Chapter 718 Always in Second Place
The next day, the competition officially began. Due to the spread of various rumors, many people were pessimistic about Marshall’s team, believing that they were bound to lose.
Before the competition started, the odds for betting on the outcome had already soared to 1 to 30, with almost no one believing that Marshall’s team would win. In order to earn more money, some unscrupulous haters spread rumors about Catherine, even going as far as to say that she only became a researcher in the laboratory through personal connections.
Marshall led his team to the entrance of the sealed laboratory. He personally ushered each of his students into the laboratory. When he saw Catherine, who was walking at the back, he gently patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Just believe that you are the best,” he said earnestly.
Faced with Marshall’s sincere advice, Catherine remained indifferent. Used to her temperament, Marshall didn’t mind. “Remember, you don’t need to worry too much. Just follow your heart, ” he said.
“Okay,” Catherine responded.
Her rare response brought a noticeable smile to Marshall’s face. For him, his team’s rankings were unimportant as long as his students did their best.
The competition’s task was a specific experimental project, requiring the students to design a set of chips within three hours. The chips’ functionality had to comply fully with the competition’s regulations.
The task was only revealed after the two teams entered the sealed laboratory. Many people were dumbfounded when they saw it.
Several professors from Styre University were also shocked. “Why is the task so difficult?” they exclaimed.
Marshall furrowed his brow and unconsciously pushed the frame of his glasses. “They’re giving us such a
difficult task in the first round?”
The Johnville Team appeared quite confident upon seeing the announced task. Outsiders thought it was because they believed in their team’s strength, but the truth was that the difficulty was due to the Johnville Team’s mentor pulling strings behind the scenes. The Johnville Team looked down on Styre University but wouldn’t use any underhanded means to win. The strictness of the Bide Cup wouldn’t give them that opportunity. Their goal was simple-to make Styre Team’s defeat as embarrassing as possible.
To prevent cheating, the laboratories were surrounded by tempered glass, allowing everyone to see the experimenters inside clearly.
The Johnville Team, as expected from a top-three-ranked team, had an incredibly strong ability to work together. Although the experimental project for this competition was quite challenging, they had already started operating at a rapid pace, looking very confident.
On the other hand, the researchers of the Styre Team were still discussing the competition project. The accompanying mentors standing outside the laboratory were extremely anxious.
“Marshall, what’s going on with your students? Why haven’t they started yet? ” one of the mentors asked urgently.
Marshall had a serious expression on his face, and he seemed a bit nervous. This task wouldn’t have been too difficult if he had guided them. However, the mentors couldn’t interfere, and their students had to rely on themselves. Moreover, it seemed like this task was specifically targeted at the Styre Team, hitting their weak points.
Facing the inquiries, Marshall remained silent, staring straight ahead.
Paddy and his team were watching as well. Seeing that the Styre Team hadn’t started yet, he couldn’t help but make sarcastic remarks again.
Fergus didn’t stop Paddy, so Paddy became even more arrogant, even going as far as to taunt Marshall directly. “Professor Hartley, you said Catherine is your favorite student, right? But why does she seem to know nothing, just sitting there daydreaming?” His words drew everyone’s attention to Catherine.
Unlike her teammates, who were actively discussing, Catherine sat quietly on the side, resting her chin on her hand with a vacant look in her eyes, seemingly lost in thought.
Instantly, discussions started spreading rapidly. The situation became so serious that several school leaders came to Marshall.
“Marshall, what’s going on with that student of yours?” one of the school leaders asked.
Marshall stared at Catherine with a fixed gaze, not knowing what she was planning to do.
Seeing Marshall’s lack of response, the professors didn’t know what was wrong with him. After discussing, they prepared to replace Catherine with a substitute. This suggestion had been made before, but at that time, Marshall strongly opposed it and used his position as a guarantee, firmly recommending Catherine to stay in the laboratory.
Now, Catherine blatantly neglected the competition, showing no regard for it. Even if she didn’t know how to complete the task, she should have joined their discussion, at the very least.
The professors prepared to leave, but Marshall quickly stopped them. The leading professor looked at Marshall, looking somewhat agitated. “Marshall, what’s gotten into you? Why are you still protecting her?” His attitude seemed resolute, indicating that he was determined to replace Catherine.
Marshall’s eyes turned bloodshot, and he glared at them. “I am the mentor of this team. No one is allowed to go into that lab without my command!”
Faced with Marshall’s stubbornness, the professors felt somewhat helpless. They had no choice but to let him be, especially since Marshall said he would take responsibility if anything went wrong.
The mentor from the Johnville Team, upon seeing the commotion from the Styre Team, began to mock them.
“Humph, look at them! It’s so funny! Losers always like to come up with various excuses to cover up their incompetence! And we, as winners, naturally don’t need to complain about anything because we always stand on the stage of victory!”
The merciless mockery left the members of the Styre Team with no dignity. However, they couldn’t even find a reason to refute the taunts. Deep down, they had subconsciously accepted that they were going to lose.
Ronin was present as well. Seeing the arrogant attitude of the Johnville Team, he exploded with rage. After all, he was now a member of Styre University. How could he allow these outsiders to disparage his team like this? As Catherine had said, there was no need to endure when one couldn’t endure anymore.
Ronin stood up and pointed at the Johnville Team’s mentor, mocking loudly, “Oh, stage of victory, huh? But why are you always in second place? How dare you act so high and mighty here. Who was the one who cried after losing the competition? And now you think you always stand on the stage of victory? Do you think we all forgot you cried like a baby last time?”
During the previous Bide Cup, the Johnville Team suffered a devastating defeat, losing three times in a row to the Altonian Team. The mentor of the Johnville Team had to take full responsibility and publicly apologize in front of the nation, shedding tears and expressing regret.
The mentor’s shame was exposed on the spot, but he couldn’t find a better reason to argue back, so he could only sit down in frustration.
Seeing him quiet down, Ronin didn’t want to cause any more disturbance, mainly to avoid affecting Catherine. He decided to argue with that mentor. He would teach that old man a lesson after the competition ended.
