Xiao Honglu ate the spider until only the abdomen and head remained, meticulously cleaning off every leg and scrap of edge muscle before smiling and saying, "It wasn't that much after all, a little less than a thousand or two fewer than I expected, hehe. But this number is still terrifying. If I'm not mistaken, the Main God probably bases the reward points and subplots on the film's difficulty. The more difficult the film, the more likely one is to die, and thus the more reward points and subplots are given.

That seems to be the logic." He then pulled out a thick caterpillar from the basket and began eating it heartily with loud chomps. The two girls were now mostly too frightened to watch him. Zhao Yingkong was slightly better; at least her expression and complexion remained relatively normal. Zhan Lan, however, was clearly unwell.

Her face was ashen, and she kept rubbing her stomach, managing only a strained, weary smile to try and alleviate her discomfort. "If that's the case, then that Alien horror film our national costume team experienced must have been far more difficult than this one with The Mummy, right? Yet, the reward points and subplots we received were much less. Could it be because we clashed with another team?" By the time Xiao Honglu finished eating, only a tiny bug head remained in his hand.

He dropped it and reached back into the small basket, and this time, everyone watched his hand intently. Only when he pulled out a loaf of bread did everyone collectively sigh in relief. Eating as he spoke, Xiao Honglu remarked, "Don't you actually think we were incredibly lucky in the confrontation with the Indus team? Honestly, I was prepared to die from the very start, but I never expected us to walk away with six survivors.

The battle against the Indus team was truly an act of extreme fortune; it felt like we had them suppressed from beginning to end. Think about it carefully—their team was formidable. Their psychic control could monitor the entire battlefield, and they could manipulate members with weaker wills. In other words, we were operating under their comprehensive radar; every move we made, every word we spoke, even our strategic thoughts, would be known to them.

Forget about us. Even a team several times stronger than us, if constantly under such surveillance, the Indus team might not achieve absolute victory, but they certainly wouldn't have lost, would they?" As Xiao Honglu spoke, the others noticed that what he had tucked inside his bread was not dried meat floss, but thick, finger-sized centipedes. This sight immediately turned everyone's faces pale. "And that mental controller, paired with the member capable of long-range needle throws, that combination is basically invincible.

Unless the opponent possesses something like a protective shield, those two, maintaining distance, could eliminate vast numbers of enemies much stronger than us. That is the gap—the gap between teams. At least within our team, I haven't seen a similar synergy of complementary strengths. So, this is also one of the things that puzzles me: the Indus team was strong, yes, but not so overwhelmingly strong that we couldn't reverse the situation.

Otherwise, we wouldn't have survived, while they were nearly wiped out. So why did they understand such a synergistic combination of power, while we did not? I feel our team is missing something... Let me put it this way: we lack a person who can point out the direction for everyone's enhancement and then synthesize those directions.

Let's tentatively call such a person a 'Captain.'" Xiao Honglu reached into the small basket again, this time pulling out a very ordinary bottle of cola. Everyone watched with bated breath as he held the bottle up to the light; thankfully, there were no snake gallbladders or similar items steeped in the liquid—it was just a very standard cola. "So, we are incredibly, incredibly lucky. In a chaotic combination of circumstances, we somehow generated power enhancements capable of neutralizing our opponents.

I must say, in this confrontation that could have led to our total annihilation, it was fate that kept us alive. Of course, you can also interpret this fate as luck—a one-in-ten-thousand, or even one-in-a-hundred-thousand chance. We should be proud of that." Xiao Honglu took a sip of cola, couldn't help but pull a strand of hair from his forehead, and began twirling it around his fingertip. "Their most vaunted asset, the mental controller, was countered by someone on our side.

Of course, given that this person never reappeared afterward, it's also possible they were killed by one of us. We won't dwell on that. Next is the appearance of Zero Point, a sniper with high damage output and long range, almost an anomaly on such a large battlefield. He could counter everyone on their side.

In fact, it was precisely because of Zero Point's existence that the Indus team was so hesitant. This was our biggest counter to them." Then, "'The Main God' judged us to be the weaker party, which is why it gave us the Book of the Dead. Oh, right, Zheng Zha, did you retrieve the Book of the Dead from the horror film?" Xiao Honglu suddenly asked. Zheng Zha blinked, quickly opened his storage ring, felt a slight weight in his hand, and retrieved the Book of the Dead into his left hand.

