"Lord God, grant total restoration to everyone..." Zheng Zha was about to speak the words for a full recovery when he suddenly saw Chu Xuan pull out two Gauss pistols. Before he could finish his sentence, Chu Xuan fired several shots directly into Hao Tian's head. In an instant, Hao Tian's skull shattered like a watermelon, leaving no possibility of revival, no matter how much restoration was attempted.

Everyone froze. Zheng Zha was the first to react. Ignoring the severe burns covering his body, he grabbed Chu Xuan's arm and roared, "Are you insane? Are you being controlled? Should I smash your head in with one punch?" Chu Xuan paid him no mind, tucked the Gauss pistols back into his sleeves, and then stated calmly, "I'll explain the specifics later. Also, there is something else I find rather interesting... Let's put that aside for now. You should focus on repairing all of us first; Zhao Yingkong's corrosion is spreading towards her chest."

Hearing this, everyone immediately looked toward Zhao Yingkong. The corrosion on her arm was already complete, and the corrosive aura was visibly creeping up from her limb toward her chest.

The first things to go were the strips of cloth and clothing near her arm, which had dissolved entirely. This sight terrified Zheng Zha so much that he completely forgot about arguing with Chu Xuan. He immediately shouted at the "Lord God," "Total restoration! Deduct the reward points from me!" As his words fell, pillars of light shot down from the "Lord God." Except for Hao Tian, whose death was absolute with his head destroyed, everyone present was enveloped in a pillar of light.

The light pillars around people like Ba Wang vanished in an instant, but the ones surrounding Chu Xuan, Zheng Zha, and Zhao Yingkong were intensely bright, causing the three of them to collectively float within the light.

When Zheng Zha opened his eyes again, the skin on his body had completely healed. However, unlike his and Zhao Yingkong's full recovery, only Chu Xuan remained suspended in the light beam. As everyone else stepped out of their respective pillars, and the women each person had created materialized, the entire plaza became somewhat noisy.

Since Chu Xuan's repair was not yet complete, Zheng Zha settled down and exchanged a few words with Lolita. Then, taking her small hand, he sat right down on the plaza floor to chat.

Chu Xuan’s restoration this time took over five minutes, longer than any previous instance. The moment he descended from the air and before he could steady himself, the seated Zheng Zha suddenly sprang up. Before Chu Xuan could react, Zheng Zha landed a heavy punch squarely on his face.

Chu Xuan was immediately sent flying six or seven meters.

Ignoring him, Zheng Zha rushed over, hauled him up by his collar, and roared, "What do you take your comrades for? Answer me! What do you see them as? A burden? Or just pawns in your scheme to win? Answer me!" "I admit that none of us possess your intellect. I acknowledge that your wisdom and planning have benefited all of us, even though I don't know exactly how you did it, or what you did. But I know one thing: in this five-team battle alongside the Celestial Squad and several other teams, not a single senior member of our Central Continent team died! This is all due to your planning... BUT! Do you think we should be grateful to you?" As Zheng Zha spoke, his anger flared again, and he brought his fist down hard onto Chu Xuan's jaw, saying no more.

The sound of bone fracturing could be heard from the previous punch; this second blow essentially reduced the entire lower jaw to a comminuted fracture.

This time, however, Chu Xuan didn't fly backward. Zheng Zha held his collar while shouting, "But we are comrades! We are not machines working for your sole victory! Nor are we parasites dependent on your success alone! We are partners fighting side-by-side!" After yelling this out, Zheng Zha began gasping for air, seemingly contemplating whether to land a few more blows on Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan's lower jaw was contorted into a grotesque shape, yet his expression showed not a hint of pain. He turned toward the "Lord God" and uttered a series of strange syllables. Another beam of light descended upon him, forcefully pushing away Zheng Zha, who was still gripping his collar. After about ten seconds, Chu Xuan's figure finally appeared within the light beam.

"Lower jaw shattered, unable to speak clearly. Repair first, then we talk." Chu Xuan stated.

