By the sixth day, Santorini's main team still hadn't found the academy's bonus point button, so they simply changed their strategy, taking the alternative route of killing star beasts to earn points.
Perhaps it was just bad luck this round, but as long as their points ranked in the top five, they could advance to the next match.
Currently, Yuying and the First Military Academy's second squad were still behind them; they just needed to maintain the point gap.
To save energy, Elizabeth's team rested during the day and traveled and hunted star beasts at night.
Moreover, the whole team did not overuse their mechas. If they could walk, they walked; if they could fight in close combat, they did. After all, everyone had brought medicine.
Over the past few days, everyone had accumulated quite a few injuries, looking even more miserable than when they were in the rainforest.
The viewers in the live stream felt deeply heartbroken for them.
"It's underground! Think underground, Elizabeth!"
"If you don't wrap your head around that concept, it's really hard to think of looking underground."
"When has our Elizabeth ever been this wretched? Lizzie should always be wearing the most beautiful little dresses in the world!"
"I mean, sure, but wearing a dress during a competition isn't exactly practical, right?"
"She alone can instantly kill ten high-level star beasts with her mental power..."
"Baby Mika is barely holding on."
The half-orc Mika had made many preparations in advance for entering the desert this time, bringing thirty liters of water alone! The tent and sun protection gear she bought were all top-tier, but even so, she found it exceptionally unbearable...
She had never been to such a hot place in her entire life, and she couldn't sleep well at all during the day.
Although the temperature dropped at night, the air remained dry, and the night wind was especially much stronger than during the day.
Even with a protective shield, her nose and respiratory tract were quite unaccustomed to it, and for the past two days, she couldn't stop coughing...
"Cough, cough, cough, cough."
Today's sun seemed to rise a bit later.
Mika checked the time several times. It was clearly time to set up camp and rest, yet the sky was still dark.
The wind, wrapped with fine grains of sand, beat against the protective shield. Elizabeth glanced at her watch and stopped walking.
"It's already this time, why hasn't the sky brightened yet?"
Liansheng and Maxim were already used to this level of intensity.
"Since it hasn't brightened yet, how about we walk a bit further? There are only two days left. Getting to the exit earlier and resting there works too."
"Agreed."
"Mika, how are you doing? Can you still hold on?"
"I can."
"Then let's take advantage of the dark and walk for another half hour. Let me know immediately if you feel unwell."
"Got it."
However, they ultimately didn't last for half an hour, because the sandstorm was growing increasingly fierce.
Halfway through setting up camp, everyone finally realized something was wrong.
"Oh no! It's a sandstorm!!"
"Get into the mechas! Everyone get down on the ground!"
The airborne rescue aircraft also landed, dropping its gravity anchors, while an electronic voice looped inside the cabin.
"Attention all units, a black sandstorm is approaching. Wind speeds are estimated to reach 18.5 to 22 meters per second. Please prepare for rescue operations in advance. I repeat..."
The four members of the Qilin squad were already highly experienced. After noticing the increase in floating dust in the air and the incorrect time of dawn, they had begun packing up their tents in advance.
The four mechas skillfully turned their backs to the sandstorm, huddling tightly side by side, waiting for the sandstorm to pass.
The safety officers and soldiers inside the rescue aircraft nodded in approval, calling it a textbook response.
Compared to their swift and orderly actions, the reactions of the other military academies were slightly inferior.
Even the two squads from the First Military Academy appeared flustered. The tools Leola had left outside were blown away by the strong wind. Just as she was about to retrieve them, Fu Xingyuan yanked her back.
"It's dangerous, don't run around."
Over there, He Siyu had also just boarded her mecha.
"Leola, hurry and crouch down over here!"
When the black sandstorm truly swept in, everyone was shocked by the power of nature!
The world turned pitch black... Because the mechas were heavy enough themselves, and most people had activated their gravity anchors, they were kept from being blown away.
Meanwhile, those formerly arrogant star beasts were swept up by the sand and rolled forward, their wails completely drowned out.
The desert terrain also changed incredibly fast. The high sand dunes from last night turned into a flat slope in the blink of an eye. The tents that some squads hadn't had time to pack away disappeared with the first gust of strong wind.
Wang Tianwei and a few teammates hid in the mecha cockpit, munching on roasted scorpions like sunflower seeds.
"Actually, I specifically checked out the ore-eating bugs. Their shells are too big, and there isn't much meat inside. They definitely wouldn't taste good roasted."
"Maybe deep-fried wouldn't be bad?"
"Well, we didn't bring that much oil! It's all Officer Huang's fault, always making me downsize my spatial button!"
Wang Tianwei was quite indignant.
Huang Yan was already used to his teammate's complaints.
Could he afford not to control it? He had never seen anyone hoard nutrient solutions by the ton, not to mention those cushions, carpets... she even hoarded over twenty sets of work clothes!
The league's inspections were so strict; did she bring any fewer useless things?
No, she didn't, and she even brought candles and banners! He was tired of saying the word outrageous.
Jian Jingyu looked at the flying sand and rolling stones outside, occasionally raising his mecha's arm to fire a couple of shots at the star beasts rolling past.
"Qilin Military Academy Fourth Squad, plus one point."
"Qilin Military Academy Fourth Squad, plus two points."
"..."
"Points blown in by the strong wind, it would be a waste not to take them."
Before long,
"First Military Academy First Squad, plus two points."
"First Military Academy Second Squad, plus one point."
"Valkyrie Military Academy First Squad, plus one point."
"Yuying Military Academy First Squad, plus three points."
Hearing the broadcasts, the other military academies began to follow suit. They were idle anyway, and not taking a few shots would make it seem like they couldn't hit anything...
The safety officer in charge of scorekeeping inside the rescue aircraft was speechless. Plucking a feather from a passing goose, that perfectly described them! Even with a black sandstorm here, you brats can still find a way to score easy points?
The Little Bee drones clung tightly to everyone's mechas, broadcasting this serious, terrifying, yet absurd scene live.
The viewers watching early in the morning clicked their tongues in amazement.
"All the military academies are being Qilin-ized!"
"Hahahaha, the star beasts don't even know what happened! How did they end up flying into the sky? How did they die!?"
"I'm dying of laughter. The Valkyrie side was just feeling anxious, and now they've started scanning for star beasts."
"Elizabeth has found her comfort zone! Just lie on the ground, and star beasts will eventually deliver themselves to her doorstep!"
"Pity the poor scorekeeper teacher..."
This sandstorm blew for a full hour. By the time the wind finally weakened, the various military academies had sporadically added dozens of points.
The floating dust in the air today was destined to be hard to clear. Seeing a hint of light in the sky, the four members of Qilin stood up and shook off the sand covering their mechas.
"With such a massive sandstorm, the areas originally marked as dangerous on the map are probably inaccurate now. Let's just head straight for the exit. Turn on the anti-gravity hover and radar, and watch out for quicksand and star beasts."
"Alright."
