Equipment Purchase

In the gray sky, a pink-painted rotorcraft shuttled among the clouds.

Its coloring clashed awkwardly with the grim atmosphere of the sky, even looking a little comical.

The interior of the rotorcraft was spacious enough, with a passenger cabin that could hold dozens, but inside sat only two people.

It should have been a time for lively chatter, but the scenery on the ground kept the passengers silent.

The roads below were full of wrecked tanks and mechs.

Sparks still flickered from the debris, as if showing how intact they had been just moments before.

Collapsed buildings exposed their steel-reinforced concrete, and even the still-standing ones looked unstable, like candles in the wind that could topple at any time.

Highway bridges were broken midair, leaving only isolated pillars standing in the wind, doomed to eventual destruction.

The vast ruins of the city stretched on endlessly.

“Rumble—Boom—”

That was not thunder from colliding storm clouds, but the sound of explosions produced by violent oxidation reactions.

Missiles streaked across the sky now and then, leaving contrails of varying thickness.

No one knew where these missiles came from, but wherever they landed, plumes of gray-black smoke would rise.

The smoke stained the clouds above, explaining why the sky looked so dark and heavy.

“This is the current constructed terrain of Beacon Star, called the ‘Old City District.’”

At the pilot’s seat, Zhou Zhanying explained to Ye Lan and Su Lixiao, who sat in the cabin behind.

“Ordinary planets have layers of crust, mantle, and core. But Beacon Star is a modified planet, and part of its crust is a ‘constructed crust.’”

“The surface belonging to the constructed crust can switch at will between ocean, forest, desert, city, ruins, and so on.”

“However, each switch consumes enormous amounts of energy, so it doesn’t happen often.”

“Then… are they fighting a war down there?”

Su Lixiao leaned curiously toward the window, peering down.

“But I don’t see any people.”

“Because we’re only flying over the outskirts of the Old City,” Zhou Zhanying replied.

“We haven’t reached the core yet. The fighting there should be fiercer.”

“What’s going on here exactly?”

Su Lixiao couldn’t understand why a battle was happening on this planet.

“Are there enemies on this world?”

“Why do you think it’s called a military academy?” Zhou Zhanying gave a faint smile, his beard hiding most of his expression.

He tapped a button on the control panel, and a long, army-green case slid to his side.

When the lid opened, a fully assembled heavy sniper rifle lay inside.

“Whoa! What are you doing?”

Su Lixiao jumped in fright.

“Are you going to rob someone!?”

“Relax, it’s just for self-defense.”

Zhou Zhanying glanced at the radar screen, but it showed no suspicious targets.

That made him narrow his eyes.

“Hey! Lan, say something! Are you okay?”

Su Lixiao, realizing she couldn’t handle this situation alone, shook her companion hard, hoping for some support.

Ye Lan hadn’t spoken a word since boarding.

His expression had remained grim, and now, flying above the Old City, beads of cold sweat slid down his cheek.

The acrid smoke in the air stirred his nerves, sharpening his thoughts.

But sharper thinking only made him notice troubling details.

The reason for his cold sweat was that he couldn’t recall ever attending a freshman welcoming ceremony—at least not as a freshman.

In his previous life, what had happened after boarding the craft?

Why was everything after that blank?

“I’m fine, it’s just…”

But he still needed to answer Su Lixiao.

With his mind nearly overloaded, he scrambled for an excuse.

“…just that carrying luggage wore me out a little.”

“Serves you right, after how much you pestered me on the shuttle.”

Su Lixiao teased him, but then gave his leg a light pinch and whispered softly, “If it’s too heavy, just say so. Don’t strain yourself.”

Ye Lan suddenly felt a flash in his mind.

A white light!

Yes!

In his past life, after boarding the craft, he hadn’t sat long before a white flash engulfed him.

Then he’d lost consciousness and only awoke later in the academy’s infirmary.

What did that white light mean?

He had many guesses, all outrageous.

“What kind of grudge… would call for something like that?”

Ye Lan smiled bitterly inside.

All he could do was pray that this life’s course would deviate from his last, so he wouldn’t suffer the same misfortune.

