Do We Really Have to Fight?

Senior Lin was so furious he nearly passed out.

He suspected Fu Junlin was targeting him with Intent and trying to humiliate him.

But after opening the lower back armor plate, Fu Junlin really did put two buckles inside.

After closing the armor plate, Fu Junlin patted the mecha and said to Cheng Xiaoyu,

"Done. Give it a try!"

Cheng Xiaoyu hurriedly sent a control command, and the mecha immediately began moving normally again.

It was completely back to normal.

"Great! Thank you, Brother Fu!"

Cheng Xiaoyu was so excited his face turned red. There were still two minutes before the second match.

"It's only Intent."

Fu Junlin wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around at the crowd.

Everyone wore wonderfully varied expressions, especially Senior Lin, whose face had turned livid.

"What's there to take Intent in? I only let you repair it first. I could fix it too!"

Before anyone else could speak, Senior Lin said bitterly.

Fu Junlin found it rather amusing. With such a petty mindset, how did he resemble a young man nearly twenty years old?

Senior Lin should have been nineteen.

Fu Junlin and the others were all eighteen.

Because of the complete reform of the education system, freshmen were now generally seventeen or eighteen years old.

But in Fu Junlin's eyes, Senior Lin seemed like a bickering child, far too immature.

"Then thank you, Senior Lin, for giving me this opportunity."

Fu Junlin smiled faintly and cupped his hands at him.

Senior Lin immediately felt as though he had punched cotton, an awful sensation.

Fu Junlin did not argue with him at all. Besides, Fu Junlin really had let him repair it first. He had insisted on going first so he could embarrass Fu Junlin in public, yet now it had become a case of him having no chance to show off.

The resentment lodged in his chest nearly choked him.

Cheng Xiaoyu secretly shook his head. Even if it had been handed over to Senior Lin, he would not have managed it. He would have needed to dismantle the mecha, and he had even wanted Cheng Xiaoyu to forfeit the second match directly. That would have been more hindrance than help.

Fu Junlin had not even dismantled it and had fixed it in five minutes!

"Hmph!"

Senior Lin snorted coldly and swept off. Second Lin naturally stomped away in fury as well.

The remaining bootlickers naturally followed the wind, but Cheng Xiaoyu could not even be bothered to look at their faces. After exchanging a few more words with Fu Junlin, he returned to the stage.

Since he was already here, Fu Junlin naturally stayed to watch for a while.

But when Big Black saw the Combat Arena's huge stage, he immediately cried out excitedly,

"Holy shit! What's this place for?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's a place made specifically for fighting."

"Aren't you guys fighting on the athletic field?"

"That's not fighting. It's called sparring, just minor scuffles. Here, you can unleash your energy and fight for real. It can sharpen your combat skills and settle personal grudges, and there are usually wagers too.

"Besides arranged battles, there are challenge matches. If you win a challenge match, every match comes with prize money. There are also ranking points each season, and high rankings come with huge rewards."

Cheng Xiaoyu's mecha was already locked in a fierce battle with Wang Jintang's mecha on the stage as Fu Junlin explained to Big Black.

"Damn, you can fight, earn money, and get famous? That's killing three birds with one stone!"

"Three birds with one stone, thank you."

"Who cares what kind of bird it is? Why don't you try playing here?"

Big Black wailed as if heaven had wronged him.

"Because... I'm a fucking War Banner Master. What am I supposed to do up there? Smack people with a flagpole?"

Fu Junlin said through gritted teeth.

He had never had much ambition to begin with. Whether as a War Banner Master or a Mecha Master, he only wanted to make money. In the future, he did not want to leave the city to explore the Arena Zone either.

Wouldn't it be perfectly fine to spend his life as an engineer in the city?

"Coward! I want to play this!"

Big Black declared domineeringly.

"Sure. Once I build my first mecha, we'll come here and give it a try."

Fu Junlin nodded.

"What mecha? I mean I want to do it myself! You make me read all day long. Every time you sit there for fucking hours, and I'm bored out of my mind!

"Of course you have to compensate me. You have to let me have some fun!"

Big Black roared.

"Compensate you? Why? How have I forced you to read? This is my body, okay!"

"It used to be yours, but don't forget that we share this body now! I have thoughts too. Can't you consider my feelings?"

"Why should I consider your feelings? You took over my body, and you still have the nerve to say that!"

"Haven't I helped you study, helped you improve, and lent you Biological Vision?"

"That's your lodging fee..."

"You &&#￥%!"

"You &*()%￥@#￥!!"

"..."

"..."

"Come out here and I'll beat you to death!"

"Come in here and I'll kill you!"

Fu Junlin had never dreamed that one day, he would nearly get into a fight with himself.

After quite a while, Fu Junlin finally called a halt to their cursing match in exasperation.

No matter what, Big Black really had helped him a lot. Fu Junlin spent all day reading, and for a poor student like Big Black, reading was worse than killing him.

It was pure torture. Fu Junlin could try to understand him a little.

"Let's discuss this."

Fu Junlin said calmly.

"Go on!"

Big Black said, still huffing.

"Do we really have to fight?"

"Mm-hm! Or we can go to the Arena Zone. Pick one."

"Then let's do it here. But we need to lay down three rules. We can occasionally join challenge matches, but when I'm studying in the future, you can't make trouble. You also have to do your best to help me study."

"Obviously! If I help you reach your study goals, then you won't need to read anymore. Of course I have to help you!"

Big Black said impatiently.

"Second, I don't want to show my face. First, it might make people suspicious. Second, I don't want to become famous. It would only bring a lot of unnecessary trouble."

Fu Junlin was a War Banner Master, but if Big Black went up there and beat people with his fists and feet, then if Fu Junlin displayed strength inconsistent with his current abilities, he would be treated like a lab rat again.

"Fuck... if you don't show your face, are you telling me to turn into a puff of smoke and go fight people?"

Big Black muttered in stunned disbelief.

Not showing his face meant not appearing at all. Whose body was he supposed to use to fight? Fu Junlin was being far too shameless.

"Of course not. I mean this."

Fu Junlin walked into a corner and took a mask from his Battle Banner bag.

It was a close-fitting mask that could adhere to the face like a facial mask. It had no straps, and its inner surface could meld with the facial muscles.

It was not anything valuable, though it even offered a certain degree of simple protection in some Arena Zones.

The front of the mask was very simple: a black-and-white taiji pattern intertwined together.

There were two key features.

The mouth was sewn shut with needle and thread. Naturally, it was not real needle and thread, merely the design.

And on its forehead was a single glittering golden character.

Asia!