Silicon Invasion

"Our 'expert' level is largely inflated. Many people know that. Is it really that troublesome?" Lin Xinxin asked, somewhat puzzled.

Niu Wei nodded solemnly, his expression grave. "It's quite troublesome. We originally thought we could make a fortune quietly, but we didn't expect those guys to care so much. That Xu guy is issuing us a challenge."

"Of course. Having an 'expert' level clearance during school adds a huge advantage in future competition. They're all our competitors, how could they just sit and watch?" Tong Yue's face was also full of concern. People are more concerned about unequal distribution than scarcity. If they had cleared the normal version, the others would only be envious.

But they were essentially exploiting a bug. Although they received an 'expert' rating, their actual strength didn't truly reach that level, and there was even some gap. This naturally made others unhappy.

"I bet they'll definitely unite to protest to the school. If we clear the expert-level difficulty map in the competition this time, then naturally everything will be fine. If we don't, I'm afraid some trouble will arise," Tong Yue said worriedly.

"Could they possibly cancel our expert-level clearance record?" Lin Xinxin asked, disbelieving.

Indeed, the simulation battle rating is directly recorded and saved by AI intelligence. No one has the right to modify it. With the original recording, the expert-level clearance rating is unquestionable.

"Even if they can't cancel it, they could add a suffix like 'non-complete version' or 'novice level' to disgust you, right?"

"They can do that?"

"Of course. Their goal is to eliminate the added advantage that our record brings, and bring us back to the same starting line."

"Damn it, how can they be so mean?" Lin Xinxin said, indignant.

"This has nothing to do with good or bad. Think about it, if the Spellcasters and those guys used similar means to get an expert-level clearance record, we definitely wouldn't accept it," Tong Yue said, taking it in stride, and patted Lin Xinxin's shoulder in consolation.

"That's true." Lin Xinxin thought carefully and realized that what Tong Yue said was true. If this happened to someone else, she would indeed find it difficult to accept.

Why should some people be able to get extra points through luck when everyone else is working hard?

Although luck is also a part of strength, the selection of fourth-generation mecha pilots definitely considers hard power and doesn't want to involve luck.

From any perspective, the school would probably tend to support Captain Xu and them.

Sure enough, Zhang Zhi summoned everyone for a small meeting later, and the content was what everyone had predicted before.

However, the school's wording was more pleasant. The school asked everyone to perform well and demonstrate clearing an expert-level difficulty map in front of everyone, to let those who held opposing opinions see and shut their mouths.

If they passed, the school would have extra rewards. After all, clearing expert level during school is a significant honor and has a positive impact on the school's publicity, especially after the previous Luo Rui farce, which had some impact on the school's reputation. The school urgently needed some positive news to rebuild its image.

Of course, with rewards, there are punishments. If they didn't pass, although the clearance record wouldn't be deleted, a note would be added…

After the meeting, everyone's faces were clouded with worry. Although they had already guessed most of it, everyone still held a glimmer of hope until the slap truly landed.

"What do we do?" Seeing that everyone was silent, Lin Xinxin asked, her face full of worry.

"We can only take it one step at a time. According to past experience, the expert-level difficulty starts from the eighth map. Therefore, we must not make mistakes in the first few maps and must save all the revive opportunities for the eighth map. If we have enough information and a little bit of luck, we may not be able to clear it," Niu Wei cheered everyone up. There was no way around it. Even he knew the hope was slim, but he was the captain.

The person with the best mentality in the room was none other than Luo Rui. Anyway, he was a benchwarmer and didn't have to worry so much. Second was Zuo Kun. Last time he cleared expert level, his position was replaced by Luo Rui. Even if they cleared that difficulty again, he would only get team honor, not personal honor. The difference between the two was worlds apart.

Although he knew he shouldn't be like this, he didn't feel much resentment, and there was even a little bit of schadenfreude. Of course, just a tiny bit.

The next few days were the performance time for the thirty-five teams. At this time, the freshman teams had already been completely wiped out, but one sophomore team successfully broke through.

Unfortunately, their strength was still far behind the older students. They had already exhausted all their revive opportunities on the third map, becoming the first team to be eliminated among the thirty-five teams.

However, they didn't have to wait long before the second and third teams were eliminated one after another, and the number increased.

In the end, only five teams successfully passed the seventh level and arrived before the eighth map.

The eighth map was, as expected, an expert-level map. In previous years' competitions, although it wasn't completely impossible for teams to clear it, it was extremely rare.

Most teams used three opportunities to get more small points to compete for ranking.

Among the five teams that got the chance to challenge the eighth map this time, only one team had been wiped out once due to a mistake in the previous map, using up one revive opportunity. The other teams had maintained a perfect winning record.

The Shining Knights, of course, were among the undefeated teams. This time, Niu Wei and the others were extra careful, steady and cautious. Even if it took them more time than other teams, they were not impatient.

Because they knew that as long as they cleared it, it would count as a major score, and they wouldn't consider things like time at all, because passing was passing.

As their old rival, the Elemental Spellcasters team was also perfectly intact.

"Tomorrow is our first challenge, and everyone is clear about the true difficulty of expert level. So we don't expect to clear it in one go. The first opportunity will be mainly for collecting information. Zuo Kun, tomorrow don't choose Archer Three, choose the Clairvoyant support unit. Then you and Lin Xinxin will use drones to scan the battlefield map. The rest of us will try our best to buy you time."

"Understood." Zuo Kun nodded. During combat, he and Lin Xinxin were in the closest positions and had the most contact, so he also had a good understanding of support units. Although his operation couldn't reach Lin Xinxin's level of specialization, he was fully capable of controlling drones to scan the map.