The Ultimate Evolution

Sheyan had been considering a certain problem from the very beginning.

And that was, the strength of Party Ace was simply too insignificant in this war of hundreds of thousands. So insignificant that, even if they gave it their all, they would not be able to affect the overall situation much.

Like in a chess match, if one side was one pawn short from the very beginning, it would definitely affect the strength disparity, but it was not a crucial factor which would determine victory and defeat.

Party Ace, in this war, was like a non-essential pawn.

It was cruel, but it was the cold, hard truth!

This made Sheyan very unhappy. He hated the feeling of not having control. Therefore, he must find a way to change that.

There were two ways to influence the overall war situation with their power.

The first way was to make themselves stronger, to the point where they would be able to affect the overall situation of the war. This was obviously not something that could be achieved in a short period of time, so it was not a feasible method.

So, there was only one way left. When does a pawn become important in a chess match? When the pawn manages to last all the way to the endgame when there aren’t many pieces left!

As long as Party Ace could last until the whole campaign entered the final stage when the situation became desperate for both sides, then this inessential pawn would become a chess piece that could decide victory!

This was the goal that Sheyan had set his sights on the moment they got to this world.

However, the cruel reality was that the Battle of the Pelennor Fields would not fall into a desperate situation where both forces were left in tatters.

That was because in the final stage of the war, the protagonist Aragorn would lead the Army of the Dead that had been lying dormant for three thousand years to Minas Tirith’s rescue, like a hack in a game. The Army of the Dead had a high resistance to physical attacks. It was seen from the movie that they were unharmed by the arrow shot by the Elven Prince, Legolas, which showed that they were at least immune to that level of physical attack!

Therefore, as soon as this undead legion appeared on the battlefield, they were almost invincible. First, they easily destroyed the Corsairs of Umbar, then seized their ships and sailed down to Minas Tirith to destroy the remnants of the Orc army. Even the horrible Oliphaunt war beasts trained by the southern Haradrim were powerless against them. They were like the Terminators of the battlefield – nothing could stand in their way!

After contemplating hard on this problem, Sheyan came to the conclusion that only powerful mages on the level of Gandalf and Saruman, mages who could summon powerful light magic, could deal with them, and that was only in theory. After all, the soul of each Dead Man of Dunharrow had existed for three thousand years. In folklore, a spirit that had cultivated for a thousand years was already considered really strong, say nothing of an army of ghosts that had cultivated for three thousand years!!

Would Gandalf lift his hand against the Army of the Dead? How rich must a person’s imagination be to imagine that possibility? Would the sly old fox Saruman risk his well-being to personally deal with them? Even Sauron himself most likely could not command Saruman.

Therefore, Sheyan firmly believed that any attempt to confront the Army of the Dead head on would be futile.

But that did not mean there was no way to handle them!

Sheyan had come up with a very meticulous plan that had taken into consideration every detail he could think of. He was very confident in the plan.

The first thing he had to do now was to find the unlucky Corsairs of Umbar who were relegated to a cameo appearance in the original plot.

***

The majestic Anduin River flowed silently on the plain like a slumbering giant snake, strong, quiet, and awe-inspiring. The vast surface of the water in this stretch of the river was gentle. If the sun had not been obscured by Sauron’s power, it would have made for a gorgeous, picturesque scene.

Sheyan reached into the water of the Anduin River. It was surprisingly cold. He felt as if he had reached into newly-melted snow.

It was said that the Anduin was dug out by a Maia with his personal weapon. Therefore, the Anduin inevitably contained extremely fine debris that was scraped from the divine artifact. For all these years, the divine power had kept the river exceptionally cold.

(TL: The Maiar (the singular of which is Maia) were near-primordial spirits that descended into Arda to help the Valar first shape the World.)

In the Second Age, when a powerful Dúnedain king heard of this, he launched a war and abruptly combined seven kingdoms into one. With the combined efforts of the seven kingdoms, he mined the Anduin River the same way one would mine gold. Finally, he indeed found the unbelievably precious ice debris, but the king had exhausted the power of seven kingdoms to do so, and the Star Iron he obtained was only a handful. Not long after, his kingdom descended into war because of that.

