Koala was at a loss when the loudspeakers in the arena suddenly blared:
"The top-eight matches are about to officially begin. All contestants, please take your positions as soon as possible."
By then, the contestants who had advanced to the top eight had basically all taken the stage. Koala, still wandering below, stood out conspicuously.
Feeling the strange looks from the staff around her, Koala could only climb onto the stage with a heavy heart and hurriedly ask Sabo and the other three beside her:
"Sabo, what do we do next?"
"Don't panic."
Sabo remained remarkably calm:
"I just discussed it with Mr. Issho:"
"We're planning to deliberately lose in the top-eight matches, then disguise ourselves as injured contestants and enter the infirmary. After that, we'll investigate its secrets further with Mr. Issho."
"Deliberately lose?"
Koala asked worriedly:
"But aren't we not allowed to surrender directly in this match?"
"Yeah! So—"
Sabo said helplessly:
"If we want to fool them, we can only deliberately suffer a few minor injuries."
Then he carefully reminded Koala:
"Be careful during the match later. Don't let yourself get seriously hurt for real."
"Mm."
Koala nodded, but immediately thought of another problem:
"It won't be hard for the four of us to pretend to lose, but what about Mr. Issho?"
Sabo had not yet become the Revolutionary Army's second-in-command, nor had he gained the formidable reputation he would have in the future.
Moreover, the four of them had only "mixed" their way into the top eight by relying on Ivankov's strategic deterrent weapon.
So even if the four of them lost in the top-eight matches, it would not count as much of an upset.
But Issho was different:
The moment he acted in the preliminaries, he had overwhelmed the entire field. His strength far surpassed