Haidu: Top of the Tower

Chapter 20

At this time, the contestants who were chatting and laughing in low voices and strolling in the hall may not have imagined that there were two girls in the corner discussing how to control this warm-up match.

"To ensure that you and I can successfully score [-] points in the next game, we must let this round of warm-up match select a game that we are good at and we are sure to win..." While monitoring the movement in the hall, Milady While lowering his voice, he said to Mai Ya: "You can't let them be selected for what they are good at."

Who "they" refers to is naturally self-evident.

Facing such a blatant "power usurper", Mai Ya was very calm when he heard it, as if he didn't think it was a big deal at all.

Although she is a bit strange, she is not in the same style as the young people of the major families, but the important thing is that both of them have similar situations and needs, and they have the same goals, and her mind is sensitive enough—with her as a helper, Mi Lai Dicai finally felt that everything could start.

Malt sighed.

"You're right, it's not that I haven't thought about it, so I didn't put flags on No. 1 and No. 4... But the two of us together only have ten flags."

"That's right." Milady replied, "If we want the warm-up match to have the result we hoped for, we must have enough flags."

"Each person only sent five faces, how can they get enough—" Mai Ya said half a sentence, and immediately bit her own words.She looked at Milady, and stammered, "No, can't you?"

"Why not?" Milady tilted her head and asked, "The things on the bookshelf cannot be moved. The rules are clearly stated, but there is a sentence mentioned in the rules that you can't move other people's flags?"

When Mai Ya was speechless for a moment, she added: "Why is it not forbidden in the rules for contestants to take other people's flags? Because the warm-up match appears to be a vote for the game, but it is actually a battle for the flag. Whoever realizes it first? At this point, whoever has a chance to win."

Mai Yayuan opened his eyes and murmured, "It seems that this is indeed the case...how should we fight?"

"I looked around just now, and found that they didn't seem to react at all, and they didn't realize how important the flag was in the warm-up match... The flag was left on the bookcase early, and the people left. We have to react before them Before coming over, try to collect most of the flags in your hands, and throw out the flags in our hands at the last moment."

Malt nodded: "No wonder you need me."

Milady smiled wryly, and looked out from the gap in the bookcase.

Less than 10 minutes into the warm-up match, the three members of Gaota's family had finished their discussions, and the search for her began: Luo Geng and the others were looking at the bookcase as if nothing had happened, while patrolling the hall.No matter how big the hall is, she can't hide forever; once she is discovered and targeted, how can she have room to move?
She needs malt so badly.

As soon as Malat joins, it means that Milady can control five more flags at once; at the same time, Milady can safely attract the attention of Luo Geng and the other three, and let Malat collect the flags in secret—she is not suspected by anyone, and her efficiency is afraid Even higher.

Knowing that time was running out, the two quickly agreed on the details, and Mai Ya left quietly first; looking at her back, Milady couldn't help but clenched her cuffs tightly.

Next, she needs to use the search to track her three members of the Gaota family in turn, to lure them away from Mai Ya, and to provide convenience for Mai Ya - handing over the action to others, which naturally makes people feel a little uneasy. It's just that she has no other choice, and Malt seems to be trustworthy.

But what Milady didn't expect was that she was indeed discovered by Nava very quickly, and Nava followed her for a while like a gangrene; but when she walked into the two bookcases During the time, Li Wei suddenly turned out from behind the cabinet, blocking her way.

Turning around again, Nawa did not know when she hurriedly followed her, standing behind her with her hands open.

"I'm sorry," Nava said with a smile, "you can stay here and rest."

Milady was taken aback.

"We won't give way," Li Wei said coldly, "I welcome you to push people. I can't wait for your qualification to be disqualified."

So they actually want to take advantage of this rule?

They trapped themselves here, which meant they wouldn't find out what Malt was doing outside, right?Milady gritted her teeth and thought without saying a word.It's just that being stuck here is really suffocating, and she doesn't feel at ease when she can't see Luo Geng...

