Chapter 4
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
This chapter is edited by Zid Lover. Thank you for your contribution!
Chapter 4: Entrance Exam
Yang Rong’s death created significant turmoil within the camp.
The entire sequence of events.
Luo Yan quietly ate, observing in silence.
As though he were an outsider.
Ultimately, this incident was designated as an ‘accident. ‘
Subsequently, Luo Yan braced himself for suspicion from Di Zheng.
While he slept, he arranged several ‘alarms’ in the tent.
He was ready to flee at any moment.
However, all remained quiet.
A night went by.
The following day, the convoy resumed their journey.
On that day, they faced a massive beast and a swarm of parasites.
Both were repelled by Captain Di Zheng and another pilot controlling mechas.
Luo Yan observed the entire battle.
Captain Di Zheng’s mecha, predominantly red and blue and named ‘Blue Edge’, exhibited remarkable agility in its movements.
At times, it could accelerate to astonishing speeds.
Luo Yan heard a nearby soldier proclaim that this was Captain Di Zheng’s execution of ‘Divine Hidden Art: Wind Dash. ‘
What is Divine Hidden Art?
Luo Yan was unaware.
He also refrained from inquiring.
If they were to successfully reach the underground city, he would acquire all the necessary information.
There was no reason to hurry.
The battle concluded.
A team in protective suits was diligently dissecting animal carcasses, collecting blood, harvesting organs, and removing scales or claws.
They classified these items into separate categories.
Luo Yan remembered that two days ago in ‘Flower City,’ they had also examined the bodies of ‘Gluttony’ and ‘Tanuki Power. ‘
It is still uncertain whether the gathered organs and blood from these giant beasts are for research or another purpose.
In the following days,
the convoy encountered giant beasts almost daily.
This validated the claims made by survivors from long ago.
The area outside the city had become progressively threatening for survival.
The landscape had essentially turned into a habitat for colossal creatures.
After a few days, Luo Yan noticed something peculiar.
The giant beasts attacking the convoy seemed to concentrate on one specific truck.
That truck held a mysterious object obtained from the ‘Taotie’ lair during that period.
Could it be that ‘Taotie,’ remaining within the city center, was also drawn to this enigmatic item?
This hypothesis was confirmed that day.
While the convoy was traversing a damaged road, it was suddenly ambushed by enormous beasts.
A colossal bird referred to as ‘Quru’ swooped down from the sky.
This creature had a white head, three legs, and a human-like face.
It created a storm that toppled the truck, causing the items secured in waterproof cloth to spill out.
Luo Yan noticed a 7-8 meter long deep black crystal that resembled a fake mountain.
Within it, there appeared to be a fluctuating energy, occasionally forming into various strange and fierce animal faces.
The ‘Quru’ creature flapped its huge wings, trying to grab the strange stone with its three sharp red claws and take it away.
But it was intercepted by the ‘Blue Edge’ and another all-black mecha.
In the midst of battle.
The peculiar stone was struck by artillery fire and exploded into two halves.
Luo Yan observed intently.
As the deep black crystal shattered, fragments scattered, and a white rainbow arched overhead, infused with a hint of divine essence, descending into the distant countryside.
That strange stone stung, leaving Luo Yan feeling uneasy. How could it have harbored such a sacred quality?
He noted that the battle was still ongoing.
Luo Yan seized the moment to sprint towards the location where the white rainbow descended, eager to uncover the events unfolding there.
As he veered off the road and approached the area,
he noticed an expanse of grass flourishing rapidly, accompanied by wildflowers blooming in succession.
It appeared to be filled with boundless vitality.
This vibrant display of ‘flowers in full bloom’ starkly contrasted with the adjacent desolate grass and trees.
Luo Yan’s eyes brightened as he immersed himself in the freshly grown patch of grass, searching for something.
At last, he discovered a white diamond-shaped object.
Luo Yan picked it up and noted that it felt warm, akin to Han white jade, with a subtle coolness radiating from it.
He examined it for a while.
Just as he was about to set it aside, he decided to study it more closely.
Suddenly, the object emitted a faint, clear light from within.
Then, a pattern resembling the ‘Tai Chi Eight Trigrams’ materialized.
The diamond-shaped white jade suddenly became ethereal, losing its texture and form.
Only a radiant mass of light surrounding the peculiar symbol remained.
