238: Level 4

Cheng Xiao pulled Pan Han closer and cuddled for a while longer, her gloomy mood gradually dissipating.

Lying in Pan Han's arms, Cheng Xiao caressed his cheek, her eyes tender as water, gradually reddening.

"What's wrong?" Pan Han asked softly when he saw her like this.

"We can use weapons in the fourth Trial, I'm worried about you." It turned out Cheng Xiao was worried about this.

"The rules say only cold weapons can be used. I should be fine if I wear my mecha tomorrow."

"But I'm still worried. Didn't you hear Nineteen Mao say he uses a giant axe? If others also use such weapons, even if they can't cut through the mecha, just smashing it could injure you."

"You little girl, why are you so sentimental lately? Even if we stay in the base, there will be risks. Where is there absolute safety in this world?" Pan Han flicked her nose.

Ever since their relationship became increasingly intimate, Cheng Xiao had clearly become more anxious.

Qin Zhong had warned them before not to become each other's weaknesses, and it seemed he was right after all.

However, this could also be considered a fair trade.

Enjoying intimate relationships between two people, blending together like milk and water, and caring for each other—this was inherently the pinnacle of life's enjoyment.

Since they were enjoying it, they had to pay the price.

All things throughout history were like this.

Although Cheng Xiao understood the reason, she still had an unspeakable gloom in her heart, and could only lie in Pan Han's arms.

The two hugged for over half an hour before their emotions gradually calmed.

"Let's go to the training center. There's still half a day. We can train for a bit if we can." In the past few days, Pan Han felt his body was a bit sluggish and needed to maintain his condition.

Cheng Xiao naturally had no objections. She got up, packed her things, and left with Pan Han.

...

The next day, all Trial participants were randomly placed in the fourth Trial.

This was a massive mountain range, with towering peaks covered in various ancient trees, spanning an area of 700 square kilometers.

Pan Han first silently observed the environment, memorizing the terrain, noting suitable places for ambushes and hiding, then donned his mecha.

A few minutes later, he took out his walkie-talkie and called the other five people.

Everyone responded, reporting their approximate locations.

"Everyone, move freely first, check the terrain and treasure situation. Be careful, run if you can't win. We'll talk again in twenty minutes." Pan Han issued the command.

"Understood!" Everyone responded, then began their first round of searching.

At this moment, the wristband sent a notification, displaying the locations of all treasures and their corresponding scores.

There were over 500 treasures in total, with the lowest score being 2 points and the highest being 20 points.

If distributed evenly, each Trial participant could easily get the full 20 points, but that would defeat the purpose of treasure hunting.

Pan Han looked at his wristband, set a direction, and headed straight for a spot 500 meters away.

With the help of the mecha, it was a matter of seconds.

The first treasure was easily acquired, without any danger or trouble.

Pan Han examined the treasure. It looked like an ordinary glass ball, nothing worth studying.

He put it in his pocket and continued searching.

Twenty minutes later, Pan Han had already obtained 5 treasures, with a total value of 10 points.

"How is everyone? I'm at 10 points here." Pan Han stopped searching and began contacting everyone.

"Big Brother, I only got 4 points," Finci Dana reported.

"Big Brother, I got 8 points!" Ouyang Feijin also sent a message.

...

After everyone had reported, Pan Han found that everyone was proceeding smoothly.

"Did you notice any problems?" Pan Han instinctively felt that the smoother things went, the more likely there was a trap!

The Twelve Palaces would unlikely let everyone search for treasures peacefully; there must be other arrangements.

"No, I haven't found any other Trial participants yet," Jiaogen Jingcun said.

"Me too. Forget Trial participants, there aren't even any zombie monsters," Dili Abasi also reported.

"Let's gather first. Everyone, converge on my position." The ominous feeling grew stronger and stronger. Pan Han prepared to quickly gather the team.

"Received."

...

An hour later, the team members gradually arrived.

"Captain, I found something on the way." Nineteen Mao, carrying his giant axe, was a bit out of breath, clearly having rushed.

"Nineteen, tell me."

"I ran into two people on the way. They were also in a hurry. We just glanced at each other, and no one said anything."

"It sounds like they should also be going to gather," Pan Han said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Probably."

"It seems everyone has teamed up."

Suddenly, an alarm blared throughout the Trial grounds.

Then the wristband sent a notification: "Trial participants, attention. The safe zone will now shrink. The unsafe zone will be filled with poisonous gas."

After the alert sounded three times, the wristband began projecting a holographic map.

It showed that the outer parts of the Trial grounds had all turned red, and a countdown began. Trial participants had 5 minutes to run to the safe zone!

"See? I told you the Twelve Palaces wouldn't let everyone pass comfortably."

Having experienced the previous Trials, everyone was gradually accustomed to such arrangements.

It was just running from poison, what's the big deal?

Anyway, the team was assembled, so they could face anything together.

"Let's go, head for the safe zone first!" Pan Han waved his hand, and everyone followed him.

They encountered a few treasures along the way, and Pan Han and the others collected them.

Five minutes passed quickly.

As soon as everyone entered the safe zone, they looked back and suddenly a laser curtain wall shot down from the sky.

It clearly divided the Trial grounds.

Through the curtain wall, everyone saw a blue gas beginning to fill the danger zone.

"Will this stuff kill people?" Dili Abasi asked with a tight frown.

She was worried that if the safe zone kept shrinking and they didn't escape the poison in time, being poisoned to death would be a loss.

"Logically, it shouldn't, and there's no need. Just poisoning people unconscious and making them lose the ability to move should be enough," Finci Dana analyzed.

"I don't want to test the poison myself. Let's just assume it can kill people. Better safe than sorry," Nineteen Mao said gruffly.

"Hmm, better safe than sorry. Let's go. It's probably going to shrink again soon. Let's hurry up and collect." Pan Han raised his wristband and found that there were indeed many treasures nearby.

As soon as he finished speaking, the team automatically spread out, with a 50-meter distance between each person, advancing and searching in a wedge formation.

Nineteen Mao walked at the arrowhead position in front, while Pan Han was in the very center.

Ten minutes later, the group had searched for 7 treasures.

Pan Han regrouped the team. After they gathered, they had found a total of 10 treasures, worth 40 points.

Six people needed 120 points. Including what everyone had collected individually before, they were now short 30 points.

"Someone!" Just as Pan Han was calculating the score, Jiaogen Jingcun, who was on alert, gave a warning.

Everyone immediately hid in the bushes.

Four people slowly walked over from a distance. The ones leading were surprisingly the two burly men who had asked for help in the snowstorm, followed by two slightly shorter companions.

"Could these four have teamed up because of their similar builds?" Pan Han looked at them, and the words "Four Burly Men" seemed to appear in his mind.

"Big Brother, what should we do?" Finci Dana whispered.

"Let them get close, then take them down!" Pan Han patted his mecha, confident.