Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

As the race continued, everyone was beginning to empty out the first keg but there were certain groups that had just started on their second one. The first in line was the Castillo family followed by the de Leon Family and then the Alvarez Family. My own team and the rest were more or less even at the back and like last time, the Garcia family always remained almost invisible.

The standings at the front were as such because even if the Castillo Family had a beer 'tank' of their own, everyone else had something similar.

Quinn was still the center of attention among our beer drinkers—even if she was trailing behind our dwarven warrior guy—and in my group, there was Mikhail and Bogdan. However, I wasn't entirely sure why they weren't trying to down as much beer as they could since all of them were keeping a moderate pace, even Jose.

I wouldn't particularly count Artem in this comparison because even if I witnessed him survive Oscar's moonshine and whatever the fuck he put in his drink last time, tolerance and capacity were different things.

Despite that, his weapon this time—the same as Ilya—was fucking speed.

The two of them had the highest number of laps completed and everyone else was more focused on running as fewer laps as possible.

It might even sound like a blunder on our part but the number of times a team was allowed to sprint across the track needed to be burned as well as the beer that was already inside their bodies.

However, that didn't mean sweating the alcohol from the beer out because our liver does almost all of the work. Granted beer had only a small percentage of alcohol but sometimes, doing strenuous work to try and get rid of it quickly might make it worse.

In any case, they were sweating out parts of it that weren't alcohol and it didn't take long before someone had to pee where there was moderate cover. Truth be told, this was the only disadvantage Quinn had among the male participants because even with her size, she could run as fast as the rest of them.

With that said, Artem and Ilya just finished their seventh lap and they tagged out with Mikhail and Bogdan. Jose was still finishing the beer in his mug but it seemed like he would be running with Artem right after since Ilya had to conserve a bit of his energy.

'It's a hit or miss with the games they've prepared since it would be difficult to formulate a proper min/maxing strategy with each of them since they're announced at the spot. However, since each participant just needed to run a single lap at the minimum to qualify, having the stomach capacity for liquids such as beer might be the answer… Heck, if they could finish four kegs as fast as they could, each of them could just walk the lap each of them is required to do… but there's always a catch…'

"DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!"

"FUCKING DRINK ALL OF IT!"

"RUN! RUN! RUN!"

Well, after a solid 30 minutes of watching each participant gobble mugs and mugs of beer and run around the track with a pained expression, to my surprise, nothing special fucking happened.

It was simply a battle of whichever team had the largest stomach, nothing more.

Sure, it might be exciting and fun for the people watching but the players wanted to fucking die when they were on the third keg. In the end, there was no point in formulating a proper strategy because it all boiled down to a down and dirty mud-fight as to who was the better alcoholic.

In a sense, my team had the better end of the stick—and the rest of the participants from the other families—for pacing themselves even though they lost and didn't get a single point.

The Castillo Family did win the first prize followed by the de Leon Family and then the Alvarez Family, but they weren't too happy with the prizes— especially the participants who almost threw up from drinking too much beer.

[CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FAMILY THAT WON AND THE FIRST PRIZE IS A JIMMY'S CERVEZAS TANK TRUCK!!! IT CONTAINS 10,000 LITERS OF JIMMY'S CERVEZAS AND THE SECOND AND THE THIRD PLACER WILL RECEIVE 1,000 AND 500 LITERS OF JIMMY'S CERVEZAS RESPECTIVELY!!!]

[WITH THAT SAID, THE REST WILL RECEIVE A CONSOLATION PRIZE OF JIMMY'S CERVEZAS BEER KEGS AND—]

Jimmy was still in the middle of congratulating everyone when he was cut off by one of the participants from the Castillo Family's side.

"THAT'S IT?! JUST BEER— NO SHARES— NOTHING?!"

[A-Ah… You see—]

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!!!"

"YEAH!!!"

"THE ISHIYAMA FAMILY GOT THE TWINS AND WE GOT BEER?!"

"WE CAN'T FUCK BEER!!!"

"YEAH!!!"

