Li Cheng walked over and looked at the group, "I did a strategy guide for the Extreme Cold arena before. Saying it's an arena, but the organizers actually didn't have time."
"They used some method to lure all sorts of mutated monsters to a glacial canyon. This canyon is surrounded by ice mountains on three sides and faces the sea on one side, but it's already frozen over, becoming an endless ice plain."
"It's just that the ice plain isn't as thick as we imagined. There are many mutated aquatic animals underneath, so once we go in, we absolutely must not walk on the ice plain. We might break through the ice and fall into the sea by a monster hidden within."
Everyone listened with solemn expressions as Li Cheng explained the precautions for the Extreme Cold arena.
Xu An also looked at him with admiration. It was the first time he felt how good it was to have a teammate who thought of everything.
"Then how do we get there? They can't expect us to cross the ice mountains ourselves, can they?" Zhou Haimei asked.
"No need, we'll all travel by aircraft," Li Cheng explained.
"Aircraft?" Zhou Haimei looked surprised. "The Lighthouse can even build things like this now?"
Li Cheng smiled, "It's not as advanced as you think. It's actually a variant of an airplane, but much smaller and simpler."
"So that's how it is."
After Li Cheng's explanation, Zhou Haimei instantly lost interest. She had thought that the aircraft in the Lighthouse would be full of futuristic technology like in the TV shows.
After boarding the aircraft, Xu An realized just how many people the officials had recruited for this competition.
"This is the first time I've had a concrete concept of the Lighthouse's population," Li Xin said softly from the side.
They had heard before that the Lighthouse housed over fifty million people, but they had never really felt it.
But now, seeing the dense crowd waiting in the hall, they finally had a real sense of it.
This was the most crowded Xu An had seen since the day he first arrived at the Lighthouse.
Once everyone was on the aircraft, Xu An looked out the window at the vast white expanse, initially thinking it was snow.
"Why are these snowflakes moving?" Xu An asked curiously.
"What snowflakes?" Li Cheng walked over and his face turned pale. "Those aren't snowflakes."
"If not snowflakes, then what?" Zhou Haimei also leaned in curiously to look out the window and asked.
"They're mutated animals."
The moment Li Cheng said this, everyone fell silent, as if their breathing had stopped.
Xu An could hardly believe it. "What kind of monsters are these? They're so dense, so many!"
Clearly, the group still didn't have a concrete concept of a beast tide.
Once they processed the idea that the entire scene below was packed with monsters, Xu An felt goosebumps crawl up his back.
"So many, how can we possibly kill them all?"
This thought was on everyone's mind.
When everyone arrived at the entrance of the arena, a stern-faced man in military uniform suddenly appeared before them.
"Next is your one-month trial competition. Of course, I must remind you that there is no possibility of withdrawal. This is a real combat zone. Once you go down, your life and death are your own responsibility."
"However, we will not be able to bring you out within a month, so if anyone wishes to withdraw, you must decide now. You won't need to go down. We will take you back, but you must pay us 1,000 trading coins as the cost for this trip."
"Of course, for those who go down, as long as you can persist for a month, and as long as you are still breathing, we will find you and bring you back."
"And we promise to provide you with unconditional treatment until your body recovers, without costing you a single cent. Of course, the previously agreed upon rewards are separate."
Almost the instant the man finished speaking, many people in the initially high-spirited crowd began to show hesitation.
"Are all these dense things below monsters? What are they?" someone asked, gathering their courage.
The man's voice was as cold and hard as ever, like a stiff robot, as he answered the question.
"They are a variant of Icefield Wolves. These monsters have pure white fur, making them extremely easy to camouflage in the snow plains."
"Furthermore, their reproductive ability is extremely strong, and their lethality is also very high. Their biting force is even greater than that of raptors like lions and tigers."
Li Xin stood by the side, feeling a bit scared, but when she looked up and saw her brother, her fear gradually subsided.
After all, her brother was by her side.
However, teams formed on the fly, even with acquaintances, like Xu An's, were a minority.
Almost the moment the man finished speaking, the previously friendly teams instantly fell apart.
Disputes began to erupt.
There were even instances of people breaking off ties and disbanding their teams on the spot.
Yet, despite all this, there were still no small number of people who remained to compete.
Their eyes were firm, as if the man's words had no effect on them whatsoever.
Li Cheng habitually walked in front, but after glancing at Xu An, he stopped his stride.
He turned to Xu An and asked for his opinion.
"Once you go down, your fate is in the hands of heaven. You can still choose to withdraw now if you wish."
Li Cheng participated in this competition primarily for his sister.
Li Xin had always wanted a house of her own. As for himself, he was more interested in the honorary military ranks offered by the Lighthouse.
He believed Xu An had the same aspirations.
Since the Expeditionary Race, their group had understood the importance of information disparity.
Sometimes, things wouldn't be resolved just by not competing.
He had come to terms with it.
Xu An and Zhou Haimei were rare individuals with strength who were also willing to uphold loyalty.
In the apocalypse, people willing to lend a hand in crucial moments were incredibly few.
It was already a blessing to have people who wouldn't kick you while you were down.
During the Expeditionary Race, Li Cheng had been prepared to sacrifice himself to get his sister Li Xin out.
He never expected to meet Xu An.
No matter what he said, he hadn't expected Xu An to actually help them.
That near-death experience also changed his arrogant personality.
He understood that there was always someone better.
With his previous personality, he would never have agreed to team up with someone who approached him.