#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <algorithm>

int maximum(int a, int b) {
    if (a > b) {
        return a;
    }
    return b;
}

extern int j = 2;
extern int m = 0;

int max_el(std::vector<int> &numbers) {
    if (j + 1 != numbers.size()) {
        m = maximum(numbers[j], m);
        j++;
        return max_el(numbers);
    }
    return maximum(m, numbers[j]);
}

int max_element(std::vector<int> &numbers) {
    if (numbers.size() == 1) {
        return numbers[0];
    } else if (numbers.size() == 2) {
        return maximum(numbers[0], numbers[1]);
    } else {
        m = maximum(numbers[0], numbers[1]);
        return max_el(numbers);
    }
}