Chapter 58: Nominal Captain and Command Authority
Howard sat in front of his laptop, the screen displaying the registration page for the Southern California Collegiate Mystic Warlords League. David, Sheldon, and Raj gathered around, their eyes fixed on the screen.
"Alright, guys," Howard took a deep breath, his finger hovering over the enter key. "This is the final step. Once submitted, the team name 'Justice League Squad' can't be changed."
"Just submit it, Wolowitz. I'm perfectly satisfied with this name," Sheldon urged impatiently.
Howard rolled his eyes and retorted, "Of course you're satisfied with a name you dictated yourself." But he still pressed the enter key.
The page redirected, displaying a green checkmark and the words "Registration Successful."
"Yes!" Raj was the first to cheer. "We're officially in!"
Howard turned around, an excited smile on his face: "Alright guys, registration's complete. Next, we start intensive training! We've got two weeks until the tournament, we need to make every minute count..."
"Wait, hang on," Raj interrupted him. "We'll discuss the training schedule later. Right now..." He looked toward the other end of the living room.
Leonard sat alone at the dining table, his laptop open and a pile of printed charts spread out before him. He wore headphones, completely immersed in his own world, fingers rapidly typing on the keyboard, oblivious to the commotion around him.
Raj walked over and gently tapped Leonard's shoulder. Leonard jumped, pulling off his headphones: "What's up?"
"Leonard," Raj said, "are you sure you don't want to train with us and register for the tournament? Even though only four people play officially, the rules allow teams of four to six, with starters and subs. Come on, you were there last year—you've always been part of our team."
Leonard looked at Howard, David, and Sheldon, who had gathered around, then at his half-written paper on the screen, an apologetic expression on his face.
"I'm sorry, guys," he said sincerely. "I really can't participate. This paper... I have to finish it ASAP. David and I have completed all the analysis of the 3D scanning data, and we're at a critical stage of writing up the results."
He paused, his tone becoming serious: "I'm convinced this will be one of the most important papers of my career. Those data points... we found something genuinely interesting that could influence the entire topological insulator field. I can't afford the distraction."
Over the past week, David and Leonard had dedicated nearly all their time to data analysis. They'd resolved the signal inconsistencies encountered earlier, confirmed that the quantum oscillation period deviation was indeed related to sample strain, and constructed a new theoretical model to explain this phenomenon. Now, the paper's framework was established, and the experimental and data analysis sections were largely complete—mainly just the writing remained.
Raj nodded understandingly: "Okay, science comes first."
"Exactly," Leonard said. "Good luck with your training." He put his headphones back on, returning to his paper.
Howard clapped his hands, calling out to the others: "Alright guys, now that the roster's set, we need to solve one problem first—electing a captain. The captain's responsible for strategy, in-game calls, role assignments, and so on. I think this position is clearly..."
He looked at David: "Best suited for David."
"I completely agree!" Raj immediately raised his hand.
"I object," Sheldon's reaction was predictable. "I was captain last year. According to principles of team seniority and continuity of leadership, there's no reason for David to suddenly become captain this year."
Howard and Raj immediately pushed back.
"Sheldon, one of the main reasons we got eliminated so fast last year was because you were captain!" Howard said bluntly. "You came up with those overly complicated strategies nobody could follow, and during matches, you were still debating the theoretically optimal play while we were getting destroyed! We didn't even make it out of groups!"
Raj nodded in agreement: "And David's the best gamer among us—no, the best I've ever seen. There's no reason for you to be captain when he's on the team."
Sheldon's brow furrowed. He was silent for a few seconds, then said, "In that case, I propose a challenge match with David to determine who becomes captain. One-on-one, best two out of three."
Howard couldn't help but interject: "Come on, Sheldon, you two already competed a few months ago, remember? From actual matches to game knowledge, you got crushed! You don't even have half of David's win rate!"
Sheldon's expression froze. Clearly, he remembered those humiliating defeats. He opened his mouth, as if to argue something, but ultimately just pressed his lips together.
"Then," Sheldon's tone became firm, "if I'm not captain, I won't participate."
"If you're captain, we'd rather forfeit!" Howard was equally stubborn.
Although Raj looked somewhat hesitant, he still sided with Howard: "Sheldon, we really want to win for once... please."
Sheldon stood up and said in an exaggerated, dramatic tone, "Wonderful. Less than ten minutes after registering, our team has imploded. This probably sets the record for the shortest-lived team in Southern California collegiate gaming history."
Seeing that the two sides were about to escalate further, David spoke: "Guys, let me say something."
The living room fell silent. David turned to Sheldon, his tone calm: "Sheldon, first tell me—what's your goal in entering this tournament?"
"To win, obviously!" Sheldon said without hesitation. "To demolish those people and send them home crying to their mothers! That smug captain from the Stanford team last year mocked my tactics as 'slower than dial-up internet'—I'm going to make him eat those words!"
"Exactly," David said. "Our goal is to win the tournament, not to argue over the captain title. Since that's the case, you can channel that competitive drive into actually winning. Now, please objectively consider—who's more likely to lead everyone to victory as captain?"
Sheldon opened his mouth but said nothing.
David continued: "To put it another way, as long as we all follow directions and cooperate during training and competition..."
"We're willing to follow your lead, David!" Howard immediately declared. "Because we actually want to win!"
"Me too!" Raj said.
David nodded, looking at Sheldon: "Then how about this—let Sheldon be our 'team captain,' the titular captain. But in-game, everyone follows my actual commands. How about it, Sheldon? You get the captain title, and our team gets to win the tournament!"
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