In the end, the handful of Star Iron that took the effort of seven entire kingdoms to obtain was mixed with all kinds of rare metals and forged into an arrow. The sharp, black and unbelievably cold arrow was named the Black Arrow.

The arrow did not do anything too earthshaking, but as soon as it was born, it had shot and killed the giant dragon Smaug (the final boss in The Hobbit) who had destroyed an entire Dwarven kingdom! It was evident how powerful the arrow was! (Author’s Note: The Black Arrow really does exist in the lore, but I took some liberty with its origin.)

(https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Arrow)

***

Seeing his reflection in the river, Sheyan fell into contemplation. Although he had never dealt with the Corsairs of Umbar, he understood pirates very well.

All the army hosts send by Sauron had their own unique characteristics.

The Orc army was characterised by its great number and strong cohesion. Even if the army had lost 50% of its troops, the remaining ones would still fight fearlessly.

The Ringwraiths were exceptionally powerful individuals. They could ride on flying mounts and could inflict AoE fear. They were very effective in breaking up enemy formations.

The Haradrim from the south were characterised by their ability to tame the mighty Oliphaunt war beasts and use them in combat.

What about the Corsairs?

Among the reinforcements sent by Sauron, they were the weakest. There was nothing remarkable about them aside from their mobility in water.

They were also the last to arrive. Their advantage was their mobility. They sailed up the Anduin River, causing panic along the way and cutting off the enemy’s supply line. Away from their ship and the water, they had weak combat strength.

This was not merely Sheyan’s conjecture. In the original movie plot, the Orc army called the Corsairs of Umbar “stinking pirates” contemptuously and ordered them around like they were slaves. If the pirates were powerful, their status would not have been that low.

In the movie, a casual arrow from Legolas easily dropped a helmsman of the Corsairs (apparently played by director Peter Jackson himself), an evidence of their low combat strength.

Therefore, Sheyan’s plan was to find the Corsairs of Umbar and stop them from raiding Pelargir, so as to prevent their fated encounter with the Army of the Dead led by Aragon!

Of course, Sheyan did not expect the Corsairs of Umbar to be an easily-persuaded bunch of men. He did not intend to persuade them with just his mouth, anyway; he would use his fist when he deemed it necessary!

Sheyan’s goal was simply to use his current status as an ally to meet the captain of the Corsairs, the Black Númenórean Arathorn, then persuade him. If the persuasion failed, Sheyan would flip the table and assassinate him!!

Based on the chaotic and brutal inner workings of the pirates, even if Sheyan failed to kill Arathorn, he only needed to seriously injure him, and an intense struggle for power and profits would surely follow among the Corsairs. The Corsairs would require at least several hours to elect a new leader, and Sheyan would have achieved his objective.

It was due to this plan that Sheyan must acquire the ‘Hedgehog’ title before going to the Corsairs. The title would be a crucial factor in ensuring his survival!

After all, following his hypothetical assassination attempt, he could only escape by jumping into the river. At that time, the biggest threat to him were not the people who would jump into the water to pursue him, but the arrows and firearms that were stored in large amount on the ships! The pirates may be weak individually, but they were very proficient in using these weapons. If Sheyan did not prepare a method to deal with them, he would surely become an easy target for them and end up as a porcupine that would sink to the bottom of the dark, cold river.

Of course, this was only a preliminary plan. Assassination was just the fastest method to achieve his goal. With his strength, he also had other methods at his disposal that he could use to stall the Corsairs for a few hours. For example, he could dive into the water and smash holes in the bottom of some of their ships, or he could find their treasure trove and sink their treasure to the bottom of the river….

Moreover, after Sheyan had given up on the right to return to the Realm from the Source of Darkness hall and saw the new redeemable items, he realised that he might not have to take such a big risk after all.

The item Sheyan had his eyes on was ‘Morgoth’s Blood’.

It was a terrifying blood essence that could upgrade other items. The price was not too costly, only 200 contribution points each, and there was a 50% discount for the first purchase, which means the first one only cost 100 contribution points.

