Without traveling to other worlds and simply staying in the space, using the Main God's calendar to keep time, the total of ten days set aside for recovery passed in the blink of an eye—
Incidentally, Kaguya-hime was progressing quickly. She had mastered the various teachings Uchiha Xiu had freeloaded from the Ninja World, from basic elemental techniques to the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist inheritance and the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu.
Her combat strength ranked second on the East Sea Team.
"Enter the light pillar within thirty seconds."
Radiance poured down.
"Gold controls the power of life, while black holds the terror of death. The two great scriptures of ancient Egyptian mythology—let's see the limits of your power." Uchiha Xiu whispered, holding Kaguya-hime close.
The two of them shared a single teleportation pillar.
And as they drifted between waking and sleep, the Reincarnators heard the Main God's announcement.
"Transfer target locked. The Mummy 1 is beginning transmission..."
A soft chime rang out.
The first to emerge from the half-asleep state of teleportation was Uchiha Xiu. He raised his head out of habit.
Heat. Dryness.
Sand stretched in every direction!
A protective barrier with a ten-minute countdown temporarily sealed off the outside environment. He and his companions were sitting in an open stretch of desert.
Just then, Kobayashi woke up, Kodachi in hand. Leaning against a sand dune hot enough to burn his backside, he murmured,
"The descendants of the Pharaoh's guards... Our new identities in this world, huh..."
As he spoke, he took a piece of ancient stone made from a special material out of his shirt.
Mysterious patterns were carved into it, probably hieroglyphs or some other ancient human script.
"I'm a descendant of the Pharaoh's guards too." Kitagawa Nacai stood up, using her cross for support. A pendant made from the same ancient stone as Kobayashi's had quietly appeared at her waist.
It was hard to imagine a Saint who wielded Holy Light and was clearly connected to Christian mythology having anything to do with ancient Egyptian myths or the Pharaoh.
But that was one of the Main God's charms:
Endless mash-ups.
"I'm the leader," Uchiha Xiu said.
Nearby, two male creations with twice the physique of an ordinary person remained silent. Each carried a nuclear backpack and a shotgun loaded with basic spirit-class rounds across his chest.
Two small magic scrolls were also tucked into their belts—
Thunderstorm Scroll. Thirty reward points. Magic—Legendary class.
Frost Chain Scroll. Fifty reward points. Magic—Legendary class.
Their power was worth the price. They were a little impressive.
They could handle cannon fodder. Against elite enemies, they might serve as a comfort blanket and buy a tiny bit of time.
If they ran into a boss, they could set off some fireworks to entertain it.
The rule that you got what you paid for applied to most of the items exchanged in the space.
"Counting us veterans, there are eleven, twelve, thirteen... Hmm, fifteen people. This feels like twice as many as when we did Alien."
Kitagawa Nacai blinked her bright, peach-blossom eyes and quickly surveyed the rookies, who were sprawled across the dunes in all sorts of poses.
—One had landed behind a dune at the edge of the area, with only his legs and shoes sticking out.
The difficulty wasn't maxed out, but it wasn't easy either.
It seemed the Main God assessed difficulty based on a combination of how far the Gene Lock had been opened and each person's enhancement level, while also taking the Reincarnators' individual traits and strengths into account.
"The captain once said the Main God roughly sets the difficulty according to how many people it sends in. The Mummy is a classic film from the last century, and its setting clearly involves gods. Someone can be brought back to life from the underworld after two thousand years, so it's bound to be difficult..."
Kobayashi nodded. His mind went to the Ten Plagues of Egypt, all of which were brought to life in the story after Imhotep's resurrection.
Kaguya-hime curiously glanced at Uchiha Xiu's wrist.
On the Main God Watch:
[Main Mission: Eliminate the undead Imhotep! Reward: Two B-rank side-story plots for the entire team, plus 6,000 reward points.]
We're rich~
The two longtime East Sea Team members were secretly delighted.
If the sky fell, the captain would hold it up.
With a resource package of this caliber, even if they couldn't fully digest it, adapting to just forty percent of it would still bring about a huge transformation!
"This is much harder than the original Central Continent Team's scenario, but their main challenge was the team battle against the India Team."
According to the Main God's general rules, the next horror film was chosen the moment the previous one ended. That meant the ratings the team gained during their return from the Alien series should only be factored in by the Main God after this world ended.
The Naruto World had worked the same way.
The advantage was still ours!
"Don't worry." Uchiha Xiu's voice brimmed with confidence. "I can handle it. Sealing Jutsu will be surprisingly effective."
As he spoke, he handed over two specially made Kunai.
Complex symbols had been drawn on them. They were Flying Thunder God Formulas.
There was no reason Minato Namikaze's curse of speedsters should affect me!
"By the way... This isn't a fifteen-person difficulty. It's sixteen."
[Ten men and six women] [Most of them are Asian. There's a tattooed gangster, some white-collar workers...] [There are probably some Xia Country people among them. The Neon region is one of the major gathering places for overseas workers.]
"How is that possible? I counted carefully."
