Fang Senyan and Reef examined the mission description closely, an indescribable, brutally stark feeling rising in both their hearts.

The moment they saw the scene's difficulty was rated at "Nightmare," Fang Senyan immediately recalled the experience from the previous Starship Troopers world. The B+ side mission, The Fall of the Giant Spore Turrets, had pushed the entire team to the brink of death, barely completing the basic objective. Yet, this team mission, Survival, had an unknown difficulty rating, but the base scene difficulty alone was terrifyingly high! It reached a full $\text{S}$ (Nightmare)!!

What did this imply? It meant the entire difficulty of this scene was a full two tiers higher than what they experienced during The Fall of the Giant Spore Turrets. This, in turn, meant that almost every enemy Fang Senyan and Reef would face would be two tiers stronger than the Queen of Blades' direct subordinates! Thinking of this, a chill immediately spread down Fang Senyan's spine, and he couldn't help but take a deep breath.

After checking their inventory, Fang Senyan confirmed that the Zerg items he carried were unusable. This was only natural; if the two of them could hop into a Zerg host and fly away at several hundred kilometers per hour, the mission would be far too simple.

"Damn it, S," Reef couldn't help but curse, "The scene difficulty has reached S! What the hell kind of rating is this? The last time I jumped mid-way into the Caribbean world, the scene difficulty was only D+! At most, a few Ghoul Corpses were causing trouble."

Hearing this, Fang Senyan suddenly felt a bad premonition: "Did you experience the historical script within the Caribbean world: The Demise of the Invincible Armada?"

Reef nodded: "Exactly. Someone on my team managed to trigger that mission back then. Why? Have you been through that script too?"

Fang Senyan sighed: "Did you happen to clash with another team back then? There was a core member in that team, a woman named Ziyi."

Reef looked astonished: "How did you know? That was the second time my team clashed with their Illuminati. Both sides were wary of each other, and it was a naval engagement, so the conflict was only long-range. That's why the first place for personal battle contribution was taken by one of their people. Ah, if only we could have gotten that reward back then, perhaps things could have been salvaged..."

Reef sighed as he spoke, clearly lost in deep memory. He suddenly noticed Fang Senyan's expression and asked strangely: "What's wrong with you?"

Fang Senyan looked rather awkward: "Actually, now that you mention it, I suddenly remember. The one who actually took first place in the personal battle contribution... was me."

Reef shook his head decisively: "Impossible!"

Fang Senyan managed a wry smile: "Really. Why would I lie to you?"

Reef shook his head, saying seriously: "Sailor, while you are certainly a strong guy, I'm not looking down on you. Back then, for some reason, the Illuminati almost mobilized their entire main force for that historical script battlefield. Given your strength back then, you absolutely couldn't have taken first place."

Fang Senyan slowly shook his head: "Based on the information you provided, the Illuminati going all out wasn't for the historical script battlefield! They were aiming to complete a major historical event spanning the main line of the Caribbean—the Fall of Davy Jones. Therefore... the strong ones among them never even made a move."

Fang Senyan then silenced Reef's doubt completely with a single sentence. "The Type-I Metallic Dissolution Modulator Fluid, that’s what you were after, right?"

This time, Reef finally believed him, letting out a long sigh and shaking his head bitterly: "It seems this was fate's arrangement. I never imagined... you were already this strong back then!"

Fang Senyan gave a bitter smile: "Just lucky."

Reef shook his head, then suddenly asked: "How much is your Strength stat now? Including the potion bonuses?"

Fang Senyan calculated: "29 points."

Reef nodded, then suddenly initiated a trade request. He surprisingly traded the dark-gold necklace, Smith’s Matrix Chip, directly to Fang Senyan, but when Fang Senyan offered the Giant’s Fighting Spirit in return, Reef refused. Fang Senyan asked in surprise: "What's wrong?"

Reef was silent for a moment: "I can't equip this necklace. Rather than letting it sit idle, it’s better for you to use it and maximize your combat potential. As for the Giant’s Fighting Spirit, while powerful, equipping it forces me to cross that damnable critical threshold... The crux of the matter is! I am not yet qualified to control the power that breaks that limit!"

Fang Senyan stared into his eyes and said solemnly: "A person can't escape forever. Sooner or later, you have to face it!"

Reef closed his eyes in pain, and after a while, he said: "But not now. Truly not now."

