He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
Huomu knew that he could never accomplish any of this on his own.
He was able to finally stand here with the help of Qiji- chan, Teacher Tsukimi, and everyone else.
But he's bad with words, he always has been.
He doesn't know how to defend himself when he's falsely accused, and he doesn't know how to retaliate when he's ridiculed.
Throughout his long life, he said "I'm sorry" far too many times.
But I only learned to say "thank you" after I met Qiji.
So at this moment, he just stood there, his whole body steaming with sweat, grinning widely at everyone.
It's as if I'm trying to convey all the "thank yous" that I don't know how to say with a smile.
"Huomu, well done!"
"That last punch was so powerful! You really gave me a fright!"
Those who knew how Huomu had endured all these years could understand his feelings at this moment.
Everyone stepped forward to offer their sincere congratulations.
Bai Lili, in particular, never expected Huomu to have become so powerful.
Doesn't this just make her seem like the only one at the bottom?
Suddenly, Miss Bai felt immense pressure!
You know, she's the next one to appear!
Seeing that Huomu had returned victorious as expected, Qiji pushed his wheelchair forward and extended his right fist at him.
Faced with Qiji's outstretched fist, Huomu quickly wiped his hands on his clothes before solemnly raising his forearm.
Their fists collided, producing a dull, solid thud.
"Huomu, that's awesome!"
Qiji knew that in the original storyline, Huomu's victory over Lanma was far from easy or decisive.
Huomu and Lanma fought fiercely, even breaking down in tears on the stage at one point.
But now, things are different.
Huomu's strength has increased, and his belief has become even stronger!
Without a doubt, Qiji prefers this version of the story.
This made Qiji feel that everything he had done had meaning.
The Liuli has changed, and so has the Huomu.
Everyone has become a better version of themselves.
only...
Thinking of something, Qiji's gaze involuntarily turned to Bai Lili.
Bai Lili is the next contestant to take the stage.
If Qiji's appearance was a positive change for everyone else...
But speaking of Bai Lili...
Qiji suddenly felt a little guilty when he thought about how Bai Lili had been "miserably jilted" because of him a while ago.
However, we can't blame him entirely for this, can we?
It's also strange that the Suyo...
Yes, it's all because of the Suyo!
Fine, you can call off the engagement, but at least do it properly!
Blanch!
The third battle!
As Bai Lili's image appeared on the large screen above the arena, everyone except Qiji turned their attention to the girl.
Bai Lili's face tensed up instantly, her mind filled with thoughts of "what if I lose?"
As the girl walked towards the ring, she even started moving her arms and legs in unison!
Seeing this, Liuli jogged a few steps to catch up and gently comforted him:
"It's alright, I'm here with Setsuna."
In Setsuna, he caught up with her and put his arm around her shoulder.
"Lili, it's okay, don't be stressed!"
Feeling the encouraging looks from everyone, Bai Lili took a deep breath, but stopped thinking about "what would happen if she lost".
Instead, with a fearless, unwavering gait, he strode confidently toward the ring.
Just as she was about to step onto the stage, unexpectedly, the large screen above the arena suddenly went dark, followed by a burst of golden fireworks exploding on the screen.
Golden rain began to fall on the big screen!
Bai Lili's profile picture lit up in the center of the screen, and a line of large text popped up next to it—
[Winner: Bai Lili!]
"... Huh?" Bai Lili, who was walking towards the arena with the air of someone heading to their execution, froze on the spot.
Subconsciously glancing towards the lounge opposite, I only saw streams of spiritual light falling as the three figures vanished simultaneously.
In an Setsuna, he reacted and rushed forward to hug Bai Lili tightly.
"Lili, you're awesome! You won! You won beautifully!"
"???"
Bai Lili was filled with questions.
No, what's so great about her?
What do you mean by "she won, and she won beautifully"?
She didn't do anything...
They didn't even understand what happened!
It was only after Liuli explained things to her that she finally understood the situation.
"They conceded defeat. After losing two games in a row, they knew they couldn't beat us anymore, so they decisively gave up."
The main reason is that they can't afford to lose anymore...
