Once Fang Senyan pushed his unequipped Strength to 20, the prompt duly appeared: "Your base attribute: Strength, in an unequipped/unbuffed state, has exceeded 20 points." "You have received an additional base attribute bonus. Please make your selection within ten seconds." "A, Base Attribute Bonus I (Passive): Big Guy, grants you a +5 bonus on all Strength-based checks except damage calculations.

: For example, wearing an item requiring 25 Strength only requires you to possess 20 Strength to equip it, and learning requires 25 Strength from a scroll, but 20 Strength will suffice. During a crushing check, a character with 26 Strength can crush one with 15 Strength, but the damage calculation will use the 26 Strength value." "B, Base Attribute Bonus I (Passive): Muscle Man, your sturdy and developed musculature offers effective protection to your body, reducing any enemy's critical hit chance against you by 10%, and even if a critical hit occurs, the critical damage is reduced by 20%." Fang Senyan wavered between Muscle Man and Big Guy for a considerable time.

However, recalling the previous world where encountering swarms of overwhelming Raptors was the main issue, he deeply feared those critical hits. If he could suppress their critical strikes, Fang Senyan’s survival time within the Zerg swarm would increase by at least 50% or more!

On a deeper level, because of the existence of his Fortitude talent, sudden bursts of high damage were undoubtedly more troublesome for Fang Senyan, whether battling other Contractors or engaging in firefights with Plot Characters. Therefore, Fang Senyan chose B: Muscle Man, considering it a protective charm for his future position within the team.

This selection process delayed them for some time, and by then, Jiao Shi (Reef) had rushed over from his private space. Seeing his hurried appearance, Fang Senyan couldn't help but ask what he was busy with.

Jiao Shi sighed: "Of course, I was busy forging. Although we used quite a bit of the Pandora Crystal Ore to restore Bairang's limbs, Mogansha possesses a Worker Bee capable of continuously mining the ore.

He promised to give me some Pandora Crystal Ore once he emerges, which should barely be enough." Seeing that Jiao Shi was indeed quite proficient in forging, Fang Senyan took out the pair of common-grade gauntlets he was wearing and asked for his advice. Jiao Shi was somewhat surprised after looking at them: "This item must have been made by someone highly skilled in forging.

They managed to extract the Parry/Block attribute from another piece of equipment and affix it to these common gauntlets on your hands. This is something achievable only through a specific branch of forging, but the process of extracting and attaching is extremely likely to damage the original equipment." The two talked as they walked, and before they knew it, they reached the central plaza within the Nightmare Space.

After boarding the "Tentacle Elevator," they ascended rapidly to the apex of the space, arriving before the hexagonal metal corridor. There were already three people ahead of them entering the metal corridor, apparently using some related function.

It would be impossible for others to approach in the short term. Fang Senyan took this opportunity to take out his black-grade material, "Troll's Back Hide," and asked Jiao Shi, who possessed forging skills, if he could fashion a chest piece from it.

Jiao Shi examined it and nodded, saying it was possible. He then inquired if Fang Senyan had any other supplementary materials.

Fang Senyan thought for a moment, then rummaged through his Mark's storage space. Because he had used the Prometheus III unit in the previous world, the number of Raptors he slaughtered was astonishing.

Although the drop rate wasn't high, he had collected quite a few of their rare chitinous shells. These shells, labeled as "material," were all high-quality Deep Blue grade, carefully selected by Fang Senyan.

After setting aside two pieces for Jin Kuang (Gold Mine), that notorious miser, he brought out the rest for Jiao Shi to choose from. Jiao Shi was quite satisfied upon seeing them, selecting several relatively intact pieces and returning the remaining three or four to Fang Senyan.

Just then, the three Contractors ahead finished their business and stood up, walking over while chatting casually. Since all Contractors' heads were obscured by hazy light and shadow effects, their faces were completely invisible; only their fragmented conversation could be faintly heard: "Finally promoted to a Level III Team, damn, it wasn't easy.

Kelt didn't die for nothing!" "Why didn't the Boss come to handle this? He seems to be off the radar lately." "Heard it’s over some woman.

You know the former violent girl, Floya? Rumor has it she and the Boss had quite an entanglement, but apparently, that woman is dead." "Damn it, death is too common in this damned space.

