Sheyan had just obtained a lot of information from the Blu-ray party, so he was currently thinking and analysing them repeatedly in his mind.

For example, he just found out that killing an ordinary enemy infantry gave 1 contribution point.

It was only a casual remark, but analysing the conversion rate further, he was able to deduct many things.

To trade for an Orc, he had to kill five enemy infantry. What was an Orc in this war? Merely cannon fodder. No amount of Orc corpses could fill up the gap between all seven Minas Tirith walls, and they were already the cheapest kind of army unit!

And don’t forget, this war was a siege!

Even someone as powerful as Sheyan would find it difficult to kill five ordinary human infantry protected by the city walls, let alone other contestants! Was the difficulty of trading for cannon fodder like the Orcs really that high? Would this war really boil down to a battle between long range contestants? That’s impossible!

Therefore, from these details alone, Sheyan could already deduce that the opponents would not just stay inside Minas Tirith and defend! There would very likely be intense melee combat, and it would probably be the main theme of this war.

Offence is the best defence. The best way to protect Minas Tirith was not to build more trebuchets than the enemy, but to rush out and destroy all the enemy’s siege weapons! In that case, both sides would naturally have the opportunity to engage in direct confrontation!

To infer the tactic the enemy commander would adopt from something as simple as a conversion rate….

It goes to show that if one is observant enough, one could tell the coming of autumn from a single falling leaf.

Sheyan had to analyse and study every piece of information carefully, so now that all these information suddenly and unexpectedly came rushing in, Sheyan felt like his brain was about to explode, like a turkey that was stuffed to the brim.

He shook his head with a wry smile. He closed his eyes, gulped down a mouthful of vodka, and forcefully emptied his mind. As he savoured the fiery taste in his mouth, his mind slowly calmed down and returned to a peaceful state.

Suddenly, Sheyan’s nose was assaulted by a weird smell, like a mixture of sweat, body odour, and something rotten.

Even in his calm state, he had an impulse to throw up. He immediately ran away in panic with his arms waving about in a frenzy. Only after he had escaped several metres away and looked back did he find that an Uruk-hai had appeared at the spot he was in before.

The Uruk-hai was tall, fierce and strong. He was wearing a set of heavy armour. With his nose twitching constantly, his eyes stared greedily at the vodka container in Sheyan’s hand, obviously with no good intention.

But when he had a good look at Sheyan’s face, he suddenly became very gloomy. Evidently, the Uruk-hai had initially planned to snatch the vodka by force, but Sheyan’s terrifying +3 Legend Level made it give up on the idea.

Sheyan stared at Ronnie hatefully. Why didn’t this guy give him a heads up? He could have avoided being assaulted by the toxic smell.

Ronnie merely shrugged his shoulders with a helpless look. This place was, after all, the territory of the Orcs, and the Uruk-hai appeared to be an Elite. If he wanted to come over to maintain order, what could Ronnie do about it?

After taking a few deep breaths, Sheyan went back to talk to the Elite Uruk-hai while holding the ‘Endless Vodka’. Unfortunately, but Sheyan did not get any useful information. The only thing he found out was that this Uruk-hai was a creature even more powerful than an Elite Uruk-hai. He was called an Uruk-hai Growler, and he was incredibly strong. Of course, Sheyan had no way of knowing how “incredible” his strength was without actual combat data.

A man near Sheyan could not help sneering at him mockingly when he saw what Sheyan tried to do.

“You’re trying to buy information with just some alcohol? You gotta be kidding me.”

Ronnie immediately glared at him viciously, like the guy had insulted him personally.

Sheyan, on the other hand, did not feel ridiculed. Instead, he felt like there was something worth investigating behind those words. He instantly requested for a trade and offered the man 1 contribution point, while asking with interest, “Why, has someone tried it before?”

The man was stunned, but after all, you don’t hit a smiling face. For the sake of the contribution point, he patiently explained, “Before entering the world, my party leader made a thorough study of the habits and diet of the Orcs and the Uruk-hai, and traded for hundreds of things that they might like from the Realm. Moreover, my party leader’s Charm is over 100. Even with all that, he only got seven pieces of useful information out of them. It’s a bit naive of you to think that you can get useful information with just a bottle of vodka.”

