After dinner, the three of them ran off to the side secretively.
"Little Bear, don't look back! Don't turn around until I say so!"
Zhang Lyra suddenly had a bad premonition. It couldn't be...
"Sister Zebra, we are in a desert competition! Let's just keep things simple. I really don't have high expectations for my birthday, honestly!!"
"Don't turn around!!"
After Wang Tianwei boarded her mecha, she gestured to Huang Yan and Jian Jingyu for a while, and the three of them got into formation.
"Alright! Turn around!"
Zhang Lyra swallowed hard and carefully turned around.
"They actually prepared something..."
Three mechas stood in the center of a bunch of pre-arranged night lights, one hand on their hips, the other pointing diagonally into the air... The traditional birthday performance for everyone was about to begin!
Zhang Lyra didn't have her optical computer on hand and looked around anxiously... Hmm? Isn't there a Little Bee drone right here!?
She grabbed it and pointed the camera at the three mechas.
"Little sis, if you're watching, remember to screen record this for me. I'll buy you good food when I get back!"
After saying that, she added,
"Safety instructor, please make sure to get all three of them in the shot."
"You got it, student Zhang!"
"Is that the safety instructor talking just now!? Hahahahaha!"
"Rest assured, Sister Bear! You have no idea how long we've been waiting for this day, hehehe!"
"No need for your little sister! Your senior has already recorded the whole thing! Grab it from the forum, you're welcome."
"Kirin Squad is here! Dedicated to capturing the most unforgettable moments for our juniors in the competition! [Emote]"
"Sigh, after getting thrashed so many times in the Zero Realm, I finally get to see my biggest rivals dancing... I deserve this!!"
"Person above, tell us more~"
Even the instructors from other military academies, seeing someone celebrating a teammate's birthday, turned their attention to the Kirin Fourth Squad's live stream.
"The setup is pretty good, kind of like desert camping."
"It should be like this, honestly. If you stay tense all the time, the string in your brain will snap."
"Hahaha, Instructor Chao, these students from your school have a really great bond!"
Wang Tianwei first turned on her mecha's 3D projection feature, then blasted the audio through the external speakers.
Upbeat music began to play, and in the projection, three figures wearing bear ear headbands and bear paw gloves started dancing in sync!
Jian Jingyu was truly a single-soldier combatant; he figured out the routine after just a few tries, and danced just as well as Wang Tianwei and Huang Yan, who had practiced for half the night!
What made people unable to hold back their laughter was that,
while the projection of the three people dressed as little bears danced in the front, there were actually three block-headed black mechas dancing backup in the real world behind them!
The movements between the two weren't even completely identical; when the front went left, the back went right! You could tell they really put thought into it!
The invisible rescue aircraft hovering above the team lowered its altitude. The soldiers slid open the aircraft doors again; unlike yesterday's curiosity about the mechas, today they were purely here for the show!
"Hahahaha! A Super S-class mecha dance! Where else could I possibly see this!?"
"The contrast... is off the charts!"
"Zhang Lyra is blushing! She's shy, she's shy!"
"She's probably just excited~ Look how bright her eyes are!"
"Oh my, the dance is over, why is Huang Yan still dragging his feet and not coming down!?"
"I've been wanting to say this for ages! That kid is definitely a tsundere! His mouth says no, but when he actually does it, he's more serious than anyone else!"
"Hahahaha, how do you think that little girl's brain works? She's too interesting!"
"Let's make a bet? Guess if they can make it to the finals? The loser has to do this dance!"
"Playing for such high stakes!? I bet they'll make it to the finals no problem!!"
"Why did you steal my line? I also bet they'll have no problem!"
"Such a huge orange preserved flower!? Kirin really... brought in everything that has nothing to do with the competition!"
"You have no sense of romance at all! Look how happy Little Bear is!?"
"...My girlfriend likes preserved flowers too."
"You actually have a girlfriend!? Why do you get to have a girlfriend!?"
"What did Huang Yan give her? It looks like a box of rare, ultra-premium parts!"
"Tsk tsk tsk! Did he say he also prepared gravity training equipment? ...Ah, is it a trend for military academy students to gift training equipment nowadays?"
"What about Wang Tianwei?"
"Let me listen... Did she say she modified the mecha?"
"Mecha modification? Isn't Zhang Lyra's mecha already Super S-class?"
"...!!??"
Although the viewers in the live stream heard Wang Tianwei mention the mecha modification, few connected it to the Super S-class mecha that Little Bear was currently using.
"Goldfish's birthday is during the off-season? I strongly demand that they live stream it!"
"Exactly, how can we only watch such a good-looking dance once!?"
"On the video app next door, the mecha dance of those three is already trending..."
"What's a trending topic? Kirin Military Academy has already put Wang Tianwei's promotional interview video on their official website's homepage today!"
"A century-old brand? Trustworthy??"
"Ahahahahaha! I'm really going to die laughing! A bunch of trolls!"
"I always thought Kirin was the most traditional and square! Turns out it's only their mechas that are square?"
The four young people laughed and played until ten o'clock at night, completely polishing off the meat of a star beast the size of a calf...
Jian Jingyu and Huang Yan piloted their mechas to dispatch a few star beasts that were attracted either by their commotion or the smell of roast meat, then turned around and told the two girls to go rest first.
In Wang Tianwei's eyes, Little Bear's birthday was simple and heartwarming. She didn't care about the live stream at all; as long as the important people were happy, that was enough!
But in Huang Yan's eyes, it was a different story, though his skin had gotten a lot thicker by now!
Besides, when celebrating his birthday, the three of them hadn't worried about losing face at all, acting as if his happiness was all that mattered.
Lyra was very happy today, and that was enough.
Wang Tianwei was right; birthdays should be celebrated on the actual day! Once they get out, he would make it up to her with a big cake; Little Bear would definitely love it...
The competition time reached the morning of the fourth day.
After traveling in the desert for so long, the mechas of the participating teams from various military academies all started showing problems to varying degrees.
Most were covered in sand and dust, resulting in poor heat dissipation and a massive increase in energy consumption. Others had their coatings peeling off or lubricating oil evaporating due to the scorching sun.
The mecha mechanics within the teams became busy once again. They were either clearing sand or adding lubricating oil, and some needed to make on-site modifications or replace parts, all of which were mandatory skills on the battlefield.
During this time, the number of viewers in Kirin's live stream skyrocketed, even surpassing the First Military Academy!
It was simply because the tasks their squad was handling were a bit too varied...
While the sun hadn't come up yet, Wang Tianwei and Jian Jingyu were busy clearing sand from the mechas. Huang Yan and Zhang Lyra followed behind, applying lubricating oil to the bearings of each mecha one by one.
"Apply a bit more! Don't be stingy. I'll spray a coating later to prevent it from evaporating!"
