From the very beginning, Fang Senyan had been contemplating one issue. That was, his own strength, and even that of the entire Ace team, was far too insignificant compared to the might of the hundreds of thousands of people on the entire battlefield.

It was so minuscule that even if he exerted his utmost effort, he would be utterly incapable of affecting the overall situation. This was much like a game of chess where one side loses a pawn early on, which certainly affects the balance of power, but absolutely does not guarantee defeat.

The Ace team, in the grand scheme of the battle, was a disposable pawn. This was harsh, but it was the undeniable truth!

This feeling deeply annoyed Fang Senyan; he despised this sense of powerlessness, so he had to find a way to change it. Consequently, to make their strength capable of influencing the entire conflict, there were two possible avenues.

The first path was to rapidly enhance the Ace team's power until it reached a level capable of determining the outcome—this path was clearly impossible to achieve overnight; meaning, this route was a dead end. Therefore, the only remaining path was precisely analogous to how a minor pawn becomes crucial in chess: one must persist until the endgame!

Only by dragging the entire war/game into the final stages, when few pieces remain, could the Ace team/a seemingly insignificant pawn from the opening move decide the victory or defeat of the entire engagement/board! This was the objective Fang Senyan had clearly set for himself since he first entered this world.

However, the brutal reality was that this Battle of the Pelennor Fields was highly unlikely to be allowed to reach the endgame. Why?

Because in the later stages of the battle, the protagonist, Aragorn, would seemingly activate a cheat code by summoning the host of spectral warriors, the Army of the Dead, which had existed for three millennia. This spectral army possessed extremely high resistance to physical attacks, evident in the films where they could withstand arrows shot by the Elven Prince Legolas at full strength!

Thus, once these spectral warriors appeared, they were nearly invincible. They first effortlessly annihilated the Corsairs of Umbar, then seized their ships and sailed downriver, decimating the remaining Orc forces; even the terrifying Mûmakil trained by the Haradrim in the South were utterly defenseless against the spectral army's assault.

They were like the terminators of the battlefield, with nothing capable of halting their advance! After deep contemplation, Fang Senyan realized that perhaps only powerful mages capable of summoning brilliant light, like Gandalf or Saruman, stood a theoretical chance against them.

Consider this: each of these specters had existed for three thousand years. As the saying goes, a thousand-year-old demon is immensely formidable; imagine an entire army composed of ghosts that have cultivated power for three millennia...!!

More critically, relying on Gandalf to deal with the Army of the Dead—what depth of imagination would that require? Placing hope in that old fox Saruman?

Even Sauron likely wouldn't grant Saruman the authority to issue orders! So, Fang Senyan decisively concluded: any method attempting direct confrontation with the spectral army was futile.

But, having no means of direct confrontation absolutely did not equate to having no means of opposition whatsoever! At this moment, Fang Senyan's strategy was meticulously planned, down to every last detail, and he felt completely assured.

The very first thing he needed to do was locate the incredibly unlucky, downright extra-role Corsairs of Umbar. The vast Anduin River flowed silently across the plain, like a slumbering serpent—mighty, quiet, yet still commanding deep awe.

The broad surface was placid, generating circles of ripples. If the sunlight hadn't been obscured by Sauron's might, the scene would surely have been one of dazzling, golden brilliance reflecting off the water.

Fang Senyan plunged his hand into the Anduin's water; it was unexpectedly icy cold, the sensation akin to dipping one's hand into freshly melted snow water. Legend held that the Anduin River was carved out by the great Maia using his personal weapon, and thus, the riverbed inevitably contained fine particles abraded from that divine implement.

Consequently, under the influence of that immense divine power over the millennia, the river water remained exceptionally cold. In the Second Age, a mighty king of the Dúnedain heard this tale.

He launched a war, boldly annexed the Seven Kingdoms, and then, using the combined might of the seven nations, dredged the Anduin riverbed in a quest for gold. He actually managed to dredge up incredibly precious fragments of ice-cold material, but this king exhausted the power of the seven kingdoms, and the tiny amount of Star Metal recovered was barely enough to fill one hand, leading to his kingdoms collapsing into smoke and fire due to the immense effort of the excavation.

