Eight Million Girls' Dream

Qin Heng and the others fell silent at his words.

Forty-eight group armies, several million soldiers...

They were not powerful martial warriors, yet at this moment, they were all here, fighting to defend the Base City.

During a monster tide last year, 38,351 soldiers had died.

That was not merely a number—it was 38,351 living people!

They had families and loved ones too. Every single sacrifice was an immensely heavy blow to a family!

"Once we become powerful martial warriors, we'll definitely charge into the Wilderness Area and wipe out every last Monster!"

Su Kuang clenched his fists, his fighting spirit soaring.

Hearing this, a rare smile appeared on Xu Youwei's stern face. He said, "With that kind of resolve, we're comrades already. Come on, I'll take you to try our military meals. The food is pretty good today."

"Alright, let's go eat meat!" everyone said enthusiastically.

Before long, they arrived at the cafeteria on Level -2 of the Border Wall.

There were many hollow areas inside the Border Wall fortress. The top was Level 1, with few buildings, while below it were Levels -1, -2, and -3, each serving a multitude of purposes.

The soldiers' quarters and the weapons and ammunition depots were all located here.

The cafeteria on Level -2 was near the inner side of the fortress. Through its windows, they could directly see the tens of thousands of acres of Protective Farmland outside, as well as the distant outline of the city's edge.

And this place... was huge!

"It's so big..."

"Why are there so many people?"

"It smells so good! Wow, what is that smell? I've never smelled anything like it before. It's making me drool!"

For Qin Heng and the others, visiting a military cafeteria for the first time felt like country bumpkins entering the city.

At least several thousand people were walking around and eating in the cafeteria, yet it did not feel crowded at all. If anything, it seemed rather spacious.

Xu Youwei said, "The border wall is too long, so there's more than one place to eat. In the section where our group army is stationed, there are eight cafeterias like this in total."

"Damn, that's a lot... How much rice do they have to eat in a day?" Chen Yuan's eyes widened.

Su Kuang smacked him. "Is that the important part? The important part is, why do we need so many soldiers guarding the front lines? If you were strong enough to drive every Monster to extinction, they wouldn't be needed here. They could all go home and hold their children!"

Chen Yuan said, "Uh..."

Qin Heng glanced at Su Kuang. He had not expected this guy, who usually had such a foul temper, to be so serious at heart.

"Come on, let's get our food over there."

Xu Youwei led them toward the serving windows.

In a large group-army-level cafeteria, there were more than a hundred serving windows alone.

When they arrived at one of them, Qin Heng and the others could not help widening their eyes.

"What a feast! There are so many dishes!"

Through the glass window, they could see an array of dishes packed inside—half meat, half vegetables, along with quite a bit of fresh fruit.

Xu Youwei said, "Take whatever you want. There are only two rules for eating in the border zone: first, eat your fill; second, don't waste food."

"Holy crap, we can pick anything we want? Then can I take nothing but meat?"

"Of course, as long as you can finish it."

"Whoa! Military benefits are way too good! I should just enlist here instead!"

The whole group was thrilled by this way of eating.

Not far away, some other trainees from the New City District saw this and could not help sneering, "What a bunch of hicks who have never seen the world."

Qin Heng and the others did not get angry. With meat right in front of them, they had no attention to spare for that group.

"I want this huge Chicken Leg! And that piece of beef, and this... What is this? Ah, whatever, I want it too!" Zhou Yan stood at the front of the line, making a huge fuss as he picked his food, as though he had gone months without eating.

The dazzling assortment of meats truly opened everyone's eyes. They were all stricken with indecision.

Qin Heng was no better. While getting his food, he quietly asked, "Can I pack some to take away?" It made the soldiers from the kitchen crew laugh. One of them answered sternly, "No."

Then he added, "If you can't finish it, you can stuff it in your pockets and take it away."

"Great!" Qin Heng immediately and happily took an extra meat cutlet larger than his palm.

Seeing this, Su Kuang could not help mocking him. "You're a filthy rich man making 120,000 a month, and you're actually mooching meat here?"

Qin Heng glanced at Su Kuang's tray, which was piled high with meat, and asked in return, "Can you finish all that?"

Su Kuang turned his head away. "What's it to you?"

Once they sat down, neither of them could hold back their laughter.

Their salaries would be high in the future, and they would be able to live good lives.

But that was still the future.

Seeing so much delicious food offered without limit before them, they naturally could not wait to bring some home to share with their families.

This meal was even more luxurious than the Luxury Meal their coach had treated them to yesterday, and they ate to their hearts' content.

Halfway through the meal, a commotion suddenly arose from the cafeteria entrance.

It seemed some important figure had appeared.

Noisy voices drifted over.

"Xiao Yang is here."

"He actually came to visit the same Border Wall as us?"

"That guy is seriously handsome. No wonder he's known as Eight Million Girls' Dream..."

Qin Heng and the others were baffled. "What's going on?"

Looking toward the cafeteria entrance, they saw a strikingly handsome young man in a training uniform walking in, surrounded by a crowd.

"Does anyone know him?" Chen Yuan asked.

Everyone from the District 7 Slums shook their heads.

It was Coach Yang who spoke up. "His name is Xiao Yang. He's the one who caused a stir just before Qin Heng this morning, testing a punching strength of 802 kilograms. My teacher mentioned him to me before, saying that he's the finest young talent Nansha Base City has produced in recent years. He has trained for less than half a month, yet he has already achieved this much. But now that Qin Heng is here... he can only rank second."

"So he's the one with the 802 kilograms..."

Qin Heng understood.

Whatever else could be said about Xiao Yang, he was truly handsome. His sharp brows slanted into his temples, his features were cleanly sculpted, and a faint melancholy lingered in his eyes. He had an unreal quality, like a manga youth stepping into reality, making even Qin Heng and the other men unable to resist looking at him a few more times.

As Qin Heng looked toward the entrance, someone beside Xiao Yang leaned close and whispered something to him, pointing toward Qin Heng's seat.

Then Xiao Yang walked over to Qin Heng.

"You're Qin Heng, the genius who broke the record with 928 kilograms?" he asked.

Qin Heng set down his chopsticks and replied, "I wouldn't dare call myself a genius, but I am Qin Heng. What do you need?"

Xiao Yang was surrounded by trainees, not just male trainees, but female trainees as well.

These female trainees were all from the New City District and came from relatively well-off families. Women were naturally physically weaker, so training was more difficult for them at the start. But without the pressure of survival, quite a few had still reached the threshold of Quasi-Martial Warriors.

This group seemed to be Xiao Yang's fans. They held a trace of hostility toward Qin Heng, who had surpassed Xiao Yang and was even more outstanding.

Under everyone's gaze, Xiao Yang said, "I chose the Hero Martial Hall. You chose the Heavenly Dao Martial Hall?"

"Yes." Qin Heng nodded.

Xiao Yang said, "Three months from now, the Four Great Martial Halls will hold a Martial Arts Exchange Conference. New trainees can participate as well. I hope you'll be there then."