Zheng was strong both physically and mentally after surviving countless life and death battles, enduring through the deaths of many comrades, and overcoming his heart’s devil. He had nearly patched up his flaws in every aspect. He wasn’t strong enough to completely disregard other teams yet, but he could be crowned as non-human by the other teams.
Still, Zheng wasn’t omnipotent.
A hero alone could not carry a team through God’s realm. Individual heroism usually equated to idiocy in the realm and could only get by against ordinary teams. Any team with a decent strategist on the level of Neos, or perhaps even Julian could kill this heroism along with the person’s team. The only exception was when this team’s strength achieved a limit where wit no longer had any effect on it, just like the current team Devil.
A team, as it suggested, required talents from multiple fields. The strategist, the psyche force user, close and long-range combatants, researchers, medics, etc… A complete team required the cooperation of too many people. Team China was a rare case where they had a variety of talents, including the researcher who tended to have the least self-sustain. Furthermore, their researcher was also a strategist with unfathomable strength. A lot of times, he gave off a sense of being stronger than Zheng.
Zheng looked at the comrades standing beside him. These were the people who had fought along him on the edge of hell. They were all strong. They were his pride and weakness. His comrades were like his life and he whole heartedly believed in them.
“It’s decided then. Xuan, Heng, Imhotep, XueLin and I will ride the spaceship to the alien mothership. HongLu will command the rest of you. Zero, WangXia, and YinKong are strong fighters. If the other team finds you while I am away, please protect everyone.” Zheng said to his team while the American military staffs were cleaning up the spaceship in the distance.
Everyone who first saw the spaceship rushed near it for a closer look. However, a stench that came from the spaceship nearly fainted them. The smell originated from the bio-suit the aliens wore. It was unbearable to humans and seemed to be slightly toxic. Team China had no choice but to wait for the spaceship to be cleaned before they could board it. During this time, Zheng reminded the team of things to look out for and how to deal with assaults from team Pacific. Things were easier said than done. One mistake by the team and they would be taken out one by one by team Pacific.
(We also split up when we fought team Devil and the outcome was… I am scared that this battle will be another collapse of the team. Sigh. This bad feeling has been lingering on my mind. Am I overthinking it?)
Zheng gave a good look at Xuan and HongLu. The two people’s images gradually overlapped. There were still many differences between the two, but they seemed to have the same devil’s tail on their backs. They were equally obnoxious when it came to hiding information. Zheng wondered if it was a habit for all smart people to do things that no one understood.
“I know you are hiding something from me, HongLu. I can’t see through this mist but it probably has to do with team Pacific. Maybe even the heart’s devil of Xuan. I don’t know what scheme you have in plan. One thing I know is you are a member of team China. You won’t forego the interest of the team. I have always believed that. You were right that we believe in Xuan too much and have forgotten that he has his own issues. This movie could be the turning point of our perception. You are also team China’s strategist. You are also strong!” Zheng stood in front of HongLu with his back to him and said.
(Everyone is growing. He hasn’t figured out what I have been doing but he can guess the crucial points. Keep growing. If one day, Xuan and I and most of the team are gone, you can still climb to the top.)
HongLu exhaled and laughed. “Of course, everything I do is with the team in mind. It’s too early to claim this since we can still fail, but believe in me. I might not be at Xuan’s height but I won’t disappoint you.”
Zheng nodded and didn’t say anything after. The team watched the staffs clean up the spaceship.
As the cleaning came to an end, Zheng took out ten pieces of silver plates from his ring. “This are the things we used in The Mummy. They should work anywhere within the atmosphere. However, Xuan said their effectiveness will reduce once you leave the atmosphere due to magnetic fields. I don’t know if we will be able to keep in contact after the boarded the spaceship. So, all of you keep one in hand and use them if we get split up.”
Zheng reiterated the things to keep in mind almost like a parent figure. The ominous feeling lingering drove him to repeat himself again and again. Only when the cleaning was finished did he stop.
Xuan and XueLin walked into the spaceship one after the other. Heng gave a good gaze at YanWei before walking away. He didn’t say anything and she only put up a cold smile on her face. Never did he notice how fake and unnatural that smile was.
Imhotep kissed Anck-Su-Namun until she was running out of breath like the romantic guy that he was. She was a woman attractive enough to seduce the high priest to betray the pharaoh. The two newbies couldn’t put their eyes on her when she blushed and breathed heavily. Imhotep let go of her afterward then headed into the spaceship.
“Haha. Not like you’re going to hell…” ChengXiao patted Zheng on the shoulder. “Leave now so you can be back sooner. We will be watching the fireworks from Earth. Make the fireworks blaze more dazzling than ever!”
Zheng laughed and exhaled. He followed the other four people into the spaceship.
Team China spent quite a lot of talking to obtain the spaceship’s usage instead of letting the American government seize it for research. Even after the five-people boarded the spaceship, the government staffs were still trying to persuade those who were staying behind to put a nuclear bomb in the spaceship and detonate it once the spaceship got inside the mothership.
However, HongLu firmly denied their request. He stated that the ride was dangerous enough on its own as they were betting on the alien to act as they predicted. If the alien had a mean to detect nuclear weapons, having one on the spaceship would declare death to everyone inside. HongLu would not allow the American government to put a nuclear weapon to get rid of that possibility. The strength of these five people was powerful enough to kill their way through the mothership once they got inside.