Ultimately, this mere handful of Star Metal, painstakingly retrieved at the cost of national power, was mixed with various rare metals and forged into a piercingly cold, entirely black arrow known as the Black Arrow. This arrow did not perform any world-shattering feats; upon its creation, it instantaneously slew the dragon Smaug (the final boss in the Hobbit films), who had annihilated a Dwarf kingdom and seized the Lonely Mountain.

Its lethality was evident! (Note: The Black Arrow truly existed in the original books, but its provenance was fabricated by me as an unverified source.) Gazing at his reflection in the river, Fang Senyan’s eyes held a thoughtful expression.

Although he had never dealt with the Corsairs of Umbar, he was well aware of the nature of pirates. Furthermore, the various forces sent by Sauron to participate had distinct characteristics: The Orc legions were characterized by sheer numbers and incredible cohesion; they could fight ferociously even after losing half their strength.

The Nazgûl possessed superior individual power, coupled with flight and mass fear-inducing aura, making them formidable for breaking formations. The Haradrim from the South were known for their ability to tame the powerful Mûmakil and fight alongside them.

And the Corsairs? Compared to the other reinforcement groups dispatched by Sauron, setting aside their mobility on water, they represented the weakest link in terms of raw power.

This is why the Corsairs arrived last; their advantage was mobility, moving along the Anduin, sowing panic and severing enemy supply lines. This implied that if the Corsairs abandoned their ships and water-based combat, their individual fighting strength would be the lowest.

This was not mere conjecture on Fang Senyan's part. In the original film plot, even the Uruk-hai legions could dismissively call the Umbar Corsairs "filthy pirates" and order them around like servants.

If the Corsairs were powerful, their status would never have been so low. More importantly, Prince Legolas's casual arrow effortlessly downed Mopas (who looked suspiciously like director Peter Jackson), the chief helmsman of the Corsairs of Umbar, illustrating their low combat prowess.

Therefore, Fang Senyan's plan was to find the Corsairs of Umbar and prevent them from attacking Pelargir, thereby avoiding their fated encounter with Aragorn's spectral army! Naturally, Fang Senyan didn't believe the Corsairs were easily persuaded; thus, he wasn't planning to rely on mere words to convince them.

If necessary, he was prepared to resort to violence! Fang Senyan's objective was straightforward: utilize his current status as an ally to meet the leader of the Corsairs, the dark Númenórean Chieftain Anglorn (doesn't his name sound very similar to the protagonist Aragorn?

In the Lord of the Rings lore, these two were supposed to be related by blood, sharing a common ancestor). He would try to persuade him; if persuasion failed...

then it was time for full aggression, a targeted assassination! Given the internal chaos and brutality among pirates, even if he couldn't kill Anglorn, or even if he only managed to severely injure him, it would inevitably trigger an intense power struggle for succession.

Once a new leader was chosen, it would take at least several hours, thus achieving Fang Senyan's goal. Because he had this contingency in mind, Fang Senyan knew he absolutely had to obtain the Hedgehog milestone before arriving here, as its reward was critically linked to his very survival!

One must remember, after undertaking an assassination attempt, if Fang Senyan needed to escape, jumping into the river would be the most likely course of action. At that moment, his greatest threat wouldn't be pursuers leaping into the water, but rather the astonishingly numerous array of firearms and bows equipped on the pirate ships!

While the pirates' individual strength might be low, they would certainly be highly proficient with these weapons. If Fang Senyan failed to secure a fallback plan, his fate would be to become a living target, riddled with arrows, sinking into the dark, icy depths of the river.

Of course, this was only Fang Senyan's preliminary plan. Assassination was the fastest means to achieve his aim.

With his own power, stalling the Corsairs for several hours using other methods wasn't entirely impossible—for instance, diving down to breach the hulls of several ships, or perhaps locating the hoard of treasure the Corsairs had plundered along their raid path and sinking it into the river... However, when Fang Senyan abandoned the retreat route available from the Hall of the Dark Source and saw the latest exchange items, he suddenly realized he might be able to avoid such extreme risk.

The item Fang Senyan desired was the Blood of Morgoth. This was a terrifying crystalline blood essence capable of upgrading an already owned item, and its price was not excessive.

