606: Chapter 606 My life is in my hands, even the King of Hell can't take it away.

After Director Qin finished speaking, the two proctors present fell into a brief contemplation.

Shen Zhiwei frowned slightly, pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose, and then asked coldly:

"Then how can the safety of these candidates be guaranteed? Once someone triggers a spatial fissure, the moment the two worlds connect will likely be accompanied by the descent of a large number of other-worldly creatures."

"Director Qin, these are over eight hundred lives. Is your Intelligence Department planning to use them as cannon fodder for mine-sweeping?"

"Researcher Shen has misunderstood."

"Remember the website domain, reading good books in Taiwan is super worry-free."

Facing the skepticism, Director Qin waved his hand hurriedly, the solemnity on his face dissipating slightly as he put on a peaceful expression:

"How could our Intelligence Department treat the lives of candidates as child's play?"

"As you also know, the most dangerous area in the entire Xishan is the surrounding region of the underground palace controlled by the military. The examination venue we have currently delineated belongs to the peripheral zone, where spatial fluctuations are relatively small."

He picked up the teacup on the table, gently blew away the tea leaves on the water's surface, took a sip, and continued:

"Although those monsters might take advantage of the chaos caused by the weakened repulsive force to smuggle themselves into our world, the probability of such a thing happening is extremely small. Moreover, restricted by high-dimensional Laws, they cannot stay on Earth for long."

"As long as they aren't plagued by eight lifetimes of bad luck and happen to crash straight into the vortex core of the ruin's entrance, it's impossible for them to lose their lives in there."

"As for dealing with the ordinary mutated beasts in the outer perimeter that have been contaminated by high-dimensional energy, this is inherently part of testing their physiques, courage, and survival skills as Special Investigation Team members."

"Besides…"

Saying this, Director Qin put down the teacup and looked with burning eyes at Lei Zhen and Shen Zhiwei opposite him:

"If we really encounter the threat of monsters from the Other Shore World, aren't the two of you proctors here to take action yourselves?"

Finishing his words, he turned around, bent down, and pulled out two black metal suitcases from under the table.

Then he lifted the heavy cases with both hands and pushed them in front of Lei Zhen and Shen Zhiwei respectively.

"Click."

The metal latches of the suitcases were popped open in turn by Director Qin.

The lids of the cases flipped open, quietly lying inside were two precision instruments exuding a faint blue glow, shaped like armillary spheres.

"This is the High-Dimensional Source Energy Anchor Point Instrument."

Director Qin introduced, pointing at the two objects emitting a cold light.

He put away his previous easygoing attitude, pressed his hands on the edge of the table, leaned his body slightly forward, and his tone became incomparably solemn:

"Two of you, I must emphasize once again the order personally issued by Director Ling."

"Although the main purpose of this physical fitness test is to use the candidates to find the coordinates of the new entrance, we must never allow any casualties among them to prevent the situation from getting out of control."

"Therefore, I'll trouble the two of you later to act as chief examiners, respectively leading two elite special service squads to enter the examination venue together for covert monitoring and doing a good job of protection."

"Of course…"

Director Qin raised his hand and patted the metal outer shell of the suitcase, making a dull sound:

"Most importantly, once a candidate successfully triggers a spatial fissure, immediately use this anchor point instrument to lock onto and record the precise coordinates of the entrance, establishing a preliminary connection so that our main force can officially move in next time."

After speaking, Director Qin straightened up, a faint smile appearing on his face:

"Colleagues, if you have any doubts or incomprehension regarding the Director's arrangements, you can raise them now."

"Our Special Investigation Team has always advocated democratic consultation and pooling everyone's wisdom to ensure that every subsequent assessment step is foolproof and steadily promoted, and we must never live up to the trust the superiors have placed in us…"

"Old Qin, put away that politician's face of yours."

Before Director Qin could finish his bureaucratic talk, Lei Zhen impatiently interrupted him.

The stalwart man stood up, twisted his thick neck left and right, and his joints immediately made a series of crisp cracking sounds like popping beans.

He split his mouth open, revealing a row of ghastly white teeth.

The scar spanning half his face twisted along with the muscle movement, exuding a terrifying Evil Qi:

"Put your heart back in your stomach!"

"In my early years, I led teams to the Other Shore World anyway, and hacked and killed quite a few other-worldly monsters. Since the lives of these little bastards are handed into my hands, even King Yama can't take them away."

He grabbed the multi-functional tactical belt on the table and buckled it around his waist.

Clearly, he hadn't done little of this covert backup work as a proctor before, and the whole process was already second nature to him.

Shen Zhiwei couldn't be bothered to listen to these two bantering.

She reached out directly and clicked the metal latch of the suitcase shut with a "clack".

