The Ranger Company was whittled down to just over forty riders, yet every single one of those forty was among the most elite and courageous knights Rohan possessed. They had been selected from the strongest to begin with, and because the plot characters in this world had been augmented by the "Main God," all forty-plus knights could utilize Dou Qi (Battle Aura), and their physical capabilities far surpassed those of ordinary people in the real world. As a result, during these three days and nights of desperate fighting, seven or eight of those forty-odd riders had managed to unlock the first stage of their Gene Locks, and more than ten of them had even unleashed the power of the Burst Arrow. Zhang Heng, who had taught them this technique, cried out in protest about the unfairness, but this development had undeniably bolstered the team's combat power.

After the initial period of intense combat, although the troop numbers continued to dwindle, their fighting strength escalated sharply. By this point, the company had annihilated at least four to five thousand Orcs. Furthermore, under the guidance of one unnamed rider, after slaying an Orc, these knights consistently severed the creature's ear. Seeing this, Zheng Zha even produced several cloth sacks for them to fill with the ears, and then had them tie the sacks to the flanks of their respective horses.

Three days and three nights of non-stop guerrilla warfare had pushed everyone’s stamina to the absolute limit. It was only under Jian Lan’s continuous scanning that they discovered the Orcs had ceased splitting off to raid villages; they weren't even sending out scouting or harassment parties anymore. It seemed the Orcs genuinely feared this small guerrilla force. All the Orcs had consolidated into a force of over fifteen thousand troops, and they marched in a unified column toward Helm's Deep.

Such a large host meant they could no longer risk sending out small bands of a few dozen riders for sneak attacks. Moreover, with the arrival of this main Orc army, there were now Orcs within their ranks capable of using the Burst Arrow. Lin Zhuan immediately ordered the guerrilla unit to retreat toward Helm's Deep. However, the plot characters seemed profoundly reluctant to withdraw; having witnessed the power of their mounted archery, their confidence was unprecedentedly high, as if as long as they possessed bows and horses, they could never be defeated.

Even Aragorn and his two companions were stunned by the effectiveness of this fighting style. Legolas murmured, "We Elves are most skilled with the bow; although our horsemanship lags slightly, our archery skill is unparalleled in the world. If we Elves employed this tactic, perhaps we could pin down far greater armies at the Black Gate of Mordor, leaving them unable to move."

Aragorn nodded repeatedly, sighing in agreement, "Although this is not the land of cavalry, Gondor has a large population; choosing a few thousand elite horse archers from tens of thousands of soldiers would certainly be achievable." Zheng Zha responded vaguely, lost in his own thoughts. In his view, these forty-odd knights represented a formidable fighting force; while their contribution to a large-scale war might be limited, in a confrontation between small squads, these forty-plus riders were a crucial element capable of altering the outcome. Especially with the existence of the Burst Arrow—even without legendary magical weapons, without superior close-combat ability or sustained fighting capacity—the first volley of ten Burst Arrows would be enough to instantly kill the majority of members from other Reincarnation Squads. Even Zheng Zha himself would certainly perish from the first ten arrows if he did not activate his 'Destruction' state.

(These forty-plus knights absolutely must remain with us; ideally, we should secure control over them from Théoden. That way, when we eventually meet the Eastern American team or the Heavenly God Squad in Mordor, we can use this 'prestige' to deter them—at the very least, we can cause immediate casualties should any malicious intent arise among them.) Zheng Zha mused as he rode his skeletal steed. Over these three days and nights, he had barely engaged in combat, only suffering from mental exhaustion due to the lack of sleep. Seeing that they were now heading towards Helm's Deep, he pondered the fate of these forty-plus individuals for a long time before finally slumping over his horse's neck to sleep. Chu Xuan took the reins, as whether that man slept or not made no difference.

Time slowly passed, and when the forty-odd riders finally returned to Helm's Deep, it was the moment of dawn. All forty charged into the fortress together, bathed in the golden morning light.

This was a colossal castle built deep within the valley. Its walls were constructed from multi-ton stone blocks, stacked so tightly that no gap existed between them. The entire wall soared over ten meters high—truly an impregnable fortress! When the cavalry presented their spoils—the countless Orc ears—everyone within the castle erupted in cheers. Civilians, soldiers, the elderly, children, women, and men—every single person shouted with joy. There were so many ears, and many Orcs hadn't even had their ears removed; these ears alone testified to the glorious, absolutely unparalleled achievements of this knightly unit.

