Chapter 95: Sharpening the Knives

The USE Federation Military Commission has introduced a new ranking method for the current combat strength of military academies, completely abandoning the previous evaluation system that referenced past fame, achievements, or software and hardware faculty strength, focusing solely on current actual combat capability.

T0 North Caro Military Academy (North American Region)

T1 Round Table Knights Military Academy (European Region)

GRU Military Academy (Eurasian Region)

Ockman Royal Military Academy (European Region)

T2 Cougar Military Academy (South American Region)

Dome Royal Military Academy (Oceania Region)

Extreme Shadow Way Military Academy (Asian Region)

Black Rock Military Academy (African Region)

Sea Shark Military Academy (Asian Region)

Kaierfu Special Military Academy (North American Region)

North Caro is known as a behemoth; in terms of history, it is a former S Tournament Champion, and looking at the present, it possesses the strongest, Nine-Headed Dragon Chao Qinglong, the Fifteen Generals in every position, and a crowd of Supernovas; the recent addition of Ye Tong has only made North Caro even more perfect.

Standing alone at the peak, looking down upon all the mountains.

Round Table Knights Academy leads the T1 tier, nicknamed the "ceiling of teams"; under the leadership of one of the Six Dragons, Blood Rose Orphi, it possesses powerful team-battle capabilities and tacit coordination, cold and meticulous.

GRU Military Academy, led by one of the Six Dragons, Roaring Heavenly Venerable Lomachenko, is crazy and cold-blooded, nicknamed the "fighting machine of GRU."

Ockman Royal Military Academy, nicknamed the "Ockman Emperor," is led by one of the Six Dragons, Ghost Shadow Milner; like GRU, they carry a "mechanical attribute" but are completely different—GRU are people who are like machines, while the Ockman Emperor are machines that are like people.

The T2 tier also belongs to the top ten, led by the Cougar Team under the command of Luo Bi; in fact, this team is not strong enough to lead based on paper strength, but they are strange—the bigger the tournament and the stronger the opponent they encounter, the more they can erupt with incredible power, which is also very similar to the characteristics of South America: passionate and high-spirited.

Mad Dog Perkins leads the Dome Royal Military Academy, calling themselves the "Dome Emperor," but everyone prefers to call them the "poor devils," stopping at nothing to achieve victory.

Extreme Shadow Way Military Academy is entering the top ten rankings for the first time; it is an extremely strict team-battle squad, with good strength in every position, possessing one of the Fifteen Generals and three Supernovas; the officials have high expectations for them, and their combat literacy is very high.

Black Rock Military Academy is the pride of the African region, and Yan Peng is one of its members; this is a military academy in the midst of war, with constant regional conflicts for a hundred years, possessing astonishing actual combat experience, and the academy itself exports various special warriors to the African region.

Sea Shark Military Academy is also entering the top ten for the first time, with an extremely excellent performance in S10, breaking into the third round of the main tournament; it possesses five Supernovas, and its style is arrogant and bloodthirsty, refusing to submit to anyone; that murderous aura is quite remarkable—others are newborn calves unafraid of tigers, but they are young sharks daring to gnaw on whales.

Kaierfu Special Military Academy is the second-largest military academy in the North American region, second only to North Caro, possessing several of the Fifteen Generals and Supernovas; it is also jokingly called the "remnant concentration camp of North Caro," and anyone who is hostile to North Caro, from the principal to the students, has the ultimate goal of taking down North Caro.

The entire Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team was furious, because Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts had already fallen out of the top fifty, sitting at fifty-first place; the glory of Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts collapsed in an instant.

USE has always valued seniority and past achievements; clearly, the consecutive failures in S9 and S10 have completely touched the Federation's nerves, and they must emphasize strength and strengthen internal competition, otherwise, they will just fade away while coasting; this time, quite a few emerging academies have leaped up—in fact, it is not exactly an overnight success, as their previous performance and records were already good; several other old-fashioned military academies suffered heavy blows along with Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts.

