"Oh my goodness, Mr. Frodo, look what that is!"
Sam, who had stood up, saw the enormous sphere where the dark tower should have been. The huge, terrifying eye now somehow gave off an extremely weary feeling.
Frodo had been cleansed of the mental influence accumulated by the One Ring, and his mental resistance had even grown stronger due to prolonged contact.
He now felt an indescribable lightness throughout his body.
Hearing Sam's words, he leaned against the wall, stood up, and looked beyond the shelter.
"Sam, what… what is this?"
"I don't know either."
Yang Tao chuckled, "I happen to know. This sphere is a special seal, and Sauron's remnant soul is currently sealed inside."
He paused, then added with a smile, "If there are no surprises, he won't be able to get out in this lifetime."
Sam looked at Yang Tao and asked somewhat nervously, "Then… then does that mean he can't destroy the world anymore?"
"He never had the power to destroy the world to begin with…"
Even if he did have the power to destroy the world, the Creator God Ilúvatar would personally intervene and show him the consequences of disturbing his music.
"Alright, it's time for us to depart."
Frodo, who had become much more composed over the past year, asked, "Did you seal Sauron?"
Yang Tao didn't hide anything from the two little ones and told them truthfully, "That's right. I still have some use for him. He is now to me what a cooking stove is to you Hobbits. I need the energy he emits to do some things."
The clever Frodo took out the One Ring, which was strung on a necklace around his neck, and looked intently at Yang Tao, saying, "Destroy the One Ring, and Sauron will be eliminated…"
"Frodo, you don't need to test me." As soon as Yang Tao finished speaking, the One Ring, which had been hanging around Frodo's neck, was already on his finger.
"This thing is useless to me, but it looks pretty good when worn."
Sam was greatly alarmed and immediately said, "Give the One Ring back to Mr. Frodo! We must destroy it!"
Upon hearing this, Yang Tao took off the One Ring, flicked it with his finger, and sent it flying towards Frodo: "Let's go."
With that, Yang Tao grabbed the two little ones by their collars and flew directly towards Mount Doom.
What was originally several kilometers away was now reached in an instant. This speed left both Frodo and Sam unable to react.
Upon entering the volcano, the scorching heat caused a suffocating sensation. Yang Tao patted Frodo's head. He actually wanted to pat his shoulder, but the Hobbit's height meant that patting his head was just right: "Go on, throw the Ring in, and everything will be over."
There was no Gollum coming to 'help', nor did the scene of Frodo being tempted by the One Ring occur.
Frodo walked to the edge, looked at the One Ring in his hand, recalled all the hardships he had endured along the way, gritted his teeth, and directly threw the One Ring into the volcano.
The One Ring spun a few times in the air, and just as it was about to touch the magma, it abruptly vanished.
The volcano began to tremble.
To make the act complete, Yang Tao immediately shouted to Frodo, "Run quickly, the volcano is about to erupt!"
Frodo didn't bother to observe the One Ring's situation and immediately ran towards the entrance.
Yang Tao once again grabbed the two and flew them far away.
Scorching magma erupted from the volcano, and Yang Tao placed the two back at their original location, watching the river of magma flowing down from the mountain.
"Congratulations, you have saved this world."
With a smile on his face, Yang Tao once again raised the magic staff in his hand and touched both of them, completely removing the One Ring's influence on them.
"We saved the world?"
A smile appeared on Frodo's face. He reached out and hugged Sam, saying with gratitude, "Thank you, Sam. If it weren't for you along the way, I would never have been able to make it this far."
"No, Mr. Frodo, if it weren't for you, I would never have been able to resist the temptation of the Ring…"
Seeing the two of them excited, Yang Tao chuckled, "Destroying the Ring would not have been successful without either of you."
This even included Gollum, the tenth member of the Fellowship of the Ring.
In the story, when Frodo arrived at Mount Doom to destroy the Ring, he finally couldn't resist the temptation and put on the Ring.
While Sam was at a loss, Gollum, like a 'savior', bit off Frodo's finger with the Ring on it, and then fell into Mount Doom with the Ring he had longed for, thereby destroying the Ring.
'Huh? Speaking of which, where did Gollum go?'
Soon, Yang Tao saw a thin figure frantically running down Mount Doom, and under the pursuit of the magma, Gollum burst forth with astonishing speed.
Seeing this, a smile appeared on Yang Tao's face. Whether Gollum lived or died had no impact on him. He was indeed a pitiful person.
However, Yang Tao couldn't save him; as soon as the curse on him was lifted, he would immediately die.
World Exploration Value 40.22%
Activated Wings Mod
Activated TAIGA
'Is the exploration value given by Gollum that high? That's right, he followed the protagonist from beginning to end, so he's also considered a major supporting character.'
Seeing the mods activated this time, the first thought that came to Yang Tao's mind was: 'Power armor materials are here!'
Just then, the silhouettes of some giant eagles appeared in the sky. They quickly spotted Yang Tao and the others standing on the mountaintop and circled down.
Gandalf's figure leaped down from one of the giant eagles.
"Gandalf!!"
Frodo and Sam were very excited when they saw Gandalf. They ran to his side excitedly, like children… No, they seemed to be unmarried children.
"We did it, the Ring has been destroyed."
Such a thing could only fool them. Gandalf, as a 'god', could naturally sense that Sauron had not been eliminated.
"Sir Yang…"
Before Gandalf could finish speaking, Yang Tao directly interrupted him, pointing at Frodo and Sam and saying, "Lord Gandalf, you should first let the giant eagles take them to Minas Tirith. We can discuss some things…"
Gandalf, holding his white staff, looked at Yang Tao with deep eyes, then nodded gently and, with a smile on his face, said to Frodo and Sam, "Frodo, Sam, you have done very well. Go, get on the giant eagles and let them take you out of Mordor first. Sir Yang and I still have some matters to discuss."
"Gandalf…"
"Obey, go."
Frodo and Sam nodded slightly, climbed onto the giant eagles' backs, and flew out of Mordor.
"Sir Yang, if the Ring is not destroyed, Sauron cannot be eliminated…"
Yang Tao stretched out his hand and pointed to the 'Planet' formed by the Chibaku Tensei in the distance. This 'Planet' was now covered by magma.
"I simply want Sauron to live… He is very valuable. As for the One Ring, I will find a way to completely separate the Ring from Sauron's soul, and it won't be too late to destroy the Ring then."
As long as a way is found to break the connection between the Ring and Sauron's soul, Sauron will not be affected.
Gandalf nodded gently upon hearing this, saying, "I hope Sir Yang can find a way as soon as possible…"
"Of course."
(With the mods in hand, the rest is to build Yang Tao's own Space Marine.)