Even before entering the water today, the Valk team knew just how important the anti-corrosion armor coating they had finally obtained was!
It was evident from the rust-mottled ship beneath their feet; it hadn't been this severely corroded just this morning...
In the previous match on Planet Kashgar, sand would get into the mechas, but the sand just piled up there—it didn't corrode the metal and sensors! They only needed to clean it out regularly.
The current situation was much more complicated than back then, so everyone felt that they should avoid using their mechas if possible.
"The climate on Planet Eshuinor really is no joke..."
Wu Fangyu and Captain Hiranuma Yusho were keeping watch together, the two of them constantly guessing what difficulties they would have to face next.
"...The water temperature is also very low. If we absolutely have to go into the water, we definitely can't stay in the sea for too long! We'll freeze stiff."
Hiranuma Yusho looked at the simple nautical chart in his hand.
"The academy bonus points button this time is on land."
Wu Fangyu let out a long breath.
"That couldn't be better! But Captain, I have some structures and materials I want to test out. I might still need to go into the water a few times during the day tomorrow... It's related to the sealed cockpit I've been researching. Can you keep an eye on me?"
Hiranuma Yusho rolled up the nautical chart.
"Is the energy supply guaranteed?"
This time, Wu Fangyu finally showed a smile.
"I've prepared a hydraulic power energy accumulator in advance. It's absolutely no problem!"
"Alright, I'll go with you tomorrow. Don't leave the range of my spiritual power even underwater."
"Haha, no problem!"
Just as the two were discussing, they suddenly heard a melodious singing voice.
Wu Fangyu paused for a moment, stood up, and looked out the window.
"Am I hallucinating? Why does it sound like someone is singing on the sea?"
"It's a star beast."
Hiranuma Yusho walked briskly to the deck outside the cockpit. The fog was so thick that nothing could be seen, but his spiritual power could sense at least twenty star beasts approaching them.
The singing became clearer and clearer, and Wu Fangyu couldn't help but swallow hard.
"I'll go wake Taylor and Barry..."
"No need."
Hiranuma Yusho took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Wu Fangyu didn't dare to make a sound. He could only pull out his infrared observation goggles, put them on, and point the barrel of his gun at the water's surface.
He felt it too... So many star beasts. What were they doing during the day? Did they have to choose the middle of the night to come!?
Three minutes passed. Hiranuma Yusho opened his eyes again, took a rifle from his spatial button, and calmly opened fire at the bottom of the ship. He didn't even wear observation goggles the whole time, yet he guaranteed a headshot with every single shot.
And those star sharks seemed to have been hypnotized. Even when their companions nearby were shot and killed, they didn't make any movement.
Wu Fangyu and the safety officers just watched as Hiranuma Yusho effortlessly dispatched the star sharks one by one.
"Twenty in total."
Hiranuma Yusho scanned the area again with his spiritual power, ensuring there were no omissions before announcing the number.
He could have directly used his spiritual power to manipulate these star sharks into stopping their breathing underwater, but given the current situation, he wasn't sure if it would be easy for the safety officer teachers to calculate the score that way.
That was why he chose the method of headshots.
Wu Fangyu withdrew his gun and leaned over the side of the ship to look at the corpses of the star sharks floating up after death.
"Ew! So ugly!"
He hadn't been able to see clearly what these things looked like through the infrared goggles just now.
"Captain, has your spiritual power improved again?"
Hiranuma Yusho also put his gun away.
"This semifinal is no time to hide our strength."
He also wanted to bring out his full strength and have a proper contest with the other four teams.
Hearing the captain say this, the first people Wu Fangyu thought of were actually the guys from Qilin!
If they were here, they would definitely be clamoring to learn it... So he smiled and shook his head.
"Alright, no hiding our strength. Let's clash head-on and see!"
"Valk Military Academy First Squad, plus twenty points."
Awakened by the gunfire, Barry and Taylor had just crawled out of their sleeping bags. Hearing the broadcast, they couldn't help but mutter.
"Did we run into star beasts?"
"It seems the captain and the others have already taken care of it."
"...Then should we go back to sleep?"
Seeing Wu Fangyu wave at them through the glass, the two finally relaxed and crawled back into their sleeping bags.
"Twenty points. The captain and Wu Fangyu are pretty good..."
Valk's ship continued in its original direction, leaving the corpses of the star sharks far behind.
Hiranuma Yusho glanced back as he entered the cockpit. In the afternoon, Qilin had gained sixty-eight points. Perhaps these were the ones that slipped through the net?
Star sharks mainly used spiritual power attacks. Huang Yan, he...
Elizabeth on the Santorini ship, meanwhile, felt like she had entered her comfort zone.
"Two, five, nine, eleven."
Liansheng was calibrating the ship in the middle of the night by the light of a lamp.
This ship of theirs had probably been out of use for too long. After sailing for a while, the direction went wrong just as it got dark.
Sailing on the sea meant that a miss is as good as a mile, so he had to come down and manually adjust the rudder blade.
Elizabeth was with him, helping to hold the lamp, and then inexplicably spat out a string of numbers?
It wasn't until the broadcast Santorini First Squad, plus eleven points came that Liansheng realized the captain had already taken out a small wave of star beasts while he was adjusting the rudder blade.
"Captain, at least tell me..."
Elizabeth tilted her head playfully.
"Weren't you busy? Besides, this wave of star beasts wasn't large in number, so it was very easy to deal with."
Liansheng crawled out from the bottom of the ship.
"That may be true, but at least let me know you're fighting! Even if you don't need help, cheering you on would be fine."
Liansheng thought of how the people from Qilin always had someone cheering them on from behind no matter what they did.
But when their captain charged at the very front, the squad members seemed to rarely cheer Elizabeth on...
Occasionally, they would even complain a bit because the captain acted so fast that they didn't get a chance to show off.
But thinking about it now, as the captain, Elizabeth had always wanted to protect them!
Just like today, who knows how many threats the captain had silently neutralized without them even realizing?
Even if they couldn't help... he felt that cheering was still something they could do, right?
The people of the Paige family had always been pioneers; none of them would shrink back when encountering trouble.
Undeniably, Elizabeth was very strong...
But now he could calmly face his teammate's formidable strength, and he was genuinely happy for her from the bottom of his heart!
Hearing these words, Elizabeth stood there holding the lamp, stunned for a moment, and then broke into a smile.
"Alright! Next time you absolutely must cheer for me! Liansheng!"
Liansheng came out awkwardly holding his tools.
"...Yeah."
"You did a great job too. Without you, the three of us definitely wouldn't be able to sail this ship!"
"...Oh."
"You are the best mecha mechanic in Santorini!"
"Alright, Captain, that's a bit much... Let's go back."
"Hahaha!"
