Huang Yan slept for a full day and night. By the time he was jolted awake by the vibration of his optical brain, it was already the afternoon of the second day.
"It appears someone is invading your residence!!!"
"?"
Who would invade this apartment?
"Bang, bang, bang!"
"Please ring the doorbell! If invasive behavior is detected, electroshock mode will be activated immediately!"
The apartment's front door was being banged on loudly, and the electronic lock at the entrance sounded an alarm!
The banging finally stopped, followed immediately by the continuous "Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" of the doorbell...
Huang Yan rubbed his eyes and got up, tapping open the surveillance feed on his optical brain.
Three familiar faces were squeezed together outside. The short one in the lead was facing right at the camera.
"Sir Huang, Sir Huang! Hurry up and open the door! Stop sleeping!"
"...Butler, open the door."
"Yes, sir!"
The door opened abruptly, and the three people outside surged in.
Wang Tianwei's eyes lit up when she saw Huang Yan in his pajamas.
"I told you he was home! Get him!"
Jian Jingyu immediately lunged forward and hugged his left leg, while Wang Tianwei took the opportunity to hug his right leg!
Zhang Lyra struggled internally for a moment, but ultimately followed the original plan, hiding in the back and starting to fake cry.
"Boo-hoo~"
"Sir Huang!! Daddy Huang!! Save us!!"
Jian Jingyu wailed at the top of his lungs like he was mourning the dead.
Huang Yan's ears ached from the noise. He looked down to see Wang Tianwei with tears in her eyes.
"Father Huang! Save your children! We're out of options!!"
"..."
"Your kids are being bullied! Boo-hoo! We've been through life and death together! You can't just leave us to die, Sir Huang!"
"...Let go."
"We won't! If you don't agree, we won't let go!"
Behind Wang Tianwei, Zhang Lyra tugged at the corner of her clothes, so shocked by her shamelessness that she forgot to keep crying.
The next second, Wang Tianwei turned her face and whispered to her,
"Don't stop, you put in some effort too! Now is not the time to care about our dignity! He's about to agree!"
"Waaaaaah!~"
The veins on Huang Yan's forehead throbbed. He could hear them perfectly well!!
That brute Jian Jingyu was even continuously yanking down his pants!
Desperately protecting his waistline with both hands, he yelled,
"Just tell me what it is! Tell me!!!"
"Do you agree or not!!?"
"Let go of me!!!"
.........
Ten minutes later, the four of them sat in a circle on the mats in the fitness area of Huang Yan's home.
Wang Tianwei shifted her butt, still feeling the hard surface.
"Sir Huang, how come you don't even have a sofa in your house? My butt is going numb from sitting..."
Huang Yan glared at her.
"Shut up."
"..."
Wang Tianwei turned her head and curled her lips at Jian Jingyu, who also had a red mark on his forehead.
"This guy isn't just ruthless with his hands, his heart is ruthless too! I told you he was the right person to look for!"
Jian Jingyu nodded with lingering fear, but looking at Huang Yan's dark expression, he didn't dare to chime in.
...These two were still misbehaving even after he gave them each a hard rap on the head. In comparison, Zhang Lyra, whose face was flushed red, seemed much more reliable.
"So, the three of you have been participating in the Bounty Mecha Tournament lately?"
No wonder they had become so much closer.
Zhang Lyra quickly nodded.
"And you got played dirty twice?"
"..."
Wang Tianwei was filled with righteous indignation.
"They were ridiculous enough in the first match! But in this one, they deliberately attacked the energy shields to interrupt Jian Jingyu and Lyra's combo! It was too cunning!"
Huang Yan shot her a sharp glare.
"And that's the reason you brought them to find me!?"
Wang Tianwei could only play dumb, looking up at the ceiling one moment and picking at the floor mat the next.
They clearly came together as a trio, so how could he tell it was her idea!? This guy was smart indeed!
Huang Yan felt that looking at her for even one more second was an insult to his intelligence!
No wonder she usually liked to put on an expressionless face; when she did have an expression, her thoughts were practically written all over her face!
After waiting a while without Huang Yan saying anything, Wang Tianwei cautiously said,
"No, it's because the opponents suddenly added a commander, and we don't have one..."
Huang Yan sneered.
"It's because the opponents have brains, and you guys don't, right?"
"..."
"Don't be so quick to scold us. As comrades who have braved life and death together! Can you just stand by and watch when your brothers-in-arms are bullied!? Are you that kind of person?"
Wang Tianwei tried to goad him.
Huang Yan shifted his posture.
"First of all, practicing in the simulation cabin does not count as braving life and death together."
"The way he talks could definitely piss the opponents to death... Ah!"
Huang Yan retracted the hand he had just used to rap Jian Jingyu on the head. Wang Tianwei immediately sat up straight, pretending she wasn't the one listening to the whispering just now.
"Secondly, you didn't even tell me you were entering the tournament, and now you're calling me to save the day?"
Zhang Lyra and Jian Jingyu couldn't help but feel guilty, and Wang Tianwei immediately understood the underlying meaning.
"Weren't we just testing the waters first!? It would be pretty embarrassing to get knocked out in the preliminaries...
Now that we've tested the waters, we can sincerely invite Sir Huang to join! Our team is just missing a mastermind like you!"
"What's in it for me to participate in the Bounty Mecha Tournament?"
Huang Yan crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow, looking every bit the calculating businessman.
Zhang Lyra softly probed,
"...There's bounty money to be made?"
Huang Yan turned his head to look at her, saying nothing.
Remembering this person's background, Zhang Lyra slowly lowered her head.
"I spoke out of turn."
Jian Jingyu raised a fist and said passionately,
"You can gain practical combat experience!? Become stronger?"
Thinking of his daily physical training, Huang Yan didn't deny it.
"Continue."
Seeing this, Wang Tianwei quickly stood up.
"You can fight side by side with the future strongest trio of Qilin!!! This is the best way to cultivate the bonds between us comrades! Sir Huang!"
"If you keep acting so melodramatic, I'll throw you out."
"Oh..."
"I can barely accept those two claiming to be the strongest first-years in Qilin, but where do you get your confidence?"
"That's because you don't understand our team's style yet... I might only be B-rank now, but I believe I'll reach A-rank and S-rank very soon!"
Huang Yan stared at her for a long time without speaking, but Wang Tianwei didn't feel guilty in the slightest.
"Sigh... show me the match videos first."
Three people couldn't even put together two functioning brains... Tactics were indeed too much to ask of them.
"He agreed, he agreed!! Quick, pull him into the group chat!"
Jian Jingyu muttered, while Wang Tianwei had already swiftly pulled Huang Yan into the group chat.
"Qilin's Greatest Threats (3)" changed to "Qilin's Greatest Threats (4)".
"Welcome, Sir Huang!"
"Throwing flowers!!"
"Throwing flowers!! [Dancing]"
"The strongest team has finally welcomed its backbone!!!"
Huang Yan didn't even have time to care about what the three below were saying; just looking at that group name, he couldn't tear his eyes away...
The next second, his optical brain vibrated. Where did this message from "Zero Realm" come from?
"'Bear Clan Never Yields' of 'Qilin's Greatest Threats' has transferred the team captaincy to you."
He looked up and met the somewhat awkward smile on Zhang Lyra's honest face. Immediately after, he saw her breathe a sigh of relief and lower her head to type on her optical brain,
"Welcoming the captain to his rightful place!!! [Kneeling in worship]"
"...That's enough from you guys."
