After the award ceremony ended, the reporters who had been waiting for a long time finally swarmed forward.
"Excuse me, does Qilin have confidence in the next mecha competition?"
"Have you prepared any new secret weapons for this match?"
"Student Wang Tianwei! Student Wang Tianwei! Netizens are asking how they can build the most innovative mechas just like you!"
Protected in the middle by her teammates, Wang Tianwei unexpectedly made eye contact with a drone hovering in mid-air...
"You have to be hungry enough!"
"...?"
What did being hungry enough mean? Building a mecha without drinking nutrient solutions?
While the reporters were still wondering if they had misheard, the Fourth Squad of Qilin had already grabbed their freshly minted "Second-Class Merit recipient" and run off.
"Mom, Dad, we're heading back first!"
Wang Tianwei and Wang Kaiyu did not forget to report to their parents on their optical computers. Their parents were standing on the other side, and if the siblings went over there, they wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon...
Wang Yi and Cheng Yin both expressed their understanding.
The second mecha competition would start at a moment's notice. The children had limited time and were definitely in a rush to go back and prepare.
"Got it, be careful in the next match!"
Huang Yan sent all the environmental data he had found about Planet Eshuinuo to his teammates at once.
"Drastic temperature differences," "high humidity and high salinity in the air," "frequent typhoons and tsunamis," "perennial dense fog," "extremely low underwater temperatures"...
Seeing these keywords, Wang Tianwei felt her vision go dark; these were all a mecha master's worst nightmares!
"No wonder the accessories this time are all uncommon! My goodness, run faster, we have so much to prepare!"
"Since it's on the water... there should be ships, right?"
Zhang Lyra said uncertainly.
They couldn't just be thrown directly into the sea to fend for themselves, could they?
"There should be, but we can't rule out the possibility that the organizing committee might be completely inhumane..."
Huang Yan also felt a headache coming on; none of them were familiar with marine environments.
They had been to the seaside for vacations before, but it was obviously not on the same level as Planet Eshuinuo...
However, looking around, the people from the other military academies didn't look relaxed either, which put his mind at ease.
The first thing Wang Tianwei did upon returning to the mecha room was to use a pen to list all the key points she could think of on paper.
1. Waterproofing and drainage modifications for the mechas.
2. Anti-corrosion modifications. Required materials: carbon fiber...
3. Communication connections, underwater communication connections.
4. Positioning: gyrocompass, inertial navigation, radar, underwater acoustic positioning...
After listing them, she handed the checklist to her three teammates to review.
Jian Jingyu chewed on the cap of his pen and added at the end,
"Personal warmth measures, cold weapons, diving suits, and oxygen tank preparation."
Zhang Lyra thought for a moment and added,
"Seasickness pills, gastrointestinal medicine, sunscreen, fresh water."
Huang Yan supplemented with "Backup energy sources, vehicle modifications..."
By the time the checklist had made its way around to everyone, Wang Tianwei had also brought out the processing table and various tools and accessories.
"You guys go buy the other things first. Goldfish, stay behind and help me modify the mechas."
"Alright."
The five squads were busy bustling about, and almost no one closed their eyes all night. The difference between this match and the last one was simply too great! Many things needed to be prepared from scratch, and besides, anyone with a bit of common sense would not underestimate the ocean.
Wang Tianwei made major modifications to the four mechas. Their mechas were originally designed mostly for sand and dust resistance, but now they needed further waterproofing.
Conveniently, this allowed them to test some materials based on their recent research ideas regarding airtightness.
When they boarded the starship at 6:00 PM the next day, almost all the students sported heavy dark circles under their eyes. The mecha masters of every team looked completely burned out.
But even so, they all insisted on eating the dinner they had packed from the First Canteen on the starship before returning to their bunks to sleep.
They were all veterans... For the next seven days, they might just have to survive on the memory of this meal!
If the organizing committee hadn't chosen such a tricky location, forcing them to stay up all night modifying their mechas, they might have even had time for a group dinner beforehand!
When the safety officer teachers patrolled in the middle of the night and saw the squad members sleeping soundly, they couldn't help but smile. These proud, favored children of heaven were becoming more and more down-to-earth.
At 7:00 AM the following morning, the live broadcast of the Fifth Military Academy League finally restarted after a hiatus of over a month.
Broadcasting simultaneously was the camp observation room on Planet Tianshu.
The leading teachers of the top five military academies were all here. Shen Jie, the chairman of the organizing committee, and Meng Chongyun, the Chief of the Military Department, were also in the observation room today as special guests.
After the host's introduction, the bullet screen comments began to flood in:
"Who do I see!? Salutes to the Chief!"
"Salutes to Chief Meng Chongyun!"
"Is there commentary today? The league is getting better!"
"They must have stayed on Planet Kashile for a month, right? Ever since Goldfish's birthday broadcast, we haven't seen them for so long!"
"Sister Zebra's teacher looks really tough!"
"Former Commander of the First Military District, Chao Hao, why did you go to the Ninth Military District to be a teacher!?"
"...He is now Qilin's Yama Chao, the kind who specializes in leading troublemaking students."
"Hahahaha! The Fourth Squad's reputation is ruined. Does the person above dare to state their name?"
"The top three are about to be decided; the organizing committee couldn't hold back anymore, could they?"
"How did you guys know that our school's student Wang Tianwei got a Second-Class Merit from the military before even graduating? [Emoticon]"
"The last match was truly thrilling... I hope they can finish this match safely!"
"Where is our Second-Class Merit Sister Zebra? Hurry up and let me see the mecha, I want to see the new mecha!"
The military district leaders and the teachers from various schools all stared intently at the live broadcast screen.
The students wore blindfolds. After getting off the aircraft, the first thing their noses caught was the salty, fishy sea breeze.
Under their feet, there was no solid feeling of stepping on land like before; instead, it was bobbing up and down, as if undulating with the water waves.
Fortunately, the organizing committee still had a bit of humanity. They didn't throw the students directly into the sea but assigned a small boat to each team.
This time, they also received a blurry nautical chart, which marked the approximate locations of the academy bonus point buttons.
And the rules this time were different from the last:
First place gets five hundred points, second place gets four hundred points, and third place gets three hundred points.
There was a one-hundred-point gap between each rank, which increased the possibility of jumping ranks and making comebacks.
However, the most pressing matter right now was how to get this small boat carrying them to move in the designated direction.
"Sister Zebra! Come quickly to the cockpit!"
Jian Jingyu was dumbfounded. From what era was this antique ship? He had never even seen the dashboard in front of him!
The display on it wasn't even digital. It seemed like mental power resonance could be used, but why wasn't the ship moving after he had input his energy several times?
Wang Tianwei went in, took a look around, and understood. This ship must have been retired by the military.
The technology it used was still semi-automatic; it needed to be manually unlocked first before it could be piloted with mental power.
And compared to a mecha, the dashboard on it was as old as it could get...
Of course, compared to when she was on Earth, it was still very advanced, and the sails didn't need to be operated manually.
When Wang Tianwei first started researching transforming mechas, she had thoroughly restudied old-fashioned manual and semi-automatic technologies. Simply figuring out the driving mode of a ship was still very easy for her.
"First, use the key to open this, and then channel your mental energy into it from there..."
Zhang Lyra stared in disbelief at the object she had pulled out.
"Is this a key? What an ancient thing!"
"..."
