Chen Bingzhong sat in the shadows, clutching a steaming thermos cup in his hand.

The scent of tea dispersed into the chilled room, yet couldn’t dispel that faint stench of decay.

His mind involuntarily conjured the arduous scene of Director Li Guizhen leading the entire Special Search Team, tirelessly guarding the sacrificial pit.

Initially, the sealed mysterious artifact was indeed elusive.

Let alone harnessing its power, merely getting slightly closer would render one’s mind insane, even drive one mad.

Until Director Li accidentally discovered the method of consciousness projection, becoming the first to venture into the Otherworld.

It was an indescribably bizarre experience.

According to Director Li himself, upon entering that world, it was like he had amnesia, completely unable to recall his original identity.

Moreover, the world seemed to possess some kind of "immunity consciousness."

As a foreign entity, Director Li quickly encountered rejection phenomena.

The surrounding walls, floors, even the air, continually exuded an inexplicable malice.

Distorted, terrifying black shadows kept flickering at the edges of his vision.

More eerie was that from the first day he entered, that world began to rain black rain.

The rain wasn’t transparent, but as black as ink, with a pungent foul stench.

If it accidentally touched the skin, it could lead to infection, with a high probability of tissue mutation.

Long-term exposure to the black rain might even directly transform one into a monster.

Director Li had personally witnessed familiar faces erode into bloodthirsty monsters.

He attempted to save them, yet due to being weak and alone, he nearly got devoured by a monster instead.

As time passed in that world, similar incidents increasingly occurred and grew in frequency.

Several times he was on the brink of doom, yet he was unable to wield the Extraordinary Power he once mastered.

Under the suppressive World Law, even defeating an ordinary person seemed extremely arduous.

Only relying on a spirit far beyond the ordinary, he struggled to survive for over ten days.

Eventually, when the host body perished, his consciousness was forcibly expelled by the World Law, returning to reality.

Upon awakening, the first thing Director Li did was order the sacrificial pit to be sealed, naming it "Black Rain World".

The intent behind this was not merely to prevent the spread of pollution hazards.

He had realized the passage linking to the Otherworld held immeasurable potential for the Special Search Team and the nation.

However, in the decades that followed, due to the intense and uncontrollable pollution phenomena of the sealed artifact.

No one besides Director Li was permitted to easily tread into that forbidden zone.

Only in recent five years has the massive underground sealed artifact seemingly been affected by some higher plane Law, causing the pollution frequency to decrease.

Only then did the Special Search Team have the opportunity to approach it again, restarting research.

Yet, despite dispatching multiple teams, substantial progress was never made.

Because within that isolated world, an extremely oppressive foundational Law exists.

It completely strips away all memories of outsiders from the real world.

To be precise, the World Law randomly projects transmigrators into a native body, matching by name, gender, and appearance.

This fusion occurs at the soul level, with the outsider’s consciousness fully accepting the original resident’s social relations, almost without any anomaly.

Whether muscular Martial Artists, or those standing atop the pyramid as S-Class mutants, once inside they completely lose their true self.

All Extraordinary Power is entirely suppressed, turned into an ordinary person incapable of even tying a chicken.

Even Director Li from back then was no exception.

The foundation for testing candidates of the Special Search Team is built upon this Law.

Only when one is completely stripped of power, facing a life-and-death crisis, can their innermost nature be fully exposed.

In that absolute sense of powerlessness, even those deeply scheming spiritual power experts from outside can’t disguise themselves.

The darkest, most hidden corners of their subconscious will be vividly revealed the moment the monster pounces.

Chen Bingzhong slowly placed the thermos back on the table.

The base of the stainless steel cup collided with the wooden tabletop, emitting a muffled sound.

He lifted his gaze, as if his sight penetrated the thick, radiation-proof walls.

At the center of this circular building lies the monitor center for the sealed artifact.

Chen Bingzhong was well aware that Ling Shaofeng and other high-ranking members of the Special Search Team were undoubtedly seated in front of the gigantic wraparound screen.

In the stance of a creator, they overlooked the scene of all the candidates, including Fang Cheng, struggling within the Black Rain World.

Such a scale of mobilization is akin to using a sledgehammer to kill a chicken.

To consume such extensive sealing energy just for an exam reeks of some wickedness.

Chen Bingzhong sighed quietly to himself.

He had once questioned Ling Shaofeng about this matter, but was firmly rebuffed with the reason of "tempering will, selecting the best."

Ling Shaofeng always acted after meticulous planning, pursuing maximum value in everything he did.

In his ten-year tenure managing the Special Search Team, there was never any reckless wasteful practices.

Therefore, he was certainly hiding something.

Chen Bingzhong narrowed his eyes slightly.

Reflecting now, Ling Shaofeng isn’t concerned about the candidates’ scores at all.

Perhaps he merely seeks to leverage the consciousness entry of numerous candidates into the Black Rain World to trigger certain specific logics within and consequently achieve the purpose of finding "something."