Chapter 2

Ten days passed since Zheng entered the Lord of the Rings again. Following the discussion he had with the team, he had to accumulate refined Qi, practice using Tiger’s Soul and the eight flags, search for the magical items and runewords buried under Isengard.
There was one more task that only he knew of… his Heart’s Demon.

He had to overcome his Heart’s Demon in order to grow to the next level. This was what stood between him and his clone. He woke up from the Heart’s Demon under Xuan’s help in Transformers but that did not make the problem go away. Zheng was stuck in between the beginning and intermediate fourth stage. He gained control over his DNA, yet he could not alter them. He could sense the power possessed in the genes, but not be able to use them. This was a terrible feeling.

Zheng sat on top of a tree with his eyes closed. He was feeling the genes inside his body. There was the genes of human and three sets of incomplete genes. The first set were vampire genes. These were modified on the base of human genes and granted him the ability to produce blood energy. The second set were dragon genes. They came from a completely different genetic model. However, a lot of pieces were missing so its effect was only enhancing his physical body and regeneration rate. Zheng had gained very limited control over his genes. He could isolate a portion of his genes then supply them with energy to test their use.

The third set of frightening genes were hidden inside his body. It was frightening because as he supplied these genes with energy, they would spread outward, penetrate through his isolation and consumed other genes. This set of genes were extremely strong in every way, from enhancing his body to using energy. They were the king among the other genes within Zheng’s body.

These genes were perhaps the genes of the ancient demon.

Zheng opened his eyes with a sigh. Several times he had wanted to enter the state of his Heart’s Demon once more. However, he backed off every time. That feeling of freedom was carved deeply in his memory. He could lose himself in the freedom from just recalling it. If he were to enter the state recklessly, he might never be able to return to reality.

Zheng realized he needed an opportunity.

Every time he had reached the next stage of the unlocked mode, or obtained great power, his emotions were under a volatile state. The desire to live and the desire to protect pushed his emotions to its limit. He did not have the confidence to overcome his Heart’s Demon without any aid.

Yet, his position did not allow him to do so. Xuan and HongLu’s analysis predicted they would encounter team Devil again within five movies. It was only a prediction but the chance existed. If they happened to encounter team Devil, was he… prepared?

“Am I really prepared?” Zheng smiled bitterly to himself. Ever since Resident Evil he had been constantly seeking to grow and revive his team. Grow until he reached the point where he could face his clone. Yet, a sense of fear grew along with his strength.

He did not realize the terror that was his clone when they first fought, when he began reviving his team. His clone was merely stronger than him in his mind. Strong. But the key was… how much stronger?

The stronger Zheng grew, the more he realized his clone’s strength and the more he feared… But this fear was a good thing. The moment this fear reached its climax was the moment he could fight his clone! Though Zheng hadn’t realized this point yet. Each time he recalled his clone, he would feel the fear arose from within his DNA. This might be a sign of his growth.

The refined Qi the only thing Zheng gained in these ten days. He finally began to head toward Isengard. The travel took a day using the Sky Stick. A market was formed not far away from the excavation site. The number of people there made it seem like a little human town.

Gandalf was the one who stayed in Isengard. He planned to build another tower here as his resident. The best site for the tower was of course on top of the excavation site. The foundation was already laid out underneath. The new tower could gain power equivalent to two towers.

“A tower that extends above and below the ground is going to be the first of its kind.” Gandalf said in excitement.

The excavation had long finished. Finished in the sense that the workers reached the top of the tower. Gandalf stopped further excavation. The tower possessed huge power that anyone who overstepped inside should be prepared to get killed.

“A tower without its wizard is still a dangerous domain. Magical restrictions and guardians protect the place.” Gandalf entered the tower with his staff in hand. Zheng was the only person to follow.

“Wizards should be seekers only. We research the phenomenons that occur throughout the world, magic, civilizations, history and races. Our responsibility is to seek the truth and organize this knowledge. Magic is a tool in this process.” Gandalf said to Zheng.

