As time ticked by, Hiranuma Yusho ultimately agreed to Huang Yan's plan, but he also added a new proposal.
Since the 400-point button had to be "purchased" with supplies, they couldn't let the next team get the 300-point button for free either.
The two black-hearted captains hit it off immediately, leaving the remaining six team members in absolute awe of them.
Especially Taylor and Barry; just a moment ago, they were looking at this from the perspective of the "robbed," and in the blink of an eye, it turned into others having to "pay tribute" to them?
This feeling... you have to admit, it was pretty great! No wonder Qilin loved playing this game!
Wang Tianwei immediately took out pen and paper to draft a contract.
Words are empty without proof. With it written in black and white, they couldn't back out later and claim it was just "tactics"!
Since the two teams had reached an agreement, Wu Fangyu simply came over to Wang Tianwei's side to watch her write the contract.
"Sister Ma, were Wang Kaiyu and his team really eliminated by you guys? ...And you even snagged a whole bag of mutated cuttlefish from them?"
Pointing out a mistake she made on the paper, she added, "You've got a typo here. It should be written like this, not like that."
Wang Tianwei readily corrected the typo.
"The cuttlefish were right there, it'd be a waste not to take them! Of course, if they didn't taste good, I definitely wouldn't have bothered. Did you know Wang Kaiyu actually raised his hand against me? He actually had the heart to attack his one and only sister. Don't you think he needed to be taught a lesson..."
Listening to their exchange, the other team members of Valkyrie had their worldviews shattered once again.
Just making them sign an agreement really didn't seem like a big deal anymore... After all, she had personally eliminated her own blood-related brother!
Under the continuous live broadcast of the "Little Bee" drone, both sides returned to the cave where the academy's point buttons were stored and signed the "Point Addition Agreement" handwritten by Wang Tianwei, which even had two ink blots where she had crossed out typos.
"Valkyrie actually signed this unequal treaty!"
"Qilin really knows how to play the game..."
"I have to ask, does this thing really have any legal binding power?"
"What? When it comes to tactics, did Hiranuma Yusho actually lose out to Huang Yan?"
"...You call this tactics?"
"Is there really no one in this world who can put Qilin in their place?"
"Taking a point device they got for free, Qilin actually managed to sell it for a price? Is this the kind of education rich people receive? I have been enlightened!"
"I suggest a strict investigation into those guys!"
Meanwhile, in the First Military District, Wang's uncle, Wang Xuancheng, was being teased by his superior.
"Wang Tianwei has such a bandit-like aura... Xuancheng, is everything okay with your family?"
"...Commander."
"Hahahaha, I'm just joking. Your brother raised a good daughter."
After Shan Yuantao finished speaking, he left the conference room. Wang Xuancheng stared at the young girl in the live broadcast for a long time without looking away.
Under the camera, Hiranuma Yusho flamboyantly signed his name at the bottom of the paper.
The members of both teams shook hands "amicably," and Valkyrie finally obtained the 400-point academy button.
"I suggest you wait until 'number three' is confirmed before pressing it."
Huang Yan proposed his idea, and Hiranuma Yusho exchanged a glance with him. Both knew exactly what the other was thinking: don't alert the enemy.
It wasn't until lightning tore through the sky that the students realized the sky outside the cave had gone completely dark, with thick, heavy clouds looming ominously close.
Looking at the distant sea from where they stood, it was no longer the clear, azure blue it had been when they arrived. Instead, it had turned a murky grayish-black, and the wind and waves were much stronger than yesterday.
The lightning was closely followed by the rumbling of thunder, and the trees on land were all bending in one direction under the howling gales.
"A storm is coming."
The eight students from Qilin and Valkyrie secretly rejoiced that they had landed relatively early. Now, not only had they secured the point button, but they also had a leeward cave to shelter them from the wind and rain.
They just weren't sure if Santorini or the First Military Academy would have such good luck.
Hearing the thunder, Santorini's half-beastman Mika had all the fur on her body stand on end. Her expression grew even more vigilant, and her eyes gleamed brightly in the dark.
Lian Sheng turned around several times and was startled by her state each time.
"Mika... you don't have to be so serious, right?"
"Shh! Didn't you hear Elizabeth say that we're currently caught between a wolf and a tiger?"
Assaulter Maxim was in a pretty good state of mind, still having the mood to joke with his teammates.
"We have a leopard, why would we be afraid of their wolves and tigers?"
Hearing this, Mika couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"What if the wolf is Qilin?"
"..."
As they spoke, bean-sized raindrops began to fall.
The group hadn't found a place to hide, so they could only temporarily put on their raincoats and continue searching in the strong wind.
The rain grew heavier and heavier, as if someone were pouring water down from the sky!
In such extreme weather, the protection provided by a raincoat was very limited. After the strong wind blew off their hoods, freezing rain poured into their clothes...
"Can't we get into our mechas?"
Maxim hugged a tree as thick as his waist to prevent himself from being blown away, but seeing the continuous lightning in the sky, he was terrified of being struck... Life was just too hard!
Lian Sheng took a moment to wipe his face.
"Mechas are made of metal! They're even more likely to get struck!"
Elizabeth avoided the trees that looked dangerously battered by the wind, her mental energy continuously spreading out.
She wanted to find a cave or a grotto. Logically speaking, a high-salt environment like Planet Eshnuo should have plenty of rock caves.
"...Found one!"
Mika locked her arm around their captain's arm. With Elizabeth's weight, she would be blown away if the wind got any stronger!
"Everyone follow me, watch your step and look out for wind-broken trees!"
"Yes!"
Not long after the First Squad entered the woods, the storm arrived.
He Siyu didn't choose to continue searching up the mountain. Instead, she found a relatively open area, deployed their boat, and had the squad board it to take shelter.
Even if there were other squads nearby, they wouldn't brave the heavy rain to come and cause trouble for them.
As for Elizabeth's squad, there were safety instructors watching over them. If they really couldn't hold on, they could always withdraw.
Of course, if that actually happened, the First Military Academy would be able to painlessly enter the top three, and then they'd just have to wait for the rain to stop before looking for the point buttons.
Leola silently watched the raging storm outside, an unresolvable worry lingering between her brows.
Wu Pingzhuo didn't understand why.
"Worried that our target is too big and someone will launch a sneak attack? No way! With a storm this big, anyone would have to think twice."
Leola shook her head.
"No. Our mechas have protective shields, but the boat doesn't.
I just checked, and the corrosion on the bottom of the boat is worse than I thought... I'm afraid this storm will damage the hull even more, and without materials, it won't be easy to patch up."
"Hey, then let's just stay on land! There are only three days left anyway."
Leola pursed her lips.
"Yeah, that's true... I'm just used to making backup plans."
