Chapter 79 - The Practical Test Starts!
Chapter 79: The Practical Test Starts!
However, Lightning Saber was made of normal metal. As progress was made and time went by, it gradually fell behind other weapons.
When it was used to hit the shells and bones of monsters, the blade bent easily and even cracked.
During the Year 55 of the New Era, the most advanced cold weapons were fused with monsters’ bone powder and metals from the Other World during their creation. Some even had crystals added into them. With nanotech and memory metal folding technique, they were able to break the limits of cold weapons and firearms.
In the hands of superhumans with great spirit energy, super sabers were not just able to release sword glares and saber flames that would reach dozens of meters, but could meld into different shapes and release different attacks.
They were also stupidly expensive.
The skill required to use Lightning Saber was not high, but it was of excellent quality and very cheap. It was, thus, often used by the Red Dragon Army and normal citizens.
During the practical test, its price was the lowest as well. The students could get one with just sixty points.
“Meng Chao, you were very generous when using your points to buy those hand grenades. You spent four five hundred points on them without even blinking. But when it comes to cold weapons, you’re being so stingy. You know they’re the most important weapons of all, don’t you?”
Chu Feixiong chose a Large-toothed Shark Saber, which was created during the Year 45 of the New Era. He stared at the coldly glinting saw-toothed blade in satisfaction and did not agree with his best friend’s choice.
“The Rapid Biting Rats might be small, but their spines are really tough. If you use such a cheap saber, its blade will bend after just a few hits. If you can’t kill them with one strike, it won’t be counted into your points as well.
They only had a limited number of bullets. Even if they exchanged all their points for bullets, it was impossible for them to get high marks through shooting.
They needed to rely on cold weapons to kill during the second half of the test.
Everyone paid a lot of attention to the cold weapons. The Large-toothed Shark Saber was the lowest quality saber that they could accept. No one was like Meng Chao and chose Lightning Saaber, which was really cheap.
Meng Chao thought about his answer. “As long as I’m careful and cut them through the gap in their spines and not touch their tough bones, I will be able to cut their central nervous system right away. I won’t have to worry about a bent blade.”
“I just let down my guard for a moment, and you seized the opportunity to act cool again. Look at you, acting all smug!” Chu Feixiong said.
“Examinees, please choose your weapons on your own. Don’t talk to each other!” said the invigilator who stood in the corner. He had a very stern tone.
But his eyes were full of curiosity. He did not understand why this examinee, who had managed to score so high, would make such ridiculous decisions.
Once he bought the hand grenades and the saber, he had around two hundred points left.
Everyone thought that Meng Chao would definitely choose a gun this time.
Even if he could no longer buy a semi-automatic rifle, he could still buy a small pistol to protect himself.
To their surprise, however, Meng Chao swiped and tapped until he reached the supplementary items. He chose the highest grade tactical emergency health kit, which was only used by medical soldiers.
‘What’s that for?’ The examinees were confused. ‘Is he afraid of being injured by the Rapid Biting Rats?’
The more Meng Chao bought, the more enthusiastic he became. After he examined a few outdoor MRE, he chose four bags of the highest grade MRE.
Most of the onlookers were stunned. They could understand that Meng Chao was being careful when he bought the emergency health kit, but why did he buy the MRE?
They would be inside just for six hours, and they were going to kill Rapid Biting Rats, which were small monsters that were not very threatening. Just how bad was this guy’s stamina that he could not even last for a quarter of a day?
But if he really could not last, he could get a few energy gels, chocolate bars, or high-grade nutritional fluid. That was the normal choice. No one would act like him and buy MRE as if he was going on a feast during the test!
Meng Chao ignored everyone’s shocked gazes. He used his final points to buy a multi-purpose military shovel. Then, he stuffed all his things into his backpack. “I’m done. Let’s go!”
“Are you… really not going to get any bullets? You still have time to change your decision!” Chu Feixiong stared at him in shock.
“There are various ways to solve problems.” Meng Chao smiled.
The examinees were geared up to their teeth. Aside from the youthful look that had yet to fade from their faces, they actually looked like hardened soldiers.
They walked out of the equipment room valiantly and in high spirits to enter the final waiting room.
To his slight surprise, Meng Chao saw the old principal from Ninth High School here.
Principal Sun, who usually looked bleary-eyed and clumsy, was dressed in a murderous-looking camouflage uniform. He also had guns and weapons on his back, which was something rare for him. He looked even cooler than when the fog descended on them a few days ago.
“Hello, Principal Sun!” Meng Chao and Chu Feixiong were both very surprised.
It was only after they asked that they learned that Principal Sun was also an invigilator and patroller. He was in charge of protecting the examinees’ safety.
“You have to personally patrol the area even when you’re at this age and have such a high status?” Meng Chao was amazed.
“The practical tests for university entry are militarized. In school, I am a principal and you are my students. But when it comes to the national college examination, I am a military officer and you are my soldiers. It doesn’t make sense for the soldiers under me to rush into the fray while I stay at home with no soldier to command, right?”
Principal Sun smiled. “This has always been the custom of Dragon City’s national college examination. Every year, during the practical test, the school leaders personally come to the frontlines and fight with the children. Otherwise, your parents would be worried.”
“Then, please don’t push yourself. You were injured pretty badly during the monster ambush three days ago, right?” Meng Chao whispered.
On the night the fog descended, Principal Sun’s “heavy cannons” released loud bangs the entire night. When he came back, he was sent straight to the hospital. It seemed like his organs were all damaged.
