"Cousin, don't cry! We've won!"
"Dammit! Sand must have gotten into my eyes! Emily! We've won!"
Tianjing squadron wasn't the only ones who were filled with emotion. After a momentary silence, the arena and Skylink instantly erupted into incomparably incoherent shouts and cheers of celebration! The 200-plus Tianjing students gathered by the side of the stage were at the brink of going batshit crazy. Even the through and through businessman, Qian Duoduo, could not help but get infected by this frenzied atmosphere. At this moment, he felt as though he had returned back to his youth, pumping his fists in the air as he shouted crazily alongside those students and the audience.
"All Mouthy King! All Mouthy King!"
"Almighty Tianjing! Almighty King!"
At this moment, Tianjing Academy had already turned into a surging ocean. Their previous victory over Bella Dean could be attributed to their opponents not having a sufficient understanding of them. However, in this match, the various counter plays and arrangements made by the Zhao Family showed that they had already analysed Tianjing's actions all the way down to a dime! Nevertheless, Tianjing had still won!
Regardless of how much they had to endure for such an outcome, a victory was a victory!
They had actually entered the top 16! What's more, they had successively stepped over the corpses of 2 S ranked squadrons!
There were many people who were crying as they thought about every soldier of Tianjing who had been stretchered down from the stage, thinking about the past few years, about the squadron that had slowly recovered from running away crestfallen from every preliminary heats.
Those who had never lost before would not understand what to treasure and value. Only those who had experienced genuine low points in life would understand how to appreciate the splendour of being at the peak!
To everyone in Tianjing, including the board of directors and the Tianjing legislation observing this scene, the Tianjing squadron being able to walk this far was already a surprise that couldn't be more accidental that they had imagined!
"I'm really fortunate to be a member of Tianjing Academy!"
Captain Wang Zhong! Junior brother Grai! Everyone from the Tianjing squadron! You all are the best!"
A legend had been born! A cannon fodder for the cannon fodder had leapfrogged over the Divine Dragon squadron and forcefully barged their way into the top 16! At the same time, they had created the miraculous record of having a viewership of over 10 million on their Skylink live broadcast. Before the start of the CHF, such a record was forecasted to occur in matches involving Stuart, Divine Ghost Martial Emperor or Grozny. Yet, it had appeared on a squadron called Tianjing, and on the figure of a captain by the name of Wang Zhong!
At this moment, no one was paying attention to the defeated Divine Dragon squadron, as they weren't the only S rank squadron that had been stepped on by a black horse. When something like this had become a habit, it was no longer something special.
Zhao Zimo's eyes appeared as though they could spit venom. Until now, he was still completely unable to believe or accept that his Divine Dragon squadron had really been eliminated from the CHF. Not only that, seemingly all the youths from the core of their Zhao Family had been wasted. And all of these things... obviously, someone had to bear the blame. At this moment, Zhao Zimo was thinking about who should shoulder all of it, and he no longer had the mood to care about Tianjing anymore.
Although the Zhao Family was powerful, they never had any intention of obtaining the championship. To them, defeat was probably inevitable. However, never in their wildest dreams did they expect for such an outcome to occur. Now, it was no longer a problem of defeat anymore, as they had been utterly flattened. Everything that Zhao Zimo had done before and during the match had completely infuriated Wang Zhong.
It was one thing when faced against an opponent. However, when faced against an enemy, there was only one way to do it; treating enemies with benevolence was the same as being ruthless to oneself!
As for the Zhao Family, Wang Zhong wasn't scared of them. Things that should happen, would happen. The more weaker the image one presented, the more boldly one's enemies would react.
Therefore, since they wanted a fight, he had given them that!
This match was definitely not just a victory on the surface, as it would have a lasting effect for the entire CHF and the future structure of the Federation.
