The short figure stepped forward, saying lightly: "The Fool fights in a very peculiar manner, one he prefers not to have witnessed. If he doesn't return before us within five minutes, we'll count it as a loss. I know you can communicate through mental links; if you feel the duel is unfair, surely your comrades would notify you, right?"

Immediately following this, on the distant battlefield where flames were leaping high, all the contractors felt a sensation of profound confusion and distortion, as if the very rules of space and time had instantly dissolved. In that location, the air seemed denser than steel, the earth possessed the fluidity of water, the passage of time lurched forward an hour at one moment only to rewind fifty-nine minutes the next, and spitting required might result in the saliva flying directly into one's own nostrils...

And Fang Senyan struggled desperately amidst this twisted chaos, a flickering candle in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment, yet that tiny flame stubbornly refused to die, holding fast.

Suddenly, something seemed to erupt—a vast, invisible force shoved everyone back a few steps. Yet, the blaze remained as magnificent and fierce as before, allowing only fragmented glimpses of the flames furiously and savagely swirling upward, seemingly poised to engulf heaven and earth.

As time wore on, the expressions of the two previously confident figures grew progressively grim, their brows knitting deeper. By the time three minutes had passed, both men looked utterly defeated. Sure enough, not long after, a figure slowly emerged from the distant battlefield.

This man looked utterly wretched, covered head to toe in black and red burns. His hair and eyebrows were reduced to mere ash. Strangely, the contours of his muscles were vividly clear beneath the damage. Despite walking on level ground, each step was taken with the painstaking effort of scaling a steep mountain. Yet, he moved with unsettling steadiness, as if he had to firmly stomp an imprint into the ground with every footfall.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear his face was masked with layers of black dust, mottled with red and black patches, rendering him fearsome. Only the expression in his eyes conveyed sheer determination—who else could it be but Fang Senyan?

In his left hand, he dragged someone along as if hauling a dead weight, slowly pulling the defeated combatant forward. This person was the middle-aged man who had fought him.

The man had reverted to his pre-transformation appearance, looking far calmer than Fang Senyan, yet his complexion was ashen, as if he had aged twenty years in an instant. Held tightly by Fang Senyan, all his bones seemed shattered; he was dragged along like a sack, deep in a state of unconsciousness.

After his grueling battle, Fang Senyan walked over. He ignored the native Earthlings opposite him and, with a terribly strained expression, displayed a portion of his stats to the contractors. Upon seeing the "Defense" attribute displayed by Fang Senyan, the gathered contractors sucked in a collective, sharp breath.

Because Fang Senyan's defense value was shockingly displayed in a blood-dark crimson, accompanied by the utterly bizarre number: 10.

Every contractor present knew Fang Senyan possessed the abnormal stats of a main tank (MT). A tank with a defense rating of 10 was simply unimaginable. This meant that only contractors who had recently entered the Nightmare Space, or perhaps those who took extremely specialized stat builds, would possess a defense value as low as 10. Therefore, something drastic must have happened.

"This so-called Fool possesses the ability to silently drop my defense instantly to 0, and this defense-lowering ability is incredibly potent, with extremely high priority. Only now has my defense slowly recovered to 10 points," Fang Senyan said, looking at them and speaking every word deliberately.

"If it weren't for my health pool and life-saving measures exceeding his expectations, I would certainly be dead by his hand. Fortunately, this fellow's biggest weakness is a deficit in MP or Stamina reserves; he cannot sustain such a high-intensity transformation for long. If you wish to die, then continue underestimating him!"

Fang Senyan's words immediately ignited a major uproar among the contractors. Many faces grew grave, adopting an attitude of extreme caution. Aldariss, however, had been frowning the entire time, scrutinizing Fang Senyan. He had always viewed Fang Senyan as a potential rival and thus kept a close watch on him.

The Fang Senyan who had just appeared felt different from before compared to Aldariss, yet he couldn't articulate precisely what that difference was.

In Paul's eyes, however, even though Fang Senyan appeared haggard—scorched and blackened, his clothes torn and trousers ragged—his inherent demeanor and aura had completely transformed. It was as if a dormant volcano, hidden deep within, had finally broken through its constraints, ready to spew forth its incandescent magma and scalding sulfurous flames, shooting them wildly toward the heavens.

As for Fang Senyan himself, he withheld many crucial details from his team members.

