Chapter 146 - Last Slot
The entire field turned quiet.
Everyone looked at Meng Chao. Their gazes turned from puzzlement to shock, and then, that shock turned into respect.
Meng Chao sucked in a deep breath and said, “Did he see clearly? Is he certain that it was me?”
“It was dark at that time, and the lights were dim, so how could he have possibly seen clearly? The student only managed to see blurry figures from his balcony in the dorm,” Xie Feng said.
“Of course I refuse to believe that it was you. After all, there’s no relation between you and Wu Wu. You didn’t even know each other yesterday afternoon, so how could you have gone into the grove together at night? Isn’t that efficiency a little too high if that’s really the case? So, why did Wu Wu come to the martial arts course?”
The students were silent.
With contemplative expressions, they stared at the torn shirt in Meng Chao’s hands. It still resembled a mop.
Duan Lian scratched his head. “Could it be that you really didn’t betray the martial arts course to join forces with the monster controller course, but instead… you decided to show our glory through another method?”
“Listen to me, please,” Meng Chao pleaded with a pained look.
“There’s no need for that. The lecturers are here!”
The Griffin Li Yingzi and a few other lecturers from the martial arts course walked into the field with stern expressions.
The students spread out. They formed neat rows in front of their tutors.
Meng Chao still wanted to defend himself, but he noticed that the lecturers were staring at him. There was curiosity, puzzlement, admiration, and inquiring looks.
Li Yingzi walked straight to him. “Meng Chao, Mr. Gu asked me to send you word. After we’re done here, you’re to go to the university’s medical office to look for him. He has something important to tell you.”
Meng Chao’s eyelids twitched, and he asked in shock, “Big Brother Bo is hospitalized? Why?”
Could it be?
“He’s going through a full body examination to check the hidden injuries he has accumulated over the years. What else do you think he’s doing over there?” Li Yingzi said in annoyance while glaring at him. Then, she turned around and strode up the rostrum.
“What’s going on? You even provoked Ms. Li?”
Xie Feng and Sun Ya flanked him. They looked really curious. “Just what happened yesterday? Why does it feel like you caused a huge ruckus? The students said that you sent Wu Wu back to the monster controller course yesterday night, and you even ate supper over there. Is that true? Aren’t your skills a little too great? It’s no wonder why they call you Ace Student Chao!”
“We’re living in chaotic times. Good men should live to expand the territory of the country and treat passing down the flames of human civilization as their mission. Please focus on your academics instead of thinking about stupid gossip all the time!” Meng Chao said sternly.
“Then, I can think about it, right? I’m not a good man.”
Sun Ya took over the conversation, even though she had cleared eighty-three main meridians and was known as the strongest among the martial arts course freshmen.
Meng Chao found himself having no comeback.
Fortunately, Li Yingzi started speaking. She saved him from embarrassment.
“You might have sensed us preparing for war, as if a storm is coming. You might have also seen news about mobilizations of the entire city for an offense in the north. There are also a few of your upperclassmen and lecturers who have gone off to provide reinforcements in the north. They have improved by leaps and bounds in the fight!” Li Yingzi said loudly. “Now, our progress at the frontlines is very smooth. We have also been allowed to reveal some insider information to you.
“During the past half a month or so, the Red Dragon Army has advanced nearly one hundred kilometers to the north. They have found a lot of fertile soil that is suited to plant high-calorie agricultural products, a brand new water system that has a large runoff volume and is rather stable, along with a mine that has a staggering amount of crystals and rare metals that are not difficult to mine.
“Aside from that, over the past half a month, the Supernatural Tower has sent seven Deity Realm elites to lead hundreds of thousands of Red Dragon Army soldiers. They have killed two Apocalyptic Beasts, hundreds of Hell Beasts, and a countless number of Nightmarish Beasts!”
Li Yingzi’s words instantly made everyone forget the gossip a moment ago and focus on the wide battlefield filled with the flames of war.
The powerful among the humans were divided into Earth Realm, Heaven Realm, and Deity Realm.
The superbeasts were divided into Nightmarish Beasts, Hell Beasts, and Apocalyptic Beasts.
The superbeasts ranked from Grade Seven to Grade Nine were Apocalyptic Beasts, and just like their name implied, they could bring about the apocalypse.
In the past, whenever an Apocalyptic Beast made its way into the heart of Dragon City, they brought major upheaval.
Now, in just a short half a month, they had managed to kill two Apocalyptic Beasts. It was an unbelievable miracle.
This meant that over the course of their development over the past half a century, Dragon City’s military and the ranks of their elites had reached new heights. They could now officially move from protecting the city to expanding the land!
“Since the situation at the frontlines is good and the mine in the fog is incredibly important for the future development of Dragon City, the Survival Committee has decided to open a new built-up area in the north. All Earthlings in the city, from superhumans to soldiers and from industrial workers to university students are to give it their all to fulfill this objective!”
Li Yingzi’s words were like a bomb thrown among the students.
Dragon City was divided into several regions. Right now, they had nine regions, among them were Tiger Forest Region, Ninth Sand Region, Half Mountain Region, Starlake Region, and Jiangnan.