Sheyan was a little surprised. There really were a lot of crouching tigers and hidden dragons in the Realm. It was quite hard to reach the 100-point mark in Charm because there was not too much equipment that increased the Charm attribute. That means his leader should have at least 40 points of Charm without wearing any equipment when he broke through to a Growth Hunter!

At that moment, Sanzi walked over to Sheyan with a nervous look on his face. Sheyan asked him to sit down and explain himself slowly.

Sanzi whispered, “I think I might have discovered a big secret of the Realm, brother!”

“….I see. Tell me everything, slowly. Don’t leave anything out,” replied Sheyan in the party communication channel without showing any emotion on his face.

Sanzi explained, “I just received a mission, a very demanding special mission for the Chosens. According to the mission details, when the Ringwraiths join the battle on their Fell beasts later, Gandalf will call upon the Great Eagles of the Misty Mountains in response. Three of the Great Eagles are pregnant and are close to laying eggs. My mission is to get one of the eggs from the belly of the Great Eagles and tame it as a mount.”

“Only the Great Eagles in a Realm War world jointly created by multiple Realms will possess a special biological power when they grow to a higher level. They have the natural ability to form a self-sustaining shield around their body which enables them to fly in any environment for 30 seconds. So, when our Noah Realm C gets injured while traveling through the dimensional turbulence, I’ll be able to transport some supplies and materials to repair the Realm by riding the Great Eagle.”

Sheyan listened to every word attentively. When Sanzi finished, Sheyan said, “This mission is very important! We’ll try our best to help you complete it. The more important you are to the Realm, the more reluctant the Realm will be to see you die, so the more favouritism it’ll show you within its scope of authority! This is a great chance! Even favouritism within the Realm’s scope of authority is great news for us!”

Sanzi nodded and said seriously, “What I find puzzling is the very top part of the mission notification. It said “Top Secret Document for Chosen 6513A of the Era of Martyrs (Realm Calendar Year 139-142)””

(TL: The name of the Era in Chinese is 烈 (lie4), which can mean a lot of things, including intense, fiery, strong, violent, etc. It’s hard to tell what the author’s intended meaning for the word is with just the word by itself. However, the Era of Martyrs sounds the best to me, so that’s what I’m going with. )

Hearing these information from Sanzi, an outline begun forming in Sheyan’s mind. Some of his previous doubts had also been explained.

Sheyan had been thinking — are the contestants participating in this war all the contestants in Noah Realm C? Why hadn’t the stronger contestants been sent here to help?

It was hard to explain this away with just the existence of a “level barrier”, or that “the stronger the power, the greater the restriction”.

“The words “the Era of Martyrs” are worth analysing,” said Sheyan after pondering it over.

“It’s hard to imagine what “Martyrs” have to do with an age or an era. However, there was a case in ancient China where 8 large granaries were named after the first 8 words in the ancient poem Thousand Character Classic, so the granaries had names like “Heaven”, “Earth”, “Dark” and “Flood”. For example, the “Heaven” granary was granary #1, and the “Flood” granary was granary #8.”

At this time, Zi had come over too. Upon hearing that, she asked, “You mean “Martyrs” is only like a code name or number for the Era marked by the period stated?”

Aldaris interjected, “In my real world, there’s a very famous basketball player named Kobe Bryant. He joined the NBA through a draft in 1996. Many famous superstars later emerged from among the basketball players drafted in the same year, so the fans refer to that draft class collectively as the “Class of ’96” golden generation. The “Era of Martyrs” might be something similar.”

“What comes to my mind when I hear your explanation are the graduation classes back in school. For example, I graduated from junior high in the graduation class of ’00. Whenever it’s written, it’s always followed by the explanation “(1997-2000)”,” said Sanzi.

“That should be it,” Sheyan nodded.

“We can now pretty much determine the principle of how the Realm allocates combats to its contestants. Most of the people who fight against us should be the contestants from the same period as us, contestants from the Era of Martyrs! Only after that will the tiers of strength be considered. It’s like setting up the national soccer team. The first consideration is the age group of 20-35, and only after that will the coach consider whether to call up players from Division 1 or Division 2. In this way, the Realm can guarantee that the power of the contestants from the same period will not be too far apart.”

