After a brief wait as the queue moved slowly, the two headed to the adjacent appraisal room to sell the Hychimga Egg, which had been classified as an Unknown Oddity. To their surprise, each one fetched a value of 2 Merit Points—a truly unexpected windfall!

They waited a little longer until it was finally their turn to enter the core area of the space to handle their business. Fang Senyan and Reef sat down, and a laser grid projected down from above, scanning both of them. Immediately, a mechanically cold voice sounded from across the room: "Welcome back: Contractors executing Team Establishment Mission."

"Reading data..." "..." "The mission accepted is a team mission: Survival." "Mission Summary: Live, and strive to keep living until you can no longer hold on." "Checking mission progress..., you have passed the time-related critical point for Phase I! Mission evaluation increased by 30." "Checking mission progress... you have passed the time-related critical point for Phase II! Mission evaluation increased by 50." "Checking mission progress... you have passed the time-related critical point for Phase III! Mission evaluation increased by 100." "Your mission evaluation is the base value of 30 + 30 + 50 + 100 = 210 points; neither of the two participants returned early." "Overall mission completion evaluation: Highest Difficulty (LVMAXAX)." "Please wait........." "Signal connecting..." "..."

They waited for nearly ten minutes during this short pause. Then, the entire virtual screen began to show chaotic interference. After a while, the slightly hoarse voice returned: "If this damned signal device doesn't give me a sufficient reason to wake me up, I swear I'll apply to replace the main chip. Otherwise, I’ll never drink hot cocoa from the Babarapong Basin again! Damn it, what in the world requires a connection to me? Huh?" "Team Establishment Mission completion evaluation: Highest (MAX)? Huh?" "And it was requested by a Second Lieutenant?" "Ah ha! Look who it is... Number 1018?"

Hearing that hoarse voice, Fang Senyan knew exactly who it was—most likely the person who conferred his rank when he was promoted to Second Lieutenant. He responded earnestly: "It is a pleasure to see you again, SIR."

The hoarse voice let out a crisp laugh: "You can call me Lieutenant Colonel. I see I didn't misjudge you. While the Team Establishment Mission isn't overly difficult, achieving this result is quite rare. Hmm, was this completed by two people? And you hold the rank of Second Lieutenant, so the relevant rewards will naturally take that into consideration. Congratulations! The Ace Team is officially established!"

With the Lieutenant Colonel's announcement, Fang Senyan and Reef simultaneously received notifications: "You have exited the temporary team." "Your team has received the maximum (MAX) bonus for mission completion evaluation: Silver Grade." "Silver Grade Privilege: From the moment the team is established, you may draw for up to three team passive skills." "Silver Grade Privilege: When engaging in team battles with other teams, you will directly suppress the enemy team's skills, reducing their effectiveness by 10% to 30% (depending on the enemy team's grade), and increasing the chance of the enemy team's skill failing to cast by 20% to 50% (depending on the enemy team's grade)." "Silver Grade Privilege: When drawing for team-related skills, you receive one extra draw opportunity." "Silver Grade Privilege: You obtain a team space with a volume of 10X10X10 cubic meters." "Silver Grade Privilege: Every time the team level increases, you gain 2 Team Skill Points (normally 1 point). You can use Team Skill Points to upgrade team skills; every 3 Team Skill Points can unlock one additional Team Skill learning slot." ...

Looking at this string of notifications, Fang Senyan wasn't overly surprised... To put it crudely, using the sharp-tongued words reserved for those spitting melon seeds while watching a gold mine: Ignorance is bliss.

Reef, however, sucked in a sharp breath while staring at the long list of prompts. He remembered when they established the Reserve Team, there was neither a Team Establishment Mission nor anything related to 'Grades'... which meant information on this aspect wouldn't have been revealed to them.

They did have team skills, but only one learning slot. Once obtained, a skill was assigned directly—whether it was good or bad was up to fate. More crucially, how could a team skill be learned for free? Skills were divided into three tiers based on the learning cost: The first tier cost 1000 General Points, 10 Potential Points, and 5 Merit Points. Based on Reef's experience, these skills were likely generic buffs like Movement Speed +3 (not 3%), Strength +1, Attack Damage Boost, etc. Among these, the Stamina +1 attribute was undoubtedly the best, as no one in the team would find it useless. It was worth noting that the Symbiosis Society's previous team ability, Desperate Measures (which increased Evasion), fell into this tier.

