Forming a Squad

Aside from a Mecha Belt, the materials for the Mecha Master specialization consisted of a huge stack of books on Mecha Masters. Back in high school, Fu Junlin had already encountered the basic knowledge of other professions.

Because entering an Arena Zone generally required coordination, one had to understand one's teammates' abilities in order to cooperate better.

But these books were no longer introductory texts. They were advanced materials.

And they would become increasingly specialized in the future.

And increasingly difficult.

After collecting his books, Fu Junlin headed to the rear training ground.

At that moment, nearly a thousand people had gathered there.

Almost all the freshmen from the second half of their first year were present, while some who had not yet collected their things were still on their way.

There were four Teleportation Arrays in the rear training ground.

These arrays could send them to Teleportation Arrays established inside Arena Zones.

Within the Arena Zones beyond the city's towering walls, there were no fixed rules regarding size, type, terrain, or landscape.

They might be vast Arena Zones stretching beyond sight, or cramped spaces too small to even accommodate a person.

But there was an old saying: every Arena Zone had an end.

It meant that no matter how large an Arena Zone was, it would always be blocked by towering walls. Since the appearance of Arena Zones, humanity had never discovered an infinitely large one.

However, Arena Zones were divided into Death-Cycle Enclosures and Life-Cycle Enclosures.

A Life-Cycle Enclosure was one where, after you killed a group of monsters, another wave would inevitably appear the next day through some mysterious force of teleportation.

Day after day.

Because of the Electromagnetic Interference Clouds in the sky, humanity could not monitor Arena Zones. Thus, people had stayed overnight within them to observe this phenomenon.

But the terrifying part was that when these monsters appeared, there was no light whatsoever. All equipment, human eyes, and even animal eyes would suffer temporary blindness.

Then a mysterious wave would emerge. By the time you could see again, the monsters were already standing before you.

Thus, it remained an unsolved mystery to this day.

But Death-Cycle Enclosures were the hope the Enclosure World had left humanity.

After the monsters in a Death-Cycle Enclosure were killed, they would not revive.

In other words, once an Arena Zone had been cleared, it would remain cleared forever.

So over the years, humanity had been continuously searching for Death-Cycle Arenas in Arena Zones, much like clearing minefields.

This was currently humanity's most important task.

It could expand humanity's living space and make joint defensive operations easier.

Smaller Arena Zones could have Teleportation Arrays built in them, making exploration more convenient.

Slightly larger ones could be used to establish human outposts.

Larger ones could develop into transit stations, with trade and supplies emerging there.

And the largest ones could develop into cities.

At that moment, Shi Hongyu stood in front of a Teleportation Array.

Before long, everyone from Class Three had arrived.

The students from the other classes cast sympathetic looks in their direction.

The so-called bonuses for conquering Arena Zones were merely consolation prizes.

Basically, whenever a new type of Arena Zone appeared, after assessment, Subspecies would generally be sent in first. The school was no exception—Subspecies classes took the lead.

Only after figuring out the situation could they prescribe the right remedy.

To put it bluntly, they were cannon fodder.

But Fu Junlin and the others were already used to it. This was the norm in society, and no one even complained.

"I need two Mecha Masters, one Melee Style fighter, one single-target killer, one Blade-and-Sword Enchanter—preferably one proficient with both large and small weapons—and two War Banner Masters. The mission is arduous, so know your limits. Raise your hand if you're going!"

Once she saw that everyone had arrived, Shi Hongyu clasped her hands behind her back. Her beautiful eyes flashed with sharp light as she called out loudly.

The scene remained silent for four seconds before someone slowly raised a hand. Those who went would certainly receive more bonus money, but the risks were equally real.

New Arena Zones generally had low Teleportation Levels, especially Death-Cycle Arenas, whose Teleportation Levels were often below fifty percent.

Teleportation Level represented the degree of restoration when one returned to the city after death or severe injury.

If the Teleportation Level was high, the restoration level would be high as well. Even if one died, one could be reborn, suffering at most some injuries.

The lower the Teleportation Level, the higher the fatality rate—a true fatality rate. Once it dropped below thirty percent, what was teleported back after death would be a corpse. At that point, even severely injured people could not be teleported, as that would lead directly to death.

They had to be healed inside the Arena Zone before teleporting out. Upon returning, their injuries would generally only worsen, and they would need treatment as quickly as possible.

Seven people raised their hands.

These seven were indeed the top students in the class, all ranked among the top ten in strength.

Fu Junlin did not raise his hand.

"You, you, you, and you..."

Shi Hongyu selected several people, then realized she was still short one War Banner Master.

When she looked at Fu Junlin, he had his head lowered, his eyes fixed on his nose, and his nose fixed on his mouth.

Shi Hongyu felt somewhat helpless. The current War Banner Master was also a Level-One Master, and Fu Junlin was likewise a Level-One Master. But among the War Banner Masters, Fu Junlin was unquestionably the best in the class.

It would be such a waste if he did not go.

Among them, only that Blade-and-Sword Enchanter was an Entry-Level Two Practitioner.

The rest were all Level-One Masters.

But just as Shi Hongyu was feeling helpless, Fu Junlin suddenly raised both hands high, only to quickly lower them again.

Fu Junlin looked at Shi Hongyu with extreme embarrassment, hoping she had not seen. He did not want to go. He truly did not want to go. Wouldn't it be better to stay home and study properly?

He still had his mother and younger brother to take care of. He could not die young.

But Big Black wanted to go. He really wanted to go.

Of course Shi Hongyu had seen him. She covered her mouth and smiled, just about to call him over when he lowered his hands again, immediately displeasing her.

Then she saw Fu Junlin raise both hands again, lower them again, raise them again, lower them again...

In the end, he forced his hands not to rise anymore, but he bounced twice on the spot, each jump reaching a full meter high.

"Junlin, come here!"

Shi Hongyu glared at him irritably. Was he performing an imaginary trampoline act for her?

Fu Junlin was instantly speechless and could only walk over resignedly.

Meanwhile, the triumphant Big Black burst into wild laughter inside Fu Junlin's body.