Chapter 344: C-Position

Li Hao pondered as he walked. Zhuang Zhou was currently hanging out with Kevin, and the mission hadn't been kept from him. After attempting the prediction many times yesterday, he finally triggered his ability once. When Zhuang Zhou tried to precognize Base 5, he couldn't obtain any more information; there was only one sensation—fear.

This matter had a certain connection to Base 5.

He had observed Base 5 for a while last night; there was nothing particularly unusual inside the base, or perhaps it was hidden in a place he didn't know about.

The methods by which the Giant Insects attacked Base 5 could be divided into two types: large-scale assaults or surprise attacks by specialized Giant Insects. Because they were on Kepler, the control range of a Giant Insect Leader would be very, very large.

Ding-dong.

Blee39: Eliminate the human traitor "Courier" at Base 5.

Li Hao frowned. A traitor? Was he, damn it, in the same line of work?

Traitor to what?

Were humans defecting to the Giant Insects? And what was a "Courier"? A codename, or an allusion to something else?

If there were problems within humanity and someone was colluding with the Giant Insects, then this matter was a bit thorny.

The automatic door opened, and Li Hao walked in, but he hadn't yet emerged from his thoughts.

By this time, the venue was mostly full. Aside from the first row being a bit contentious, because Xilian had stood in the wrong spot alone, the positions of everyone else in the first row were all thrown into disarray.

Basta and the others didn't say anything, but some people in the teams in the back rows were dissatisfied and raised objections: "Why does he get to stand wherever he wants, and there are people missing too? Why is this kind of person even here to participate in the tournament?"

"That's right, either everyone stands wherever they want, or everyone follows the rules."

The ones shouting the loudest were Kiran Rao and Cang Gongtian, and a few people from Mars were also very arrogant: "The tournament hasn't even started yet, and the seating is already decided? This is too unreasonable."

"Exactly, what's there to take a photo of? Why the hell should I be in the fourth row!"

"Even if I'm not in the first row, I should at least be in the second row!"

Xilian frowned. He hadn't done it on purpose; he had just stood there naturally. He had always been like this, and he was supposed to stand there. If it were the old him, he would definitely have made these few people speechless, but now he just smiled slightly and was preparing to change positions when Li Hao walked in.

Everyone turned their gaze toward the entrance. It would have been fine if they hadn't looked, but looking only made their anger flare up even more. The Gundam Team, ranked 10th in the ROM Mid-Season Tournament—which was Tianjing's opponent tomorrow—was led by Team Leader Dimoka, who was the loudest among the Martians: "Damn it, this guy actually knows how to show up? What is he here for? Make him get lost. Hey, I'm talking to you, get lost."

Li Hao had just walked in, his mind still elsewhere. Suddenly being berated in the face, he snapped back to reality, and the noisy sounds around his ears finally reached him. A staff member also walked up: "Team Leader Li Wu, you're late. What's going on? Everyone is waiting for you, do you know that!"

"Yes, yes, I'm so sorry, sorry, my apologies, it won't happen next time." Li Hao apologized hurriedly.

Seeing Li Hao's sincere attitude, the staff member couldn't really chase him away. The already lively venue became even noisier. In literature there is no first, in martial arts there is no second; no one was convinced.

Li Hao didn't really want to waste time here, and he didn't know where he was supposed to stand, so he stood on the side, feeling a bit awkward.

Chao Qinglong glanced at both sides: "Move aside, you're crowding me."

Xilian and Maxis smiled and moved to the side. Basta and Romero on the other side also leaned toward the edges. The center position was cleared out; to be precise, Xilian and Li Hao were in the center, but there was one extra person in the first row.

Pegluosa of Super Starry Sky smiled: "Haha, I'll give Li Ge a spot."

Pegluosa went to the second row, and suddenly things became even more chaotic. Seeing that Li Hao's arrival caused even more confusion, and since the big shots were too concerned with their reputations to argue, Dimoka—who was not someone to be trifled with and feared no one—said, "Why don't we just kick this late-arriving bird-man out? I'll eliminate him directly tomorrow; why go through all this trouble."

After Dimoka finished speaking, he looked around triumphantly. It felt great; showing off here was the real way to show off.

However, the people looking at him were all wearing mocking smiles, and no one responded. Maxis, Chao Qinglong, and the others looked at Basta and Romero: you Martians should solve your own problems.

Where did such an idiot pop out from?

Romero also felt it was a bit shameful. He turned his head and stared coldly at Dimoka with one eye: "Little brat, if I hear another word out of your mouth, I'll kill you!"

Dimoka was stunned. He hadn't expected Lone Wolf to personally step in to deal with him. His face flushed red and his mouth twitched, but he felt Romero's anger. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed it back. The Martians had strict hierarchies; on the battlefield, rank didn't matter, but off the field, they were the most particular about status and hierarchy.

"Everyone, move in order, quickly." War God Maxis said. He had keenly sensed the trace of abnormality when Li Hao just walked in.

It wasn't just Maxis; Basta and the others were the same. If they weren't at their level, they wouldn't have been able to detect it at all. At the moment he entered the door, a flash of killing intent had appeared on Li Hao.

It vanished in a flash, yet it was as if it had emerged from the eighteenth level of hell, instantly freezing the spirit.