“The contestants are probably unable to travel between different Eras, at least not at our current stage. The Cardinal who gave me so much trouble before should be among the first batch to enter this Era, while we should be among the last.”

“So what happens when we reach the peak of the Era?” asked Zi.

“We’ll graduate and move to a higher Era, of course,” answered Sheyan with a smile, “Just like how we move on to high school after junior high. But I believe we’ll definitely get some extra benefits when the time comes, like the preferential treatment given to teams that promote from Division 2 to Division 1.”

Next, they discussed the mission that Sanzi received. At the moment, all of them were feeling pretty good about their strength, so even though the mission was difficult, they felt like they definitely had a chance.

While they were having the discussion, they finally received their mission:

[ Temperer 1018, you and your party have received the upgradable mission: Destroy the Kingdom. ]

[ Mission Briefing: Destroy the symbol of Minas Tirith, the White Tower! ]

[ Mission Details: The city of Minas Tirith is built in a unique way. The city is divided into seven levels, each of which has its own city walls and gate, and the gates are not lined up in a straight line. Part of the reason for this special landscape is due to the natural mountain terrain, while part of it is due to the uncanny workmanship of the ancient craftsmen. ]

[ To get to the throne room and the Court of the Fountain in front of the White Tower, it is necessary to breach all seven levels of walls and gates. The White Tower stands at 300 feet tall, piercing straight into the sky. The Steward’s banner flies high atop the tower, overlooking the great plain more than 1000 feet below. Destroying the White Tower signifies the fall of Minas Tirith! ]

[ Note: This mission is an upgradable mission. After you make your choice, you will not be able to return to the Nightmare Realm even if you enter the Source of Darkness hall. However, this mission will be upgraded to a Golden Main Mission without any increase in difficulty! ]

[ Warning: You must make your choice within 24 hours of entering the world, or the upgradable mission options will disappear. ]

[ Warning: If the Source of Darkness hall is captured, all the contestants of this faction still remaining in this world will die. ]

***

[ Hint: You can acquire the following titles in this world (including the extended worlds). ]

[ ‘Nemesis of Legends’: You participated in the fight to kill any two of Gandalf, Aragon, Gimli, or Legolas. ]

[ Title Reward: Legend Level +1 ]

[ ‘Bane of City Gates’ Lvl 1: You have destroyed at least one of Minas Tirith’s city gates. With every Minas Tirith city gate you destroy, the title will be upgraded once. In theory, you can destroy up to seven gates. ]

[ Title Reward: Damage to buildings increased by 100%-700% (700% being the reward for the maximum upgrade) ]

[ ‘Hedgehog’: You have been shot 5000 times by storyline characters (the arrows must hit and reduce your HP). Current count: 0/5000. ]

[ Title Reward: Reduce 90% of the damage from long range attacks done by storyline characters. ]

[ ‘Chef’ Lvl 1: There is currently a big problem with the food supply of the Orcs because all of them are busy constructing siege weapons, so they can’t gather enough dry wood to cook. Please help at least 5 Orcs in charge of the stoves to cook the food. Current count: 0/5. This milestone will refresh every 12 hours and can be completed up to 3 times. ]

[ Title Reward: Fire damage increased by 5%. Upon reaching Lvl 3, spell damage increased by 15%. ]

(TL: “spell damage” is probably a typo. It should be “fire damage” too.)

[ ‘Labourer’ Lvl 1: To capture Minas tiris, boulders and blood are far from enough. The supply line has become a big problem. Help the Orcs transport 10 units of wood and stones from the camp near the Anduin river. This milestone will refresh every 12 hours and can be completed up to 3 times. ]

[ Title Reward: 1% increase in movement speed. Upon reaching Lvl 3, 4% increase in movement speed. ]

[ ‘Rich and Powerful’: You have redeemed a total of 10,000 contribution points or more. ]

[ Title Reward: You will enjoy a 15% discount when you redeem things in this world. In addition, you will have the privilege of redeeming a creature, item, or equipment which costs below 1000 contribution points for free. ]

***

After going through the list of titles, Sheyan’s gaze fell on the ‘Hedgehog’ title! Reducing the damage from storyline characters’ long-range attacks by 90% is extremely tempting for an MT! Coupled with Sheyan’s innate ability, it’s possible that the damage he took from arrows from then on would not even overcome his defence, so there would only be 1 point of mandatory HP deduction. He would be able to rush through a hail of arrows like he was blessed by the heavens!