Then, with a swift motion, it imprinted itself between Luo Yan’s eyebrows.
Luo Yan was momentarily startled.
Then his heart raced.
This object emerged from the unusual black rock; its true nature was unknown.
It had entered his body in such a manner, leaving him uncertain about the potential danger.
However, after a brief period.
Luo Yan found nothing out of the ordinary.
It was only then that he felt a slight sense of relief.
By this time, the conflict on the road had concluded.
The injured ‘Quru’ had escaped, and Captain Di Zheng was overseeing the recovery of the peculiar rock and its fragments at the scene.
From the soldiers passing by, Luo Yan overheard the term ‘Youyin,’ which appeared to refer to that unusual rock.
It seemed that this convoy was already aware of what that object was.
Moreover, it was highly likely that they had come specifically for this unique ‘Youyin. ‘
Luo Yan watched as ‘Blue Edge’ headed towards the transport vehicle, wondering if he should go ask Di Zheng about the white jade stone.
But he was worried that if he absorbed the jade stone, the underground city might take him as an experiment.
In the end, he decided to give up on this idea.
The convoy kept heading north.
A week after leaving ‘Flower City’, the convoy arrived at the Great Lake District.
When they reached the lakeshore, the lake water roared, and a tunnel rose from the lake, connecting with the lakeshore.
Luo Yan was amazed by what he saw.
Who would have thought that the entrance to the underground city was actually in the lake water?
The convoy drove into the tunnel, going deeper and deeper.
About half an hour later, Luo Yan looked out of the window and saw a huge underground space.
Inside the space, which could almost fit a whole city, Luo Yan saw trains shuttling between the cities and stopping beside tall buildings.
There were large objects resembling pipes connecting the ground and the ceiling of the space, possibly extending to the ground, but their purpose was unknown.
As the convoy descended along the elevated highway, Luo Yan gradually saw that this city was not much different from the surface cities before the ‘Beast Calamity’.
Besides the rooftops of the tall buildings, there were artillery emplacements; on the roads, there were occasionally three to five tanks or armored vehicles passing by.
“This is Guangling City, one of the eighteen northern cities. The new underground city is still under construction, but due to the ‘Beast Calamity’, the construction period will be much longer than those cities built in advance.”
Di Zheng, who had arrived unnoticed, stood next to Luo Yan and made a brief introduction.
He then added, “You’re in luck, today happens to be the recruitment day for the Mecha Training Academy.”
“I have signed you up.”
“But signing up does not guarantee admission.”
“The school is very strict with new admissions, there is an entrance exam called the campus test.”
“Whether you can get into school after passing the campus test depends on your abilities.”
“If you are not accepted, you will have to be sent back to the surface.”
Luo Yan nodded.
Di Zheng glanced at him and said, “Later, I will have Little Li take you to school.”
“If you are lucky enough to get in, I suggest you not immediately exchange your credits for the ‘blood poison’ antidote.”
“You can exchange some palliatives on time, they can relieve symptoms, allowing you to participate in various training activities and prevent the condition from worsening.”
“Save up your points in exchange for training materials, enhance your skills quickly, so you can gain more permission and resources.”
Points? Training materials?
Luo Yan felt confused but remembered Di Zheng’s words.
Di Zheng gave him another look and said, “Also, the school, or what we call the underground city, is different from the surface.”
“There is still order here, so you must control your ‘wildness’.”
“Simply put, you can’t just kill people here like on the surface.”
Luo Yan croaked, “What if someone tries to kill me?”
“Usually, that wouldn’t happen.”
Di Zheng decisively stated, “But if it does, you should act to defend yourself!”
“I will protect you, but if you misuse my protection, I will be the first one to harm you.”
With a meaningful glance at Luo Yan, the stern captain left.
Soon.
The convoy arrived at the ground.
A guard drove next to Di Zheng, taking Luo Yan to the academy.
Soon after,
They arrived at the academy.
At the entrance of the academy, named ‘Battle Mecha Training Academy’, many new students were waiting.
They were queuing up for registration.
But Luo Yan drove his car straight into it.
After entering the school gate, Luo Yan saw a stone tablet with five bold words on it.
The five words were: Pointing Sword to the South!
A strong sense of killing intent emanated from the words.
The car finally stopped outside a clubhouse.
Warrior Little Li said, “You go in first, I’ll take Captain Di’s recommendation letter to the academic office and come later.”
