As Baron and the rest of the Under 1 Banner team were practicing for their faction selection tournament in another few decades’ time, a message came from Han Xin and the other two that had been at the Australian community. The three of them were there to make sure that their enemy, William Bridges, was sent back before the tournament so that Baron and the rest would have an easier time to win and be declared an official faction. This message was more of an update than anything so Baron read it himself and would tell the others about the situation at a later date.

The message read that the plan to get William Bridges out of the Chinese community before the faction selection tournament was going as planned, but with the recent interference of Wang Yi, and Eumenes, it has become a bit more of a difficult task. Still doable, just might take a bit more time. Han Xin, Ban Chao, and Xu Da were all doing their best to do everything in their power to make this happen. Bribery, bets, simulations, and everything else that came to their minds, but this was a bit of a lengthy process as they were limited in their funds. Baron returned to his training having full confidence in his allies.

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Xu Da and Ban Chao were grouped together by Han Xin so that they could have more of an impact while Han Xin himself would go around the community alone trying to get a few things done. The decades that they had been here were not wasted, instead, they were used to get themselves an appropriate amount of time to become regular presence within the Australian community. Traveling vast distances on foot was the easy part of going to a new community, so was staying, but to be an influence was a bit more of a challenge. Unless, of course, you had wealth or were particularly powerful in warfare.

(XD) “So, Ban Chao, how was your last sim? I bet you wiped the floor with that guy just now. He doesn't seem that strong to me.” Xu Da said with his usual crudeness and bluntness in words.

(BC) “Tch, you think too lowly of these Australians, though they are a relatively new community, they have a few powerful figures here. If Han Xin were here to challenge then we might be able to take him down.” Ban Chao replied with a bit of disappointment.

(XD) “Humph, the guy I just defeated wasn’t so great. I do believe that both of our opponents are of the same rank within this community.”

(BC) “That’s because you fight so unorthodox that no one really knows what to do with you. You are a bit of a wild card that confuses even your allies.”

(XD) “That’s true, oh hey, I think Han Xin is here for our weekly briefing.”

(BC) “So it seems.”

(HX) “There you guys are, I have some news. After our last meeting, I sent a letter back to Baron and the others and they should have gotten it by now. With that said, I have gotten an audience with one of the high ranking councilmen of the Australian community. He has heard of us as of late and is interested in exchanging blows with us. He is ranked 8 in the entire community I believe. This might be the big break we were looking for!” Han Xin said with an exciting hint in his voice.

(XD) “Oh, that is good news. What other news is there? I don’t think you would get this excited over just this piece of good news.”

(HX) “Very perceptive Xu Da. If we can play our cards right, then we can convince this fellow to have William Bridges return. He is, after all, one of the people who have the authority and power to do such a thing.”

(BC) “That is good news indeed. We should ask around for pointers on this fellow, if we let this chance slip up, then I’m not sure how long it will be before our next big break. Not messing this chance will yield great benefits.”

(XD) “Hold on, what’s this guy’s name anyway?”

(HX) “He has declined to tell us.”

(XD) “If we have his rank number, can’t we just ask around?”

(HX) “Even for us who have been here a decade, we have not been able to even get a name out of anyone with rank 25 or higher in terms of power, it will not be so easy to get a name, even after all of this.”

(BC) “Why are the high ranking officials of this community shrouded in such secrecy? Is this a common thing among the other communities, Han Xin?”

(HX) “No, this is a first for me as well. Though I am not sure of how or why they chose to do it this way, they are certainly not going to be simple figures. We will need to devise some way in order to impress him enough for him to want to start relations with us.”

(BC) “Should we do what we always do?”

(HX) “Yes, we have been here for more than a decade already, the customs here are embedded in our brains. Get to work gathering intel, Ban Chao. You as well Xu Da. We will meet back here in a week to discuss everything that we have gathered.”

(BC) “When will our meeting with this ranked 8 person take place?”

(HX) “It will take place 2 months from now, but with how mysterious he is, we might not even be prepared for him once that time is up. We will need to be extremely careful yet thorough. This chance is hard to come by.”

(XD) “Understood, I’ll do my best. Let me get my long list of allies that I have already gathered and see whether or not they know anything about this nameless councilman.”

(HX) “Good, let us get to work now. The time is ticking for when the faction selection tournament is going to begin.”