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[Time is up, Dear Prodigies.]
The Inter-Prodigy Group Tournament begins now. Good luck and have fun! ]
The 24-hour grace period for preparation passed by quick as the tower prodigies busied themselves strategizing. Yet as soon as the announcement was made, they all dropped whatever they're still doing and began acting.
This tournament takes place in a pocket dimension. Its size was comparable to a solar system only with firmer laws to ensure that it wouldn't collapse under the combined strength of the prodigies who will be competing with each other here.
The islands are scattered everywhere; some were close to another while others were in a far corner of the realm. As soon as the tournament began, the majority of the islands began moving, either in search of opposing teams or to find a spot where they could hide and wait out the end of the tournament.
Cedric's team was among the ones who chose to move. This was a decision they all agreed upon, especially after they modified their island.
Speaking of which, their island looks far from normal by now. If you look at it closely, there is a faint outline of a dome surrounding the island. Through the reflection of light, the runic symbols that made up this dome could sometimes be seen, indicating that it was protected by some kind of formation.
Additionally, there are patches of forests and lakes in some zones of the island, courtesy of Morning Wood and Moss Lady. Backpack Fatty grew in size and curled up, turning himself into a mountain range while Hawkeye was perched at the highest spot of his body.
Howler was chilling within the forest; he even thought about taking a nap. Eunuch Wei was at the pedestal where the control panel was; he's the one moving the island, and Cedric was roaming freely as he pleased.
While it might look like they're relaxing and not taking any of this seriously, that's just what it looks like at the surface. In reality, all of them were alert and waiting for the first enemy team they'd encounter.
They've already made as many preparations as they could during the past 24 hours and were fairly confident that they'd done enough to at least earn a decent ranking by the end. Now, they're just anticipating whether this was indeed the case or if there's a need for them to do more.
"We've got two teams approaching. Stay alert, folks." Eunuch Wei's voice echoed in their ears as if he's talking right next to them.
Nobody moved or showed any signs of entering combat, and this was for a good reason. They just waited in anticipation as the island moved closer and closer to its closest enemy.
The teams Eunuch Wei warned them of were sensed by the scanner included with the control panel. As for the specific information about these teams, they're just going to have to wait until they meet the enemies because the scanner doesn't provide any of that. It just scans if there's enemies nearby.
And if their scanner can sense these teams, it's also a given that the enemy team could sense them too. At this point, this fight was inevitable, and it's one against two right away. What a start...
The enemy island eventually entered their sight, and they saw it moving towards them as if they intended to crash both islands together. But just like before, nobody did anything. And their inactivity puzzled the enemy team; it didn't stop them from crashing onto them, though.
BOOOOM!!!
Unfortunately, completely out of the enemy's expectations, the island of Cedric's team remained completely intact, unscathed even. While theirs had cracks all over. It even damn near crashed the core of their island.
This completely went beyond their logic because they were initially confident that they'd come out on top of this clash. After all, not only did one of their teammates volunteered to accelerate the speed of their island by pushing it, another teammate of theirs also fortified the entire island to minimize the potential damage it would suffer at the crash.
And seeing that the enemy island not only survived but also came out completely unscathed from the crash caused them to feel panic, only realizing now that this was a bad idea. Unfortunately, it was too late for them.
They only heard a mad cackling somewhere on the enemy island before flashing lights covered their vision. The next thing they knew, all of them had returned to their lobby, and the system was informing them of their complete elimination. They could only look at each other in dismay before tuning in to the livestream to watch others compete, feeling slightly regretful of their recklessness.
"KYAHAHAHAHA! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET BIIIIITTTCHHH!!!"
Eunuch Wei crass language and crazed laughter caused his teammates to shake their heads in shame. It seems that this guy has completely forgotten that there were people who were watching this and could see how he's tarnishing the dignity of the Angel Race.
But that is his problem, not theirs. So long as they perform nicely in this tournament, they could ignore his madness.
"KYAHAHAHAH-oh shit..." Eunuch Wei's mad cackling ending rather ominously alarmed his teammates. He then said, "Ahaha, uhm, guys? We're surrounded."
"How many?" Howler asked through his communications.
"Ten teams," Eunuch Wei's solemn voice replied to them. "Five are bound to arrive soon. What do we do?"
Well, the situation certainly escalated quickly, hasn't it?
The sensing range of the scanner was limited, and it works like a sonar. Eunuch Wei couldn't be blamed for driving them into the center of chaos since there's no way he could've seen this coming. Also, it's too late for them to turn around now since the enemies have already been alarmed by their presence.
"Be alert, Wei. So long as no more than five teams siege, as at the same time, our defenses can hold on. Time the shields properly to minimize the damage and conserve energy," Cedric said to prevent the guy from panicking.
Then his eyes flashed before he added.
"Also, when I tell you to lower down to forcefield at some certain areas around the island, do it. It's time for some of us to do some exercise."