Xilian, however, wore a faint smile. He really wanted to know what had made Li Hao unleash such intense killing intent that he even forgot to hide it. Interesting.

"Are you all deaf? Hurry!" Wolf King Basta, who usually didn't talk much, suddenly roared.

Instantly, everyone began to move. Chao Qinglong turned his head to look at the people behind him and waved his hand, his gaze conveying his meaning. The three major federations had all moved, so TAS could only go with the flow.

Li Hao hurriedly apologized to the staff and the various team leaders. They were all good people; how harmonious.

Everyone began to pose. Standing still, Li Hao was still thinking about that message. He judged that there was something the Giant Insects needed inside the base, but he really hadn't expected the issue of a human traitor to arise.

How could there be a human traitor?

This was something he couldn't figure out no matter what. Everything had a motive; defecting to the Giant Insects?

Damn it!

Unknowingly, a wisp of ethereal killing intent shrouded the hall, though anyone below the realm of Flowing Heart Martial Arts couldn't feel this terrifying gaze from the Abyss.

Basta and the others couldn't help but frown. Maxis was a bit surprised, and Xilian was also very curious. Whoever had provoked him to such anger had a real talent for it, but that person was going to be in trouble.

The array that hadn't been set up for a long time was finished in an instant. A few who had been running their mouths saw that the super big shots were truly angry and serious, and they instantly quieted down. This kind of place relied on strength for ranking, and if the Martians said they were going to do something, they really would. A Martian who offended Basta and Romero really wouldn't have a good ending, unless they could defeat them—but didn't they know how much they were worth?

No one present regarded Li Hao as the internet celebrity Puppet; that was just the view of outsiders. The Tianqi Humans naturally understood. Those outside of Tianqi only knew this person was a former top expert of Tianqi, as was Xilian, but five years ago they were all just a bunch of little brats. What era was it now to still be playing at cliques? They were certainly unconvinced and annoyed in their hearts, and they hadn't expected such a strong backlash from complaining a few times.

Moreover, the tournament hadn't even been played yet. Even someone as strong as Maxis had only won the championship once, and Chao Qinglong's best was currently the final four. It was just that the situation was stronger than the people; Tianqi occupied half the field in the current top 64, and their rankings were relatively high.

After the photo was taken, the staff wanted to exchange a few polite words, but everyone else stood still. Li Hao was the first to slip away.

Throughout the entire process, the venue was very quiet. The remaining people didn't move at all, watching Li Hao leave the whole time. Chao Qinglong frowned; what matter had made Li Hao unleash such heavy killing intent?

Only then did everyone start whispering, though the content of their words was poles apart. Aofei and the others were also very surprised. They had been in contact with the current Li Hao the longest; basically, Li Hao's mindset was indescribably good—he didn't get angry, didn't care, and wasn't particular about things. Everything was just about participating. He cared even less about the events of the past. The Li Mo of those years seemed to have become a Buddha.

"It is easier to change mountains and rivers than a person's nature." Xilian left very happily. Only a Li Hao like this was worth it. To defeat him, one had to defeat the strongest Li Hao. Such a process was stimulating; that was the value of existence.

Basta and the others didn't speak and left directly. The bit of killing intent Li Hao had shown just now couldn't be felt by ordinary people, and they wouldn't even understand it, but at the level of Basta and Maxis, it contained a lot of content—a glimpse of the whole from a single spot.

Before they had even fought, they already had an estimate. They probably all had to be thankful that the S Tournament didn't have

a pilot confrontation segment, otherwise that would be truly terrifying.

Their primary goal was naturally to defeat Li Hao. If they couldn't accomplish that, then they would go all out to defeat the Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team. It was no longer the Apocalypse Era; the team's victory was the final victory.

The few staff members at the scene were stunned. What was going on?

Was the influence of internet celebrity team leaders this great now? Were the big shots' tempers a bit too good?

Because of the controversial ranking, Kuangwu Daren had also become uniquely famous among the streamers of the S Tournament. Peers are enemies, so he had effectively isolated himself, but he was actually very excited and didn't care about the criticism from the outside world.

This scene of the photo shoot spread throughout the Galaxy Center. The internet celebrity Puppet acting like a big shot, being late, cursing, and forcibly grabbing the C-position. Compared to such a shallow internet celebrity with no foundation, the true powerhouses of the S Tournament like Maxis, Fan Liweite, Basta, and Chao Qinglong were very humble. Some people really would become arrogant and look down on everyone once they had a little fame.

That photo with Li Hao in the center position was not used by the officials; instead, they used a candid shot taken by a photographer during a waiting interval, which was relatively natural. Although the group was not perfectly aligned, everyone looked relaxed, and they were standing where they were supposed to be; as for the missing person, it did not seem to matter.

Kuangwu Daren still saw that photo. With both photos placed before him, Kuangwu Daren's emotions were fiery. In the first one, everyone was unruly and filled with anticipation for this S Tournament; Xilian, Chao Qinglong, Maxis, Basta, and the others in the front row all radiated an aura of "who else but me."

In the second one, there was one more person right in the center, and the entire scene was filled with a murderous chill, as if suddenly shrouded in the shadow of Mawang. Everyone's expression was very serious; the eyes of Maxis, Chao Qinglong, Basta, and the others were filled with deep wariness and coldness—it was a completely different state.

One person changes the world.