Half an hour later,
Ye Luo and the other newcomers arrived at the outermost ring of the island, on the high-standing embankment.
It was called an embankment, but in reality, the outside was a muddy flat. The boundless ocean was only hundreds or thousands of meters away.
The embankment was like a giant gray serpent, coiled on the earth, coldly observing the ebb and flow of the tide.
Why did the newcomer welcome ceremony take place here?
What did it mean to personally experience the reality of the world?
The newcomers were confused.
Ye Luo felt a faint unease. He shifted his steps and whispered, "Sister Nan, what form will the welcome ceremony take?"
"You'll know soon enough, it'll definitely be unforgettable, giggles."
Damn it!
This made him even more uneasy.
Ye Luo looked around. The newcomer formation he belonged to, the Baiyunzhou formation, had 41 newcomers and 5 leaders like Nan Chaolu.
The personnel in other formations were similar, stationed at various points along the embankment.
Could this welcome ceremony be an opportunity for the seniors to have a friendly interaction with them, the newcomers? But if it were just friendly sparring, there would be no need to come to the outer ring of the island.
He looked into the distance at the important figure who had welcomed them that morning.
Boss Luo.
Under the gaze of many eyes, Luo Jianxing coughed and nodded slightly.
At this time, not only were there more than a dozen staff members from the newcomer reception area by his side, but also over a dozen instructors from the training department.
Instructors were never weak.
Their presence here was not only to observe the newcomers' performance but was also related to the 'welcome ceremony' that was about to take place.
It was a very special welcome ceremony, so enough helpers had to be called.
And this was the first time such a welcome ceremony was being held; only the Pacific Training Base had the conditions for it.
"Then let's begin."
Luo Jianxing looked at the newcomers with their still youthful faces and spoke, his voice clear and resonant, reaching everyone's ears.
"The path of an awakened one is a difficult one, full of thorns. Awakened ones are not just people with immense power, but also frontline warriors against disaster, especially us, the Xin Huo people."
"Therefore, today, the theme of the welcome ceremony is to make you understand what it means to be a Xin Huo warrior, and what kind of disaster we, as Xin Huo people, need to fight against!"
"To understand what is the reality hidden beneath the world!"
Reality!
In this new era, for the general public, awakened ones and strange evils represented reality.
Ordinary people had a relatively clear understanding of awakened ones, thanks to television propaganda, interviews with some awakened ones by reporters, information released by the investigation bureau, and so on.
There were even awakened ones who became streamers, gaining countless followers in a short time.
Nowadays, there were more and more videos or images related to awakened ones that could be seen online.
However, compared to this, people had very little understanding of strange evils.
They only knew that they were a type of monster, very dangerous, invisible, and often appeared in remote, uninhabited places.
Beyond that, nothing.
Ye Luo had never seen a strange evil; he had awakened naturally without fully understanding.
After the investigation bureau revealed the truth, he had considered trying to encounter a strange evil – it wasn't difficult, just venture into the wilderness.
This thought was crushed by him fiercely within a second of appearing.
Seeking death was out of the question, but it was impossible not to be curious about strange evils, especially as his strength grew with constant training, Ye Luo's heart became more and more restless.
"So, we'll be able to see strange evils with our own eyes at the welcome ceremony? It's indeed quite exciting to think about."
"I wonder if I'll have a chance to fight one."
Many people shared his anticipation.
But some were nervous and worried.
In peacetime, who wasn't afraid of monsters? Many people hadn't even killed a chicken, let alone the fact that strange evils were ferocious and terrifying.
Some people were indifferent.
"Mere strange evils? I've already slain countless of them."
A young man crossed his arms, looking at the excited or nervous newcomers around him, a slight smile on his lips.
His calm, confident, and smiling demeanor formed a stark contrast with those around him.
Especially the faint, cold aura emanating from him, which made those around him dare not approach.
He didn't need them to.
Only the weak needed to gather; the strong always walked alone.
His name was Ma Nian, a strange evil hunter. Although he had registered as a hunter for a relatively short time, he had already completed more than ten missions to eliminate strange evils. He was a rising star in his city, and even a wealthy individual had offered a large sum to hire him as a bodyguard.
Ma Nian had refused them all.
He had only one goal: to constantly become stronger!
Therefore, when the mysterious organization sent him an invitation letter, which vaguely coincided with a legend he had heard by chance, Ma Nian accepted without hesitation.
He left his hometown and came here.
He never considered himself a newcomer. He wanted to challenge the strong in the organization, to become stronger step by step, to surpass them one by one.
Ma Nian had some emotional intelligence. Although he was not interested in the welcome ceremony and found it boring, he patiently waited, as it would only take half a day at most.
And at this moment,
Luo Jianxing and over twenty others had descended the embankment and walked onto the muddy flat about one to two hundred meters away.
He took out a special incense stick, a scarlet one, carrying an aura of strangeness and ill omen. He placed the censer on the ground and took out a lighter to ignite the unusual incense.
Immediately,
A faint, unique fragrance wafted out, but it was very subtle, difficult to smell if one wasn't paying close attention.
"This unusual incense is truly terrifying; it can actually attract strange evils."
"The world is vast, and there are all sorts of materials. Since there is the Bright Light Tree that can repel strange evils, it's not strange to have special materials that can attract them. Like now, this unusual incense is being put to use."
