"Hurry up, where are you guys?" Huang Yan urged repeatedly.
The people from the First Military Academy seemed to have been pissed off by them... If Hiranuma Yusho didn't get here soon, things would get dangerous on his end!
"Almost there."
Imitating how Wang Tianwei had acted a couple of days ago, Taylor held the still-unconscious Wu Fangyu in the palm of his hand. While rushing on their way, he had to carefully control his grip strength, terrified of accidentally crushing his teammate to death...
On the way, Hiranuma Yusho noticed flocks of seabirds and bats flying towards the mountains, and the distant seawater was churning and bubbling.
This scene... seemed a bit off somehow?
But Huang Yan was rushing him urgently, so he didn't have time to overthink it, pushing his mecha's speed to the absolute max.
Wang Tianwei was nearly exhausted. Such prolonged, high-intensity combat drained not only her physical stamina but her mental energy as well!
After she had uttered that line about "mutual learning brings progress," He Siyu, protected by Fu Xingyuan, hadn't shown a single opening. Instead, her mental energy was firmly locked onto Wang Tianwei, practically targeting her exclusively for the kill!
Her footsteps grew heavier and heavier, and she nearly tripped over obstacles on the ground several times. Seriously!? Picking on the softest target, huh!?
"Smack!"
Her vision went dark, and unable to hold on any longer, she collapsed to the ground.
"Huff, huff, I'll give it to you for knowing how to pick a soft target..."
He Siyu, who was just planning to have the assaulter completely eliminate Wang Tianwei, fell silent for a moment upon hearing this.
A soft target? Who? You?
I am an S-rank commander attacking you with all my might, and it took this long for you to fall. Even with Huang Yan's mental barrier, you yourself are absurdly tough, okay!?
When Valk arrived, the first thing everyone felt was a tremor coming from the ground!
As soon as Barry arrived, he scooped up Wang Tianwei, who was playing dead on the ground.
"Yo, sleeping on the ground is prohibited here!"
The four from the First Military Academy finally didn't dare to act rashly. Seeing that the two military academies were clearly collaborating, He Siyu realized they couldn't just force their way through anymore, otherwise it would be a two-on-one situation...
Wang Tianwei stood up, holding her head.
"Hiranuma... I know your illusions are awesome, but could you at least distinguish friend from foe? Hurry up and dispel it!"
The shaking was making her dizzy.
Hiranuma Yusho said in a deep voice,
"I haven't used my mental energy yet."
"...?"
Upon hearing this, everyone unanimously looked at the continuously trembling ground and trees nearby. Wu Pingzhuo finally realized,
"It's not an illusion... it's an earthquake!?"
Zhang Lyra's fur stood on end; her bear-tribe instincts made her feel extremely threatened.
"It's not a normal earthquake!"
Hearing this, Huang Yan immediately piloted his mecha to transform and fly up to observe.
Hiranuma Yusho finally understood why things had felt so off just now!
"On our way here, all the animals were running towards the top of the mountain."
Following Huang Yan into the air, he indeed saw the seawater receding massively.
Now there were no sounds of fighting around them, only a rumbling noise coming from the ocean, very similar to the thunder from the heavy rainstorms a couple of days ago.
"It's a tsunami."
"Ah, so it's a tsunami."
Taylor breathed a sigh of relief, but a moment later felt something was wrong.
"Holy crap! How can you say 'tsunami' so calmly!?"
Zhang Lyra's biological alarms were practically blaring at maximum volume.
"Quick, run up the mountain!!"
After the earthquake, all the mutated flora and fauna became even more restless.
The three squads no longer cared about fighting for points. They piloted their mechas and fled madly toward the mountaintop, taking out many mutated beasts that blocked their path along the way.
Wang Tianwei flew up in her fighter jet. From her vantage point, she could clearly see a white, foamy wall of water rising from the sea, before crashing brutally against the shore! In an instant, it flooded a massive stretch of the mudflats and the lower foothills.
The immense impact caused the entire mountain to tremble. It took a while before they saw the murky black water retreating, dragging along uprooted trees, rocks, and even star beasts. Meanwhile, in the distance, a second wave was already building up momentum...
Wu Fangyu had woken up by this point. Having been carried by the mecha's hand for quite a while, it took him a long moment to realize what was going on.
"Uh... what's the situation?"
Hearing his teammates discussing over the public channel that the seawater had just submerged the cave where they had rested for two days, a wave of delayed fear washed over him.
"Taylor! You're my lifesaver! Once we get out of here, I'll pledge my life to you!"
Thank goodness his teammate hadn't left him there alone, otherwise he would have been washed away to who-knows-where by now!
Taylor set him down in amusement.
"Repaying kindness with enmity? Don't worry, where we are is where you are. Hurry up and get in your mecha!"
"This is my first time seeing a tsunami with my own eyes."
Leola murmured, and Wang Tianwei also felt a lingering dread.
"Me too..."
To think she had just assumed it was an illusion created by Hiranuma Yusho. This was way more terrifying than a simple earthquake...
Even in a Federation with such advanced technology, the power of nature still inspired awe and fear.
"Once the water recedes, will this place still be habitable?"
"You should first worry about whether it'll flood all the way to the top of the mountain..."
"No way? It could flood all the way up here!?"
The three teams no longer had the tense, hostile atmosphere from earlier. They all began discussing what they should do after the tsunami.
The commanders all looked grim. Were they really safe just by reaching the mountaintop?
Why was the second wave higher than the first? No one knew how many more waves of this tsunami were yet to come.
If this mountain was submerged, there didn't seem to be any higher ground nearby. When that time came...
The third wave of the tsunami struck, and the seawater had already swallowed three-quarters of the small mountain.
Seeing the fourth wave gathering strength in the distance, no one was in the mood to talk anymore. Their estimates had been too conservative... The tsunamis on Planet Eshuinuo were going to devour everything!!
The dozen or so contestants unanimously checked their mechas' energy reserves, calculating how long they could hold out if they took to the sky.
Elizabeth, who had just been eliminated, couldn't help but be surprised seeing this scene from the aircraft.
"Everything was fine just a moment ago. How did a tsunami suddenly happen!?"
Mika also widened her eyes as she watched the live broadcast feed.
"So that means... we dodged a bullet?"
"What? What tsunami?"
Lian Sheng hadn't been able to hold on right after being eliminated. Now he was huddled pitifully in a corner of the aircraft, just waiting to get on the starship back to Planet Tianshu so he could lie in a healing pod for a while.
Maxim was looking after him on the side.
"A tsunami... That mountain doesn't look very high either. Will they be alright?"
"Don't worry, if worse comes to worst, we're still here."
The safety officer teacher brought over a few cups of hot water and nutrient fluids for them.
"Tsunamis are a normal occurrence on Planet Eshuinuo, which is why this place is uninhabited. Every one of our aircraft is fully stocked with energy, so we won't let anything happen to them."
Elizabeth finally felt a bit relieved and took a packet of nutrient fluid.
"Thank you, teacher."
"You're welcome. I saw that all your nutrient fluids were taken by Valk? Hahaha, quickly replenish your strength!"
Speaking of this, Elizabeth was reminded of how she had been tricked by Hiranuma Yusho's mental energy.
If they could go take a bath in the sea, that actually wouldn't seem like a bad idea...