"We killed roughly over four thousand Orc soldiers, including more than three hundred Wolf Riders, over a thousand heavily armored Orcs, and nearly three thousand regular Orcs!" One of the forty-plus knights announced his tally loudly to the surrounding civilians and garrison troops. This served both to flaunt the brilliance of their victory and to rally spirits, because unlike the confident expressions worn by the forty riders, everyone inside the castle looked somber and anxious, seemingly fearing the impending Orc army. After all, the castle held only a few hundred garrison troops; even counting the newly conscripted civilians, they barely numbered one thousand. To defend against an assault by over ten thousand Orcs meant every single person faced a near-certain death.

Zheng Zha saw King Théoden rushing down the steps, closely followed by Gríma, the Princess, and two members of the Central Continent Squad. All of them wore expressions of immense surprise and joy. Zheng Zha immediately addressed the King: "Your Majesty, please allow these warriors to eat their fill and then rest well. The Orc army is still a considerable distance from us; it won't reach here until nightfall at the earliest."

Théoden quickly responded, "Welcome back, heroes! I have heard the scouts recount your deeds many times. The Hooves of the Ghosts—you have actually struck fear into the Orcs! I am truly proud of you, warriors. Rest well now, and prepare to meet the battle tonight! Let those Orcs know they are charging headlong into a wall! A wall of steel!" The soldiers roared with enthusiasm once more and headed deep into the castle. Aragorn and the others followed behind Zheng Zha and his group. Although their physical condition was slightly better, they too needed proper rest, otherwise, in their current state, they could not face the violent battle awaiting them that night.

However, after taking only a few steps, Jian Lan suddenly frowned and activated the Mind Chain, communicating with Zheng Zha via consciousness: "Zheng Zha! Someone is flying toward us, incredibly fast—they'll arrive in about a minute!" The Mind Chain simultaneously connected to Chu Xuan and the others, and the mental scanning map projected into everyone's consciousness. Zheng Zha and the others only had time to look up when they spotted a black dot plummeting toward them in the sky. Within about ten seconds, this black dot became increasingly distinct. It was a dark-haired youth flying rapidly toward them while standing atop a gleaming longsword. Although he was still wearing casual clothes, his bearing clearly indicated he belonged to the lineage of Chinese Cultivators, and one who had achieved a degree of mastery, otherwise, he could not sustain sword flight.

Cheng Xiao watched the approaching figure, immediately letting out a whistling sound indicating intense heat, then grabbed the person next to him and shouted, "Damn it, look! That’s a Cultivation skill! Someone actually exchanged for that heaven-defying thing! It costs tens of thousands of reward points and an S-rank side mission! This guy must be completely insane. Damn, that’s terrifying, isn't it?" Chu Xuan shook his head: "It might not necessarily be an exchanged Cultivation skill. Besides direct exchange, there are three other ways to obtain Cultivation methods: one, they possess it inherently before entering the Reincarnation World; two, they learned it in a horror movie world, like a world based on The Rapture; three, this person isn't a member of a Reincarnation Squad but is a plot character brought into a team by another squad. We don't know which category he falls into."

"Why say so much? Isn't this person an enemy regardless?" Zhao Yingkong sneered, drawing the Sword of Oath and Victory from her waist.

Zhang Heng and Zheng Zha finally snapped back to attention. Zhang Heng had his silver metal bow fully drawn with two arrows nocked, while Zheng Zha immediately dismounted from the skeletal steed. If he were to use the 'Destruction' state, being mounted would only prove cumbersome and might lead him to accidentally destroy his precious mount.

Luo Yinglong, descending on his sword—the second strongest member of the Heavenly God Squad—possessed his own fierce pride. Especially being the only Chinese member in a squad comprising three Caucasians and one Black man, his Chinese pride burned strongly. In his two previous clashes with the Demon Reincarnation Squad, he had used the Shushan Sword Sect style the first time, but in the second, having cultivated further, he was utterly defeated by the 'Hand of the Demon' from that squad. Moreover, this time, the Doushuai Bagua Furnace refined by his sect failed to kill Zhao Zhuikong. These successive defeats had brought his pride to the breaking point, and he desperately needed a victory to erase the humiliation.

(I must defeat this Demon who hasn't even fully awakened yet to prove the vast power of Chinese Cultivation! I want to see whether the Saint who unlocked the Gene Lock is stronger, or the self-created Cultivation of China! Although the agreed time for confrontation with Zhao Zhuikong hasn't arrived yet, settling this score now is warranted!) Luo Yinglong let out a wild roar, and Helm's Deep castle came into his sight.

Leaping toward