Chapter 345: Vanguard Battle

Kuangwu Daren's blood was burning, but he also knew that the Alliance had issued a gag order regarding Tianqi, and as a media professional, he certainly couldn't slap his own face. Yet, watching those clowns dancing wildly, how could he stand it?

The one jumping the most fiercely was the hot-tempered Huonan; how could he be missing from this? Ever since arriving at the S-Tournament, he had been the most dazzling guy in the streaming world. Puppet was acting like a diva—how marvelous! Not even started fighting yet and already acting arrogant; wasn't this just asking for death? Especially after seeing the photo, Huonan was stunned. What kind of nerve was this? Was he crazy? How inflated and carried away did one have to be to make such a crazy move?

Heard he was even late, had a dark face, cursed at people—damn it.

Huonan started writing his little essays, full of insinuations, and even added embellishments to fabricate a few vivid little stories, which immediately received crazy support from his followers.

Li Hao, having returned to the dormitory, had entered a dormant state and didn't pay any attention, while Ma Long and the others had already turned off the media to focus entirely on preparing for the battle, so they didn't notice these outside matters.

Kuangwu Daren, however, was watching with great intensity. Were these people idiots?

Even if Earthlings and Moon People were a bit reserved, did they really think the Martians and Titans were dead?

If there was even one person who wasn't convinced, wouldn't they have caused a scene? With so many unruly top experts being this quiet, didn't that imply a problem?

But public opinion had already been led astray by Huonan. Occasionally, someone would raise a question, but no one cared. Sometimes people only wanted to see what they wanted to see; everything else was unimportant.

Kuangwu Daren updated his personal page:

———The broken throne is covered in spiderwebs, waiting for its king to return!

The accompanying image was a lonely throne in the darkness.

As the person who paid the most attention to Kuangwu Daren, Huonan immediately responded to him: The ignorant bootlicker has started his grandstanding performance again!

This pair of rivals started because of Puppet, but it wasn't the end. Especially since they were both selected as official commentators for this S-Tournament, Huonan was naturally the obvious choice. In terms of seniority, popularity, and ability to stir up the atmosphere, he was invincible. What was this amateur Kuangwu?

Kuangwu Daren saw Huonan's provocation, smiled, and ignored it. What he cared about was Cheng Konghai's state. Had the person who once hammered him into smithereens fully recovered?

The King's blade-wielding guard, the Hunter's number one Team Leader, characteristic—berserk.

And Xilian, that strongest person on the Moon, with the best background, extraordinary talent, and infinite resources, bringing the unsolvable Shadow Sentry, the king returns.

Zhou Naiyi and the others finished their final pre-battle training. Tomorrow was their first S-Tournament battle. Except for Zhou Naiyi, who had some experience, everyone else was doing it for the first time. However, their current problem was that Li Hao didn't seem to be in the right state.

Zhou Naiyi gathered everyone together, "Has Li Hao encountered something?"

"Ah, what thing?" Ma Long and the others looked blank.

"I just received a message from him saying he isn't feeling well and might not be able to compete tomorrow. He hopes we can end the match before the team battle." Zhou Naiyi shook her head. She didn't rashly look for Li Hao; she had to find the problem first. He was the core of the team and there could absolutely not be any mishaps at this time. "Did he have a falling out with A Youyou?"

The match consisted of five individual bouts, each worth one point, and the team battle worth two points. It was possible to end early. The individual performance of each contestant was the basis for selecting the best player for the final position.

Seeing Zhou Naiyi's expression, Ma Long immediately reacted, "That shouldn't be it, he was fine just before."

"Aren't you an expert in this area!" Zhou Naiyi said, "What else could it be besides this?"

Zhou Naiyi knew very well Li Hao's physical strength and terrifying power. Not feeling well? Only a ghost would believe that. But when she saw him in the morning, his complexion really didn't look good. With his carefree personality, what else could it be besides relationship problems?

Ma Long hurriedly raised his hand, "How would I know? Zuo Xiaotang, did you notice anything unusual?"

"What unusual thing? Wasn't he fine yesterday, sleeping in? He's always like that." Zuo Xiaotang was completely unaware. He was in a pretty good state right now, focusing on practicing a combo skill with Cheng Konghai,

so he hadn't noticed anything else.

Zhou Naiyi glanced at Wuzang. In the team, there wasn't a single person who didn't cause worry except for Wuzang.

"Could it be that Hao Ge is doing this on purpose, wanting to use this to make us face the match with more confidence?" Wuzang suddenly said.

The team's reliance on Li Hao was very strong, especially when facing strong opponents. It could be said that tomorrow's opponent might be the weakest before the main tournament. If they couldn't even take this down, how would they fight against high-ranked teams later?

Everyone looked at Cheng Konghai. Cheng Konghai looked blank, "I don't know anything. Are women important?" Zhou Naiyi was speechless; asking him was a waste of time, he was also a fool.

"Hey, I think Wuzang's analysis is right. What could happen to him? He must be trying to build our confidence!" Ma Long slapped his thigh hard, "Sister Naiyi, don't overthink it. What could be more important than the S-Tournament? Even if they really had a little spat, with Hao Ge's personality, it wouldn't go that far. We don't need to worry blindly. Tomorrow, let's fiercely show off our debut. A mere Gundam Team doesn't even need Hao Ge to take action!"

Zhou Naiyi and the others all felt it made sense and went back, their mental states relaxing. Even if Li Hao didn't appear, they were confident in facing Gundam.

