Chapter 152: Tesla: This Is a Blatant Rigged Match!
"Lord Theresa, I truly didn't expect to meet you here." Ana ran quickly toward Theresa, holding her weapon.
Hearing someone recognize her, Theresa spun around, frantically hiding the tanghulu in her hand behind her back. Her face flushed slightly as she looked at the chestnut-haired girl running toward her.
"You are... the little girl from the Schariac Family."
Theresa stared at the girl for a moment before confirming her identity. "I remember you were snatched away from Schicksal by Lierre. Since you're here, is that fellow Lierre nearby as well?"
As she spoke, Theresa tilted her head to look behind Ana, but unfortunately, she found no trace of Lierre.
"Snatched... You've misunderstood Lady Lierre. I'm not at liberty to disclose the specific inside details, but I followed her of my own free will. I hope you can understand."
"This... even defaulting on your withdrawal from Schicksal was voluntary?"
"Of course!" Ana responded solemnly.
This was merely a part of Lady Lierre's plan!
Such a small sacrifice was nothing!
Theresa was momentarily speechless.
This poor child; she looks like she's been sold off and is still helping the buyer count the money.
She was far too upright, and she possessed an almost excessive level of adoration and trust toward Lierre.
Seeing that Theresa didn't reply, Ana took the initiative to speak: "To answer your previous question, the reason I've appeared here is the same as yours—I'm a participant in this competition. If you wish to find Lady Lierre, you'll have to reach the main arena to see her."
"The main arena..." Theresa nodded silently. Then, remembering something, she inquired, "Ana, as someone who has been following Lierre, how much do you know about the inside story of this competition?"
Ana thought back carefully and shook her head. "Before coming here with Lierre, I had no knowledge of this competition. The same goes for Mobius, who traveled with us."
"Eh? Aren't you missing someone? Where is that cat-eared girl called Pardofelis?"
"She went to execute a mission assigned by Lierre. As for what specific mission it is, I'm not sure either."
Lierre really isn't willing to let even a shred of intelligence leak out.
Theresa lamented regretfully in her heart.
"Now I can only find a way to win, and then ask Lierre in person about her reasons for hosting this competition."
A competition with a planet as the first-place reward was simply unheard of.
The second-place reward was also quite heaven-defying; conversely, the third-place reward of a Divine Key suddenly seemed normal.
Even the most "normal" Divine Key was a weapon that Schicksal considered a rare treasure that could be encountered but not sought.
"Ana, are you interested in teaming up with me for this competition?" Theresa invited.
While Ana was a bit too honest, as a teammate, she was someone worthy of being trusted with one's back.
Furthermore, death didn't exist in this world, and given her public relationship with Lierre, Ana wouldn't backstab her regardless of how one looked at it.
"I couldn't ask for more!" Ana's gaze was fervent, and she agreed without a second thought.
To Ana, seeing Theresa was like seeing Lierre; she couldn't help but feel a surge of goodwill.
After all, she was one of the top "shippers" of Theresa and Lierre—and an officially certified one by Schicksal at that; her status was significant.
Ana's gaze made Theresa feel uneasy.
"Hey, Schicksal people! This lord also wants to join your team!"
Sin Mal walked over unceremoniously, her arms crossed arrogantly.
"Where did this child come from?" Theresa noticed the newcomer was an undeveloped kid.
Sin clicked her tongue in annoyance and glared at her. "You're a brat yourself! Please, before you try to act like an adult, hide your tanghulu properly!"
Theresa's old face turned red on the spot, but after various "social death" level refinements, she regained her composure in less than a second and retorted, "Who says adults can't eat tanghulu!"
"This lord doesn't want to argue with kids! Hey, woman next to her, if you're this pipsqueak's guardian, please keep her in check!"
"You...!"
Theresa was fuming. This kid clearly wasn't using slurs, but her mouth was so poisonous!
Every sentence stabbed right into her sore spots.
Theresa didn't want to lower herself to a child's level and pulled the derailed topic back: "Hey, kid, why do you want to join our team?"
Sin replied as if it were obvious, "Because this lord finds you lot somewhat pleasing to the eye!"
In any case, the organizer originally intended to break up the factions from the real world and reorganize them.