This was a match that had created many different kinds of records. After Tianjing, the Torres, Grozny and Mammoth squadrons completed their promotion to the top 16. As invincible as ever, the Grozny squadron took a flawless 4:0 victory, displaying the genuine terror a S+ ranked squadron represented. The Mammoth squadron had exploded all of sudden. Possessing two soldiers with mutation type special abilities within their ranks, they had transformed into giants and obtained a suppressive superiority during the group battle. Clearly, Tianjing wasn't the only black horse. Rather that, they were merely the "blackest" of the lot. Nevertheless, the second day of the round-of-32 was dominated by Tianjing's victory.
Clearly, the matter about Tianjing's legend was still in the process of fermenting, having only started forming in the heroic soul academies in many different cities. Although there were many people who had heard about Tianjing, they did not pay much attention, as there were always black horses in every CHF. Such a thing was no longer special to them. However, after defeating 2 S rank squadrons in succession, anyone would develop a curiosity about the Tianjing squadron that had accomplished such a feat.
From the looks of it, Wang Zhong appeared to have already calmed down completely. This caused Sharmie to feel happy, and comfortable. Although this fellow had become famous, he still really gave face to others!
"I still remember arguing with someone on whether he was All Mouthy King or not, or is there something wrong with my memory?" Sharmie could not help but to tease Wang Zhong. This fellow was truly too interesting! He actually was the genuine All Mouthy King! What's more, he was still that awesome! It was extremely rare for Sharmie to show admiration to anyone. Yes, perhaps Carolyn, Gui Hao and those from the 10 great families were strong and powerful, yet she did not feel that there was anything outstanding about them. It was simply impossible to not become formidable with the backing and support from such massive aristocratic families. However, Wang Zhong was completely different from these people.
"That's right. I remember that I never confirmed or denied it, right? Furthermore, that isn't important, and would you have believed it if I've said so?" replied Wang Zhong with a smile. Truthfully speaking, he still wasn't that familiar with Sharmie, though, they couldn't be considered to just be acquaintances either. After all, there was Milami's connection to her and Tianjing, coupled with Sharmie herself being a natural born socializer.
"I would have believed it, you know." answered Sharmie with a don't-you-know-who-I-am expression, appearing as though calling her a detective would simply be stating a fact.
Nonetheless, she did not continue to pursue this question. Upon seeing the embarrassed look on Wang Zhong's face, she felt that it was worth it for her to have made the trip here tonight. "That's right, I haven't congratulated you guys for defeating the Divine Dragon squadron. That's the 2nd S rank squadron that has fallen in your hands."
"We're just lucky." Wang Zhong felt that it was still better to be modest at moment, as he had a slight understanding of Sharmie's character.
Hearing his reply, Sharmie could not help but to roll her eyes. The person before her was already as dazzling as star. Everyone had assumed that after leaving the OP, All Mouthy King would suffer setbacks. However, he had defied their assumptions and returned in an even more domineering fashion as the king.
"After hearing your words, I believe that the other S rank squadrons won't be able to sleep at night. Haha." said Sharmie with a laugh, revealing her pearly white teeth, while causing her chest to jiggle, causing Wang Zhong to be unsure of where to place his eyes. The females of the Blazing City would generally tend to wear revealing and appealing outfits. When placed on Sharmie's body, such outfits obviously had astonishingly lethal killing power.
"Speaking of which, you guys are up against the Fiery Arrow squadron tomorrow. Would it be a problem for us to chat leisurely like that?" asked Wang Zhong as he looked at Sharmie. He always felt that this Blazing squadron's captain was slightly derelict in her duties. Thinking about it, it seemed that all of the matters pertaining to the Blazing squadron were handled by Mario. Management, miscellaneous duties, or strategic analysis; Mario appeared to be involved in anything that required manpower.
"It's not a problem. Our Blazing squadron's goal can be considered to have succeeded after reaching the top 32 in this CHF. Furthermore, that's due to us leeching some luck from your Tianjing squadron. With you guys stopping Bella Dean in the best of 64 and the Zhao Family in the best of 32, it wasn't too difficult for us to enter the top 32." replied Sharmie with a smile. Nonetheless, her eyes seemed to betray her words. Sharmie naturally wasn't silly, as acting in a high profile manner against an S rank squadron was no different from seeking death.
