On the morning of the eighth day, the competition-ending broadcast rang out right on time.
"The second Eueunoxing Mecha Race has concluded. All remaining contestants, please board the aircraft to leave the competition grounds."
"Wait! Instructor, hold up for us!"
Wang Tianwei jogged over to the cabin, slowly extracting the condensation crystals she had previously integrated into the ship, one tiny piece at a time.
Jian Jingyu and Zhang Laila were busy gathering the kelp and salted fish they had hung out to dry on the deck. Even Huang Yan didn't forget, at the last moment, to scoop up the fresh seafood they had been keeping in buckets stored in the ship's hold. The sight left the members of First Military Academy, including He Siyu, speechless.
Leola came to the cabin to help.
"Not even the kelp gets left behind. The Qilin team's scrap-pinching attitude always makes me feel like someone's been mistreating you..."
Wang Tianwei shrugged.
"Pinch pennies when you should, splurge when you have to! Shuomoxing has no sea, so we usually don't have time for a vacation. Since we're finally here, shouldn't we bring back some specialties? Anyway, the scanner will catch anything we can't eat later, and we just throw those back."
Leola fell silent beside her. Wait... are you treating coming to Eueunoxing like a beach vacation? In this cold, damp place, with typhoons popping up all the time, and having just survived a tsunami? A vacation? Did the giant tube worms at the bottom of the ocean agree to that?
"Alright, alright, we're pretty much done here. Next up are Wang Kaiyu's and the others' firearm accessories on the deck."
"...I should have known."
The two of them spent quite a bit of effort dismantling everything they could take from the vessel.
Leola watched as the safety inspector filling out the forms wrote down the number "2" under the column for boats.
During the security check, the two mecha instructors stared at the Qilin team's mecha—which had endured three days on Eueunoxing without any protective shielding and had absolutely no signs of corrosion—then looked at the four students before them, who were studiously staring anywhere but into their eyes.
"...Student Wang Tianwei, please hand over your space button again. We need to run it through the security check once more."
"Huh???"
By the time the two teams finally boarded the starship heading back to Tianshuxing, it was nearly noon.
The Valk people had already been waiting for ages.
"Sis Ma, what took you guys so long? Couldn't bear to leave?"
Wu Fangyu slurped instant noodles as he asked. They had already taken their showers and were feeling great! Having scrubbed off all that sticky, clammy feeling — one word: refreshing!
"Noodles!"
Wang Tianwei, who had eaten fish and seaweed for seven straight days, now had her eyes locked on proper carbohydrates like she hadn't eaten in ages!
Amused, Wu Fangyu slid the noodle bowl left and right; her head followed it every time.
The next moment, a large hand took the bowl from him. Jian Jingyu, without any fuss, used the chopsticks Wu Fangyu had already used to shovel the noodles into his mouth.
"Mmm! Delicious! Give me another bowl!"
"..."
Did you two mix up your names when you registered for the competition? Instead of "Little Goldfish," you should be the one called "Another Bowl, Please"!
Sensing more eyes on him, Wu Fangyu swallowed the noodles in his mouth and raised both hands in surrender.
"Alright, alright, don't worry. I brought plenty of flavors."
He got it! Who could come back from such a cold, damp place and not crave a steaming hot bowl of soup noodles?
"Here! They're all here! Captain He and the others, you guys pick some too."
Wu Fangyu held his space button and swept it over the empty table. In an instant, all kinds of instant noodles piled up, absolutely dazzling.
"Noodle Master?!"
Wang Tianwei was thrilled.
"Not bad, Wu Fangyu! You're more prepared every time, huh? Good on you!"
Wu Fangyu smiled proudly.
You bet! Who could stand it when, after every competition, the Qilin team threw a gourmet party on the return starship?!
"And here, tea-leaf eggs I packed from the First Canteen!"
"Give me one, quick! I'm in dire need of this kind of land-based protein!"
