Dai Mubai and the others listened with pale faces as the image of defeat washed over them again and again, humiliation and unwillingness burning through their nerves.
Starting the next day, Yu Xiaogang completely overturned his original cautious plan of "hiding their strength and training the substitutes."
Reality had not given him the luxury of arranging things at his leisure.
In the Heaven Dou Empire division, academies stood everywhere and powerful teams surrounded them. There were only five qualifying spots.
Shrek could not afford to lose any match that might cost them points.
Hide their strength? They had to make sure they could stay at the table first!
Thus, over the next several matches, the core members of the Shrek Seven Monsters appeared on Shrek Academy's roster far more often.
Tang San, Dai Mubai, and Zhu Zhuqing played in almost every match. Lin An, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, and Cinderella rotated according to the opponent's characteristics. Tai Long and the other four true substitutes were only given precious chances to play against clearly weaker academies, accumulating tournament experience.
Their tactics also returned to the most basic form of direct assault.
Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun relied on their explosive power to open the way from the front, while Tang San's Blue Silver Grass controlled the field and provided support. Zhu Zhuqing and Lin An waited for opportunities to strike, while Oscar's Sausages and Cinderella's support sustained the team.
Simple, but effective.
With the Shrek Seven Monsters' solid foundations and combat power, they won several matches in a row, and their ranking on the points table began to climb with difficulty.
The taste of victory dispelled some of the gloom from their opening defeat, but the atmosphere within the team remained grave.
Everyone could feel that the brows of Yu Xiaogang and