Chapter 248: Setting Off

The establishment of the North Carolina Alliance will determine the current landscape of the USE, and will also determine the future landscape. One must either choose neutrality or be forced to follow; any others blocking the way will be flattened. Under this grand momentum, Tianjing might not even need the North Carolina Alliance to take action before being wiped out by other teams. In fact, for Qiongdong, the greatest opponent is Aofei's Round Table Knights, which is also the best opponent. The Round Table Knights team is simply unworthy of the second position in the USE. Of course, Milner of Ockman is also eyeing it covetously. The military's intention this time is to stop muddling through, to distinguish the superior from the inferior during the Mid-Season Tournament, and to establish a leader. Only in this way can they unite to defeat the NUP in the S Tournament.

The team leaders of the major top-tier teams already have a clear idea in their minds; the Mid-Season Tournament is not just a personal showcase, but also a consideration of the landscape.

Qiongdong claims to be evenly matched with these few teams, but he can borrow the east wind; time will only remember the victors.

As veteran powerhouse teams, among the Six Dragons, the ones currently under the most pressure are Aofei and Luo Bi. Aofei is hailed as the second person of the USE, yet she has not met everyone's expectations. Her appearance adds points, but her appearance is also a burden. As for Luo Bi, his fame among the Six Dragons is too loud, but his strength is at the bottom.

"Aofei, Curtis has tried many times to replace your position as the second person."

"You don't seem to be doing much better yourself; the Five Tigers are all trying to step on you to climb up, and I have never been the second person," Aofei said indifferently.

Among the Six Dragons, Aofei and Luo Bi have always had a good relationship and have kept in touch.

"Is Chao Qinglong crazy, going against the Second Brother?" Luo Bi curled his lips. "It was clearly his own fault back then; it's already good enough that he wasn't held accountable."

"Hehe, save it, can you beat him?" Aofei said indifferently. "Let's not interfere in their affairs; Chao Qinglong's strength is second only to the Second Brother, it's just that his ambition is too great."

The reason such a huge mess occurred back then had a lot to do with Chao Qinglong. Because the reason they were caught off guard back then was mainly because Li Hao was not there, and the person who sent Li Hao away beforehand was Chao Qinglong. Otherwise, during such a sensitive period, Li Hao would not have believed anyone else. Of course, Chao Qinglong denied it, claiming he knew nothing about Xilian's plan and only said that the instructor told him to find Li Hao.

In fact, people from the Youth Class back then all knew that Chao Qinglong was strong and had enough potential, originally sitting firmly in the second chair. Later, Nangong Yuhang discovered Li Hao's strength and forcibly pushed him into the third position. How could the proud and arrogant Chao Qinglong endure this? Being under one person was one thing, but he had never heard of being under two people.

Facts proved that one must be ruthless to be a man. Chao Qinglong's move killed three birds with one stone, taking out Nangong Yuhang, Li Hao, and Xilian simultaneously. However, talent emerged in large numbers on the NUP side, and Chao Qinglong was also miserable. Perhaps his luck had run out; in the first year, his personal strength was super fierce, but the overall strength of North Carolina was insufficient, and his experience in leading a team was somewhat lacking. He lost to the then-second-year God of War Maxis and only took the runner-up spot. In the second year, he was injured and also ran into the peak-year Fan Liweite, only taking the final four. This year, North Carolina is indeed incomparably strong, and at the same time, Chao Qinglong's personal desire has also reached its peak. If he can successfully win the championship, he will be the undisputed number one person in the Earth Alliance.

Li Hao's sudden appearance did indeed pose a threat to him to a certain extent, but Tianjing Martial Arts is truly full of flaws; in terms of overall strength, they are no longer on the same level.

Regardless of whether the events of that year were intentional or unintentional on Chao Qinglong's part, Aofei, Luo Bi, and Yan Peng have all broken with him. Lomachenko has always been neutral, while others support Chao Qinglong to become the new king. Dwelling on the past is useless; people must look ahead, and strength determines the right to speak.

"This year, I am going to give everyone a surprise!" Now Luo Bi is full of confidence; he is no longer the him from back then who relied entirely on risking his life. "Should I tell the Second Brother, so he doesn't get ambushed?"

"I have already left him a note; the Second Brother doesn't need to worry, the dangerous ones are his teammates," Aofei said. "We can help where we can."

"I know that, of course," Luo Bi said, also with a massive headache.

It is not that they do not want to give their all, but Chao Qinglong is currently the signboard of the USE, and his strength also crushes everyone. Under the grand momentum, it is good enough for others to protect themselves. Moreover, as team leaders, Aofei and Luo Bi also have responsibilities to bear and face huge challenges themselves. They can only help carry a portion of the external pressure; whether they can hold up still depends on the level of the Tianjing group themselves.

Due to the space fleet encountering a stellar magnetic storm, the fleet decided to detour. A Youyou's return time was delayed, and the Mid-Season Tournament also drew near.

On Saturday, all members of the major USE teams will gather at the space station in low Earth orbit to begin this Mid-Season Tournament. The location and content of the Mid-Season Tournament are kept confidential, not just for the USE, but for the other three major alliances as well. However, from the current look of it, the USE's Mid-Season Tournament is not on Earth. This time is also vastly different from the past. Everything emphasizes a sense of destiny; developing to this point, the Four Great Federations have all sensitively noticed that whoever wins this S Tournament will be able to obtain a long-term blessing of "momentum" for this faction. This momentum is a bit metaphysical, but it contains the direction of people's hearts and the bursting forth of potential, and so on.