Meng Chao had been thinking about visiting Principal Sun in the hospital after the national college examination, so he did not expect that Principal Sun would stand here as if nothing had happened to him.
“It’s thanks to your reminder that day. Those Evolved Demonic Air Ripping Eyes were really damn crafty. Luckily, I was only injured lightly and have fully recovered now!” Principal Sun slapped Meng Chao’s shoulder.
Meng Chao really wanted to get closer to heroic citizens so that he could get affected by their heroic spirits or something.
However, the invigilators and examinees could not have too much contact with each other, and Principal Sun had a great sense of propriety. After giving a few words of encouragement to the Ninth High School students, he moved to the side and refused to say anything else.
Under the guidance of the chief invigilator, all the geared-up examinees sat down in meditative positions and used Dark Tortoise Stance to regulate their breathing.
Their breathing was elongated, and gradually, they imagined themselves as old tortoises who had entered hibernation. They focused their minds and calmed their breathing to nurse their bodies while they waited for the final battle.
Time passed.
The clock turned 23:55.
The military had already surrounded the dozens of examination areas at the edge of the border. Through the special equipment they buried underground, they released chemicals and infrasounds to the depths of the examination areas.
The combination of chemicals and infrasounds brought chaos to the Rapid Biting Rats’ central nervous system, so they thought that an earthquake was about to happen and ran to the surface.
The military also dumped a large amount of sticky liquid with stimulative scents around the examination areas.
The sticky liquid was extracted from the insides of the Rapid Biting Rats’ mortal enemies—snake-type monsters. It made the Rapid Biting Rats think that there were snakes with their mouths wide open waiting for them outside.
Hence, the large number of Rapid Biting Rats would only run around the examination area, but would not dare to step out of it, which made them perfect targets for the examinees.
23:57.
The invigilators and patrollers entered the exam area to ensure the examinees’ safety.
11:59.
The Internet was connected. Big data started pouring in, and all the examinees’ physiological parameters and the images their cameras caught were instantly transferred to the superbrains. Through infrared rays and image analysis, they could calculate just how many monsters they killed and how many points they could get from it. Then, it was reflected on their communicators.
Each examinee could check their points and ranking live and predict whether they could get into the university of their choice. Then, they could choose whether they wanted to fight defensively or aggressively during their subsequent hunts.
Meanwhile, in the monitoring center at the back, aside from the recruiters from the universities, many of the powerful people from the Red Dragon Army, Supernatural Tower, and other major industries paid attention to the practical test so that they could choose the talents that caught their eye.
Strength, speed, spirit energy, and beautiful killing techniques were all things that could be cultivated or even forcibly taught to a person.
But the wisdom and courage people displayed with normal bodies was the base for people to become powerful.
Midnight arrived.
It was a brand new day, and the practical test began.
A loud signal flare flew into the clouds from the military commander’s vehicle.
The countless eager examinees in the dozens of examination areas rushed into the most important battleground of their lives.
After dozens of years of being a part of the Other World, the former Dawn Machine Factory had already been trampled so badly by the creatures of the Other World that it was unrecognizable.
Thick vines had pushed through the cracks on the ground and wrapped themselves around the building and broke cement. They even split the pillars made of reinforced concrete, which resulted in most of the building collapsing.
The walls were originally smooth and flat, but they had crumbled to reveal a dark hole. There were also cracks that intersected with each other like spider’s web led to who knew where.
There were more than one hundred stone pillars, but the world around them had corroded them until they looked like fangs. They stood tall in the depths of the machine factory like a stone forest that reminded people of a maze.
“Screech!”
Countless Rapid Biting Rats the size of cats moved about in a frenzy in the ugly space.
“Kill them!”
Many of the examinees started firing their guns the moment they jumped on the walls of the machine factory. The dense firepower shot a lot of the Rapid Biting Rats full of holes, but the examinees also lost a lot of bullets.
The examinees who came from key high schools ignored the Rapid Biting Rats scurrying about their feet. They focused on heading into the depths of the factory.
Since the military had placed the stimulative scent of the rats’ mortal enemies outside the exam area, it was only natural that there were only a few Rapid Biting Rats by the edges of the perimeter.
It was a dumb choice to stay on the outskirts to kill the rats.
They should head to the center of the machine factory and search for the place where the Rapid Biting Rats gathered. It was the best way to maximize the efficiency of their hunt.
Dawn Machine Factory was huge. It had more than ten departments and all sorts of affiliated facilities. Even if there were more than one thousand examinees wandering about inside, it was not very cramped.
But the map the military provided was the version of the factory before the transmigration.
After the changes the area had gone through in fifty years, it had long since become unrecognizable. The paths and stairs that originally existed were no longer around.
Besides, it was dark. The visibility was incredibly low, and the place looked like a shattered maze.
Only a few examinees were able to analyze the situation in detail and instantly locate the path heading to the core through the destroyed space.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
While most of the examinees were fumbling about outside and quite a few people fell into the depths because they slipped, which caused them to sprain their ankles or wrists, three figures jumped about lightly on the strange stones that looked like intersecting canine fangs or broken pillars. Their movements were so light that they looked like smoke that had no weight. Very quickly, they covered dozens of meters and landed at the center of the factory.
They were First High School’s Fang Da, Second High School’s Xie Feng, and Construction High’s Luo Hai.
The three elites looked at each other and smiled.