Then she picked up the case, turned around neatly and resolutely, and walked toward the stairway of the watchtower.

The slender high heels stepped on the stairs, emitting a crisp "tap-tap" sound.

The sultry early summer evening breeze blew past, only floating back a cold sentence:

"Let's go, Lei Zhen. The sun has set, let this group of white mice enter the field."

Lei Zhen grabbed his peaked cap and clapped it onto his head, then casually picked up the dark green tactical jacket draped over the back of the chair and threw it over his broad shoulders.

The hem of the garment whipped up a sharp arc, and he strode out on long legs, following closely behind.

Five-thirty in the afternoon.

The sun had completely sunk behind the mountain ridge, and the light dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The sky presented a purplish-red color resembling stagnant blood.

"Bee—"

A harsh rallying whistle abruptly pierced the tranquility of Xishan's evening.

"Everyone, line up!"

I saw a chief examiner with a cold and stern face, holding a loudhailer, standing on the hood of an armored vehicle and shouting loudly.

On the playground, more than eight hundred candidates had long changed into the full set of field combat uniforms uniformly issued by the Special Investigation Team.

The dark green camouflage fabric exuded an aura of grimness, with tactical vests, protective gear, and military boots complete.

Hearing the whistle, the large group of people quickly assembled, stepping in short steps, and soon formed into neat square formations.

The chief examiner's gaze was sharp, fiercely sweeping across this group of candidates who were complaining just moments ago:

"No more nonsense, everyone check your equipment, shoulder your marching packs, and follow the guide vehicle forward."

"From now on, whoever falls behind will be directly eliminated!"

Fang Cheng stood up with nimble movements.

Swinging his arms, he easily shouldered the twenty-kilogram marching pack and casually adjusted the fixing buckle on his chest.

Ma Donghe and Hou Peng also made swift movements, closely following behind on the left and right.

Under the escort of live-ammunition-carrying military police, the more than eight hundred candidates began to move in a mighty and grand procession.

The team passed through layer after layer of military checkpoints.

As they went deeper into the restricted zone, the surrounding atmosphere became increasingly solemn.

Every time they passed an intersection, they could see heavy artillery and twin-barrel anti-aircraft machine guns hidden under camouflage netting.

Those pitch-black gun muzzles gleaming with a metallic luster pointed straight at the firmament, like steel Vicious Beasts poised and ready to go, ready at any moment to spit out fatal tongues of fire.

At the same time, searchlights on several watchtowers swept back and forth.

The strong light was like intersecting sharp swords, stinging people's eyes so they couldn't open them.

The smell of gunpowder permeated in the air became increasingly intense.

As if a tragic battle had just subsided here, or it could erupt again at any moment.

The candidates who were still smiling and joking just now were all awed by this grim atmosphere of war.

Everyone subconsciously closed their mouths.

In the massive procession, there was only the crunching sound of hundreds of pairs of military boots stepping on the gravel road, as well as everyone's increasingly solemn breathing sounds.

The procession advanced for about twenty minutes.

Turning around a huge mountain col, they walked forward for several hundred meters along a cramped driveway excavated halfway up the mountainside.

A moment later, a thick alloy iron door abruptly appeared before everyone's eyes.

The cliff walls on both sides seemed to be covered with dark red moss, or perhaps like patches of dried blood, exuding a nauseating fishy stench.

"Open the B3 floodgate!"

The chief examiner gave the order coldly into the walkie-talkie.

Accompanied by a harsh screech of metal friction, the gears engaged and operated inside the mountain body.

"Rumble—"

Amidst the dull roaring sound, the half-meter-thick alloy iron door slowly slid open to both sides.

Revealed before everyone's eyes was a pitch-black cave entrance.

It was bottomless inside, as if more than half of the mountain body had been hollowed out, leading straight to some abyss.

A chilly wind rushed out fiercely from the depths of the tunnel, slapping against everyone's faces.

The wind was mixed with an inexplicable fishy and foul stench, blowing exposed skin into a layer of goosebumps instantly.

Fang Cheng's eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze attempting to pierce through the darkness to observe the situation inside.

"Is this… an air-raid shelter?"

Ma Donghe widened his eyes, looking at the cave entrance that seemed capable of devouring light, and couldn't help swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

Hou Peng shrank his neck even further, a strange look on his face:

"Brother Fang, Brother Ma, why is this place so creepy? Could it be haunted?"

The other candidates around were also whispering and discussing animatedly, the atmosphere appearing increasingly tense.

"Enter!"

The chief examiner ignored everyone's shock and doubt, giving the order in a deep voice.

The procession, like a driven flock of sheep, formed a long single file and bit the bullet as they walked into the dark tunnel.

The humidity in the tunnel was extremely heavy.