Obtaining the Blood of Morgoth required only two hundred Contribution Points, with the first purchase enjoying a fifty percent discount, meaning it cost just one hundred Contribution Points. In Fang Senyan's palm rested a crystal, hollow inside, sealing a tiny pinch of blue powder!

The color of the powder was so profoundly deep it mirrored the cloudless azure sky and the sea. Though just a minute amount, it held the power to draw one's gaze, even one's very spirit, into an inescapable trance.

This was the Blood of Morgoth. Next, on the banks of the vast Anduin River, Fang Senyan retrieved another item: The Any Door!

This was an item that had already undergone an upgrade. Its current attributes were: Using this item under any circumstances will create an Any Door.

You can pass through this door to return to Nightmare Space, stay for a maximum of one hour, and then use the Any Door to return to the current world. The Any Door possesses one thousand absolute HP and can be destroyed.

If it is destroyed, return will be impossible. The Any Door Fang Senyan held was currently merely a palm-sized miniature model, seemingly carved from stone, imbued with an ancient, primal quality, its texture exquisitely fine and chillingly cold to the touch.

Fang Senyan closed his eyes and muttered words that sounded like a prayer. He certainly couldn't know if the upcoming enhancement would succeed, or if success would guide the outcome in the direction he hoped.

But he did know one thing: this world possessed no gods, yet it did possess the Noah C Space! Seeing that they were currently at a disadvantage, where wishing for things to turn out well was futile in this world, it didn't prevent the Space from assisting him within the scope of its authority!

Of course, rival Contractors could enjoy similar privileges within the scope of their associated Space's authority, making the situation relatively fair in a certain sense. As the Blood of Morgoth sprinkled onto the surface of the Any Door but stubbornly refused to merge, Fang Senyan didn't feel overly anxious.

Even if the promotion failed, it wouldn't mean absolute ruin for him; it would just be more troublesome, slightly lowering his chances of success. But the facts proved that the Noah C Space was indeed paying attention to Fang Senyan; it heard the sound of his prayer!

A radiance began to slowly flow across the Any Door and the Blood of Morgoth, the two gradually merging. Finally, the Any Door began to glow blue and warp, while the Blood of Morgoth started to burn.

When the flame finally subsided, Fang Senyan looked at the Any Door and saw its new description: Morgoth's Zipper Rarity: Dark Gold Description: This is a mutated product formed after the Blood of Morgoth permeated a certain Space Item. It possesses an indescribable, astonishing power capable of easily piercing the dimensional barrier, connecting two worlds.

Usage: Hold Morgoth's Zipper and forcefully slash a rift in spacetime across the air leading to your designated world (including Nightmare Space). You can enter the designated world through this rift, but you can also use this rift to summon allies into the current world!

The spacetime rift created by Morgoth's Zipper remains stable for only thirty minutes. If you attempt to enter other worlds through this passage, you must return before this period expires, or unpredictable consequences will occur.

Allies summoned by you through this passage will exist in the current world, but when you depart the current world, the summoned allies will simultaneously return to their original world. After reading this series of descriptions, Fang Senyan slowly lowered his head.

No one could see his expression. After a long pause, a series of wild, unrestrained laughter finally erupted!

"So it turns out you were the one who least wanted this to fail! Noah C Space!" Ten minutes later, Fang Senyan stood on a cliff overlooking the Anduin River.

He grasped Morgoth's Zipper in his right hand, then leaped off the cliff edge, ten meters high! A mournful, piercing light shot from his right hand, slashing violently across the air.

An indescribably sharp sound reached his ears—the sound of a dimensional barrier being torn open. Immediately, a massive gateway of light opened, and from it, an immense, gigantic black shadow burst forth, slamming heavily onto the surface of the vast Anduin River.

Splashes of water erupted like a cascade, shooting towards the sky, making it seem as though the entire river was letting out a sound of profound humiliation. What immediately came into view were the blood-red, abrupt masts that seemed poised to pierce the heavens.

It was like dark clouds threatening to eclipse the ocean, brimming with unbridled arrogance and defiance! The Black Sail of Barad-dûr!

RS