The title of ‘Chef’ was a must for all mage-type contestants. Meanwhile, the ‘Labourer’ title was suitable for everyone. Everyone wished they could run faster when they were running away or pursuing someone.

At this time, the Source of Darkness hall had finally became a lot emptier. Sheyan had already found out they way to check how much contribution points he had, so he deliberately waited until now. He went straight to the Eye of Sauron in the centre of the hall. After checking that no one around was paying attention to him, he asked the rest of his party to surround him, then placed his hand on the crystal ball.

A sharp, menacing voice suddenly rang in Sheyan’s mind.

“My powerful warrior! The dark equipment and potent secret medicine that I have amassed for thousands of years cannot be given to useless trash, so you must first pass my test… AAHH!!! A powerful soul! I like a strong warrior like you. Oh, and one with such extraordinary and legendary experiences… Excellent, that’s excellent. You’ve gained my approval. I will now give you the full amount of your contribution points.”

Sheyan immediately understood Sauron’s meaning. He had probably obtained a lot of contribution points. However, he did not acquire those contribution points through the war, and yet the contribution points could be used to trade for Sauron’s warriors and treasures, so Sauron wished to personally give Sheyan a test to make sure that his assets were not wasted on a useless piece of trash.

Such a situation was akin to a young man in his twenties who was suddenly promoted to a high position at the executive level. His direct superior would naturally doubt his capabilities. Of course the superior must test him out first before giving him any real power.

[ Temperer 1018, I must regretfully inform you that due to your current faction, you cannot summon your servant, Melody Sunstrider and the forces related to her into this world. Therefore, based on your previous experiences in the Lord of the Rings world, you shall receive a starting amount of 871 contribution points. ]

[ You have passed the baptism of the Eye of Sauron. All 871 contribution points will now be given to you in full! ]

“871 contribution points!” Sheyan was truly shocked. A monstrous Troll that required the joint effort of the Fellowship of the Ring to take down only cost 380 contribution points. With that conversion rate, it was as good as giving him two Trolls right from the get go!

Though at the moment, two Trolls seemed to be useless in a siege battle, but Sheyan had already inferred that there would be chances for melee fights in this war. Therefore, such an advantage was similar to having an AMP suit on planet Pandora right from the very beginning!

But right then, there was suddenly a fierce explosion outside!!

When Party Ace rushed out, they saw that nearly ten craters had been made in the ground around the camp. The craters were about two to three metres in diameter, but they were very shallow because the projectiles that created them were the kind of incendiary projectiles which splattered after they hit the ground. The area hundreds of meters around had turned into a sea of flames. Many Orc shacks were lit on fire, as were many Orcs themselves.

But even under such circumstances, all the attacked mini camps appeared to be in order. The burning Orcs that were running around in panic were quickly knocked down and doused with water by other Orcs. As for the burning buildings, they were dealt with by several Orc shamans who brought out a few toads as spellcasting medium. As they chanted while jumping and dancing about, a large amount of thick, smelly white foam was conjured out of nowhere and soon put the flames out.

What’s more, after realising that the opponent had this kind of long-range ability, Gothmog gave the order for the whole camp to spread out. The camp, which was not that dense to begin with, became even more sparse!

There were many capable people among the contestants that were participating in the war. Someone soon worked out that the projectiles were incendiary rocket projectiles launched from a self-propelled rocket launcher. The cost of firing was estimated to be at least 2000 utility points. However, this round of attack had killed only six or seven Orcs who happened to be struck directly by the rockets. If the rockets were fired during the siege, the damage would have been at least ten times greater. Therefore, this round of attack could be considered a big loss for the opponent!

This kind of probing attack soon stopped, but it certainly did not mean that a temporary peace had descended.

