The real difficulty

Endless clouds of sulfuric acid filled their entire field of vision, slowly swirling at four hundred kilometers per hour.

The sun was distorted, like a round cake stretched out of shape, radiating an eerie red glow.

The sky was a sickly yellow. Within the clouds, dark brown bands of sulfur compounds stretched for thousands of kilometers, tearing across the heavens like cracks.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared. Unlike the slender bolts on Earth, bursts of blue-white light illuminated the entire cloud cover almost every few seconds.

Inside the cargo hold, everyone stared in a daze, their voices like murmurs in a dream:

"Is this... Venus?"

Even now, they still could not believe they were on Venus, a hundred and fifty million kilometers from Earth.

This was a forbidden realm for life, comparable to the endless hell of myth.

For a moment, an indescribable sense of awe filled their hearts.

But compared with their amazement, He Zheng cared more about when the exam would end.

He studied the images on the monitor. A few seconds later, completely reassured, he plopped down on the floor.

Air was being sucked out continuously, while enormous quantities of sulfuric acid clouds surged into the base under the pressure difference. Its outer pyramidal structure had already warped, like a triangular cardboard shell squeezed flat, and was coming apart from the breach. In a chain reaction, the entire base kept tipping sideways and falling like a massive ship that had lost its balance.

At its current speed, perhaps in less than twenty minutes, when the base fell to an altitude of roughly thirty-five kilometers, atmospheric pressure ten times that of Earth would crush it into a lump of scrap metal.

The creatures inside would be squeezed into pulp in moments.

"Ahem!"

"Congratulations on surviving, rookies! Some of you useless bastards only made it through on luck, but luck is part of strength too!"

He Zheng laughed loudly and looked around at everyone.

After calculating his final score, he was in an excellent mood and, for once, did not swear.

Although the system had not yet announced the end of the exam, they only needed to wait a little longer.

It's over! This damned exam is finally over!

At his words, several people in the cargo hold exchanged excited looks, unable to stop imagining what they could redeem once they returned.

According to He Zheng, as long as they had enough points, they could get anything they wanted from the system!

Hearing footsteps behind him, He Zheng turned and saw Ye Lin emerging from the cockpit. As though remembering something, he asked impatiently:

"Ye Lin! Did killing those 'gods' count toward your score? How many points did you get?"

"Listen to me. Don't redeem anything right after we get back! Let's discuss it first. Don't waste your points!"

He could not imagine how many points Ye Lin had earned this time. Alongside his envy, he feared Ye Lin's lack of experience might lead him to choose the wrong things.

Barring any surprises, Ye Lin's strength would soar once they returned to the system space. Then the kid would truly become someone he could lean on, and his survival would depend entirely on Ye Lin!

"They counted as my kills, but I didn't kill them personally, so they were only worth a little more than the creatures. About ten points."

"Let's leave that aside for now...

"He Zheng, Zhang Tie, Hu Jia, An Ke, you four come over here."

He Zheng froze. The other three whose names had been called were also surprised, unsure what Ye Lin intended.

"Ye Lin? What's wrong?"

"What do you want us over there for?"

He Zheng asked in confusion. For some reason, his heart suddenly lurched.

Although he was usually oblivious, even he noticed something was wrong with Ye Lin's expression. There was not the slightest hint of relief in his eyes.

It was as though he was still on guard against something.

Huang Liang and the others were equally bewildered. Wang Yuanyang even instinctively hid behind Huang Liang.

When Ye Lin remained silent, He Zheng could not help asking again.

"Seriously, Ye Lin, what's gotten into you? Are you still worried about something?"

Mistaking Ye Lin's behavior for excessive anxiety, He Zheng walked over and patted his shoulder, trying to reassure him. Although something had gone wrong last time too, this time was completely different.

They were already aboard the spaceship. Even if those monsters could fly, they could not possibly threaten them.

"Nothing. I just think it was a little too easy."

Ye Lin spoke softly. The moment he finished, both He Zheng and An Ke stared at him in disbelief.

"Easy? What part of that was easy?"

He Zheng cried out, his eyes wide.

"Ye Lin, I know you're careful and think everything through. But it couldn't get any harder than that! Unless this thing blows up!"

He could not understand what Ye Lin was thinking. They had narrowly escaped death at every turn. If they had not found the answer at the end, and had not been lucky enough, not even their bones would have remained.

