Following the elimination announcement of Santorini came the points-scoring broadcast for Qilin's Fourth Squad. The teams still surviving knew exactly what this meant.
Every military academy became even more cautious.
"There is something about Qilin. No matter who their opponents are, they never seem to lose."
Wu Fangyu suddenly sensed a hint of threat.
When encountering opponents of a higher tier, whether humans or high-level star beasts, it is only logical to instinctively feel fear.
In the previous rainforest battle, they had even encountered teams that surrendered without a fight! Simply because the level difference was too great, they gave up the moment they saw them.
But Qilin had always been challenging opponents above their level!
At first, it felt novel, but now Wu Fangyu realized she had grown used to it, as if they were just supposed to win? This was highly unusual!
"Santorini's mechas shouldn't be bad..."
Wu Fangyu looked at the little bees hovering around her mecha. If only they could watch the live stream while inside the arena. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling of being kept in the dark.
Hiranuma Yusho also paused for a moment.
Huang Yan... a counterattack? He hoped they could hold out until the moment they faced his own team.
Wang Kaiyu's squad was also still on the move. Upon hearing the broadcast, Xu Mo couldn't help but speak up,
"Wang Kaiyu, your sister and her team actually defeated Santorini's Second Squad!"
Wang Kaiyu curled his lips into a smile,
"I told you, they are all very strong."
"Two of them even leveled up in the last match, doesn't that make them even stronger?"
Lucas counted the remaining teams,
"If this keeps up, we might actually run into them!"
Ye Yingxuan's mecha suddenly stopped and raised its right hand,
"Stay alert. There are star beasts chasing a squad three kilometers away."
Xu Mo immediately grew excited,
"Should we go take a look and earn some points?"
Ye Yingxuan glanced at the red dots on her radar,
"...No, we will detour around them."
Her seniors would never use this kind of formation when fleeing. It was just a few star beasts; they should prioritize finding the academy's bonus points button.
"Yes!"
From that afternoon until the third day of the competition,
Huang Yan led his teammates to clear out five red-dot areas in succession, harvesting three mutant beasts with tender meat.
In one fell swoop, they pushed their points up to second place! Only behind the First Military Academy, which had two teams!
Later on, Zhang Lyra even felt a bit puzzled. Since when was Sir Huang so obsessed with grinding points?
Wouldn't finding the academy bonus points button be faster? That would add three hundred points all at once!
Although they mostly used cold weapons when clearing out star beasts, walking such a long distance still consumed energy, didn't it?
When setting up camp that night, Huang Yan deliberated repeatedly, changing locations three times before finally settling on a good spot!
Zhang Lyra was shooed into the tent by her teammates to rest, strictly forbidden from coming out until they told her to!
Wang Tianwei pulled out a series of items she had prepared, and together with Jian Jingyu, they hung up banners and set up several poster display stands!
Huang Yan stood to the side, lighting candles one by one to spell out Happy Birthday before setting up the barbecue grill...
"Since we weren't allowed to bring food, we will just have to make up for the cake once we get out. Sir Huang, the barbecue must be a success!"
"...I will do my best."
The students of Santorini were currently on a starship heading back to Planet Tianshu. Matt lay on his bunk, watching the live stream.
"So she was planning to celebrate her teammate's birthday..."
And here he thought Wang Tianwei was planning something huge, like confessing her love in front of the entire Federation!
He had even cheered for her before leaving... Turns out it was a misunderstanding?
"To think she brought so many useless things..."
Ruby didn't know what to say.
They had been nervous to death participating in the competition! Terrified of showing a side that wasn't excellent and professional enough!
Yet those guys from Qilin actually had the free time to throw a massive birthday celebration for their teammate!?
On the live stream, the half-beast girl was led out with Wang Tianwei covering her eyes, drawing another wave of jokes from the netizens,
"Hahahaha! Sister Ma, promise me, let Huang Yan or Jian Jingyu handle this next time, okay? You look really awkward stretching your arms out like that!"
"Can she even see where she's going behind the Little Bear?"
"It's just a few steps, it doesn't matter if she can see or not! Just bring her out!"
"You didn't let her off either!"
When Zhang Lyra was alone in the tent, she had already guessed that her teammates were preparing a birthday surprise for her... She had been at a loss for what to do for quite a while.
Their squad had always kept this tradition, but the timing of her birthday this year was rather special, and Sister Ma and the others hadn't mentioned it at all.
She had originally thought about pushing it back and just celebrating it together with Goldfish...
So Sir Huang was in such a rush to hunt star beasts, and everyone was looking for edible things, all for her!?
"Ta-da! Happy Birthday!!"
Zhang Lyra opened her eyes and saw all sorts of banners and posters printed with her photos, exactly the same as when they celebrated Huang Yan's birthday!
On the ground were candles spelling out Happy Birthday, along with a brightly colored carpet and bear pillows. She hadn't seen any of these things over the past two days!
Not going to lie, she felt a little happy, but also a little embarrassed...
"Thank you guys... Honestly, I could have waited a couple of days to celebrate!"
"Would it still be your birthday in two days!? Our squad's principle is to never procrastinate!
Hahaha, today Sir Huang is cooking especially for you! Let's taste the star beast meat he claims is super delicious..."
Huang Yan cleaned the star beast meat, sliced it into pieces that were neither too thin nor too thick, and placed them on the grill.
He strictly followed the tutorial, ensuring he never flipped them back and forth, waiting until they were cooked just right before sprinkling on Goldfish's family secret barbecue seasoning!
"Alright, give it a taste."
Little Bear picked up a large slice with chopsticks, and Wang Tianwei quickly followed suit! The two chewed for a long time before placing the meat back onto the grill,
"It tastes great... but I prefer to eat it piping hot."
"It's raw on the inside."
Jian Jingyu burst into loud laughter,
"Ahahahahaha! I am not laughing at you, Sir Huang! Hahahaha, it's nothing. Oh man, I will stop talking! Don't make me roast it over the candles myself!"
Because Huang Yan refused to redo it for Jian Jingyu, Jian Jingyu had to do it himself. Later, the three discovered that Goldfish seemed to have quite a talent for barbecuing!
The meat he grilled was tender and juicy! Cooked to perfection!
Wang Tianwei also tried to replicate it, but she could never manage to grill slices that were both tender and flavorful.
"It's genetic!"
The barbecue grill became Goldfish's exclusive domain, and Jian Jingyu felt immensely pleased with himself,
"I've learned another skill! Once the competition is over, I will go home and barbecue for my mom and dad!"
"When you do, please notify me in advance, thanks!"
"Can't we wait until school starts? Let's go together!"
The four of them enjoyed a wonderful feast,
"The Qilin team can turn anywhere into a mukbang stream!"
"The meat Jian Jingyu is grilling is sizzling with oil!! Slurp, please give me a bite! [Image]"
"Happy Birthday, sis!!!"
"Happy Birthday, Lyra! [Emote]"
"18 years old~ What a beautiful age."
"I hope they can always stay this happy in the future!"