Firstly, the defense reduction imposed by the Fool was not merely to 0... but even more terrifyingly low. From the moment he was struck, Fang Senyan realized his defense had been aberrantly reduced to negative 15 points. That was why the three long spikes could inflict such devastating damage.

Secondly, every two seconds, his defense would incrementally recover, increasing by 5 points per cycle: dropping from -15 to -10, then to -5, and finally reaching 0 defense. After hitting zero, it would recover 1 point every 3 seconds until it normalized.

Most importantly, Fang Senyan felt a moment of mental blankness after being struck. In that instant, something deep within his soul seemed to leap out, rampaging and roaring within his body. Vaguely, Fang Senyan perceived a colossal vertical eye, vast enough to encompass the entire world, slowly opening.

However, the memory of this experience was incredibly hazy. Although it had just happened, it felt shrouded in the indistinctness of millennia of sedimentation. Of course, if it weren't for one distinct fact serving as a reminder, Fang Senyan might have dismissed the entire event as a mere hallucination.

That clear fact was the flashing, dazzling crimson light illuminating his innate talent description: Barrier.

Fang Senyan also felt a sensation of swelling, burning fullness—a feeling he knew well. It signaled that his talent, Barrier, had reached its critical threshold and was imminent for further advancement.

Even though Fang Senyan had clearly warned the humans before him that they were absolutely not simple figures and certainly not sheep awaiting slaughter, those who joined this team were clearly no ordinary folk either! The first to volunteer was Aldariss.

He was already a battle fanatic, and now he was determined to prove definitively that he was superior to Fang Senyan. Fang Senyan had achieved a narrow victory; if Aldariss managed a decisive win, he could certainly undermine Fang Senyan's prestige, even if the actual issues remained unresolved.

Ronnie, licking his dagger menacingly, stepped forward next. In this world, he had been facing constant setbacks and internal frustrations, leaving him bottled up with resentment. It was clear that Ronnie had given up on the notion of making Fang Senyan—the source of his troubles—pay, but an opportunity to vent by thoroughly beating someone else sounded very appealing.

Furthermore, Bokan, whose strength had recently increased significantly, was eager for a fight. Only Dardanian showed less intense desire to engage.

Ronnie and Aldariss argued briefly, eventually deciding the right to fight would be determined by rolling dice. Ronnie won the draw.

He stepped into the designated fighting circle. The remaining short figure exchanged a look with a woman in camouflage gear, then conferred briefly with others nearby, clearly gathering intelligence on Ronnie. Finally, the short man stepped forward and addressed Ronnie:

"I will fight you."

Ronnie stuck out his tongue, licking the sharp edge of his dagger. A tiny cut appeared on his bright red tongue, and the taste of blood flooded his throat. Ronnie then broke into a sinister, menacing smile before charging into the jungle. He seemed to vanish into the air instantly, utilizing his chameleon-like mimicry ability that allowed perfect blending with the surroundings.

The short figure roared suddenly. His clothes could be seen ripping apart with loud snap-snap-snap sounds as his bones and muscles rapidly swelled. Deep, resonant roars, like those of primeval, ancient beasts, emanated from within his body.

Numerous blood vessels surfaced across his skin, and corresponding oval crystals began to grow precisely over the locations of his five major internal organs: heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

The light emanating from these crystals intersected like arcane formations, giving the impression that he was radiating boundless propulsive force. The closer one got, the stronger this repulsive energy became, causing the ground beneath his feet to appear subtly blurred, as if viewed through hazy frosted glass, causing faint refraction of light.

Moreover, both of this man's forearms had grotesquely mutated into two enormous, bizarre bone axes. His two scarlet eyes bulged at least two centimeters out of their sockets, seemingly on the verge of bursting. Yet, even as this man was mid-transformation, Ronnie materialized behind him as if by spectral means.

In his hand, he held a crimson dagger. The weapon was ancient and desolate, bearing inscription-like markings reminiscent of oracle bone script etched onto the hilt—it was an exceedingly rare Blood Weapon.

For some unknown reason, Ronnie brought the dagger to the man's throat, and then the entire body tilted forward, collapsing downward. It looked less like he was using arm strength to drive the dagger, and more like he was utilizing the momentum of his own fall to drag the blade across the enemy’s neck. (Your support for this site is my greatest motivation.)