Chương 164: What if the future changes...

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On the first day of the knockout stage, a total of three academy matches were held.

The last two games ended even faster than the one at Zhuqing Academy.

Both Miare Academy and Orange Academy ended their matches 2-0 with near-total dominance.

Zhuqing Academy is only nominally ranked last, but their rivals are the real second to last and third to last.

The first day of competition has concluded, and the first match of the second round, scheduled for a week later, has also been finalized.

The match is between Miare Academy and Celebration Academy.

Upon hearing this news, the Carlos felt as if the sky had fallen.

The strength of this year's Miare Academy is not outstanding.

It could even be said that, apart from the ace Karuni becoming stronger, the overall lineup is even weaker than last year.

This year, the highest expectation that the Carlos people have for the Miare Academy is simply to make it into the top four.

But looking at the current schedule, it seems highly likely that they will be eliminated in the round of 32.

The night the match ended, in a VIP ward at a private hospital in Devon.

"Ahem!"

With a violent cough, the slightly weak Shiba awoke from her coma.

He risked everything when facing Lu Sha's final blow.

Regardless of winning or losing, he needs to lie in bed for several days to recover afterwards.

However, as soon as he and the monstrous strength clashed with each other's attacks, he was utterly crushed.

The gap was huge; it was a crushing defeat.

"woke up?"

Kona's cool voice rang out in the room.

Despite the excruciating pain throughout his body, Shiba turned his head away without changing his expression.

Kona was sitting in a chair by the window, her legs crossed elegantly, playing with her phone.

"I lost."

Kona was incredibly charming at that moment, but Shiba couldn't be bothered to give her another glance.

He looked up at the white ceiling, his weak voice carrying a strange sense of melancholy.

"It was a really bad defeat. Because of your loss, the internet in Kanto is now flooded with insults directed at us."

Kona held up her phone and read the comments on the screen in a calm tone: "If you're bad, don't go on the field and embarrass yourself."

"You bunch of trash from the top 64 have completely disgraced Kanto as the number one region."

"Is Guandu completely out of talent? Why make a mere idiot who only knows brute force the ace?"

"Du Tianwang is still the best. He led the team to victory when he was only a freshman."

"5

"" As Kona read out each insult, Shiba's hands gradually clenched into fists, but eventually relaxed helplessly.

"She's very strong, so my loss wasn't unjust. A loss is a loss, and I deserve to be criticized."

"You're so carefree. But I clearly won the game, and I still have to take the blame along with you. Don't you owe me some compensation for my emotional distress?"

Kona put down her phone, her sharp gaze fixed on Shiba.

She conceded three times in total during this Academy Cup.

But each time she gave in, she didn't get the result she wanted.

She gave up the penthouse suite at the Devon Hotel to Watari.

She shares the position of principal at Quartz College with Shiba.

She also gave up the opportunity to fight against Gadriya to Shiba.

Three concessions were made, but the result was utter defeat.

Even though losing the match had nothing to do with her, and the doubles match she participated in was the team's only victory, she was still dragged into the criticism.

Her social media accounts are flooded with just as many abusive private messages as Shiba's.

"Emotional distress?" Shiba glanced at her.

"A loss is a loss. You chose to give up yourself, and now you're asking me for compensation?"

"Tch, if you hadn't insisted on going your own way, we wouldn't have run into Gadriya at all." Kona glared at Shiba, her face full of anger.

"I told you back then that Gadriya would definitely be in charge of the arena, why did you have to go head-to-head with her? Why didn't you and Aju go and win the singles match?"

"Singles competition winner? You really think we can win?"

Shiba slowly propped himself up, his towering figure like a rock, and sat cross-legged on the hospital bed.

The body was still in excruciating pain, but for a fighter, this pain was nothing.

"Why can't you win? Is it because you can't beat that bug-wielding guy, or because you can't beat that weaker superpowered person?"

Kona snorted, "With the strength of those two weaklings in the doubles, even Aju could easily sweep them. I can also go and play in the singles."

What's the point of saying all this afterward?

Shiba crossed his arms, his voice low and menacing: "You still don't understand. From the very beginning, we were seen through by them. That Gadriya, what's terrifying isn't just her strength."

"What do you mean?"

Kona narrowed her eyes slightly.

Battles between trainers are not only a clash of Pokémon power, but also a clash of ideologies.

A single match can reveal a lot.

As someone who directly confronted Gadria, Shiba naturally saw more than she did.

"Her superpower origins reveal an absolute belief in victory. It's not arrogance about her own strength, but a rational and unwavering conviction in her ability to win."

In their final encounter, Shiba gave it his all.

At that moment, he was closest to the realm of the Heavenly King, and he could also sense the emotions reflected in Cattleya's heart.

The confidence that Gadriya displayed at that time was completely unlike the confidence she had in her own abilities when the score was tied at 1: 1.

