Aragorn and the Elven Prince were both terribly frightened. If it had been anyone else, they might have let it go, but the one holding the knife, poised to attack, was Zheng Zha, and they knew exactly how powerful his attacks were.

This was a man capable of fighting hundreds of Uruk-hai single-handedly. While these Rohan riders were well-trained, they were still no match for Zheng Zha's killing power.

Aragorn hastily stepped in front of Zheng Zha, saying urgently, "A misunderstanding, this is all a misunderstanding. Riders of Rohan, I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Glóin, this is Legolas the Elven Prince, and these six are friends of Gandalf the Grey, renowned human warriors. We are friends of Rohan and King Théoden of Rohan. The knights of Rohan need not point their lances at us."

The leader did not appear flustered until the great blade Zheng Zha had held to his neck was finally withdrawn. Only then did he speak quietly, "King Théoden has lost all sense of friend and foe; he is completely controlled by Saruman of the White. He cannot even recognize his own kin."

With that, the knight removed his helm, revealing a weary face.

The surrounding knights also lowered their lances. The leader continued, "Saruman has taken control of the King, and step by step, he is consuming the kingdom's lands. We are warriors eternally loyal to the kingdom, but for that loyalty, we have been exiled. We are on our way to meet other exiled soldiers. You must also be wary of the White Wizard; he is insidious and cunning, rumored to often wander about disguised as an old man, and his spies are everywhere."

Aragorn, however, breathed a sigh of relief. He finally understood that these knights had mistaken them for Saruman's spies, which explained their intense hostility. He quickly said, "We are not Saruman's spies. We were tracking a band of Uruk-hai here. Those two Uruk-hai captured two of our friends."

Zheng Zha also spoke up then, "That matches up. That human woman and that Hobbit are our companions. Other than them? Have you seen any other humans?" The leader shook his head. "No other humans. When we cleaned the battlefield after the fighting, we found no trace of any women or Hobbits. Perhaps they fled in the chaos, or perhaps they were trampled to death by the horses—in any case, their bodies were piled up there, and we have burned all of them."

Saying this, he turned and pointed toward a place shrouded in thick smoke several kilometers away, in a low-lying area.

Aragorn turned to exchange glances with the members of the Middle-earth Team. No one could speak. While the story characters were undoubtedly anxious, the members of the Middle-earth Team knew that the South American Team had already plunged into the forest amidst the intense action.

The leader looked at the nine people present. A deputy at his side spoke a few brief sentences, and then several Rohan cavalrymen brought forward seven warhorses. He said, "Here, these are the mounts left behind by fallen warriors. May these heroes bless you as you search for your companions, but do not hold too much hope. Rohan has no hope left."

With that, he donned his helmet, mounted his horse, and was the first to ride toward the edge of the encirclement.

The group of knights departed like the wind, having ridden far into the distance within minutes. Left behind were the nine figures and the seven warhorses isolated on the grassland—and, yes, one skeletal steed bearing the frozen form of a man.

Zheng Zha and Aragorn exchanged a look, both nodding. They each selected a warhorse and mounted up. Then Jamei and Zhao Yingkong took one, and Gimli and the Elven Prince took another. The group then spurred their horses forward toward the billowing smoke.

After only a short ride, the group arrived at the place in the distance where the smoke still churned. Several long spears were planted there, and an Uruk-hai head was hanging from one of the shafts. At one end of the battlefield was a pile of dead bodies reaching over two meters high, densely packed with perhaps a hundred Uruk-hai corpses. On such a battlefield, finding possible survivors was truly impossible; the only clues left might be among the scattered weapons.

After a long time, the Dwarf Gimli suddenly pulled a small, somewhat damaged belt from the pile of weapons. His face crumpled as he cried, "This is... this is a Hobbit's belt. They might have been..."

