“This series of horror movies seems destined for us; it began with Bio-hazard, pivoted on Bio-hazard, and now even the finale is Bio-hazard…” Although training had commenced, information about the final battle remained critically important. Thus, after everyone had recuperated on the third day, Zheng Zha gathered the team to discuss the final confrontation.

“From the information obtained from the ‘Main God,’ the team entries for the final battle will not be scheduled based on strength, but rather entered randomly, with a time differential of no more than twenty-four hours. In other words, the ‘momentum’ gained from timing differences won’t be overly dramatic. Secondly, the entry location will use the entire United States as the stage, and the landing spots will also be random. I have some confusion on this point… The territory of the United States is vast, only slightly smaller than China. If teams enter as squads, randomly dispersed, then two teams might land on the East Coast and the West Coast, respectively. In that scenario, the final battle could take years to complete… Therefore, the mission objective for the final battle can essentially be confirmed from this aspect.”

Following custom, Chu Xuan remained silent, tinkering with his small gadgets, while Xiao Honglü tugged at his own hair as he analyzed the possibilities.

“Generally, there are only three possible mission types for the final battle. The first is mutual slaughter, leaving only one team, or even a single person, standing. However, since this is calculated by teams, it’s most logical that only one team survives. This possibility is the highest. The second is reaching a specific location—this place is likely buried underground or within some iconic structure—that only one team can enter and survive. The third possibility, inferred from that initial random drop, is reaching a designated location within a specified time limit, and that location cannot be entered freely. It requires a ticket, and that ticket is… the number of kills.”

Xiao Honglü plucked a strand of hair and smiled at the group. “This is my deduction: the first possibility is most likely, the third is second, and the second possibility is the least likely. But regardless, the final battle will be a grand slaughterhouse where all teams converge. Only the strongest, the smartest, or the luckiest will survive…”

“Luck?” Zhang Heng seemed to recall something and asked Chu Xuan, “Aren’t we the ‘Protagonists’? Shouldn’t the Central Team have better luck than other teams?”

“They are also ‘Protagonists’…” Chu Xuan looked up and stated calmly, “Anyone can be a ‘Protagonist’; the key is whether one can win that title. We are preparing for team combat; other teams are doing the same. If we rely on the excuse of being ‘Protagonists,’ we might as well lie on the ground and wait to become creator gods. Unfortunately, even if ‘Protagonists’ exist, even if we truly are the ‘Protagonists’ of this box, this box is not the kind found in those frivolous web novels, comics, or movies. This is a box rooted in a real horror movie world. Our world and the world of those frivolous boxes are entirely different.”

“That’s true…” Zhang Heng often read fantasy novels. While most were excessively wish-fulfilling, where the protagonist could become a god just by lying down, there were also many novels featuring arduous struggles, where the protagonist nearly died repeatedly, and even quite a few where the protagonist perished. Thus, Chu Xuan’s statement rang true and credible.

Zheng Zha let out a breath and suddenly stood up. He addressed the group, “Then Chu Xuan and Xiao Honglü will arrange everyone’s training… I’m going to train as well.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the room, heading directly for the basement.

“What’s wrong with him? He looks dispirited.” Cheng Xiao asked curiously.

Beside him, Ling Dian paused before replying, “…He’s storing energy. To break through his own limits, his entire being is devoted to it now. How can he have the leisure to care about anything else?”

Indeed, Zheng Zha was currently completely immersed in the concepts of "Explosion," "Destruction," and "Primordial Chaos, Heaven and Earth Separated." His mind was filled only with internal energy, vampiric energy, true essence, and demonic power—how to increase strength, how to become stronger—that was all he needed to consider.

“Because I’ll be training in the horror movie world, I won’t be able to fully regenerate for a long time. In other words, the move ‘Primordial Chaos, Heaven and Earth Separated’ cannot be used… No, perhaps it can be trained, just not used. I can try to let the true essence gently touch the demonic power, perhaps creating a technique like ‘Instant Primordial Chaos,’ though the difficulty will be immense.”