As a participant, she certainly couldn't go against the organizer's will, so Sin decided to just follow her whims.
At the same time.
Gray Serpent successfully regrouped with the separated Raven.
"It seems our fate hasn't run out yet."
"Stop with the lip service. The organizer likely doesn't want people from the same faction in reality to huddle together for warmth in the competition. The good news is that there are only two of us from World Serpent, and the organizer didn't teleport us further apart."
"No, it's not all good news. The rule about merging two teams is disadvantageous for us. All things being equal, other teams have no reason to choose us."
Gray Serpent shook his head; no one would cooperate with someone whose background was unknown.
World Serpent had always been active in the shadows and wasn't as famous as Schicksal or Anti-Entropy.
"That's simple. If we get someone from Schicksal or Anti-Entropy to join our team, we'll have a reason."
Raven looked up behind Gray Serpent and pointed toward Raiden Mei in the distance, saying, "Look, hasn't a fat sheep just arrived?"
Gray Serpent turned to look. "Oh? Raiden Ryoma's daughter, the host for the Third Herrscher, and Lierre's disciple... It seems we're in luck this time."
Two kilometers away, Bronya also happened to officially meet with the two generations of the Herrscher of Reason.
In another corner of the ancient town.
"Liliya! Sin! Are you guys there?!"
Rozaliya shouted the names of Liliya and Sin, refusing to give up as she wandered through a corner of the town.
With less than ten minutes remaining for team formation, poor Rozaliya likely didn't know that Liliya had already joined someone else's team.
Meanwhile, Sin had also encountered Theresa and Ana, forming a team.
On the advertising screens found everywhere in town, the bright red countdown was incredibly eye-catching.
"No, there's not enough time."
Rozaliya looked up at the countdown on the screen; only 8 minutes left.
This time, they had hidden their participation in the competition from Cocolia to break into the top three and give her a surprise.
Who knew the organizer wouldn't play fair and would split their trio before the competition even started.
"I, Rozaliya, am not someone who takes things lying down..."
Rozaliya thought for a moment, and a flash of inspiration hit her. Once a complete idea formed, her entire being grew excited. "It's decided! I'm going to form the best team myself and then shine brilliantly in the competition, making Liliya and Sin look at me in a new light!"
She would quietly seize the championship and then amaze everyone!
Since she wanted to form a team, she had to find two other members.
While searching for Liliya and Sin, Rozaliya had run into several participants.
But at this point, most participants were looking for teammates suitable for them; only a very small portion would just slack off and wait for the time to expire for automatic assignment.
Fortunately, Rozaliya had been lucky enough to encounter a slacking participant.
It was a beautiful girl wearing a JK skirt, with fluffy blonde hair and a "delinquent girl" aura, who was currently soaked in the arcade, hopelessly immersed in her game.
"My intuition tells me that girl is definitely not simple!"
Rozaliya felt that the blonde girl was very likely a hidden expert; otherwise, she wouldn't be acting so calm!
"As long as I pull her into my team, our chances of winning the championship will go up another level!"
Action followed thought; Rozaliya immediately ran toward the direction she had come from.
Three minutes later, Rozaliya pushed open the arcade door, panting heavily.
Without time to rest, Rozaliya hurriedly searched for the blonde girl. Half a minute later, she found her target in a corner of the arcade.
"Great, she's still here. There's still time!"
Rozaliya hurried over.
In the empty arcade, Gabriel skillfully controlled her game character, quickly clearing out mobs as she approached the boss stage.
As the organizer and holder of multiple roles, it wasn't appropriate for Lierre to participate openly, so she had entered with a smurf account.
On one hand, it was to stir up trouble; on the other, it was for insurance.
This was to prevent the "big event" planned for the final day from directly breaking everyone's mental state.
Because in the final stage of the competition, Lierre planned to use an alt to cosplay as the planet-class Honkai Beast from Honkai Gakuen 2, Jhana!
A ray is also a fish!
Although this fish's strength was equivalent to the Herrscher of Finality, with the small "cheats" Lierre gave everyone, they still had a chance to win.
"So, what do you want with me?"
Gabriel asked the pink-haired loli who had approached, all while controlling her character to enter the boss stage.
