Guide? Shazhou Team!

Everything had settled.

No monsters suddenly appeared, and no extra melodramatic plot twists unfolded.

In the clearing in the distance, a gigantic spacecraft beyond human imagination disengaged its cloaking mode. Hundreds of adult Predators stood in neat rows, surrounding their clan elder.

Unfortunately, all of it had become mere background scenery.

With the announcement that the main mission had been completed, everything stopped moving. No matter how badly injured anyone was, even if they had only the tiniest spark of life left, their condition would neither worsen nor end during this time.

Yet floating before Fang Xiu and the four newcomers in the frozen moment was not the Main God's glowing orb. Instead, it was the sickly woman who had been the first to respond enthusiastically and cooperate, yet had barely taken part in the plot, choosing to laze around where she was.

At first, Fang Xiu had comforted her, telling her that once she returned to the space alive, the supposedly incurable illness she suffered from would be little more than a joke and could be cured with ease.

At this very moment, the tall girl, so lacking in presence, had a vacant gaze, but her voice was as docile as ever, almost mechanical.

"Members of the Shazhou Team who have passed the trial, I am this team's guide."

Shazhou?

Seriously? He'd ended up here.

Fang Xiu couldn't help but marvel at the twist, though he didn't feel all that surprised. The first time he'd been hit by a truck, he'd been on a business trip in West Asia—anyone with a cloth on their head was either filthy rich or a terrorist.

"Reincarnator Fang Xiu, you have met all the necessary requirements to be certified as a team captain.

"Now, please choose whether to become the captain of the Shazhou Team. Once confirmed, you will assume the relevant responsibilities and gain some of the Main God Space's permissions, as well as a permanent enhancement."

The woman spoke as if she were going through the motions, her eyes devoid of emotion.

Without the slightest hesitation, Fang Xiu blurted out, "I confirm."

Compared to the so-called responsibilities, the captain's authority and the unknown gifts from the Main God were clearly far more appealing.

Otherwise... wouldn't all that effort have been for nothing?

As he gave his firm reply, an aura settled over Fang Xiu.

It contained a deeper level of power, one that ran deeper than bloodlines.

He had unlocked the Gene Lock! First stage, achieved.

In fact, this wasn't a realm that could only be comprehended on the brink of life and death. What it fundamentally required was intense concentration of the mind.

It was just easier to focus when facing overwhelming terror...

As he digested the additional knowledge bestowed by the Main God, the light of return immediately spread across this frozen expanse of time and space.

Now, Fang Xiu could be certain that the Main God Space he was in was nothing like the era of Zheng Zha's first generation, when everyone was dirt poor.

The second generation?

The third?

Neither seemed right.

It was probably a multiverse space created by some other unknown entity.

The next instant, he found himself facing the plaza he had imagined countless times before—

He was floating above an enormous, empty platform. At its very center was a gigantic, dazzling orb of light, illuminating the entire platform.

"Main God, fully restore all members."

"Deduct the reward points from me!"

Naturally, it was Captain Fang Xiu who spoke. He was now rolling in money, a true Shazhou tycoon. And surely restoring a few burns wouldn't cost many points. He could treat it as a perk for his team.

After all... these people had been lucky enough to survive their first, most helpless instance and earn their initial funds for strengthening themselves.

Three men and one woman. Honestly, what Fang Xiu hadn't expected was that the Black man who knew nothing about the plot, relied entirely on others to explain it, and seemed to come from some primitive tribe was still alive. He was badly burned and had a puncture wound in his abdomen, and looked awful.

Meanwhile,

The ball of light in the center of the plaza responded to the request. Five beams shot out from it, enveloping everyone present.

"It's like soaking in a hot spring. So soothing..."

"It even repairs the damage to our clothes."

Muttering to himself, Fang Xiu dispelled the Transformation Technique and returned to his neat shinobi outfit. In excellent spirits, he slowly descended from the beam of light.

"Big bro!"

The first to rush over and greet him was Tang Tian, a young man with a crew cut and an outgoing personality. He was warm and familiar, making the other three Reincarnators feel a little awkward—and envious.

After all, from the moment they had been chosen by the Main God until the protective barrier vanished, Fang Xiu had only said a few words to them while earning some extra money by explaining things.

One hundred and fifty-three points had been deducted? Through their mental link, the Main God sent him an itemized bill. Just as he'd expected.

"Everyone, it's good to see you again."

Putting his thoughts aside, Fang Xiu, the newly appointed captain of the Shazhou Team, steered the conversation to keep the newcomers from feeling awkward. "I've now officially been chosen as the captain of the Shazhou Team, and I've obtained some crucial information from the Main God through the relevant permissions."

"Ordinary food is supplied without limit, and all kinds of entertainment are very cheap..."

He went over the little details of daily life one by one, giving them all the consideration he hadn't shown them before.

"Now, please introduce yourselves."

"Tang Tian!" The crew-cut young man was the first to respond, already acting like Fang Xiu's sidekick. "I'd just graduated and started working for a state-owned company, doing construction projects over in Shazhou. Then one night, I got unlucky and was crushed to death by a steel bar that fell from above."

"Emir." A burly man with a beard and sunglasses spoke next. "Something went wrong during a royal family hunting trip. I guess one of my brothers or uncles decided I was in their way."

There was a story there.

But in the Main God Space, status meant nothing. Everything came down to one's own ability.

The only thing that caught Fang Xiu's attention was that the man was carrying the third Plasma Pistol.

Not simple...

As Fang Xiu silently assessed him, the Black man standing right beside the Middle Eastern tycoon began speaking as if chanting:

"Uwemwevienenyeltwinwiwunmubenosas..."

"Isn't that too long? Just call me Odubiao. I used to run a small business hauling and selling bananas.

"Hahaha, thank you. The Main God gave me a second life, Emir saved me from the Xenomorphs, and now the captain's generosity has saved me from Death once more..."

As he spoke, he flashed a row of white teeth, looking honest and simple-minded.

Fang Xiu's gaze shifted to the only woman on the team.

An Arab woman.

Because of the trial's environment, she had shed her heavy white robe, but replaced it with an even bulkier polar jacket. Her face was still veiled, leaving only a pair of light blue eyes visible. She was extremely conservative.

"Haida."

Compared with the three male team members' loquaciousness, her answer was rather brief.

Of course, Fang Xiu didn't care about that. Learning one another's names and what to call each other was enough. There was still plenty of crucial information buried deep in his mind, waiting for him to digest and absorb. "Good. From now on, we're a team. I hope we can support one another and make it further—at the very least, not end up like the previous generation... wiped out in some trial, without even a single spark left behind."

"The only guide disappeared as soon as the captain had been chosen, too."