Hearing Wang Tianwei's words through the communication channel, the remaining students on Planet Eshuinuo could not help but shudder, and they all looked down at the ocean surface below.
No way, right? How could the Zerg appear in the middle of the competition!?
The safety instructor, however, had been notified in advance. Although it was not yet the scheduled time to reveal this information, since Wang Tianwei pointed it out, the instructor consulted with the organizing committee and answered straightforwardly,
"Yes, student Wang. These are giant tube worms. They live at the bottom of the sea all year round. They do not parasitize humans, but they do possess a certain level of aggressiveness.
Now, I will announce the hidden rules for all military academies."
Switching the internal channel communication to public broadcast,
"Attention, all military academies. A hidden bonus point rule is now announced: Please do your utmost to kill the Zerg beneath the sea of Planet Eshuinuo—the giant tube worms.
The squad with the most kills will not only receive the corresponding point rewards in this match, but will also gain an extra one hundred points in the upcoming finals.
I will announce it one more time..."
A hidden announcement completely jolted the three squads and the audience in front of the screens awake.
"Whoa! Even the Zerg have shown up!? The danger level of this year's league is way too high, isn't it!?"
"Oh my god, there are hidden rules too? The organizing committee really knows how to play!"
"Giant tube worms, that is okay... At least they are not particularly dangerous Zerg."
"That is still terrifying! As everyone knows, the most frightening things about the Zerg are first, parasitism; second, their special traits; and third, their spiritual power!"
"Elizabeth was eliminated too early, otherwise this would be her home turf!"
"What can you do when you run into Hiranuma Yusho?"
"I disagree! I do not agree with letting the kids face the Zerg directly! Not even the ones at the bottom of the sea!"
"Hey now, this thing actually is not that scary! They can be killed..."
While the bullet comments argued endlessly, the three squads still hovering in the sky above Planet Eshuinuo adapted quite well.
The Zerg, after all. From a young age, they knew the enemies of the Federation—Star Beasts, Star Pirates, and the Zerg!
Star Pirates were humans who always committed acts of burning, killing, and looting. In the past, they loved hijacking cargo ships the most, but nowadays, after the joint extermination campaigns by the major military districts, they had basically been dealt with.
A single Star Beast was not hard to deal with, but a Star Beast tide was rather terrifying. Recently, more and more Star Beasts had developed special abilities or spiritual power... which was also one of the driving forces behind their hard work in studying and training.
The forms of the Zerg were ever-changing. Some looked like bugs, some looked like plants, and some could not even be detected by the naked eye.
Their special abilities were also bizarre and varied. Almost every specific type of Zerg had its own means of attack, but the most terrifying of all was parasitism...
The giant tube worms on Planet Eshuinuo were obviously under military supervision. Since it was stated that they would not parasitize humans, in their eyes, they were no different from Star Beasts with slightly higher spiritual power.
Enemies were meant to be eliminated, not to mention there were points to be earned?
A direct addition of one hundred points in the finals! Who could bear to give that up?
After hearing the rules, Qilin quietly withdrew.
The tsunami had not completely ended. Since this place was no longer safe, it would be better to go somewhere deeper in the ocean.
The deeper the ocean, the smaller the waves. When the time came, they could release their ship, which would save some mecha energy and at least provide a place to land and rest.
The people from Valk thought the same way, but it was unknown how much longer their ship could hold out.
Hiranuma Yusho thought for a moment and decided to continue following behind Qilin. Splitting up now would make them easy targets, and they could not let the First Military Academy exploit any loopholes.
The two teams left unhurriedly. He Siyu frowned as she looked at the mecha display showing only 50 percent energy remaining.
The bottom of their ship had a large hole broken into it. They never had the time or materials to repair it, and now that there was not even a patch of land to dock on, it was even more impossible to fix.
Having just fought a battle with the people from Qilin, they had not had time to replenish their firepower. With the current energy on their mechas, they definitely would not last two days...
"Captain, what should we do next?"
Wu Pingzhuo spoke hesitantly.
Hijacking a ship seemed unrealistic. One against two, no matter how you looked at it, they would definitely be the ones eliminated.
Leola sounded dejected,
"I am sorry, it is all my fault for not repairing the ship in time..."
"There is nothing we could do about the ship breaking in the storm. You cannot exactly fix a ship in the middle of a typhoon, and we have not exactly been idle since then, have we?"
Fu Xingyuan tried hard to think of other countermeasures,
"Why don't we look around while we still have energy? Maybe we can find a piece of land that has not been swallowed up?"
"..."
It seemed that was the only way.
He Siyu also knew that hope was slim. After all, she had just reviewed the nautical chart, and the terrain of this landmass was supposed to be the highest in the vicinity.
But just hovering in place was a waste of energy... No one knew how long the tsunami on Planet Eshuinuo would last.
Or perhaps it would only end for a moment, and making a comeback just as they landed to rest would be the most terrifying scenario.
Just as the four of them adjusted their mindset and were ready to go, Wang Tianwei from the Qilin squad, who had just left, actually flew back piloting her fighter jet,
"Hey friends! Your ship is broken, right? Do you want to hitch a ride? You just need to pay a little boat fare!"
"..."
They forgot that this jerk was still in their communication channel!
Several teachers in the rescue aircraft above could not hold back their laughter. This was classic Qilin! Always putting on a show!
"...How much boat fare do you want?"
"Officer Huang! Quick, it is time to bargain! Oh, He squad, do you want us to open a separate voice channel for you?"
"...Yes."
He Siyu haggled with Huang Yan, and they finally agreed to exchange half of their supplies for the next match in return for the opportunity to board Qilin's ship for the next two days.
Of course, one third of the giant tube worms they killed over these two days would also be credited to Qilin.
After hearing their captain announce the boat fare, the three members of Qilin could not help but discuss in low voices,
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, are we being too ruthless?"
If it were anyone else, Zhang Lyra would definitely want to say yes, but since it was her own teammates,
"No need to pity them, this is what we deserve!
If they do not hitch a ride, they will at best get third place and have to drop out, and then they will have no chance to participate in the finals!"
Jian Jingyu shook his head,
"It is not that I pity them... Hasn't Valk always wanted half of the third place's supplies? Now we have gotten it again.
The button for the three hundred bonus points is still in Hiranuma Yusho's hands, right? I feel like he is going to be sick to his stomach..."
"There is nothing that can be done about it. Who told them not to know how to hack into other people's communication channels?"
"...Are we speaking too loudly?"
"Do not worry, I turned off the communicator."
Huang Yan unilaterally closed the communication with Valk and stuffed the brooch into his pocket.
"Haha, that is good! Otherwise I am afraid Wu Fangyu would have a mental breakdown!"
"...Excuse me, we are still here."
Fu Xingyuan really could not hold back from speaking up.
"Eh? Did I open that channel again? Sigh! There are too many channels, I got them mixed up."
"So you guys figured out how to scheme against us a long time ago, right?"
Leola said, grinding her teeth,
"Uh... so are you going to hitch a ride or not?"
"...Yes!"