“Okay.” Luo Yan nodded, got out of the car alone, and entered the clubhouse by himself.
Inside the clubhouse, there were already quite a few people.
Most of them were young people aged seventeen or eighteen.
There are more boys than girls.
Luo Yan looked around and instinctively sought out a corner to wait in.
“Move aside, don’t block the way!”
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew from behind.
He instinctively dodged to the side.
Allowing a big hand to push towards his head to pass by.
Without thinking, Luo Yan grabbed onto the hand, ready to twist it off.
Remembering Di Zheng’s words at the last moment, he changed from twisting to pushing.
Causing a chubby figure to fall flat on the ground.
Boom!
The sound caught everyone’s attention.
My eyes turned towards the sound quickly.
First, they landed on the person on the ground.
Then they shifted to Luo Yan.
Followed by a soft gasp.
The newcomers in the hall were all dressed neatly and cleanly.
Where was Luo Yan?
He was still wearing his old, worn-out clothes.
At that moment, the person on the ground roared and stood up.
This person was taller than Luo Yan by head, with round and strong arms, but appeared overweight.
His forehead was bleeding from a knock.
He was uncontrollably angry.
“Where did this savage come from, and how did you sneak in?”
“Dare to push me again, you’re looking for trouble!”
Luo Yan remembered Di Zheng’s words and didn’t want to cause trouble.
So he spoke up, “I am a newcomer.”
“You struck first, that’s why you got pushed.”
Concise and precious reply.
The chubby young man felt a sense of contempt.
He was angry at first, but suddenly saw Luo Yan’s red eyes and quickly took three steps back.
A shrill voice cried out, “blood poison! You have blood poison. Stay away from me!”
The hall erupted in chaos.
The newcomers retreated as if Luo Yan was a fierce beast.
The chubby man shouted again, “Guangling City has been promoting the vaccine for three years, eradicating ‘blood poison’ long ago. You dare to call yourself a newcomer, you are clearly a wild person who sneaked in.”
“Where are the security guards? Where are the gatekeepers?”
“Where have they all gone? Don’t let this guy stay here any longer!”
At that moment, a commanding voice was heard.
“Silence.”
People looked over to see a middle-aged man who looked like a teacher, accompanied by a black-armored warrior.
The man who looked like a teacher glanced at Luo Yan calmly and said, “This is a new student recommended by Captain Di Zheng. Who dares to drive him away?”
The chubby boy immediately lowered his head.
The teacher continued, “Besides, ‘blood poison’ is not contagious. What are you afraid of?”
“If you are afraid of ‘blood poison’, how can you expect to fight giant beasts on the surface?”
“What a joke!”
With that remark, everyone felt ashamed.
Then, he took out a card and handed it to Luo Yan, “This is your registration card. If you pass the exam, it will become your student ID card.”
Then he looked around and said, “Get ready, the exam will start in 10 minutes.”
“The task is to kill a Wolf Tick. The principal will announce the specific rules later.”
After speaking, the teacher left.
Everyone in the hall immediately started discussing.
Only Luo Yan found it strange.
It’s just one Wolf Tick, how hard can it be?
Those things are not hard to kill as long as they are not in groups. Individually, they are not difficult to deal with.
Warrior Little Li came over and said with a smile, “I have to go back first. Here, this has my number inside.”
“If you need anything, come to me.”
He handed a phone to Luo Yan.
Luo Yan was surprised.
Little Li smiled and said, “This can only be used in the city, it won’t work outside.”
Then he whispered, “I just saw the list of new students, and there’s someone named Luo Beichen on it. Keep an eye on him.”
“His father is a rival of Commander Di. This young man named Luo, relying on his family background, acts with arrogance and can do anything.”
“If he passes the entrance exam, be cautious.”
After saying this, he patted Luo Yan’s shoulder for encouragement and then left.
Luo Yan put away the phone and heard a lot of idle gossip.
“Who is this person that Captain Di recommended?”
“I envy him so much! The written test this year was really difficult, almost 80% of freshmen failed the written test, but this kid went straight to the practical test.”
“Could he be Captain Di’s illegitimate child?”
“Shh, you’re risking your life!”
Luo Yan remained unfazed.
He looked around and spotted the chubby guy.
He walked towards the chubby guy.
The chubby guy was about to clean up some blood when he saw Luo Yan approaching. He jumped in shock and asked, “What are you going to do?”
