Tom sighed, his eyes closed, as if lost in memory. After a long pause, he finally spoke, "The last time we fought the Central Continent team, although we annihilated them with overwhelming superiority, we still lost men in the process. Back then, the Central Continent team was incredibly weak; they had a strategist, but his intellect was nothing more than mortal wisdom compared to Chu Xuan. I don't know how Zheng Zha managed to escape with his life, but a team wiped out like that is almost unsalvageable; they would have to start from scratch, slowly recruiting and accumulating strength. However..." "However, not long after, we vaguely learned about the Central Continent team's status from another squad. Apparently, that team encountered a crippled 'farming' squad and seized the chance to wipe them out. Before finishing them off, they learned that it was the Central Continent team that had crippled that farming squad. In the end, the farming squad only escaped death thanks to the Rebirth Cross, which indirectly proved how formidable the Central Continent team had become..." The other six stared wide-eyed. Although they hadn't been with the Demon Squad for long—the shortest, the black man, had only experienced two horror movie worlds—two or three of them had participated in team battles before.

They had also heard tales of those farming squads: teams that concentrated their power into one or, at most, three strong individuals, while the rest served as slaves to be 'farmed.' These squads relied on the rewards and sub-plot points accumulated by their slaves to rapidly enhance themselves, allowing them to acquire powerful attributes, special techniques, and high-level weaponry. Although they boosted their strength through external means, the farming squad members could never produce truly top-tier experts.

Yet, among advanced experts, their combat prowess was often second to none.

Even when facing members of a farming squad, most members of the Demon Squad would likely only manage to lose.

"Now you understand, don't you? Why Zheng Zha adopts that serene expression whenever he hears news of the Central Continent team? It's because he still has attachments, preventing him from taking that final step to the true fifth stage of absolute detachment, the 'Supreme Uncaring.' In truth, with his current strength, he has already far surpassed the advanced level of the fourth stage..." Tom sighed, then added with excitement, "We Chinese are truly strong. Both Zheng Zha and Chu Xuan..." The six around him curled their lips. Although only one black man and one white man were among the six, the other four were all from Asian or other continental nations. Seeing a foreigner so infatuated with China, they felt a degree of disdain, though they dared not voice it.

Tom chuckled, "I have one-eighth Chinese ancestry... Forget it, what does it matter to you? In short, the Central Continent team's strength is absolutely no less than the God Squad's; they might even be slightly stronger, given they have Chu Xuan as their strategist... And Zheng Zha has always viewed his counterpart as his nemesis. I figure any man Zheng Zha considers a nemesis must possess strength at least at the mid-level of the fourth stage. I just wonder how long he can last against Zheng Zha's counterpart..." These seven continued to discuss the combat power of Zheng Zha's clone, particularly noting his absence in the most recent horror movie world.

The group was perplexed, speculating on several possibilities, though they only dared to discuss them here. Facing Zheng Zha's counterpart directly, they certainly wouldn't possess Chu Xuan's courage or his bizarre nerve—behaving and speaking in a manner that seemed akin to seeking death.

Of course, that was Chu Xuan... Compared to other matters, like some of the experiments in his room, merely speaking was already considered very, very normal behavior for him.

"...Speaking of which, doesn't the Investiture of the Gods List have a surveillance function? If that man finds out what we're saying now..." The young black man suddenly swallowed hard, asking with difficulty, "If the man finds out about our conversation now..."

"It seems the Karma Points are quite low, and that girl Zhang Xiaoxue has secretly held back a large sum of Karma Points. It's said she saved them to aid Chu Xuan in battle. I don't know why Chu Xuan didn't stop her, but we probably won't be discovered... Probably."

Tom's face also turned slightly pale as he replied.

Silence fell over the group. Although they were highly confident that Chu Xuan wouldn't waste precious Karma Points monitoring them, no one dared to take the risk. After all, that man was Chu Xuan... terrifyingly so.

