Baron just made it back before the rest of the tournament and met up with his faction members. Though he had missed the majority of the last few weeks of the simulation, he had understood what had happened and the thoughts behind why the Bair fighters were so easily willing to give up first place even when they were almost guaranteed to win. They were so powerful that they had no use for whatever the Sun Alliance had in their treasuries. Baron and the others were just about to reach other when an announcement was made by none other than Li Guang, the rising star of the Sun Alliance.

(LG) “My, my, my, what a surprising turn of events this tournament has taken. The award ceremony will be held at a later date, but I will reveal the winners of each category here, as decided by the jury within the Sun Alliance. Let’s begin, so can I get a drumroll please?” Li Guang shouted to hype everyone up.

The stadium-like room that more than 10,000 people were gathered in suddenly erupted in cheers and shouts of excitement. Every other noise was drowned out and the sound was deafening.

(LG) “So, the obvious winners for this one is, of course, going to be the Yellow Wang faction, since they are technically the last group standing. Well done to them! The second place for the aerial portion belongs to our very own Sun Alliance elders of which more than a hundred competed in this time around. Excellent job as well. Now, I’m sure some of you were wondering why we have not included the Bair fighters in the two most prestigious awards within this category and I assure you that we indeed wanted to, however, they refused to receive any kind of award no matter how much we tried to convince them. They did put on quite an impeccable show for us after all.”

The room then filled with over a thousand voices all discussing this matter in an instant and with a word from Li Guang they hushed up just as fast.

(LG) “Hush now, we must finish this up before the next event can begin. With what I said earlier in mind, the winners of the greatest upset award will have to go the group that was led by the Meng duo. More specifically Meng Tian for his incredible achievements in managing to capture one of the 4 leaders of the Yellow Wang faction. I think I can speak for almost everyone that what his group managed to do was beyond the imagination of what we thought you were capable of doing. So congrats, I look forward to your continued growth in this field of warfare.”

After the words left Li Guang’s mouth, everyone just started gossiping their thoughts to their nearest neighbor and continued on this topic for a good few minutes. This time, Li Guang did not stop them, instead, he just smiled at the praise that was going Meng Tian’s way. After all, allowing young talent to grow was necessary for the future survival of the Chinese community. Especially with the threat of the Jordsand strategists looming in the distance.

(LG) “Now, there are a few other awards that are available, but I will not announce it as I have in the past, the ones who have won something will be sent an invitation to the final ceremony where you will be able to receive your prize. Just in case there are any first-timers here, the final ceremony will be held after the land portion of the tournament and that is also when the invited individuals from the other two battlefields will be participating as well, so please dress your best. That is all for now, the water part of the tournament will begin in a few days time, so use this time to strategize if you plan on competing. That is all for now.” Li Guang made a few more closing remarks and then promptly left the stage that he was on.

(BM) “Congrats again, Meng Tian, it seems that you have acquired quite a bit of fame for yourself.” Baron said with a smile.

(MT) “It seems like I have. I was only trying to get revenge for my little brother, he did not deserve to die in such a dishonorable way.” Meng Tian said with a rare glimpse of anger in his eyes.

(MY) “It’s alright brother, you have gotten more than revenge on your rampage. Our name is now better known than before, this is good news. Maybe if we get powerful enough the Vesper faction will not bother our father ever again.” Meng Yi said.

(MT) “That is just wishful thinking brother. Let’s go get some food, I feel like celebrating.”

(BM) “I wouldn’t mind some celebratory drinks.”

(GY) “Neither would I.” Guan Yu piped up.

(YF) “You guys read my mind.” Yue Fei also said.

(MY) “Looks like it’s decided. Let’s go.”

(MT) “Haha, yea.”

No matter where they went they were always asked to drink with the others in the pub. They had grown even more famous than they had originally planned, perhaps to an almost celebrity status within the tournament. Almost. If they wished to gain any more fame and recognition, then they needed to accomplish more than take down one of the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction by ganging up on him. They needed to establish more of a reputation worthy of their goals, the alliance with the Forever Pirates led by Madam Zheng was nowhere near enough either.

The 5 of them made their way to a little pub that was very out of the way for many of the tournament visitors so as to discuss their future in a secretive manner. They arrived and it seemed like they were going to be the only ones there for a while so Baron began ordering drinks and snacks right as they got there. Just as they were beginning to get deep into their conversation, the 4 co-leaders of the Yellow Wang faction made their entry and the two sides had an intense staring competition.