The holidays were clearly not over yet, but the Qilin Military Academy was exceptionally busy from top to bottom!
The teachers were busy on the Star Network answering various questions from new students and netizens. They also had to maintain the Qilin official website, which had already crashed twice in just one morning...
A massive crowd flooded the school forum. Many posts and memes from a year ago were dug up just to "excavate" the growth trajectories of the members of the Fourth Squad currently competing!
"[Image] My Sister Zebra still had baby fat on her face back then!! She's lost weight now! Being a cross-level super-grade mecha master is not easy!"
"...The person above has a very unique perspective."
"Is the cross-level super-grade mecha master thing real!? Does everyone at Qilin Military Academy know?"
"Tch! Making a fuss over nothing!"
"I just love seeing how ignorant they look!~"
"Can we place an order!? I just want to ask how to place an order!?"
"Throw him out! We Qilin folks are already lining up in advance!! Even the teachers in the mecha department don't dare to rush our junior, and you guys are rushing her?"
"Then I'll line up too!! Hehehe, senior, may I ask if Sister Zebra's studio is short of someone to serve tea and pour water!? I'll be the first to apply!"
"Who's your senior... Besides, when will it ever be your turn?"
"So does Sister Zebra have any other ultimate moves she hasn't used yet? Have you all seen their transforming mechas? Can you reveal a little bit?"
"...Someone, throw this one out too!"
Chao Hao and Fu Manli were already much calmer than yesterday as they faced their constantly vibrating optical computers on their wrists.
No wonder those little brats had a special fondness for the art of "showing off." When they said those two words of "pardon our incompetence," they too felt a tingling sensation all the way from their spines to the tops of their skulls!
Adjusting the virtual screens to private mode and placing their hands on the virtual keyboards, the two of them typed much faster!
They had already laid some groundwork yesterday. Today, anyone who can send text messages better not make a video call!
In the live broadcast, the mechas of the Qilin Military Academy team were finally done with their maintenance.
"Turn on the energy shields. Today we are going to look for the academy button.
The map only gives a rough area. I estimate it might take some time to find it."
Huang Yan got into the cockpit and immediately glanced at the energy level; there was still 90% left...
The other military academies should have used up at least one energy block by now. Solar energy is truly an invincible existence in the desert!
Wang Tianwei was born to be a mecha master!
The four of them quickly packed up everything!
Time to work! They were aiming for first place!
Outside, things had become a chaotic mess because Qilin had a cross-level super-grade mecha master! Yet, these few continued to eat and drink along the way, not delaying anything.
They searched like this for a day. By seven in the evening, their score had reached 453 points.
However, they still couldn't find any trace of the academy bonus point button in the area circled on the map.
"This shouldn't be?"
Wang Tianwei and Jian Jingyu turned the simple map over and over to study it. They had practically plowed through this piece of land! Where on earth was the button hidden?
It couldn't be a fake map meant to trick them, could it?
"Could it be marked wrong?"
"Unlikely."
Huang Yan's gaze swept across the surroundings. They had been looking here for a day. If the organizing committee had really made a mistake, someone should have come out to remind them...
It was rare for the soldiers of the Third Military Region to see the members of Qilin's Fourth Squad looking troubled.
"Hahaha, I bet they can't guess where the button is!"
"I heard it was the staff officer's idea this time..."
"As expected of him!"
The four guessed various possibilities until the sun went down. Jian Jingyu finished roasting the meat and handed it to his three companions, while Huang Yan was still looking at the map.
After eating her fill, Wang Tianwei lay on her back on the sand, looking at the stars.
"...It can't be hidden in the sky, right? No wonder we haven't heard anyone getting a 300-point bonus yet."
Zhang Lyra grabbed a handful of black sand, letting it slip through her fingers until only a few relatively large stones remained in her palm. Then she threw the stones aside and grabbed another handful of sand...
Watching her, Huang Yan unconsciously started playing with the sand too. When only a few broken stones were left in his palm, he suddenly figured it out!
"Goldfish, do you remember that we came across a sign on our way here!? It said 'Dangerous Mine, No Entry'!?"
"...I remember, but wasn't that over ten kilometers away? It's really far from here."
Huang Yan raised the stones in his hand and smiled.
"Yes, the mine."
Wang Tianwei suddenly sat up.
"The mine can lead here!?"
"We've already carpet-searched this area several times during the day and found nothing.
By process of elimination, if it's not in the sky, it can only be underground."
"Good heavens... We were just too honest! When we saw 'No Entry,' we really didn't think in that direction..."
Huang Yan looked at the sky.
"So are we going now? Or wait until tomorrow during the day?"
Wang Tianwei thought for a moment.
"Going down a mine doesn't really matter whether it's day or night, but if we encounter extremely narrow places inside, we might not be able to wear our mechas.
In that case, wouldn't it be better at night? The temperature is so high during the day... Would we get roasted alive?"
Little Bear raised his right hand to show agreement.
"We can go in and take a look first. If it really doesn't work, we can come out and go in again tomorrow during the day."
Jian Jingyu also said,
"Let's give it a try first! Otherwise, if the temperature isn't suitable during the day, we'll have to wait until tomorrow night to go in."
Huang Yan stood up and patted his clothes.
"Since everyone feels this way, let's break camp! We'll go over and take a look now."
The soldiers in the rescue aircraft hovering above them couldn't help but marvel.
"Young brains are indeed sharp. They figured it out so quickly?"
"They made the decision quite decisively. I heard Valk's side also guessed it, but they plan to go down to the mining area during the day."
"They probably don't know that the air pumped in during the day is all hot..."
"Hahahaha."
The group turned on their lights and arrived at the mine entrance ten kilometers away.
The huge warning sign stood outside, looking no different from how it did during the day.
Looking at the mine from the outside, even with lights on, they could only see pitch blackness. It felt like there was something ominous...
What they didn't expect was that the mine shaft was quite spacious and had enough height!
Jian Jingyu put on his mecha and still walked at the very front. The remaining three continued to follow in one by one according to their daytime formation.
The distance between each person was stretched quite far, just to ensure that even if a special situation occurred, there would be a buffer distance in between!
As soon as the "Little Bee" drone entered the mine shaft, its camera immediately switched to infrared mode.
"The First Military Academy has also been searching for a day! Is it actually in the mine? I don't think they've figured it out yet! Sigh, I really want to go and tip them off!"
"It's not certain yet..."
"The Third Military Region actually hid the academy bonus point button in the mine? They sure know how to play!"
"The mine is full of twists and turns. Can they find it?"
"That's 300 points! Right now, the two teams from the First Military Academy only have 649 points! If Qilin gets the 300 bonus points, they can overtake them!"