Just then, Tom suddenly turned his head toward the far reaches of the God Squad's territory. A mental wave began scanning the vicinity, instantly pinpointing the God Squad's location and vaguely sweeping toward their position. However, Tom immediately shielded the area, concealing the seven members of the Demon Squad from the mental scan. Not only that, Tom also shielded several irrelevant locations further away. This way, even if the Central Continent team's mental controller possessed superior mental strength, they still couldn't pinpoint the Demon Squad's location.

"...The Central Continent team is here!" "Xiao Honglü, that..." Zhan Lan asked while using her mental scan, waving toward Xiao Honglü, "Xiao Honglü, do you think it's okay for us to just scan them directly? Wouldn't that alert the snake?" Xiao Honglü looked at Zhan Lan in surprise, and after a long pause, murmured, "...It seems the plan requires minor adjustments. Whether the enemy is stronger than anticipated or we are stronger than anticipated, both constitute variables in the grand strategy. However, the first variable is extremely dangerous, while the second is less so. Sigh, when did you get stronger? Why didn't any of us know?" Zhan Lan smiled slightly and offered no reply, merely continuing, "The scan results have been sent to everyone's minds. A few areas feel shielded; the Demon Squad members you mentioned, Xiao Honglü, are likely situated there."

Xiao Honglü asked again, but seeing no answer, he dropped the matter. After the Nightmare on Elm Street experience, most of the team had seen significant power boosts, so her private improvement was inevitable. The priority now was the strategic engagement against the God Squad and the Demon Squad. Xiao Honglü recalculated the plan in his mind, and only when he couldn't find any flaws did he secretly nod.

"Then let's proceed with the original plan. The long-range sniper will be Zero Point. Qi Tengyi will coordinate with you using the Horizon Sniping skill. Zhan Lan, you must stay here to scan the overall situation and maintain contact with everyone. As for the others... Wang Xia, you must stay here to protect everyone, and I'll have tasks for you later. Er... Lin Juntian can also stay. Your skills aren't proficient yet; you won't be much use in a chaotic melee."

Xiao Honglü paused here. After a brief thought, he continued, "Ming Wei should also stay. I don't know your proficiency with the bow and arrow, but since you could be duplicated into the Demon Squad, you must have some unique archery skills... Stay here to protect everyone as well."

"For the rest of you... attack with me!" "Attack?" Adam frowned, murmuring the word. Several minutes ago, the team's mental controllers simultaneously discovered the Central Continent team's location—several members were advancing toward their position, approaching without any attempt at concealment.

"...The snipers can't reach them; they are below the horizon line. Mental attacks are being shielded by their mental controller. As for other attack methods... this location is marginally safe. Are they trying to provoke us?" Adam tapped the table beside him with his finger before stating, "Then we should remain here for now. Their numbers are small; we cannot rule out the possibility of a decoy. Furthermore, the Demon Squad is already lurking nearby. Their objective might not necessarily be us, given that we currently hold advantages in geography and manpower; the advantage of time is split evenly between the three teams. We have no need to abandon our current edge to engage in a free-for-all with the other two teams. Those two teams are merely detachments of the Demon Squad and the Central Continent team, respectively. We, however, are the entire Angel Alliance..."

Everyone listened to Adam in silence, most nodding subconsciously. Only a few kept frowning, deep in thought. One of those frowning individuals was Cang Jiong, the mental controller of the East Sea Squad. After thinking for a long time, she asked, "Adam, is it possible the Central Continent team intends to use weapons of mass destruction, like nuclear bombs?"

