Chapter 228: Quarterfinals
It was at this moment that Shao Zheng arrived with his people.
Having reached this far this year, he saw hope, and at the same time, he came here to formally entrust them with a task.
Of course, Shao Zheng didn't want to put any pressure on these team members; his main concern was for the mages in the country and the country's stability.
When Zu Jiming saw the secretary beside Shao Zheng, he immediately stepped forward to provoke him, and Mo Fan naturally retorted without hesitation.
Finally, his aunt came online to clamor, and President Han Ji directly stepped out to warn her.
The competition had already begun, and the first, second, and third matches were all quite spectacular. In the Grand Finals, there wouldn't be too many teams hiding or holding back anymore.
After all, they were facing powerful nations. Compared to the previous elimination rounds and treasure hunt rounds, the students' strength in the Grand Finals was clearly much stronger. The resources absorbed in the treasure hunt rounds also played a very important role; students who gained a lot in the treasure hunt often left behind those who were originally of similar strength!
The United States vs. Greece. Greece could be called an ancient magical nation, and with the existence of a sacred and noble organization like the Parthenon Temple, Greece's strength had always remained high, being one of the few nations whose students could contend with the United States in terms of strength.
The students from both sides fought fiercely for a long time. Even the three substitute players performed outstandingly, astonishing audiences worldwide and making the vast majority of students, who were also in their twenties but still lingered in the Novice and Intermediate ranks, feel ashamed!
Ultimately, the Greek team narrowly defeated the United States and advanced to the winner's bracket.
Next was the battle between the United Kingdom and France. There was still a significant disparity in strength between these two major European powers. The United Kingdom had an absolute advantage, and Zhe Luo, the captain of the United Kingdom and ranked first in strength, managed to put immense pressure on France by only using his Summoning System from beginning to end!
After this event, Zhe Luo also gained the trust of many people.
It's worth noting that many British people stated that Zhe Luo's strongest system was definitely not the Summoning System; his other two systems were not even used in the Grand Finals, which shows how unfathomable he is!
The third match was the Grand Finals between Canada and Egypt. The strength of these two countries was not particularly strong. Egypt, with its corpse sea tactics, continuously wore down its opponents. After the longest duration, to everyone's surprise, they actually defeated Canada.
For others, it might have been unexpected, but in fact, for Mo Fan, it was quite normal.
In fact, because of Egypt's victory, he even earned a net income of 500 million.
After that, it was their side against the German team.
Mo Fan was still not arranged to go first; Ai Jiangtu, Mu Tingying, Zhao Manyan, Jiang Shaoxu, and Nan Jue were the ones who went on stage.
Once the lineup was chosen, some questions were quickly raised.
Clearly, when these five people were combined, their offensive capabilities were not very strong. Zhao Manyan and Jiang Shaoxu were typical support and defensive mages. Zhao Manyan focused on elemental defense, and Jiang Shaoxu on mental defense. Neither of their other magic systems had very outstanding offensive capabilities.
Nan Jue's Sound System magic could play the role of a destructive mage, but her secondary Water and auxiliary Plant systems could not effectively bear destructive effects.
The only ones with true offensive capabilities were Ai Jiangtu and Mu Tingying. Among their destructive abilities, the most representative Lightning and Fire systems were not particularly outstanding.
But for Feng Li, exploring the opponent's situation first was the most stable approach.
Mo Fan didn't care much; he always had to give others a chance to perform.
"President Han Ji, didn't you say you had something to announce to the whole country?" Pang Lai seemed to recall something and asked.
"No hurry, we'll talk about it when Mo Fan goes on stage," President Han Ji replied.
"The broadcast team wants you to be a guest commentator and explain the match to everyone. Are you planning to say it then?" Pang Lai asked.
"Yes, there are some things that should have been said, but they've been delayed until now."
"I still don't understand why you want Chairman President Han Ji's secretary, Zu Huiyin, to apologize to Mo Fan," Pang Lai said.
"You'll understand then. Zu Huiyin has been increasingly excessive in recent years, constantly using her authority to win over others. It's time to teach her a lesson," President Han Ji said.
Pang Lai was still confused and slowly said, "I don't know what you mean by a lesson, but news about Zu Huiyin judging Mo Fan as having ill intentions seems to have been spread by some people with ulterior motives. Recently, Mo Fan has indeed been in the eye of the storm; his actions in the treasure hunt were not against the rules, but they can't be called righteous."
"She's bringing it upon herself," President Han Ji said indifferently.
On the German side, all five players also entered the arena.
In fact, they went all out from the start, featuring Rudy, who had the fourth-highest destructive power, their captain, and several other individuals, almost all of whom were star-level players.
"Rudy, it seems these Orientals don't really take us seriously," said a woman from the German team with several obvious black moles on her face.
The woman with the moles spoke in a way everyone understood: the Chinese lineup didn't seem that strong.
In the Grand Finals, every country basically gives 100% of its strength. China this year was considered a dark horse, having made it into the Grand Finals. But as a country that hadn't entered the Grand Finals for so many years, not going all out in the first match, but instead being so loose and casual, the Germans couldn't understand what these Orientals were thinking.
Could it be that they really thought these few could contend with their ancient, powerful, and rarely defeated nation?
"Don't they like to conserve strength? Then let's show them what we've got. Don't give them a chance to substitute; cripple all five of their team members in one go. A quick battle, and then we can conserve more magic for tomorrow's match," said the Ice Mage from Munich.
"Don't be careless; the opponent might be deliberately testing us," said the more cautious captain, Qiao Sen.
But he did agree with what the Munich mage said: a quick battle, and ideally, Mo Fan shouldn't even get on stage!
Soon, a match began, and right from the start, the Chinese side was subjected to destructive bombardment from Germany's Rudy, even Zhao Manyan's defense was directly breached.
Although Rudy was also a Gaoyi Level Two, it should be known that even a Level Two Gaoyi shouldn't be able to break through his defense so easily.
But with the second bombardment, Zhao Manyan finally understood: the opponent's talent was penetration!!!
Afterward, Jiang Shaoxu and Nan Jue were responsible for suppressing the opponent, while Ai Jiangtu and the others were responsible for three against four. From the start, it could be said that the Chinese side was at a disadvantage.
For many Chinese people, this was an utterly terrible scene.