The remaining eight teams all kept their mechas strictly under wraps!
But in the eyes of the other seven teams, Qilin still wasn't worth much of their attention.
Having two team members upgrade during the survival match, plus securing third place, was certainly impressive! But could their mechas magically upgrade too?
The two individual soldiers and the commander of their squad were indeed formidable, but Wang Tianwei?
...As an A-grade, she was definitely good. Without mechas involved, she could counter-kill an S-grade, but with mechas, it was a completely different story!
Was there anyone who made it to the second round who wasn't strong?
Huang Yan and that half-beastman even had to leave the camp to buy mechas!
If the natural environment of the competition zone was even slightly harsh, they might not even need to lift a finger—Qilin would automatically be eliminated!
However, appearances and deceptive tactics were still necessary. Thus, before the mecha competition even began, Huang Yan received alliance invitations from two military academies.
The commanders from Yuying and Beichen both approached him, hoping to form an alliance before the match.
Huang Yan didn't explicitly refuse, leaving some room for negotiation, but he didn't directly agree either.
The specific rules hadn't been released yet; making any decisions now would be premature!
With the help of her squad members, Wang Tianwei stayed up half the night on the fifth day and finished modifying the two mechas by noon on the sixth day! The standard was as excellent as ever!
When the scan results came out, there were no surprises: both were "Super S-grade"!
"Sister Zebra! I've become spoiled... Now, if it's not a super-grade mecha, I won't even give it a second glance..."
Zhang Lyra had followed Huang Yan around Taihe a couple of days ago and temporarily rented two S-grade mechas for practice!
It couldn't be helped; the only Super S-grade mecha in Taihe's inventory was a light mecha, which neither of them could use.
But perhaps because she was used to it, while piloting the S-grade mecha for practice these past two days, she felt it was inferior in every way to her original Super A-grade one...
The flexibility was poor! It couldn't do a catapult start. Although it had a lot of firepower, it wasn't as convenient as having the weapons deploy directly from the back!
Thinking back to half a year ago, when she walked past the Taihe specialty store, she couldn't even tear her eyes away from an A-grade mecha...
Wang Tianwei handed the spatial button to her.
"With me here, you don't need to look at anything else! Go up and try it out, and listen to my commands later!"
Huang Yan was already too impatient to wait and had released his Super S-grade mecha!
It still had the same matte, frosted fuselage, but its height seemed to have changed slightly. A few wing-like attachments had been added to the back, though it was unclear what they were used for.
The left side of the mecha practice room was densely packed with virtual screens showing ongoing video calls!
Chao Hao and Fu Manli huddled in the corner. Looking at Eugene, who was pressing his face extremely close to the screen with shining eyes, they only felt speechless.
After all, they hadn't seen each other for so long... Yet the moment this guy heard Tianwei ask for help looking at the mechas, he immediately yelled at the two of them to move aside! Telling them not to block his observation? He completely disregarded their years of camaraderie as colleagues!
After Jin Xi connected to the video call, he even clamored to replace the two of them as the leading teachers?
Chao Hao hung up the call on the spot! He didn't answer until Jin Xi called three more times!
Utterly ridiculous!
But to be honest, looking at the three Super S-grade mechas sparring in the arena, who wouldn't be excited?
"Warm up first. After the testing is done, you should primarily familiarize yourselves with both attack and defense. We might not need the other functions in the upcoming match!"
Wang Tianwei certainly wasn't short on testing equipment today.
Uncle Huang had spoken: if she had any needs, she could go to him!
So what else was there to say? She first had a few of Taihe's most advanced mecha detectors brought over for her to use! And grabbed five high-level protective shields while she was at it!
"Emergency start maneuverability delay is 0.05. Transformation time is 0.3..."
"Tianwei, the weapon payload of the heavy mecha is above the 'standard', right?"
"Yes, Teacher Eugene!
Since I need to carry energy supplies in the next match, my shortfall in firepower can only be made up by the three of them, so their mecha weapon payloads are all beyond conventional limits!
But I've already calculated all of this! It was added on the premise of not affecting other performances!
