Zi Bo, Zi Ji Ge, and Baron continued their conversation before the start of the award ceremony for the naval tournament.

(BM) “It must have been hard to accept that all of you were finished off by something that none of you saw coming.” Baron asked.

(ZJG) “Even someone like you can understand, hey? In all honesty, this is the first time that a weapon as powerful as that has been shown in the Chinese community outside of the Sun Alliance. Rightfully so, this piece of news will have spread throughout the entire community by now and will cause a huge amount of ruckus. Only adding to the shame of the Forever Pirates.” Zi Ji Ge said in her usual know it all attitude.

(ZB) “...” Zi Bo remained silent and looked away to other parts of the room that they were in. Many others were present, mostly just a few groups of people who had been watching the tournament and having a drink with friends. The most common discussions around these settings were the tournament, how well a faction has been performing, and whatever rumors had been circulating about.

(BM) “Do tell me more, I am quite curious about this mysterious lady.”

(ZJG) “Well, today is your lucky day, I managed to talk a bit with elder Zheng Jing about his experiences with her. Although he is a great guy, getting to meet him is pretty difficult. His general thoughts on her were that this mysterious lady was super pompous. He suspected that the reason that she gave them the slip while he and the others were defending the island the first time was not that it was the smart thing to do, but rather because she just felt like it.”

(ZB) “Her skills are undoubtedly unmatched, but she lets her emotions slip into her decision making. Emotions should have no place on the battlefield.” He said as his face turned into a grimace.

(BM) “Right… Anything else that elder Zheng Jing said about this lady?”

(ZJG) “There was one more thing that he seemed to be unsure of. It was why she decided to decrease the quality of her defenses after forming a formation that showed amazing skill to pull off.”

(BM) “Oh yes, I remember seeing that and wondering to myself what that was all about. However, if that elder mentioned she was a bit pompous, perhaps she just lost interest in the entire thing? She did forfeit right as your forces broke through her defenses after all.”

(ZB) “Her motivations are unclear and as such, she is nothing more than a nuisance.”

(BM) “That could be it as well.”

(ZJG) “I can’t say for certain if it was what either of you has talked about, but she is quite the mystery.”

(BM) “Well, what do you all plan on doing now?”

(ZJG) “Seeing as our contributions aren’t that much, we probably won’t even be mentioned in the award ceremony. Going to it is likely not even worth it at all. Mostly for those who have contributed the most to the entire board as a whole, or for the leader of each faction. In that aspect, Madam Zheng and Zheng he has been fighting for the first place ever since she formed the Forever Pirates faction.

(BM) “This reminds me, I have been here for likely over 50 years now, I wonder how my family and friends are doing back on Earth.”

(ZJG) “Best not to think about such things now, kiddo. My brother and I both came here around the same time, a few hundred years ago, but we learned soon after that there were many millennia of people who got here before us. Which is to say, by the time we got here, we were pretty certain that everyone we had known back on Earth had perished just as we have.”

(BM) “That’s a difficult pill to swallow, especially considering that I wish to win the deathmatch tournament so that I may return to my loved ones. How would that even work if they are already dead?”

(ZJG) “If that is your goal, you must first establish your own faction first. Only the strong and powerful even have an inkling of a chance to get close enough to enter the tournament. Much less win it in the first place. Focus on what’s in front of you, for now, your past is your past. Don’t dwell on it for too long.” She said suddenly getting serious.

(BM) “I’ll follow the senior’s advice. However, the past makes us who we are, dwelling on it for too long might not be healthy, but not even acknowledging it is even worse in my opinion.”

(ZJG) “Heh, you’re quite the philosopher aren’t you. Well, for now just remember that you and your little group of friends are quite insignificant in the grand scheme of things on this planet, if you have mass influence, then you at least have to grow to as powerful as Sun Tzu himself. Good luck with that, no one is close, not since the disappearance of Zhu Ge Liang.”

(BM) “A true mystery that no one knows the answer to, perhaps Sun Tzu knows something? I heard that the two of them were quite close when they were both rising powers on this planet. Of course, there are conflicting rumors so I have no idea who to trust. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it would you?”

(ZJG) “No, I don’t think you should pry into this matter any further. The price of something like this is not worth the time nor effort. I think that’s all the time that we have. Good luck on the land portion of the tournament, Baron, that is the most competitive mode, even more intense than the land and sea portions combined.” She said as both of them got up to leave.

(ZB) “Baron, look up into the stars sometimes, you’re a smart guy.” He said as he turned around to follow Zi Ji Ge.