At the captain's words, Kitagawa Nacai took the Flying Thunder God Kunai and stared around in astonishment.
The area was about one mu in size, formed by various dunes and patches of weathered rock. It wasn't complicated terrain, and there was nowhere to hide a person.
At that moment, the first newcomer who wasn't pretending to be asleep woke up. He was a young man in overalls, with a middle part in his hair. Looking panicked, he asked,
"Where is this? Who are you? Why am I here?"
Three questions in a row.
"Not bad. You're the one with the best surface-level qualities among this batch."
In this situation, Uchiha Xiu figured he ought to say something, so he stole Brother Jie's line.
The newcomer didn't seem to think much of it, but Kitagawa Nacai and Kobayashi Yoshito, the two fake veterans, immediately looked at him with intense scrutiny.
The captain had praised this kid. What was so special about him?
Kitagawa Nacai looked him over for a while, but he seemed perfectly ordinary: slender, with a somewhat feminine face. And as someone who had started out as a model, she couldn't shake the feeling that he had a strong South Korean boy-idol vibe.
The surface? What about underneath?
Kobayashi looked around the sand inside the barrier again.
Nothing.
Uchiha Xiu glanced at a low, weathered rock in the corner, about thirty-five centimeters tall. He didn't immediately call out to the woman skulking behind it.
Like hiding?
Then she could keep hiding.
Kaguya-hime wore a faint smile. Through her Byakugan, she saw that the little girl with the outrageously curvy figure was rather cute. She was desperately curling herself up and pricking up her ears to listen in.
"Introduce yourself. Once everyone's awake, the captain will explain the situation." Kobayashi Yoshito reluctantly looked away and adopted the air of a seasoned veteran as he faced the young man.
"My name is Ai Kun. I'm an idol trainee under Johnny & Associates. I haven't debuted yet, so I have to work odd jobs to support myself while living abroad... If you're after money, you've obviously picked the wrong person to kidnap."
As he spoke, the young man in overalls with the middle-parted hair looked around at the desert again.
Staring at the endless yellow sand, he muttered to himself before adding,
"Is this a prank show?"
"Could it be a movie shoot? It must be! Haha, I never thought an idol trainee like me would get to debut on the big screen."
And so, under everyone's baffled gazes, the newcomer began doing something utterly absurd. He got to his feet and solemnly bowed toward a sand dune where there wasn't a camera in sight.
"Hello, producers."
"I'm Ai Kun, an overseas trainee under Johnny & Associates. I've been training for two and a half years."
Judging by his lips, he had switched from Chinese to Japanese.
He was fluent and extremely polite.
Unfortunately, the scene was bizarre. There were three thousand miles of straight-line distance between Neon and the nearest desert. They were far away in Horqin, Inner Mongolia—what kind of variety show would do this?
Kobayashi and Nacai exchanged glances. Even Uchiha Xiu, who prided himself on his worldly experience, didn't know what to say to stop this absurd scene from unfolding.
At any rate... he was more normal than those weirdos on the Central Continent Team, like the violent Northeastern guy who could punch out two pies, right?
"Debut."
"Heh, you could put it that way," Uchiha Xiu said with a smile. "The Main God Space specially arranged a live-action performance. We're in the Great Egyptian Desert, fighting monks, undead, and ancient high priests. It's guaranteed to be absolutely real, with not a single special effect."
Which star on Earth could ask for more?
A debut at the peak!
Meanwhile,
the other newcomers were gradually roused by the commotion Ai Kun had caused, or else they'd been awake for a while and pretending to sleep.
At this point, they fell into three groups.
Some calmly observed their surroundings. Others were at a loss. The rest shouted and hollered, especially after seeing the unknown barrier of light overhead.
"What kind of prank show is this? You're restricting a citizen's freedom without their consent! And that's not all—you're violating my right to know and my image rights! How are you planning to compensate me..."
"Hey, hey, who are you guys? Why are you all dressed like that? What kind of crap movie are you shooting? I'll give you this, though: tsk, tsk, what a pretty girl. And she's carrying a cross."
The speaker appeared to be a middle-aged gangster. He had a wine-red side-parted hairstyle and wore a flashy short-sleeved shirt that exposed all sorts of skull tattoos on his arms, along with loose, slack muscles that could easily be mistaken for fat.
At the moment, he was staring straight at Kitagawa Nacai, making no attempt to conceal what he was thinking—
Since becoming a Female Priest, the model—already blessed with peach-blossom eyes and stunning looks—had acquired an air of holiness that made people want to defile her.
Encouraged by him, two delinquents with messy blond hair, a Neon specialty, whistled.
One of them even stared at Kaguya and laughed,
"Beautiful cosplay lady, are you shooting some kind of special adult film? We'll help out for free."
Just as Kobayashi Yoshito was about to order Creation: Boss to shove his shotgun barrels into their mouths and ask if they wanted to find out what dying felt like,
Blood flashed.
Limbs went flying!
"Sure, killing a teammate costs you a thousand points, but there's no penalty for breaking their arms and legs."
"I don't accept trash." Uchiha Xiu put away the Thunder God Sword as if nothing had happened.
