Chapter 331: chapter 331 Acquaintances and grudges ( 2 in 1)
Translator: Radiant Translations Editor: Radiant Translations
Wang Zhong's had a very clear thought towards this. If their Tianjing squadron had degenerated to the point of needing to group up like that, they really should need to pack their bags and go home. Furthermore, there's an old saying that one shouldn't be afraid of god like opponents then pig like teammates! Regardless of what are the rules of the elimination competition are, bringing along a large group of mutually vigilant, pig groupmates that were scheming against each other would only hinder the progress of Tianjing.
Regardless of Scarlet, Grai, and even Ma Dong all understood and acknowledged this point. It's best to treat the eccentric acts from those bunch of people in the hotel as wind passing by one's ears. In any case, since each of them was heading along different paths for their future, there was no need to give any care about them.
Time passed as days flew by, before the start of the month arrived, and the opening ceremony of the CHF was about to start.
The recreational aspect of the federation in the past years definitely wasn't able to match up with the modernized federation this year. As for the CHF that comes every four years, the one held this year was undoubtedly the most glamorous event within the entire federation. Bringing along the style of a skill competition, it also helped guard and increase the honour of the federation. By turning the CHF into an event that everyone paid attention to, as long as one was able to have outstanding performances during it, one would be able to obtain the prizes promised by one's city, and even change the fate of one's family. Take Barran for example. Due to Barran obtaining the qualifications to participate in the CHF, his parents had obtained better treatment in the city.
For this year, not only was CHF going to be broadcasted live throughout the federation, even the other 3 great empires had chosen to broadcast the entirety of the competition. For the past few years, it's said there was increasing attention towards the federation's grand CHF competition from the Tutankhamun, Kaiser and Amazon empires. The people from the empires do need enjoyment too, especially those with fighting and killing. Recently, there was even mutual contact with the federation on matters pertaining to this. One would imagine that there might be a possibility for the 3 great empires to send teams over the participate in future CHFs, turning the CHF into a global event.
It was precisely due to this growing popularity across the entire world that caused this current CHF to become such a grand event. Not only was it the hundredth year anniversary of the federation, it was also the first time in history that the CHF will be broadcasted in the various empires across the world. Ignoring political reasons, a showcase of martial honour and glory, this was the best opportunity for the federation to showcase their might, various kinds of peaceful environments, riches and opportunities to enter a paradise world towards the citizens of the various great empires. This was a kind of mental brainwashing that was beneficial for the government and status of the federation. Regardless of the federation or the host, Stuart City, one can imagine the importance this CHF was for them.
At this moment, the eyes of seemingly everyone across the world were focused on this extravagant and magnificent city. Ever since last night, the entire city had entered a crazy nightless state. The large screens broadcasting advertisements about the CHF had been rolling on not stop for the last 24 hours., with the colourful lights that filled the streets and alleys of the city were all lit up. Balloons with the insignia of the various great squadrons or the CHF logo emblazoned on them floated in the air. If anyone was able to take an eagle-eyed view of Stuart City, one would see the entire city was completely covered by stretches of balloons and oceans of lights.
Wang Zhong and the Tianjing Squadron had woken up early in the morning. Under the arrangement of the host, they and the other squadrons staying in the hotel boarded a train towards the Freedom Plaza located within Stuart City, the location where the opening ceremony was held.
Despite it being early in the morning, one would be able to see the fervent atmosphere of the city just through looking through the windows of the train.
There were people everywhere!
Other than a few heavy industries, military industries or special departments, seemingly everyone present within the city was on leave from work. People were already flooding the large streets and alleys early in the morning. At this moment, the entire city was flooded with people. Other than the local residents, there were a large majority of people present that stem from other regions of the Freedom Federation as well as tourists from the various empires. For the past few days, all the inborne channels to Stuart City were on the state of near collapse, while one would be hard pressed to find a hotel room with an available room to stay in. Despite having ample time to prepare for it, the manpower of the security wasn't enough. Many local residents of Stuart City wore the unifying armbands provided by the Stuart Family as they took the initiative to walk along the streets and alleys, volunteering themselves to help ensure the proper and normal function of the city's traffic channels. Within this city, the Stuart City possessed an absolute power to rally and govern the local residents.
Upon reaching the Freedom Plaza, the first thing that would grab one's eyes would be the most famous statue of the Goddess of Freedom, raising a torch high above in the air. Originating from the ancient lands of North America, the Stuart Family had brought seemingly all of the elite skills, techniques, talents, wealth and resources from North America to the Freedom Federation when the dimension calamity had just erupted, making a different choice as opposed to the Rothschild Family, who had decided the stay and protect North America. Naturally they had also brought along the symbol of Freedom when they moved over. Finally, upon growing to become the Number 1 aristocratic family of the Freedom Federation, this gigantic goddess statue stood at the highest elevation within Stuart City, overlooking the surrounding mountains and lands, appearing to stand guard over the entirety of Stuart City.