"And if the environment here weren't special, the effect of the unusual incense wouldn't be significant."
"Indeed, I must unleash a great slaughter later."
"Opportunities to gain experience while getting paid are few, I'm also impatient."
After the unusual incense had been burning for a short while, Luo Jianxing picked up his walkie-talkie and said, "Time is almost up. Proceed according to the rehearsed plan."
Tick-tock, tick-tock, time passed.
The atmosphere on the embankment gradually became tense, and the low conversations diminished.
In the eyes of Ye Luo and the other newcomers, something seemed to appear on the distant beach, or perhaps not.
They saw nothing, only that the sea surface seemed to have rippled unusually?
He wasn't sure, as it was too far away.
Suddenly,
A wave of white mist descended, like layers of white gauze constantly rolling, and in an instant, as if touching some invisible monster, clumps and clumps of gray-black shadows appeared before the newcomers.
Luo Jianxing ordered, "Light the torches."
Ahead, the staff from the reception area, who had been waiting for orders, lit their torches one after another.
The fuel for these torches came partly from the Bright Light Tree, but they were quite different from Bright Light Torches. Master Wang Chui had named them 'Manifestation Torches'.
The orange-red flames ignited.
Circles of light, not very conspicuous in broad daylight, spread out.
Immediately, those gray-black shadows gradually became clearer.
Monsters like walking corpses but with webbed feet.
Strange evils with ferocious and terrifying black fur all over their bodies.
Ugly, hunched monsters that were indescribable.
One by one, they appeared, and in an instant, the newcomers' scalps tingled, and a chill shot up to the base of their skulls.
How could such ugly, such ferocious monsters exist in the world!
They found it difficult to describe in words, only feeling that they would have nightmares tonight and might not be able to eat dinner.
Is this a strange evil? It's too terrifying!
The more timid ones had already covered their eyes or turned their heads away.
Ye Luo instinctively averted his gaze, then quickly looked back. He forced himself to widen his eyes and stare intently.
He could retreat now, but could he in the future?
There wouldn't be such a safe environment to look directly at strange evils in the future!
Luo Jianxing spoke, "These are the enemies you will face in the future. Are you scared? If you are eliminated or repatriated during training, you won't have to face these in the future. Those who can't bear it should voluntarily withdraw early, so as not to waste the organization's resources."
He sneered.
Those few who had covered their eyes or turned away gritted their teeth and faced them directly.
Heh, it seems the newcomers are not too bad; there's still hope for them.
On the distant beach, the few gray-black monsters were walking with staggering steps, running towards them slowly but quickly.
"This is a strange evil. Normally, it is invisible to the naked eye. Here, special techniques are used to manifest it. However, even so, strange evils are intangible to flesh and blood, and cannot be harmed."
"You cannot touch strange evils, but you can be attacked by them. Once you are scratched or bitten by their claws or teeth, you will either die or be severely injured. This is the dangerous characteristic of strange evils!"
"Furthermore, different strange evils have different characteristics and combat styles."
Luo Jianxing pointed into the distance, and a laser pen in his hand shot out a special beam of light, illuminating one of the hunched strange evils.
Immediately, the strange evil became even more ferocious, baring its teeth. The part illuminated by the special light emitted a puff of green smoke. The terrifying figure of the strange evil became even clearer under the combined effects of the white mist, the torches, and the green light.
"This is a strange evil door-knocker. It has a characteristic of liking to knock on doors and walls, which can induce human fear and cardiac resonance."
As the hunched figure approached, the newcomers who were closer felt their hearts clench as if squeezed, beating wildly.
Fear surged uncontrollably into their hearts.
If it weren't for the organization's leaders standing in front, some people might have turned and fled.
This was the instinctual fear and dread of life!
Even Ma Nian, who came from a strange evil hunter background, felt his emotions surge. He had indeed slain strange evils before, but this was the first time he had seen the full appearance of a strange evil so clearly. He felt disgusted, wondering how such a filthy thing could exist in the world.
He stared intently, wanting to engrave the appearance of the strange evil into his memory.
The opportunity to see a strange evil clearly was rare; he didn't know when the next one would be.
The welcome ceremony was somewhat interesting after all.
Ma Nian retracted his previous evaluation of it being boring.
The strange evil was approaching, heading towards the unusual incense burning on the muddy flat. Some senior Xin Huo members stepped forward, preparing to intercept it.
All eyes were fixed on the scene.
The newcomers were filled with anticipation, finally going to witness an awakened one battle a strange evil monster?
Ma Nian was also curious, wanting to see the level of the awakened ones in the organization.
At this moment,
Luo Jianxing, looking into the distance, curved his lips into a smile.
"Now, the welcome ceremony officially begins. Open your eyes wide and watch this surging reality!"
What did he mean?
Ma Nian, Ye Luo, and others were stunned.
The ground suddenly trembled, and the small stones on the embankment shook violently.
In the distance, the sea surface, with its rising and falling tides, seemed to boil. Clumps and clumps of gray-black shadows emerged from beneath the sea, walking step by step towards the embankment.
Dozens!
Hundreds!
Over a thousand!
One by one, terrifying monsters emerged from the sea, their clear forms revealed under the illumination of the manifestation torches.
Their ferocious heads, their wriggling tentacles, their mouths opening and closing like blood basins.
They surged forward like a black tide.
This was reality!