Skull tattoos?
One old gangster and two deranged little Neon punks, acting like yakuza!
Now the whole world was peaceful.
The three men passed out from the pain.
At the same time,
Zhao Yingkong, who had been suppressing her heartbeat, opening her Gene Lock, and using the Assassin Clavicle Technique to eavesdrop on the East Sea Team, suddenly felt a weight lift from her body.
Someone had silently crept up behind her and lifted her by the scruff of her neck with one hand, like an owner picking up a disobedient cat!
It was Uchiha Xiu, who had used the Body Flicker Technique to get there.
?
Kitagawa Nacai had secretly counted three times and confirmed that there were only fifteen official Reincarnators, veterans and newcomers alike. She froze.
Kobayashi was worse. His eyes nearly popped out of his head.
What was going on? For the sake of four nuclear backpacks, had this baby-faced female assassin disguised as a tomboy slipped into the instance?!
Was she planning to assassinate him and Nacai? That was absurdly dedicated.
Kodachi instinctively pointed at the petite madwoman.
Even though the captain had her by the scruff of her neck, she'd learned from their past encounters that the female assassin might transform into her Spinosaurus Form at any moment and start hissing furiously.
This has to be an illusion. How could I be so easily caught?—Zhao Yingkong instinctively tried to bite her tongue.
A moment later,
the taste of blood filled her mouth.
Through the pain, the baby-faced female assassin heard the voice that had controlled everything from start to finish speak again from above her.
"Convinced it's not a dream?"
"Welcome to the East Sea Team."
Wood Release had become the most solid of shackles. Even though the girl's eyes were blank and she was driving her First Stage Gene Lock to its limits, she couldn't move at all.
"Calm down. We mean you no harm."
Putting his sword away, Uchiha Xiu showed more patience than ever before.
Setting aside his identity as the Fifth Hokage and captain of the East Sea Team, as someone who knew what was coming, he knew exactly who the female assassin before him was—though she was disguised as a flat-chested tomboy, with plenty of bandages wrapped around her chest to suppress her natural gifts.
Zhao Yingkong!
Deep within her mind lurked a primary personality approaching the middle of the Fourth Stage.
Although he had no idea what sort of idiotic bug had made the Main God bring her to the East Sea Team, depriving the Central Continent Team of one of its strongest members, she was here now, so he might as well take her in.
"The Main God has already sent the details into your brain. Just think carefully. Call up its name, and you'll understand why you're here."
At Uchiha Xiu's crucial prompt, all the newcomers went blank for a moment.
That included Zhao Yingkong, still suspended halfway in the air with the hand of fate clenched tightly around the back of her neck.
Before long,
the Zhao Family girl glanced at the black watch on her wrist. "The Main God forced me to join you. I can't escape its power, but why should I fight for you?"
Uchiha Xiu wasn't in a hurry. He didn't bother preaching about team spirit or insisting that everyone's fate was bound together. He simply stated, calmly,
"Mm. On the East Coast of America, there's another member of the Empty Project who has also disappeared in the real world. That person is said to be deeply connected to the Zhao Family's tragedy from several years ago."
The girl's eyes widened.
Unfortunately, she couldn't turn around.
"If I remember correctly, his name is Zhao Zhui-Kong. He's currently working for the East America Team."
The name was unexpected, yet it filled the assassin girl with a hatred that cut to the soul.
Uchiha Xiu didn't let go, nor did he release his Wood Release restraint. It was undoubtedly the right move.
Because in the very next moment, the girl's cold expression twisted with hatred and fury. Her killing intent spread, making Kobayashi Yoshito—who considered himself the East Sea Team's third-strongest fighter—shudder on the spot.
We're in a scorching desert, aren't we?
What a terrifying, crazy woman!!!
Thankfully... the captain's strength was unfathomable. Her body struggled instinctively, and her strength climbed higher and higher, but she remained suppressed.
At last, Hajikong took several deep breaths before she could barely steady herself.
"The Main God Space has a team battle mechanism. We've already met all the requirements, so our next mission might put us in the matchmaking pool."
"If we happen to run into East America again..."
The girl forced a few words from her throat. "Neon, East Sea, America, East America... Fine, I understand. I'll join you and fight for this team."
"Those who know what's best for them are wise. The East Sea Grand Stage welcomes you aboard."
Uchiha Xiu released Hajikong's soft, slender neck,解除 his Wood Release restraint, and even extended a hand in a friendly gesture.
She landed nimbly.
Zhao Yingkong gazed intently at Uchiha Xiu's refined yet imposing face. "I'm Zhao Yingkong, an assassin from an Eastern family of assassins... I'm alone now, and I specialize in assassination."
"From now until we encounter Zhao Zhui-Kong, I'll follow the team's decisions."
"Captain, I acknowledge your strength."
Their hands clasped, then separated at once.
"Will we win?" the composed Hajikong pressed, seemingly wanting to see how much mettle Uchiha Xiu had—and whether he dared answer a question with no certain answer.
"We're guaranteed to win."
Before you continue