Jian Jingyu couldn't hold back at the sound of that. Eggs!
Wang Tianwei picked one cup of Spicy Beef flavor and one of Old Hen Soup flavor from the noodle pile, then dragged Xiao Xiong, who had also finished choosing, off to get a shower first.
"I've got food in my space button too! Give me ten minutes; I'll be out after my shower, and we can have a feast!"
The Valk team was all clean and tidy. Wu Fangyu's clothes even smelled of laundry products, making those who had just arrived look like homeless people!
No way—she was going to get all cleaned up too before coming out, and she was going to spray on the same perfume Valk was wearing!
The two of them hurried off. Hiranuma Yusho noticed the slight upturn of He Siyu's lips from the First Military Academy.
"Isn't this the first time First Military Academy has gotten the 'excellent' result of third place? Anyway, congratulations on moving up."
Wu Pingyao, sporting two dark circles under his eyes, clicked his tongue and also grabbed a cup of Spicy Beef flavor from the pile of instant noodles Wu Fangyu had contributed.
"Hey, the way you talk is kinda shady-ass?"
"???"
Huang Yan stood there, holding the three cups of instant noodles Jian Jingyu had shoved into his arms, utterly confused. "Shady-ass"?
He Siyu swept his gaze over Hiranuma Yusho's face. Show-off.
“Getting the four hundred bonus points from the academy ranking button, only to end up fifty-eight points ahead of us in the final tally, really got you worried, didn’t it?”
“Tsk!”
Taylor lifted his bowl of noodles and sucked in a breath, sidling up to Wu Pingzhuo and lowering his voice,
“Your squad’s got venomous tongues too, aren’t you just copying Huang Yan’s style?”
“???”
What did any of this have to do with him!?
Before Huang Yan could even open his mouth, he was dragged back to the break room by Jian Jingyu, who had finally finished picking out his preferred instant noodle flavor,
“Bath time! Bath time, Huang Sir! After we shower, we’ll eat and drink like kings!”
“Wait, hold on—explain yourselves…”
After the Kirin team had left, the eyes of the two squad leaders from First Military Academy and Valk collided midair, nearly sparking off flames.
Seeing this, their respective members stepped back in unison.
He Siyu was already frustrated enough. They had really pushed themselves hard to try and overtake the lead! Who would have guessed that Valk never let up, either?
Every time they added a few points, the gap was quickly closed by Valk—even in the middle of the night!
The Valk team stalked them like ghosts, never letting go. Fu Xingyuan even piloted a mech to go ask about it, and Hiranuma Yusho casually claimed they had an alliance with Kirin and were afraid the First Military Academy might suddenly turn against them.
As if anyone would believe that!
Valk must have been secretly hoping they would turn against them—then they’d have a legitimate excuse to join forces with Kirin and eliminate First Military Academy outright.
Although they had managed to secure more bonus points from Huang Yan, two days had only made their scoreboard numbers look slightly better. Neither side had pulled ahead…
Hiranuma Yusho, that cunning guy, looked like he couldn’t care less about anything, yet he had been tracking every point so tightly!
But from Valk’s perspective, First Military Academy was just as relentless.
He Siyu must have known he was holding the three-hundred-point academy ranking button, but she never brought it up once. She simply relied on her squad’s brute strength to massacre giant tube worms everywhere…
To avoid falling behind, the Valk team couldn’t even sleep properly at night!
In just two days, they had completely overcome their fear of the alien insects. By the end, even Wu Fangyu dared to prod a giant tube worm with a stick to study it!
Between the storm, the tsunami, and the sudden appearance of the swarm, they were truly awed.
They were terrified of straying too far from Kirin and running into yet another disaster.
Besides, their boat’s radar couldn’t even detect the Kirin vessels… If they lost track of them, they’d be completely stranded.
The members from both sides just watched as their squad leaders squared off in silence, glaring at each other without a word. Then, after a long pause, they both let out—
“Hmph!”
“Hmph!”