Rozaliya gave a serious invitation: "I want to invite you to join my competition team!"
"Oh, sure."
"I knew you would ref—Eh? You, you just agreed?" Rozaliya found it unbelievable; she hadn't even had time to use the arguments she'd prepared.
"Because it doesn't matter whose team I join. It's all the same anyway." Gabriel maintained her indifferent attitude.
"Um, I'll be the captain. You don't have any objections, right?"
Rozaliya asked cautiously.
This was Rozaliya's little scheme from the start. If it weren't to be the captain, she might not have been so proactive about recruiting members.
"I have no objections."
"Really?! That's great!"
Rozaliya jumped for joy on the spot. Then, she thumped her chest confidently. "I will never betray your trust in me! Please believe me; I will definitely lead our team to final victory!"
With Gabriel's approval, Rozaliya's position as captain was secure.
Gabriel glanced at Rozaliya.
She really didn't know where Rozaliya's confidence came from.
She truly hoped that when the final boss of the competition appeared, the girl could still maintain today's confidence.
Since there wasn't much time left, Rozaliya simply sat down next to Gabriel, her little mouth never stopping as if she had endless things to say.
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Gabriel got up and asked the shop owner for a rope and black tape. Then, under Rozaliya's confused gaze, she approached her step by step.
The countdown hit zero, and the broadcast rang out.
"All participants are about to be teleported to the main arena. Teleportation will occur after a three-minute countdown!"
"The rosters for each team have been automatically registered. For participants in under-filled teams or those who haven't found a suitable team, the system will randomly match them with suitable competition teams. Participants can refuse the automatic matching!"
"...No one has refused. Beginning random team assignments for eligible participants!"
"Assignment complete. After teleporting to the main arena, members of the same team will be automatically assigned to the same area."
"It is confirmed that for this Unrestricted Fishing Tournament, a total of eight teams are participating!"
...
"I wonder what kind of teammates you'll arrange for me?"
On the wooden boat on the lake, Mobius stood upright at the bow, slightly raising her head to look toward the main arena. Her fair neck glistened like polished porcelain.
At the main arena, Lierre looked at several moving light dots on the map, feeling speechless.
Among them, Fu Hua and Cheng Lixue were like two repelling magnets; every time they were about to meet, they would quickly separate for some reason.
Even Wendy, who was closest to Fu Hua, was caught in a "ghost wall" loop, unable to meet Fu Hua.
Cheng Lixue was fine, and Wendy was probably fine.
The only one with a problem was Fu Hua.
To have luck this bad was truly impressive.
"Immortal with poor luck, I'll break protocol and help you one last time."
Lierre reached out toward the map before her.
The countdown hit zero again, and the broadcast rang once more.
"Time is up."
"—Begin teleportation!"
Swish, swish, swish!
Twenty-four streaks of light rose from various locations in the town. After changing direction, they flew toward the invisible sky island hidden above!
The familiar sense of vertigo came fast and went just as quickly.
Once Tesla regained her senses, she found herself teleported onto a metal platform. In the very center of the platform was a holographic image of a blue planet.
"This is the main arena? Let's see what kind of teammates the organizer matched me with."
Tesla scanned the surroundings with interest. When she saw Murata Himeko waving enthusiastically at her, her expression instantly froze.
"It's, it's fine... Although she's from Schicksal, the Far East Branch and Anti-Entropy have a covert cooperative relationship, so it's not a big problem!"
Tesla tried very hard to convince herself. But when she turned her head to see her other teammate, her vision went dark, and she nearly fainted.
"Oh? It seems Dr. Tesla of Anti-Entropy isn't too keen on seeing me." Rita, wearing her blue, white, and black Valkyrie armor, was currently looking at Tesla with a half-smile.
Dammit!
What kind of hellish matching mechanism is this!
"This is a blatant rigged match targeting me!!! I want to complain! I want to file a complaint!" Tesla's inner self was completely losing it.
★ ★ ★
T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me.
★ ★ ★
Shilling time!
Members of my [email protected]/quickinquickout can read advanced chapters on quick-tl(dot)com—and even customize translated terms to match their preferred names and terminology!