Nevertheless, there was indeed one truth present in her reply, which was that there was truly no pressure on her and her squadron in their upcoming match against the Fiery Arrow squadron.
"No kidding, Wang Zhong. You should know about who stands behind the 10 S rank squadrons, right? You've undoubtedly been swept under the classification of the new forces, which is the influence under the parliament that's in contest with the various aristocratic families. What's more, you're ranked within their vanguards." Sharmie could not help but to talk about this. This appeared to be off topic. However, being the representative figure for the Apollo Family, Sharmie was an example of someone who was of great intelligence but chose to act stupidly in public. Any matter than involved her was handled with care and precision, merely that she was lazy to waste energy to care about the little details. After all, she had a little attendant by the name of Mario to do that for her.
Hearing that, Wang Zhong gave a faint smile, before shrugging his shoulders while replying, "How would I know? By the way, what is the parliamentary influence?"
Seeing how nonchalant Wang Zhong was, Sharmie could not help but to get slightly worried. "Truthfully speaking, our Blazing City, as well as the City of Blazing Angel, Giant God Peak and various other great cities formed the new influence due to the suppression from the ten great families. We're the new elite stratum that has been formed via gradual convergence. Naturally, there's a few declining aristocratic families that we're collaborating with, using various methods to break the monopoly the ten great families have over the Federation. This CHF is a massive game by itself that involves the parliament's representatives and resource reallocation. In fact, the same thing is also happening within the ten great families. Your appearance has completely muddied the waters. What do you imagine the 10 great families are thinking about you right now?"
"Should I be happy, or feeling uneasy?" said Wang Zhong as he looked at Sharmie. From the looks of it, this ball queen didn't have good intentions when she had brought this topic up.
While she was talking about this topic, Sharmie had been sizing Wang Zhong up. His calm and cool headed response and behaviour was slightly unexpected, yet it didn't surprise her. This fellow was truly an enigma. All along, Dicaprio had been the representative nurtured by the parliament. Indeed, Dicaprio was pretty outstanding. Yet, compared to Wang Zhong, he gave a feeling as though there was something missing.
Wang Zhong always gave people a feeling of wanting to get closer to him; an infectious desire to get a better understanding of him.
Perhaps, he was a genuine example of a naturally born... leader.
"It isn't that exaggerated. After all, this is just the top 16, and I'm just giving you a reminder. However, I feel that both the parliamentary influence and the aristocratic families will try to rope you over to their side. At the very least, it appears to be so. Nonetheless, you should be careful of the Zhao Family. How should I put it... Erm, that Zhao Zimo's reputation isn't too good." said Sharmie as she blinked her eyes repeatedly. Although she had warned him in a serious tone, the situation wasn't as pressing as she had made it out to be. What's more, she knew that Wang Zhong definitely had thought about it, which caused her to feel slightly relaxed in her heart.
This was a problem that Sharmie had only thought about lightly. Truthfully speaking, Wang Zhong was secretly feeling grateful towards her, as Sharmie had genuinely came over just to remind him. Nonetheless, to Wang Zhong, there wasn't a difference between the parliamentary influence and the aristocratic families. To him, one was just interested retaining their interests, while the other was a newly formed group that wanted to gain more resources. Although he could understand their goals, he did not wish to get involved in such complicated matters. To him, he yearned for a free and easy life like those people in the three great empires, like what Aiolos and Mu Zi were living in right now, and the mysterious dimensional worlds.
"Nevertheless, congratulations once again for entering the top 16. I'll definitely obtain victory. Of course, if we are to cross hands, I won't be courteous then." said Sharmie pridefully as she puffed up her chest.
