Aragorn quickly moved to close the gates with Boromir, but Zheng Zha’s mind suddenly shifted, and he shouted, “Wait, let me go out first!” With that, he swung onto the back of the skeletal warhorse. With a sharp pull on the reins, the undead steed reared up, let out a resounding snort, and bolted straight out of the gate.

Crimson flames immediately ignited in the horse’s hooves and eyes. As the skeletal horse charged, Zheng Zha channeled his inner force into the Hu Po Saber. Under his will, the resulting saber aura rapidly enveloped his entire body and the warhorse’s frame. Just as he burst through the gate, several arrows streaked toward him, but they shattered upon impact with the saber aura. Zheng Zha never paused; seeing the dense swarm of ugly, humanoid monsters closing in from all directions, he charged straight into them without evasion.

The sound of repeated impacts echoed—pa-pa-pa—and as the first Orc struck Zheng Zha, it instantly disintegrated. Every single Orc he hit shattered upon contact; the saber aura had seemingly altered its shape.

Yet, its destructive power remained undiminished. Therefore, when facing a large volume of weaker creatures, controlling the skeletal warhorse to charge wildly proved exponentially more devastating.

Now, anything he touched was injured, anything he slammed into was dead. Along the path he carved, a gory, bloody track was instantly gouged into the ground. However, the strength of these Orcs was surprisingly immense. In this Middle-earth setting, it wasn't just the key characters who were significantly enhanced; the Orcs' power had also been boosted. At least, by Zheng Zha’s estimation, the average Orc’s strength was three to five times that of a normal person. While their speed was slightly slower than an average human, for Zheng Zha’s straight-ahead collision style, this brute strength was precisely the counter to his momentum.

Indeed, after mowing down dozens of Orcs, the speed of Zheng Zha’s skeletal warhorse began to noticeably diminish.

“Good!” Zheng Zha roared.

With a fierce tug on the reins, he commanded the skeletal warhorse to leap. In the turning arc of the jump, he caught sight of a massive number of Orcs and several humanoid monsters, taller than four meters, pouring into the chamber. But at that moment, he had no time for deep thought; the skeletal warhorse vaulted onto a supporting pillar.

It ran several meters up the stone column before turning to look down at the advancing Orcs below.

“Go! Kill!” Zheng Zha poured his inner force desperately into the Hu Po, causing the saber aura to stretch out to an astounding length of over twenty meters.

He then urged the skeletal warhorse to dive straight down from the pillar. While his Hu Po itself could not extend beyond the protective aura surrounding him, the saber energy could. Thus, as he plunged down, he swept the Hu Po Saber along the side of the warhorse. With that single horizontal slash, at least a hundred Orcs, along with the stone pillar, were cleaved cleanly in half. After covering some distance, he swiftly spun around.

He charged back the way he came, and the Orcs on the other side were instantly bisected. The ground was littered with mangled corpses. Within a radius of tens of meters around him, every Orc was annihilated, and those further away were stunned into silence, not a single one daring to approach.

Zheng Zha took a deep breath. This kind of devastating charge was exhilarating, but it was likely useless against truly powerful beings—facing the nine-in-one Ringwraiths, for instance, charging like this would be pure suicide. Furthermore, this method had a fatal flaw: the consumption of inner force was simply too rapid. That single sweep had drained more than fifty percent of his energy. If he didn't possess the sufficient recharging Mithril Ring, he wouldn't dare charge into an army like this, though it was fine for smaller skirmishes.

Just as Zheng Zha paused to catch his breath, a gunshot suddenly rang out from inside the chamber—a Gauss pistol. In the world of Middle-earth, high-tech weaponry was supposed to be useless against the natives. Had the Southern Continent team or the Northern Ice Continent team launched a sudden attack while he was out? Thinking this, Zheng Zha dared not linger. He yanked the reins and spurred the skeletal warhorse back into the room. Any Orc slow enough to be in the way was instantly smashed to death. He burst into the room effortlessly, and before he could even spot his teammates or the main characters, a Troll swung a massive club at him. This was a gigantic humanoid monster nearly four meters tall. Though incredibly clumsy, it possessed immense power. Judging by the sound of the club’s swing, this creature’s strength was at least twenty times that of a normal human—enough to test Zheng Zha even in his "Explosion" state.

Anxious, Zheng Zha channeled even more of his Vampire energy into the skeletal warhorse. Stimulated by this infusion, the steed’s speed increased slightly more. He slammed hard into the Troll’s abdomen just before the club could descend, eliciting a sharp crack. The Troll was blasted into four pieces, though Zheng Zha was battered by the impact and nearly thrown from his saddle.

