At this moment, Fang Senyan and the other two were all covered in sweat and blood, looking quite disheveled. Fortunately, those inside the base were accustomed to such sights, and the healing facilities of the Gate of Hell were well-equipped and adept at handling injuries.

Aside from Mogansa, who had suffered the most severe torment and required extra time and money for treatment, Fang Senyan and Jiao Shi merely took a quick shower and roughly bandaged themselves before feeling refreshed and light. They headed straight to the base cafeteria to order food. Ten minutes later, Black Bro whistled his way over to join them.

The sun was blazing hot today. Mogansa, lacking the constant reassurance of Jiao Shi and Fang Senyan beside him earlier, had been incredibly anxious and insecure. Coupled with the all-out combat and rushing afterward, he was desperately thirsty. Seeing a glass of vibrant, emerald-green freshly squeezed juice in front of Fang Senyan, he snatched it and drank it all down.

Dishes began arriving for the trio in the dining hall—the usual fare of steak, sandwiches, Borscht, and so on. While Fang Senyan devoured his meal, he casually shared the data acquired from the RD Corporation with Jiao Shi and Mogansa. After all, examining it closely now was a case of sharpening the axe before cutting wood.

After sitting in the air-conditioned dining room for a while, they watched as several maimed, bleeding Contractors limped back in exasperation along the road outside the Gate of Hell. Many had suffered severe limb injuries, and one individual was charred black on the front, yet his back was covered in thick layers of frost—a testament either to his strong willpower or sheer luck that he had survived this long.

As time passed, surviving Contractors returned intermittently and scattered. Eventually, even Guangzhao Hui's Zi Mian returned, looking grim-faced and dusty, leading a group. The one who appeared to be in the worst shape was Akaphir, who was carried back unconscious and covered entirely in blood. This was originally a tropical climate, yet when Akaphir coughed, streams of cold air billowed out, indicating he had been sustained near the brink of death for a considerable time.

"What happened?" Fang Senyan asked strangely.

Mogansa pondered for a moment:

"I heard that entering a near-death state multiple times in a short period causes this; the effect of medication gradually diminishes until it becomes useless. The fact that Akaphir returned so severely injured shows how fierce the fighting must have been..."

"...Huh! Yuan Zhan hasn't returned either. I wonder if he was killed outright or used an item to forcibly abandon all gains and leave this world. It seems those guys specifically targeted the Summoners, because Summoners can often communicate with the flora and fauna, which is a huge asset for completing missions on Pandora. It looks like their hidden mission failed, and these guys are trying to completely ruin our mission too!"

At this point, Mogansa and Jiao Shi felt an increasing chill run down their spines:

Mogansa, during the previous wager with those fellows, had fought 1 vs 3, solidly building his Golden prestige on the reputation of others. Jiao Shi was the main pillar during the team fight, roaring out the heart-wrenching cry that sealed the victory.

When that group of Colonizers was finally defeated, these two were instrumental in that outcome. Now, Prince Stallo leading his team to ambush them ruthlessly outside was naturally an act of revenge. If Fang Senyan hadn't urgently called them back, disrupting their ambush plan and forcing them into a hurried strike, their corpses would likely be hanging up for public flogging right now.

It was worth noting that the surprise attack by these fellows not only caused casualties but also trapped those who had aggressively snatched up several First-Tier missions. The missions received at the laboratory were time-sensitive; failing to complete them carried severe penalties....

Basically, failing one mission could mean immediate disqualification from the competition! And with Prince Stallo's team blockading the exit, who dared to go out?

It is true that fortune rides on misfortune. Those Contractors who had grabbed multiple First-Tier missions could only weep in this situation. Conversely, the Contractors who hadn't grabbed any First-Tier missions were gloating. Therefore, even though some people were shouting, organizing, and saying they should fight their way out to teach those guys a lesson, very few responded. Some even remarked, "Why didn't you think about unity when you were snatching the First-Tier missions?" Under this sentiment, the Contractors were severely divided internally, and clearly, mobilizing to fight their way out was a wasted effort.

Fang Senyan ignored them for the moment. When they killed the three Contractors earlier, two of them dropped Bloody Keys; the archer regrettably contributed nothing to them. This basically confirmed that the True Red Cards were indeed dropped with very low probability; otherwise, Zeiss Karl, also a Colonizer, would have dropped something other than a Bloody Key.

