A Fortress Guarding Hope

At this moment, quite a few Quasi-Martial Warrior trainees like them were already on the Border Wall.

A Border Soldier in uniform came before the District 7 Slums group and said, "Students, I am a soldier of the Fourth Group Army of the Nansha Base City Border Defense Army. My name is Xu Youwei, and I will be responsible for explaining the situation of the Border Wall to you today."

Coach Yang said, "Sorry to trouble you."

Xu Youwei said, "No need to be so polite. It is my honor to meet the future pillars of the nation."

Coach Yang looked at Qin Heng and the others, saying hopefully, "I hope they truly can become pillars."

Xu Youwei stepped aside. "This way."

Everyone followed him.

The Border Wall was very wide, with a road on top that vehicles could drive along directly. However, visiting groups all traveled on foot.

"The inner side of the Border Wall contains Protective Farmland. Two crops of rice and one crop of sweet potatoes are planted each year. Sometimes the harvest is good, but when beasts launch large-scale attacks, the fields can also be caught in artillery fire, causing yields to plummet."

Xu Youwei introduced the area as he led them onward.

Zhou Yan said, "When we came last year, we happened to encounter a terrible harvest. These fields didn't look nearly this good back then."

Xu Youwei said, "Yes. Around this time last year, we suffered an attack by a beast tide. Although we won, we lost 38,351 soldiers, and much of our weaponry and equipment was destroyed. It was only because Old Mister Wang, Wang Jianming, arrived in time to turn the tide that we managed to drive those Monsters away."

"That old man is that strong?" Zhou Yan asked in surprise.

Because of Wang Peng, he did not like Wang Jianming very much.

Xu Youwei frowned slightly at those words. "Old Mister Wang is a hero of our Base City. He possesses Grandmaster-level strength and has been an important cornerstone of Nansha since the founding of the Base City. Student, please speak with more respect."

"Oh... sorry." Zhou Yan hurriedly apologized.

Qin Heng sighed inwardly.

Wang Jianming was a hero. He did not deny that, and he deeply admired the old man as well.

But Wang Peng...

That bastard had tried to trip him up today. Who knew what bad things he had said, nearly causing the Four Great Martial Halls to give up on him.

With such behavior, added to their past grudges, it already counted as a deep and bitter feud that had to be repaid!

It was just that with Wang Jianming around, revenge probably would not be so easy.

The visiting group followed Xu Youwei to the outer side of the fortress wall.

Xu Youwei said, "Beyond the Border Wall lies the Wilderness Area. Every year, every month, every day, many Monsters approach. The bones below are what have accumulated over several decades."

Bones...

Qin Heng and the others looked down to see that the plain below was a stretch of black, white, and gray. There were burn marks from fire, but even more bones, carpeting the ground as far as the eye could see.

"So many!" Chen Yuan cried out.

Xu Youwei explained, "Not that many. Those were killed by heavy weapons. Their corpses contain shrapnel, metal fragments, and certain toxic substances. Processing them into ingredients is troublesome, so they were cremated on the spot."

Qin Heng said in surprise, "So the edible ones are all transported back to the Base City and eaten?"

Xu Youwei nodded. "That's right. Food is scarce these days, and Monster meat contains abundant energy. It is a high-grade ingredient. Transported back into the city, it can fetch a good price and serves as one source of supplementary military funding."

Su Kuang said with great interest, "Once the Martial Hall pays us, I definitely have to buy some and try it!"

Xu Youwei smiled. "No need to wait until then. You'll have some today. Our unit has prepared lunch for you, including dishes made with Monster meat."

"Wow! That's so good!" Everyone was delighted to hear it.

Coach Yang said irritably, "What are you wow-ing for? Once you become Martial Warriors, you'll be thrown into the Wilderness Area and eat Monsters every day until you puke. By then, all you'll be thinking about is the Base City's rice and Stir-fried Greens."

"That's for later. What we want most right now is meat!"

For children from the Slum District, eating meat was already a luxury, let alone Monster meat.

"Speaking of the wilderness..."

Qin Heng asked, "There should be exits in this Border Wall, right? Otherwise, how would our vehicles enter the Wilderness Area?"

Xu Youwei nodded and pointed in a direction. "Look over there. That slope is the exit route. There are heavily guarded checkpoints nearby, with Martial Masters stationed there. Going out is easy, but when returning, you must undergo a thorough inspection to prevent Monster infiltration."

Everyone looked over. Three kilometers away, there was indeed a slope extending toward the outer side of the Border Wall, and there were clearly more heavy weapons around it than elsewhere.

"How can Monsters infiltrate? They're all huge. You'd spot them at a glance, wouldn't you?" someone asked.

Xu Youwei shook his head. "Not necessarily. There are also some very small Monsters in the Wilderness Area, but they are extremely powerful. Such Monsters are difficult to capture. Once they sneak into the Base City, they could very well cause massive casualties. In addition, some exceptionally powerful Monsters can erode a Martial Warrior's brain, control their consciousness, and send them back into the Base City to cause destruction. Those are even more dangerous."

"Huh? Control consciousness? That's possible?"

Qin Heng and the others all found it somewhat terrifying.

Coach Yang said, "The Monsters in the Wilderness Area are far more terrifying and vicious than what you have learned from television or textbooks. You were not allowed to know before because they wanted to maintain social stability and feared causing panic. Now that you are beginning to come into contact with the Martial Warrior world, you may learn a little more. Remember, don't go around telling the people near you when you return. You are different from them."

"Yes, we'll remember." Qin Heng and the others immediately replied.

At this moment, some felt heavy-hearted, while others were excited.

Su Kuang said, "Can we go outside and take a look? Come into contact with living Monsters!"

Xu Youwei firmly shook his head. "No. That is too dangerous. Your area of activity is limited to this one-kilometer stretch of wall and our cafeteria."

"Uh..."

Su Kuang immediately wilted.

The group wandered around atop the wall for a while, taking in the scenery on both sides.

In truth, the scenery here was not beautiful either—just plains, forests, and wilderness, without even a beast in sight.

But for children from the Slum District, who had lived in cramped spaces all year round, the vast mountains, rivers, land, and sky were an exceedingly rare sight.

"Brother Xu, do you live here every day?" Qin Heng asked.

Xu Youwei said, "Most of the time, yes. But we also have leave, and occasionally we can return home to rest for a few days."

Qin Heng asked, "How many soldiers are there here in total? Are they all Martial Warriors?"

Xu Youwei replied, "I do not know the exact number either. There are twelve exits along the entire Border Wall, and each exit is guarded in rotation by four Group Armies. One Group Army has roughly one hundred thousand to one hundred fifty thousand people. Of course, we are not all Martial Warriors. Martial Warriors are humanity's most precious resource, and their numbers are scarce. We are merely ordinary soldiers. As long as you know how to use thermal weapons and are not afraid of shedding blood, you can enlist. As for strength... when I tested my punching power at eighteen, it was only a little over 300 kilograms."