Bang~
A firework soared into the sky above the central square, making the cheers and excited roars of hundreds of thousands of players echo through the heavens, even the windows and walls trembled with the abundant noise pollution.
This marked the official start of the Professional League!
Inside the coliseum, hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators were crammed together, creating a heavy cacophony. At its heart was a large ring surrounded by nine smaller rings. On the edge of the center was a large screen, and beneath the screen were seats for the commentators and judges. Outside, the audience seats, completely full, with no empty seats, roared with shouts and applause that illuminated the festival atmosphere.
In a private bar on a luxury rooftop, a select few were meeting up after a long time.
Ringo smiled as he opened the door for Han Xiao, he had invited the man to watch the competition with them, but as soon as Han Xiao stepped through the door and saw Ringo, his hand moved extremely quickly, drawing his weapon and pointing it at Ringo's head.
Bang~
The loud, clear sound of the high-caliber pistol rang out, Ringo, who was in Grade A, while Han Xiao was still in Grade C, could have dodged at any moment.
However, he let Han Xiao shoot him, after all, he had irritated the guy enough.
The bullet fell to the ground while Ringo's forehead didn't even show a faint mark, as if he hadn't just been hit by an electromagnetic projectile at point-blank range.
Han Xiao's gun was still smoking as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. He considered firing a few more times, but seeing Ringo's 'sincere smile', he felt bored.
Putting his weapon away, he rolled his eyes at Ringo and walked past him.
Ringo chuckled slightly as he spoke. -It's good to see you too.
Han Xiao didn't answer, only snorted slightly, clearly unimpressed.
Not far away, Melissa, who was sitting next to Li, shook her head, finding their 'friendship' very strange. Li, on the other hand, nodded slightly, now that was real friendship.
Lena smiled at Han Xiao, who was standing next to a middle-aged man, her father. The man gave Han Xiao a thumbs-up, he had accepted Ringo, but that didn't mean he liked him very much.
On the other side, seated on the sofa, Aurora smiled at Han Xiao and waved to this interesting uncle. Hila had told her many stories about Han Xiao and Ringo when she was still trapped in the old Germinal.
Will looked at Han Xiao with his tail wagging, sniffing a few times, catching the familiar scent. Jack, who was sleeping, on the other hand, widened his eyes at the smell of Han Xiao. He looked at him and thought back to the time Han Xiao teased him!
He narrowed his eyes, thinking of finding an opportunity to urinate on his leg again.
Han Xiao clearly saw the 'bear's' spiteful eyes, but he merely mocked him, clearly remembering that if he had the opportunity, he should mess with that 'bear' again before leaving, even though he now looked more like a wolf.
-Have you had fun these past few days?- Ringo broke the ice, cutting two cigars and handing one to Han Xiao, who calmly accepted it, taking a lighter from his windbreaker, lighting it, and taking a deep drag.
-Fuck off.- Han Xiao replied, clearly unwilling to be provoked by Ringo.
Ringo gave another weak chuckle, but left Han Xiao alone.
Soon everyone sat down in front of a large holographic monitor to watch the game, but Han Xiao's eyes narrowed as soon as he saw the monitor.
That... that wasn't Aquamarine technology!
-Where did you get that thing?- Han Xiao feigned calm, asking weakly.
Ringo didn't answer, instead he took a piece of paper from his pocket and tossed it to him. Han Xiao caught it easily, looking at the information, his eyes narrowing to a thin point.
[A Godorian will land in Aquamarine at..., at... o'clock...]
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, looking at Ringo with evident confusion.
-How could you...- Han Xiao asked, shocked.
-I'm a seer.- Ringo shrugged calmly.
Han Xiao remained silent for a long moment, picked up his cigar, took a long drag with his eyes closed, exhaled the smoke, then tucked the paper into his coat, turning his gaze back to the monitor.
-Aren't you going to say thank you?- Ringo raised an eyebrow at him.
-I'll consider our previous debts paid, I won't urinate on your statue anymore.- Han Xiao promised, then he thought of something and added. -Nor will I pay the inhumans to vandalize it.
Ringo rolled his eyes at him while Aurora laughed openly and Lena hid her smile, she was next to Ringo, leaning on his arm.
The group quickly refocused on the opening screen.
[A/N: Again, much of what follows is taken from the original novel, although slightly altered.]
