"Amiya, what about you? Have you been tracking them the whole time?" Zheng Zha mused, speaking after a moment of thought.

The one named Amiya was a beautiful girl with soft, slightly curled blonde hair. She said with a cheerful grin, "Of course, I've been tracking them. It's just that with my power alone, I can't break through her psychic scanning field. So, I only have a general idea of where they are blocking the scan—they should be no more than twenty kilometers from the checkpoint."

Zheng Zha stood up, pulling out a ring resembling a spatial storage device from his robe. "Then it's time for us to get serious. Same rules as always: the main combat members who capture an enemy have the right to kill one; the remaining personnel must be handed over for public distribution. Anyone who has unlocked their Genetic Lock must be left for me to assign." With that, he retrieved several metal hoverboards from the spatial ring.

A tall, burly Norse-looking man immediately chuckled. "These Green Devil hoverboards are truly fantastic items. Chu Xuan is too lazy; why didn't he make a few more? Wouldn't it be better if every team member had one? Forcing two people to squeeze onto one makes the ride so unpleasant!" Chu Xuan coolly took a Green Devil hoverboard, stating, "Manufacturing them causes trouble, the materials are expensive, and the production cycle is too long. After this horror movie concludes, I might consider one for every member." The Norseman burst into loud laughter, wrapping his arms around the beautiful, softly curled blonde girl, Amiya, and planting an exaggerated kiss on her cheek. "Hahahaha! You said it, didn't you? Damn it, I've wanted my own Green Devil hoverboard for ages. Redeeming one requires a B-grade side plot mission; otherwise, I would have gotten one long ago to fly around freely! Speaking of which, what's the result of analyzing the cultivation script you obtained from that Shu Shan movie we finished last time? Damn it, those people are truly monstrous. Thankfully, our mission didn't conflict with theirs, or some random brat could have wiped us out."

"I want to learn those martial arts too!" Chu Xuan stepped onto a Green Devil hoverboard by himself, saying calmly, "If the analysis results are based on methods other than using the 'Main God' for enhancement, then practicing according to those instructions would take about fifty years to reach the Foundation Establishment stage. If you want to learn them, put them back, and I'll tell you the cultivation method later." As soon as the words fell,

Chu Xuan flicked his hands, and two substantial handguns materialized in his palms. He then rapidly tapped his hands forward.

He fired a circle of large holes into the roof above him, then slammed his Green Devil hoverboard forward, bursting through the roof that was already slowly drifting away.

Simultaneously, about twenty kilometers from the checkpoint.

The group was traveling towards the checkpoint in several small vehicles. Although these cars should have been capable of moving very quickly, the roads were littered everywhere with the wreckage of destroyed vehicles.

Some sections were still engulfed in flames, so the vehicles' speed could never truly increase. They constantly hovered around twenty kilometers per hour until, more than an hour later, Zheng Zha and his two companions finally reached the last cluster of buildings before the checkpoint. Beyond this point lay a highway leading directly to the checkpoint—an expanse of open ground, leaving no viable position for engagement.

The Mind Link, given Jiamian's current psychic strength, could only connect the consciousness of three people. However, this was sufficient for the current Central Continent Team. Zheng Zha and his two companions were the designated ambushers; they only needed the terrain map revealed by the psychic scan. As for the rest of the targets, it was simply forward, ever forward; reaching the checkpoint meant victory.

Zheng Zha's trio quietly watched the other vehicles slowly pull away, then they carefully surveyed the distant cluster of buildings before them.

There were four or five high-rise skyscrapers around, in addition to many ten-meter-tall apartment blocks or large single-family residences. Many shops lined the streets, and there were also several complex alleyways. According to the original plotline, this area might not have been very large, but after the "Main God" altered the plot and expanded the entire city, this stretch became remarkably broad and vast. The alleyways were dense, and the surrounding environment was perfectly suited for sniping; if the Demon Reincarnation Squad passed through here, Zheng Zha's three companions would have a very good chance of stopping them right here! From here to the checkpoint was only about thirty kilometers. At the current pace, they could reach the checkpoint in just over an hour, provided nothing unforeseen happened on the road. Thankfully, they had the help of those plot characters, with Alice being a powerhouse who had unlocked her Genetic Lock. With a team like this, as long as they didn't encounter members of the Demon Reincarnation Squad, they could handle almost any other difficulty with relative ease.

