Chen Meng's tone was stern, but his eyes held no contempt. Instead, they showed the careful consideration of a teacher.
"I'll give you one day to think it over. Give me your answer tomorrow morning."
After speaking, Chen Meng said no more. He clapped Lin Ye on the shoulder and turned to leave the training room.
In the vast training room, only Lin Ye remained.
'Machinist Martial Arts, huh…'
'It's not that I haven't considered it, but it's always been a last resort.'
...
When he got home, his mother, Li Wan, was busy in the kitchen. The aroma of cooking filled the entire house.
"Xiaoye, you're back! Go wash your hands, dinner's almost ready."
Li Wan turned around, her face bearing its usual gentle smile.
But Lin Ye keenly noticed that his mother's eyes were slightly red, as if she had just been crying.
He put down his schoolbag, walked to the kitchen doorway, and asked softly, "Mom, what's wrong? Did you and Dad have a fight?"
"It's nothing," Li Wan quickly turned away, wiping the corner of her eye with her sleeve. "I was just cutting onions. They made my eyes water."
The excuse was too clumsy. Lin Ye's heart sank, and he pressed, "Where's Dad? I haven't seen him today."
At the mention of her husband, Li Wan's body visibly stiffened. She was silent for a moment before saying in the steadiest voice she could manage, "Your father... he was transferred. He left this afternoon. The orders came suddenly."
"Transferred? Where to?"
Li Wan took a deep breath, as if steeling herself, then turned back around and forced a smile.
"He's been transferred to the Seventh War Zone. Don't worry, it's not to fight on the front lines. He'll still be doing his old job, repairing Mechas."
"Your dad... he applied for it himself. The salary and subsidies are higher there. You're about to test for Martial University, and the expenses will be high. The family needs to start saving up for you."
The Seventh War Zone.
The four words landed like a heavy lead weight on Lin Ye's heart.
Though he was only a high school senior, he knew what the Seventh War Zone signified.
It was one of the areas on the entire Human Alliance's defensive line where clashes with the Celestial Abyss Race were most frequent and battles were most brutal. The casualty rate there was perennially high.
His mother said his father had volunteered, but Lin Ye only half-believed her.
He was more inclined to believe that someone from the higher-ups had specifically requested personnel for the front lines, and his father had gone reluctantly.
What Li Wan didn't say was that the compensation paid by the Alliance for those killed in action in the Seventh War Zone was also the highest of all war zones.
In this world, the status of a Martial Artist was lofty, but there were still different tiers.
The true chosen ones—those from wealthy families with supreme talent—walked the pure path of martial arts.
They immersed themselves in martial techniques, honing their bodies, and needed no external assistance. Every punch and kick held immense power.
But for the majority, people like Lin Ye with average talent who had barely reached the threshold of a Martial Artist, fighting the alien races on the battlefield required external aid—exoskeletal mechas.
This school of thought, to put it nicely, was called "Machinist Martial Arts"—a fusion of technology and martial arts.
To put it bluntly, it was the "turtle style."
They relied on the extra driving force and Defense Power provided by Power Armor to barely survive on the brutal battlefield.
Martial Artists on the pure martial path were, after all, a minority.
Therefore, support personnel like Lin Ye's father, Lin Tao—a graduate of the Mechanical Martial Academy who specialized in maintaining and repairing Mechas for front-line Martial Artists—became an indispensable part of the war machine.
They were Martial Artists themselves, but they played the roles of engineers and technical soldiers more often.
As he was lost in thought, the front door was pushed open.
Lin Ye's older sister, Lin Wei, had come home.
"I'm home!"
"Sis."
Lin Ye called out.
"Weiwei's back. Perfect timing, let's get ready to eat." Li Wan also peeked out from the kitchen.
But when Lin Wei took off her jacket, revealing her arms in a short-sleeved shirt, Li Wan's expression instantly darkened.
On Lin Wei's fair right wrist, a distinct bruise was particularly glaring.
"Weiwei, your hand!" Li Wan hurried over, grabbing her daughter's wrist, her voice filled with suppressed fury. "Was it a customer at the shop again today? Did someone get out of line?"
Lin Wei was a student at Dongjiang City's best liberal arts university. To lighten the family's financial burden, she had been working part-time at a high-end restaurant off-campus.
The clientele there were either rich or powerful, and among them were many formidable Martial Artists.
And for the beautiful Lin Wei, this was clearly not the first time she had encountered this kind of trouble.
"Mom, it's nothing," Lin Wei quickly pulled her hand back, hiding it behind her, and forced a smile. "I was just careless going down the stairs and fell. I'm fine."
The more she said this, the more pained Li Wan and Lin Ye felt.
Lin Wei didn't continue the topic. Instead, as if presenting a treasure, she took a small box out of her bag and held it out to Lin Ye.
"Look, I got paid today, so I bought you a nutrient solution. Xiaoye, I hear the cutoff scores for the entrance exams are getting more competitive every year. You need to supplement your nutrition."
It was a C-grade nutrient solution, quite expensive on the market, which was a considerable help in boosting one's Qi and Blood.
Lin Ye looked at the nutrient solution in his sister's hand, then at the wrist hidden behind her back, and at her eyes that were trying so hard to look relaxed. An indescribable emotion surged in his chest.
'It's true that I'm a transmigrator.'
'But I've been in this world, in this family, for nearly eighteen years.'
'Eighteen years of being together day and night, the love from my parents, the protection from my sister... all of it had long since made me consider this my true home.'
To support him, a future "Martial Artist," his entire family was giving their all.
His father, Lin Tao, a conscientious, veteran maintenance technician, had been "voluntarily" transferred to the most dangerous Seventh War Zone for a higher salary.
His sister, Lin Wei, a brilliant student at a top university, who should have been living a charmed life, had to put on a smiling face for boorish Martial Artist customers at the restaurant. Even after being harassed, she could only swallow her grievances.
'And what about me?'
'My original goal was just to get into a decent Martial University, find a job as a security guard after graduation, and live a peaceful life.'
'Looking at it now, how naive and laughable that idea was.'
'In this world, there is no peace without power.'
'Even if I wanted to withdraw from the world, my family couldn't remain untouched.'
'Since the system has arrived...'
'Since I now have the chance to become stronger... '
'Why would I just drift along anymore?'
'I have to fight for it!'
'Not to cross the starry river, not to shatter the heavens with a single punch, but simply for peace of mind!'
'Just so my father can return from the war zone safe and sound, so my mother no longer has to live in fear, and so that when my sister walks down the street, no one will ever dare to disrespect her again!'
Lin Ye reached out, took the nutrient solution, and clenched it tightly in his palm.
He would become a Martial Artist.
And not just any Martial Artist, but one who would reach the absolute pinnacle, one that no one could ever look down upon!
'This kind of humiliating bullshit won't ever happen to my family again!'