Yet not all six shared this sentiment. Upon realizing she was bait, Ansuona became frantic, repeatedly glancing around as if searching for sanctuary, until a few words from Zhan Lan finally calmed her completely and allowed her to settle down.

“Ansuona, you still have one resurrection opportunity left, don't you? I know you fear death, and I do too. But this final battle is different from all previous ones. Who knows if the winning team will all be resurrected? And even if not everyone is, you still have that chance. As long as we secure the ultimate victory, those who survive will surely resurrect you, and your husband Imhotep… But if we fail, if the final battle is lost, then we face total annihilation, without a single sliver of hope for resurrection…” Only then did Ansuona truly relax, becoming perhaps even less fearful of death than her teammates, precisely because she held that unused resurrection chance. The other person gripped by fear was Liu Yu. After all, he was still just a child, not a genius like Xiao Honglu; overall, he was much like an ordinary ten or eleven-year-old from the real world.

Upon first arriving in the Reincarnation World, there was fear, novelty, and a touch of anticipation, but confronting the certainty of death brought forth emotions like terror and despair, feelings that persisted until the direct confrontation with the Demon Squad was imminent.

The child seemed to finally steel his resolve, finally finding a measure of peace.

Thus, as soon as the two sides made contact, the four members of the Demon Squad oddly retreated first into the undergrowth. Meanwhile, Overlord directly lifted a massive firearm, and the sound of its heavy machinery spinning up filled the air, followed by countless visible sparks erupting forward. This heavy machine gun, modified by Chu Xuan, could fire over thirty thousand rounds per second.

It was a firearm utilizing Gauss technology, employing super-electromagnetism for acceleration, launching kinetic energy projectiles of astonishing power. Its range extended well over ten thousand meters. Of course, being a product of Gauss technology, its accuracy was also subject to the Earth’s magnetic field; at greater distances, the deviation would steadily increase.

Naturally.

At a distance of a mere hundred meters, the sheer power of this weapon could penetrate a main battle tank. If those four lacked defensive measures, this single barrage would surely cost them their lives.

However, the six members of the Central Continent Team felt no sense of complacency, for their opponents were the Demon Squad, renowned throughout the Reincarnation World as the strongest team, with even individual members possessing power that could not be underestimated. Such a simple ballistic attack

was nothing more than child’s play to the Demon Squad.

As expected, the dense swarm of bullets abruptly froze mid-air as they neared the tall grass, creating the visual effect of an emergent wall of ammunition. Although Overlord continued to roar and fire, the other five members had already dispersed. Except for Xiao Honglu loudly chanting an incantation, only Liu Yu clutched the divine card, beginning to focus his spirit. The others remained subtly vigilant.

No offensive measures had been employed yet.

Within the Demon Squad subunit, Tom had already activated his Domain. Centered on him, all metal within a thousand-meter radius was once again under his control. However, the closer he was to Adam,

the harder the metal was to manipulate, meaning he couldn't rapidly accumulate much material in a short time.

It was a stroke of luck that the Central Continent Team had obligingly delivered a large amount of metal to him.

This was truly an unexpected delight. He immediately seized control of the metal, deciding not to attack the Central Continent Team right away; a few dozen seconds of waiting was feasible.

“Four minutes left, my Domain can sustain for four more…” “Two minutes left… We still need to hold for two more…” Both sides were burning with anxiety, though one side aimed only to stall the enemy, while the other planned a swift escape. Relatively speaking, their mental states were already divergent. As the Central Continent Team rapidly pushed forward, Tom merged the controlled metallic bullets into a single, solid metal slab. Then, hundreds of sharp protrusions erupted across this slab. Before anyone could react, the entire plate transformed into hundreds of piercing needles that shot out. Following a few soft pahs, Overlord, standing still, was pierced clean through by these metal needles. However, Overlord immediately vanished; the figure struck by the needles had merely been an illusion. Overlord had relocated fractions of a second before the needles struck, causing the hundreds of projectiles to strike empty air.

“Very good. I didn't expect the Central Continent Team’s mental controller to be this proficient, achieving even spiritual phantoms. This is a self-comprehended skill, one I haven't even mastered yet…” Tom’s heart skipped a beat, though he immediately sneered. Despite his outwardly composed demeanor, his internal state was turning cold. He and the other mental controller in his team could not use this spiritual phantom skill, primarily due to an unresolved emotional knot, essentially a mental demon—similar to the inner demon one must face when breaking through to the Intermediate Fourth Stage. Spiritual Phantoms, as the name implies, mislead others through illusion, but since they are phantoms, they can infect one's own spirit. If a mental demon exists, one risks being trapped within their own illusion. Therefore, he understood the skill but couldn't grasp or use it, relying only on deductions made by Chu Xuan’s underground supercomputer to gauge its terrifying power… (Damn, I didn't expect the Central Continent Team's mental controller to be this strong; worthy of the Central Continent Team… We Han people are truly superior in some ways, ah, this isn't the time for that thought. It's clear her spiritual phantom is still immature, or perhaps she never intended to use it offensively, which is why it's only being used for defense and misdirection. That means I still have a chance to escape!) As the saying goes, the strength of a skill is determined by its application and the wielder. The Spiritual Phantom skill is immensely potent, capable of being a large-scale instant-kill ability. Anyone harboring a mental demon and who has not overcome it will be affected, with the degree of influence corresponding directly to the severity of their inner demon.