It's just a woman! If the Boss wants, I can find him a hundred in Amsterdam." "I suddenly realize that discussing women and emotions with an idiot nicknamed the Walking ****** is the worst thing.

Although Floya is dead, the Boss secretly bound a Horcrux to her back then." "A Horcrux? That thing Voldemort used in the Harry Potter world?

The Boss is really spending big." "Yeah! The Boss should be busy with a Horcrux resurrection mission right now..." "..." The three then moved further away, their voices fading.

Beside him, Fang Senyan drew a deep breath! "Level III Team!

Boss!!! Horcrux!!!

Metal Mentor Floya!" These seemingly innocuous words, combined, struck Fang Senyan with immense force, akin to swallowing a mouthful of 56-proof Erguotou liquor, immediately followed by chewing a large, snow-white, crisp clove of raw garlic. The resulting burning sensation raged across his tongue, straight down his throat, destined to scorch his stomach!

"Interesting." A cold smirk touched the corner of Fang Senyan's mouth. That sensation of his blood heating up throughout his body surged again—this was not fear, but the excitement of facing a formidable challenge!

An instinctual dominance resurrected from the depths of his soul, flooding his entire being, lingering long after. "What's wrong?" Jiao Shi asked when he saw Fang Senyan standing there, lost in thought.

"Nothing," Fang Senyan naturally wouldn't overthink based on a few sentences. The Metal Mentor wasn't Voldemort, and resurrection wouldn't be easy.

Even if she lived, what did it matter? He couldn't control what others did, but as long as he grew stronger quickly, that was all that counted!

With this thought, the two entered the metal corridor together, passed through the dark-green light-speed scan, and sat down in a metal chair at the end of the passage, where a holographic screen naturally materialized before them. "Mark ID 1018...

Reading in progress." "Identity verification in progress...." "Your current Nightmare Mark Rank is Second Lieutenant." "Your current Merit Points are 52." "Your currently available services are:" "A: Purchase Rank-Related Items and Equipment." (Enter detailed purchase list) "B: Access Confidential Rank-Related Data." (This service may incur a small fee) "C: Apply to Establish a Team." "D: Claim Rank Subsidy." (Your current subsidy is: Free purchase of one Rank Reward Item, which must be within your current authorization level) "E: Accept Rank Mission." (No relevant missions currently available) "F: Exit Current Team." (This service is unavailable; you are currently in a temporary team.) "G: Other." Since Jiao Shi was still in the temporary team with Fang Senyan, he could see this entire list of options as well, and he immediately displayed a look of utter helplessness. When Fang Senyan asked, he learned that a Reserve Second Lieutenant only had three options: "A: Purchase Rank-Related Items and Equipment." "B: Apply to Establish a Team." "C: Other." From this simple difference, one could see the vast gap between a full Second Lieutenant and a Reserve Second Lieutenant!

Fang Senyan wasn't in a hurry to choose team establishment. He had brought back an unknown strange item from the last world: Queen of Blades' Body Hair.

Upon submitting it, he received two choices: A: Sell it for 10,000 Universal Points. B: Donate it to the Space for 2 Merit Points.

Now knowing the importance of Merit Points, he naturally chose to donate, raising his Merit Points to 54 before selecting the team creation option, which brought forth a series of prompts: "You can form a minimum-level small team. The core member limit cannot exceed three people; ordinary team members cannot exceed 10; temporary team members cannot exceed 20.

You can purchase relevant reputation contracts in the Space to expand the number of members." "You can appoint one Deputy, but their rank must be Sergeant or above. This appointment operation will consume one Merit Point." "Please name your team.

If you skip this step, your team will be named based on its ID number." Fang Senyan stared at the naming option, and for some unknown reason, he slowly typed two characters as if guided by fate: "Ace!" Then Fang Senyan froze instantly, because upon confirmation, a prompt flashed before him: "Are you sure you want to establish this team?" "You will immediately receive a related Team Establishment Mission. Life-threatening danger is usually absent during establishment missions, but your final mission evaluation will determine the benefits and team abilities obtained after the team is established!" Hearing this, both Fang Senyan and Jiao Shi were stunned.

It seemed that true Second Lieutenants establishing teams were indeed quite rare, as even Jiao Shi had never heard of such a regulation.