata asked.

The elder nodded. Miyata Kuraki then said, “Then the mission of swift retreat will be entrusted to you. You must bring back all our comrades, even if the First Oni has to sacrifice itself. After returning, it will be the final battle, and before that, our team will surely accumulate enough reward points and side plot materials for you to cultivate both the First and Second Oni…”

“Comrades, I will not abandon a single one of you, so let us live together! Together!” He jumped toward the water.