Teacher, You're Kind of Strange

Shi Hongyu heard the sound and gave the three of them a quick warning. She yanked the rope and flipped herself onto the boulder.

Then came the sound of the longhorn beetle being smashed apart with a single punch.

"Junlin!"

Duo Xinyu and Qiao Zishu cried out at the same time.

As the boulder shifted loose, Fu Junlin fell to the ground with a bang like a battered sack.

The two hurried over.

Fu Junlin's thigh had slowly contracted back, but his knee was already a complete mess.

Blood poured out in streams, and the bones were severely dislocated and twisted, a horrifying sight.

One jagged piece of bone had even pierced through the flesh.

It sent chills down their spines.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—

Shi Hongyu slowly pushed the boulder away from above, shoving it aside before jumping back down.

When she saw Fu Junlin's legs, her eyes flew wide open. She crouched down in shock, her breathing quickening.

They only had Fu Junlin as a War Banner Master. None of them knew how to set bones!

For a moment, she panicked as well.

"Teacher..."

Fu Junlin squeezed out the two words from his throat. The pain was so intense that he could barely speak.

"I'm here!"

Fu Junlin used all his strength to barely arrange his legs at an angle with his arms. Trembling all over, he weakly said one word to Shi Hongyu.

"Step."

"What..."

Duo Xinyu's face turned pale with fright.

If he had heard correctly, Fu Junlin had said... step on it!

Shi Hongyu nodded heavily, rose to her feet, and without hesitation stomped down on Fu Junlin's kneecap.

She had no time to hesitate, and even less time to fuss over it. Mutated Elite Monsters like Wasps and dragonflies could be lurking somewhere, waiting to strike!

They could no longer continue fighting in this Arena Zone. They had to leave as soon as possible. They had already gathered more than enough information on this trip.

Even Qiao Zishu could not bear to watch. She abruptly turned her head away.

A muffled crack sounded.

Fu Junlin's upper body jolted violently.

Shi Hongyu had no time to feel sorry for him. She stomped down again, forcing his other knee back into place.

Though blood still gushed out wildly, Fu Junlin had positioned his legs at exactly the right angle. Once the bones were reset, he shakily pulled out a white Battle Flag Crystal Block.

He could not even activate his Battle Banner anymore.

Shi Hongyu took the Battle Flag Crystal Block and activated it for him herself. Gentle white light flowed into his legs as Slow Healing gradually took effect.

"Clean up the battlefield!"

Shi Hongyu personally kept Fu Junlin conscious while calling out to the other three.

By then, Chen Keyu had recovered considerably and was able to move.

Duo Xinyu, Qiao Zishu, and Chen Keyu went out to gather the spoils.

First, they harvested the Energy Cores from the corpses. That longhorn beetle had actually been a Level-Two Mutant Elite Monster. It had almost no combat ability, but within that boulder Arena Zone, its specialized power had made it into a terrifying existence that had nearly killed several Level-One Masters and even a Level-Two Master.

Second, they recovered their own mechs, Mechanical Beasts, and the like.

"Can we go back now, Teacher? I don't think we can keep fighting..."

As the Slow Healing Technique took effect, Fu Junlin regained some strength and spoke to Shi Hongyu with a trace of pleading in his voice.

He had truly been scared to death just now. He had practically taken a walk through the gates of hell.

"Alright, we'll go back now. You did very well."

Shi Hongyu nodded reassuringly, wiped the blood from Fu Junlin's face, and forced out a smile.

"Teacher, has anyone ever told you that your smile is kind of strange?"

Fu Junlin let out a long breath and said.

"Hm? Strange?"

Shi Hongyu's heart tightened. She quickly wiped the smile off her face and instinctively touched her own cheek.

"Strangely pretty."

Fu Junlin said softly.

Shi Hongyu immediately shot him an amused and annoyed glare, then viciously pinched his thigh.

This little brat actually dared flirt with his teacher. Absolutely unforgivable!

The pain nearly killed Fu Junlin on the spot. The muscles in his thigh had basically been completely shredded earlier.

Fortunately, the drone was far away at the time. Otherwise, the whole school would have known that Fu Junlin had flirted with his teacher using a cheesy pickup line...

Six minutes later.

A burst of light lit up the Teleportation Array at the rear training ground of Flying Cloud Vine School.

Fu Junlin and the others appeared in the Teleportation Array one after another.

Though they still bore some wounds and were somewhat weakened, their serious injuries had all been treated. Everyone had safely returned to school.

The moment they appeared, thunderous applause erupted from the students.

The dean of students and several teachers came over, asking after them with concern.

"You've worked hard, Hongyu!"

The dean of students was a scholarly man around fifty. He solemnly nodded at Shi Hongyu, then cast a deep glance at Fu Junlin beside her.

"Sorry, Director. We didn't complete the Arena Zone-clearing mission."

Shi Hongyu said helplessly.

"You've already gained more than enough! Leave the rest to the pioneer teams."

The director said with a smile.

Though they had not completed the task of clearing the Arena Zone—or rather, considering its size, they had not been likely to complete it in the first place—they had confirmed its route, scouted its terrain, and gathered information on at least five types of Arena Zone monsters. Their gains had been considerable.

Most importantly, they had escaped death. That was a blessing amid misfortune.

With that thought, everyone turned their eyes toward Fu Junlin, who had turned the tide.

Fu Junlin could only lower his head, not daring to accept everyone's praise.

He had never wanted to stand out in the first place.

"How was that? I made you stand out again, didn't I? That's what you call refusing to learn from your mistakes!"

Big Black said smugly.

"That's repeatedly achieving outstanding merit, thanks."

Fu Junlin reminded him flatly.

Although Shi Hongyu's team had not received a bonus from this battle, they had passed through seven Arena Zones and killed fifteen Level-Two Elite Monsters and one Level-Two Mutant Elite Monster.

The Energy Cores they had collected alone could sell for tens of thousands.

Based on combat strength, Shi Hongyu herself could have taken half.

But she was their teacher. They sold everything for a total of seventy thousand, and she took ten thousand for herself. Chen Zhengfeng, Duo Xinyu, Qiao Zishu, and Chen Keyu each received ten thousand.

Fu Junlin received twenty thousand.

Other than Fu Junlin repeatedly declining, no one else had any objections to the distribution.

Qiao Zishu and Chen Keyu were especially eager to thank Fu Junlin for saving their lives. If Fu Junlin had not turned back instead of returning to the city and suddenly appeared, the two of them might have been done for.

After declining a few times, Fu Junlin accepted the money with some guilt.

Almost all of this had been Big Black's doing. He could make it up to him by giving him a few extra hours of control over his body.