Zheng Zha stood in the empty space of the basement. He simply stood there, making no discernible movements, appearing like an ordinary person spacing out. But beneath his skin, his internal energy, vampiric energy, true essence, and demonic power were meticulously separated into minute strands under the control of the micro-level state, then stored separately in his Dantian and brain. This granular segmentation took only a few minutes. Afterward, he attempted to let a strand of internal energy mingle with a strand of demonic power.

Unexpectedly, the internal energy was instantly dissolved and absorbed by the demonic power upon contact, while the demonic power itself showed not the slightest change, as if a stone had been tossed into the ocean.

Zheng Zha felt a wave of disappointment. Although this result was within his expectations—the quality levels of the two forces were vastly different. It would require an immense amount of internal energy just to solidify a tiny bit of true essence, and the same applied to the demonic power. Therefore, a wisp of internal energy was merely a pebble in a vast river to the demonic power, insufficient to react. If he were to marshal all his internal energy to react with the demonic power… the "Destruction" state would be unnecessary.

“Fine, then I’ll try a scaled-down version of ‘Primordial Chaos’!” Zheng Zha pondered for a long time before finally yielding, allowing a wisp of true essence and demonic power to mingle within his body. This was different from the fusion on his skin surface; this was a true fusion of true essence and demonic power inside the body, operating under the exact same mechanism as ‘Primordial Chaos, Heaven and Earth Separated,’ only on a smaller scale.

Two small quantities of true essence and demonic power intermingled, instantly annihilating and vanishing within his body. Simultaneously, a massive surge of energy erupted at the point of annihilation, a force significantly greater than that of the "Destruction" level, though slightly smaller than ‘Primordial Chaos, Heaven and Earth Separated.’ Although this force was huge, it was not enough to collapse the body in his Submerged Dragon Transformation state. A flash of joy crossed his mind; he thought he had finally found a balance between "Destruction" and "Primordial Chaos." Who knew that in the next instant, a sudden change occurred.

Even though only a tiny fraction of the true essence and demonic power reacted, as this initial force burst forth, the remaining true essence and demonic power seemed to be drawn in, as if by attraction. This power was completely different from the reaction on his skin; it was a terrifying force erupting from the inside out, pulling all the true essence and demonic power together.

Without even a second of buffer time, Zheng Zha was truly plunged into ‘Primordial Chaos, Heaven and Earth Separated.’

“Bang!” Zheng Zha did not hesitate. He stomped his feet, and the entire ground instantly cracked, the fissures spreading over a range of dozens of meters. His body vanished from the spot.

Those in Zheng Zha’s home felt the entire building shake violently, and then the roaring sound reached them. Before the noise subsided, the sound of a door shattering suddenly followed. By the time everyone rushed out of the room, they found Zheng Zha sitting on the "Main God" plaza, lost in thought, and the "Main God’s" full-regeneration beam had just retracted, indicating he must have just completed his repair.

“…Still incredibly, incredibly far away…” Zheng Zha watched everyone crowd around him but didn’t get up, merely lying on the ground with a bitter smile. “The gap between me and the clone… is still very far. He must be increasing his strength now too. That final battle… how can I conquer this destined opponent?”

That destined opponent… perhaps this truly was destiny. The man bearing scars contrary to Zheng Zha’s own—the clone Zheng Zha, and the strongest team he represented, the Demon Team, and the position he occupied—the position of the strongest in the reincarnation world… Clone Zheng Zha stood on the "Main God" plaza. His appearance seemed unchanged; he still had wings sprouting from his back, a perpetually cold expression, and the scars on his face. The only difference was that the black flames engulfing him appeared deeper, so much so that merely looking at them seemed capable of sucking the soul in, swirling and churning within a meter around his body.

“Seven days left until the final battle… Seven days until we master the entire ‘Main God.’ We just need to survive the Resident Evil 3 scenario,” Luo Gan whispered, looking up at the "Main God" with a complex expression.

——————“But the Central Team’s captain, the original Zheng Zha, he is very strong!” an Asian girl standing nearby suddenly spoke.