Luo Yan ignored him.
Brush.
He tore off a piece of his own sleeve, pulled the fat boy over, and used the sleeve to wipe the blood off the other person’s face.
The fat boy was stunned.
He didn’t understand what was happening.
After wiping off the blood, Luo Yan left.
After a while, the fat boy laughed and said to the person next to him, “Although this kid is savage, he still knows he did wrong and took the initiative to help me wipe the blood.”
Soon, there was a somewhat elderly voice in the martial arts hall.
“Hello, everyone, new students.”
“I am Headmaster Pan Renfeng.”
“The entrance exam is about to begin soon.”
“Now announce the rules.”
“New students taking the entrance exam can choose to take it individually or in a team.”
“Teams should not exceed three people.”
“Also, there are weapons available for selection at the exam venue.”
“During the exam, judges will score the performance. Scoring an average of over 80 points is considered passing.”
“Those who pass will have their scores converted to credits at a 1:1 ratio, to be used as ‘start-up funds’ when entering the academy.”
“Now, please follow the on-site teachers to the exam venue.”
Suddenly, we arrived at the exam venue.
Next, there is a time of 10 minutes to let students decide what weapon to use and in what form to apply.
When Luo Yan looked at a row of weapon racks, a voice said.
“Hello, would you like to team up with me?”
Luo Yan turned around.
In front of him was a young man of seventeen or eighteen.
He had black hair and was slightly thin.
Wearing a pair of frameless glasses, he gave an overall clean and scholarly feeling.
He reached out his hand and smiled, saying, “I’m Li Bohang.”
Luo Yan glanced at him, shook his head, and walked towards the weapon rack.
He is used to acting alone.
Working in a temporary team only gets in the way.
Besides, it’s just a wolf tick.
He picked a long spear from the weapon rack.
Very ordinary.
The advantage is that it is long and sharp enough.
More people chose firearms.
Luo Yan has only touched an automatic pistol before and is not skilled with it.
Naturally, he did not follow the trend of picking a gun.
Besides, he already had a plan.
After registering and getting a number, the exam soon began.
The students called by their number would enter a sealed area.
There were no windows in the area, so students outside couldn’t see what was happening inside.
Only the judges or the students who completed the exam could see inside on a big screen in another hall.
Students entered one by one.
When they came out,
Some cheered, some cried out in sorrow.
Others were carried out, covered in blood, and taken for medical assistance.
It quickly became Luo Yan’s turn.
In the hall behind the exam room, the fat guy who tripped Luo Yan before was resting.
Seeing Luo Yan on the big screen, he couldn’t help but take a few more glances.
Suddenly, he saw Luo Yan take out a piece of torn cloth from his pocket.
The cloth scrap was stained with blood.
The fat guy suddenly remembered that it was a half sleeve that Luo Yan used to wipe his own blood.
The fat guy was puzzled.
He couldn’t understand what Luo Yan was doing.
In the field, Luo Yan tied the bloodstained sleeve to the tip of the gun, then nodded to the invigilator.
Soon, a Wolf Tick was set free.
When the wolf-dog sized Giant Beast Parasite entered, it rushed towards Luo Yan like crazy.
It leaped fiercely when getting closer, three feet off the ground, and crashed into the tip of the gun.
Luo Yan’s feet slid back from the impact, but he still held onto the long spear.
But the Wolf Tick pierced its own body.
It struggled desperately.
But its movements gradually weakened.
Finally, it stopped breathing.
On the screen, Luo Yan put down the long spear and walked away.
The hall was quiet.
The whole process.
Not more than 10 seconds.
Instead of saying Luo Yan killed Wolf Tick.
It’s more like that thing went to its own death.
This…….
“So that’s how it is.”
“Wolf Tick goes crazy when it smells blood, losing its mind.”
“He used a blood-soaked cloth as bait, leading Wolf Tick to walk into the trap itself.”
“Amazing.”
“Smart.”
The chubby boy turned his head and saw a tall, slim young man with frameless glasses standing next to him.
He revealed Luo Yan’s secret to winning.
The chubby boy’s doubts dissipated.
However…
Muscles twitched on the chubby boy’s face.
“Wait, that kid is helping me wipe off the blood.”
“He didn’t even do anything wrong.”
“Are you going to use my blood to fish for Wolf Ticks?”