The second tier cost 30,000 General Points, 30 Potential Points, and 15 Merit Points. Clearly, team skills at this level would be better than the first, likely passive skills such as Strength B, Crit Rate +2%, or Evasion Rate %. The Banks Gang's team skill, Shattering the Sacred Vessel (gaining a 100 HP shield upon being critically injured, inheriting the protector's defense), belonged to this second tier. Of course, it was also possible they had used Team Skill Points to upgrade it.

The learning cost for the third tier was 70,000 General Points, 70 Potential Points, and 35 Merit Points. Reef wasn't very clear about this tier; he had only heard rumors of a team skill where all attributes were increased by +1, suggesting it belonged here.

More importantly, Reef noticed the attribute granting team skill points upon team level increase. It felt like his vision momentarily blurred... Reserve Teams only gained 1 Team Skill Point per level up! In this light, the Silver Grade team's growth potential was inherently double that of a Reserve Team!

Fang Senyan didn't have time to ponder Reef's thoughts. He still remembered the advice the hoarse voice had given him last time, which had indeed proven to be golden counsel. Hearing the hoarse voice yawn before speaking lazily, he said, "Finished reading? Once you're done, prepare to draw team skills. You can draw three times—oh wait, a Silver Grade team can draw six times. You can select three skills from the results of those six draws."

Fang Senyan’s heart stirred: "Does Lieutenant Colonel have any advice for me this time?" The hoarse voice laughed heartily: "None, none! You're usually so sharp, why the moment of confusion? The rationale here is obvious. I'll just ask you one thing: what was the name of your Team Establishment Mission?"

Hearing this, Fang Senyan's mind instantly cleared... Right! For everyone struggling within the space, the only hope was to survive! Living—that was the fundamental premise of everything!

The formal drawing of team skills began. However, upon selecting the first draw, the Nightmare Mark immediately halted the process and provided a notification: "Number 1018 and Number 770123 jointly entered the Team Establishment Mission." "Neither party returned early." "Both parties obtained the maximum mission completion evaluation (MAX)." "You have triggered the relevant condition." "Calculating........." "Planning........." "Checking relevant parameters........." It took a full five minutes before the next prompt appeared. "You have acquired the Hidden Team Skill: Life Link! (Passive, requires 3 Team Skill Points per upgrade)" "Cannot evaluate this skill." "Hidden Team Skill: Life Link. When both of you are simultaneously part of the Ace Team (i.e., no one has lost their team membership status), your vitalities will be mystically linked." "If either party reaches the critical point of entering a near-death state, they will immediately enter the Stone Stance—movement speed reduced by 50%, unable to attack or use items. Any subsequent damage dealt to them will be forcibly reduced by 50%! Furthermore, this damage will be transferred to the other linked individual (the transferred damage is still subject to the receiving party's defense reduction; the near-death person takes no damage)." "If both linked parties enter a near-death state simultaneously, Life Link deactivates." "The damage reduction effect in Stone Stance possesses domain priority." (In cases of conflicting abilities: No priority (Priority (Authority (The crushing hidden attribute is this)) (Domain Priority (Domain Authority)) "You may choose to forgo this Hidden Team Skill and randomly draw another team skill instead. Yes or No?"

Fang Senyan and Reef exchanged a glance and unhesitatingly clicked Yes! Seeing the word "Hidden," they knew this skill was certainly rare, and the ancient adage that rarity equates to value still held strong, even within the Nightmare Space. The primary reason the space couldn't assign a grade to this skill was likely due to its highly situational applicability. Undeniably, the effect would be best when linking Fang Senyan and Reef together. But if two low-HP ranged contractors linked up... theoretically, this ability would be useless as long as the team's MT (Main Tank) remained standing. If the MT fell, the use of their link was merely for escape. At best, it was a less-than-ideal escape mechanism.