Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva

"I understand, this kind of treaty doesn't benefit you much, so I just ask that you don't attack us."

"Then what about at the end?" the young girl wondered. Surely, it wouldn't end with just two teams not fighting each other.

"If we're the last two teams left, I'll concede and let Tilan take first place. I'm fine with second," Audrey patted her chest, indicating she was completely okay with it.

"Whether you win or I win, it doesn't matter much; we're good sisters."

"This..." Tilan was surprised.

"Among the songstresses, Tilan and I are the closest. We're both descendants of the Five Phoenix Heritage, with similar personalities, tastes, and bloodlines. It's quite natural," said Audrey, noticing Tilan's surprise.

"I didn't think about it that way," Tilan shook her head.

Honestly, even though she has Eastern heritage, she felt somewhat detached from it until today. She finally realized the closeness and mutual trust that exists within the kinship culture of the East.

It was like the ancient heroes who would sacrifice their lives straightforwardly for a promise, achieving great righteousness—a belief and mindset quite rare in other cultures.

"I understand now. If you encounter danger, Audrey, you can also ask me for help, and I'll do my best to protect you," Tilan agreed with a nod.

"That's a relief." Seeing Tilan agree, Audrey was especially happy, even wanting to high-five Tilan.

However, instead of high-fiving, they held hands and stood together on the balcony, enjoying the night view and reminiscing about many past events, like Audrey being asked to recite ancient poems as a child and getting caught cheating with her brother Feng Jianxue, or Tilan's troubles eating her mom's experimental pastries at home, secretly hiding them to avoid disappointing her mom, and eventually feeding them to her dad.

The next day, bidding goodbye to a reluctant Audrey, Tilan boarded the small boat again, sailing down the river back to her base in the Star Cluster.

On the sixth day of the competition, it was relatively peaceful. Audrey and Tilan signed a cooperation agreement, agreeing not to attack each other and to assist each other in times of crisis to protect their songstresses. Prin's side was conducting post-war recuperation and recovery, and Ores' Star Cluster started scanning units spreading tentatively in three directions. Blanchi led her team to complete the 'Bloodsteel Knights' mission from the neutral faction, gaining 20 powerful Bloodsteel Knights. Despite these knights being restricted by rules from using other war machines and firearms, their inherent full armor and chainsaw greatswords were sufficient to deal with many enemies.

Returning to the secure base inside the mountain, Tilan went to the underground warehouse where the waiting elite technicians reported.

"President Tilan, based on previous experiments, we have found the most suitable template plan, named 'Black Kite,' and assembled about 10 'Black Kite' class warplanes today."

After speaking, he moved aside, revealing rows of large black warplanes lined up behind him.

"These warplanes use twelfth-generation material shells, just one generation behind the current military standard of the thirteenth generation, allowing easy supersonic flight within the atmosphere for rapid battlefield support."

"Moreover—" He adjusted his glasses and spoke with some excitement.

"They can transform and be used as small mechas."

"Hmm?" Tilan turned her head, eyes filled with doubt.

"I'm not a professional military engineering student, but I know such transformation sacrifices quite a bit of structural strength. Is it necessary?"

"President Tilan, allow us to explain."

"Indeed, transforming sacrifices quite a bit of strength, but even the simplest mecha paired with Sequence 6 members would multiply the combat power."

"It's a multiplicative boost in combat power, far outweighing the sacrifice in strength."

"As for why mechas rather than higher-grade warplanes, it's because the prevalence of mechas makes related technology very mature. There are many common templates we can quickly use, while designing warplanes with equal combat power is technically easier. However, due to less frequent usage scenarios compared to mechas, fewer people have the expertise."

"Many of us are quite familiar with mechas. Such a modified plan suits the current situation better; in simple terms, when not proficient in something, draw it into your domain of expertise for combat."

"I understand." The young girl raised her hand, indicating no need to continue.

"If we use the available points for redemption, how many similar warplanes could we build?"

"Points exchanged for identical parts or items get a discount after a certain number; the more we exchange of the same thing, the cheaper it gets. If we use all our resource points to exchange for 'Black Kite' class warplanes, we can reach a quantity of 100!"

"Even if we don't have enough personnel to pilot them, we can add AI modules, using them as Autonomous Combat Units."

"But it will take considerable time, and frankly, many are not skilled at piloting mechas," Tilan thought.

"Yes, assembling these 'Black Kite' class warplanes will take about four days, and if everyone needs to familiarize themselves with piloting, it could take several more."

"However, only eight days remain until the battle ends," Tilan sighed.

"Well, that should suffice." She leapt lightly onto one of the 'Black Kite' warplanes, touching the slightly cool matte outer shell with her hand.

"I'll leave it to you from here." She stood up.

"Understood, Lady Tilan!" The technicians below stood at attention, looking quite soldierly, and indeed, many were military school students.

Just like every songstress has her own struggles, although Tilan didn't want to get involved too early in the Federation's complex political struggles, as someone from a military star domain, she couldn't easily shed that label. The Four-leaf Crystal's military-industrial atmosphere had always been present, and many geniuses from star domains aspired to the glory of four centuries ago.

Since generations have joined the military, the military's top brass naturally have some fondness for Hexia Tilan from the Four-leaf Crystal Star Domain.

This mutual selection often happens silently, unknowingly influencing the future paths of many songstresses.