Just as the two commanders had pretty much hammered out the details, Wang Tianwei's side started acting up again...
The rescue aircraft landed amidst the "we have no idea what's going on" expressions of the Valk team. Liu Xin, a soldier from the Third Military District, stepped out of the ship.
"Ma—Student Wang, what are you doing?"
"...I'm not doing anything!"
Jian Jingyu and Zhang Lyra stood firmly in front of their teammate, one looking to the left and the other to the right.
"You two, please step aside."
Having been called out and seeing the other party's persistence, the two reluctantly took a step back.
The soldier held out a hand toward Wang Tianwei behind them.
"Hand it over."
Wang Tianwei hesitated for a long moment before pulling out a tube of nutrient solution and placing it in his hand.
"..."
The soldiers of the Third Military District watching this scene in the live broadcast room couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! She's paying protection money!!"
"Liu Xin's eyes can't even focus anymore! Hahahaha!"
"I knew Little Wang wouldn't let us down."
"Ah, it's just a 'Little Bee'! If you ask me, just give it to the kid if she likes it. It's not like it's anything amazing~"
"Look at you being blindly generous. If everyone secretly kept our flying cameras like her in the future, how much funding would we need?"
"...It's not like everyone is like her. Do you think cross-level super-grade mecha mechanics grow on trees?"
Liu Xin stared blankly at the nutrient solution in his palm for several seconds. "Sigh..."
He handed the nutrient solution back to Wang Tianwei.
"Student Wang, what were you dismantling just now?"
"...I found it."
Liu Xin almost laughed out of anger.
"Where did you find it?"
Wang Tianwei looked incredibly honest at this moment.
"It was stuck to my mecha... I thought it was broken, so I was wondering if I could help fix it..."
The Valk team unconsciously took a few steps closer.
"This kind of excuse? I stopped using that in elementary school!"
"What exactly did she do?"
"I don't know... Let's get a bit closer and listen."
Meeting the girl's clear eyes, Liu Xin even reflected on whether he had spoken too loudly just now. He coughed lightly and softened his tone.
"Student Wang, you should still give it to me. We've brought a new camera to replace it for you."
"...Oh."
Only then did Wang Tianwei open her other hand, revealing the "Little Bee" that had been dismantled into a complete mess.
Liu Xin suddenly remembered the glance she had given the camera in the mine. So this was actually premeditated, right!?
What on earth was he blaming himself for!?
After seeing everything clearly, Huang Yan couldn't help but massage his forehead. He had only taken his eyes off her for a moment...
Jian Jingyu, however, was not happy about this.
"Teacher, our Sister Ma meant well! Well, since it's already dismantled like this, why don't you just let her take a look at it?"
Zhang Lyra also stepped forward and said,
"Teacher, let her look at it. She can put it back together, really! It won't take long, and it'll definitely be as good as new."
...This wasn't a question of whether it was new or not.
"Besides, the competition rules didn't say we couldn't study the cameras... Am I right?"
Faced with the clear and expectant eyes of the three Qilin students, Liu Xin found it a bit hard to resist!
His comrades in the aircraft were smiling so hard their faces hurt, and the bullet comments on the live broadcast screen scrolled line after line:
"Let her see it! Let our kid study it!"
"The kid is just curious, so what if you let her look at it!? As mecha mechanics, who hasn't dismantled a few things when they were young!?"
"Exactly! If she didn't have this kind of curiosity, could she have become a cross-level super-grade mecha mechanic!?"
"Even we didn't say anything when our live broadcast screen went black! Who told you to be so nosy!?"
"Ah! You three babies, stop looking at him! It's just a live broadcast camera, isn't it!? I'll buy it for you!!"
"That's right! I'll buy as many as you want! I just beg for a quota to order a transforming mecha!"
"...The abacus beads of the person above just bounced off my face. By the way, my family sells cameras!"
Liu Xin couldn't make up his mind for a moment. He turned his head and met the ignorant and curious eyes of the three from Valk, which softened his heart even more.
"You guys also think it's okay to let her look at it, right?"
Wu Fangyu tilted her head.
"???"
"Are you sure you can fix it, Student Wang?"
"No problem, Teacher! I've pretty much figured it out, and I can put it back together right away!"
Liu Xin put away the "Little Bee" he had originally brought down for a replacement.
"I believe in your skills... But this is against the rules after all, Student Wang. Don't do this again in the future."
"Understood, Teacher!"
"Thank you, Teacher!"
"Thanks for your hard work, Teacher!"
Jian Jingyu and Zhang Lyra were quite perceptive, bowing and thanking Liu Xin together with Wang Tianwei.
Liu Xin forcefully resisted the urge to pat their heads, gave a few more symbolic warnings, and then returned to the aircraft.
Wang Tianwei immediately sat on the ground. Under the lenses of her two teammates' "Little Bees," she observed the internal structure in detail to see how it could continue broadcasting unaffected in a mine shaft that shielded radar.
The Valk members could only say they were blown away!
Not just because Wang Tianwei did something so outrageous during the competition, but even more so because of their masterful face-changing skills...
Did the safety officers not see Qilin's attitude towards them just now!? They were just short of spitting on them!
In such a short time, they were actually able to put on three harmless, honest faces!?
Utterly terrifying!!
Huang Yan watched the entire process. He didn't know whether he should criticize or praise his teammates for their ever-increasing ability to cause trouble and then smooth things over.
He turned his head and saw Hiranuma Yusho's complex gaze.
"So you... um, leading them... good luck."
"...You too."
After saying that, he walked straight towards his own team members.
"Are you done looking?"
"Done, done! I'm putting it back together right now."
"Yeah, I've finished discussing things on my end too. Sister Ma, once your camera is installed, can you take them down the mine once?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Tianwei stopped her hand movements. Her eyes shifted to the Valk side and then back.
"Take them down the mine once? ...Is it what I think it is?"
Huang Yan forcefully suppressed the corners of his mouth.
"Yes. We exchanged it for their bonus point button. You don't need to leave the mecha; you just need to pilot it. Everything else, like firepower and retrieving the button, will be handled by them."
Jian Jingyu and Little Bear exchanged a glance. The people from Valk... were going to ride in Sister Ma's mecha!?
Warriors!!
Wang Tianwei sped up her assembly movements.
"Hehehehe, no problem! I guarantee to complete the mission!"
Huang Yan also said,
"I saw that you really liked accelerating through the corners just now. Cough, if there's enough energy... just let loose."
"Understood! Energy is not a problem for us! Let me see, they have four people, right? Are they all going down?"
"No, one person will stay up here as a hostage with our academy's bonus point button."
In two shakes of a lamb's tail, she finished assembling the "Little Bee," and Wang Tianwei's personal live broadcast room flickered twice before lighting up again.
The first thing the viewers watching the live broadcast saw was a mouthful of big white teeth.
"Alrighty! As a driver, I'm a professional!"