"That's quite possible, but it poses little threat to us. Let me put it this way: perhaps for low- or mid-level reincarnation squads, provoking national or, especially, military forces in a horror movie world spells utter doom. But for high-level or top-tier reincarnation squads, national and military forces simply no longer constitute a threat. Tens of thousands of troops cannot surround a high-level or top-tier squad. High-level and top-tier squads equipped with personal flight devices possess mobility far surpassing any army or state power of this era. Those planes and tanks couldn't locate a dozen people in a city of a million. As for nuclear weapons, that's laughable. With mental scanning, we can detect a nuclear weapon and evacuate the blast radius instantly. Moreover, when we possess powerful area-of-effect weaponry, we could even destroy the world."

Adam waved his hand dismissively. "So, for us, nuclear weapons are less a deterrent and more a strategic element that can be flexibly employed. If used reasonably, nuclear weapons can still pose a significant threat. But to use them as a large-scale, game-changing weapon... I can only say that the team using such a weapon is either a low- or mid-level squad, or a complete idiot among the high-level squads."

Adam stopped there, pondering for a moment. "For now, let's continue to wait here and observe the Demon Squad's reaction first... Also, did both the Central Continent team and the Demon Squad send detachments? Then what about their main combat members..."

"Our main combat members? What do you mean?" Zheng Zha asked curiously, holding the Demon Squad's magic user by one hand while speaking to Chu Xuan, who was standing not far from him. He had been questioning Chu Xuan about the subsequent arrangements when Chu Xuan began discussing the Central Continent team's main combat members.

"Just as you suspect," Chu Xuan waved his hand. "In terms of raw strength, the individual combat power of most Central Continent members is weak; they usually require integration for team combat to fully unleash their strength. In regular horror movie worlds, this drawback isn't apparent, but unfortunately, in this final confrontation with the Demon Squad, they will be of little use."

"Continue..." Zheng Zha opened his mouth, wanting to interject but finding no words. After a long sigh, he finally asked, "So, these five of us... uh, plus Luo Yinglong, are we the main combat members of the Central Continent team?"

"No. The true main combat members of the Central Continent team include only you, myself, Zhao Yingkong, and Zhang Heng. Luo Yinglong, the five of us. Cheng Xiao and Imhotep, your task will be to tie up the majority of the Demon Squad members..."

"The maximum size of a reincarnation squad is twenty. Based on the structure of most teams, there are usually one or two strongest members, followed by three to five main combat members, and then non-combat members and personnel. If the Demon Squad has deployed a detachment to attack the God Squad as I suspect, coupled with Zhao Yingkong's absence, we are currently facing about five to eight members of the Demon Squad. The foreseeable main combat members might include myself, Ming Wei's clone, and Luo Gandao, who has rejoined the team. There's also Zhao Zhuikong, who might still be with the team in a low probability. And there's about a fifty percent chance that Haotian is present. Excluding these individuals, based on what we know, the clone of you is not there. This means..." Chu Xuan paused here, lifting his glasses and gazing toward the faintly visible detached villa in the distance... Beyond it lay the "Hive."

"This means we must use a direct assault!" "Zheng Zha! I can tell you my plan now. Don't worry about the detachment battle; I've made arrangements there. It all depends on whether Xiao Honglü can fully exploit the advantages of his detachment. My target is not the Hive. Perhaps I can obtain information about Laboratory Seven down there, but doing so would put us at a massive tactical disadvantage. Rushing out from inside would certainly result in us being pinned down by the Demon Squad. As I said before, your sole objective is to face your counterpart without sustaining losses. That enemy surpasses your imagination and requires you to challenge him with your most perfect strength. Regardless of the outcome, you must drag him into that fight. The rest of us will decide the outcome among the remaining personnel."

As they approached the villa, Chu Xuan spoke directly to Zheng Zha. "In about thirty seconds, we will be close to the Demon Squad... I need you to charge forward, seize your counterpart, and demand the location of Laboratory Seven, as well as the location of your counterpart. Once you have the information, you must immediately disengage and retreat from the fight. The rest will be your solitary battle."

