Grade 3!
Undoubtedly, Grade 3!
As soon as the gigantic Terror Puppet Giant appeared, it seemed to have a built-in cheat for enemy detection, easily spotting the few hidden examinees and their Spirit Beasts nearby.
It kicked apart a black stone house, incidentally sending the examinee and his Spirit Beast inside flying. The examinee's life shield instantly shattered, and he was teleported out of the secret realm in a chaotic light.
One examinee cleverly dug a pit, hid inside, and even covered the pit with a wooden board. If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't have found him.
However, the gigantic Terror Puppet Giant seemed to have Clairvoyance, instantly locking onto that wooden board pit.
Its large mouth opened, and a black-red energy beam spewed out, directly blasting the pit, instantly crushing the life shields of the examinee and their Spirit Beasts within, eliminating and sending them away.
Just like that, the gigantic Terror Puppet Giant, like a disaster monster, wreaked havoc throughout the small town.
The examinees realized they couldn't hide or escape, so they could only scurry around like headless flies, trying to buy time.
Fortunately, there were still over 400 examinees in the secret realm space at this time.
For a moment, the gigantic Terror Puppet Giant hadn't yet found Lin Chuan and the others, who were relatively far away.
Lin Chuan arrived at the rendezvous point according to their previous agreement.
At this moment, besides Chen Yulu, there were also over a dozen examinees, some familiar and some unknown, all of whom had been invited by Lin Chuan, Chen Yulu, or Li Zeyu to form a team to fight the boss and discuss a grand plan.
Half a minute later, Li Zeyu descended from the sky on his Blue Feather Eagle.
There were still about a dozen examinees who had agreed to team up but weren't present. They were likely within the pursuit range of the gigantic Terror Puppet Giant, still fleeing for their lives and unable to make it, or perhaps they had already been unfortunately eliminated.
However, the main combat power had already gathered, and there was no time to wait for those people.
The temporary combat meeting began!
The host of the temporary meeting was naturally Chen Yulu. The examinees present had basically understood her Scholar God Attribute, and no one at this time would do something idiotic like try to seize command and show off. If anyone tried to seize command and cause trouble, the others wouldn't mind working together to eliminate him early.
“Here, I first want to apologize to everyone.”
Chen Yulu scanned the surroundings, then lowered her head and admitted her mistake.
“According to my original estimate, the boss should have appeared at 10 AM today, which is the 24th hour of the secret realm assessment.”
“But, it appeared early.”
Chen Yulu apologized sincerely.
Beside her right foot, followed her contracted Spirit Pet, Roundy, a round, cute Spirit Beast.
Mimicking its owner, its two small hands clasped together, constantly bowing and squeaking to the people around it.
The examinees who could persist without being eliminated until now, perhaps their knowledge accumulation wasn't as good as Chen Yulu's, but they were still excellent students and not lacking in intelligence.
They could all understand the situation; Chen Yulu's miscalculation was not her fault.
The control of this secret realm assessment, this assessment space, was ultimately in the hands of the examiners behind the scenes.
The current situation was likely that the examiners felt the time was right and released the boss early.
“The boss appearing early meant we didn't have enough time to gather more combat power.”
“If we could gather 50 examinees, with an average of two contracted Spirit Beasts per person, then even if it's a Grade 3 Demon Attribute demonic beast, we could still use a numerical advantage and a reasonable tactical deployment to defeat it, like ants piling up to kill an elephant.”
“What a pity.”
Chen Yulu sighed.
Immediately, she became serious again, her expression no longer apologetic or dejected, and said,
“However, its early appearance also brings us good news and an advantage!”
“It hasn't accumulated enough fear and other negative emotions to fully awaken, so it should be in a weakened state right now, with combat power far below expectations.”
Chen Yulu said.
Actually, it wasn't a matter of time that caused the boss to not absorb enough fear and other negative emotional energy.
Or rather, the time factor was only a small part of the reason.
The real reason!
It was because Lin Chuan had been too relentless in killing the Terror Puppet's sub-consciousness bodies, using a baseball bat, Bomb Fruits, and carpet bombing, killing from the east side of the town straight to the west side.
Li Zeyu was also constantly chasing and eliminating examinees with unstable mental states and insufficient strength, cutting off the largest source of fear and other negative emotions.
Under this double weakening, it was already very difficult for the Gestalt-type boss to effectively absorb fear and other negative emotional energy through its weak sub-consciousness bodies. In fact, the energy absorbed was even less than the energy consumed by the sub-consciousness bodies created and then eliminated by Lin Chuan.
Thus, Shi Kuanshan, the chief examiner behind the scenes, decided to release the boss early.
Otherwise, if this continued,
If Lin Chuan were to kill from the west line to the north line, then to the south line, making a cross-shaped circuit,
Perhaps by the time of the originally planned 10 AM unsealing and awakening, the boss would be even weaker.
At that time, its actual combat power might not even reach Grade 3.
At most, it would only be Grade 2, Level 8 or 9.
Then, with the boss's combat power sharply reduced, its effectiveness and the number of examinees it could eliminate would be very limited.
Perhaps, under the original circumstances, it could have eliminated 457 examinees, leaving only about 100 in the end. This was also the average score in previous years, where only about 100 examinees could persist for 48 hours in the trial space without being eliminated.
But after extreme weakening, it would probably only be able to eliminate 100 examinees, leaving over 300 people.
This would allow examinees who should have been eliminated at this stage, at this point, to continue surviving, even until the final 48 hours.
Lin Chuan had already helped many examinees who should have been eliminated achieve high scores beyond their own level through his Black Doctor paid treatments.