The qualifiers had begun, two days, eight matches in the morning, eight in the afternoon. The popular teams that appeared on the first morning, besides Tianjing Martial Arts, included Galaxy Team, Round Table Knights, Langwu Team, Super Starry Sky, Abyss, etc. Currently, in terms of attention, Galaxy Team was firmly in first place, Langwu in second, and Tianjing Martial Arts was ranked third. But in terms of past honors, Tianjing Martial Arts could be considered unprecedented.

And the guests responsible for commentating on the Tianjing Martial Arts vs. Gundam Team match were exactly Huonan and Kuangwu Daren. This was exactly what both of them had hoped for.

Those top-tier teams in the qualifiers just needed to make an appearance and didn't need to use their full strength. For example, Galaxy and Yindila Team. Although Yindila was full of confidence and had boasted before the match that he wanted to have a good spar with God of War Maxis, those with a discerning eye knew that Yindila would be lucky not to be shut out.

Huonan and Kuangwu Daren chatted and laughed, and one couldn't tell at all that the two were tearing each other apart online.

Both sides' team members entered, the venue was packed. But in terms of popularity, Puppet had many fans. In comparison, the Martian Gundam Team was much inferior. The gossip before the match did not affect the audience's enthusiasm.

Soon Huonan discovered a problem, Tianjing Martial Arts' Team Leader Li Hao...???

Didn't show up?

Soon the director had already given the signal to the host side: Tianjing Martial Arts Team Leader Li Hao did not arrive due to physical reasons. This match, Tianjing Martial Arts had no Substitute.

This situation was not uncommon. Even with the best medical equipment, under the high intensity of the S-Tournament, there were many injuries. But to happen in the qualifiers...

Thinking of the events before the match, Huonan couldn't help but laugh, "Gundam Team is a team with characteristics in the ROM, their style is tough, and every position is balanced. Li Hao's absence will stop Tianjing Martial Arts in the qualifiers. It's a pity."

Kuangwu Daren also expressed his regret, "Tianjing Martial Arts still has an advantage in terms of strength. Even if Team Leader Li Hao is absent, they should still be able to win the match quite smoothly, and at the same time, prepare for the more important main tournament later. Also, apologies to all the viewers, there are always unexpected situations in the S-Tournament, and I hope Team Leader Li Hao returns to the arena as soon as possible."

When the opponent, Gundam Team, learned of this news, they were undisguisedly ecstatic. Dimoka was very arrogant. He wasn't afraid of Puppet or Li Hao; it didn't matter. But if the opponent was missing a core, it was equivalent to being handed a victory. He was too happy to care.

"Brothers, cheer up, four to zero sweep and send them back home!"

Accompanied by Dimoka's roar, Gundam Team's momentum was like a rainbow. Except for Puppet and Wuzang, the others were all small fry. As for a Supernova like Wuzang, hehe, Dimoka specialized in beating Supernovas.

Puppet's fans were all very worried. They didn't expect Puppet to be absent from the first match due to physical reasons. This was very dangerous.

Although they knew it must have been a decision made out of necessity, they still felt quite regretful in their hearts. And on the Tianjing Martial Arts side, everyone was stunned.

At this time, almost all the teachers and students of Tianjing Martial Arts were waiting in the square for the start of the match... Li Hao... was not there?

The scene was silent. How was this going to work?

Tianjing Martial Arts was almost carried into the Mid-Season Tournament by Li Hao, and it was also Li Hao who held on in the Mid-Season Tournament to take ninth place. When they learned that Li Hao was Puppet, the whole of Tianjing Martial Arts felt like the sky had brightened, and they even had higher expectations for a time. This...

After the silence, there was a burst of noisy discussion, accompanied by various sighs. Relying on just one Wuzang, how could they fight? Wuzang didn't have much experience. This was the S-Tournament, and it was the most difficult S-Tournament in history.

Long Danni was slightly stunned, but she didn't have excessive worry. Li Hao was a person who looked unreliable, but he handled every matter in an orderly manner. And if there really was something, he would definitely notify her; he wouldn't even say a word. How important this match was, Li Hao also knew very well. If they failed, she would be finished, the team would disband, not to mention everyone's disappointment. And even if Li Hao was negligent, Zhou Naiyi wouldn't fail to remind him.

In other words, this was very likely Li Hao and the others' tactic.

In almost ten seconds, Long Danni returned to calm. She didn't ask either. If you don't trust someone, don't use them; if you use them, don't doubt them. She wanted to see what height the current Tianjing Martial Arts could reach without Li Hao. This was also the time to test the quality of Tianjing Martial Arts.

The battle between Galaxy and Yindila on Battlefield 6 had already begun as the first match. As the most popular team, Galaxy, the liveliness didn't need to be mentioned. The live broadcasts of major media were also leading the way. Although last year was Fan Liweite's championship, the Moon People still felt that the War God was the strongest. Maxis defeated many experts to win the championship, while the difficulty of Fan Liweite's championship was lower. In addition, there was Maxis's steadiness; he had more of a king's aura.

The referee had confirmed the situation of Tianjing Martial Arts. Li Hao was absent, and he could not participate later. This was not a joke. The match began.

Both sides blindly chose the Vanguard.

For Tianjing Martial Arts, it is Wuzang, and for the Gundam Team, it is Dimoka.

A smug smile appeared on Dimoka's face; he knew for certain that Tianjing Martial Arts would definitely send out their strongest, Wuzang, in the first match, and he, the Gundam King Dimoka, was going to teach this Wu Family rookie a good lesson.