The first fight of the second elimination round ended. Although Shrek Academy didn"t win by a landslide, they still demonstrated their strength. This was especially true for w.a.n.g Qiu"er. Her performance in the team round caused all the other team leaders to turn dismal. Of course, the expressions of the Holy Ghost Sect"s members couldn"t be seen, since they concealed their faces.
The tournament continued, and the next few fights were very intense. In order to qualify, every team gave their best. There were many casualties in this second elimination round. The b.l.o.o.d.y smell coming off the stage also grew stronger and stronger.
“Let"s return,” Huo Yuhao said to his teammates after looking up at the sky.
“You are not watching anymore?” Xu Sanshi was a little stunned as he glanced at Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao shook his head and replied, “We"ve seen what we need to. There"s nothing much left to see. No matter who our opponents are, we"ll have to give our all, right? Let"s return to rest.” As he spoke, he gestured for w.a.n.g Dong"er to push his wheelchair.
Although Huo Yuhao wasn"t the oldest among them, he was the stand-in team leader since Bei Bei wasn"t around. No one questioned his words. Everyone stood up and left the venue silently, returning to the Ming Yue Hotel.
They were competing tomorrow. Their opponents weren"t well-known, and were from a sect too. They didn"t have any information regarding this sect, and they didn"t notice this sect in the first elimination round either. However, that didn"t mean that their opponents were lousy.
------
After returning to the hotel, Huo Yuhao called his teammates to his room.
In the the tournament, they had had a meeting room they could use. However, they had to make do with this for this round.
“I"ll talk about tomorrow"s strategy briefly,” Huo Yuhao began.
Xu Sanshi laughed, “Are you planning to compete first and continue all the way until the end?”
Huo Yuhao shook his head as he smiled and replied, “It"s different from the previous round. There were many competing teams then, and we had sufficient time to rest. From this round onwards, the time between each successive round will be shorter. We must try our best to conserve our fighting strength. After all, we don"t have many subst.i.tutes. In fact, we should learn from Shrek"s strategy today. None of them depleted too much of their energy, but they still fought to warm up their bodies. They kept themselves in their best physical condition for the team round. Tomorrow, we shall follow their strategy. Third senior, you"ll fight first tomorrow. What do you think about this arrangement?”
Xu Sanshi"s eyes brightened, and he said, “Great idea! However, don"t you want us to conceal our true abilities?”
Huo Yuhao chortled and replied, “You only have two opponents to defeat before you concede defeat. Are you really going to reveal your trump card in those two fights?”
“Of course not!” Xu Sanshi said proudly.
Huo Yuhao laughed, “That"s great! Second senior, you"ll be the second to compete. You"ll fight two of them also. Xiao Xiao, you"ll be the third to fight. You"ll only need to fight one. Fourth senior, you"ll fight one person only too. Dong"er will be last, and she"ll take care of the last person.”
Na Na looked a little pitifully at Huo Yuhao. After hearing that she had no role, she lowered her head.
Huo Yuhao chortled, “Na Na, haven"t you realized that we"ll have to lose a few fights in the individual elimination round with such an arrangement? The final fight will be in the team round. You"ll have your chance then. In the team round, I"ll have to rely on everyone else. I"ll only be the main controller of the team.”
Na Na lifted her head again and subconsciously said, “Master, I have no objections to any of your arrangements.”
After hearing the word “Master”, everyone"s expressions turned a little weird.
Huo Yuhao also felt very helpless. He had corrected her many times, and struggled to get her to call him by his name. However, there were times when she wasn"t careful, and still called him Master. Na Na didn"t find anything wrong with this, since she was very grateful to Huo Yuhao. Not only did Huo Yuhao save her parents" souls, but he also gave her a new life! He was her benefactor!
Huo Yuhao coughed and said, “Seniors, please return to rest. Na Na, stay behind.”
Xu Sanshi stood up and patted Huo Yuhao"s shoulder. He shot him a weird look and softly said, “Yuhao! You must control yourself since you"re already in this state!” w.a.n.g Dong"er could hear him clearly even though he was trying to speak softly.
Besides laughing bitterly, what else could Huo Yuhao do? Everyone else left, but they wore weird smiles on their faces.
Only w.a.n.g Dong didn"t smile. She walked to one side and poured a gla.s.s of water for Na Na.
“Thank you, Mistress.” Na Na received the gla.s.s respectfully.
w.a.n.g Dong"er felt very helpless too, “Sister Na Na, please don"t call me that. I can"t take it. We are senior and junior from the same sect. Yuhao has helped you before, but everything"s already in the past. Don"t tell me that you won"t help us when we are in trouble? Don"t be too bothered…”
“Okay.” Na Na acknowledged her words naturally, but it was evident that she didn"t take them in.