Luo Gan sharply turned around, his expression stern. “Did you use the God-Sealing List again? The Karma Points were hard-earned! For the sake of those points, I nearly died several times, and you used it so casually? This is a crucial weapon for the final battle, you idiot woman!”

The girl panicked and quickly spoke in a soft, delicate voice, “But Chu Xuan said he needed to collect some data on the original Zheng Zha’s strength, and using around 100 Karma Points wouldn't be an issue, so I just…”

“Chu Xuan! Chu Xuan! What else is in your head besides those two words, you idiot woman!” Luo Gan took a deep breath and roared again.

“Enough…” Zheng Zha slowly raised his head, and the black flames surged violently, only slowly subsiding as everyone backed away in fear. He looked at Luo Gan and said, “Enough. Store your anger properly. Unleash it during the final battle against the Central Team, not on a crucial asset of the team…”

“Seven days remaining… I will go into hibernation in the horror movie world for a year, until my Heart Light fully recovers from the previous damage and reaches the peak of my current stage. Then, everyone prepare for team combat!”

“Before that, Chu Xuan, I agree to your plan. Use 1000 Karma Points. Analyze the strength, enhanced attributes, and potential internal conflicts of every member of the God Team. Chu Xuan, it is up to you to devise the strategy to annihilate the God Team. In the final battle, I do not want any flies bothering my fight with him. No one. This is our battle, his and mine. The battle between the Demon Team and the Central Team… the battle between evil and false righteousness… Therefore, the God Team must be completely eliminated!” With that, Zheng Zha turned and slowly walked toward the "Main God" direction…

The God Team… Adam sat at the center of the "Main God" plaza. A bottle of red wine rested beside him, and he stared blankly at the "Main God," taking occasional sips. No one knew what the man was thinking, but his handsome face, set in a gentle smile, exuded profound indifference.

“Adam… troubled?” A dark-skinned Black girl sat next to Adam. This woman was tall and curvaceous, with prominent breasts and hips. Her appearance was not typical of a Black girl; she seemed to be mixed-race, her features leaning more towards European beauty.

“…Self-reflection? Hmm. Thinking about the final battle.” Adam smiled at the girl and then lapsed back into contemplation.

“The final battle? Only seven days left, it is indeed approaching,” the mixed-race girl murmured. She then leaned softly against Adam’s chest, her fingers lightly tracing his sternum.

“Elias, are you afraid to die?” Adam suddenly asked.

“…Of course I am. Who isn’t afraid of death?” Elias paused, then replied with a charming, knowing smile.

“Afraid to die… Do you know, I am the second generation. To be precise, one-and-a-half generation, because there will be no second generation. All data was destroyed. It’s as if the ultimate technique was naturally formed, achieved by a stroke of genius, something that should never have existed in this world, only accidentally obtained by someone, or perhaps the old man who created it was a greater genius than us? That’s clearly impossible. Perhaps, as the Chinese say, there is a master controlling things in the dark. Maybe the creator of the box outside created this technique and let that old man obtain it, leading to him and me…” Adam ignored Elias, staring blankly at some point, muttering incessantly, “He is the perfect being. Although in some aspects, a perfect being represents imperfection, so lacking pain, taste, smell, sensation, and hormones, he is merely a humanoid computer. This sounds like a fundamentally flawed creation method, but while he shed everything, he gained wisdom surpassing mortals. Similarly, I, the one-and-a-half generation, possessing weak hormones and faint sensation to compensate for that imperfection, have a slight gap with him. How ironic…”

Adam suddenly laughed. “Elias, do you believe in destiny controlling everything in the dark?”

Elias frowned, displaying a charmingly seductive expression, and after a long pause, she replied, “I believe. My kin used to tell me that all things in heaven and earth have spirits…”

“No, the destiny I speak of isn't the notion that all things have spirits. I mean fate… a very ethereal word, fate. An invisible hand manipulating everything… From long ago, perhaps when I was four, I knew my destiny—yes, it was to defeat him… That’s why the Immortal Thief Group was formed, that’s why I destroyed all the data. But the result was ironic and frustrating… He never considered me a rival, not in the real world, nor in this reincarnation world. His eyes are only ever focused on the unknown that he can absorb; he never reveals what he is thinking. Even when our two teams engaged in hostility, he never saw me as an opponent… Isn't that ironic?”