If the boss were to be weakened further, it would be equivalent to helping examinees who should have been eliminated again, which would be too unreasonable.
Allowing examinees whose strength did not match to climb to a higher stage they didn't deserve was not necessarily a good thing.
It was too common for people whose lives should have been smooth and safe to encounter risks by ascending to a higher stage, and even fall midway due to insufficient strength.
For individuals, perhaps they had no regrets.
But for the Star Rock Federation, this was a huge waste of resources and talent. If these people could be placed in positions that matched their strength, they could shine even brighter and contribute more to the country.
“Based on my observation, this boss, let's temporarily call it the Terror Puppet Giant.”
“Its grade should be Grade 3, Level 1. The specific bloodline grade cannot be determined yet, but it's at least Shuai Grade.”
“Moreover, it can use Demon Attribute power to pinpoint the location of examinees and Spirit Beasts emitting negative emotions such as panic and fear.”
“So, don't think about hiding; you can't hide at all.”
“As long as we are in this secret realm space, it will find us sooner or later! Of course, it's also possible to be lucky and run fast enough not to be found or caught before the 48 hours of the secret realm assessment pass, but who wants to gamble on that luck?”
“To it, we examinees and Spirit Beasts seem to be constantly emitting a sweet scent.”
“Individually, we cannot contend with it.”
“Once it consciously gathers Demon Attribute energy and targets a specific person or Spirit Beast, that person and Spirit Beast will suffer more intense mental pollution. Mildly, their bodies will stiffen, unable to exert their full strength, and their combat power will sharply decrease. Severely, they will go mad and lose control.”
“To fight it, we must gather more examinees, and we cannot challenge it head-on. We must constantly pull it in multiple directions and set traps to contain it, making it unable to focus its attention on a specific person or Spirit Beast.”
“Therefore, my plan is, first, pre-battle arrangements. All of us, based on our Specialties abilities, will be divided into three small teams.”
“Team One, led by Comrade Li Zeyu, will consist of examinees skilled in speed and mobility, especially those with flight capabilities. They will attack it, attract its attention, and temporarily lure it away to buy time for Team Two and Team Three.”
“Team Two, led by Comrade Lin Chuan, will consist of examinees capable of altering terrain. They will find a suitable location, dig a huge pit, and fill it with Poison Powder, venom, and various high-temperature, ice, and strong acid damage skills, creating a trap terrain that can cause effective continuous damage to it.”
At this point, Chen Yulu paused and looked at Lin Chuan.
“Um, also, Comrade Lin Chuan, please also serve as a battlefield doctor and treat examinees who are not in good condition.”
“Also, can the fees be a bit cheaper?”
Chen Yulu said with a slight blush and embarrassment.
After Chen Yulu's previous reminder, Lin Chuan's mind was now wide open, and he had a clear idea.
What kind of answer did the examiners want to see?
Treat this trial as a real disaster.
What did the Star Rock Federation want Beast Masters to do?
To haggle over personal gains and losses in the face of crisis, or to generously and selflessly offer their strength?
Lin Chuan naturally chose the bonus option!
Nodding silently, he said:
“For those present here, and those who join us later, willing to cooperate against the boss, all treatment during the fight against the boss will be free. Outside of that, treatment fees will be 50% off, and payment in star rock coins will be accepted.”
“If there are really no score beads or star rock coins, you can also write an IOU first. Um, a verbal IOU will do.”
“I believe that examinees who can persist without being eliminated until now, their future achievements, even if they cannot reach the professional level, will definitely not be low. They won't default on this small amount of money; they won't break their promise to me.”
Upon hearing this, everyone present smiled.
50% off, this treatment price was very reasonable, no longer a 'black doctor'.
And they could even pay with star rock coins. Among them, very few were short on money.
As for those who truly had no money or score beads, and genuinely gave verbal IOUs, they wouldn't default on such a small amount of money later.
If they really defaulted, with so many people watching now, how would they get by in the future?
Seeing Lin Chuan's cooperation and statement, Chen Yulu was very grateful. He didn't make it difficult for her, a commander with insufficient strength. If Lin Chuan hadn't agreed and cooperated, she would have been in a tough spot.
Returning to the main topic, Chen Yulu continued:
“Team Three, led by me, will go and find and gather more examinees willing to team up, a minimum of 40, ideally 50.”
“Finally, our three teams will merge. Comrade Li Zeyu's team will lure the Terror Puppet Giant into the trap dug by Comrade Lin Chuan's team. All examinees will take turns focusing fire, suppressing it, and finally defeating it!”
“This is my complete strategy plan.”
Chen Yulu vigorously waved her fist to boost morale.
Present, including Lin Chuan and Li Zeyu, a total of 18 examinees, were all silently contemplating, calculating the feasibility of this plan in their hearts.
Ultimately, everyone agreed.
This plan was already barely complete, and there wasn't much time to prepare a better or more detailed plan.
With the plan set, the teams were quickly divided.
Li Zeyu led 3 examinees with mounted flight capabilities and 2 examinees with ground mount Spirit Beasts capable of rapid mobility, forming a total of 6 examinees in Team 1, responsible for containing and attracting the boss's attention to buy time for Teams 2 and 3.
Lin Chuan, along with three other examinees (one male and two female), a total of 4 people, formed the engineering trap team.
Chen Yulu led the remaining 8 examinees to form the 'Persuasion' team, to forcibly team up.
If they encountered examinees who agreed to work together to fight the boss, that was best. If they didn't agree, they would directly besiege and eliminate them!
Lest, while they were working hard to fight the boss, some individuals would emerge to cause trouble or even try to snatch the spoils.