"I don't care." She made up her mind and said with a smile, "If you want to watch me, you have to watch me."

The gazes of the Gaota family seemed to penetrate her.

After standing silently for about ten minutes, feeling that the time left for Malt's action was almost over, Milady said as if she had just discovered the game on the bookcase: "Oh, this game seems very interesting. I'm going to vote for it. Don’t you vote for the flag? Without your flag, can Luo even do it?”

"Shut up." Li Wei said.

Milady shrugged, pulled out the small flag, raised her arm, and inserted it into the edge of the top floor.As soon as the flag was planted, she immediately grabbed the wooden frame with her backhand - when Nava rushed up with a scream, Milady had already climbed half way up with her hands and feet.

"You're welcome to pull me down," she said with a smile over her shoulder. "I can't wait for you to be disqualified."

Li Wei's hand that was about to touch her stopped abruptly in the air.

The process of emerging from the top of the bookcase and jumping off the bookcase immediately attracted the attention of the reporters to Milady.In bewilderment and surprise, they left their seats one after another, and followed her a few steps from the edge of the hall from time to time, as if they wanted to see what was going on with this contestant; maybe they were worried about the reporter, or maybe they saw that the blocking method didn't work. The two of them disappeared behind her for a moment.

After walking half a circle, Milady found that there was hardly a flag on the bookcase.

More than half of the time has passed, is it because no one is in a hurry to vote, or has Malt collected all the flags?No, it wouldn't be all collected, otherwise the flags were collected so cleanly, how could no one notice?
What about malt?
As soon as she thought of the girl, she saw Malt suddenly showing half of her face from behind the bookcase not far away; her brows were tightly knit together, and she quietly shook her head at Milady.

What do you mean?
Has no one cast a flag yet?

Mai Ya looked around, seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she made a gesture of four, and pointed to her flag bag.

Milady understood that Malt had only received four flags.

Thirty contestants had a total of 150 flags. After such a long time, only four flags were thrown... No matter how you think about it, the ratio is not normal.

Milady clenched her fists tightly and looked around slowly.

Amelia's announcement suddenly sounded from the hall, slightly startling her: "There are still 8 minutes left in the warm-up match, please hurry up and vote in time."

This sentence was heard in Milady's ears, and after a few seconds, it gradually sank into her heart, and bumped into something with a "bang".

A layer of sweat suddenly broke out in her palms.

No... Amelia has been quiet.It might be normal if she reports the timing when half of the warm-up match is over, or when there are 10 minutes left; Ya noticed something and felt that she needed to be reminded, so she made that announcement.

Did she think too much?

But that's just the first thing that's wrong.

The second point is wrong, it is the appearance of the players present, they are too idle.

From where she was at this time, she could see trial contestants in twos and threes in the hall, leaning against the bookcase and chatting.After hearing Amelia's announcement, everyone turned their heads to look, but no one moved, just re-entering their interrupted conversation.

They have obviously read the contents of every bookcase long ago, and now there is not much time left, why don't they vote?
A guess, like a dark cloud, gradually rose from the horizon of Milady's consciousness.She suppressed her doubts, and strode towards the two contestants closest to her—one from the Hanxing family and the other from the Mengsheng family, and they were having a lively conversation at this moment; It was slightly startled.

Milady smiled as calmly as she could. "Excuse me, I want to ask, the flags you voted for..."

When she said this, she deliberately stopped talking, and glanced at the flag bags of the two of them.

They are all bags issued by the committee, and nothing can be seen from the outside.

The female contestant from Han Xing's family waved her hand. "Hey, our flags have already been handed in. This year, the patriarch will distribute them uniformly. Why, don't you know?"

Milady hoped that the trembling in her heart would not show on her face. "Oh, I handed in mine too," she said almost mechanically, "I just wanted to make sure..."

