Chapter 284 - The Points System.
After the team had eaten plenty, they went to the parking lot where the same minibus awaited them.
This time, there weren't any parades as the citizens were ordered to stay home and watch the stream of the gathering.
Mr. Rodrigas wasn't a fool to leave the infuriated and disheartened citizens to roam the streets freely after the unsavory scenes their national teams had shown at the end of the competition.
The Organization knew that if they carried on with another parade, those minibusses would be showered with projectiles aimed at those bloodliners, who went full rogue for a flag.
Thus, everyone was requested 'gently' to stay off the streets, which had police cars and army vehicles roaming without stop.
Right now, only the drones were streaming live the minibusses heading for the last gathering.
...
After a while...
Felix's team had disembarked from the minibus and followed the staff member who was waiting for them.
Immediately after stepping inside the field, they were met with the same sight of hundred teams lining up in their same spots.
Besides the gloomy and downcast expressions of the majority of the bloodliners, nothing much changed.
The field was still coated with that blue material and the long wooden stage was left untouched as well.
"Damn, it feels like we are in a funeral." Nathan commentated softly while walking through the rows and rows of silent teams.
Just like he was checking them out, their team didn't escape receiving unfriendly and envious gazes.
Well, it was an expected reaction when those teams had heard that the American team managed to secure 12 flags.
Obviously, it wouldn't feel good to know that their team was fighting for merely two flags or three flags while Felix and the rest had some to spare.
Too bad, the only one affected by those looks was Olivia, who lowered her head in guilt and dejection.
Upon turning his head and noticing Olivia's behavior, Felix knitted his eyebrows in displeasure and knocked her right in the head with the back of his finger.
Ouch!
Pained, Olivia instantly clutched her head with both of her hands while looking at Felix with a wronged expression.
"Never feel remorseful for losers. It's okay to sympathize with them but never feel guilty about winning over them." Felix threatened her with the back of his finger and said, "If I see you behaving like this again, don't blame me for knocking you."
Olivia lowered her head and murmured, "I just feel bad that I have three flags while most of them don't even have one." She sulked, "I feel like I robbed two juniors of their chance at getting inside the team."
"Don't worry about it." Felix smiled faintly and messaged her privately, 'You will see soon.'
Upon hearing so, Olivia tilted her head in confusion.
She didn't know what he was implying and seeing that he turned his head forward, she knew that he wasn't planning on explaining.,
Soon, she stopped moping about the matter and just hoped dearly that her two extra flags wouldn't affect anyone negatively.
...
Ten minutes later...
Every team had made it to the stadium and were waiting for Mr. Rodrigas's arrival. Even with all of the teams gathered, the atmosphere was dark and gloomy.
Thankfully, Mr. Rodrigas didn't like to dilly dally either as the moment he was notified that all the teams had made it in time, he left the lounge he was in with Jacob.
Soon, they arrived at the field and went upstage shoulder to shoulder under the scattered applause of the bloodliners in the field.
'Hope this goes well.' Jacob waved his hand in greeting at the juniors and stood behind Mr. Rodrigas.
This wasn't the time for another speech when the majority looked dead inside.
"Good morning." Mr. Rodrigas looked at their crestfallen expression and said, "You might not have slept well in the previous days due to the disappointment, depression, and rewardless exhaustion. So, this morning is truly not that good to most of you."
Mr. Rodrigas smiled faintly and dropped the long-awaited bombshell on them, "Raise your heads high since the earthling's team members have not been truly chosen yet!"
Everyone stiffened at his proclamation, not knowing how to react. The bloodliners, the instructors, the broadcasters, and even the viewers at home were left flabbergasted by such a twist.
The team members hadn't been chosen yet? Then what's about the flags? What's about each flag represent a team slot? Was all of that just bullshit?...
Multiple questions flooded their minds in those seconds of silence.
Mr. Rodrigas didn't want to wait until everyone regained their wits back and bombard him with those questions.
Thus, he leaned closer to the mic and started informing them about the hidden points system which allowed them to judge everything about the bloodliners.
