Chapter 82

"Prepared?!" Hao Ren felt unsteady on his feet as soon as he heard the data terminal's words. "Prepared for what? Really going to face off against a pack of wolves?"

Hao Ren looked down at his current outfit—bare-handed was one thing, but he was still in his pajamas! Wearing pajamas was one thing, but he wasn't even wearing shoes! Not wearing shoes was one thing, but he vaguely remembered that the black wolves on this grassland were bigger than he was! In this situation, the data terminal had the audacity to say "be prepared," and he suddenly had the urge to tie a rope to the thing and use it as a流星锤 (meteor hammer)—it was the only weapon he could think of in this situation.

The data terminal, however, ignored Hao Ren's dissatisfaction. It floated into his pocket and said mysteriously, "Your salary has been credited, but how much you can withdraw this time depends on you."

Hao Ren was about to ask what that meant when a rustling sound suddenly came from the nearby grass. The wolves seemed to have noticed this "prey" and were tightening their circle, wary and eager.

As the data terminal had said, it was unrealistic to try to break out of the wolves' encirclement. Hao Ren could only focus his mind and prepare to face his first challenge in the Dream Plane.

He recalled the day he faced hundreds of steel skeletons in the underground palace, but that battle had little reference value: he had two superhuman women with him, and those tin cans were just waking up, slow and clumsy, with nothing but their tenacity. As long as he stayed calm and kicked hard enough, dealing with them was easy. But dealing with the "otherworldly" wolves was different. Perhaps in Vivian's eyes, these wolves were "lower" than the knight skeletons, but to Hao Ren, an ordinary person with little combat experience, the threat of wild beasts was clearly higher.

He suddenly found it a bit funny: to improve his strength, he had come to the Dream Plane to pick a fight with wild wolves. Was this really meaningful?

His random thoughts were interrupted by a fierce gleam in the darkness. The wolves had approached to a very close distance, the smell of beasts wafting in the night breeze, and black shadows appeared in his field of vision. The scent of the wolf pack was almost within reach. Hao Ren didn't know what to do if these beasts pounced on him, but he guessed they might send one or two to test him first, as he had seen in animal documentaries. He wondered how different the wolves in the Dream Plane were from those in the real world...

The standoff didn't last long. After realizing their ambush had failed, the first wolf couldn't hold back and pounced.

Hao Ren saw a massive black shadow rapidly enlarge in his vision. His mind focused to the extreme, his muscles tensed to the point of bursting, and he suddenly dodged. Before this, he had imagined himself punching the black wolf's vulnerable chest or abdomen and scoring a clean kill, but reality proved that such bravery wasn't yet his. In the face of imminent danger, dodging was the first instinct.

But at least he dodged well. The strange, huge black wolf, clearly more ferocious and agile than Earth wolves, still missed him. As he dodged, Hao Ren's right hand swung instinctively, and he vaguely felt he had hit something, but he couldn't be sure how effective it was.

The first black wolf landed and quickly turned to face Hao Ren, maintaining a certain distance. The moonlight illuminated the grassland, and Hao Ren's enhanced vision clearly showed the appearance of the beast.

They were roughly similar to Earth wolves but twice as large, with pitch-black fur and many plate-like black protrusions on their heads and waists, seemingly some kind of keratin—this clearly made them a different species from Earth wolves.

The surrounding wolf pack didn't stir. They only adjusted their formation, making the encirclement tighter. Hao Ren saw a "look on" expression in their eyes, and he was stunned: the wolves were indeed watching the situation with interest.

"Roar—" The first black wolf growled threateningly, sounding somewhat angry. One of the keratin protrusions on its waist was broken, apparently the result of Hao Ren's random punch.

In the blink of an eye, the beast pounced again.

But Hao Ren was in much better shape now. He found that his body could keep up with the strange wolf's extreme pounce, which boosted his confidence. Confirming that the surrounding wolves didn't plan to gang up on him, he felt more at ease. As the enemy pounced, he repeated his previous move, focusing on the giant wolf's movements, then dodged and punched.

In the moment of confrontation, he realized he could see every hair on the giant wolf's body at such high speed. As he punched, he even had the presence of mind to adjust the angle of his attack, a feeling he had never experienced when dealing with the slow-moving steel skeletons in the underground palace.

"Bang!" A solid punch landed on the strange wolf's waist, and Hao Ren made sure to avoid the keratin armor. This second punch was clearly more effective. The giant wolf let out a clear whimper, missing Hao Ren by a hair, but Hao Ren soon felt a burning sensation on his face. He touched it and found his hand covered in blood.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been paralyzed with fear, as this meant he had almost been bitten in the head. But now he had no time to tremble, as the wolf immediately turned and pounced again. Hao Ren's reaction was finally a step slower than the beast's. He saw the wolf's mouth approaching but couldn't move his body in time, only watching helplessly as the massive jaws clamped down on his arm.

"Damn—" Hao Ren shouted instinctively, but before he could recall the stories of revolutionary martyrs, he realized something. "Hey, why doesn't it hurt?"

The heavy weight of the giant wolf hanging on his arm was real, but Hao Ren saw a thin, semi-transparent light membrane covering his arm. The membrane, though thin, was unbreakable. The wolf's teeth had already chipped on the light membrane.

The giant wolf, reacting a moment later, realized the texture was wrong and howled, retreating with a mouth full of blood, circling a few meters away.

Hao Ren was still confused when the data terminal spoke up, "The two punches were good, and your mental adjustment was barely passable. It's proven that you can maintain a combat mindset even when auxiliary tools are ineffective. The conditions are met, and your basic ability as an examiner has arrived: Rigid Shield. It's not as good as a Psionic Shield, but it's radiation-free and sufficient for you."

Hao Ren's body trembled, and he was overjoyed: Raven 12345 had finally come through!

"However, I must remind you that the Rigid Shield has limited capacity. The shield is generated by some 'gadgets' that coexist with your body. This is just to save your life, not to make you invincible. Of course, it's more than enough to deal with these few wolves."

"That's enough!" Hao Ren waved his hand excitedly. With a skill he could finally call his own, he eagerly wanted to try it out and pounced on the nearest strange wolf.

The wolf pack finally stopped watching and roared in unison. Four wolves pounced on Hao Ren from two directions. He didn't dodge, relying on the shield to let them bite, and after breaking more wolf teeth, he finally tackled his target. The giant wolf's strength and agility were formidable, and they immediately engaged in a fierce struggle.

The battle was intense, with sand and stones flying—actually, it wasn't that loud, but it sounded more impressive. Hao Ren felt the fight was intense, and he ignored the data terminal's comment that his fighting style was no different from an animal's. In the end, the bold feared the reckless, and the reckless feared the fearless. Hao Ren, with his strength and the shield, quickly disoriented the wolf beneath him. The surrounding wolves, realizing they couldn't bite through him, hesitated to approach. But the wolves' ferocity was real, and the giant wolf, with a face full of bruises, still snarled, "You damn well let me go?!"

Hao Ren refused to let go, "In your dreams! Who pounced first?"

"I was just watching, the one who bit you first was another!" The giant wolf roared, turning to the others, "You bastards, why aren't you helping?!"

"Helping you won't change anything. I'm just holding onto you... What? You can talk?!"

"What? You're that slow to react?"

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