The aircraft that had just ascended had no choice but to come back down to pick up Zhang Lyra. Pearl looked at the only two remaining members of Qilin with a complex expression.
"You don't need to worry too much. It's likely that her mental power is about to upgrade..."
"An upgrade!? Really!? Phew! That's a relief!!"
"Be a bit gentle with her! We'll leave her in your care, teacher!"
"Um... you guys from Valk, our Little Bear is already out of the game, so you're not allowed to bully her on the way back!"
"Us!? Bully her!??"
Aviva pointed her index finger at herself, her face, swollen like a steamed bun, revealing pure disbelief!
"Us!?"
Pearl immediately reverted to her usual snooty, nose-in-the-air attitude, turning around to walk inside.
"We have a bottom line!"
Jian Jingyu was stunned for a moment.
"A bottom line? Uh... as long as you have one."
The aircraft ascended once more. The eliminated and unconscious personnel would soon be dispersed and transported back to the camp by small aircraft.
Taking the opportunity, Aviva and Yuna compared the size of their hands and feet with the unconscious Zhang Lyra.
"They're only a tiny bit bigger, but how can her strength be so much greater? The talent of demi-humans is incredible!"
"One slap from her almost killed me! Her arms are pretty thick, though... I'll ask her how she trains later. Do you think she'll tell me?"
"Maybe try offering some money?"
"What if she says I'm insulting her!?"
"...Haven't we always insulted people like that?"
Wang Tianwei and Jian Jingyu watched the aircraft leave.
"Hah... forty-five minutes left..."
"No one else should be coming, right?"
Wang Tianwei looked back at the brutal "battlefield," then glanced at the Valk uniforms on herself and Jian Jingyu, which had already turned brown...
"Sister Zebra, my mental power is completely drained..."
"Me too, I can't even lift my arms... let's find a secluded spot to hide for a while?"
"Alright."
"Sigh, so much of that pork got smashed, and there's paintball powder all over it..."
"Don't feel sorry for it, Sister Zebra. I'll treat you to a meal once we get out!"
"Let's talk about that when we're out. I wonder how Sir Huang is doing..."
Forty-five minutes later, a melodious music chimed.
"Ding-dong-ding~ The first survival match has ended. Remaining contestants, please board the aircraft to leave."
Wang Tianwei and Jian Jingyu only opened their eyes upon hearing the announcement, sitting up from the mud puddle one after another.
"It's over, Sister Zebra! We weren't discovered by the star beasts!"
"Let's hurry, we need to go back and check on Sir Huang and Little Bear!"
Skillfully climbing out of the mud puddle, the two didn't forget to wipe their faces before boarding the aircraft, changing back into Qilin's yellow uniforms.
The shoes they had washed earlier were still wet, so they just put them on damp. As for the mud on the rest of their bodies, they could only wait to wash it off when they got back!
The safety officer teacher who came to pick them up felt a pang of sympathy upon seeing their appearance.
"Hand over the rifles. You two take a seat and rest for a bit. I'll call you when we arrive."
Wang Tianwei glanced at the fabric seats on the aircraft. Muddy water was still constantly dripping from her and Goldfish's heads...
"No need, teacher. We'll just sit here for a while!"
With that, the two sat on the bare floor of the aircraft. In the temperature-controlled environment, they fell asleep in no time!
Their posture quickly shifted from leaning against the wall to lying on their sides, and finally sprawling out on their backs...
Seeing no other option, the safety officer grabbed two blankets and covered the students.
They had been following Qilin's fourth squad the whole time. Compared to the other military academies, these kids had truly been through the wringer! Out of forty-five teams, you couldn't pick one more battered than them!
"Sleep well, you both passed! Get some good rest for a few days when you get back..."
As soon as Huang Yan woke up, he realized his mental power had leveled up!
But he had no time to celebrate. He tapped open the intercom above the healing pod and asked Dr. Todd to project the feed for him. Seeing his teammates successfully pass the survival match, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Zhang Lyra is going to upgrade too? I'm fine on my end, please go check on Zhang Lyra, she's a demi-human..."
Dr. Todd couldn't help but laugh,
"She's going through a normal upgrade, how could it be more dangerous than yours!? A demi-human's physique is much stronger than yours!
Don't worry, the other doctors have already gone to the entrance to receive her. I'll head over as soon as she arrives.