If that counted as easy, then from now on, whenever Ye Lin said something was difficult, He Zheng would kill himself immediately to spare himself the suffering.

"It went too smoothly."

Ye Lin neither agreed nor disagreed. He turned to He Zheng.

"He Zheng, how many creatures did we encounter the first time?"

?

"One?"

He Zheng blurted out, even more confused.

Ignoring their confusion, Ye Lin nodded.

"Then how many did we actually hear?"

"A few hundred? Or a few dozen? Seriously, what are you trying to say? Was something wrong?"

Rather than answer, Ye Lin pondered for a moment before speaking again.

"Of course something was wrong. We should have encountered over a hundred the first time. Our assumption that their limited vision kept them from finding us was wrong. Judging by what happened afterward, most of the creatures could find us every time the alarm sounded."

"It might have affected them, but nowhere near as much as we initially thought."

"One the second time, and still one the third time. By the fourth encounter, there were plenty of them, but we'd already found weapons."

"That means the number of monsters appearing was always held at..."

"Ye Lin?"

An Ke suddenly spoke. She understood what he was implying.

"Are you saying every encounter with the creatures was deliberately arranged? Kept within what we could handle?"

An Ke's gaze sharpened, but she quickly thought of an explanation and argued:

"So you think it was too much of a coincidence? Too smooth? It was, a little, but wasn't that because of the route we chose, and because we later risked our lives to lure the creatures away?"

She had lured away the creatures in the laboratory. Without that, they could never have gotten inside.

Ye Lin shook his head.

"If that were all, then of course it wouldn't mean anything."

"But what about those 'gods'? Did they really threaten us?"

"That was because... we ran fast enough? Besides, if we hadn't had the ship to hide in, we'd all be dead."

"Oh, right, and Huang Liang!"

Remembering the final scene, He Zheng's expression darkened. If they had been even a few seconds later, the female corpse that appeared at the end could have killed them all instantly.

"The ship?"

"All right."

Ye Lin looked at An Ke.

"The ship was in the Repair Zone. How did you find it?"

"Because... I stumbled into it while running away..."

Wait...

Before An Ke finished, a sudden sense of unease rose inside her.

No, I found that place because I encountered 'Maitreya'!

"Because those monsters forced you there, right? You never had a choice!"

Ye Lin spoke coldly, his words coming faster.

"Huang Liang, what about you? How did you discover that painting, and find out the ring of light could repel the monsters?"

Before Huang Liang's expression could change as he realized something, Ye Lin supplied the answer himself.

"Because you were forced into that room! And only that room just happened to have a painting, and something that could 'repel' the monsters!"

Everyone froze. Ye Lin looked at them all, enunciating every word:

"Weren't you curious how I knew there would be a ship beyond the airtight chamber?"

"It's simple. Once those monsters charged in, we could either wait to die or open the Airlock and take a gamble."

"In other words, no matter what... we would find this ship!"

"And that's not all. Why did we go to the experimental area? Because there was a researcher's corpse behind the door. Why did we awaken 'Morrigan'? Because we saw the eleventh painting."

"One coincidence is a coincidence. Two means good luck. But what about three, four, five?"

Ye Lin said no more. His gaze was icy, his nerves stretched to their limit.

From the moment they encountered the first creature, it had been as though a pair of invisible hands was forcing them toward this point.

And when that drop of water fell, when the final link in his reasoning clicked into place, Ye Lin instantly understood the true danger of this exam!

Everyone's heart jolted, their expressions changing drastically!

Once everything was connected, even the slowest among them realized something was wrong!

"Ye Lin! What exactly did you discover? Are you saying someone..."

Before the horrified He Zheng could finish, Ye Lin raised a hand and cut him off!

"Not someone! A god!"

"He Zheng, do you remember that painting of the Angel of Death? She died later than all the other corpses. That means no human could have left that painting. It could only have been a highly intelligent monster!"

"I kept wondering what it wanted."

"First it led us to the Hibernation Zone, then chased An Ke into the Repair Zone, and finally forced us to open the Airlock..."

"There's only one answer. That monster needed us to board the ship! It needed us to take it out of here!"

The hold instantly fell silent.

After hearing this, Hu Jia went deathly pale, images of the Hibernation Zone flashing through his mind!

Board the ship?

He understood how Ye Lin had started it! Just like when he had "awakened" that monster, this transport ship also required identity verification!