(It feels kind of sad that I started learning Xuan’s ways. I am taking bets in my plans, betting on the aliens’ actions and betting on Xuan to have control of the pace. If even one step in the plan goes wrong, the team will fall into an abyss and can never climb out.)
The spaceship levitated and wavered in the air. After it gained stability, it rose faster and faster then shot up to the sky at an unbelievable speed in front of everyone. The spaceship disappeared beyond the clouds.
“Whew. They finally left.” HongLu exhaled. His hand stealthily grasped the silver plate that Zheng left to him. While people were still staring at the sky, his voice sounded in their minds.
“Don’t look surprised or any other expression. Continue looking up and listen. I am going to fill you in the details of our plan. First thing is the battle that will come upon our group.”
Their expression didn’t look any different but if one were to look closely, they could notice the nervousness on LiuYu, JunTian, and Anck-Su-Namun’s faces. Anck-Su-Namun’s eyes moving as if she were contemplating something.
“… That’s the assignment for our group. All the unconscious members are placed in the American military base. There’s risk of the alien air force attacking the group but our operation is only more dangerous in comparison. The only thing we can do is pray for the end of the movie to come sooner.”
HongLu paused before continuing. “If the plan Xuan and I set up proceeds perfectly, this movie should end in twelve hours at the most. There is less than a thirty percent chance the military base gets attacked. We have to take this bet… Now, on to Xuan’s part of the plan…”
This plan was jointly set up by Xuan and HongLu. Xuan initiated the plan and continued until his heart’s devil was on the brink of emerging. Then HongLu woke up. He couldn’t know the details of Xuan’s plan so he had to continue with what was left to him… The end result was the final plan team China had in Independence Day.
“That’s the basic situation. Uh, this line… Anyway, that’s the plan Xuan and I set up. There is a seventy percent chance team Pacific will attack us. I only have one request for YinKong. Use your current strength and not her strength. You can’t use her strength until we are inside the mothership. We will be captured but the chance of them killing us immediately is almost zero because the other group will hear a notification if someone dies during a team battle. Assaulting us means that team Pacific is decently smart and confident at wiping our whole team. They are afraid of Zheng running around with the spaceship after he heard a notification, so they wouldn’t be able to kill him. Once they defeat us, don’t fight back with your lives. Get captured at just the right level of retaliation and our lives are safe.”
HongLu sighed. “The next battle will be inside the mothership. And our plan is…”
It had been two minutes and the group was still staring at the sky. The Americans were getting impatient but just then, a tiny object appeared in the distance and was growing bigger and bigger. A spaceship loomed in on the people. They thought Zheng’s group returned on the spaceship but when it came within three hundred meters, they realized this spaceship was at least three times bigger than a normal one. There were several barrels equipped. The armament seemed much more powerful.
People’s eyes fixed on the spaceship that slowly landed on a few hundred meters away. The American politicians and soldiers let out a sigh of relief when they saw three humans walked out. The members of team China on the other hand tensed their bodies as they stared at the three people.
The person walking in the front was the leader of team Pacific whom Zheng met, Lionheart. He showed a bright smile as soon as he stepped out of the spaceship. He was sparkling with his shiny blond hair and handsome look. The man said. “What are you waiting for, players of team China? Put down your weapons and surrender. I am a gentleman. There won’t be tortures on captives… especially for beautiful women.” He smiled at Anck-Su-Namun.
Zero raised the sniper rifle without a word and no scope fired at Lionheart. A rippling wave emerged in front of Lionheart the moment a bang was heard. A visible barrier stopped the bullet. Lionheart reached out his hand and grabbed the long and narrow bullet with his hand.
“Oh, yeah. A Gauss sniper rifle. This thing is powerful and a great value. We had a member who used this weapon and he was cloned into team Devil for his potential. I never thought team China has so many talents, especially a sniper.” Lionheart said with a smile.
His eyes sharpened for a moment as he flicked his thumb. A piercing sound whistled followed by the sound of impact. Zero flew back half a meter. There was a thumb sized hole on his right shoulder when he dropped back on the ground. The bullet Lionheart flicked was powerful enough to pierce a person shoulder blade at over fifty meters away!
(Zheng is probably the only one who can do that with pure strength. Maybe the other YinKong too.) HongLu thought.
The other members of team China rushed at Lionheart when they saw Zero fell in blood. The man with closed eyes who were standing behind Lionheart shook his head and said. “It’s no use. Team Celestial has given us information about your team. The only people with the power to fight back are your sniper at a distance, this little girl, and your leader, who is extremely strong. However, he’s not here. Give up. Do you know why we didn’t attack you with the weapons on the spaceship? It has limited energy. We don’t have to waste so much energy on you guys. That’s reserved to catch up to your leader. Surrender.”
(YinKong has only just obtained that power. Team Celestial doesn’t know of her strength. Zheng said Zero killed the only Cultivator in God’s realm during the Lord of the Rings. They are bound to remember him. The question is why didn’t team Celestial warn them of the most dangerous person? Putting Zheng aside, there’s still Xuan. Adam lost in the battle of wits so he shouldn’t forget that monster. Unless… team Celestial wants to get rid of team Pacific through our hands.)
While HongLu contemplated, YinKong performed a slash motion using the invisible Excalibur. Lionheart glanced at her with contempt. When the air pressure was near him, his eyes changed expression and the sword glided across from his left shoulder, cutting him in halves. Yet, there was no blood. The two halves of his body transformed into palm size bats that swarmed beyond YinKong. They assembled into a human form and transformed back into Lionheart, unharmed.
This was an ability once used by clone Zheng.