Excluding Adam, no one present could be immune to this skill. In other words… the Central Continent Team was currently invincible! Tom was helpless. He fiercely bit his tongue, using the sharp pain to temporarily ward off illusions and the like. He then forced the hundreds of steel needles to fuse together. In just two or three seconds, the needles morphed into rotating sawtooth wheels, which then scattered, sweeping outwards in all directions.

His metal control was absolute, much like Wang Xia’s control over his bombs, representing ultimate dominion over his own Domain. Even abilities like telekinesis that could move objects absolutely could not control his metal. Here, he was the king of metal! (Damn it, now I can strike everywhere. Let’s see how your phantoms save anyone now!) Unexpectedly, these hundreds of flying wheels, before traveling very far, were swept away by a sudden surge of powerful wind. Somewhere on this grassy plain, a colossal black dragon had appeared. Most of the flying wheels were knocked off course by the wind pressure from the dragon’s flapping wings. The few wheels that managed to strike the dragon’s body could not pierce its tough hide; instead, the pain provoked a skyward roar, and a gout of dragon fire sprayed towards the Demon Squad’s location.

“Dodge!” Tom yelled immediately, while the metallic wheels instantly coalesced again, forming a massive metal wall between him and the dragon fire.

This seemingly fragile metal barrier managed to stubbornly withstand the wave of dragon fire. Tom was no fool; passively enduring attacks would inevitably lead to defeat, and his time was limited. There was no need to waste it fighting here. Thus—Tom flicked one hand, and a figure hidden not far behind him suddenly shuddered violently.

A metal needle had pierced his chest. This needle immediately hooked, snagging the corpse and yanking it violently towards the Central Continent Team. Simultaneously, a section of the metal wall resisting the dragon fire separated, transforming into a conical, serrated shape.

It stealthily skimmed the ground, hidden by the grass, flying towards the black dragon.

In the blink of an eye, the metal cone reached the dragon’s flank and plunged in fiercely, spinning as it burrowed deep into the creature’s body.

Meanwhile, the corpse was flying toward the Central Continent Team. As soon as it cleared the grass, arrows shot by Ming Wei pierced it several times. This person still held a faint breath of life, but now he was utterly dead. That wasn't all; Xiao Honglu had produced a wooden staff from nowhere. After muttering a few incantations, a fireball slammed into the corpse, resulting in a deafening explosion that reduced the body entirely to ash.

At this moment, both sides were fighting desperately. A moment of distraction meant death. Only a few seconds had passed, leaving no time for speeches. Both sides fundamentally desired the other's life. As the black dragon let out a screech of agony, a colossal shadow suddenly materialized in the air above the battlefield. This shadow was clearly a gigantic metal golem, over twenty meters tall. As soon as it appeared, it threw a punch directly toward Tom’s position. With a loud pa, it struck the metal wall, but the colossal golem possessed unimaginable brute strength, forcing the entire wall to buckle inward. Although seventy or eighty percent of the force had dissipated, it still slammed violently into Tom behind the barrier, sending the man flying backward.

“Obelisk the Tormentor!” This was Liu Yu’s ultimate trump card, a summon that required his entire mental energy to control, and its mental energy consumption was astronomically high. At this moment, Liu Yu was sustained entirely by the spiritual energy channeled through Zhan Lan’s Mind Chain, allowing him to summon an Obelisk the Tormentor even larger and more terrifying than the one he conjured in the "Main God" space. It was no exaggeration to say that if that punch had landed fully, a hundred Toms would have been pulped into mud; they wouldn't merely have been sent flying severely injured. “How is this possible? Isn’t this metal? Why can’t I control it!” Tom let out a pained gasp, spitting out a mouthful of dark blood. Most of his ribs were broken, several splinters had pierced his lungs, and his internal organs suffered varying degrees of damage. He was injured to the point of near collapse; if he hadn't maintained his “Domain” skill, he might have already passed out completely.

This was precisely what Xiao Honglu had anticipated during his long-term planning. To hold back the Demon Squad,

and to ensure they wouldn't all perish before time ran out, he needed the Central Continent Team to possess overwhelming force. Liu Yu’s summoning card was the surprise weapon! Combined with Zhan Lan's Mind Chain, there was no immediate worry about the golem draining Liu Yu’s spiritual power, but Liu Yu had to dedicate his entire focus to controlling it, lest the golem rampage… In which case, perhaps no one on the Central Continent Team could withstand a single punch from it.