Before the others could react, Ye Lin unhesitatingly aimed his gun at Huang Liang and the other two, shouting:

"He Zheng! Kill them!"

"That monster is among them!"

Everyone's expressions changed drastically. Hearing that Ye Lin wanted to kill him, Wang Yuanyang was utterly horrified.

"No! We're not! I'm not a monster!"

"Don't listen to his nonsense! How could we possibly be monsters?"

Seeing Ye Lin's gun pointed at him, Wang Yuanyang scrambled behind Huang Liang to hide.

Beside him, Zhao Cheng was equally terrified. He wanted to explain, but in his extreme panic, he could not get a single word out.

"Ye Lin?"

"Ye Lin?"

He Zheng and Huang Liang spoke simultaneously, staring at him in disbelief.

Although Huang Liang understood Ye Lin's argument, he was certain he was not a monster!

He Zheng, meanwhile, could not believe Huang Liang was a monster either. After all, Huang Liang had saved them. As for the other two, he truly had noticed nothing!

"Ye Lin! Have you gotten something wrong? I believe what you said, but maybe that monster is hiding in..."

"Don't believe him! He just wants to kill us! Points! Yes, points! He wants our points!"

"It's all a lie! This little bastard is lying to you! Once he kills us, he'll say you're monsters too!"

Wang Yuanyang shouted desperately, trying to make everyone believe him.

Perhaps those words would not work on He Zheng, but they were bound to work on Huang Liang!

Sure enough, just as Wang Yuanyang expected, Huang Liang unhesitatingly shielded the two behind him and raised his gun to confront Ye Lin.

"Ye Lin! Whether you believe me or not, I'm definitely not one! And I'm certain there's nothing wrong with either of them!"

"Even if you're going to suspect us, you need a reason!"

He could find no flaw in Ye Lin's reasoning, but he did not dare believe him so easily either!

For a ruthless convicted felon like Ye Lin, fabricating lies to kill people for their points would be perfectly normal.

Especially since Ye Lin's first target was Wang Yuanyang.

"Nothing wrong with them?"

Ye Lin raised an eyebrow and gave a cold scoff.

"You want a reason?"

"It's simple. Only you three encountered a god in the first round, and you were out of my sight."

"If that thing wanted to infiltrate our group, it had to possess someone who was alone!"

"I sent Huang Liang to rescue you. If you died, it would be Huang Liang. If you came back, it would be you! Only if neither of you came back would it be among us!"

Without wasting any more words, Ye Lin opened his palm, revealing a silver pull ring.

"Are you going to keep pretending?"

"In one minute, the grenade will blow up the control console."

"Either we all die together, or..."

Squish!

Before Huang Liang's pupils could contract, Wang Yuanyang, who had been hiding behind him, suddenly went rigid. His spacesuit rapidly swelled like an inflating balloon.

As though something were burrowing out of him, a deathly pale hand shot from his mouth. As if replacing him, it burst his body apart from within!

Bang!

His body exploded. The forcibly ruptured corpse splattered across the cabin walls like a crushed tomato.

In mere moments, a creature appeared before them, covered in mucus as though freshly delivered from a womb.

Unlike the other creatures with their elongated fish heads, this one stood only two meters tall. Its head had sleek contours, shaped like an awl, and its narrow, snakelike pupils swept coldly over everyone.

"ROAR!!!"

The Species roared, then swept its massive hand out, instantly smashing Zhao Cheng into pulp against the cabin wall.

"BOOM!!!"

The monster drove off with both legs, shooting toward Ye Lin faster than the eye could follow.

Rage, savagery!

Those cold, serpentine eyes locked onto Ye Lin as its primary target!

"Open fire!!"

"Bang bang! Bang! Bang bang!"

Gunfire swept out like a curtain. Watching the Species charge at him, Ye Lin remained utterly calm. After spraying it with bullets, he actually ducked low and charged straight back, rushing beneath it!

So this thing really was aboard the ship!

From the moment he had confirmed the answer, he had prepared himself for "God" to appear!

He admitted that sending Huang Liang to rescue the others had also been his way of giving the monster an opening. Only then would it remain hidden and let them board safely!

Difficulty scaled for fourteen people, a reward of over 150 points-only by staking everything would we have the slightest hope of getting out alive!

He did not know whether he could pull it off, but he could only gamble-and he had to!