Zheng Zha was instantly silenced. He then remembered that Chu Xuan lacked any sensation of pain, meaning hitting him was completely useless, merely a waste of reward points. This realization brought a wave of frustration. Nothing was as discouraging as facing Chu Xuan; hitting him was ineffective, and arguing... he couldn't seem to out-argue him either. For a moment, Zheng Zha genuinely felt at a loss. Chu Xuan paid no attention to whether Zheng Zha had hit him or not, simply sitting down on the floor. He then spoke, "I originally intended to tell you some things, but because of Hao Tian's instability, especially with the possibility of his betrayal exceeding fifty percent, I couldn't be certain if he was carrying any high-tech eavesdropping devices. That's not impossible. If even a small part of my plan were leaked, Adam would never pass up such a golden opportunity. Right now, the possibility of the Central Continent team being wiped out stands at over seventy percent..."

"Hmph..." Zheng Zha took a deep breath before speaking, "Fine, I'll set aside everything else for now. Tell me exactly what happened in Middle-earth. Why did you fake your death? No, you were truly dead then, and the 'Lord God' even notified us of a point deduction. There are many questions. First, why did you have to die, how did you die, and why could you still exist after death? Second, what was the point of your death? Hao Tian's betrayal? He's one of our team members; where could he even go if he betrayed us? Besides, wouldn't he die too if he betrayed us? Third, what exactly did you say to the Celestial Squad? What about the movements of the East American team? In short, tell me everything!"

Chu Xuan was unhurried. He detailed the entire process of how he came to know Hao Tian, from Hao Tian's background, being sent abroad to be fostered in the home of an undercover operative, to eventually becoming one of the nation's top special agents, and finally how Hao Tian and Adam formed the Immortal Thief Group. After recounting all that, he mentioned a few anomalies concerning Hao Tian after entering Middle-earth, such as his swift agreement to lead Zero Point and others on the mission to raid Isengard immediately after reuniting with Chu Xuan.

"...Based on his impression of me, he shouldn't have agreed to cooperate with me, especially as my subordinate, without significant pressure. That's when my suspicion arose. I then handed him that hypnotizer. It was indeed a hypnotizer, but also a mind controller. If he betrayed me, I would use it on him; if he remained loyal, I would use it to control the trackers. It's that simple. Given his personality, the moment he confirmed I was dead, he would definitely use this device. Because only with this device could he control those hundreds of trackers—a force he wouldn't let Zero Point or the others possess."

"After that, I began contemplating the possibility of faking my death. However, this feigned death had one fatal flaw: Hao Tian's existence. If he truly betrayed me, my faked death would only serve to make him vigilant. At the very least, he would know I suspected him... In Middle-earth, Gandalf also died and was resurrected, so I went to see the Elf Queen afterward..."

"The Elf Queen's blessing allowed my consciousness body to possess Elven traits during that period. That is, I was dead, but my consciousness remained concentrated and did not dissipate. At that time, although the physical body was dead, the consciousness remained within it. If we had to explain it scientifically, I suspect it might have been due to static resonance. The human brain naturally generates electrical waves due to conscious fluctuations, so theoretically, information and consciousness could transform into wave or electrical forms. But this form is highly complex, which is why it typically requires physical instantiation. If technology were more advanced, allowing particles in the air to achieve the same state as brainwaves, meaning consciousness could exist independently of the brain, using airborne particles as a carrier... This is merely my personal conjecture. In that state, my physical body was indeed dead, but my consciousness was still lucid. However, this state couldn't last, and the body was unusable and unable to interact with the outside world—which, in essence, is death. That's why I needed your World Tree Leaf."

Zheng Zha looked back at him quizzically, "World Tree Leaf? You mean the World Tree Leaf?" Chu Xuan nodded. "Yes, that's right, the World Tree Leaf. Based on what the Elf Queen said, it's a high-energy aggregate, providing the final burst of energy for the body to act. Even if the physical body is dead, as long as there is a World Tree Leaf, it can be animated, of course, requiring consciousness to operate the corpse. That's why the gift she gave you was the World Tree Leaf..."

Zheng Zha quickly interrupted him, "Wait, wait, then why didn't she just give the gift directly to you? What if I hadn't remembered to feed it to you?" Chu Xuan glanced at him and stated flatly, "My planning was always predicated on the assumption that we were being monitored. If we were being monitored, receiving two gifts consecutively would look highly irregular. If we were indeed being watched, such an anomaly would mean we had already lost... Therefore, the item had to be given to you, the captain. Of course, the Elf Queen could have hidden the item for me beforehand, but if we were being monitored, how would we produce it to feed me? Wouldn't taking it out be discovered? Comparing the two, giving it to you, and then having you feed it to me without your knowledge... that was where the true layout began."