"Well, shit. It appears Sullivan is already meeting with the judges as we speak," Zhen Liu said aloud, "Meaning we gotta go, now."
Zhen Liu immediately began walking in the direction that he could sense Frosttusk was standing, but Zhen Yue and Zhen Hai didn't know about. Seeing their cousin move with such confidence however, compelled them to follow suit.
"Wait, how do you know tha-"
"I can share my senses with my ka-puppets, due to my formula's quirks. What they see and hear, I can see and hear."
"Oh...wait, does that mean you could-"
"Technically yes, but they're kinda too obvious for that."
"Ah..."
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"Now then, Mister Quartz, can you attest to everything that the Zhen team had managed to retrieve while in the confines of the ruins?"
"Uhh..."
Soon after Frosttusk had managed to cross the finish line,with a "sled" full of people behind him, Sullivan and the rest of the occupants had to vacate it due to contest officials getting involved.
Medical assistance had to be administered and submissions needed to be done.
"Oh shit those are some bad wounds! Several burns, broken bones..."
"Alright so that's the Gudimani, Blartz and Corrada teams...huh? Who are these guys?"
"Don't know, but we gotta treat them too."
"Wait, ain't that Rose?! Wasn't she dead?"
Sullivan had initially planned to be honest about everything from the start.
Not necessarily out of malice, but because it was his duty as an upright digger. As well, he assumed that out of all of the items the Zhen Clan found, at least one of those items would be considered valuable enough to win this thing. But then again...he wasn't so sure right now.
The Ifrit Fire Heart Crystal should've been enough to win, but that got messed up because of a certain mangy mutt and the resulting scramble for the shattered pieces. He had no idea if they had gotten enough of the pieces that they could win, but he did see another team drag a huge chunk of it across the finish line.
'Lucky scavengers, literally making gains based on our sacrifice.'
There was also the World class aether art that they had found in that accursed chest guarded by corpses, but even though he knew that World arts were valuable, he had no idea on the exact value of the scroll itself. For all he knew, it could value way less in comparison to the crystal ore.
'I mean...I saw what it could firsthand via that crazy young master and his absurd puppet, but...I'm not sure. Minerals and ores I know, speaking of...'
Finally, Sullivan had thought of revealing that the giant mammoth puppet thing next to him was made with materials found inside of the ruins, Fenririte of all things, but he had no idea if that qualified as a legal entry since it was "made" as opposed to "found". More importantly, Sullivan had the distinct feeling that it was probably not a good idea to reveal that the fourth young master of the Zhen Clan was able to make a devastating battle puppet capable of freezing lava on the fly like that. Additionally, he, like everyone else in the city, knew about how Zhen Liu was the target for an assassination conspiracy despite being weak as hell.
If people were willing to target him over not being able to fight, then sure as shit they would pull out the big arts if they knew about the puppets and how he could make them in an instant.
'Besides, I kinda owe him one for Rose...'
The aforementioned Rose was still comatose, but the Corrada mistress assured him that she was just aether drained. A few days of rest and possibly a recovery pill and she'd be right as rain.
'Wait...what about the "sled"?'
Sullivan threw a glance at the severed mechanical centisnake's head, which was still encased in a thick layer of frost and ice. The mammoth puppet that Zhen Liu had made in ruins was currently standing by it, like a guardsman protecting a treasure chest. Sullivan figured that after using the sled to bring back the injured people, Zhen Liu would've just abandoned it off to the wayside.
The fact that Zhen Liu was using his puppet to guard it, perhaps there was more valuable behind it than what Sullivan had thought.
'Could that suffice as an entry? But wait, what if Zhen Liu knew this and that's why he's guarding it with the puppet...'
Sullivan kept mulling over what to do, his pride as a digger vs his honor for repaying debts, but the judge didn't know this and they wanted answers.
"Mr. Quartz?"
"Huh?"
"Can you attest to everything that the Zhen Team has dug up, yes or no? Otherwise, the Zhen Team will be disqualified."
"Uhh...yes."
With no more time to think about it, Sullivan just went with his gut on this.
'All I can do now is wish you all luck...'
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Zhen Liu and his cousins reached Sullivan's and Frosttusk's location, just in time to see the former talking with the judges. The latter was currently standing by the "sled" in the manner befitting a stoic guardsman. Zhen Liu still wasn't sure why Frosttusk still guarded it.
Unfortunately, for the Zhen Clan heirs, they were too late.
"Ah, and here is the Zhen team now," the judge said in an amicable manner, "Do you three have the Ifrit Fire Heart Crystals prepared for entry?"
The three heirs stopped dead in their tracks, surprised at the sudden query. Not sure what else to do, they just went a long with it.
"Uh..yeah, here," Zhen Hai said in an unsure manner, as he handed over the sack they were using to hold the crystals. It seemed a bit unprofessional, but it was functional.
"Thank you for the entry," the judge said as he gingerly took the sack of crystals from them, "We'll be sure to give a fair and balanced evaluation for the final scoring. We wish you luck."
With the crystals in hand, the judges proceeded to just...leave. No questions about the head, the puppet or even about the World class art in their backpack. They just...left.
"Shouldn't they has asked about-," Zhen Hai began to ask before Zhen Yue put a finger to his mouth.
"Shhhh. Don't say shit."
"Sullivan...you didn't tell them about the...other stuff?," Zhen Liu asked with a quizzical expression.
"Yeah...they didn't need to know about the irrelevant stuff," Sullivan answered with a slump of his shoulders, "Besides...I owed you guys one."
It was at this moment, Rose began to stir. This movement didn't escape Sullivan's notice as he rushed to be by her side.
"Rose! You're awake?"
"Hmmm? Sullivan? Where...am I?"
"You're safe now, that's all that matters," Sullivan said as he took her hand on his and pressed it against his forehead. A warm atmosphere began to form as these two shared an intimate moment. It was mildly awkward, but Zhen Liu and company in the area thought it was kinda cute.
[How...sweet...]
"Huh...I guess...we did bribe him...,"Zhen Hai said with a complicated look on his face.
"Yeah...think we're gonna win this thing?," Zhen Yue asked.
"Probably not," Zhen Liu bluntly stated, "But hey, at least we reaped a hell of a consolation prize." Zhen Liu subtlety leaned his head back and stared at the pack of which they were keeping the [Echoing Frost] art scroll. While he wasn't sure if it was worth more than a rare crystal ore, he could at least be certain that this scroll was more practical.
'Wonder if it'll get passed around or just given to one...'