Dismounting from the railway, Wang Zhong and the rest were able to see a mass of people already present in the plaza. The gigantic open-air dome plaza was already filled with a sea of humans. Just the number of people that made up the 400 over squadrons participating in this CHF had already accounted for 4 to 5000 over people. There were at least a thousand spectators already present here. This group of spectators all possessed a certain level of status, as ordinary citizens would definitely not possess the qualifications to sit at where they are located, which was right by the side of the participating squadrons.
There were also a large number of new media staff as well as journalists. Other than the few mainstream media channels that were in charge of recording the CHF to broadcast across the world, great cities and cities who had squadrons participating in this CHF would have a small team of journalists present over here. There were also the local media channel present, as well as journalists hailing from the various academies alongside with their analyst squads. Regardless of whether the squadron hailing from one's city was ranked C or D, being able to participate in such an event was already something that bolstered the honour and glory of one's city. The number of people that made up this group even exceeded the number of people that made up the participating squadrons, totalling to 6 to 7000 people as all of them wore journalist tags as they pocketed the plaza, standing at any place that allowed them to do so. The final group of people consisted of a large number of ordinary citizens that were able to obtain tickets for the surrounding seats, totalling tens of thousands of people. All of the seats present in the circular dome plaza were filled to the brim, with even more citizens who weren't able to get tickets gathering outside of the plaza.
The chatter and racket of human voices rang out from every direction, with many camera-wielding journalists being forced to the point of wearing noise-cancelling headphones. Only by using a hysterical shouting voice were they able to transmit slightly audible voices across the roar of the surrounding crowd into the microphones in their hands.
What a fiery and explosive atmosphere! Without even mentioning about the Tianjing squadron, any of the participating squadrons, even the so-called strongest squadrons from the Stuart Family and others have never been faced with such a crowd and environment before.
As the large group of people walked out from the train, all of them were shocked, to the point of feeling slightly suffocated by the surrounding atmosphere. It was easy to lose one's way while traversing the sea of humans before them. Fortunately, everyone was able to obtain the exact location and directions to the plaza via their Skylink. After quite a tough time, Wang Zhong and a large bunch of participants were able to find the location designated to their Tianjing Squadron, located more towards the side of the plaza. The locations for the squadrons were allocated in accordance with their strength evaluation. The front two rows of seats were definitely reserved for the ten great seedling squadrons that were evaluated to be of S rank. The next rows of seats would be for those A ranked squadrons, going down in succession all the way to D rank squadrons. The seats in the front were located near the ruling panel, which was composed of people in the high levels of the federation's parliament and military. It appeared as though sitting near them would allow one to grow closer to those positions in the future.
"Hi!"
It just so happened that the squadron seated right beside Tianjing Academy was from the Giant God Peak Academy, who had stayed in the same hotel as them. The bespectacled male Dicaprio from that squadron doesn't appear to have a bad character. Both of them were evaluated to be of rank C and had also not participated in the so-called alliance created by the Lightning Dragon Academy. Wang Zhong could feel that they seemed to have a slightly similar attitude to them.
At this moment, Dicaprio had his Skylink screen open. Towards data and statistical maniacs, they will never, ever give up any free moment without researching and exploring more information. With a smile, he turned his screen towards Wang Zhong and the rest, before shaking his head and saying, "Look, the live broadcast has started on the Skylink. The cameras of the main channel are either focused on the main stage or towards the S ranked and A ranked academies seated at the front. Those people have yet to even appear in the plaza, and yet, they aren't even filming the other people that have already arrived. One day, I'll be sitting there, getting filmed by them."
Hearing that, Wang Zhong gave a chuckle before replying. "Truthfully speaking, there's no need to mind about that, Captain Dicaprio." truth to be told, Wang Zhong held honour, glory, victory and defeat in importance. He wasn't over here just to gain some popularity or TV time.
"Just call me Popo. Truthfully speaking, I've very strong, and my squadron's even stronger. What I'm saying is true. If we're allocated in the same region, I'll take care of you guys." said Dicaprio in an earnest fashion. "You guys are very true in character, unlike these irksome fellows."
Hearing those words, Wang Zhong didn't know whether to cry or to laugh. He really didn't know how to reply to Dicaprio's words, and if the Giant God Peak squadron was stronger, physically or verbally.
Just as they were chatting, Hymin appeared to have discovered something. Pointing towards a direction, an unhappy expression appeared on her face as she spoke out. "Look, our acquaintances are actually over here."
Truthfully speaking, Tianjing Academy didn't have many acquaintances in Stuart City. Assuming that Hymin was referring to friends that they had made during their special training in Copperfield City, everyone from Tianjing looked over, only for all of them to gawk in surprise.
Looking over towards the direction where Hymin had pointed to, what they saw was unexpectedly...Reeves!
Previously, the four-man team from the Prodigy Society had suffered a malicious backstab by Reeves during Grace's special training, which was testified by Lu Zhantian to be the behind-the-scenes schemer of that attack. Although they weren't able to find concrete evidence of his crime, he had dropped out voluntarily from the squadron and disappeared.
At that time, everyone assumed that they would never get another opportunity to bump into him again. However, who would have thought that they would actually be able to bump into him at this place. What's more, that fellow was clearly sitting in a more frontal location compared to him. From that, it appeared that the squadron that he had joined should be a strong one.