Zheng Zha's trio each found their combat positions. Zhao Yingkong slipped into the alleyways and vanished. Zheng Zha ascended one of the skyscrapers directly, while Zhang Heng climbed to the top of a clock tower. His effective range was precisely about three thousand meters from Zheng Zha, allowing him to survey most of the alleyways from above.

Zheng Zha sat on the edge of that skyscraper. Looking down at the dense maze of alleys and buildings made him feel slightly nauseous, so he looked straight ahead into the distance. Everything around was pitch black, but the horizon already held a faint glimmer of light. This was precisely what people called the darkest time of the day, the deepest moment before dawn.

Zheng Zha pulled a cigarette from his robe and lit one, but for a long moment, he didn't bring it to his lips because his other hand touched the remaining cigarette butt in his pocket—the only relic left by a former comrade. Besides that, the man named Zhang Jie had left nothing else behind.

He paused, then slowly placed the cigarette butt from his inner pocket into his spatial ring. Inside the ring, he also discovered a sachet—a gift Jiamian had given him before entering this horror movie, a sachet she had made with her own hands. This was a sentiment of a young woman, something he, a rough man, could never fully comprehend, especially since he already had Lori. This placed an unfair burden on Jiamian, who silently loved him. This burden of potentially hurting someone else's feelings had weighed heavily on his heart. Even though Jiamian now acted indifferent, he knew how much of that indifference was feigned.

Zheng Zha leaned back, gazing at the vanishing stars in the sky. A myriad of thoughts flooded his mind. He couldn't explain why, but he was filled with an inexpressible sense of sentiment, as if something immense was about to change after today. This feeling was indescribable. Involuntarily, the images of his fallen comrades kept appearing in his mind: Chu Xuan, Zero Point, Qi Tengyi, Zhang Jie. Every comrade had brought him a stage of growth. He couldn't recall when he had read such a saying: growing up is a form of pain, and thus the process of experiencing pain is also called growth. When he first entered this world, his sole thought was the fear of death; only the dread of dying remained, so he resisted, desperately trying to stay alive. This fundamental urge to survive intensified when he created Lori, the girl in his heart; he needed to live on, to live on with her, even if it was just for one more ten-day period spent in her company, he had to become stronger to survive! Chu Xuan’s actions taught him that as a strong individual, the simple desire to live for oneself is entirely different from the desire for everyone to live. As a superior, as a team leader, should it be cruelty and coldness, or tolerance and sacrifice? Where would his choice lead? If Chu Xuan had given him his first lesson as a team leader, then Zero Point and Qi Tengyi had taught him about comrades—that one sacrifices for one's comrades!

"Damn it! I told you to bring the book!" "Can I fight alongside you?" "Until death!"

What truly was the value of a comrade? To turn your back to another, trusting them completely to watch your blind side, focusing solely on the enemy before you, allowing your back to be entirely unprotected because you firmly believed your comrade would block every attack coming from behind, even at the cost of their own lives—that your back would absolutely remain unharmed! If that were true, then right now, Jiamian and the others had entrusted their backs to him. He only needed to hold this position firmly, stopping the Demon Reincarnation Squad completely here, so that his comrades could safely return to the "Main God" space. This position could not be lost!

If those comrades taught him anything, or moved him and left a lasting impression, then the existence and appearance of Zhang Jie brought him sorrow—an unavoidable feeling. If he hadn't heard those words from Zhang Jie’s own mouth, he would never have believed that Zhang Jie was a guide. He was a frank, laughing man, yet he was a program created by the "Main God"? If such a real person was merely a program, then what were the countless mediocre people living in the world, the men and women aimlessly seeking pleasure without knowing their purpose—were they anything more than walking corpses? He would never forget the scent of the cigarette when he first entered this horror movie world. He would never forget the sense of ease mixed with melancholy when he smoked a cigarette after defeating Zhang Jie.

Zheng Zha silently retrieved a modified sniper rifle from his spatial ring. He knew he was not alone; in this reincarnation world, he could never survive on his own strength alone. Therefore, he needed the help of his comrades, and it was precisely because of the help of these countless comrades that he had gradually grown stronger, slowly becoming more powerful. This was because what he carried was the strength of the fallen comrades. He was not alone! He would never be alone!

Leap to