[B-But that's still a lot of beer compared to—]

"LISTEN HERE, YOU—"

The guy complaining was about to start a riot but the dwarven warrior guy grabbed him from the back and performed a suplex, knocking him out completely by smashing his head on the ground. Furthermore, his hype guy was also knocked the fuck out because they were causing too much trouble. After that, he walked forward and gave an apologetic look before he spoke in his deep and gravelly voice.

"I'm sorry for my junior here. We gladly accept the prize."

[Ah— Is that so? R-Right— Anyway… Oh! Hold up, one second…]

Jimmy seemed to have received some sort of order from his earpiece and he just nodded a few times before he let out a faint smile towards the Castillo Family, specifically the head of the Castillo Family who was sitting on their spot and seemed to be talking to his right-hand man.

[Mr. Castillo, apologies… Mr. Cuervo said there was a slight oversight with the prizes in this game but he invites you to a private meeting right after the games are concluded. He said he would be welcome to discuss arrangements if—]

At this point, both the faces of Jimmy and Mr. Castillo were on the big screen but Mr. Castillo suddenly cut him off. He was wearing this stoic expression at first but even I felt pressure when he frowned momentarily.

[There would be no need. The oversight was on my part and for that, I apologize. I didn't think I'd have such disrespectful children within my fold and they'll 'apologize' profusely once they wake up. Other than that, I applaud Javier for carrying the team— and the rest for support. A huge percentage of this game's winnings will belong only to him and a generous amount will also be given to his party. Good job.]

[A-Ah, that's Mr. Castillo, everyone! PLEASE GIVE HIM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE AND THE REST OF THE TEAMS WHO WON!!! WE'LL TAKE A SHORT BREAK AFTER THIS!!!]

As soon as Jimmy stopped speaking, the cheers followed but it only reached a high point after a few seconds of build-up. Music replaced it right after but my eyes were glued to the two people that Mr. Castillo branded as 'disrespectful children'.

They were carried away from the area but instead of bringing them back to the viewing platforms, they were brought outside the compound. Furthermore, the person Mr. Castillo was talking to promptly followed and his face was just devoid of emotion, and I could see how the people he was about to come across give way with a wary gaze.

'...'

I watched him disappear to the exit but my attention was placed on my team that just came up on our side of the viewing platforms.

"Nice try, nice try~"

"Eh~ We still lost…"

Bogdan put his hands up, "The beer was fucking delicious but it's just too much at one sitting! We would've won 3rd place if Artem and Ilya continued drinking!"

Jose interjected, "No, that was a good choice."

"W-Well, kinda but—"

Ilya chuckled, "I would've continued if we got the numbers but Mr. Cuervo wasn't even hosting the games yet. Trust me, it'll be difficult to win every single one of them if you're already about to tap out on the warmups."

Nikolas added from the side, "And if we want to be on our 'best' later, we should be like the Garcia Family. They barely put up any effort since the prizes aren't said before the game starts."

Alexei casually replied, "Yep…"

Kaley leaned back to look at Nikolas, "What do you mean?"

"There's no betting pool… yet."

"Oh, right…" Kaley just nodded with a pensive look.

Nikolas continued, "The Garcia family is a calculated bunch. They won't easily put their best efforts into a 'mystery box' of sorts. They'll only put all of their chips when it's an assured win or the chances are extremely high or if the prize is too good to pass up. If it was me, I'd lay low until the right game pops up for us. Everyone else has the luxury to send more members but we don't. If we…"

"Hmm?"

Nikolas just paused mid-sentence while everyone was just looking at him, but he turned his head to the side to look at the numbered baldies behind us.

"What's up with you guys? Hadn't had enough?"

"A-Ah—"

"We don't know what you're t-talking about…"

"Ooh! Is that a bird?"

"That's a fly…"

"..."

All of them were definitely listening in to our conversation and the face they made when Nikolas caught them in the middle of the act was fucking priceless. In a sense, these guys couldn't act for shit— even if their life depended on it, and they definitely caught some knuckles when Quinn came up at the right time.

"YOU DUMB FUCKS NEVER KNOW SHAME?! W-Well, what are you guys talking a-about?" Quinn coughed before turning the other way.

"..."

"..."

"..."