Fang Senyan sighed, ceasing to press him. Once Fang Senyan equipped the dark-gold necklace, Smith’s Matrix Chip, his attributes surged terrifyingly. If he could previously be considered a close-combat powerhouse, the only word left to describe him now was: "Abnormal!"

If Fang Senyan pursued the extreme Strength route now, activating the necklace's innate ability, Format, and drinking the compounded potions: Bear + Eagle, his Strength could reach a terrifying 40 points! Agility would be 23, Constitution 35! Furthermore, he would have a 15% attack damage bonus. Such overwhelming attributes were already enough to surpass monsters like the Mountain Troll, making even the reanimated Fante look like garbage.

However, it must be noted that the key reason Fang Senyan could achieve such dominant attributes lay critically in the dark-gold necklace he obtained. Under normal circumstances, an item with dark-gold attributes should never have been accessible to Fang Senyan at this stage. Consider how Reef acquired his: he was the sole survivor of a massive forty-person team to claim the item! Did Fang Senyan have 40 people willing to plunge into fire and water for him? Even if he were clever and meticulous, alright, perhaps a 1/4 loss would be acceptable—where was Fang Senyan going to find 10 people willing to willingly die as cannon fodder for him?

Suddenly, a noisy sound carried on the wind from the distance. The sounds were very peculiar, resembling both a guttural, mumbling dispute between humans and the low roars of wild beasts. The two exchanged a glance and immediately concealed themselves behind a stand of redwood trees. A moment later, they saw three humanoid creatures approaching below.

These things looked incredibly filthy. Their lead-gray skin was covered in burgeoning warts, their clothing was tattered or simply animal hide. Their foreheads were recessed, their mouths protruded, and their small eyes gleamed with sinister light. In terms of stature, these creatures were about the height of a bent human, the tallest reaching human height. Their hair was messy, their skin the color of corpses; some had long arms, while a considerable number were hunched or lame. Fresh scars on some of their bodies indicated their blood was black. The weapons in their hands were crude—nothing more than wooden clubs and stone axes.

Although he lacked the 'Insight' ability now, Fang Senyan's helmet possessed the advanced Cheren-Miller Pulse Detector. He carefully flattened himself to the ground, hiding as much as possible, and activated this function.

After a faint, indistinct glimmer, Fang Senyan received data on the monsters below: merely "Orc." The rest was all ???. Even more chillingly, the three Orcs seemed to sense something, halting their steps and looking around sharply with their ferocious little eyes. Fang Senyan nearly cursed aloud. His Perception stat was 25, yet using the detector from that distance had given him away. This meant at least one thing—these Orcs' Perception was also close to 25!!

At that moment, Reef transmitted a message: "They don't have bows or arrows; they probably aren't the creatures that fired that shot. Engage?"

Seeing the three creatures drawing closer, and noticing they had already started looking around and raising their vigilance, sneaking away was no longer an option. Fang Senyan nodded and sent a message back: "Attack!"

He swiftly drew Ambition with his left hand and leaped up! In this world where the difficulty rating was S, Fang Senyan dared not hold back any strength! Upon spotting Fang Senyan, the three Orcs immediately began dripping viscous saliva and let out deep, muffled roars as they charged forward fiercely.

Fang Senyan plunged down from above. When he was five meters from the enemy, he slightly bent his knees, then exerted explosive force!

Under the impact of his terrifying 40 Strength, the very soil where his feet pushed off exploded. He kicked out mid-air, striking the chest of the leading Orc. The creature's sternum gave a dull, cracking sound, its chest seemingly collapsing inward by a few centimeters. It was sent flying five or six meters before smashing into a fir tree, black blood immediately spurting from its mouth, forming a bloody mist in the cold air.

This kick looked powerful, but it only inflicted basic damage based on Strength. Thus, the creature choked out a few loud coughs and scrambled back up, roaring ferociously. Its two companions raised their clubs and stone axes and charged madly. Fang Senyan sighed slightly, raised his right hand gripping Ambition,

Aimed, Fire!

The roar of the Caribbean flintlock exploded in the cold air of the Misty Mountains. The lead bullet, carrying death, ruthlessly tore through the Orc's forehead flesh, its filthy blood spraying out while the white bone was exposed to the air! The power of this shot finally made the Orc stagger backward, clutching its head and howling in agony.