The thick, dark tome had indeed been brought out of the horror film world. Xiao Honglu nodded. "That is another crucial factor in our ultimate victory: the Book of the Dead. And most critically, besides the plot characters, we had a team member capable of reading the Book of the Dead.

I must say, this is extremely fortunate; the probability of such a combination occurring is minuscule, truly minuscule." "Speaking of mutual counters among team members, I must mention the Indus team—they were incredibly idiotic." Xiao Honglu suddenly adopted an extremely smug expression, letting out a cold laugh. "Or perhaps I simply cannot understand foreign thinking, or maybe they really are that simple? In any case, I absolutely cannot comprehend why the Indus team hesitated to fight us initially. If they had fought us to the death right away in the City of the Dead, we would have likely been completely wiped out then.

While their casualties would certainly have been heavy, it would have been far better than their current near-total annihilation. How should I describe it? Idiotic A-sians? Or perhaps they simply lacked the mindset required of members in a Reincarnation Squad!" Saying this, Xiao Honglu suddenly knelt on the ground, pinching the tips of his hair, his face knitted in concentration.

After a while, his brow slowly smoothed out. After a long pause, he suddenly asked Zheng Zha, "In the horror films you've experienced, were there any where the horror was resolved easily? Oh, and can you know in advance what the next horror film will be?" Zheng Zha was taken aback. "Easily resolved?

No way. We barely survived those few times, clinging to life by a thread. To be honest, if it weren't for that intense brush with death, my Gene Lock wouldn't have unlocked so quickly. As for knowing the next horror film in advance—is that possible?" Xiao Honglu snapped his fingers.

"Bingo! That's it! Did you really look closely at the attire of the Indus team members? Except for a few individuals, almost all of them were wearing robes suitable for the desert.

This might be a coincidence, after all, the Indus team has Arabs among them. But I lean toward believing it wasn't a coincidence. Perhaps they can know the next horror film in advance, allowing them to exchange reward points for weapons and enhance their own abilities accordingly. If that’s the case, why can’t we?

I’ve done some simple deductions here." "The results of the deductions are: First, we must have missed doing something, much like in games where you fail to talk to a certain NPC, or miss acquiring a plot item, or fail to visit a certain location, all leading to a plot stall. We must have done something less, causing the 'Main God' to not activate certain options or exchange items, which prevents us from knowing the next horror film. Second, as Sister Zhan Lan mentioned, didn't that young monk start getting scared and running away at the end? I find it hard to believe someone who has unlocked the second stage of the Gene Lock would be so cowardly; at least someone whose willpower is strong enough to face death and fight should behave differently.

Yet, he fled. I can only interpret it this way: the Indus team is stronger than us because they experience the horror films with relatively less struggle, while we in the Central Team inexplicably scrape by, nearly dying in every single film. This disparity in our experience—their strength but lack of life-or-death combat experience, versus our tenacity born from constant near-death—resulted in a complete reversal. These two deductions are the only possibilities I can conceive.

So, my question is: what exactly did we fail to do? Why do we struggle so much and risk death in every horror film? Why?" Zheng Zha's heart stirred. He looked up at Zhan Lan, and she simultaneously looked back at him.

Their eyes met, and in each other's gaze, they recognized the same thought—a very peculiar sensation. They both thought of the same name: Zhang Jie, the only person who could tell them why. Xiao Honglu watched Zheng Zha's movement silently, smiling. "Then I'll leave this part to you, Captain.

Heh heh, you are the captain after all; negotiating with people is your specialty. So, let's move on to the next topic. With this much reward points and subplots, have you already found the attributes you wish to enhance?" Zheng Zha let out a breath and smiled. "13,770 reward points, one B-level and one D-level subplot, and two C-level subplots.

Ha! This is the first time since entering the horror film cycle that I've seen this many reward points and subplots! I plan to upgrade my Vampire Mutation Bloodline to B-level, which should turn it into the Vampire Count Bloodline, significantly boosting my Blood Clan energy. I haven't decided on the other enhancements yet.

Do you have any suggestions?" "Buy the miniature surface-to-surface missile." Xiao Honglu chirped with a grin. "A miniature surface-to-surface missile capable of destroying everything within a one-kilometer radius. I checked; it's only two thousand reward points—super cheap, and the power is immense! What do you all think?"