(Isn’t that a scientist? The wizards in the Lord of the Rings sound similar to scientists.)

Gandalf continued, “Wizard towers are the sites we experiment and come to conclusions of these phenomenons. We either write the findings down or apply them in usage. It’s not realistic to search for treasures in such sites. Wizards are wealthy, but this wealth is in the form of knowledge and magical materials. We do not have much in terms of gold.”

Zheng laughed, “I don’t lack gold either. Magical items and materials are the things I am looking for. Oh, knowledge and experience of a wizard also. I also want to see the literature that were written down.”

Zheng wanted the runeword combinations more than the energy stones and materials, because Xuan might come up with new items once he got a hold of them.

The two people entered the wizard tower from its top. They carefully descended the tower. Many floors were crumpled during the tower’s collapse. Stones obstructed the path leading down. Zheng easily cleared the paths with Tiger’s Soul. The power displayed by the sword shocked Gandalf.

Tiger’s Soul’s power exceeded many level three magical weapons if one were to disregard the side effect and restrictions that came with it. It was a weapon of Cultivators.

Their pace was fast with the help of Tiger’s Soul. After crossing the crumpled floors, magic restrictions obstructed their path. Gandalf told Zheng these restrictions could be removed with enough time since they had no master anymore. Zheng didn’t get his hopes up and decided to stay in Isengard. He spent his time refining Qi, trying to come up with new abilities, and pondered on overcoming his Heart’s Demon.

Seventy days quickly flew by. Gandalf broke through the first layer of magic restrictions. A pile of research memos was placed in front of Zheng. These memos were written in hieroglyphs like characters.

“I can’t make sense of these but they are probably extremely valuable, right?” Zheng asked Gandalf with a smile.
Gandalf inhaled a puff of smoke then muttered back, “I apologize. I don’t even recognize the characters written. I have not seen such characters throughout my life, not the language of the orcs, not of the elves, not of the dwarves. They could be words left behind by long fallen civilizations. Saruman was truly the chief of wizards. His knowledge far exceeded mine. He studied such fallen civilizations while I couldn’t even recognize these characters.”

(I think it’s more likely that God altered the plot and intentionally buried the scriptures under the tower as a reward.) Zheng smiled back. He gathered the scriptures under Gandalf’s loathing gaze then said, “I am going to take these back. They might be related to our team in some way. Don’t worry. I will bring it back to you once we studied them. I know you want the scriptures.”

Gandalf returned an awkward smile, inhaled a few more puffs of smoke then said, “Your power has grown again… but your mentality seems to be weaker than we last met. You might fall into the same state as Saruman if this continues.”

Zheng was surprised. “Become like Saruman? What’s that? What do you mean by my mentality?”

Gandalf nodded and said, “Our senses are much more sensitive than typical humans, especially our senses on a being’s mental state. Just like I was about to sense those being controlled by the One Ring, your mental state is ragged with holes. What happened?”

Zheng replied, “Some things indeed happened… Do you have any way to solve this issue?”

Gandalf sighed, “Issues on the mental state are the most difficult to resolve. Otherwise, the One Ring wouldn’t have caused so much damage. You are the only person who could solve this issue. No one can help you. Overcome your mental obstacles and your mental state will return. The only advice I have is hold onto the things you have been holding on firmly. Never waver and your heart will never waver.”

(Hold onto the things I have been holding on? Like live on? Or protect those important to me?)

Zheng pondered over what Gandalf said as he waited for the day to return. Yet, he didn’t know what to do. Wasn’t he holding onto his beliefs all this time? Or… had his beliefs changed without realizing?

He left the Lord of the Rings world with these questions and refined Qi that was double the amount he accumulated the last time. His refinement rate increased as his strength grew and his unlocked stage deepened. The biggest rewards from this trip were the scriptures. Gandalf was still breaking through the magic restrictions in his world. A surprise might await for when he return again.

