Unlike Ayrlarng and Bernabeu, the S-Ranked academies like Capth or Yalden didn’t have to plot anything or even persuade anyone to join them when it came to elite recruitment because every ambitious student would do whatever it took to enroll in these ultimate academies. Undeniably, Capth was like a colossal fortress standing in their way.
This time, it was still ten candidates as Samantha didn’t add anyone else to her list. Somehow, this looked dismaying because it had also reflected Ayrlarng’s problem of their talent shortage. Obviously, the candidates against Capth had to be unique as normal students would be useless in this situation. However, the ten elite candidates of Ayrlarng were only able to defeat Bernabeu by a hair, let alone the almighty Capth. Aside from Carl who was over-confident as usual, the other candidates were looking very upset since they knew their odds of winning would be extremely low.
After waiting for a short while, the team was finally joined by Samantha, who was looking charming as always.
"Listen up everyone, I’m sure all of you already know why you were summoned. That’s right, I’ve decided to send all of you to a special training program in order to ensure a good result during the tournament against Capth!"
"Ma’am, what do you mean by ‘good result’?" Wang Tong asked in a funny manner.
Samantha glared across Wang Tong and replied, "Of course, I’m talking about claiming the victory! Do you think I would waste so much of my time, money, and effort on nothing and watch all of you get owned by Capth’s candidates?"
"Capth, here we come!" Carl yelled.
"Ma’am… do you think we’ll able to do it?" Rumi was the complete opposite of Carl, she had no confidence at all, the others too seemed to be depressed.
"Obviously, now would be impossible, but I’m pretty sure you boys and girls would do fine after the training, so please have faith in yourselves!"
Samantha seemed confident, then she continued, "In addition to that, Ayrlarng will be teaming up with Bernabeu against Capth, so Bernabeu too will be sending over ten candidates, and you all will be training alongside with them. In the end, we will select ten of the most outstanding students among all of you as our final candidates against Capth!"
"Joining forces with Bernabeu? That’s absurd ma’am!" Carl and the others were startled by the news.
Samantha smiled and said, "Do you guys think you’re already good enough to be the final candidates? The only way for all of you to improve is through competitions. The first phase of our training will be held at FFC’s Paradise Island. I’m sure this full-fledged experimental base of the FFC will be the perfect venue to shape up you guys."
"Ma’am, don’t you think this is too good for Bernabeu?" Tita seemed frustrated as the team fought very hard in order to obtain this once in a lifetime opportunity, yet Samantha had decided to share it with Bernabeu instead.
Samantha looked around the crowd sternly and replied, "Do I have a choice? You will still be able to represent Ayrlarng if you’re strong enough, but if you’re still not strong enough, then step aside and let the aces from Bernabeu handle the job. I’m doing this to prevent you guys from embarrassing yourselves in front of Capth!"
"Ma’am, I think you’ve underestimated our potentials, we’ve already defeated Bernabeu, so of course, we will also be able to crush Capth, am I right, Captain?" Carl looked toward Wang Tong.
"Captain?" Samantha too turned toward Wang Tong, "I’m glad you guys have chosen your own captain, which saves me a lot of trouble. Oh, another thing, Principal Martyrus will be handling the first phase of the training all by himself, so be prepared!"
"Ma’am, so you were saying that the final candidates against Capth will be chosen based on our performances during the training, am I right?" Wang Tong aske
d.
"That’s right, all ten spots will be yours if all of you are strong enough, or else you’ll be joining the benchwarmers if you’re not. Do take note that Bernabeu will be sending over their best elites as well like Apache, Cao Yi, and the others... and of course, dear Best who couldn’t wait to see you again," Samantha looked at Wang Tong when she said that, she was still surprised to see him gotten over her that fast.
"Since we’ve defeated Bernabeu last time, I’m sure there’s nothing to be feared of, so bring it on!"
"That’s actually not bad, I haven’t had enough fun last time." Obviously, Wang Ben was eager to try his hands on Apache.
"Very good, I’m glad all of you are not scared by my announcement, go back to your rooms now and pack your bags, we’re flying over to Paradise Island tonight. Dismiss!" Samantha ordered as she waved her hand.
"We’re leaving tonight? For real?"
"Is there any problem, Mr. Carl?"
"No Ma’am!"
Everyone gathered around Ma Xiaoru once Samantha left. "Xiaoru, since Paradise Island is a property of your family, why don’t you tell us some internal information so that we have more advantages than Bernabeu?"
"Sorry guys, I have no idea since I’ve never asked anything about Paradise Island. All I know is that Paradise Island is an important base for researches and experiments, and all I can tell you is that the training will be much harder than you will expect."
"Stop trying to take some advantages, Carl. I think ma’am principal was right, we really don’t deserve the chance of fighting Capth if we can’t even defeat the guys from Bernabeu, not to mention that most of us were not able to give our best performances previously. Since this is an opportunity for us to improve, I’d really like to see if all of the elites from Bernabeu are as strong as I expected!" Kyaero said while grabbing his fist. He would always remember his terrible defeat during the tournament against Bernabeu, and he had sworn to become better ever since. Clearly, Samantha had ignited the flame of victory in every student’s heart. No one liked to be defeated, and losing was the most terrible moment to be remembered.
"Don’t look at me like I’m a chicken, of course, I’ll be going will all of you, I’m not afraid of them!" Carl laughed.
Everyone then went back to pack up their bags.