"No!" Aragorn didn't even glance at the broken belt, instead studying the minute marks on the ground intently. "Here... here a short person crawled through, and then they continued crawling forward from here. Another trail here, a woman's trail. And here, suddenly, there are marks from shoes—human footprints, they are..." While Aragorn searched for the tracks of their companions, the members of the Middle-earth Team, who knew they were fine, began examining the wounds on the Uruk-hai corpses. Zheng Zha looked at a severed head and said, "This mark was made by a very blunt blade, like a scimitar. With the speed of a cavalry charge, even an unsharpened saber can exert immense destructive force. But judging by the expression in this head's eyes, he was not among the first wave of Uruk-hai killed during the charge. This wound mark was caused by Battle Qi."

Zheng Zha turned to the other five, "I have seen Aragorn and the others when their Battle Qi flares. When Battle Qi is channeled into a blade, it can increase the blade's strength countless times, capable of blocking even the power of Shi's Tiger Soul Blade Light. When a cavalryman finishes his charge, he stops to engage the Uruk-hai in close combat. At that point, without the momentum of the charge, he can still cleave through an Uruk-hai's skull with a thick-bladed saber, creating such a clean cut. This is absolutely the mark of Battle Qi. But... why are you all looking at me like that?" The other five, save for Chu Xuan, were staring at him in stunned silence—even Zhao Yingkong—as if he were discussing something deeply bizarre.

"It's not that," Cheng Xiao suddenly said seriously. "If Aragorn had said that, it would be one thing. Hey, Boss, haven't you slipped too far into your role? Do you really think you're a battle-hardened mercenary in this world? You used to be a white-collar worker."

Zheng Zha scratched his head. "Well, apart from our time in the 'Main God' Space, every other day has been a life-or-death fight. Even if I didn't want to know these things, I had no choice. Constantly using the Tiger Soul has given me an intuitive grasp of blade force, technique transitions, vertical and horizontal cuts—these things just come naturally now. Besides, Battle Qi and Inner Force are very similar in many respects, so... looking at it that way, without realizing it, I've become a combat expert, haha!" Chu Xuan ignored Zheng Zha's self-deprecating, exaggerated laughter. He just looked down again at the burning remains and the intact skull. After a long pause, he commented, "At least seventy to eighty percent of Rohan's cavalry possess Battle Qi. The rest are probably new recruits. Their fundamental quality is immense. Knights of this caliber, equipped with Battle Qi, can easily match two to three times their number of Uruk-hai."

"See, see! That's what I just realized! If we had a thousand elite Rohan cavalrymen plus fifty Elves skilled with 'Explosive Arrows,' we wouldn't need to fear the other two teams. Of course, Elven archers are extremely rare, and they won't involve themselves in the War of the Ring, so the other point is about the Trackers..." Zheng Zha laughed heartily.

Chu Xuan cut him off without waiting: "Understood. Trackers retain most of their original skills, while also activating the first to second stages of the Gene Lock, with a tenfold increase in physical strength or more. If we could transform twenty Uruk-hai captains capable of using 'Explosive Arrows' into Trackers—twenty such Trackers would be enough to overwhelm the other two teams. That's what you mean, right?" Zheng Zha nodded repeatedly. "Exactly, exactly! That's the meaning! Regardless of whether the opponent has superior individuals, a superior team, or superior (momentum/power structure), as long as we can secure a thousand elite Rohan cavalry and twenty Trackers like you described, we can stride across this Middle-earth world without fear! Hahaha! What else would we worry about, the East American Team or the Heavenly God Team?"

"Oh," Chu Xuan scoffed coldly. "What if the Nine Ring Wraiths, united by the Nine Rings, appear? Can you guarantee 'Explosive Arrows' can hit him? What if the Dark Lord is more terrifying than the Balrog? Can you lead this team to kill him? And what if the Heavenly God Team or the East American Team fields someone as powerful as your own clone?"

"Will you still maintain this optimism?" Chu Xuan said with a cold laugh. "You are far too optimistic. Although I don't know what this feeling means, I have a strong sense that I might die during this team operation."