“Aargh!” After the giant golem knocked Tom away, Overlord was the first to howl.

Transforming into a gigantic werewolf, he lunged toward the Demon Squad, while the remaining two members of the Demon Squad seemed to snap back to reality. They were shocked both by Tom’s lethal ambush and the strength displayed by the Central Continent members. They immediately shouted and maniacally unleashed their own skills.

The person Tom had sneak-attacked and killed was the short, yellow-skinned member. The remaining man and woman reacted instantly. The woman was suddenly enveloped in sparking energy rings, and several plasma orbs appeared near her—a clear manifestation of plasma reaction; these orbs were potent enough to match small explosive rounds. The young Black man violently slammed his hand onto the ground. A totem pole appeared in his hand from nowhere, which he immediately plunged into the earth. In front of this totem, an earth elemental, four or five meters tall, materialized. It looked formidable, but compared to the over twenty-meter-tall Obelisk the Tormentor, this earth elemental resembled a field mouse before a human.

Before it could sprint more than a short distance, it was kicked into the air by the charging giant golem, turning into scattered clods of earth mid-flight.

Overlord and the Central Continent members followed closely behind the golem, pressing forward. Just as the three Demon Squad members fell within the golem’s attack radius, the woman shrieked, unleashing a lightning column two to three meters thick directly at the golem’s chest. With a massive pa, it sounded like thunder exploding next to everyone’s ears, leaving all dizzy, and the explosion of the lightning pillar actually knocked the immensely powerful golem down onto the ground, giving the three Demon Squad members a brief respite. However, the golem remained untouched. Once it rose, a single punch or kick would guarantee the deaths of the Demon Squad members.

“Die! Let’s all die together!” Tom was frantic with desperation. He slowly floated upward, and countless fine droplets of blood began to spray from his capillaries.

The color of this ejected blood kept fading until tiny metallic spheres appeared within it. Tom could directly control the various metallic elements within blood—a level of control that was utterly inconceivable. The Black man closest to him let out a miserable scream.

His entire body sprayed blood so violently that in an instant, he appeared on the verge of becoming a dried husk. The woman slightly farther away also began to bleed profusely.

Slowly, blood also started seeping out from the bodies of the Central Continent members.

(Adam, now let’s see what you’ll do! If we die, the Light of the Mind from the strongest few here will vanish. Where will you find surplus Light of the Mind then? How will you fight Zheng Zha and Chu Xuan…? So, come! Get closer to me, approach the location I’ve chosen! Hurry up!) Xiao Honglu ignored the blood seeping from his own body and Tom’s desperate final counterattack. His gaze was fixed on Adam in the distance, and the increasingly distinct black dot approaching from the distant horizon… His entire strategy hinged on this final step; his mission was incomplete without it. Having sacrificed so many comrades, having staked all their beliefs… this final step absolutely could not fail! As expected, Adam in the distance was indeed rapidly approaching them. Adam’s completion was incomplete; he couldn't cover the entire planet with a single thought as a fully completed being could. His strange power operated like a domain: the closer one was, the stronger the influence. Therefore, if he wanted to absorb the strong spiritual energy and willpower of these individuals in a short time, he had to get close to them—and quickly, at least before Tom managed to kill them all. Simultaneously, the crucial final phase of his plan was upon him… (Am I going to die? Is death near? When the final step of this strategy is complete, I will perish as predicted, so… am I truly dying?) Perhaps it was an illusion, but Xiao Honglu suddenly felt memories flashing before his eyes. Although only a second or two had passed, it felt like experiencing over a decade of his life: from his birth, to the hospital, to the isolation and anger of being researched, then meeting her… and the fire, the despair, and the battles and comradeships forged in the Reincarnation World… Everything echoed before him. It seemed he really was nearing death, yet he felt no fear. Was it because she had been resurrected? Or because of his comrades beside him, and the warmth in his heart? “…Yes, I admit that for a long time, I feared death. When I was being researched in the hospital, when I first laid out my strategy, I was truly afraid to die. Because besides death, I had nothing worth cherishing. Strange, isn't it? Yet, because of this, I dreaded dying, as only after gaining something precious could death be less lonely, allowing me to face the end calmly… Now, I possess everything worth cherishing, so I have won! Adam! Using my life as bait, you have lost!” Xiao Honglu roared. His eyes were obscured by the draining blood, making the entire world appear blood-red. Yet, even so, he could still see the black dot on the horizon rapidly closing in, about to descend upon this very spot… He had won, but… “Hiss!” “Overlord?” Overlord, who had transformed into a werewolf, was suddenly in front of him. No one knew what had happened to Overlord, but with a single claw swipe, he stabbed directly into Xiao Honglu’s chest. In the instant Xiao Honglu froze in shock, the claw pierced his heart. Then, darkness enveloped the young boy’s vision, and consciousness was gone… Jump to

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