On Friday afternoon, Li Hao and the others had already packed their luggage and arrived at the team center to gather. Everyone was a bit excited; they were about to test their mettle against a group of top experts from Earth on the stage of the Mid-Season Tournament. Long Danni, Tan Ziyuan, and the others had all arrived. Long Danni gave a few instructions as usual; of course, the pressure was left to Li Hao, while everyone else received encouragement.

Ma Long and Sheng Man also had an enthusiastic hug as if no one else was around. No one understood Ma Long better than Sheng Man; this Mid-Season Tournament would change his life.

Lu Lingxiao had prepared a small gift for everyone. When it was Zuo Xiaotang's turn, Lu Lingxiao took out a small box. "Zuo Xiaopang, keep it up, this is a lucky bracelet I made!"

Zuo Xiaotang nodded, a bit at a loss, and solemnly took the box.

"Ziyuan, do you have nothing to say to us? You have been the most hardworking during this period," Zhou Naiyi said. If it weren't for Tan Ziyuan's conscientiousness and responsibility, she would not have had the energy to devote herself fully to training, and Tan Ziyuan had done even better and more delicately than her, investing a massive amount of time and heart into it.

Tan Ziyuan smiled slightly. "I have nothing to say, but there is someone else who has words for everyone. Follow me."

Everyone was stunned and followed Tan Ziyuan to the door. The team's door was opened; they didn't know when, but the outside was full of people.

Tan Ziyuan opened her Skynet terminal. Accompanied by the playing of the "Triumph" war song, a virtual image appeared. It actually recorded the daily life of the "Tianjing Team": the daily banter of Li Hao and Ma Long; Zuo Xiaotang likes to slack off, but completes his training perfectly every time; Ma Long, who talks as if he doesn't care, secretly adds extra training when no one is around; Zhou Naiyi is forever the Class Monitor one can rely on; Wuzang, the invincible little steel cannon of the Tianjing Team, you can always believe in Wuzang; Huo Ying, forever optimistic, never admitting defeat, always charging at the front; and of course, their lazy Team Leader, but it was this person who carried Tianjing Martial Arts into the Mid-Season Tournament. During the Giant Insect training, it was he who stood in front of his brothers; when facing the edge of elimination, it was he who piloted the Black Night Saber to turn the tide.

This is Tianjing Martial Arts.

Tianjing Martial Arts, go for it~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The resounding voices soared into the clouds; this was the shout from all the students of Tianjing Martial Arts. Watching all this, even the usually calm Wuzang showed excitement. They represent the glory of Tianjing Martial Arts.

Tianjing Martial Arts, must win!

"Thank you," Li Hao said to Tan Ziyuan beside him.

"How will you thank me?" Tan Ziyuan asked with a soft smile.

"Does entering the S Tournament count?"

"It counts." Tan Ziyuan looked at the enthusiastic students outside, her heart surging. She entered the world of Mecha because of Li Hao, but now, she truly fell in love with all of this.

Set off!

In the evening, surrounded by all the students of Tianjing Martial Arts, Li Hao and the others boarded the vehicle. They were heading to the airport, where the military spacecraft was already waiting. They would head directly to the space station to rendezvous; the Mid-Season Tournament began from this moment.

Everyone was sitting in this kind of spacecraft for the first time; usually, just sitting in an airplane was good enough. The last time they were enlightened was sitting in Prince Udyr's private plane; they didn't expect to even sit in a military spacecraft this time.

As a photography fanatic, Ma Long naturally could not let this go. He wanted to record his journey of awesomeness, starting with the first exclusive spacecraft photo: The Hidden Dragon Soars from the Abyss.

Zuo Xiaotang didn't know when he had already put on the bracelet Lu Lingxiao gave him, looking at it the whole time, revealing a silly smile from time to time.

Zhou Naiyi and Wuzang were both closing their eyes to rest, very quiet; it felt like the two of them were the professionals.

Li Hao... fell asleep, still smacking his lips and drooling. You can always believe in the Team Leader's sleeping prowess.

Huo Ying was rambling on, showing off his professional knowledge, from the spacecraft's engine to its speed, even knowing what materials were used. He turned out to be a hidden tech geek, though it didn't quite match his appearance. Of course, no one was listening, and Huo Ying didn't really need a response.

The spacecraft would arrive at the low-Earth space station "Dragon Boat" in 20 minutes; this is a military space station belonging to the USE military.

Earth's low orbit is a very busy route, but the area near the Dragon Boat is still alright; the military spacecraft entering and exiting from time to time are all there. The forty-six participating teams from Earth have already arrived one after another.

The arriving spacecraft dock at the station, and after verifying their identities, they will be taken directly to the hall inside the base to gather.

At this time, in the base hall, more than a hundred people had already gathered. The various military academy uniforms of all kinds had their own characteristics and were all quite handsome. This time, a total of 46 teams, each team allowed 6 people to participate, including one substitute, totaling 276 people. These 276 warriors represent the highest level of the USE this year. The 16 most outstanding teams among them will earn the qualification to represent Earth and participate in the S11.

(Ahem, Old Li is about to start showing off...)