As the voice fell, everyone’s heart skipped a beat at the same time, and they immediately felt a heavy force of mental strength pressing down on them.

It was somewhat similar to the coercion they had felt from Benny not long ago, but slightly weaker in intensity. At least they still had enough strength left to control their movements.

"They’re coming."

Everyone heard Fang Heng’s reminder and looked up.

Strands of pitch-black shadows gradually condensed around them.

The shadows slowly condensed into human forms, forming a circle, and began moving toward the group.

Were these special monsters in the special game world?

They didn’t seem too strong.

Fang Heng sensed the monsters’ strength and tried to take a step forward. Then, he suddenly burst forward and threw a punch straight ahead.

"Bang!!!"

A muffled thud.

The shadow figure crossed its arms in front to block Fang Heng’s punch, stepping back several steps in a row.

Seeing this, Fang Heng frowned.

Something was wrong!

That punch lacked damage. It didn’t have the impact he was used to from previous collisions.

The problem wasn’t with the shadow creature—it was with himself!

Had he been weakened?

Fang Heng raised his right hand in front of him and slowly clenched it into a fist.

It was different.

He was no longer in a fully physical form, but rather a fusion of consciousness, which meant his attributes had changed.

While he was thinking, the rest of the shadow creatures also began moving toward the players.

Zaka held his breath and focused his spirit, cautiously stepping back a few steps. As the shadows entered attack range, a black long blade suddenly appeared in his hand, and he quickly slashed toward the shadows!

"Bang!!!"

With a slash, Zaka’s expression suddenly changed.

When the blade hit the black mist of the shadow, it produced a forceful rebound.

The shadow creature advanced instead of retreating. Its right hand formed a palm and struck heavily on Zaka’s shoulder.

"Boom!"

Zaka took the hit and was sent flying backward uncontrollably, slamming into a formless barrier behind him. His body gradually disintegrated and completely vanished from the space.

"Buzz..."

Zaka was actually one-shot killed by the shadow creature!

The remaining players looked warily at the shadow creatures gradually materializing in the great hall.

Earlier, watching Mr. Fang handle the shadow creatures so easily had relaxed them, but after seeing what had happened to Zaka, they no longer dared to be careless.

Outside, in the real world, although the internal situation couldn’t be seen, some game data was exported through the modified game cabins and decrypted by the control device, then projected onto a big screen.

"Sir, the trial has begun. We are currently maintaining the energy level stably at Level 18."

A military officer sent by the Federation’s military department frowned and said, "Professor Benny, isn’t Level 18 too high for the initial energy level?"

"Level 18 is the precise value obtained through testing. It’s a foundational critical point. Starting from that point, trial participants will experience a qualitative increase in the efficiency of triggering their central potential during battle by absorbing the power of the Black Fog."

Beside him, a researcher nodded and explained, "Under an initial strength of Level 18, the body can most quickly adapt to the power of the Black Fog core."

"Of course, we don’t deny that doing this carries great risk."

The researcher held a notebook and, while checking the data inside, continued, "Research has confirmed that with strength stimulation above Level 12, if a player dies, they may suffer trauma in the spirit. This mainly shows as decreased control over spiritual abilities, and in rare cases, even permanent decreases in spirit attributes."

"The higher the energy level, the stronger the side effects. But at the same time, the better the results. We are currently testing to find a suitable training level and Black Fog energy supply level."

"These mercenaries are a good group of test subjects."

As the researcher was explaining, a nearby training game cabin suddenly lit up with a red indicator.

Several researchers immediately stepped forward and opened the game cabin, carrying out the pale-faced Zaka, and began running diagnostic checks on the spot.

"Report, all data is normal. He’s just a bit weak. Mental strength damage needs further detailed testing."

"Hmm, it’s still too forced after all."

Benny shook his head and waved his hand, "Take him to rest first."

"Yes!"

Benny looked back at the control panel and said, "Sergeant, I know this approach is a bit aggressive, but we don’t have time. Some risks must be taken."

Right now, the world humanity lived in was being gradually devoured by the Black Fog.

The upper echelons of the Western District Federation believed that cooperating with the spawns might help temporarily slow the spread of the Black Fog.

But humans didn’t want to bet everything on the spawns.

Humans—

Had never been ones to yield easily to other races.

To deal with the coming crisis, the Western District Federation disregarded repeated warnings from the Central Federation. The entire military department directly took action, dispatching elite forces to attempt unlocking the final "lock."

Preliminary human experimentation results were mediocre.

Normal levels of energy stimulation had little effect on the lock. Even after meeting basic attribute requirements, only 0.07% of subjects completed the unlocking—and even then, it took a long time, with many suffering permanent mental damage and spiritual attribute weakening.

That’s why Benny has been working on optimizing the training method for breaking the lock, hoping to promote it throughout the Western District Federation and improve the strength of its soldiers.

When he heard that a new group of mercenaries wanted to begin the "lock" training and some were even willing to volunteer as high-risk test subjects, Benny personally came to conduct more aggressive tests.

Even though it was extremely dangerous...

It was a sacrifice for all of humanity.

Besides, they had signed voluntary agreements and accepted the consequences.

As Benny thought, the shadow creatures in the game successively defeated players, and the game cabins in the hall began to open one by one.

"Sir, take a look at this data..."

Huh?

Benny looked up at the screen, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

The energy concentration in the trial environment was gradually decreasing!

Level 12 strength represented the intensity of the shadow creatures in the trial, which would exert spiritual pressure on the trial participants, helping them absorb the energy of the trial environment.

But energy wasn’t generated out of thin air. It came from the Federation converting Black Fog crystal cores. Every bit of energy consumed a corresponding amount of crystal cores.

The energy diffusion level represented how fast crystal cores were being consumed—too much would waste them, but too little would reduce energy concentration and drastically lower player training efficiency.

Normally, Level 12 shadow strength matched with level 8 energy diffusion.

Why wasn’t the diffusion keeping up?

Was it because this was the first time these people entered the trial, so they absorbed the Black Fog’s aura more easily than normal?

While Benny was thinking, the overall energy concentration dropped again—from 70% down to 60%.