Among them, the main squads representing the highest level of each military academy are used as an important reference, and in the evaluation of Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts, it still referenced the situation of the team where Gao Yunfeng is located; of course, it covered Wuzang, but although they possess one Supernova, Wuzang participated in the competition last year, and they could not give an overly high evaluation without actual combat records; naturally, Ye Tong was not counted, as she is already a member of North Caro; in other words, Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts only has one Wuzang to look forward to, plus a bunch of trash; among them, regarding the performance of the Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts team in the past two S Tournaments, it also gave a sharp evaluation: they didn't play well, but they were quite good at networking.

This new ranking is re-determined every year after the S Tournament, which is also to give opportunities to new forces; of course, the A-Grade military academy rating of Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts will not change—the foundation is strong, but now they are weak, they are weak.

The entire Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts was shrouded in shame, but it was of no use; their performance was not good enough, and the hope of relying on past laurels to save face was completely shattered; this ranking does not examine school history; it must be said that Gao Yunfeng also escaped a disaster—if he were still in the position of team leader, it would be even uglier; of course, the pressure now falls on Li Hao, and as the current team leader, no matter what was done before, since he is in this position, he has to shoulder it.

Li Hao had already been called to the principal's office; Long Danni was naturally extremely embarrassed, though not very surprised—letting the old principal retire directly meant she knew there would be subsequent actions, but she didn't expect it to be so sudden; it was one thing that she wasn't the principal back then, but now she naturally felt the pressure, and as principal, clearly just watching wouldn't work; managing school affairs isn't just about the principal doing whatever she wants, and just changing the principal isn't enough; what is worth being happy about is that the school team finally transitioned smoothly, but the pity is Ye Tong's departure; she tried to persuade her to stay, but it was of no use—the Nangong Family would not let such humiliation fall on someone from their own family.

"Ye Tong is gone." The first thing Long Danni said upon meeting was this.

"Ah? Oh, that's good." Li Hao was stunned and nodded.

Long Danni couldn't help but shake her head, "What kind of reaction is that? Aren't you two very close?"

"Reporting to Principal, we only met a few times before; actually, we aren't that close." Li Hao didn't really feel anything; this girl isn't a child anymore, and it's quite normal for her to suddenly appear and suddenly disappear.

Long Danni couldn't figure it out either; when Ye Tong was about to leave, she was actually quite reluctant, but her willfulness ended there.

"Alright, let's get down to business. This ranking is a disgrace to Tianjing. As the captain of the Tianjing team, what are your plans?"

"Reporting, Principal, train hard and strive for good results," Li Hao said solemnly.

Long Danni's eyebrows twitched at this official jargon; this kid is trying to get himself killed, "Are you trying to fool me?"

Watching Long Danni's anger level rising, Li Hao shrugged helplessly, "Principal, the opponents are very strong, and our team was formed temporarily, so there are many problems; all I can do is do my best and leave the rest to fate!"

Long Danni stared at Li Hao, but Li Hao didn't change his expression or skip a beat, looking like he had been squeezed dry, "Fine, let's put it another way: where are Tianjing's advantages? You say you'll do your best—where is the 'best'?"

Li Hao helplessly rubbed his nose, "Principal, Wuzang is a descendant of the Wu Family and a Supernova; Zhou Naiyi is composed, calm, and has a solid foundation; Zuo Xiaotang is a genius; Huo Ying has potential to be tapped; of course, we also lack substitutes and time to grow; the Mid-Season Tournament is a good opportunity, which can serve as preparation for the S Tournament."

"That's it?" Long Danni was clearly dissatisfied, "Are you kidding me? Those strong teams even have Supernovas as substitutes!"

Li Hao looked bewildered and spread his hands helplessly, "Principal, it's hard for a clever housewife to cook without rice; look, what I said is also the truth; besides the opponents, we have many problems of our own, such as equipment, nutrition, the cost of sparring partners to train against..."

