Joy and Sorrow

Chapter 48: Joy and Sorrow

"Damn! Five Clover hatchlings!!!"

"Boss, can you handle this?"

The voice sounded terrified.

A second ago, the many members of the Shazhou Team within the Main God Space had been influenced by Fang Xiu, becoming calm and composed.

The next moment... even he, the captain, couldn't help but sigh; the newcomers would have to pray for their own luck and rely on their fate.

Looking at the jittery Tang Tian beside him, Fang Xiu wore a grave expression, yet he still nodded and replied:

"Even if I can't handle it, I have to. I originally thought that after the team-building grace period ended, the first trial would be at most a fifteen-person difficulty level, but this time, it's been maxed out right from the start."

Could it be that the Main God thought the Shazhou Team's unlocking progress was insufficient? That was likely close to the truth.

He replied while thinking rapidly.

At the same time, the Main God-brand protective barrier, which could not be breached by any entity before the allotted time, officially began a fifteen-minute countdown—this was the time the Great Light Sphere left for the Reincarnators to hold a wartime meeting, accept newcomers, and help them establish a preliminary understanding of the situation.

"One Clover hatchling... lands in New York late at night and begins its destruction, and by dawn, the international metropolis housing tens of millions of people is reduced to ruins."

Emir's face looked rather ugly. The burly man, who prided himself on being the second strongest in the Shazhou Team, muttered, "They are considered exaggerated even within the city-level destruction tier, and yet five of them have appeared at once."

Cities are divided by size.

The chatterbox Tang Tian had once popularized a basic concept to everyone—

Destruction of less than 100 square kilometers: Small-city buster, or weak city buster.

Destruction of 100-1000 square kilometers: City buster.

Destruction of 1000-3000 square kilometers: Large-city buster. Destruction of over 3000 square kilometers: Super-city buster. New York is one of the world's premier metropolises; before the Shazhou Team arrived, they had already used this top-tier metric to gauge the final boss! Unfortunately, the Main God simply didn't treat them like humans...

In fact, no matter how much Fang Xiu had emphasized it in the past, most members still harbored a shred of wishful thinking in their hearts.

Often, looking at the Great Light Sphere that could bestow all kinds of extraordinary powers, they felt a sense of intimacy, believing that as the chosen ones, they would surely survive until the end and become beings beyond imagination! This included Fang Xiu himself... who occasionally felt the same.

After all, he was somewhat special; he had arrived with power from the very beginning, and it happened to coincide with the rebuilding of a Reincarnator team, as if he were destined to be a leader.

"Holding onto conviction doesn't guarantee survival, but the chance of living is always higher than having a 'waiting to die' mentality."

At the critical moment, it was Fang Xiu who stepped up.

Originally, he had intended to intentionally or unintentionally prune his teammates during this trial to separate the wheat from the chaff, but he hadn't expected that to be all wishful thinking.

The Main God would do the pruning itself! Having composed his mindset, Fang Xiu said calmly: "The main quest difficulty has increased, but the information... also reveals a piece of good news. This world only contains Clover, rather than linking to other parallel worlds and churning out a bunch of monsters and aliens."

"The plot content remains simple. According to the original setting, the deep-sea behemoth consumes the mysterious substance Seabed Nectar, crawls out from the abyss, and triggers turmoil in human society."

As he spoke, an ID card abruptly appeared in his palm.

He cast his gaze toward Tang Tian and Emir.

The two understood instantly.

The latter shook his head.

A glimmer of light flickered across the former's spider-eye lenses, and in the blink of an eye, he easily completed the task of cracking the ID card and saw the information within.

The contents of an electronic ID were projected!

On the light screen was a half-body portrait of Fang Xiu, along with a side-note introduction involving his position: Taruato Energy Group—Biotechnology Subsidiary—Research Department Special Supervisor—Fang Xiu.

In the bottom right corner was another line of small text: [Activated]. Seeing this, Yuan Meng, the civil engineer who was wearing a pocketless combat suit due to exchanging for a storage ring, immediately checked his own ring.

An ID card of the same specifications, with only a slightly lower position, was also floating quietly among the half-finished mechanical parts.

"Same as usual, the identities set up by the Main God for everyone can directly intervene in the plot, making it convenient to dig for hidden benefits, such as the Seabed Nectar that strengthens physical fitness."

"Of course, that's on the condition that you stay alive."

After showing the ID card in his hand, Fang Xiu glanced at the ground with his peripheral vision.

Following his gaze, Ye Mei, whose mental power far exceeded that of a veteran, stated the fact in a low voice, "It's not just us; the newcomers have them too."

"The Main God doesn't make meaningless arrangements." Haida, who had undergone a drastic change in style from a conservative Arab woman to a barefoot beauty, added.

"In the internal settings obtained by the actors, there is such a statement. My memory might be a bit fuzzy, and I can't recall the exact number, but I can be certain that this energy company does indeed have research institutes set up all over the world."

John became excited again, "As the world's central city, there's no reason for New York not to be chosen, and with our ID cards, once we get in, we can borrow local resources to complete another round of strengthening."

"Hahaha, the boss is right, the Main God won't leave us with absolutely no way out!!"

For a moment, an optimistic atmosphere began to radiate within the protective barrier again...

Unfortunately, it was a mix of truth and falsehood.

Five giant beasts were eyeing them like tigers, and it was unknown when they would land; there might even be other threats hidden in the shadows.

How could the Reincarnators truly be happy? It was just that what the captain said earlier made sense; they had to find something to lift their spirits.

"We have the ID cards, but we lack the relevant memories in our brains, so we need key personnel to break through the internet blockade and conduct effective data collection."

His gaze turned toward Tang Tian once more.

If he remembered correctly, the third-generation Spider-Man suit came with a high-level artificial intelligence identical to Iron Man's, which could act as a hacker.

"Hmm, once the protective barrier vanishes, I will make the arrangements."

Tang Tian set aside the impulsive side of his personality, gave a nod, and sighed, "I hope the arrival node isn't too late."

--It's actually quite good that someone is following the technology path.

--It's not all bad news.

Now there is one more piece of good news: the quality of this batch of newcomers is quite solid.

You have to realize, with the number reaching as many as twelve, even if the big glowing ball just grabbed some cannon fodder to fill the quota and spike the difficulty, one could still sift gold out of a pile of dung.

After some exchange, only a small portion of the fifteen-minute preparation time had been consumed when the third newcomer quietly stirred and instinctively opened her eyes—the first and second were both still feigning sleep.

It was a woman with East Asian features, wearing oversized sunglasses and possessing a strong sense of style; even in a reincarnation world where there is no upper limit to beauty, she could still be ranked among the beauties.

She was likely a celebrity, model, idol, or something similar.

She had initially wanted to scream, but after seeing the almost magical aesthetic of the entire Shazhou Team, she immediately covered her mouth and held it in, terrified that Emir might find her annoying and crush her with his giant fist.

"Get up, and the two of you pretending to sleep should wake up too; you've been eavesdropping for quite a while now."

"The quality of this batch of newcomers is good, but their luck is terrible."

Fang Xiu took the lead without hesitation, continuing to shoulder the task of explaining and easily earning five hundred reward points.

--Starting off with a bit of profit can also be considered a good omen.