They were all old regions that had existed before the transmigration and were situated on the old land from Earth.
It was the first time after half a century that they were going to step out of the territory that belonged to Earth and open up a new area in the land of the Other World.
The Earthlings were going to take their first step in colonizing the Other World!
A new built-up area meant a new bureaucratic system, a new governmental system, new industries being built in it, new businesses, new resources, new platforms, and new ranking systems. Brand new opportunities awaited the ambitious youngsters, and they were to use their passion, weapons, and hands to fight for them!
“This is an incredibly important fight for Dragon City, because we will be switching from defense to offense!”
“If we can provide reinforcements to the northern battlefield, we will definitely get a lot of cultivation resources and chances to fight in real battles. As long as we can perform outstandingly, we will definitely gain the favor of an elite!”
“We might even have the chance to become the lords of a newly built-up area!”
All the martial arts course freshmen imagined an exciting future, and their eyes shone with blazing fire.
But Meng Chao remained calm. He thought quietly by himself.
‘So, the offense in the north is actually of such a large scale? And it also carries great meaning. But in the memories of my previous life, I don’t remember anything about a new area.
‘During the Monster War, Dragon City’s expansion outward wasn’t fast. The humans and monsters were constantly in a stalemate, constantly engaged in an equally matched tug of war.
‘That means that the results of the northern offense won’t be good, and we won’t be able to achieve our strategic goals, right?
‘But what’s the detailed process? How did the fight end?’
Meng Chao did not manage to get an answer from the memory fragments of his previous life.
At this point of time in his previous life, he was busy taking care of his heavily injured mother in the hospital, and when he was free, he went to learn how to harvest from his dad. The highly intense work, the failure in his national college examination, and the heavy injuries of his mother tired him out mentally and physically, and he did not have the time to be bothered about anything else in the world.
He and his dad were both the lowest ranking harvesters. They did not have the right to leave the main city area to head north, where the most dangerous battle was and harvest the fierce superbeasts there.
He had no idea what happened in the fight.
‘If they wage war, they have to spend a lot of money and resources. They wouldn’t have decided to open up a new area on a whim. They must have planned for at least a few years and mobilized all sorts of resources from everywhere, and those resources are worth extravagant numbers.
‘I can’t stop the offense in the north by telling them that I had a blurry ‘prediction’ and make hundreds of thousands of soldiers, tens of thousands of superhumans, and seven Deity Realm powerful fighters return empty-handed. That will mean that the strategic resources tens of millions of people had fought for will all go to waste.
‘It’s clear from the expressions of the students around me that Dragon City has been hungry for half a century. Now, we can finally open our mouths and take a huge bite out of the fat piece of meat before us. There’s no way we will let it go so easily. Even if we know that there are needles and even hooks on the meat, we’re already prepared for war, and there’s no way we can turn back. We have to chew those needles and hooks and swallow it.
“So, I have to go to the frontlines and learn more. That way, I can think of a way to help my civilization eat this spiked piece of meat!’
Meng Chao came to a decision in his heart.
His eyes became as ambitious and confident as those of the students around him. In fact, they shone even more brilliantly.
“This is the largest battle over the past ten years. The danger and complexity of it isn’t something a normal freshman can handle, so it’s only natural that we can’t have all of you head to the frontlines.”
When Li Yingzi saw that all the students were filled with murderous intent fuelled by the flames of ambition, she nodded in satisfaction. “After the six weeks of examinations and your performance during the tournament between courses yesterday, the tutors have recommended some names, and the university has agreed to the list we provided. Twenty-one freshmen from the martial arts course have officially obtained the right to fight.
“You are allowed to go to the frontlines, so you must fight with everything you have to protect the glory of the martial artists, Agricultural University, and Dragon City.
“But even if you don’t get to join this time, don’t be disheartened. Stay in the university and train hard. You will have a chance in the future. The Other World is large. Aside from Monster Mountain Range, there are plenty of other places waiting for Earthlings to conquer!
“Now, we will announce the list of candidates.
“Sun Ya, Xie Feng, Jiang Rui, Duan Lian…”
The list of candidates had basically been decided based on performance during the tournament between courses.
Sun Ya and most of the others had won against a few monster controller freshmen. Aside from losing to Wu Wu in the end, there was nothing wrong with their performance.
The list of candidates had publicly acknowledged powerful fighters in the martial arts course. They had cleared most main meridians and had the highest number of spirit energy magnetic fields that they could create with familiar ease. They often used all sorts of dazzling killing moves to beat up the other students.
Everyone was envious, but they said nothing about it.
Once Li Yingzi smoothly read out the first twenty names, she paused for a moment.
The students who were well-informed started talking. Didn’t they say that the martial arts course and monster controller course would send a total of fifty freshmen together, and the tournament between courses would decide the number of slots they could get? The winner was supposed to send thirty people, while the loser would send twenty people.
So why did the martial arts course get twenty-one slots? Why was there an integer at the back?
“Last one, Meng Chao,” Li Yingzi finally announced the twenty-first name, and it caused a stir.