With the pursuers split into three as well, the outcome was obvious: they lost their points to the members of Team Zenith and were eliminated from the tournament.

The disparity between the pursuers' strength and the Earthlings', which the pursuers hadn't accounted for, spelled their defeat. To many of them, the Earthlings were little more than a prize, rather than competitors in their own right.

Furthermore, communications were only active between competitors within each quadrant, so those competitors who were eliminated were unable to reveal just how strong the Earthlings were. In addition, only one team would be able to receive the nightdemons' boon, so it was only natural that even the search teams would be wary of each other.

This made Zhang Lie's point-gathering mission proceed...