Huo Yuhao knew that there was no point trying to convince her. He didn"t bother doing so. “Na Na, how"s your progress on the matter that I wanted you to investigate?”
Na Na turned serious, and a look of fear flashed across her eyes. She nodded gently and replied, “Yes, you"re right. It"s them, I"m sure of it! I wouldn"t forget their aura even if I turned to ashes. It"s them! It must be them!”
Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Right. You"ve verified my guess. The Holy Ghost Sect is the Holy Ghost Church. Don"t be afraid, everyone will protect you as long as you remain with us. What about the other thing? How"s the contact?”
Na Na said, “I went to three black markets, and only the biggest one says that there are goods available. However, the details have to be discussed. Furthermore, their asking price is very high, and they are difficult to deal with.”
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, “It"s okay if the price is high, as long as the goods are available. Before the war starts, we must prepare. Continue to maintain contact with them and bargain. After that, set a time to meet. I"ll meet them. Let"s do it this way; continue to contact them a further three times and let them sense our sincerity. After that, purchase some samples.”
“Alright.” Na Na acknowledged his words.
Huo Yuhao said, “You should return to rest, too. Take care of your safety when you are alone at night. If you can"t handle it, ask for help from Sister Ziyan or Brother Ji. After all, they are people who can"t handle loneliness.”
“Alright!” Na Na regarded herself as Huo Yuhao"s servant. After acknowledging his words, she turned around and left.
She closed the door behind her after she left. w.a.n.g Dong"er asked curiously, “Who did you ask Na Na to contact? Why don"t I know about it?”
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, “Have you forgotten that my spiritual power has reached the concrete-immaterial realm? I instructed her a few days ago. Since we are here at the Sun Moon Empire, we can"t leave empty-handed. We"ve found some big clients.
“At the same time, we are going to purchase some goods.”
w.a.n.g Dong"er was intelligent. She immediately thought of something, and asked, “Rare metals? You asked Na Na to search for rare metals for sale on the market?”
Huo Yuhao nodded, “My love, you are really intelligent. Come here, I"ll reward you with a kiss.”
w.a.n.g Dong"er"s face turned red, and she said, “Stop fooling around. Let"s get back to proper business first.”
“Alright. Since you"ve agreed, I"ll wait until we are done with proper business first.” Huo Yuhao said with a serious look on his face.
“Since when did I agree?” w.a.n.g Dong"er asked in embarra.s.sment.
Huo Yuhao chuckled and said, “You said that we should get back to proper business first. Naturally, that means that we"ll get to improper business after that.”
“You…”
“Let"s get back to proper business. You"re right. I want to buy some rare metals.”
Seeing Huo Yuhao"s serious face, w.a.n.g Dong"er snapped as she pulled his hand toward her. She bit the back of his hand. However, she bit very gently. This was evident from how Huo Yuhao enjoyed her bite.
“Can you buy rare metals in the Sun Moon Empire? They"re war resources now.” w.a.n.g Dong"er asked doubtfully after she finished biting him.
Huo Yuhao smiled gently and asked, “Why not? As long as you have the money, nothing is impossible. It"s because rare metals are considered war resources that they"re very expensive. But this also means that selling them is very profitable. Some people will be interested in such profits. Furthermore, they are bound to be authoritative figures. This time, our two clients have accepted very expensive deposits. Gold soul coins are only useless, expensive metals. What we need are rare metals that can be continuously converted into wealth. Storing metals is better than storing money. That"s why I plan to purchase rare metals. Before we left, eldest senior brought all our liquidated money. That includes the funds we gained by selling the Zhuge Divine Crossbow to the academy. Along with the payments that Princess Jiuju and Princess Wei Na gave us, the money that we have is quite substantial!”
w.a.n.g Dong"er was a little worried, “However, I"m afraid it"ll be very troublesome to purchase rare metals here. What if we don"t get the goods even after paying up? Even if we get the goods, can we return safely?”
Huo Yuhao patted her hand and said, “There"ll always be a solution. Trust me.”
“Alright.”
Huo Yuhao said, “We are done with proper business.”
w.a.n.g Dong"er naturally stood up and said, “I"m going to wash my clothes.”
Huo Yuhao wouldn"t let her go just like this. He pulled with her right hand, and she landed on his thigh.
She didn"t struggle, and only buried her embarra.s.sed head in his arms. She didn"t struggle because she was afraid of hurting him. After all, only his right arm out of his four limbs could move!
“My love, just a while, alright?”