Zheng Zha stared at Chu Xuan in stunned silence. He had no idea Chu Xuan had made such an arrangement. After a long moment, he could only stammer out, "What about the rest of you? Also, if there is such a good opportunity, can't I just kill your counterpart and those Demon Squad main combat members?"

"No! To kill me, you would likely need to use 'Primordial Chaos' or 'World Creation,' which would reduce your strength by thirty to forty percent. I don't know how strong your counterpart will be, but if you expend too much power, the subsequent variables will no longer be under my control... Is it more suitable for you to single-handedly restrain your counterpart? Or is it more suitable for the rest of the Central Continent team, after they have eliminated all Demon Squad members but you are near zero combat effectiveness, to face your counterpart? Frankly, I don't believe we can win if the second scenario materializes."

"Similarly," Chu Xuan sneered, "Experience dictates thought. While my counterpart thinks and acts almost identically to me, as a member of the Demon Squad, he will choose the first possibility because they do not believe you can defeat his clone one-on-one. Therefore, to avoid excessive casualties and losses for the Demon Squad, if you intervene forcefully, he will definitely choose to reveal his clone's location to you immediately... because none of us like variables..."

"This is the origin of the 'King versus King, Soldier versus Soldier' layout... Experience dictates thought. The Demon Squad has absolute confidence in your clone, just as we have confidence in you... Unleash your true power. After the Lord of the Rings trial, you now truly possess that strength!"

"Understood."

All doubt vanished from Zheng Zha's eyes, replaced only by clarity, and within that clarity, an increasingly surging fighting spirit. Several Green Goblin Gliders and one flying sword streaked across the sky, passing over the villa toward a narrow stretch of street behind it...

"It's right below."

As Zheng Zha and the others flew over a large warehouse, the magic user he was holding suddenly spoke. If one looked closely, a metal collar could be seen around his neck—clearly the device Chu Xuan had once used to control Haotian.

Hearing this, Zheng Zha dove downward on the Green Goblin Glider. With a shake of his hand, the magic user he held began bleeding from all seven orifices and stopped breathing two breaths later. In those two breaths, Zheng Zha had already stepped off the glider and jumped down. With a loud crash, he punched through the warehouse roof and entered. Behind him, the rest of the team followed in succession. They indeed saw six Demon Squad members seated there, and Zheng Zha's counterpart, Chu Xuan, was held suspended by his neck in Zheng Zha's grasp.

"Where is the clone of me?" Zheng Zha's expression was clear, but a trace of astonishment appeared on his face. Although he was holding Chu Xuan's counterpart, he distinctly felt a gap of several millimeters between his palm and the man's neck. He had no idea what was blocking his hand—it felt like some kind of protective shield.

The Demon Squad members, excluding Chu Xuan and Zhang Xiaoxue, were stunned into immobility. They seemed utterly unprepared for Zheng Zha's sudden appearance and for him seizing Chu Xuan before they could react. Then, as the rest of the Central Continent team appeared, these members abruptly dashed toward the sides of the warehouse, either breaking through walls or leaping out of windows. In just a second or two, they had vanished from the warehouse.

"...They've finally arrived?" Chu Xuan's counterpart performed the same action and displayed the same demeanor as the original Chu Xuan—the two looked like exact duplicates (which they were). He even reached up to adjust his glasses. "Zhang Xiaoxue, input the location into his mind."

Zhang Xiaoxue nodded obediently. She lightly glanced at the slip of paper in her hand and then announced, "Done."

Zheng Zha instantly found information appearing in his mind. This was not communication via mental power; he had fought alongside Zhan Lan for a long time and was perfectly familiar with mental links. This information simply materialized in his mind out of thin air, feeling completely different from mental communication. He glanced briefly at Zhang Xiaoxue, then back at the Central Continent members behind him, before stomping his foot and leaping up onto the Green Goblin Glider on the warehouse roof. The Demon Squad members distant from the warehouse watched helplessly as he sped away... leaving behind the main battlefield that was about to commence! He leaped toward...