You just upgraded and still need to stabilize. Close your eyes now, I'm closing the intercom."
"Mm."
Huang Yan finally closed his eyes and sank back into rest.
The two teachers waiting at the hospital entrance to receive Zhang Lyra also let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the results.
"Wang Tianwei and Jian Jingyu held on until the end. The fourth squad can advance to the next round."
"To think a preliminary round would be this thrilling..."
"The timing for those two kids to upgrade was really... The aircraft is here!!"
"Is it Zhang Lyra!?"
"Quick, quick, the healing pod!"
With all the contestants sent back to camp, the live broadcast of the first survival match concluded.
"They won!! Qilin's lowest mental power group passed the survival match!!"
"An underdog comeback! They really did us proud, this sole surviving team!!"
"I'm willing to dub Wang Tianwei the Chainsaw Maniac!"
"Wuwuwu! That was so hard for them!!!"
"Don't turn off the stream! I want to see how Sir Huang and Little Bear are doing!"
"Me too! Let us see! Please!!!"
"Did the upgrade succeed or not!? I'm dying of anxiety!!"
"Those two are still fast asleep on the aircraft... look at how exhausted the kids are!?"
No matter how much the netizens begged, the broadcast cut off the moment Wang Tianwei and Jian Jingyu were woken up to disembark the aircraft.
Having returned from the rainforest, the two still had mud plastered on their heads, and a layer of crusty, dried dirt covered their necks and wrists. They looked an absolute mess. The moment they stepped off the aircraft, the frigid temperature of Planet Tianshu made them shiver violently!
The reporters, who had been waiting early at the landing pad to snatch headlines, swarmed forward the moment they saw the duo!
"Student Wang! How does it feel for you two to pass the survival match as Qilin's last hope!?"
"Did you make the chainsaw yourself? How did you think of using an unconventional weapon like a chainsaw!?"
"Qilin students, look over here!!!"
"Did your other two teammates really upgrade their mental power? Is Qilin about to become a triple-S squad?"
"Student Jian! Which military academy's uniform is your favorite!?"
"May I ask why Student Wang is called Sister Zebra!? Is the rumor online about the 'zebra head' true!?"
Wang Tianwei and Jian Jingyu were cornered in the middle of the crowd, microphones practically shoved up their noses! The aircraft behind them had already departed...
"Make way! Make way!"
"Hey, don't push, let me finish my question first!"
"Who stepped on my foot!?"
Relying on their agility, a few members of Li Hece's squad wove through the crowd. Shoving the reporters aside to reach the very front, they didn't say a word, simply pulling out thermal blankets and wrapping their juniors from head to toe!
"Ahem! Direct your questions about Qilin to me! The kids just got back..."
Chao Hao appeared right on time to divert everyone's attention. After giving ambiguous answers to two questions, he suddenly pointed behind the reporters and shouted,
"The people from the First Military Academy are back!!!"
Some reporters turned their heads out of reflex, and Zhou Yu and the others took the opportunity to hoist their juniors onto their shoulders and run!
"Make way, make way!"
"It's so cold! How can you bear to let them freeze!"
"Move aside! Or we're pulling out the wild boars!"
Chao Hao was sandwiched between two reporters and couldn't escape for a moment. Enduring the questioning gazes of the people around him,
"Professor Chao?"
"Ahem, let's not rush things... Do you two want to step around to the front? I can't really see you from there..."
The reporters reluctantly accepted his excuse.
"They got away, so you definitely can't run!"
Only eight teams in total had secured 200 points to successfully pass this survival match!
Aside from the First Military Academy, Valk, and Santorini—prestigious academies that everyone already had high hopes for—the most interview-worthy team was Qilin!
Leapfrog challenges! Comebacks from the brink! Slaying wild boars! Diving into mud pits! Mental power upgrades!?
Any single one of these was explosive headline news!
"Professor Chao, did the two students from Qilin's Fourth Squad who withdrew halfway really advance to S-class?"
"They are currently still undergoing treatment at the camp hospital... Speaking of which, I need to go check on my students. See you!"
Chao Hao seized the chance to twist the acceleration knob on his mechanical leg. He spun around and vanished without a trace!
He left behind the two reporters who had just been duped into stepping forward, beating their chests and stomping their feet in frustration.
"We let our guard down! He's from Qilin too!!"
"We shouldn't have trusted him, we just shouldn't have!"
