With a blow of Turbo Water Cannon from the Diving Crocodile, Zhao Li's Flame Crow was finally knocked to the ground.
"Now, hand in your number tags."
Qian Shan was expressionless.
"Take them and get lost."
He threw the three-hundred-plus tags onto the ground and picked up his pet to check it for injury.
"Impossible! Where's the rest? How come you only have so few?"
Qian Shan's face changed upon seeing the tags on the ground.
"Hahaha! I'm about to die of laughter. Did you think I had many tags?"
Zhao Li immediately laughed upon seeing the twins' expression, and he felt a touch of schadenfreude.
"Believe it or not, my backpack is here for you to check."
Qian Shan's mentality burst when he checked the backpack. "It's over. The rest of the brands are with Wang Tao; let's chase after him!"
Wan Shan's expression also changed. They thought that Zhao Li's team had at least five or six hundred tags, but who knew that they only had so few? This could only mean that the remaining tags were with Wang Tao, who was the only one powerful enough.
At this moment, golden fireworks bloomed in the sky. The time was up.
"F*ck!"
Qian Shan hit the tree with his fist, then he hugged his hand in pain. He squatted, his face scrunched painfully.
On the other side, Su Bai's team, as well as Feng Ming's, smiled happily when they saw the golden fireworks in the sky.
"It's all thanks to you guys, or else we wouldn't have gotten a place. I wonder which place we got?"
Feng Ming gnawed half of the orange in one bite and led his pet to the front.
Su Bai and Chen Rouxue also exchanged glances, then they gnawed on the oranges in their hands.
In the sky, the electromagnetic satellite flew down and took pictures next to the two teams.
"By the way, little sister, how many tags do you have? We have fifty-three," asked Zhang Ta curiously.
"Not much," replied Chen Rouxue casually.
Not long after, they came to the rostrum on the mountain top. Their teams were the first to arrive and sat there waiting for the others. If the other teams failed to reach the top ten minutes after the golden fireworks were lit, they would be automatically eliminated.
Feng Ming and Zhang San realized that, for some reason, the group of contestants under the stage were staring at them in anger, and the big bosses on the podium were also staring at them. They felt aggrieved, having done nothing wrong.
After a few more minutes, Wang Tao and his partner showed up, but they were not smiling.
Immediately afterward, the crowd's favorite, the water-fire Gemini twins, appeared. The sibling duo looked livid as they stared intently at Wang Tao and his partner.
Wang Tao looked dumbfounded. ???
What were they staring at? Were they not already in the first place? Why did they want to eliminate them so much?
After a while, three more teams appeared.
"Time is up. I now announce that the match is officially over. Next, we'll enter the final part of the competition. First of all, I invite the contestants of each team to please gather their number tags and put them on the plate at the side of the hostess. The count will be carried out on the spot so that we can announce the ranking in real time."
The host informed everyone.
Seven ladies of etiquette came out with trays. Feng Ming and the others first took their number tags out, then they curiously glanced at Su Bai and Chen Rouxue. They were the only team with mid-level servants pets to have survived, so their performance was really intriguing.
The other teams were also very curious about Su Bai's team. It really was not easy for a team of such level to survive until this point.
Glancing at her partner, Chen Rouxue grabbed her backpack and poured out all the number tags inside before the public's eyes.
Crash!
Along with a crisp and sweet sound, countless number tags fell to the plate.
Zhang Ta and Feng Ming: ???
The water-fire Gemini twins: ???
Wang Tao: ???
The other teams: ???
What the f*ck? Everyone looked dumbfounded, completely shocked at this scene. Was this really not a fake match?
Zhang Ta and Feng Ming in particular looked dazed. What was this? They did not understand.
"Could this be a fake match?" Qian Shan could not help asking.
The others all looked at the rostrum. This was too fake.
However, on the contrary, the other contestants under the stage remained silent, for they knew what had happened.
"When the number tags are counted, there will be a replay of each team's battles. Everything will naturally be clear then," said the curator of Xingyu Gymnasium calmly.
The others could only suppress the doubts and shock in their hearts and first take out their number tags.
After collecting all the tags, a pet came up to use the Cleansing skill. The tags were placed on a scale, and the specific quantity was directly obtained according to the weight.