Zhou Sisi was walking in the same direction as Wang Tong, "Hey Wang Tong, don’t you think what happened back there was well played by ma’am principal? Apparently, she has pushed all of us to the edge of the cliff!"
"So do you agree with her method or totally disagree with her?"
"Haha, every one of us is in the danger zone except you, Ma Xiaoru, and Wang Ben, and I’m also hanging on the edge of the danger zone, but I’m fine with this arrangement since I was hoping for some excitement!"
Wang Tong smiled as he heard that, he knew Zhou Sisi would be thinking like that since she had always been a headstrong and competitive person even though she looked gentle. Wang Tong still remembered that Zhou Sisi would always bruise her fingers when she was busy practicing her Cloning Technique, yet the girl didn’t even complain once.
"I’m feeling the same way. Instead of focusing on Bernabeu, we should be worrying about Capth which is also known as Earth’s Ultimate Academy. Their elites are way stronger and even more hardworking than all of us, not to mention how super competitive it is in this academy. There’s really nothing much we can do except giving our best performances if we badly want this victory!"
"Looks like you’re having doubt about us too."
"Everyone is doubting us, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t stand a chance. Actually, all of us have our own uniqueness and specialty; however, most of us are lacking training, so hopefully, every one of us will be able to improve and become better on what we are good at," Wang Tong explained.
"You’re right, everyone said that Principal Martyrus is one of the best principals amongst A-Ranked academies since he’s very good at discovering the talents and potentials of his students; however, I have to say that I’m really proud of Principal Samantha’s generosity. I can’t believe she is able to share the slots with another academy," Zhou Sisi couldn’t stop admiring their principal who was only a few years older than them. Without a doubt, Ayrlarng was given a new life under the administration of Samantha, and no one had underestimated her ever since. However, no one knew if the changes would last forever or she was just another ninety-day wonder.
"I’m looking forward to participate in this training program very much, and I’m terrifically excited to see Principal Martyrus, whose ability is well-known amongst A-ranked academies, teaming up with Principal Samantha who is very good with her brains." Somehow Wang Tong was a little unsatisfied of his usual courses, he was quenching for stronger power and bigger challenges. Honestly, the lessons lately tended to focus more on theoretical stuff, even METAL Combat classes and the lessons about Zergs were unable to satisfy his strong thirst for knowledge.
"But I didn’t expect everything to happen in such a hurry, she barely gave us anytime to get ready."
"Haha, we are students of a military academy, and we will also be joining the military after we graduate, so we should learn to be prepared for anything at any time."
"Yea, yea, enough of those big theories, I know what you mean. It is easier for boys since you guys have fewer things to pack; however, girls are more troublesome, got it?"
"Yup, loud and clear. So did your sister go back to her place?" Wang Tong quickly diverted the conversation.
"Oh, sounds like you’re very interested in her even though you two just met each other, I have to tell you that my sis has a high taste in men though," Zhou Sisi acted defensive all of a sudden.
"No thanks, she’s not my type, she almost turned me into Mr. No-nuts with her Nutcracker Kick," Wang Tong instantly crossed his hands when he said that. He would definitely not be able to sleep in peace at night if Zhou Yiyi was his girlfriend.
"Hey, it’s all your fault pervert! This is your first time meeting her yet you’re bold enough to wrap your hands around her shoulder! Lucky for you, I’ve been talking to her about you a couple of times, or else I’m sure you would have already been dead by now." Zhou Sisi smirked impishly, she absolutely enjoyed watching Wang Tong embarrassing himself.
"Hey! I didn’t harass her, I did that because I thought she was you! Oh, so you’ve been telling her about me huh, no wonder she agreed following me to the restaurant after that, you little fiend, why didn’t you tell me earlier?"
"Because you’re a dummy that’s why. See ya later, alligator!" Zhou Sisi said as she walked toward her dorm.
Wang Tong faked a smile, all of a sudden he began to realize that Ma Xiaoru was a wonderful girl; given by the fact that most of the beautiful girls were hard to handle, and it was even harder if the girl was pretty and popular. However, Ma Xiaoru was nothing like them; aside from looking gorgeous, she was also kind and gentle, it was like the personality of a real princess.
Wang Tong shook his head and cleared his thoughts. Basically, he had nothing much to pack aside from a few clothes since most of his valuable belongings were inside his Space Crystal. He assumed they would also be providing clothing for all trainees as Paradise Island sounded like an island in the middle of nowhere with no supermarkets, and how he wished they would also take care of their daily meals, then he would be able to save more money. Wang Tong couldn’t help smiling as he began to calculate how much money he would be saving.
Everyone from S was already gathered at the field in the evening. As the helicopter landed, Samantha gave them the signal to come on board, and the team hopped into the chopper one after another, none of them needed to worry about their luggage, all thanks to the convenient and handy Space Crystal.
Approximately ten minutes later, the helicopter docked itself to an aircraft, then everyone boarded the aircraft, which was actually the chartered flight toward Paradise Island.
Their flight landed at Base No.5 on Paradise Island, which was a semi man-made island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It was called a semi man-made island because most of its infrastructures and facilities were built on the expansion around the original island. The island was one of FFC’s private property, and tens of kilometers radius around the island were well-protected by the FFC’s private armies.
As one of the Five Houses of mankind, the House of Ma definitely had the privilege of owning an island and its surrounding water. Moreover, the FFC was also known as one of mankind’s wonder corporations as it had kickstarted the new era for mankind with its innovative technologies.