On screen, the beautiful announcer sported a professional smile and delivered the opening speech from the ring's highest point. Her pleasant voice echoed through the arena via the loudspeakers. "The Aquamarine Planet Division Qualifiers for the First Season of the Galaxy Professional League officially begin!"
"We have 2,759 teams and 104,652 Inhumans registered. The teams will compete in the wilderness areas. The arena is the venue for the Individuals, these rings will be where the competitors will compete! An elimination round, the pairs will be chosen randomly. The loser will be eliminated, and the winner will enter the next round until the top 38 teams and 64 Inhumans are selected."
"The Qualifiers will last a month in Aquamarine time. Yes, this will be a long season, but the entire process will be streamed. Viewers watching the broadcast can freely choose which Inhumans they want to watch through the website provided by Hell, and our official broadcast will randomly select the battles that are worthy of highlighting."
The presenter finished talking about the competition rules and the speech to set the mood, then pointed to the entrance of the arena. "Next, we'll begin the opening battle of the Individuals. Let's welcome the two competitors!"
From the dark tunnel, Hao Tian and his competitor, nicknamed 'Star Chess', emerged. The moment the two appeared, the atmosphere in the arena reached its climax!
To ensure the atmosphere of the opening battle, the players were chosen from among registered professional players, not even Ringo could influence this. Hao Tian and Star Chess were selected.
The two walked to the main ring. The announcer stood between them and introduced them. "The competitor to my right is an old warrior who has been fighting in the E-Sports ring for nine years, achieving five consecutive victories in the Chinese professional player rankings, possessing an honorable and incredible battle history, with a firm but not lacking in aggression. He is the center player of the Deep Sky Club, Hao Tian!"
-To my left is a player you may not be so familiar with. He's a veteran in the e-sports industry, once a member of the Temple of God. His position was the core of his club, just like Li Ge's now, but he retired years ago. Now, he returns with his honor and winning determination. He has been rehired by the Temple of God Club, Star Chess!- She concluded the introductions.
Shouts erupted among the spectators. Both sides had supporters, but Star Chess's fan base was comparatively smaller. He had been retired for five years, so his popularity had largely faded. Star Chess looked at his fans. They were all familiar faces, he hadn't expected there to still be such a supportive fan base, even after his five years of retirement. He was deeply touched. He nodded towards his fans in greeting.
The fans cheered even louder with all their might when they saw this.
After the presenter introduced both sides, she first approached Star Chess and said with a smile. -Welcome back to the professional scene. How are you feeling now?
-Nostalgic.- Star Chess said with great emotion. -I remember the days when I used to wrestle on the professional scene.
-We will always remember the achievements you helped the Temple of God attain and that look of pride you had.- The presenter praised him.
It quickly turned into a question and answer session that was cut short because it was geared towards gamers, and some commercials were shown before the actual fighting part began.
The screen displayed a thirty-second timer, and the audience in the arena fell silent, tens of thousands of pairs of eyes focused on the two men in the ring.
The tense atmosphere froze the ring and the stadium.
As the countdown began, the judges started their pre-game analysis.
-It seems that both are from the Pugilist class, they are practically at the same level, so we can expect a high-level pugilist battle. This is a fight between two generations, and I also feel that this battle has a ceremonial feel to it. There is no doubt that Hao Tian is in his peak condition, judging by his numerous victories. Furthermore, I am concerned about whether Star Chess has managed to maintain his level after being out of the scene for five years.- The judge commented.
The other judge then replied. -There's no need to worry about that. All professionals know how to adjust their own condition before a fight, and Star Chess is already a veteran, which means he has more experience than Hao Tian. I have a feeling this will be an intense and close battle...
The fight began, as intense as a Pugilist's fight was, it was no wonder that the highest viewership was for Pugilist matches.
Ringo watched calmly, it was so slow it was almost boring. This kind of competition didn't hold much of his attention, so he stroked Jack's head with one hand while teasing Lena with the other, making the girl very embarrassed.
In the end, it was Hao Tian who won the fight, demonstrating a high degree of skill.
The competitions continued, although Ringo's interest had waned to the point where he simply made an excuse and left, Lena and Melissa also lost interest.
Only Li, Han Xiao, Lena's father, and Aurora, as well as the two 'Wolves' remained. Aurora seemed to find it all very interesting, so even when the others left, she stayed.