The aftermath saw the team's operations split into two factions. One side, fueled by my supposed death, led Hao Tian to place the consciousness controller on the back of his head. While he gained control over the tracking agents, he was simultaneously brought under my control. Under those conditions, Hao Tian’s threat to us was finally neutralized, and I could exploit my feigned death to mislead Adam’s judgment…"

"Following that, the redeployment of Zero Point, and then my departure from the Elven Prince in Rohan... Chu Xuan meticulously detailed how he utilized the Elven Queen's blessing to orchestrate his strategy during the massive battle involving the five Fellowship factions, sacrificing his own life for the entire team's victory. He then led the forces to coerce the Celestial Team into submission. Every calculation during this sequence was precisely counterposed against the enemy's maneuvers. Had it not been for Chu Xuan's staged death that time, Zheng Zha would have been drenched in cold sweat upon realizing there was a member within the Celestial Team whose strength was comparable to, or even surpassed, Luo Yinglong."

"Precisely. The maximum capability of our team is roughly equivalent to half the full strength of the Celestial Team. Estimating based on this point alone, the Celestial Team is indeed the second most powerful squad among all the Reincarnation Squads. The strongest is the Demon Reincarnation Squad, while our Central Continent Team hovers somewhere between third and fifth place," Chu Xuan confirmed with certainty.

"Is that so?" Zheng Zha managed a bitter smile, but he immediately slapped Chu Xuan on the shoulder and declared loudly, "Regardless of anything else, we owe this victory entirely to you this time. Otherwise, our team might have been completely wiped out, and there's no way we'd have achieved what we have now... But you little scamp, you are infuriating! Did you genuinely think none of us would worry? You aren't just a machine for the Central Continent Team; you are our comrade—a partner in life and death, someone we fight shoulder-to-shoulder with!"

"A comrade..." Chu Xuan lowered his gaze slightly. He adjusted his glasses as he looked up. "One must survive to remain a comrade... The dead cannot speak..."

"Haha, who says the dead can't speak? You were speaking earlier, weren't you?" Zheng Zha laughed again, slapping Chu Xuan's shoulder heartily.

Chu Xuan rubbed his shoulder. Although he couldn't feel pain, his shoulder bones seemed to audibly register the impending sound of breaking. Even though he knew such physical actions wouldn't truly affect him, he still suspected Zheng Zha was indulging in personal vengeance, masking his excitement with the act of striking him.

"Next was the killing of Hao Tian. Before returning to the 'Main God' space for overall recovery, I shot and killed him first. I did this because I wasn't certain whether the 'Main God' would restore the portion of his consciousness that was under my control, so I had to eliminate him directly, even though the reward points and side-plots he gained were considerable."

Chu Xuan stated calmly.

Zheng Zha suddenly recalled something then. He exclaimed with delight, "That’s right! There are reward points and side-plots too! Our team has truly reaped a massive harvest this time—far more reward points and side-plots than we ever gained before! And we brought back this Skeleton Warhorse too!"

Zheng Zha's Skeleton Warhorse had already drawn the attention of several ladies. For some inexplicable reason, the other girls found the skeletal steed terrifying, whereas the fiery blonde beauty belonging to Ba Wang seemed utterly fascinated, continually exchanging words like "Cool." Her eyes were fixed on the warhorse, sparkling with admiration, making the other girls appear remarkably sensible in comparison.

In fact, it was only at this moment that Zheng Zha fully registered the rewards accrued in the Middle-earth world—the reward points and everything else. He frowned, saying, "But something seems off. When you died earlier, the Central Continent Team already lost one point. Then four new members were killed consecutively. Even without counting Hao Tian, we are still down three points. I killed one member of the Celestial Team, and Zero Point killed another. Netting this out, shouldn't we still be at a deficit of 0.50 reward points? I earned some, perhaps, but what about Ba Wang and the others..."

Chu Xuan shook his head, dismissing the worry with disdain. "You forgot the mission rewards from the Lord of the Rings? One thousand reward points are added for every plot character saved, and one thousand are deducted for every plot character killed. In the end, three Hobbits died, along with the King of Rohan, and one of the Regent's sons. These individuals were all plot characters displayed during the 'Main God Mission'; meaning a deduction of 5000 points. However, far more survived. The Fellowship of the Ring—Aragorn, the two others, one Hobbit, Gandalf, Boromir, Éomer—here we gained an extra 2000 points. Then, from Helm's Deep to Minas Tirith, and further to Mordor, three major battles were fought, yielding 3000 points for each victory. That means, factoring in the fixed 1000 points for every horror film, we obtained 12,000 reward points from the main quest alone. Then you killed the Balrog, earning an A-rank side-plot and 8000 reward points. Killing someone who had unlocked their Genetic Lock earned a B-rank side-plot and 7000 reward points. Plus the two Ringwraiths you killed before, totaling 10,000 reward points, along with one B-rank side-plot and two C-rank side-plots. In short, even after deducting 3000 points, you earned a total of 31,000 reward points, one A-rank side-plot, two B-rank side-plots, and two C-rank side-plots from this horror film world... That is how the calculation stands."

Zheng Zha felt a tremor course through him—a tremor of excitement mixed with anxiety, akin to a perpetually poor man suddenly winning a five-million-dollar lottery. The feeling was hard to articulate, though Zheng Zha hadn't reached the point of articulation yet. He had lived frugally before, meticulously calculating every reward point and carefully deliberating over every side-plot, lest some mishap in the next horror film bankrupt them. Receiving such a windfall left him somewhat stunned. After a long moment, he turned toward the 'Main God.'

"...Damn it, happiness came too suddenly. I actually have over 30,000 reward points? This is utterly preposterous! And so many side-plots..." Zheng Zha muttered to himself in a daze for a long time before suddenly breaking into a foolish grin.

Chu Xuan ignored him and went straight to the 'Main God' terminal to check his own accrued reward points and side-plots.

Zheng Zha snapped back to reality. According to Chu Xuan’s calculation, even Ba Wang and the others, who contributed minimally to this horror film world, stood to gain 5000 reward points each just for showing up. For a typical horror film, this was truly a massive windfall; everyone could afford to exchange for many items. In terms of side-plots, no one was lacking either. While Zheng Zha's haul was exaggerated, Zhang Heng, Zero Point, Zhao Yingkong, and the others also gained exceptionally rich returns.

Zhao Yingkong silently walked away from the 'Main God' terminal, but a rare flicker of excitement shone in her usually cold eyes. She took several deep breaths before stating, "I have two B-rank side-plots..."

Zheng Zha smiled at her. "Yes, you killed an eighth-level Ringwraith, so your gains are naturally this substantial."

"...And two A-rank side-plots."

Zhao Yingkong finally finished her sentence and stared directly at Zheng Zha.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha..." Zheng Zha immediately burst into a wide-mouthed laugh. If Lori hadn't been standing nearby, he would have immediately grabbed Zhao Yingkong and tossed her around joyfully. Two A-rank side-plots! In previous horror film worlds, teams would fight to the death over a single B-rank side-plot, and now she had two A-rank ones... But the surprises weren't over. Zhao Yingkong pulled out another ring radiating black light. This ring looked unremarkable, but all ten team members present knew this was the One Ring worn on the severed hand.

Zhao Yingkong nodded slightly. She began, "Its function is..." Jump to