Chapter 175 – Complete Lack of IQ
Currently, the buzzing sounds of discussion reached a feverish height. The students of Tianjing Academy were filled with extreme enthusiasm. This was different from yesterday's cold and cheerless atmosphere. The students not only filled the thousand-plus seats of the competition grounds, but were also crowded outside the facility, watching the large screen outside that displayed the match.
Regardless of whether they were there hoping for a miracle, enjoying the liveliness with others, or cheering for the Tianjing Squadron, all of the students present made it so that the grounds outside became an impenetrable blockade.
Nowadays, one's face was even more important the grandness of the heavens and earth!
Even if they lost, they would lose with spirit! They couldn't let others truly beat them down. This was their home field!
Tianjing Academy Media's reporter Little Mei was right beside the competition grounds. She pressed against her earphone with one hand while holding up the microphone with the other and was currently screaming at the top of her lungs before the camera. "The passion that out fellow students have shown today truly makes me feel touched! Even though I'm wearing my earpiece, I still able to hear the tsunami-like cheers from everyone! Our opponents may be Adolf Academy, the academy said to only be second to Copperfield in the regionals last year, but Tianjing Academy isn't one to feel fear or dread! It isn't as though we have zero chances! We still have Student Grai, known as the charming freshman! We have the genius girl, Captain Scarlet—
"I'm sorry, please hold… it seems the roster of both academies has been officially released. The captain for the Tianjing Academy Squadron has been changed to Senior Brother Wang Zhong!"
"Wha?" The sudden change in commanders made the watching students feel a bit deceived.
"What the hell? Isn't the captain supposed to be Scarlet?"
"Wang Zhong? That Wang Zhong from the second year commander's department?"
"I heard it was an internal decision from the squadron. Scarlet had given up her seat as captain to Wang Zhong!"
Initially, when Reeves had left there was a question about who the next captain would be going around inside the academy. In the eyes of others, the most suitable candidate with the most qualifications was Lily. She was the vanguard, a heavy soldier who could most easily lead the spirits of the squadron while also being a third-year senior sister. There wasn't anything to say about her strength and character. She even had experience in the regionals last year.
This dispute had lasted until Grace chose Scarlet instead. Although she was a bit too young and immature, just looking at the fact that she was president of Black Rose, the headmaster's granddaughter, as well as the academy's goddess made everyone feel the choice was rather acceptable.
But who the hell was Wang Zhong? Even if his performance in the group training was taken into account, his failure to pass the year end examinations the previous year wasn't false. It wasn't false that he had to do the makeup exams, right? Even if he managed to squeeze into the Prodigy Society, he only had the title of vice-president. His appearance wasn't even enough to prop him up as there was Grai!
Strength, qualifications, status, appearance. He wasn't known for his dominance in any of these fields. Yet, he still became captain? Could those rumors have been true? Did Scarlet really have something for Wang Zhong?
When they thought about this, eighty percent of the entire student male population had a "what the fuck" kind of feeling. Was this a kind of male-domination play?
Although they had heard this rumor in the past, no one had treated this seriously. But now that the lineup was announced before their enemy, anyone who dared to spew any negative comments at this time would just be setting themselves up against the entire squadron and even against the entire academy.
"I heard Wang Zhong's theory isn't bad. I reckon he's the kind that's responsible for the combat strategies."
"The main responsibility of the captain is still to arrange the battlefield and strategize the lineup. I remember that Wang Zhong even published a thesis on teamwork that was then published in the school newspapers. It really was quite good."
"Since he was in first place in last year's theory category, he should be the overlord of the commander's department, right? With him formulating combat strategies, maybe there's some special move being planned out! Furthermore, he would definitely be able to act the part of a smoke grenade. Wang Zhong would definitely be able to deal with Cecil, I'm sure of it!"
One could only sigh with admiration at the masses' imagination ability. With such thoughts, the Tianjing students suddenly felt they weren't at much of a disadvantage.
"The squad members of both sides have already entered the competition grounds. Currently, both captains are handing in their chosen member for the first round!" Reporter Little Mei was currently reporting on the situation with her loud voice. "To any competition between squadrons, the opening act is very important! This is due to the fact that the winner has the chance of submitting the chosen member for the second round after the losing team does. This means the winner has the option of choosing their own member that can counter the selected occupation of the loser's chosen member. Many squadrons are then able to gain a 4:0 victory by relying on their advantage in the first round, winning round after round!1"
The contest between the two squadrons wasn't just reliant on who was more vicious and strong. Instead, the order of who among the squadron was chosen by the captain was also very important.
According to the competition rules, there would usually be six rounds in total. Five of those were dedicated to individual matches that were worth 1 point each while the final sixth round was a group 5v5 battle worth 2 points.
With such an arrangement, unless the five people sent out in the solo matches were super experts at the very peak of the rankings and were able to completely suppress their matched opponents, most would rely on strategic arrangements and play with counter occupations to defeat the strong. This was the gameplay of the weak and happened very often. There were times when a smart mind was more useful than martial strength. When most thought about Wang Zhong's results within the commander's department last year, a few were skeptical while most anticipated for something good to happen.
Soon after, the members selected for the first round went up. The choices made caused the eyelids of the students filling the grounds to violently twitch.
Tianjing Academy's Lily!
As the first female heavy soldier in Tianjing Academy, arranging her to be the first to enter the field didn't leave much for one to criticize. In fact, this selection had already been guessed by the majority of the students before it was even announced. They all felt Lily should be the first one up.
With Reeves' departure, other than the abruptly powerful Grai, Lily was considered the second strongest expert within the squadron. She was stronger than her fellow third-years, Colby and Milami, but quite a bit. Furthermore, she was a heavy soldier that specialized in attacking. She had an above-outstanding performance when playing a role in either offense and defense and was a very dependable pick.
But it just so happened that her match was the vice-captain of Adolf Academy's Squadron, Simon. His primary weapon of choice was the cannon. Heavy-caliber hot weapons were the usual nemesis of heavy soldiers.
This was a counter, an absolute counter!
Adolf Academy's captain had long guessed the lineup Tianjing would send out. Tianjing's strength was already weaker than theirs from the start. Now that they met with a counter in the first round, it would simply mean they would suffer a complete defeat in both strength and intelligence.
Kneel down!
If Scarlet had been captain, then people might still have been able to accept it. After all, she was a captain everyone acknowledged while also being a beauty. What's more, having a heavy soldier test the waters was a very ordinary method. There wasn't much about the choice that could be criticized and it wasn't too big a mistake. All one could do was lament over the poor luck and no one would say much about it.
But the question now was, who exactly was the current captain of the squadron?
It was Captain Wang Zhong! He was the ace in theory within the commander's department and first place during last year's examinations. He was the light of the academy's hope and had jumped up three ranks to become captain.
But since he'd already broken the rules and become the light of the academy's hope, he should've let his radiance blossom out! He should've calmly and leisurely devise strategies, pass judgement upon everyone as he shook and roused the entire competition grounds. It should've been a show of intelligence that left no route of escape for Adolf's captain. To use one loss in order to achieve two wins, to transform into a deity. He should've let Adolf dance upon his palms and watch as the strong was annihilated as he chatted and joked around.
And in the end, he was truly the best! To send out such a regular battle lineup and let others grasp upon his weakness instead, leaving himself with no way out.
Was this the scholarship student everyone spoke about? This was that amazing intelligence that would become the academy's light of hope?
For those who forgot, 4:0 score in the individual matches is an instant victory, and there isn't even a need for the squadron to enter the group competitions. Even if one side wins with 3:2 in the individuals, the losing side can win the 2 points from the group competition and gain total victory. ↩