“These are the scriptures found under the wizard tower. They don’t look like any language native to the Lord of the Rings, right? Gandalf also said they are not the language of any of the known races. So I think God put these under the tower as a reward.” Zheng brought out the scriptures and said to the team.

The team gathered in his room as usual. The scriptures were passed around then placed on the table. TengYi picked up a piece and carefully studied.

Everyone held their breaths as they stared at TengYi. He was the linguist of the team. Xuan might be more knowledgeable over all and HongLu second, but TengYi was more specialized in this field.

“These characters seem to be older than pictographs. They come from a prehistoric civilization.” TengYi frowned.

“Prehistoric civilization?” The team was curious.

“Yes.” TengYi nodded. He put down the scripture and smiled. “The earlier the writing system, the simpler its sentence structures are. Like pictographs, which have no fluent sentences. You can only deduce the meaning of the sentence. This is to be expected as the early forms of language itself are crude. However, prehistoric writing systems broke away from the norm. Writing systems similar to hieroglyphs and pictographs were found in ruins deep under the sea. When translated, these writings formed very fluent sentences as though they were originally translated from modern language. Thus, archeologists deduced the existence of prehistoric civilizations. Some scientists also believed continents depicted in legends, such as the Atlantis, existed. Those who lived in Atlantis used the prehistoric writing system.”

Xuan nodded, “Correct. I have read information on this regard. However, credibility is lacking… Can you translate these scriptures?”

TengYi shook his head, “Unfortunately, I can only make out the meaning of some combinations. I can’t translate whole scriptures unless I have enough time to study and compare each combination. It might take a year…”

A year? The other members looked to each other. Zheng asked, “Have you made out anything since you were looking at them for quite a while?”

TengYi nodded. He picked up the scripture he just put down. “The year the ice phoenix soared, Saints of the west fell. Our strength grew as we come to understanding with the seekers of truth. Yet, can we be victorious? Our enemies are…

“We won with devastating costs. The path has been closed but it will one day open up again. Saints and the seekers of truth are both annihilated. Who could be the guide for humans? Extinction will fall upon humans when the path opens up again… Record keeper, a dying Saint, Anubis.”

TengYi read the scripture in fragments. He then gave the others a bitter smile. “That’s my limit. I induced some sentences by context so I can’t promise accuracy.”
Xuan took over the scripture. He frowned as he glanced over the rest of the pieces on the table. “That’s enough. This information proved a lot of questions, which we will get to at another time. The account is more valuable than any rune words. TengYi, translate the characters that you have an idea of and give me a copy. It will be best for us to enter a world after A Nightmare on Elm Street. We will try to translate the rest of the scriptures before movie after this one. HongLu, you will come with us.”

HongLu spread his hands, agreeing to Xuan’s request without a word.

Zheng asked, “Is what’s written real? The Saints formed an alliance with the seekers of truth… are they the Cultivators? Such alliance only barely won a war and then they both became extinct. What enemies did they face?”

Heng interjected, “Enemies like the Balrog? Not the one we encountered but the original Balrog, an endless number of them. Or perhaps enemies who were even more powerful.”

The thought came to Zheng’s mind as he recalled hearing the genes hibernating within his body belonged to the enemies of the Saints. Judging by the strength of these genes that could consume his the rest of his body with such a tiny amount of energy, beings with the full version of these genes could only be described as terrifying. Perhaps his genes came from the highest level of demons.

The secrets of God’s realm, of the Saints, and of the Cultivators remained hidden until the day they could translate these scriptures. Everyone had questions but they couldn’t arrive at any answers. So the discussion turned back toward their following plans.

“How about I go take a look in The Mummy. If Imhotep returned to Hamuptra, I will bring him back. Otherwise, I will stay two or three days and return.” Zheng asked.

Xuan and HongLu responded at the same time, “No.” They met eyes with each other. Xuan gestured HongLu to go ahead then went to study the scriptures.