***

Dense clouds accumulated in the sky, so the sky turned dark when it was only 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

Disorderly winds blew on the plain. Sheyan wiped away his sweat in the wind and kicked the side of a wheelbarrow that had materials piled up on it like a mountain, while shouting at the Uruk-hai officer in charge of inspecting the goods, Cisco Dog-Ear.

“Hey, stupid! Check these properly. Three units of stones and two units of wood, that’s 25 contribution points in total! If you give me a point less, I’ll skin you alive!”

“Yes, sir.” When the usually arrogant Uruk-hai heard Sheyan’s rude threat, he actually reacted timidly, completely unlike his usual self.

On the eve of the war, the most important thing was logistics. Be it the defending side or the besieging side, they could never have too much wood and stones. That was why a unit of stones or wood could be exchanged for the high price of five contribution points.

The defending Gondorians were not idiots. All the wood and stone resources near Minas Tirith had been razed, leaving nothing for the invaders, so the Orcs had to travel more than seven kilometres to reach the nearest place that produced these resources.

Perhaps the Gondorians, who felt that they were short of manpower, could only watch as the Orcs gathered these strategic materials, but the opposing contestants who had the numerical advantage would certainly not do so! Therefore, before the main storyline character forces of both sides had started fighting, intense small-scale battles had already broken out in the far away Lossarnach Vale!

(Lossarnach, also named Vale of Flowers, was a fertile region and fiefdom in Southern Gondor south of the White Mountains. It was the region closest to Minas Tirith.)

“We should have time for a few more trips. The total contribution point of our party will reach 1200 soon,” said Reef excitedly.

Following a nod from Cisco Dog-Ear, 25 contribution points were added to the party’s account. Compared with Sheyan who started with over 800 contribution points, the rest of the party did not have much. In total, they added up to about 1100 points.

Although they could not kill anyone yet, it was not a bad experience for the whole party to work together like this.

But Aldaris could not help complaining, “More than ten parties have gone to Lossarnach to chop wood and gather stones, and eight of them were attacked. Even the Beast Party that left after us was attacked once. I just can’t stand how excited they look. Why can’t we meet any enemies that deliver themselves to our doorsteps?”

“The Beast party won, but they also lost two people. Of course, that was nothing for a 20-people party like them. Those who died were also probably just marginal figures in the party. But this is only the beginning of the war… Moreover, one of the eight parties that were attacked was wiped out! Don’t forget that the enemy contestants outnumber us by several times. That’s why we must place our sight on the long term. Don’t lament the fact that you have no one to kill now; late in the war, there might be too many of them for you to handle,” Sheyan said with a soft smile.

Aldaris looked like he still wished to say something, but when he saw Zi staring at him coldly, he immediately shut his mouth.

Not many party leaders could handle a powerful but arrogant guy like Aldaris, but there happened to be two such people in Party Ace. Moreover, Aldaris was willingly staying in the party for some reason.

Sheyan gestured for the four Orc labourers to drag the huge wooden wheelbarrow that had become empty again back to Lossarnach.

While walking through the camp, Sheyan saw some Orcs lighting a fire among the shacks to cook. The so-called cooking was just to throw all the things that the Orcs deemed edible – grain husk, bread, fur, meat, wild vegetables, leaves, rotten inner organs, blood and so on – into a pot, then boil it into a pot of “colourful, fragrant and tasty delicacy”. Each Orc would then scoop it with their own bowl and gulp it down.

Seeing this, Sheyan suddenly asked, “Zi, Aldaris, have you done your ‘Chef’ milestone?”

Both Zi and Aldaris nodded. Previously, the party had taken two hours to split up to complete these milestones that were obviously free gifts for them. They continued to talk while they walked to the vale. The atmosphere appeared very relaxing.

But five minutes later.

While on a road where they could still see the black smoke rising from the cooking fires in the Orc camp.

Just four or five kilometres away from the camp.

Party Ace was suddenly ambushed!

They were ambushed hard!!

The last time Party Ace was ambushed was in the world of 2012. That was a fierce battle in which they lost Mogensha! Reef, Zi, and Sanzi were all on the brink of death. If they were unlucky, the whole party could have been wiped out!

How would they respond this time against an ambush that had been long planned?