83: Chapter 83: Is this an entry that carbon-based organisms came up with?

Upon officially entering, the holographic window interface was instantly pulled into an extremely oppressive, dark red space.

The background music changed. It was no longer the hopeful symphony of Chaldea, but a series of hurried, dull, oppressive drumbeats with a heavy metal industrial texture, sounding like a countdown.

In the center of the screen, a massive hub composed of countless ancient gears and magic circuits was slowly rotating. Below it, rows of option boxes resembling demonic contracts were displayed.

[Mode Description: Welcome to the true brink of desperation. Here, there are no fixed powerful enemies—only the shackles you place upon yourself.]

[Please freely select the following "Counter Force Interference Terms" (Rectification Conditions). For every term selected, enemy strength or player restrictions will significantly increase, and you will receive a corresponding "Rectification Level (Risk)."]

[Reward Description: Simply clear the Level 0 "Main War Zone" with no term restrictions and complete the basic tasks of the "Daily Rotation War Zone" to claim all substantial rewards (massive QP, rare materials, saint quartz)!]

[Final Objective: Accumulate a Rectification Level of "18" to obtain the highest proof of honor—Rectification Etched Medal: Origin Season (Plated Version)! This is a purely cosmetic reward.]

[Extreme Challenge: There are no rewards beyond Level 18; it is intended solely for Masters to engage in self-challenge and verify their strength beyond human limits.]

PD sat in his luxury gaming pod, listening to the eerie BGM that made his heart beat irregularly, and subconsciously swallowed hard.

"This atmosphere... is Old Thief Gu cooking up some world-ending scheme again?"

In the past, if PD saw this kind of "free buff-adding" mode, he would have dismissed it with a few mocking words.

But after enduring an entire week of being beaten down in the Abyss Campaign (H-stages) and only getting the Etched Medal by painstakingly copying strategies, he had developed a severe psychological shadow regarding the words "High Difficulty" designed by Gu Yi.

"Brothers, this mode feels off. I can't be overconfident."

Facing the livestream camera, PD uncharacteristically put away his arrogant expression, his face extremely solemn. "The previous H-stages were a gauntlet of mob swarms and bosses. This time, Old Thief Gu is letting us choose the terms ourselves—there's definitely a huge trap. Let me see what kind of hellish buffs these are..."

PD cautiously clicked open the "Interference Terms" selection panel.

However, when he actually saw the specific content of those terms, he sucked in a breath of cold air, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

[Environmental Deterioration III: All enemy units' Max HP increased by 120%, Attack Power increased by 100%!]

[Mana Depletion III: Player's natural Cost (deployment cost) recovery speed reduced by 75%!]

[Class Seal: High Ground: Deployment of all Caster and Archer class Servants is prohibited!]

[Frontline Collapse II: Max HP of all player Servants reduced by 50%!]

[Solitary Struggle: Maximum simultaneous deployment on the Tactical Sandtable reduced to 4 people!]

[Spirit Foundation Rejection: Maximum number of Servants in the Tactical Formation reduced to 7 people!]

"Holy crap?! Is this even written in a language a carbon-based organism can understand?!"

PD slapped his thigh hard and roared in frustration during the livestream: "Reducing our HP by half is one thing, but doubling enemy attack and HP?!"

"What's even more ridiculous is this '75% reduction in cost recovery' and 'prohibiting high-ground deployment'! This is basically breaking my arms and legs and then throwing me into a meat grinder!"

The livestream chat was also in an uproar:

"Old Thief Gu has gone mad, hasn't he? With these terms stacked together, a F2P player won't even be able to deploy a Vanguard before getting overrun!"

"Fortunately, the system said you can get all the saint quartz and materials by just playing Level 0. Who cares about Level 18? I'm not putting myself through that!"

"Exactly, grab the minimum rewards and run. These aren't interference terms; this is a contract to sell your soul!"

Seeing the chat filled with messages about "taking the minimum and running," the vanity in PD's bones was instantly triggered, despite his initial apprehension.

"Tch, playing Level 0 for minimum rewards? That's what ordinary players do! If I'm going to play, I'm going straight for Level 18 difficulty!"

PD took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.

"This is just a pool of terms; I don't need to pick them all. The goal is just Level 18... As long as I avoid the fatal logic restrictions like 'prohibited deployment' and 'unit limits,' I should be able to brute-force it with my stats."

As a veteran and a whale, PD made what he considered to be his most rational judgment.

He carefully avoided any terms that would break the integrity of his "Golden Squad." By piecing things together, he selected terms like "Enemy Attack Up," "Player HP Halved," "Enemy Move Speed Increase," and "Player Cost Recovery Reduced by 50%," barely pushing the [Current Rectification Level] in the top left corner to a flashing red [18].

"Brothers, this is definitely going to be a tough battle, but with my fully-geared Golden Squad, my stats are definitely overflowing by miles!"

"I'll bring my tankiest Defender and my strongest group healer. The front line will hold for dear life while the back line pumps out damage. I refuse to believe these maxed-out stats can't crush it! I'm getting that Level 18 Plated Etched Medal today!"

With a tense expression, PD took his luxury lineup, armed to the teeth, and slammed the [Start Calculation] button!

Boom—!

The Tactical Sandtable unfolded. This was a brand-new map called [Frontline Ruins].

As soon as the battle began, PD sensed a fatal crisis.

"My Cost... why is it growing so slowly?!"

The cost bar, which usually allowed for a Vanguard deployment within seconds, was now suppressed by the "50% Cost Recovery reduction" term. It moved like a snail stuck in chewing gum, ticking up painfully slowly!

On the opposite side, the first wave of buffed Mad Hounds was already rushing forward like rabid dogs with extreme movement speed!

"Quick, quick, quick! Scathach, deploy!"

PD was sweating profusely. After finally scraping together over ten cost points, he hurriedly placed his highest-stat five-star Lancer, Scathach, on the main road, just barely blocking the first two hounds.

The fully-equipped Queen of the Land of Shadows was indeed powerful. Even under the term that significantly increased enemy HP, she still relied on her ultra-high base stats to quickly pierce through the monsters before her.

But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the crisis of leaking enemies arrived!

As a Lancer focused on damage output, Scathach could only block one enemy. Faced with a pack of Mad Hounds sprinting in a swarm, while Scathach was still struggling with the first hound, the second and third hounds simply bypassed her, about to charge into the home base!

"Holy shit! Enkidu, get down there and plug the leak!"