And it's a good thing the physical fitness and mental strength of those three are quite good! Otherwise, they really wouldn't be able to withstand such a setup... I mean, modification!"
"Understood! Hahaha, understood!"
Eugene grew more satisfied the more he looked.
He didn't even need to worry about those three! With the mechas Tianwei designed sitting right there, who wouldn't be tempted!?
Weren't Huang Yan and the others always being led around by the carrot of new mechas?
Even he himself had recently started increasing his physical training because he wanted to add two anti-gravity engines to his mecha...
For others, the mecha is limited by the person's upper limit, but for their squad, the person has to chase the mecha's upper limit!
That was fine too! He and Jin Xi had discussed it; if it weren't for this, those two kids' mental strength and physical fitness couldn't possibly have leveled up so quickly!
Under the supervision of a group of mecha mechanics, the safety testing also concluded successfully!
Chao Hao and Fu Manli had to occasionally adjust the screen angles according to their requests... For the first time, they felt they were being used so thoroughly as mere tool people.
Huang Yan's defense now could be called an impenetrable fortress!
Jin Xi even suggested he act a bit more arrogant on the battlefield; they would be monitoring in real-time from behind the screens!
When the time came, they would have attack data from all sorts of mechas and weapons, which would serve as an excellent reference for Tianwei!!
"...Teacher, my life is still a life."
Although Chao Hao and Fu Manli were envious, they still left the remaining time to the students. There wasn't much time left for them to familiarize themselves with the mechas.
Zhang Lyra and Huang Yan were unwilling to leave the mecha practice room, and Jian Jingyu also wanted to know to what extent his newly leveled-up partners could perform now.
The three of them thus began round after round of practical mecha combat training.
Wang Tianwei kept watch over them, personally stepping in to make adjustments on the spot whenever needed! Afterward, she also made some minor tweaks to her own and Jian Jingyu's mechas.
The rest period between the two matches flew by in a flash!
The teams from the First Military Academy and Santorini even left the camp during this period for a secret training session!
The four members of Valk were also elusive, rarely seen.
Yuying and Beichen could often be bumped into at the entrance of the practice room, but everyone was busy training, so apart from attempts to recruit each other, few words were exchanged.
At 2:00 PM on the seventh day, the remaining eight teams all gathered at the center of the camp's training ground.
The team with the highest points in the previous survival match was the First Military Academy.
The second place was originally Valk, but in the final hour, one of their squads was eliminated by Qilin, dropping them straight to fourth...
The current second place was Santorini, and the third was Qilin!
Today, the rules, time, and location of the next match would be announced, and the top three teams also had to select their supplies in advance.
Reporters were finally allowed to enter the camp for interviews, and every media outlet vowed to capture the most brilliant cover photo!
Because it was a cloudy day and the lighting was mediocre, high-wattage fill lights were turned on the moment the military academies entered!
It took Zhang Lyra quite a while to adapt to the lights, but Wang Tianwei didn't feel much of an effect.
Their team stood closely together. Huang Yan was in front, Jian Jingyu and Little Bear were behind, and she stood in the middle of the three, cast in shadows from both the front and back...
But Wang Tianwei was dissatisfied; she had grown taller again, after all! So, while everyone was taking photos, she found a moment to ask her teammates,
"Can you tell that I've grown a centimeter taller? How do I compare to those other mecha mechanics? Am I a bit more conspicuous now?"
"I hope they use better photos in their next report... Last time, they made me look like an elementary schooler!"
Hearing this, Jian Jingyu immediately looked down at the soles of her feet.
"Did Sister Zebra change her shoes?"
The other two also subconsciously glanced down at her shoes.
"...I advise you to choose your words carefully."
Wang Tianwei narrowed her eyes.
"Your advantage... doesn't lie in your height."
"...Even though they're taller, they definitely can't build mechas as well as you do."
"In what way?"
Zhang Lyra's gaze wandered.
"In every way..."
"That's such a cop-out! Too perfunctory! Little Bear, you've gotten cheeky!"