Another female contestant from Mengshengjia looked at the badge on her chest and seemed to have misunderstood what she meant. "Your Gaota family is really interesting," she said complainingly, "You said that you want to decide this year's competition and let the patriarch accept our flag. You are still worried, so you have to ask?"

Sure enough—it really was Luo Geng.

This thought rumbled in Milady's mind, and she seemed to be sinking into the black sea for a while.She didn't know how she coped with it, turned around and left, and she didn't even know when there were more people beside her.

Nawa was standing two steps ahead, arms crossed.

"I didn't expect you to notice it? But it's okay, you found out too late." She said coolly.

Milady stood where she was, unable to utter a word.

"It's really stupid of you to want to compete with brother Luo Geng." Nava swept her slender eyes twice and asked, "Do you really think that the warm-up match is your chance as he said? ?”

Milady felt that her throat, tongue, and mouth seemed to be filled with bitter blood.

"We have made a plan long ago, and we are not going to leave you with even a shred of hope. How many people do you know here? Do you know how many people Brother Luo Geng knows? The chiefs of the various clans who participated in the trial competition are either Tea Ross. Uncle’s colleagues, or Uncle Rose’s friends...Brother Luo Geng asks them for a favor, and he will naturally be able to gather the flags together.”

Indeed... It might not be difficult to persuade the other patriarchs to do a favor with Tea Rose's affection.

For Nava, Milady might be a clown who wanted to be a king, so that people couldn't even make it ridiculous.

She sighed and said: "The game that will be selected in the warm-up match has been decided half an hour before... There is no point in your struggle. You listen to me, now go to Brother Luo Geng to plead guilty, and give your flag to me." He, maybe he can get back his forgiveness... After all, brother Luo Geng is a very tolerant person."

Milady and Luo didn't know each other very well, but she didn't think that the other party would be a tolerant person at all.

She really wanted to say that it was not her style to admit defeat at the last moment, but she didn't make a sound for a long time.

Nawa shook her head, as if she felt that she was hopeless, she turned and left.

Milady wiped her face slowly.

Even counting the malt ones, they only have a dozen or so flags in total; the opponent has more than 100 flags on hand, and can easily send the five games they selected to the official competition. Comparing the numbers, Milady Lian Not at all.

She was brought back to life by the pain on her lip, and realized that she had bitten too hard.

No, the situation is not yet desperate.

In any case, Miledica feels that it is not too late; there are at least 15 minutes before the end of the warm-up match, and it is still not a dead end.After all, Luo Geng hadn't realized that she not only had herself, she also had an ally—although she still didn't know how to play the malt card, at least she still had a card to play.

After learning about the development of the situation, Malt's face turned pale with anxiety.

"Maybe our only chance is after they throw the flag and before the end of the warm-up match..."

"But they are not stupid, can they give us a chance to capture the flag?" Mai Ya asked back: "If they only planted the flag in the last minute—"

She didn't finish speaking, but suddenly couldn't continue.

Milady stared at Malt for a moment, then followed her gaze and slowly turned her head away.

Nava was standing not far away, as if her whole body was a part that had just emerged from the shadows, standing there silently, as if she was not alone, but a bookcase or a chair.With Milady's sharp eyes and ears, she didn't even notice when Nava turned around and quietly followed after Nava left just now.

"So you still have a helper." Nava nodded, seemingly surprised but not surprised. "Brother Luo Geng told me that even if we have the chance to win, we must not let go. We must destroy all the cards in your hand. It seems that he made the right move before you."

Before she turned to leave, she looked Malt up and down again, and said, "Fengjiao's? I really have no eyesight, you cast the wrong side. Can't you even tell which side is more powerful?"

... If it wasn't desperate just now, it is now.

"It's over, is she going to report to Luo Geng?" Mai Ya murmured, "Unexpectedly, I really cast the wrong side."

Milady was lost in her own thoughts, and did not hear a word.

