Heading to the Border Wall

The Quasi-Martial Warrior assessment had three stages: a punching force test, background investigation, and physical examination.

Normally, as long as one passed the first stage, the later ones posed little difficulty.

But nothing in this world was absolute. Every now and then, one or two special cases still arose, such as discovering a terminal illness during the physical examination, or finding that someone's family background was tied to the rebels.

It was now June 22. The Martial Halls would begin on July 1, and the intervening days were when the government and the Four Great Martial Halls investigated the students' family circumstances and conducted unified physical examinations.

Qin Heng and the others boarded a battered old bus and rattled away from Martial God Plaza.

"Old Wang, take a different route back. Go past Cataclysm Avenue and head to the Border Wall. Let the kids broaden their horizons," Coach Yang instructed.

Master Wang, the driver, answered, "Sure thing."

Everyone immediately grew curious.

"The Border Wall? The hundred-meter-tall wall beyond the Slum District and outside the Farming Area?"

"Beyond the wall is the Wilderness Area. They say Monsters run rampant there, bones litter the ground, and even the plants can take lives."

"That's the battlefield of Martial Warriors, a forbidden zone for ordinary people..."

Including Qin Heng, everyone was seized by intense curiosity.

The Border Wall was the guarantee of the Base City's safety.

Inside and outside the wall were two different worlds. Beyond it, danger lurked at every step—a wilderness beyond the imagination of ordinary people, one they could only see on television.

Under normal circumstances, civilians were not allowed onto the Border Wall at all.

That was because it was equipped with large quantities of heavy weaponry. If civilians carelessly touched something and caused it to misfire, the losses would be immense.

But today was different. The government had specially permitted Martial Hall students taking the assessment to visit the Border Wall and take in the wilderness scenery beyond.

The purpose was to use the sight of the wilderness to spur the students' ambition.

Of course, those who did not want to go did not have to. It was not mandatory.

Coach Yang said, "Nansha Base City has been built for forty-eight years. You and your parents were almost all born and raised here. But outside was the homeland of our ancestors. They once lived and worked there in peace and contentment, but now it has become a stretch of Barren Land occupied by wild beasts."

Qin Heng nodded slightly.

His parents had both been born in the early days after the Base City was established. At the time, their parents had been refugees, fleeing here with the refugee caravans. Under government assignment, they took part in building the city walls, reclaiming wasteland, and other work.

That apartment in the Slum District had been left behind by Grandfather back then.

Though the home was only eighteen square meters, it had supported the growth of two generations.

His father had grown up there, married there, and had Qin Heng there.

Qin Heng had also grown up there, grown stronger there, until this very day.

He had only ever seen the world beyond the wall on television.

But today, he would see it with his own eyes!

The battered old bus could not travel quickly. It took nearly two full hours before it reached the vicinity of the Border Wall.

Along the way, Qin Heng and the others saw countless buildings and city districts.

The Base City was not filled with skyscrapers everywhere. There were also farmlands, airports, factories, training grounds, rivers, lakes, and more.

The entire city was a sealed-off great home, capable of self-sufficiency. From food to weapons, everything could be produced and manufactured within it.

Other Base Cities were very far away and could only be reached by plane.

But flying was far too dangerous. Many ferocious birds of prey filled the skies and could deal fatal blows to flights.

Thus, under normal circumstances, no one chose to wander around other Base Cities. Only government officials and high-ranking Martial Hall personnel occasionally traveled between them on official business.

"We're almost there. That black line over there is the Border Wall." Coach Yang pointed ahead.

Qin Heng and the others peered out through the bus windows.

Outside lay vast fields stretching for thousands of acres, a sea of green and gold. It was the season when southern rice was heading and filling out; before long, it would be ready for harvest.

The Border Wall stood at the edge of the Protective Farmland. It was two hundred meters tall and more than eighty meters thick, made of stone, concrete, and steel reinforcement, poured layer upon layer into something incomparably solid. Even Nuclear Bombs could not destroy it over a large area, only blast open a tiny section.

From afar, it looked like a mountain—or rather, a mountain range—stretching for thousands of miles, with no end in sight.

The entire Nansha Base City was encircled by it.

It was said that construction of the Border Wall had gone through four phases, employing more than thirty million workers and countless machines and materials before the final connection was completed, creating what it was today.

It was a miracle in the history of human construction, something unimaginable in the peaceful years of the past.

But in this era, people needed it, and so it came into being.

"It looks like a huge python," Chen Yuan said, pressed against the window.

Qin Heng said, "The books say that this huge python joins head to tail and has a total length of 690.8 kilometers. To build it, our forebears remade heaven and earth, cut through rivers and diverted their courses, carved mountains and filled valleys, separating inside from outside. Only then did we gain this fortress line of defense upon which we depend for survival."

"It isn't a python. It's a dragon—the divine dragon of the East!" Light shone in Su Kuang's eyes as he gazed at the Border Wall, his expression full of admiration.

"Are those dark protrusions over there border-defense weapons?" Jiang RuLong pointed at a spot.

Coach Yang glanced over and nodded. "Those are anti-aircraft guns, used for air defense. Any aggressive bird of prey that approaches will be shot down."

Birds of prey from the Wilderness Area were extremely dangerous to the city.

Especially skyscrapers—under a single wingbeat from a top-tier bird of prey, they might collapse with a thunderous crack, causing a major disaster.

But with these anti-aircraft guns, birds of prey could not get close.

Even if they could withstand the bombardment of the anti-aircraft guns without dying, they would still be intimidated, understand that this was human territory ahead, and retreat.

Because this place had more than artillery fire. It also had human Martial Warriors!

Qin Heng could not help sighing. "Humans truly are a race that creates miracles."

The bus began to slow.

The Border Wall did not allow public access, so ordinary vehicles had to stop here for inspection.

When the Martial Hall bus reached the gate, Coach Yang presented his identification and they passed through smoothly.

Before and behind them were several other coaches, also carrying Quasi-Martial Warrior students here for a visit.

After passing through the gate, the Border Wall was another two kilometers away.

The roadway sloped upward, and beyond the guardrails on both sides still lay farmland.

"What vast fields, what a magnificent wall! This place is spectacular!"

The new students on the bus cried out in amazement all the way. Having never seen such a magnificent sight, even the older students who had been here once before stared unblinkingly out the windows.

Two kilometers was not far, and the bus soon arrived atop the Border Wall.

It was called a wall, but it was actually a fortress—just an unusually long fortress, stretching for hundreds of kilometers.

"Quasi-Martial Warriors here for sightseeing, welcome." Border troops immediately came forward, and one soldier spoke.

Once the bus had stopped, Coach Yang said, "Get off. It's time to broaden your horizons."

"Let's go, let's go! I can't wait any longer!" Su Kuang was the first to get off.