"Everything will be reimbursed. I don't care about the process, I only look at the results!" Long Danni waved her hand impatiently; she didn't want to hear this—does the dignified Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts lack this little bit?

"Reporting, Principal, is there a limit?"

"What limit? Could you possibly spend the school into poverty? As long as it's used for training, go all out!"

"Yes, Principal is wise. I have confidence now; I think as long as I have the Principal's support, we will definitely be able to achieve good results!" Li Hao showed a heartfelt smile; as team leader, he should be able to get quite a bit reimbursed.

Long Danni was speechless, "What do you call good results? Don't try to gloss over it."

"That... is top ten okay?" Li Hao said cautiously.

The corners of Long Danni's mouth twitched a few times; what do you mean "is it okay"—this is something she didn't even dare to think about; this little brat clearly has a bottom line but insists on playing tai chi with her; she kept her face calm, "It's passable; after all, the team was just formed. I hope you keep your word. Do you know why I chose you as captain?"

"Reporting, I don't know."

It seemed like Zhou Naiyi gave up the captain position, but it would have been useless if Long Danni didn't approve; not to mention the subsequent battles between the first and second teams—from the beginning, Long Danni never intended to use the second team as a whetstone for the first team, but rather to smoothly replace the first team.

"Li Hao, I don't care what you want to do or what grudges you had before; what I want is for you to return Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts to its original position, without violating federal law!" Long Danni said; her main energy must be placed on school management, and as for the team, at most she can strive for some opportunities, but she cannot replace the students in battle; and Li Hao, as the captain, is the key of keys—a weak soldier means a weak soldier, a weak general means a weak army; she had to be cautious.

"Principal, please rest assured; Supernovas and such are just titles. My companions are very fierce, but let's agree on this: team expenses must be reimbursed, don't go back on your word," Li Hao confirmed again.

Long Danni looked at Li Hao's mercenary appearance, her teeth itching with anger, "If the school can't reimburse it, I'll pay for it myself!"

Li Hao left the principal's office happily, not forgetting to flatter her on his way out; from now on, he could eat freely, eat whatever he wanted, and eat well; it turns out being a team leader has such good perks—no wonder so many people want to be team leader.

After Li Hao had been gone for a while, Long Danni rubbed her forehead; she felt like she might have been a bit rash—is that the point? The point is the results; what "top ten"—that was just empty talk; if they could just return to the top twenty, that would be enough; how did this kid seem a bit unreliable?

She chose Li Hao as captain, of course, not based on a feeling; even she didn't have the authority to know the inside story of the accident at the Tianqi Youth Class back then; Li Hao's overall performance was definitely at a high level; although she didn't know his upper limit, his lower limit was definitely at the Supernova level; plus, Zhou Naiyi and the others all recognized him, and there was nothing better than that; Zhou Naiyi lacked a bit of dominance, and Wuzang was too dull, making them unsuitable as captains; Li Hao was, all things considered, a choice of necessity; but there was one more piece of good news recently: someone at Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts had received an S-grade training evaluation; in the past, such a situation would definitely have caused a sensation throughout the school, and a normal student achieving such results would be known to everyone, yet no one knew, and no one applied to the school for a reward; let alone S-grade, even A-grade would be given, such as that Zuo Xiaotang.

And the only person who could do such a thing is this somewhat abnormal Li Hao; if it were him, no matter which aspect it was S-grade in, it would be worth looking forward to.

In Long Danni's view, this lineup was the strongest lineup Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts could currently field; Gao Yunfeng... it's a bit of a pity; his level is sufficient, but he can only be a substitute; after all, during the S Tournament, the depth of the team's bench is extremely important; injuries are a common occurrence during the dense, high-intensity schedule; but with Gao Yunfeng's temperament, it's impossible for him to agree; if he reluctantly agreed and entered the team to cause trouble, the atmosphere would completely collapse, and that is not what she wanted to see.

Five people are not enough; it would be better if Ye Tong hadn't left.

(Dear bosses, it goes live at midnight on October 1st; if it doesn't explode, it won't be over ^_^)