Hearing that, Wang Zhong laughed out. He like this straightforward character of Sharmie. With such a vast and large world out there, he really wanted to see all of it.
At the same time...
The Blazing squadron was preparing for their next match. Although Sharmie could run about wherever she liked, the vice-captain, strategic analyst and babysitter Mario had no choice but to make the necessary preparations for tomorrow's match against the Blazing Arrow squadron.
Although the entire squadron believed that they would undoubtedly obtain victory over the Blazing Arrow squadron, they would lose if they did not put in all their effort.
After researching for very long, the Fiery Arrow appeared to only have a Tianqiong Musk, a Mo's Lister, on the surface. However, after digging deeply, other than them lacking in fame or reputation, the other members of their main lineup all had genius-level backgrounds. The only reason for their lack of fame and reputation was that their current levels of strength were merely not on the level of the Mo's List.
"How are we going to play? Even their substitutes are around the level of our main lineup, other than big sis of course."
Mario muttered while shaking his head. He felt very helpless; regardless of whatever strategic arrangements he makes, they were unable to avoid the requirement of losing a duel against Tianqiong Musk.
"Vice-captain, we have a situation...I don't know whether to say it or not."
At this moment a few of his squadron members had walked in from outside, before speaking out with expressions of stifled laughter on their faces.
"What's the situation?"
"There's a fan right outside, and she's insisting on seeing you, vice-captain. She says that she's your fan."
"Vice-captain, its a female fan! And she's super cute!"
The squadron members instantly started to jeer and laugh.
Without even managing to muster any defence, Mario was embarrassed to the point of his face turning red. "What female fan! I'm not seeing her! If captain knows about this, you guys better not think about running away."
"We're not afraid! We'll just lose a layer of skin at the very most. However, she really is super cute, vice-captain!"
"What's more, the captain isn't here. If we don't say it, and you, vice-captain, don't speak about it, there's no one who would betray you to the captain."
Mario gave a bitter laugh in response. Exactly how cute did this girl have to be for this group to forget about big sis'"roasting"? These responses caused him to feel slightly curious. If she really was that cute, how could she be his fan? Although he had made a slight show in the previous match, there were quite a handful of people who had even stronger performances than him in this CHF. Furthermore, he had to admit that there were also people like Gui Hao and Grai who were more handsome than him, what more with the sun in radiating in the sky, Wang Zhong. Therefore, this so called fan wouldn't be a spy sent to scout out information about their squadron, would she?
Thinking about this, Mario decided it was still the best for him to go out and take a look. Regardless of anything, it was best to send the person away and end this matter here.
Upon opening the door, he noticed a petite female student standing not far away. Carrying a ladies' shoulder bag and her hair tied up in a neat and clean ponytail, a faint breeze just so happened to blow past her bangs, causing Mario's heart to pound. She really was super cute! The word super really couldn't be more apt, as just the word cute was insufficient to express just how cute she was!
"Captain Mario!"
Upon seeing Mario, the petite female student's eyes immediately started sparkling. Seeing this, Mario started thinking, "So eyes really can sparkle like stars!"
"I'm just a vice-captain. You are?"
Looking into her eyes, Mario had almost forgotten that he had come here to send her off. After re-centering himself, he managed to maintain a cautious and vigilant attitude.
"A vice-captain is also a captain, right? Ah, I'm your number 1 fan! Your black flames were super cool! Can you please help me sign an autograph?" The girl pleaded while blinking her eyes as she pulled out a notebook and handed it to Mario.
Autograph? After thinking about it, Mario felt that an autograph wouldn't be a problem. However, all of a sudden, Mario felt a strange feeling coming from behind him. Turning around, he noticed a few of his squadron members walking to and fro. They appeared to be very busy, with various kinds of acts going on as they walked about...
Do they really have to be that shameless?! Mario looked back at the young girl before him. Such a simple thing as an autograph had been turned into something like an affair in their eyes! Nonetheless, this female student really was quite cute...