A middle-aged man walked over slowly. He was at least 280cm tall, dressed in a blue and black striped teacher’s uniform, with sharply defined features. Standing before William Clark, the man looked down from above and said with a mocking smile, “An underwater breather? With your idiocy in mechanics and electronics, you think you can figure out how that thing works?”

A cold sweat broke out on William Clark’s back. He forced a laugh and said, “Instructor, it’s precisely because I don’t understand that I’m curious.”

If it were any other teacher, with William Clark’s thick-skinned, unflappable personality, he would have muddled through easily. But facing the famous cold-faced instructor Carter of Nanying Academy, every student of Carter’s harbored a certain fear.

His close friend Henry Wood stepped in at the right moment: “Instructor Carter, is there a problem with your bionic arm? Want me to help fix it?”

Carter’s expression softened a little. “Mm, come help me check it after class.”

William Clark’s gaze involuntarily fell on Carter’s left hand, which was gloved in black leather. It was said that the instructor’s left hand had been disabled in the Fourth Snow River War, and even with today’s technology, it couldn’t be regenerated. Although the bionic arm was incredibly powerful, for an eighth-level martial artist, losing the left arm was still a huge blow to his strength.

Originally, if instructor Carter’s left hand hadn’t been disabled, with his abilities, he would definitely be an instructor for Class A, and would never have been assigned to Class C. Moreover, William Clark had heard more than once that instructor Carter lost his left arm while rescuing his commanding officer at the time. So, facing instructor Carter, William Clark felt both respect and fear—though, of course, the latter was much stronger.

“William Clark.”

Seeing Carter’s face turn cold, William Clark immediately stood at attention. “Here! Instructor.”

Carter’s expression was grim, his face now as hard and cold as a statue. He sneered, “Graduation exams are in two weeks, and it looks like you’re still as clueless as ever!”

William Clark immediately straightened up and said, “Reporting, Instructor! I was just about to finish lunch and start extra training this afternoon!”

“Extra training?” Carter’s left hand clenched, producing a crisp metallic sound. “Looks like you’re ambitious—just what I was thinking.”

“What?” William Clark had a bad feeling. He’d actually been planning to skip class that afternoon and sneak over to Henry Wood’s dorm to secretly practice the [Chongxu Gathering Technique] a few more times.

“Meet in the training room at 1 p.m. for special training,” Carter said, turning to leave. “Anyone late gets a zero for their usual grade.”

Watching Carter’s figure recede, William Clark slumped down. “That devil instructor! We’re about to graduate and he still won’t let us go. What’s the point of special training now? Last place is still last place!”

Henry Wood leisurely ate his lunch and said unhurriedly, “Ayan, instructor Carter is doing this for your own good. Last-minute cramming can still help a bit.”

With a sigh, William Clark checked the time and patted his butt as he stood up. “It’s almost 1 o’clock. Let’s go, Mutong. Your class should have pre-exam training too, right?”

Henry Wood looked up, blinking his innocent eyes. “As a specially recruited talent, I’ve already been admitted to the Science Department of Difeng Academy without an entrance exam. I’m just waiting for the admission letter.”

“Damn it! You’re definitely going to get struck by lightning.”

William Clark raised both middle fingers in mock contempt, then trudged off toward the C-69 class training room, dejected.

At exactly 1 p.m., all 120 students of C-69 class stood in formation in the training room. As instructor Carter walked in, the entire room fell silent.

Looking at the 120 students, Carter said with a stern face, “Graduation exams are in two weeks. Look at yourselves—how are you any different from when you first entered Nanying Academy three years ago? You’re lazier than pigs in training. Look at your class’s grades! Are you all pigs?”

“Answer me!”

Carter roared, but no one replied. Only a fool would speak up now—that would be asking for trouble.

“I’ve already spoken with homeroom teacher Li Gang. Starting now, there will be four days of special training, and everyone will stay on campus during this period.” Carter grinned, revealing gleaming white teeth. “Those who perform well or make breakthroughs will get extra points for their usual grades. Anyone who slacks off or leaves campus without permission will get a zero. For those whose usual grades are failing, this is your last chance.”

In the ranks, William Clark groaned inwardly. He knew Carter was talking about him. Of all 120 students in C-69 class, only his martial arts grade was failing. Given his past performance, that was no surprise. The problem was, how could he perform in these four days to make instructor Carter go easy on him?

If his usual grade was failing, he wouldn’t even be allowed to take the martial arts portion of the graduation exam.

“We’ll start sparring in groups now,” instructor Carter said, flipping open the roster. “The top scorer and the lowest scorer from the last exam will be paired together, and so on.”

“First group: Shui Lianqing, William Clark.”

As Carter called out the names, William Clark and a girl stepped forward at the same time. All eyes in the class focused on the two of them—or more precisely, on the girl.