Library

"All right, I've finished everything I needed to explain."

"As for how much you can grasp, I'm not holding out much hope."

"What I want to say is that you should get along with your classmates. We're all part of Yero City!"

"Don't believe every rumor you hear. True evil can make you vanish off the face of the earth-not merely if you see it, but even if you so much as hear about it."

His mouth dry and his hopes thoroughly dashed, Lu Guanhong brought the lesson straight to an end.

He left in such a hurry that Lu Zhan never got the chance to ask about making up the lessons he had missed.

"Don't worry about life alchemy, Lu."

"The subject is only meant to broaden our horizons a little."

"It doesn't do much to help us become real Armored Warriors."

"Besides, the material Old Lu teaches is very limited."

"That's not because Old Lu lacks knowledge. It's because this is all he's allowed to teach."

"Once you've been here a while, you'll understand. Most of Old Lu's lessons repeat the same material, so there's no need to worry about falling behind."

Wen Shiyan saw through Lu Zhan's "concerns" at a glance. She had gone through the same thing as a newcomer.

Back then, she had also worried that she would fail to keep pace with her classmates.

Only after staying longer had she realized that time spent studying meant nothing in the Basic Training Class. Everyone was merely going around in circles.

Rumble!

With Lu Guanhong's departure, the students gathered there also began to disperse.

As they left, they continued whispering among themselves, even pointing at Lu Zhan and Wen Shiyan.

Clearly, Lu Guanhong's "warning" had had no effect whatsoever.

The prejudices in people's hearts would never diminish simply because their "knowledge" increased.

"You really have been treated unfairly, Lu."

"Well, if anything happens, don't hesitate to ask me for help."

Wen Shiyan had long grown used to everyone's pointing and whispering.

Yet seeing how calmly Lu Zhan faced it left her feeling a little sad.

Compared with her, a genuine civilian from District 13, Lu Zhan, who came from District 9, really was suffering an injustice.

Over the course of their conversation, Lu Zhan had already given her an "honest account" of his circumstances.

"Wen, I came here to become an Armored Warrior, not to make friends."

"Since today's lesson is over, I'm planning to take a look around the Training Center's library."

"To tell you the truth, the number of books I've encountered in my entire life is smaller than my age!"

The composure Lu Zhan displayed was no brave front put on for Wen Shiyan.

With a clear goal in mind, he simply did not care about a little "criticism."

In Lu Zhan's eyes, these classmates were nothing more than random passersby. They did not even qualify as stumbling blocks.

Even if they did become stumbling blocks, he would crush them underfoot.

"That's the spirit!"

"Since you're heading to the library, I won't come along!"

"I'm focusing on Basic Combat right now. I'm not particularly gifted at it, so I won't try to give you pointers!"

Wen Shiyan was not surprised that Lu Zhan wanted to visit the library.

While showing him around the Training Center earlier, she had already noticed his particular interest in it.

It seemed her junior really was someone who loved learning.

It was a shame he had been born into a chaotic place like the Wutu Gang. Otherwise, he might already have become an engineer or a doctor.

At the Armored Warrior Training Center, the Basic Class had three subjects in total.

The first was life alchemy, and the second was Basic Combat.

The third, however, was rather unusual: eating, or rather, the Gourmet Appreciation Class.

Unlike in his previous life, when they seemed determined to fill every available slot with lessons.

The Training Center held only one lesson each day, rotating between the three subjects.

With that morning's life alchemy lesson over, Lu Zhan had plenty of time to immerse himself in the library.

"Not bad. At least the number of books here lives up to the name 'library'!"

"I just wonder whether the quality of the collection lives up to any decent standard."

Using his identification card, Lu Zhan entered the library without any trouble.

At the Training Center, many facilities required a card swipe to use.

Had Lu Zhan truly been nothing more than a low-ranking member of the Wutu Gang, he would surely have gasped in amazement at this "high technology."

But his experiences from his previous life made it all feel comfortably familiar.

Often, Lu Zhan felt that Yero City was much like himself: profoundly divided.

Right now, for instance, he was "studying" a device resembling a computer from his previous life, searching through its book catalog.

Meanwhile, out on Yero City's streets, steam locomotives were still belching clouds of steam.

I never expected this world to have computers!

Since they've invented computers, they should have the internet too, right?

The Training Center really is strange. Computers are sitting right out in the library, yet there's not a single television in sight.

I refuse to believe this world couldn't invent television!

The appearance of a computer surprised Lu Zhan somewhat.

But that was all.

After all, he had already witnessed this world's technological foundations back at the Ninth Medical Security Center.

When Lu Zhan and Wen Shiyan had talked, her biggest complaints about the Training Center were its isolation and monotony.

Neither radios nor telegraph machines were allowed inside.

The Training Center severely lacked ways to obtain information from the outside world, let alone any kind of entertainment.

With his experience of intensive study in his previous life, Lu Zhan was no stranger to this kind of closed-campus management.

What puzzled him, however, was that Yero City's authorities had not installed a few televisions in the Training Center.

They could easily broadcast programs praising Yero City around the clock, strengthening the students' sense of loyalty.

Especially after learning how disunited the students were, Lu Zhan felt this was all the more necessary.

Lu Zhan certainly did not believe he was the only

clever person in the world.

Then why had nothing like that appeared in the Training Center?

In fact, it was not just the Training Center. In all eighteen years of Lu Zhan's life, he had never seen a device that displayed images.

Even at the Ninth Medical Security Center, the screens had shown only lines and text.

"Well, that doesn't work either."

After all Lu Zhan's tinkering, the computer still displayed nothing but text and numbers.

There was not even a single book cover.

"Student, what book are you trying to look up?"

"If you keep hammering away like that, the machine will start smoking!"

Watching Lu Zhan tap away haphazardly with all ten fingers,

the librarian beside him finally could not stand it any longer.

At first, seeing how comfortably Lu Zhan handled it, he had assumed the young man was a longtime student.

Soon, however, he noticed something was wrong.

This fellow was actually "tapping at random" with all ten fingers.

The longtime students all knew that this device was operated with two fingers.

This was a high-grade alchemy item from the inner city. It was not available on the open market at all.

What are you showing off for, you country bumpkin?

Acting like you actually know how to use it!