What Xuan was hiding wasn’t always so important. At least ZhuiKong didn’t seem to care when he looked at Adam with a smile.

Adam appeared to care about ZhuiKong. SongTian stepped in between them. A moment of silence followed between the two parties.

Adam opened his mouth. “Zhao ZhuiKong, when my team went to take the ring, you had already taken it. The biggest influence in this world actually fell into your hands. Although I don’t want this to happen but you have decided to compete with us in this world, correct?”

ZhuiKong’s smile didn’t change. He didn’t express his position and looked at SongTian. “You also reached the fourth stage? Early phase... how unexciting. If you can’t control yourself, just allow yourself to kill like a wild beast. Death is a beauty of its own. Forcefully suppressing your killing desires twists what god has bestowed upon you.”

SongTian also didn’t express himself as he remained calm. “At least I will be able to fight with you monsters. The future of humans can’t be decided by you monsters!”

ZhuiKong shrugged but he seemed to be enjoying this.

Adam waved his hand. “Let’s get to business. I will give you a choice. Either we abandon team China and kill you right now or you leave Mordor and don’t appear in front of me until the battle at Mordor is over. You can come back no matter who wins.”

ZhuiKong raised his head and pondered. After a while, he smiled at the three people in front. “I choose neither. My future should be seized by my hands. You want me to go against my heart by just saying a line... do you really think I will allow this to happen?”

His eyes gradually became sharp. SongTian felt an extraordinary killing intent from ZhuiKong. An antique looking Chinese broadsword appeared in his hand the next moment. It was unknown where the sword came from. It radiated a sense of chill and forced ZhuiKong’s eyes to fall on him.

ZhuiKong gave SongTian a good look then said. “Good... Too bad I am not interested in ripened fruits.” A dagger appeared in his hand. It was small and thin. When looked at from the side, the dagger was translucent as a piece of glass. SongTian backed up half a step as soon as ZhuiKong had the dagger in hand like he was facing a mighty foe. He held the sword with both hands, getting ready to attack at full force once ZhuiKong moves.

Adam suddenly said. “The person you’re interested in... is it Zhao YinKong? What if we keep her alive or hand her to you?”

ZhuiKong stopped. He gave Adam a meaningful look then accepted pleasantly. “Good, just like you said then. I won’t come to Mordor before the battle is over. Oh, and save a few newbies from the other teams. You can take the rest.” He leaped backward into the woods and quickly disappeared.

SongTian loosened up once ZhuiKong was gone. He was still holding onto his sword and was breathing intensely. “This psychopath reached the same height as his clone. It feels helpless that these monsters are stronger than us pure humans. Is this the advantage of being a mixed blood?” He forgot that he was a mixed blood as he said this.

Lina felt confused and asked. “What’s the point of this, Adam? Don’t you think that was a waste of time? You called the psychopath over to ask a few questions and almost got into a fight. What are you thinking?”

“Confirmation.” Adam said. “I need to confirm what Xuan is hiding. Obviously, it isn’t Zhao ZhuiKong. Then what is it? Something that Xuan believes can turn the tide of battle, enough to let him fake his death. What exactly is this thing? If the situation becomes dire, we will have to abandon Anaviya and Lekela. Luo YingLong won’t die anyway and you two are next to me. We won’t get wiped in the worst-case scenario.”

Anaviya and Lekela were a Caucasian man and black man of team Celestial. However, it seemed that these two members had a rather low position in the team. SongTian and Lina didn’t argue with Adam’s decision.

“Then we will stop here... Notify Anaviya and Lekela to help Luo YingLong kill Zheng Zha during the battle at Minas Tirith. At the same time, reduce the human alliance force as much as possible. Mordor winning the battle is the best result... Xuan, let me see your reaction.”

While team Celestial made their decision, a slab of ice floated up from a swamp in the marshes not too far away. The ice cracked. A naked man jumped out at once then he fell on his hands and knees and grasped for air. A long time passed before he stood up. However, he still seemed feeble. He fell multiple times trying to get up. Then his hands reached for the ice slab and climbed. He was barely standing.

The man raised his head and shouted. “I am not dead! Just wait! Whether you are team Celestial or team East America, you just wait! You are no heroes for sneak attacking. Wait for the wrath of my Ice Age! Arghhhhh....”

The mud and water beside him froze as he shouted then they exploded.

“Neos, what are you thinking about?”

The air in the Lord of the Rings world was extremely clean. There was no pollution. Once night fell, they could see the countless stars as they raised their heads. Even the dimmest starlight was visible to the naked eye. Surprisingly, there was also a Milky Way in this world. It was like a silver ribbon that hung across the sky, beautiful and dazzling.

Neos lay on a boulder and gazed at the starry sky. Somehow, he seemed doleful. Aya, who was paying attention to him, couldn’t help but asked.

Neos rubbed his brows. “Aya... I don’t know why but I feel that this path might lead to a great danger if we continue.”

Aya was surprised. “Then are we not going to Minas Tirith? The Ents can find their way there anyway. There’s no need for us to go.”

Neos smiled bitterly. “It’s not so simple. The Ents will become suspicious. We are the ones who guided them there and if we run away, they will not give all they have to save the human alliance. Secondly, the battle at Minas Tirth is important. If we win the battle, the journey to Mordor won’t be as dangerous because we will have obtained enough influence to overwhelm Mordor. Furthermore, if team Celestial and team East America wants to fight us, they are certain to send their members to Minas Tirith. There is no escape. We must head to Minas Tirth. Instead of running away then head to death in Mordor, we might as well give what we have now. If we managed to arrive at Mordor, we will have enough to threaten them... Our team is very weak.”

Snow didn’t look like she understood. Aya and Richard fell into silence.

A while later, Neos broke the silence. “It’s ironic but our hope lies in team China. So, we must be there in Minas Tirith. Else if team China falls, we will lose our advantage to surviving. Sigh...”

“Even if there’s danger ahead, we must attend this battle!”

Team Africa’s saviors weren’t at a good spot either. The road ahead of team China without Xuan was once again clouded. The successor of Xuan that they expected didn’t come. Furthermore, the other four members of team China, the newbies, and the veterans of the other teams disappeared. None of the five members remaining were the strategic types. In the end, all they had was Zheng analyzing the situation through simulation.

“I still haven’t fully grasp the fourth stage. I am only at the early phase so the simulation is at fifty to sixty percent. I don’t know why I have never been able to simulate Xuan. Analyzing at half of HongLu’s strength is really suboptimal...” Zheng said to the others.

After a while of analysis and no conclusions were reached, they had no choice but to follow the development of the original plot, head to Minas Tirith and help the human alliance win the battle. This was all they could do now.

Among the five teams, some were on the verge of being wiped, some were having fun in the world, some were scheming each other, and some were worried. However, as the plot continued to advance, all the teams placed their eyes at the battle coming up in Minas Tirith. This battle would shake the world!