On Luo Geng's side, it can be called vigorous and resolute.It felt as if Nawa had disappeared for a while, and Luo Geng strode towards the two of them. Before they arrived, there was already a gust of warm wind.

He didn't seem to see Milady next to him, and extended a hand towards Malt with a friendly smile.

"The malt from the Windhorn family?" When he spoke, a lock of golden-red curly hair jumped down his forehead, as light as his eyes and smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Luo Geng from the Gaota family."

Malt glanced at Milady before slowly stretching out her hand cautiously. "You can't use force in the warm-up match," she also reminded in a low voice.

Luo Geng broke out into a hearty laugh.

"Of course I won't do anything to you!" His lips and teeth were fresh and white, as if they would glow, and said: "On behalf of the existing Sea Wave Concerto family, I would like to welcome the return of the Fengjiao family after a hundred years. How, now your Did the warm-up match go well?"

Malt withdrew his hand, with a strange expression on his face, as if he was secretly competing with himself.

"Smooth... No, it's not going well." She said with difficulty, as if she had finally managed to swallow the sentence "Don't you know if it's going well or not".

Luo Geng nodded and said with a smile: "The warm-up competition is about to end. It's a pity that the games that will be selected are not suitable for girls who fight alone. I think your next competition will be very difficult——"

Malt interrupted him.

"You want me to stop working with Milady, don't you?"

Luo Geng's complexion paused, and then he laughed again. "I like girls who speak quickly!"

Malt is much more "quick talker" than he thought.

"If she hadn't joined forces with me, you wouldn't have seen me, so who would you admire?" When she muttered, her voice was loud enough for several people to hear clearly. "I'm not stupid. If I don't agree, then I will definitely lose. If I don't lose, you will ensure that I lose. But I have made an agreement with her. Now I regret it after seeing failure. It's a bit shameless."

She didn't seem to notice it at all, and the complexions of the people around her changed from bright to dark according to her words, and they were not very good-looking.

"I can guarantee you to win the game and become the patriarch." Luo Geng said maintaining his demeanor.

"I want to be the patriarch, and I also want the face." Mai Ya's small face was wrinkled into a ball, and after thinking for a while, he said to Luo Geng: "Are you sure you can find two people for me to defeat in the end? You There is no guarantee that these two people behind you will stay until the end."

The smile on Luo Geng's face had long since disappeared at this time, only the ghost of the smile remained, vaguely not completely gone.

"Of course it's no problem," he said reluctantly, "otherwise I'll discuss it with other families, and it won't be a problem to have one or two of you."

"That's right, your dad must have many friends." Mai Ya sighed, "I can no longer cooperate with her in the next official competition... But since I have an agreement with her, I have to help her in the warm-up match."

She turned her head to look at Milady, and said, "This should be fair, right? Don't worry, I will do what I say. I will still be with you in the warm-up match. I can give you all my flags."

Milady could lose her composure in front of anyone, but she would never allow herself to appear distraught in front of Luo Geng, and now she managed to regain her composure.

"The loss of the warm-up match was mainly because my plan was a step slower, so I lost allies. I only blame myself." She slowly wrung the words out of her chest: "You don't have to give me your flag, even if you Give up now, and I have no complaints against you."

Malt seemed to want to refute, but before she could speak, Milady continued: "My existence is a threat to him, and he feels that you are the only one who will ally with me. In other words, my threat to him The bigger you are, the more stable you are. Remember that...remember it was my presence that made Lo more willing to make sure you win."

"A lot of nonsense!" Before Milady finished speaking, Nava had already jumped up, "Why, brother Luo Geng helped her, but in the end it will be your fault?"

Milady used all her strength and smiled at Malt.

"She has to find a step down for herself, otherwise where will she put her face?" Luo Geng fulfilled his wish to make Milady lose her only ally, but his smile was very bright: "Malt player, since she doesn't mind, please feel free to Let's come."

Malt glanced at Milady a few times, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't say anything, she bit her lip and followed them away.