HongLu twirled his hair and said, “We should go to The Mummy after this movie as a team. There’s no evidence but I heard you received a letter from Jonathan the last time you went in to revive me. That might be an indication of bonus mission. What if you receive the bonus mission when you go in? It will take at least a day to go to China using the Sky Stick. What if the time required for the mission is longer than the time you exchanged? Furthermore, even if it is possible to complete the mission, are you going to do it by yourself or as a team?”

Zheng pondered over it a little and realized HongLu was right. He thought an undying priest could raise the team’s strength and be useful in certain situations. That was why he wanted to recruit Imhotep in such a hurry. The analysis made gave him second thoughts. He realized it would be careless to enter The Mummy. The worst that might happen was if he get killed by a time restriction.

“If that’s the case, we will save enough points after the next movie and enter as a team.” Zheng made the decision.

Since he decided not to enter The Mummy, the extra points he had was used to exchange items that could counter ghosts and the like. The charms were inexpensive and useful. They would self-ignite as ghosts came near and protect the user.

“The weapons we have that are effective against ghosts are Tiger’s Soul, the silver bow, Excalibur, Lambda Driver, HongLu’s magic, and the Gauss rifle and RPG using special bullets.” Zheng said.

ChengXiao waved at him from the side. “Hey, bro… I am a pervert but I have rights… sigh.”

Zheng said in an awkward tone, “Nothing to do with perverts. You just haven’t said what kind of weapon you want. Plus, your position in the team is a doctor so… I still have enough points. How about we help you exchange a tier B or below weapon?”

Zheng hadn’t paid as much attention to ChengXiao as the rest of the team; the same was for Gando. Now that Gando had died, he wished this person who once died alongside him could live on.

ChengXiao only wanted to rant a little bit. Never did he expected Zheng to exchange a weapon for him. This surprised him. The kungfu passed down by his family had a fairly long history. He didn’t slack off practicing it. After a moment of thinking, he said, “If that’s the case, exchange a pair of martial art gloves for me. I did not learn much on weapons but my unarmed techniques are alright.”

There weren’t many chances for ChengXiao to use his kungfu up to this point. He was basically appointed as the medic of the team as soon as he entered this realm. His medical skills were exceptional so the team gradually treated him as the doctor who needed to be protected. The only time where he shortly fought in close combat was in Resident Evil. All the other times he was either in the back of the team or supported with firearms. This gave everyone the illusion that he was weak. It wasn’t until now that Zheng remembered seeing kungfu techniques through the revival. Though whether or not these techniques were actually useful was another question.

Zheng wasn’t stingy when ChengXiao wanted a pair of gloves. The name of the gloves sounded ordinary, Flurry Fists. It cost one rank B reward. The system described it as a permanently enchanted weapon, able to damage spiritual beings, allow the user to strike with the speed of wind. Furthermore, these gloves could open up to strike with the palms. They were practical judging by the description alone. ChengXiao might be able to exert a threatening force if he managed to close in on his opponent especially when combined with the dragonshard necklace.

Next up, the rest of the team exchanged charms and anti-spiritual items. One particular item called Soul Alluring Incense could wake a person from nightmare with its scent, even when the person’s soul fell into the nightmare. This was a must have item for movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street. They also resupplied on healing items and bullets. HongLu and TengYi received some stat points. And so, the points the team had saved up from the Lord of the Rings were spent to the last dime.

“We are basically backed into a corner. The movies that will come are going to be more difficult every time. Perhaps we might encounter another team battle after this movie; perhaps we might encounter team Devil. We have no time to slack off. We must complete the bonus missions in A Nightmare on Elm Street no matter how difficult they are. Let us grow as a team and as individuals and then let us face team Devil!” Zheng then turned to Xuan, “I can’t analyze everyone’s strengths in details. We will rely on you and HongLu to advise us the important points we should be aware of… I have realized it that we were never safe in this realm. Maybe the lack of death in multiple movies had given us the illusion that we were strong, and we were safe… Continue becoming stronger. Continue until we surpass team Devil. We will not lose to that team ever again!

“Our training begins. Let us train with all we have until the movie starts!”