“Feeling a little unwell is normal. My first time seeing this kind of battlefield wasn’t easy either. For you both, the front lines would indeed be dangerous.”

Zhou Zhanying rose from the pilot’s seat, slinging the heavy sniper across his back, and walked into the cabin where Ye Lan and Su Lixiao sat.

Seeing Su Lixiao’s guarded look, he raised his hands with a wry smile to show no ill intent.

“No need to be so wary. I just need to explain a few things.”

“Ahem.” He cleared his throat.

“Right now, you don’t have bulletproof uniforms, and your school badges’ shield modules haven’t been activated.”

“But the academy won’t leave freshmen completely defenseless.”

“As a formal military academy, live combat drills are required subjects. And the battlefield below is part of those drills.”

Snap!

Zhou Zhanying snapped his fingers.

“Let’s begin.”

At once, the badges on Ye Lan and Su Lixiao lit up with holographic screens.

[(User: Ye Lan; Points: 100)

Ye Lan, welcome to Soul-Slaying Military Academy’s Armory.

Here you may purchase any weapon or equipment you desire.]

“Now,” Zhou Zhanying said, “what you need to do is buy your equipment.”

This was the very core of the academy’s teaching system: equipment purchasing.

Each freshman started with 100 points.

In the military academy, the Alliance’s currency had very limited use—enough only for food, lodging, and basic necessities.

The true hard currency here was points.

Points could be exchanged for basic living needs as well as weapons and gear impossible for ordinary people to buy.

But for most freshmen, their first encounter with the system left them bewildered.

After all, the armory offered not hundreds but thousands of weapons.

Choosing the right ones for themselves was far from easy.

“To help you newcomers,” Zhou Zhanying said, “the system offers four recommended loadouts. They’re cost-effective. Take a look.”

[Recommended Loadout 1: Assault (Cost: 80 points)]

[Recommended Loadout 2: Defense (Cost: 80 points)]

[Recommended Loadout 3: Support (Cost: 75 points)]

[Recommended Loadout 4: Sniper (Cost: 85 points)]

[Custom Build]

Ye Lan knew these loadouts.

Their value had been proven by many student generations.

But he also knew exactly what equipment he needed, so he ignored the presets and clicked [Custom Build].

Instantly, his holographic screen filled with rows of dazzling weapons and gear.

The number and variety of items in an armory reflected the strength of its academy.

If an academy lacked the authority to produce its own equipment, its weakness was obvious.

Soul-Slaying Academy might not rival those thousand-year-old institutions, but it was still a century-old school.

Its armory offered thousands of items, enough to impress.

While Ye Lan browsed, Su Lixiao frowned.

“Hey, can I remove this [Shield Type I] from my cart?”

That made Ye Lan glance at his own cart.

{Cart:

+(Fixed) [Shield Type I] (Cost: 10)

= Total Cost: 10}

He hadn’t picked anything yet, but there it was, locked in.

“That one can’t be removed.” Zhou Zhanying shook his head.

“You can think of [Shield Type I] as the most basic of basics. Without it, your school badge’s shield function won’t work.”

“Fine…”

Since it couldn’t be deleted, Su Lixiao gave up.

Meanwhile, Ye Lan’s gaze lingered on the [E-Series | General-Purpose Anti-Material Energy Sniper Rifle].

His hesitation wasn’t due to its steep cost of 35 points.

It was because, at his current level, it wasn’t exactly practical.

For one, the weapon was far too heavy for his physique.

He also couldn’t handle its recoil.

Yet its stats were phenomenal—attack power, range, accuracy—all top-tier for freshmen’s first semester.

As for melee weapons?

Ye Lan dismissed them outright.

With his weak body, if he couldn’t win at range, he certainly couldn’t win up close.

So he never considered close combat.

But if he couldn’t even carry the sniper, what then?

He had thought of buying an exoskeleton suit to boost his strength.

But the academy’s armory only stocked cutting-edge military exoskeletons, none priced under 100 points.

What he wanted wasn’t high-tech gear—just the kind of industrial exoskeleton workers used.

But such things were beneath the academy’s notice, and thus unavailable.