The hard work they put in, their teamwork, the responsibility they had towards their teammates, The decisions they made; whether smart ones or idiotic ones, the mental fortitude, and lastly, their strength!
Everything that happened was taken into careful consideration and judged properly. This led the ESG Organization to truly get the top hundred worthy bloodliners to represent them instead of just flag holders.
Of course, Mr. Rodrigas didn't forget to mention that each flag was worth 100 points.
The more those bloodliners heard the brighter their expression got.
They didn't expect that the ESG Organization would bamboozle them like this. But after seeing the chaos that rose for flags between teammates, they recognized the importance of keeping the points system hidden.
If it wasn't for it, no one would have known that many bloodliners had such a weak mental fortitude that made them snap at their teammates, start fights, and even snatch the flag!
No one wanted bloodliners like those to represent them in the Planetary Supremacy Games!
They knew that in the deadly games, those bloodliners wouldn't hesitate to betray the team to save their lives when shit hit the fan.
If they did so for a mere flag, why would they hesitate to do the same for their lives?
Hence, the majority of the bloodliners were beyond delighted with Mr. Rodrigas's revelation. As for the rest? Some had ugly expressions while some were clearly upset.
It could be because they knew that their results weren't as noteworthy as their teammates and felt threatened that their points would be lesser than theirs.
Fortunately, the moment Mr. Rodrigas finished his explanation; he manifested four large holograms displaying the long ranking list.
The holograms were big enough; even those at the far back could clearly see the names and points written next to them. Surprisingly, even the disqualified in the competition still had their names on the list!
Rank 1) Felix Maxwell, Total Points: 570ps
Rank 2) Sylvia Ivanov, Total Points: 371ps
Rank 3) Olivia Maxwell, Total Points: 367ps.
Rank 4) Zhang Wei, Total Points: 299ps.
Rank 5) Leo Bridges, Total Points: 267ps.
Rank 6) Aadav Acharya, Total Points: 240
Rank 7) Sophia Schmidt, Total Points: 219
Rank 8) Hina Suzuki, Total Points: 218
Rank 9) Arno Nkosi, Total Points: 215
Rank 10) Johnson Maxwell, Total Points: 200
..
Rank 17) Adam Hilton, Total Points: 159
Rank 19) Noah Maxwell, Total Points: 155
Rank 20) William Bently, Total Points: 150
..
Rank 1950) Micheal Luke, Total Points: -141 //
The list was long alright. But still, everyone's eyes instinctively landed on the 1st ranker, wanting to see who gathered the most points.
Ssssss!!!
Upon seeing Felix's name sitting at the top with a whopping 570 points, they couldn't help but drew a deep breath in shock and disbelief.
Especially when he was ahead of Slyvia by almost 200 points!
However, they still managed to reel in their shock since Felix being one of the top bloodliners was to be expected.
After all, he was a legendary bloodliner and they clearly saw that his team did too well in the competition for them to get an extra flag.
But what truly messed up their minds was actually Olivia's name sitting at 3rd rank! Heck, she was only a couple of points away from overthrowing Sylvia!
Some were too shocked to think straight while some easily figured out that it must have been the extra flags doing!
They weren't retarded to believe in Olivia's skill being good enough to make her gather that many points.
After all, they understood that the captains having more points than the normal team members was due to the decisions before battles or after it.
The captains were always the most active member of the team due to their strength and position. So it was normal for them to have more points than others.
This made the US team stand out even more since they had five members in the top twenty rankings!
Without Mr. Rodrigas telling them about it, the bloodliners could figure out that the top twenty in the list were going to shape up as the main earthling's team!
It was only logical to consider this outcome unless the ESG Organization had plans for another competition between the hundred chosen bloodliners to finalize the team.
Alas, from Mr. Rodrigas's explanation, they knew that was a farfetched reality since he clearly told them that everything they did in the competition was judged.
So what's the point of another competition?
The ESG Organization already got what they wanted and the final list was sitting right in front of those juniors.
If you see your name in the top 100? It meant you are in the Earthling team! If not, pack up and retry again next year!