It felt like, from the start of the Academy Cup, the opposing team was certain they would win because of something or someone.

Gadriya is already the strongest ace of Zhuqing Academy, so her confidence naturally doesn't come from a teammate; it must be the result of premeditated planning.

"Long before we submitted our roster, our every move was probably already within their calculations."

Shiba spoke with certainty.

"Have I been seen through...?"

Kona raised an eyebrow, lowered her crossed legs, and changed her sitting posture: "Given Wataru's rigid logic, that is indeed a possibility."

She thought this was perfectly reasonable.

Moreover, Kona believes the biggest problem in their loss this time doesn't lie with Shiba at all; otherwise, she wouldn't still be in this hospital room.

This biggest blame absolutely belongs to Du Lai.

The lineup for this competition was entirely determined by Wataru based on each person's strength and attributes, as no one in the team was willing to submit to anyone else. He arranged the track according to what he considered to be the most suitable for each person.

Logically, she should be the one facing off against Cattleya.

However, because she and Watari didn't get along, and because Shiba insisted on fighting, it was ultimately decided that Shiba would be the ringmaster in match C.

However, to be fair, Kona felt that even if she were to take over, the outcome wouldn't change much.

She watched the entire match from beginning to end.

Given the terrifying strength displayed by Cattleya and Lu Sha, she was no match for them.

She's not afraid to lose; she'll accept defeat if she can't beat someone.

But the problem now is...

She clearly won her own match, yet she's being dragged into the mess.

She had even proposed the safest formation plan, but due to Du's rigidity and stubbornness, the whole thing was lost.

This was unacceptable to her.

As strong as Cattleya is, can't we just avoid confronting her head-on?

If she were in charge of selecting the players, they might actually win this game.

Shiba and Kona briefly reviewed the situation and agreed that Watari should bear the main responsibility for the defeat.

Even if they had just separated their three strongest fighters, the result wouldn't have been this bad.

"Getting back to the point, what kind of compensation do you want?"

Shiba brought the topic back to its original starting point.

After shifting the blame, although he is not usually one to shirk responsibility, he did feel much more relaxed at that moment.

"If the situation changes in the future, I need you to stand up and support me."

Kona glanced at her phone again, then slammed it face down on the table, looked up, and her gaze turned cold.

"The situation has changed? What has changed?" Shiba frowned slightly.

"I don't know, maybe yes, maybe no. But if our qualification for the Ultron Challenge is revoked, I won't stay in this area any longer," Kona said calmly.

"Huh? You're really planning to participate in this year's Heavenly King Challenge? We don't have the same foundation as the Dragon Royal Family, and none of the older generation of the Four Heavenly Kings have retired this year. How could we possibly rise to the top?"

Although there are rumors online that Shiba will participate in this year's Challenger, he knows it's just a rumor and he never thought he could win now.

One radish, one hole.

Lance rose to power at the same time as a veteran player and Professor Oak retired.

There won't be such a good thing this year.

"Whether I can rise to the top is a matter of my ability. Whether they let me participate or not is their choice. What I want has always been very simple: for the Orange Islands to develop better and for the resources that the Four Heavenly Kings deserve."

Kona calmly stated her thoughts, looking directly at Shiba: "Like now, all I need is your stance. I can assure you that if you ever suffer injustice in the future and need to speak out, I will stand by you, even if my voice is insignificant."

"Haha, if I really suffered injustice, would I run away? Everyone is a sinner in the Academy Cup now. Of course I can speak up for you, even if you decide to betray Kanto." Shiba readily agreed.

In his view, the Kanto League is not so bad that they should be disqualified from the Elite Four Challenge just because of a single loss.

It's a deal.

Kona's lips curled into a smile.

Has everything been calculated...?

She wanted to see just how deep their schemes were.

On the screen of her phone, which had been lying face down on the table, was a chat interface with a friend whose profile picture was a giblet shark.

There is only one lonely sentence above.

【Little Gible】: "If the situation changes in the future, do you want to come and join us?"'

Meanwhile, in Wusong's room.

"Cheers! (Let's drink one last glass to celebrate our victory over the toughest challenge! Cheers!)" Lu Sha chuckled and raised the glass filled with grape juice.

The others joined in, and amidst laughter and chatter, the twelve cups clinked together crisply.

"Cheers!!!"

The celebration banquet didn't end until late at night.

There were no matches scheduled for the following week at Zhuqing Academy, so everyone was especially relaxed tonight.

"So why did you have to hold the victory celebration in my room?!"

After everyone had mostly left, Wusong finally couldn't help but complain.

The room was a complete mess.

Empty snack bags, half-empty juice bottles, and even the floor and his bed were covered with confetti from the fireworks.

"Hehe, who told you to be the student council president? When it comes to valuing the honor of the college, who can compare to you?" A-Liu chuckled and put his arm around Wu-Song's shoulder.

