In this way, constantly darting left and right, Ethan Brooks always kept a certain distance from the carriage. However, this way of fleeing consumed even more energy. In less than half an hour, his speed slowed, his breathing grew more labored, and his steps became heavier, gradually reaching the limits of his stamina.

Was giving up the only option?

Every possible countermeasure flashed through Ethan Brooks's mind one by one. Sweat streamed down his cheeks, and the pounding of his heart in his chest was loud and clear.

The sound of hooves behind him grew louder and louder, the golden-armored giant's furious shouts deafening. Ethan Brooks took a deep breath, suddenly stopped in his tracks, pushed off the ground, and shot back toward the carriage.

This move completely caught his pursuers off guard. Several golden arrows whizzed past in front of Ethan Brooks, missing their mark. Before the giant on the carriage could adjust and shoot again, Ethan Brooks had already leapt onto the carriage, swung his fist, and struck the opponent hard in the face.

The punch felt as if it landed on an illusion, with no sensation of contact at all. A flash of golden light, and the giant vanished, along with the eight magnificent horses and the carriage, all miraculously melting into the air.

It was as if nothing had ever happened. The surroundings were so peaceful, only the sound of the wind rustling through the grassland. Ethan Brooks stood there, dumbfounded, gasping for breath.

Suddenly, a metallic door appeared before him like a ghost.

The door appeared without warning, as if conjured by magic. The metal rippled like flowing water, shimmering with a dazzling brilliance.

Line after line of writing slowly appeared on the door: "Bows and arrows are only suitable for long-range attacks; they are ineffective up close. Avoid the enemy's strengths and exploit their weaknesses—this is the key to victory."

As the writing appeared, the metal door vanished from sight.

Ethan Brooks suddenly understood: this simulated world was designed to let trainees, when placed in deadly peril, naturally grasp the corresponding methods and techniques.

No wonder Han Gaofeng had said they would learn things that would benefit them for life—he had meant this.

Ethan Brooks pondered silently for a moment. Looking ahead, he saw that a dense, primeval forest was not far away.

"Ah!"

A shrill scream suddenly came from within the forest. Ethan Brooks's heart tightened slightly. Looking over, he saw a trainee, covered in blood, staggering out from behind a thick tree. After crawling a few meters, he finally collapsed onto the grassland, leaving a shocking trail of blood behind him.

A round, ball-like object slowly bulged out from the trainee's back. Even through the clothing, Ethan Brooks could clearly see it writhing. With a "squelch," a fountain of blood spurted from the corpse's back, and a monster with tiny tentacles burst out—a gigantic eyeball.

The eyeball's tentacles wriggled rapidly, and in an instant, it had burrowed into the dense undergrowth. Ethan Brooks was secretly shocked. After a while, he cautiously approached the corpse, turned over the face, and saw that it was Bach, whose whole body could emit electric sparks.

He hadn't expected that, with the assessment just beginning, a trainee would already die so horribly. It seemed that on this strange land, deadly dangers lurked everywhere.

A faint sense of fear flashed through his heart, but Ethan Brooks inexplicably felt a strong urge to fight, as if some wild instinct deep inside him was quietly awakening.

With almost no hesitation, Ethan Brooks leapt into the forest.

A completely different scene appeared before his eyes.

Ancient trees towered overhead, their dense branches and leaves blocking out the sky, casting everything into darkness and gloom. Thorny bushes and brambles were everywhere, long, beard-like vines coiled around tree trunks, the ground was covered in deep green moss and thick fallen leaves, and the tangled roots wove an impenetrable web.

The forest was silent, but if one listened carefully, it seemed that every corner was making strange rustling noises. Ethan Brooks slowed his steps, his ears twitching slightly like an animal's.

A faint breathing sound came from the bushes diagonally ahead.

A sense of danger arose instinctively. Ethan Brooks darted to the side. With a "thud," a black long cord shot out like a venomous snake, the steel claw at its end embedding deeply into the tree trunk behind Ethan Brooks.

A monster leapt out of the bushes like a ghost, holding the long cord in its hand. Its triangular, flat head bore a pair of curved horns, its entire body tightly wrapped in glossy black scales, revealing only a pair of eyes that flashed with a snake-like, vicious light.

With a slight sway, Ethan Brooks had already retreated to the side of an ancient tree.

With a "snap," a vine at his feet suddenly tightened, clamping Ethan Brooks's ankle like a steel hoop. At the same time, a short, thick tree beside him suddenly extended five or six branches, reaching for his waist! Meanwhile, the monster across from him lunged forward, now holding a thin, sharp dagger.

Ethan Brooks suddenly dropped to the ground, rolling quickly around the tree. In an instant, the vine on his foot had wrapped several times around the trunk.

A cold, gleaming blade pressed toward Ethan Brooks's throat.

Pushing off the ground with both hands, Ethan Brooks's body suddenly sprang up, both feet kicking toward the dagger. With a "snap," the vine around his ankle was sliced apart by the blade. Then, with an agile backflip, Ethan Brooks's hands flashed behind him, grabbing the dagger like lightning and, with the momentum, stabbing it into the tree trunk.

The short tree let out a painful groan, and a black shadow rolled out from the split trunk, vanishing like a phantom before his eyes.