When he shook his head clear and focused, he saw Chu Xuan indeed wielding two Gauss pistols, rapidly firing them around him. Every shot precisely struck an Orc lunging at him. A pile of Orc corpses already lay at his feet. Once the Orcs attacking him were dead, he clapped his hands together, and the two empty magazines clattered to the floor. The Gauss pistols then retracted smoothly into his sleeves—a movement so fluid it suggested countless repetitions.

“Huh? Is that a Gauss pistol?” Zheng Zha asked blankly, failing to notice that no more Orcs were trying to swarm into the chamber, and the ones already inside were completely cleared out.

“Yes… you aren’t mistaken. It is a Gauss pistol.”

Chu Xuan nodded blandly, crouching down to meticulously examine the Orc corpses beneath his feet. After a long inspection, he moved to the Troll’s side to scrutinize the massive creature’s body.

“But that’s impossible! High-tech weapons aren’t supposed to work here!” Zheng Zha exclaimed in astonishment.

The other veterans also turned their attention over. Both teams possessed their own high-tech weaponry and personnel skilled in its use. If high-tech gear truly functioned in this world, their combat strength would instantly soar, and many uncertainties would be resolved, such as using advanced transport to ferry key story characters through perils.

Chu Xuan nodded. “Correct, high-tech weapons cannot be used directly—that remains true. So, I experimented by combining high-tech weaponry with magic… Back in Rivendell, I had the Elven King inscribe runes onto my Gauss magazines. When these bullets are fired, they carry life energy.”

“I didn't expect that bullets imbued with life energy could actually be used…” Zheng Zha’s mind clicked. He suddenly recalled the discussion between Chu Xuan and Hao Tian. Could this be what they were planning? And if Chu Xuan’s weapons could utilize this life-energy infusion method... then the bullets for Zero Point’s weapons would also have those runes etched onto them. Wouldn't the Gauss sniper rifle then become a supreme trump card capable of instantly eliminating key figures in this world? Gandalf suddenly interjected, “Now is not the time for this discussion! We must hurry to the Bridge of Khazad-dûm! Everyone, keep up!” Zheng Zha knew this was hardly the moment for chit-chat.

He nodded, spurred his horse forward, and charged out first. Several arrows immediately struck his saber aura shield. Although the arrows burst upon contact, the shield was already showing signs of instability, not because the arrows were overly powerful, but because the aura’s duration was nearly spent.

Zheng Zha quickly retreated back into the chamber, dispersing the old aura and immediately channeling inner force to form a new layer of saber energy around him. Then, gripping the Hu Po Saber, he burst forth again. The first dozen Orcs were sliced in half before they could even react. At this point, the others behind Zheng Zha managed to run out.

They saw Orcs beginning to swarm down the pillars, and countless more pouring in from the edges of the hall. The sheer number was overwhelming; there must have been thousands of Orcs just within this single hall. Instantly, everyone except the main Reincarnation Squad members felt a pang of despair, but they could do nothing but run forward desperately. Zheng Zha led the charge, his skeletal warhorse’s mobility proving invaluable. Any Orc attempting to close in on the group was instantly cut down by Zheng Zha’s blade. In less than a hundred meters of travel, untold numbers of Orcs were slain by him. Chu Xuan’s combat effectiveness was also restored; though his gun-fu offered no defense, it was uniquely suited for crowd control, and countless Orcs fell beneath his precise fire.

According to the original film’s plot, when everyone was about to be completely encircled by the Orcs, the Balrog’s roar would sound, causing the Orcs to scatter. Before the Orcs could fully converge on the group, that massive, terrifying bellow ripped through the air… The Balrog was awake! The Orcs, who had been fiercely attacking the fellowship, instantly ceased their assault upon hearing the sound, as if confronted by something utterly horrifying. Every Orc twisted around, looking back toward the tunnel they had entered through. That area was now glowing fiery red. Before the Orcs could even flee, several columns of flame erupted from that spot, engulfing an area of tens of square meters in fire. A gigantic, humanoid creature materialized within the blaze. It opened its maw and swept a torrent of flame horizontally, instantly turning the thousands of Orcs near it into ash without so much as a whimper. Even from a distance, the group could feel the terrifying, scorching heat.

“The Balrog… a demon from ancient times, a creature capable of fighting the gods… Run!” Gandalf shouted, leading the group sprinting toward the other end of the hall. The Balrog continued to slaughter the Orcs, seemingly unconcerned with the small party… Jumping to