"If you really can't sleep here, you can just come to my place for the night. It's right next door anyway."

"Hehehe..."

"Get lost! Your laugh is so creepy, who knows what you're up to!"

On the other side, Gadriya and Lu Sha also walked out of Wusong's room with Dorasena and the others, all of them wearing relaxed smiles.

"Little cabbage, you don't seem very happy today?"

Dorasena had her arm around Cynthia's, and her voice reeked of alcohol; she was the only one on the team who had been drinking.

"No, it's just that... I feel like I haven't done anything today." Cynthia gently shook her head.

"Ka! (You're our biggest guarantee of victory today.)" Lu Sha chuckled, trying to comfort him.

"But I didn't even play. It was all thanks to you guys that we won." Cynthia's fingers clenched slightly.

While she was happy that Zhuqing Academy had won, the feeling of being completely uninvolved made her feel unworthy of attending the celebration banquet.

"Click! (I can't do without you!)"

"Click! (Quartz Academy is the toughest opponent this year. Their two strongest members aren't as good as Devon Academy's, but their overall strength is superior, and they have three outstanding players.)"

"Click! (Given Quartz Academy's arrogance, they'll definitely want to go toe-to-toe with the young lady in the arena. Putting you and Wusong in the one-on-one matches is our sure-win formula.)"

"Everything is just as you predicted. So, if you were to lead the Quartz Academy team, what would you do?" Cynthia asked curiously.

"Click! (If I were the leader of Quartz Academy, I would definitely arrange for Matsuba and Ami to fight in the doubles match, let Aju and Shiba handle the singles match, and finally let Kona go all out in the ring match.)"

"Click! (If we don't want to take any risks, let Kona play in the doubles match as a safety net. Either way, since our overall strength is weaker than theirs, their chances of winning are very high.)" Strategically despise the opponent, but tactically take them seriously.

Despite Lu Sha's pre-match demeanor of looking down on everyone, he thoroughly studied his opponents before the actual match.

In his view, Quartz College's overall strength is far superior to that of Zhuqing College.

If we rank the twenty players from both sides by skill level, Zhuqing Academy would only occupy the 1st, 4th, 6th, and 7th positions in the top ten.

Rank.

The remaining seats were all taken by Quartz Academy, even the 11th and 12th places were held by them.

The gap in strength between the two sides on paper is that exaggerated.

Fortunately, the opposing team was disorganized and fighting their own battles.

Although Du is extremely strong, he is simple-minded and not a cunning old fox.

Otherwise, Zhuqing Academy's chances of winning this battle would be no more than 30%.

Unfortunately, while the top four fighters from Zhuqing Academy are indeed outstanding, the top three from Quartz Academy are equally formidable.

"Little Sasa, what are you going to do if they don't play their cards in the order they're playing today?"

Dorasena hugged Cynthia with a grin, but her eyes were fixed on Lu Sha with longing.

She wanted to pounce on her and rub against her, but unfortunately, she was no match for Cattleya now.

If she dares to take even half a step forward, she will be mercilessly blown away by her psychic power.

At the celebration banquet, she secretly tried it by pretending to be drunk and during the games. She acted very naturally, but she was still knocked away by telekinesis.

Hmph! Cattleya, you stingy little thing!

"Crack! (Given their personalities, they're destined to lose. If they don't lose like they did today, they'll only lose even more miserably.)" Lu Sha responded.

"Why are you so sure?" Cynthia asked curiously.

"Click! (Because although they are strong individually, they don't trust their teammates at heart. Therefore, the strongest ones will definitely not participate in the individual competition.)" Lu Sha laughed smugly.

"Because the singles competition is a best-of-three format, even if you win, you might be dragged down by your poor teammates?" Cynthia pondered.

"Click! (That's right! So Lorelei and Shiba definitely can't be on the singles roster. And as long as they avoid the singles, we've got this game in the bag.)"

"Click! (Even if they could come to their senses and consider the bigger picture, choosing to forgo the ring match and put Shiba and Kona into the singles and doubles matches respectively...)"

"Click! (But with you here, Little Cabbage, we still have a chance in the singles competition. At least under the best-of-three format, our probability is still higher than Quartz Academy's.)"

"Don't call me Little Cabbage! You've spread that nickname, and now even Grandpa and Grandma call me that."

Cynthia pouted and complained, but knowing it wouldn't have any effect, she pressed on, "So, if Indigo Academy wants to beat us, what exactly should they do?"

"Click! (It's simple. With their strength, as long as they don't run into us in the first round, and can see through our lineup and tactics in the later matches and give them enough attention, their chances of winning are still very high.)" Lu Sha laughed.

To win, you have to treat them as a real threat.

However, as the team with the strongest overall strength, Quartz Academy is destined to be targeted as a hypothetical enemy.

From the moment they took first place in the test round, it meant that they had already gone far.