Despite having a military rank mission requiring them to hand over the Bloody Keys, after some deliberation, Fang Senyan decided to use the key dropped by Zeiss Karl to open the lock, as the Colonizer's Key was extraordinary. This guy's offensive power was not only formidable, but his equipment was likely top-tier as well.

That day, he defeated seven Contractors in a row purely based on real skill, and even the core member of Guangzhao Hui, Yaomeng, had lost to him. If Fang Senyan, disguising himself as "support," hadn't planned meticulously and known Zeiss Karl's condition thoroughly beforehand, killing him would absolutely not have been as easy as it appeared!

However, this time, the surprise brought by Zeiss Karl's key to them was much smaller. Jiao Shi usually didn't involve himself in such matters, but today, for some reason, he was suddenly very interested in this particular draw. The three of them conferred and decided it was more worthwhile to draw equipment. Unexpectedly, when Jiao Shi reached in, he didn't come up empty-handed; he pulled out an astonishing piece of gear:

Birmingham "Stuka" Dart Holster Source World: Exorcist Origin: Birmingham, UK Equipment Rarity: Black Equipment Slot: Ranged Weapon Slot Material: Nylon Fiber Weight: 138 grams Attack Power: 10 fixed damage + the sum of the user's Strength, Agility, and Stamina. Equipment Requirement: Strength must be 17 or higher, Agility 20 or higher, Stamina 15 or higher Equipment Requirement: Basic Ranged Combat Lv2 Durability: None Equipment: Strength/Agility/+2 Equipment: Perception -3 Equipment Affixed Ability: This dart holster possesses magical properties, automatically replenishing the darts inside at a rate of 2 minutes per dart after they are used up. The generated needle darts are randomly enchanted, causing negative effects such as Slow, Weakness, Burn, or Bleed upon hitting an enemy. It can hold a maximum of four darts. You can also consume Universal Points continuously to shorten the replenishment speed to 15 seconds per dart. Description: Dart Throwing. Throw sharp needle darts at an enemy to inflict damage. Effective range is 3 to 33 meters. After dealing initial damage, the needle darts deeply embed themselves in the enemy's body, causing prolonged damage over time. Description: This equipment has a small chance of generating "Rare" needle darts, which will inflict double damage and multiple stacked negative effects. Combat Power Score for this Equipment: 21 Evaluation: If you enjoy using this equipment frequently, perhaps you might consider trying to participate in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Tour events when the time is right.

Since this piece of equipment occupied the Ranged Weapon slot, Mogansa was immediately bypassed. And Fang Senyan, full of ambition, could only express regret. However, Jiao Shi's ranged weapon slot only held a pale blue pistol with +1 Agility, which he almost never used. This item perfectly filled his lack of offensive means, so Jiao Shi took it.

Zeiss Karl had also never used this item in previous battles because, for someone pursuing speed and lethality like him, stopping to throw a dart was both a waste of time and a waste of life. His goal was to end the battle as quickly as possible; he was likely only interested in the additional 4 points of base attributes.

But for Jiao Shi, the approach was to grind down the enemy slowly, wearing them down over a long period... Furthermore, the potential for various negative status effects on these darts was what Jiao Shi valued. Thus, without question, this item was allocated to Jiao Shi.

Next, the three naturally did not immediately leave the RD base but instead visited various departments. It was worth mentioning that the three bundles of Heavy Armor Horse Neural Linkages acquired earlier proved extremely valuable. As expected of an item marked as precious, they managed to exchange them in the research institute for an additional 250 reputation points each.

Because Pandora has many bioluminescent plants, even at night, it rarely becomes pitch black. Instead, in areas where the vegetation is dense, the forest shines with brilliant, ethereal light, looking like a neon-lit city on Earth.

Fang Senyan and the other two were currently walking through this dense forest. Their ears were filled with the chirping of strange insects, and their eyes were treated to bizarre and spectacular sights—a visual impact perhaps ten times greater than during the day.

If Pandora during the day bore some resemblance to Earth's tropical rainforests, the jungle at night was an entirely different world. Fang Senyan suddenly stopped, narrowing his eyes:

"...Stop!! Yes, yes, that should be the Variegated Fern we need to excavate up ahead. Jiao Shi, pay attention. The operations manual provided in the data clearly states that this plant lives near water and has a very developed root system. You must be careful not to sever too many roots, or it will affect your mission evaluation."