Appearing to be more or less clear about Reeves's situation, Scarlet spoke out. "Stowe Lege Academy. Reeves's family is located near there. They're considered a very strong squadron within the western area. For the past years, they absolutely possessed the strength to fight for the top 3 spots within the western area. They are evaluated to be of A rank."
"They're able to accept a trash like Reeves into their squadron. This shows what kind of squadron this Stowe Lege is." Hymin did not conceal her hatred for Reeves.
Seemingly able to feel the gazes coming from the Tianjing squadron, Reeves turned around, immediately spotting Wang Zhong in the first instant. He was similarly searching for this group of Tianjing people for the past period of time.
A faint smile appeared on the face of Reeves, one that brimmed with a penetratingly cold shade and humiliation, with the presence of some ridicule. He was able to tell the disparity between the strength of their squadrons from the locations of their seats. To him, sneakily leaving Tianjing after that incident had become the greatest shame of his life. However, he was able to obtain some fortune to offset the loss he had incurred. He had joined another squadron, the Stowe Lege squadron, and had even become their vice-captain. Over this period of time, he had been training extremely, extremely hard, especially so after hearing about the successive victories that Tianjing had achieved, which continued to spur him on.
He nodded his head towards everyone from the Tianjing squadron while thinking, don't give me any opportunity, or I'll make sure that all of you will be pleading for lives!
At this moment, the voice of Rui Zhi started to appear within the Skylink, with Chen Yu'er's voice also appearing. Their casting of the recent few matches with All Mouthy King in them had turned into a godsent opportunity for them. Coupled with their fame and reputation, both of them have been invited to become one of the main analysts and guests for the Skylink live broadcast. "What a fiery atmosphere! Apart from the important personnel of the federation as well as the VIPs from the various empires, everyone has already arrived at the Freedom Plaza! This is the first time the CHF has been promoted by the federation, so I hope that every single participant will bring out their very best!"
"That's right. From here, I'm able to see Prince Faan from the Tutankhamun Empire sitting in the first row of the main podium. The esteemed person sitting beside him hails from the Kaiser Empire…" even to her, it was a challenge for Chen Yu'er to maintain her calm in the face of the spectacle present around her. Naturally, she had already made sufficient preparatory work for the various aspects that she had to handle, allowing her to be able to speak with ease and skill at this moment.
With a smile, Ruo Zhi continued on after her. "That's right. A few decades again, it would really be hard to imagine such a spectacle would appear. With the Freedom Federation 's rapid progress and development, the oceans, which were previously hailed as forbidden zones by us, are now no longer able to impede our communications and exchanges. With the internationalization of the federation and the glorious and magnificent spectacle we have around us now, I feel like I'm able to see the hopes and future of us, mankind! One day, when we humans are truly able to gather together, that might be the day when we truly possess the might to take back and reclaim Earth back to our hands!"
"Ha ha! You're looking into mankind's future prospects yet again, brother Ruo Zhi. Naturally, if such a future was true, I feel that every single person out there would definitely hope for the unity amongst mankind." speaking till this point, Chen Yu'er's eyes suddenly lit up, "There's still 10 to 20 minutes before the start of the opening ceremony. Now, we're able to see the last batch of academies being ushered into the plaza by the staff members. Walking right at the front is the Stuart Academy! Her highness Carolyn's aura sure is brimming today! Although she's only wearing the ordinary academy uniform of Stuart Academy, even I, sitting a few hundred metres away at the broadcast station, is able to feel the gracefulness and elegance that everyone pales in comparison to!"
As the two analysts continued their wordplay, seemingly all of the S and A ranked squadrons had started to stream into the plaza. Every single one of them was famous stars, with not only the audience but even quite a few of the squadrons sitting behind, cramming their heads to look over towards the front.
Every time an expert appeared in the plaza, various kinds of comments, cheers and even sighs of astonishment would ring out around the plaza. This was especially true for those with considerable fame and reputation, and even more so for those who were present within the Mo Family. To those ordinary participants, the only way they could see experts of that level was through videos or the OP.
People like Carolyn, Divian, Gui Hao and Eddie, who possess strength and attractiveness, had long become the focus of the crowd, having already attracted the gazes of many people present within the host podium, with them whispering to one another. Cheers and shouts of their names would ring out from time to time within the plaza. Every time any of them gave any response or wave their hands to the audience, waves of cheers and shouts would greet them in response.
At this moment, Ma Dong was worrying about Wang Zhong. Upon the arrival of Carolyn and Divian in the plaza, he was, in fact, stealing glances at the former in an attempt to spot any responses that might come out from the former. What resulted caused him to feel slightly convinced in the heart of the former.
From the beginning all the way till now, Wang Zhong appeared extremely calm and collected, showing not even the slightest attempt of shying away from the truth.
Indeed, he's a strong man! If that matter was to happen to himself, with the harmony of his mental and emotional strength, Ma Dong felt that he wouldn't be able to recover even if 2 or 3 months was given to him. Nevertheless, Ma Dong wasn't any saint or sage. He hoped that Wang Zhong would give them a vicious slap to the face in this CHF! Fuck your mother! As if Stuart is that amazing!