As soon as the person left, the composure he had pretended in front of Luo Geng dissipated, and Milady almost stopped.She quickly pulled over a chair and sat down.

She stared blankly at the bookcase in front of her, finally curled up slowly, and buried her face in her hands.

The thin girl looked as if she had been broken.

Can't even win a warm-up match, is the gap between her and Luo Geng really that big?
The reporters in the hall had already realized that something was wrong with this year's warm-up match; after Luo Geng's conversation with Milady, almost half of the reporters sat on her side.

According to the rules of the game, they had to hold back their expressions, let alone ask questions, but even though they were so quiet, Milady could still feel the silent comments one after another—"To fight against the current patriarch's family, she is too Naive", "Doesn't she know that she is fighting against a system", "She is completely finished, this is good news"...

After Luo Geng's hard work, all the flags were concentrated in the hands of the patriarchs of each family.When the end is approaching, these flags will be inserted on the corresponding bookcases according to Luo Geng's will.

Luo is a cautious and suspicious person. He will not leave the flags planted alone, and will definitely arrange for people to guard them.Armed conflict is not allowed in the warm-up match, as long as they block that way, Milady will be helpless.

She has been forced into a situation where she has no power to fight back. No matter how you think about it, Luo Geng has already won.

When Amelia reminded that there were only 5 minutes left in the warm-up match, perhaps for the first time in the history of the Restoration of Prosperity Trial, there was not a single flag on the bookcase in the arena—this was when Milady finally got out of the chair. I found it when I stood up and turned around.

Another thing she found was that no one was watching her this time.

Because almost all the players were gathered around Amelia's desk, a large number of flags were piled up on the ground; Luo Geng and the others were lighting the flags, and at the same time quickly distributed the flags to the hands of each player—obviously, when the last moment came , all flags were inserted within a few breaths.

People and flags were gathered at one end, and Milady was floating among the bookcases like a wandering ghost.

She looked at the large group of people and the large flag, and then turned her head to look at the bookcase.

There must be a way, she thought blankly, there must be... just, what is it?
Does she have time?

"Now there is one minute left before the end of the game."

Luo Geng's long-planned operation finally started.

Following the order of the various clan chiefs, in just 60 seconds, all the people and all the flags flowed so orderly and so quickly to the games that were most beneficial to the three of Luo Geng: gladiatorial battles, battles, and team battles...

Where have the reporters seen such a warm-up match before? All of them stood up from their chairs and stretched their necks to watch; perhaps it was clear to the bystanders, someone suddenly let out a low "ah", and was immediately "hush" by someone It was silenced.

"time up!"

When Amelia's voice cut the warm-up match to an end, several staff members opened the door and walked in. "The flags that have not been cast are not allowed to be cast again. Now please take a step back from the bookcase."

Luo Geng's camp had a large number of people, and they finished throwing the flags in a pinch, and the five bookcases were densely packed with flags waving.He had tried his best not to let the pride show on his face, and thanked each contestant one by one; on the contrary, Milady was as silent as a nun, and seemed to have accepted her fate.

"Please gather in the open space," Amelia ordered. "Now the staff will count the number of flags, and I will announce them uniformly."

Those few staff members are quite familiar with counting the number of flags. The contestants only waited for 10 minutes, and all the results were handed over to Amelia.

The black-haired woman sitting behind the table, after reading the counting paper in her hand one by one, looked up at the players.

As if it wasn't an illusion, Milady felt that her eyes stayed on her for a while longer.

Amelia Furui picked up the loudspeaker calmly.

"Now we are announcing the final results of the warm-up competition for the Prosperity Restoration Trial Competition." She said calmly: "There are five bookcases that have won more than 25 flags and were successfully selected to become the official candidates for this trial competition." The content of the competition. They are-"

There was a jumping fire in Luo Geng's eyes.

"No. 2, No. 3, No. 7, No. 9 and No. 10."

(End of this chapter)