"Sixth place… twelve number tags."
A replay of the team's battle record appeared on the big screen.
"Fifth place… forty-eight number tags."
"Fourth place… Zhang Ta and Feng Ming's team with fifty number tags."
"Third place belongs to the talented player Wang Tao and his partner Cen Yuanli from Fifth Middle School, with a total of 334 number tags. Congratulations!"
Along with the applause, their battles were played on the screen. The strength of the Withered Bone Mantis was really beyond doubt.
"The second place in the competition goes to the talented water-fire Gemini twins from First Middle School. Both siblings' pets are very powerful existences, and their performance, especially their battle with Zhao Li's Flame Crow, was also very eye-catching. It showed a high level of fighting intuition and standard. Congratulations!"
The strength of the water-fire Gemini twins' pets, , be it Diving Crocodile or Lava Salamander, was unquestionable. Their fighting skills were also considered impeccable among their peers, so they received the most enthusiastic cheers.
The impassioned BGM sounded, and countless pieces of colored paper fell from the sky.
"Moving on, let us congratulate our champions with the warmest applause and cheers. Their team's the biggest dark horse we've seen in this competition, turning the impossible to something possible! From Fourth High School, Su Bai and Chen Rouxue with a total of 1,058 number tags. Congratulations!"
There was only sparse applause in the field, and no one cheered for them.
"Their victory isn't by strength. What's the point of congratulating a victory achieved by shameless and contemptible means?"
"Yes, shameless villains!"
"If you've got the ability, have a fair duel. Who here can't beat you?"
...
...
There was no shouting, and most of them were unconvinced. As someone shouted for a fair duel, everyone else resounded.
After all, these sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds would feel reluctant when defeated in a dignified manner but would feel completely unconvinced when eliminated by tactics. If they did not defeat them in a dignified manner, why should they win the championship?
On the contrary, the major live broadcast rooms were full of comments, such as: "Congratulations to the lucky man!"
Both winners smiled and waved at everyone, seemingly unbothered.
They were only here for the money and did not care what others thought of them.
"Haha! It seems like everyone doesn't recognize our victors. Below is a replay of their battles. I believe that everyone will change their mind after watching them."
The replays of Su Bai's team battles were relatively long and were also accompanied by commentary. Although there was no direct confrontation, except for the Super Vine Whip battle of Purple Jade, and they relied solely on luring people and backstabbing others by draining their energy, they did not violate the rules. Everything they did was within the rules of the game, so they had won the championship with no dispute.
"I believe that no one doubts the titles of our winners now, right? You think that they're despicable for using others to do their dirty work, but you don't know that your opponents and the monsters that attacked you have all been lured over by them. Everything was in their control, and your loss was by no means wrong.
"On the contrary, we should thank these two. True Pet Tamers must have this kind of strategizing and plan how to defeat without fighting. The situation on a monster battlefield is even more complicated and ever-changing, and the monsters don't speak morality and competition. The reason for this match's rules is so that you can understand that true Pet Tamers not just rely on strength but also on other important aspects."
The host explained with a smile.
After watching the replay and the commentary, many people gradually accepted the reality, but some were still dissatisfied. "Unless you let him fight with me in a dignified manner, he can't prove his power."
At this time, a rough voice suddenly sounded. "Fight with him just with your high-level servant fire monster?"
It was Gao An, the president of the Cannes Trainer Association, a sixty-year-old highly prestigious elder, who spoke.
The young man froze for a moment, and then he eloquently argued. "The high-level, high-attribute-restraint pet of mine is my advantage. The champion should be able to defeat it, no?"
"Has he beaten you? Tell me loudly," asked the elderly chairman again.
"Yes, he won, but he relied on unfair sneak attacks…"
"Has he violated any rules of the game?"
"…No," replied the boy weakly.
"Go back and think carefully about what you've just said. The real strong must be brave in the face of failure and dare to confront it. Instead of blindly messing around and blindly playing tricks, if you have the ability, use the same method to defeat him next time. That's what a true powerful man will do!"
The young man returned to his seat with clenched fists. When they met next time, he would surely cut a sorry state out of Su Bai.
The elder dismissed the boy, and when there was no more objection, he continued. "Let's proceed to the last award ceremony."