"Wow, Shuning, this robot dog is so cool!"
"Wow, Shuning, look at that... what kind of cannon is that? The caliber is huge!"
" Shuning, Shuning, isn't that the legendary Origin Power Armored Vehicle? I saw it on the news!"
Xiao Bai'er's voice exploded in her ears like a machine gun, and every few steps he would tug at Shen Shuning's sleeve, as if he wanted to point out everything in his field of vision to her.
Shen Shuning did not respond, but her gaze was also scanning around.
The cold, hard metal buildings; the asphalt road more than twenty meters wide; and the turrets that can be seen in the distance, mounted on the high walls...
As if remembering something, she looked back again.
A massive Light Gate stood in mid-air, like a blue eye, overlooking the base.
Below the Light Gate, a massive platform built of gray-black stones stood tall, exuding an indescribable majesty and solemnity.
"Indeed, it's very impressive..."
Shen Shuning murmured something under her breath.
Everything before my eyes was completely different from what I had seen in textbooks and in the news.
It's not the kind of impressive feat you see through a screen, but rather the kind of industrial achievement that you can personally experience standing here, a testament to human ingenuity.
"Oh, it's a pity Xingyu didn't come, otherwise she could have watched it too!" Xiao Bai'er said, her voice suddenly lowering.
"Her abilities are S-Class, so normally she wouldn't follow the same path as us. In fact, I'm already quite surprised that Xingyu was only transferred away now!" Shen Shuning said in a low voice.
"Well, that's true!" Xiao Bai'er pouted. "But I wonder when we'll see Xingyu again!"
"Maybe not so soon..."
Shen Shuning spoke softly, her gaze sweeping over the figures beside her, all dressed in school uniforms just like her.
They were among the second batch of trainees assigned to the Erosion Zone...
"Hey, Shuning, look! Look!"
Xiao Bai'er, who had just been feeling down, immediately perked up again.
Naturally, his sleeve was pulled over again.
Shen Shuning looked in the direction her friend was pointing.
A robot, over ten meters tall, was seen carrying a stack of neatly arranged stone slabs as it walked past to the side.
Moving bricks.
In the literal sense.
They weren't the only ones who noticed the robot; many students from both the Southern and Northern Martial Arts were also staring at it, and many of them even looked excited.
"Instructor, are there even Gundams in the Erosion Zone now?" a trainee shouted towards the front.
The middle-aged man leading the group turned around.
He glanced at the robot that was carrying bricks and explained:
"It's not a Gundam, it's just a construction robot."
"Construction robots?" The person who had just asked the question looked at the instructor with some doubt. "So, there are combat robots too?"
"Yes, but not the kind of Gundam you're thinking of. On the contrary, you've already seen the robots involved in the battle!"
"Huh? Where? Where?"
One by one, the students began to turn and search.
Xiao Bai'er also quickly searched the area nearby.
Shen Shuning glanced at it as well, then turned her gaze to the instructor.
The instructor spoke:
"These are the drones and robot dogs you just saw!"
"Huh? That's it?"
Many people nearby expressed their disappointment.
Although they were impressed by the drones and robot dogs they had just seen, it wasn't as impactful as something like Gundam!
"Otherwise what? What do you want?" the instructor asked.
"With such a large robot, it should be deployed to fight against the Calamity Beast!" shouted the first person to ask the question.
Many people nodded in agreement.
The instructor looked at everyone and said, "We have indeed tried this before, but the results were very poor, so it was ruled out!"
"Is the efficiency very low?" the man asked.
"Hmm," the instructor nodded.
"The energy required to power them in battle is far greater than you imagine."
"Furthermore, if that were the case, it wouldn't be so bad. But the more crucial problem is that these types of robots often don't manage to capture many Calamity Beast on the battlefield!"
"Compared to the energy it consumed, the value it gained from killing the Calamity Beast is far from enough!"
"How is this possible? That's a Gundam!" the boy exclaimed in disbelief.
The instructor glanced at him and said without much expression:
"If you were on the battlefield, and the enemy suddenly pulled out a weapon that looked very powerful and was extremely large, what would you do?"
"Uh..." The boy choked for a moment, then subconsciously said, "Let's find a way to destroy it!"
"That's right!" the instructor said, unsurprised. "These kinds of weapons usually attract the attention of Calamity Beast and get torn Calamity Beast before they can be of much use!"
"But if there are enough of them, the Calamity Beast shouldn't target them specifically, then they'll be effective, right?" The boy was still somewhat unwilling to give up.
"That's the problem. It consumes too many resources, making it impossible to operate so many at once. And the post-battle repairs are a huge expense!" The instructor paused here before continuing.
"Compared to these, combat robots like robot dogs and drones don't require as many resources. They only need to make frequent trips and replenish ammunition to kill more Calamity Beast at minimal cost!"
"Of course, drones and robot dogs are also prime targets for the Calamity Beast on the battlefield."
"However, since it wasn't worth much to begin with, I wouldn't be too heartbroken even if it got damaged!"
"..."
The crowd was speechless, yet they also felt that what he said was very realistic.
"But we shouldn't stop developing Gundam for these reasons, otherwise it will become outdated!" the boy said somewhat unwillingly, seemingly dissatisfied that the Gundam he had loved since childhood had been abandoned.
"Don't worry, the Research Department has set aside some people to continue developing this, but it seems they are mainly researching in the direction of Iron Man, not Gundam!" the instructor said.
There was no explanation, but everyone understood why.
It's still the same issue I mentioned above: resources, or more specifically, money!
The boy opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but someone he knew spoke up.
"Alright, Fang Zhuo, if you're counting on that, you might as well train hard and become a Gundam yourself someday!"
"Hahaha..."
The people around them laughed.
The middle-aged instructor sighed inwardly as he looked at the scene before him.
The outside environment is really nice...
"Alright, let me first give you a detailed introduction to the situation of the Grassland Erosion Zone!" he interrupted.
"First, you need to define what the Erosion Zone is."
"As students of the Southern and Northern Martial Arts, you've all heard some news about the Erosion Zone, but ultimately you've only been listening in and don't know the specifics..."