Water droplets at the top dripped down continuously, hitting everyone's heads and shoulders.

Military boots stepped on the accumulated water on the ground, making crisp pattering sounds.

If it were just one or two people walking inside, it would still be fine.

The key is that now more than eight hundred people were marching together.

The dense footsteps continuously echoed and overlapped in the enclosed space, converging into a rolling thunder, tormenting everyone's eardrums.

Walking for about a few minutes, a trace of faint daylight finally leaked out from the darkness ahead.

Everyone quickened their pace and passed through the exit of the tunnel.

The field of vision suddenly opened up.

But what this openness brought was not relaxation and hope, but an even more creepy and eerie feeling.

An extremely dense primitive mountain forest presented itself before everyone's eyes.

The branches were twisted and intertwined, crisscrossing and wrapping around each other, weaving an airtight giant net overhead.

Thick vines hung upside down from mid-air, resembling venomous snakes poised to devour people.

The already faint daylight was almost completely isolated outside.

This was the real Xishan uninhabited zone.

At this moment, the sky had completely darkened.

In the early summer mountain forest, the humidity was extremely heavy.

As the temperature plummeted, an off-white mist began to rise from the damp soil and piles of rotting leaves.

This layer of mist spread rapidly, extending along the low-lying areas, and soon permeated the entire forest.

Within just a few minutes before and after, the surrounding visibility dropped to less than ten meters.

The cold wind penetrated the tree canopy, leaves rubbing against each other with rustling sounds, making bursts of strange noises resembling sobs.

The chief examiner jumped down from an off-road vehicle that had long been parked here, and strode to the very front of the procession.

"Listen up!"

He raised his hand, pointing to the branch of a tree nearby.

Hanging there with a red string was a brass bell about the size of an infant's fist.

Every time the wind blew, the bell swayed left and right in the air, making a crisp and pleasant "ding-dong" sound.

The chief examiner turned on the loudhailer, his voice appearing even louder in this silent, foggy forest:

"There are no ready-made roads in this area. Your only directional guides are these bells and reflective markers hanging on the branches."

"The examination rules are very simple: shoulder your marching packs and run according to the direction of the markers."

"No matter what method you use, as long as you reach the destination Black Wind Ravine before six o'clock tomorrow, you pass the test."

"During this period, if you encounter life-threatening danger, you can fire a signal flare, and the rescue team will arrive immediately."

He lowered the loudhailer, his gaze sweeping across each tense face, the corners of his mouth pulling into a cold arc:

"Finally, I wish you all good luck."

"Bee—"

A sharp, piercing whistle suddenly slashed through the fog.

"The examination begins!"

More than eight hundred candidates stood in place, looking at each other in dismay.

Most people's hearts were still filled with doubts and fear of the unknown.

They didn't take steps immediately, but instead vigilantly sized up the surrounding environment.

"Run!"

The next second, someone in the crowd shrieked at the top of their lungs.

This shriek was like the fuse lighting a powder keg, instantly snapping everyone's string-tightened nerves.

"Boom—"

The entire procession instantly exploded into a frying pan, erupting with noisy shouts.

"Run fast, I heard the first place gets extra points!"

"Hurry up, hurry up, don't fall behind!"

Numerous candidates scrambled to turn on their flashlights and drew their personal weapons.

Following those reflective markers, they quickened their pace and rushed toward the forest ahead.

The crowd, like a breached flood, instantly surged into this deep mountain shrouded in white fog.

Everyone held the same thought: finish running this short five-kilometer road early, end this eerie-looking exam, and then go home to sleep and rest.

Hundreds of flashlight beams swept indiscriminately through the thick fog, startling a large flock of birds to flap their wings and fly toward the night sky.

Pitch-dark shadows rushed out from the tree canopy, densely packed and blocking out the sky and sun.

This chaotic scene was simply like bandits raiding a village.

Everywhere were noisy figures and curses, which somewhat diluted the originally gloomy and depressed atmosphere in this primitive old forest.

Fang Cheng didn't rush to squeeze forward, his legs nailed in place as if they had taken root.

He reached out both hands and grabbed the backpack straps of Ma Donghe and Hou Peng, who were preparing to charge forward blindly.

"Don't run around blindly, conserve your physical strength, and follow me closely."

Fang Cheng instructed calmly with a single sentence.

At the same time, his right hand had quietly pulled out a dagger, holding the hilt in a reverse grip.

Relying on his sharp spiritual perception, he could clearly feel that a certain special magnetic field fluctuation existed in this place.

The rolling thick fog around them was like a living creature, greedily devouring everyone's body temperature bit by bit.

This five-kilometer cross-country running exam was by no means as simple as rugged mountain roads and hiding a few mutated beasts.

To successfully reach the destination before dawn, one must proceed step by step with caution.