Adam smiled and closed his eyes. After a long moment, he opened them and said, “Perhaps the only two entities he might truly consider rivals are fate itself—that invisible hand controlling everything—or himself, an exact identical counterpart. Only those two are possible…”

Adam suddenly kissed the beautiful woman in his embrace, sighing with relief. “Speaking it out loud certainly feels better… Now, let’s return to the previous query: why would Chu Xuan take members of the Central Team as prisoners? Or rather, how did members of the Central Team become prisoners? This is crucial. Although I still can’t grasp why he would do that, it hides a very important piece of intelligence. This intelligence will affect the safety of our God Team, perhaps even the outcome of the final battle. What exactly is this intelligence?”

“Whatever it is… or whatever Adam believes it is, it doesn't change one fact: the Demon Team will move against the God Team…” Chu Xuan continued his work in the basement without looking up, while Xiao Honglü sat in the chair behind him, puzzling over something. After a long silence, he spoke, “No, this inference cannot hold. Why do you think that?”

“Because… what the clone said during the Perfect Storm scenario, analyzed literally, indicates he desires a full-power battle with Zheng Zha. To have a full-power battle, one must consider both teams. As the captains of the Central Team and the Demon Team, their entire team is part of their strength. To put it another way: the God Team has become powerful enough to pose a threat to both our teams. Like a triangle, it is the most stable shape; three forces represent the most stable configuration. If the final battle is to be a confrontation between the Demon Team and the Central Team, regardless of what the God Team chooses to do—peace, cooperation, helping one side defeat the other, or reaping the benefits from the sidelines—its existence is a threat…”

Chu Xuan raised his head. “This is why I laid out my strategy in the last horror movie world. My initial plan was just the beginning; the subsequent plan falls to my clone. If he is a clone of the same person as me… the next thing I would certainly do is propose eliminating the God Team to Clone Zheng Zha, and then use the method that allows observation of other teams to plot the God Team’s annihilation… If he is me, he will certainly act that way.”

(It’s terrifying to an exaggerated degree. One Chu Xuan is already capable of overturning the world; two identical Chu Xuans, each commanding a powerful team with distinct advantages—if they were to cooperate… Could anyone withstand them? Two Zheng Zhas?)

Xiao Honglü stood up with a bitter smile. He had lost this round again, defeated completely and wholeheartedly. To be able to plan for the final battle back in the last horror movie world, for two Chu Xuans to understand each other’s strategies without ever meeting or conversing, and to use the opponent's layout as a starting point for their own scheme… He truly didn’t know what to say.

“Alright, since I’ve gotten the answers, I’ll go train as well…” Xiao Honglü stretched and walked toward the door as he spoke.

“Huh? Aren't you staying to watch my experiment?” Chu Xuan asked without looking up.

“…I don’t have the life to see it, but speaking of which, the energy provided by the dual-micro-particle annihilation pile, derived from the technology obtained from Tian Sha, is indeed enough to minimally activate the Eastern Emperor Bell… But is it safe?”

“Uh… The Bell’s defensive capabilities are very strong; it can basically withstand explosions of that level…” Upon hearing this, Xiao Honglü hurried even faster towards the door. The moment he ran out and closed the door, he felt a slight tremor emanating from inside. He dared not look back and rushed straight to his own room, his face completely pale.

(I was quite bold, sitting in such a dangerous place for about five minutes. Perhaps the saying ‘skill equals courage’ isn't untrue. My magic net physique has been enhanced; now I just need to add various spells… And that legendary magic, can I choose a legendary spell?)

Before entering his room, the little boy glanced towards the "Main God" plaza. Several members still stood there silently, contemplating their attribute enhancements and skills, making the final preparations for the final battle…