Sheyan was currently holding a shiny crystal in his hand. The crystal was hollow and a small pinch of blue powder was sealed inside. The colour of the powder was as deep a blue as the cloudless sky. Although there was only a pinch of the powder, anyone who laid eyes upon it would feel their soul being sucked inside. They could hardly move their eyes away!

That was ‘Morgoth’s Blood’.

Next, Sheyan took out another item at the bank of the great Anduin River.

‘Dimensional Door’!

It was an item that had already been upgraded once. Its current property was:

[ You will be able to use the item under any condition. When the item is used, it will create a portal. You can return to the Nightmare Realm through this portal and stay there for a maximum of one hour, then return to the world you were originally in through the portal. ]

[ The Dimensional Door will have 1000 points of absolute HP and can be destroyed. If it is destroyed, you will not be able to use it to return. ]

The ‘Dimensional Door’ Sheyan was currently holding was only a miniature model the size of a palm. It seemed to have been carved from stone, giving off a savage and ancient vibe. It had a delicate texture and was very cold to the touch.

Sheyan closed his eyes and mumbled something in a low voice, as if he was praying. Of course, he had no way of knowing whether the following upgrading attempt would be successful, and even if it was, he did not know if things would develop in the direction he expected.

However, he knew that even if the world had no God, there was Noah Realm C!

Presently, their side was at a disadvantage. Not everything would go according to his heart’s desire, but that would not prevent the Realm from helping him within its scope of authority! Of course, the enemy contestants would also enjoy the preferential treatment of their Realms within their scope of authority, so in a sense, it was relatively fair.

After ‘Morgoth’s Blood’ was applied to the ‘Dimensional Door’, it merely stayed at the surface of the ‘Dimensional Door’ for a long time, showing no signs of seeping inside. Sheyan was not very anxious, because even if the upgrading failed, it was still not a hopeless situation for him. It would just be more troublesome, and the chances of success would be lower.

But as it turned out, Noah Realm C was actually paying attention to Sheyan and had heard Sheyan’s prayers! A streak of light encircled ‘Morgoth’s Blood’ and the ‘Dimensional Door’, and the two objects started to gradually merge. The ‘Dimensional Door’ began to turn blue and change shape, while ‘Morgoth’s Blood’ started to burn. After the flame went out, Sheyan checked the ‘Dimensional Door’s’ properties and saw something new.

[ Morgoth’s Zip ]

[ Rarity: Dark Gold ]

[ Description: This product is created after Morgoth’s Blood has infiltrated into a dimensional tool. It contains terrifying, indescribable powers, and can easily break through the barrier between different planes, thus connecting two worlds together. ]

[ Usage Instruction: Hold Morgoth’s Zip and carve out a dimensional rift in the air which will open up a dimensional tunnel to a world of your choice (including a Nightmare Realm). You can enter the designated world through this dimensional tunnel, or you can summon allies to the world you are in! ]

[ The dimensional tunnel will only remain stable for 30 minutes. If you decide to go to another world through this tunnel, please be sure to return before the time limit is up, or there will be unpredictable consequences. ]

[ The allies you summon through this tunnel will continue to exist in this world, but when you leave this world, the summoned allies will also return to their original world. ]

***

After going through the properties, Sheyan slowly lowered his head. No one could see the expression on his face. After a long time, he finally broke into a long laughter!!

“So you’re the one who couldn’t bear to fail the most, Noah Realm C!”

Ten minutes later, Sheyan arrived at the top of a cliff beside the Anduin River, ‘Morgoth’s Zip’ in his hand. He jumped down from the cliff that was more than ten metres high! A blinding light glowed in his hand, leaving a long trail as it cut through the air. A sharp sound was heard during the process – it was the sound of a dimensional barrier being slashed open. A giant black silhouette rushed out from the light portal and struck the water surface of the Anduin heavily, splashing the water high and wide like the bottom of a waterfall. The splash was so loud that it sounded like the great Anduin River was groaning in humiliation.

The next thing that entered the eye was the inharmonious blood red sail that looked as if it was stabbing straight into the sky.

Unlawful and wild, like a cloud that wished to cover the entire sea!

The Baladine Bloodsail!