With only three players remaining, if another one is eliminated, they won't even be able to complete a best-of-five series.
Liuli is right; that's exactly what Yongshu and the others are thinking right now.
Yongshu and the others never expected that Bai Shi and Lanma, on whom they had placed so much hope, would both be forced to withdraw from the competition before they could even admit defeat, their spirits collapsing.
This undoubtedly pushed them, who had been in a very good position to qualify, into a desperate situation.
At this point, it's too late to regret choosing the wrong opponent; they can only accept their defeat and cut their losses.
Right now, Yongshu and his friends only have two choices left.
First, they hoped to encounter a team with similarly low numbers later on, and then steal three victories.
The probability of this happening is just too, too small...
The second option is to ignore everything else and just go and wipe out Kalentia's team!
After a moment's deliberation, the three unanimously chose the latter.
Since they have no hope of advancing, why not use their last bit of energy to do something for everyone in the City of Kindling?
This was both an emotional impulse and a rational choice they made.
The entire Tide Grand Competition will be broadcast live. Even if it causes even the slightest trouble for Kalentia, it will at least earn them some goodwill among the City of Kindling's leaders and residents.
After winning their opening match, the five members of the Qiji returned to the locker room.
At this moment, they can choose to teleport back to the square to rest or match for the next game, or they can rest in the lounge and observe the battle situation and rankings of other teams through the screen in the lounge.
Qiji glanced at it—
Currently ranked first is the Sibel team from Kalentia, who have won three consecutive games in a short period of time, taking the top spot and qualifying for the next round.
The second-place team is also from Kalentia, it's Charles's team, and they've already won two games.
Apart from these two teams, all other teams have only one win or zero wins.
Even the elite team led by Suyo, on whom City of Kindling had placed high hopes, had only managed one victory so far.
However, their Suyo match is underway and is nearing its end.
Qiji clicked on the team logo of the Suyo team, and the real-time battle situation was immediately displayed on the big screen.
Just then, Huomu had just finished a battle with Lanma, and the continuous use of [Instant Bloom] plus the final [Mirror Break] had taken a toll on his stamina.
Let's take a break first.
Qiji told Huomu to take a break, and they could use this time to check on the battle situation on Suyo's side.
This was partly because Qiji wanted to check on his younger sister's progress during this period, and partly because Qiji wanted to give Huomu, who had just won a tough battle, time to reflect on his recent insights.
However, after glancing at the battle situation on the screen for a few moments, everyone noticed something was amiss.
It was clear that a team battle was taking place on Suyo's side, but only a handful of people were actually participating.
They are Panyan, who acts as an absolute shield and withstands all attacks, and Cao E and Chi An, who unleash their firepower without any pressure from behind Panyan.
Suyo and Tian Hao, on the other hand, watched from the rest room the whole time and did not join the battle.
Huomu, who was resting on the side, looked on in confusion and asked, "Why are Suyo and the others watching a show?"
After a moment's thought, Liuli gave her answer:
"Student Suyo's primary goal is probably to avoid revealing too many of his cards before facing Kalentia."
If we can watch their matches on a screen, then Kalentia can certainly do the same.
So this is Suyo strategy—to conceal their strength.
Upon hearing this, Huomu suddenly understood, and then, somewhat tempted, said:
"Should we follow suit next?"
Liuli looked at Qiji, but Qiji shook his head.
There's no need to hide your strength.
Because Qiji's current strength is such that he can surpass his limits at any time!
In other words, before removing his mask, Qiji had actually been hiding his true strength.
Of everyone, he's the one who hides the most!
The reason why Suyo did not take action was not only because he was hiding his strength, but also because of Tian Hao's suggestion in their team.
In the first round of auditions, Suyo ranked second on the East Island.
The item card she received was called [Dictatorship], and its ability was to forcibly change any game into a [one-game-decided] mode.
In response, Tian Hao pulled his hood down further and began to analyze the situation in a wise tone:
"Hey, has anyone thought about this?"
Now that we have item cards, shouldn't we also consider the possibility that other teams might use them?
I've heard that there are team item cards that can force a challenge to begin when another team has just finished a match and is in poor condition. We have to be careful!