The Final Piece of the Puzzle

Xue Ming initially had low expectations for the students' journey to the Moon God Cup.

--Keep in mind that these kids have just graduated from school and haven't played a single training match. Whether they can even get past the township or county level is still unknown, let alone being part of the Forty-One District representative team.

Every year, countless athletes train specifically for the Best Moon God Cup, and many outstanding players join the ranks of "mercenaries," helping qualifying teams overcome numerous obstacles, successfully reaching a certain level, and then retiring with their money. Most of these professional players who come down to "fish" (referring to players who intentionally lose money) have two special skills and are excellent psionicists.

Xue Ming had no idea how much the students actually knew about the Moon God Cup. They seemed to know absolutely nothing, yet they had just formed a dormitory group to dabble in it.

That's why he agreed to the boss's request; this journey should be over soon.

The Moon God Cup will last for more than three months, with a total competition period of 100 days. It starts from three smaller levels: township, county, and city, and then proceeds to the finals between regional representative teams and Adulis. The competition is divided into 48 teams, 24 teams, and 12 teams. The 12 teams are then re-drawn and scored to determine the winners' and losers' brackets. Another knockout round is held to leave eight teams, followed by the semifinals and finals.

This is the hellish format of the Moon God Cup; no sport in the world can compare to its length and absurd intensity—a 100-day marathon.

Its intensity of movement and the intensity of confrontation are extremely high. Light weapons are allowed to be used within the rules. Due to the existence of the Universal Elixir, people can pass the physical examination and find that none of the prohibited items in their brains exceed the standard. As long as they can pass the security check, they can use the weapons designated by the organizer to fight.

Every day requires giving it your all to conquer your opponents and surpass yourself.

Every day is accompanied by pain and bleeding, bruises and fractures.

Those who survived being disqualified by the discerning referees, who managed to complete the journey, and who remained rational in an environment where swords and bullets were merciless, are undoubtedly heroes in people's hearts.

This team stands at the top of the world; at this moment, they are number one in the world, without any exaggeration.

"Let alone a hundred days," Xue Ming said, wearing a mask and resting his chin on his hand by the car window, watching the scenery rushing past. "These little guys are already quite remarkable for surviving two rounds of battle."

He murmured to himself, pondering when to buy return tickets—he estimated that in a few days, once the township-level preliminary selection in Forty-One District began, if everyone suffered a double defeat, they could all go home that very day.

Having just finished his trip to the Shinto City, Xue Ming needed to rest for a while. He felt his physical functions were steadily declining, especially his mental strength.

Six years ago, just seven hours of dreamless sleep would have been enough to keep him energized and in peak condition to defeat the enemy.

After the age of thirty, time seems to pass faster and faster, which is an illusion—it means that his reflexes are getting slower and slower.

Xue Ming used to never dream and had excellent sleep quality, but in recent years, she has occasionally woken up in the middle of the night while taking care of her child, and she may dream when she falls asleep again.

As his body grew naturally, he clearly realized it was time to [descend the mountain].

--If his career dealing with the Madness Butterfly Sect was the most brilliant and glorious period of his life, he dedicated almost all of his most powerful moments to this arduous cause of eliminating evil and maintaining peace.

After the age of thirty, the gunsmith's combat strength would only decrease. During his journey in Shinto City, he preferred to defeat his enemies by taking full advantage of favorable timing and terrain rather than engaging in direct confrontation. At the most crucial moment of victory, he placed all his hopes on Meteor, whose body had been ravaged by FE204863 and driven into the Gate of Death by Gale, forcing Fera to shut down.

If he were twenty-three, Xue Ming might still have a chance to struggle in his death throes, to create pain through self-harm and squeeze out the last bit of willpower from his depleted brain. But he was already thirty, and unfortunately, he couldn't squeeze any more out.

Of course, the Big Sister is an exception—a woman's age is always a mystery.

He took great care of himself, and his eyesight, hearing, and Inspiration remained sharp; only the battery was old and its lifespan was slightly reduced. From then on, he developed the habit of taking a nap.

He glanced at the toolbox again; all the parts for making weapons and armor for the students were inside, neatly arranged and quiet. He finally felt relieved, went to the flight attendant compartment, pulled out a sofa chair, and lay down to catch up on some sleep.

On the other side, Coach Shasha sat at the table, chatting about all sorts of trivial matters with four [kids] who were much older than him.

Although it was a small team formed on a whim, Coach Shasha was very professional and explained the basic situation of Forty-One District to the older brothers and sisters in detail.

Shasha was wearing a baseball cap, biting a pen in his mouth, and holding a notebook in his other hand.

"First, we need to get to know each other!"

Hao Bro asked in confusion, "Don't you remember my name? Didn't we tell each other before?"

Shasha picked up her pen and tapped it on her notebook, urging Hao Bro to perk up and concentrate.

"No, no, no! What I mean is! You need a code name! A stage name! Like your online ID—in your combat group, the commander can't always call you by your full name, that's too much trouble! When giving an order, we can't just shout out a name like [Rorychnav Trossky Tukolaeva] and immediately open fire, that's impossible!"

"Oh!" Hao Bro immediately understood, "That's right!"

Shasha: "So the shorter the better!"

Shao Jinghao: "My name is already very short."

Shasha: "But you have to consider your teammates! Like Daniel Fragerak! He's from Israel, try letting him call you by your real name?"

Daniel immediately said, "Shao Jinghao."

The three characters sounded fairly clear, and I could tell what they meant, but they still sounded a little awkward.

The blond guy opened his mouth wide, stretched out his tongue as much as possible, controlled the resonance chamber, and called out Hao Bro's name again.

"Shao Jinghao."

The deep, deliberate rolling of the "r" made Hao Bro laugh so hard he couldn't stop.

"That's the problem!" Shasha said seriously, "You have different native language habits. It's the same if you say Daniel's name. It's not that you can't understand it—"

"--In intense combat, it's difficult to discern the information conveyed by sounds. If your teammate is calling you and you don't understand immediately, even a delay of just a few seconds can be fatal."

"The shorter the better?" Hao Bro thought for a moment and immediately said, "Then you can call me [Hao]! Or A Hao?!"

"Very good!" Shasha nodded in satisfaction. "This sound is easy to pronounce, close to the angry roar, it's a very powerful ID!"

"Hahahaha!" Hao Bro laughed, revealing his two rows of big teeth. "Is that so? Is that really it?!"

Shasha waved her pen, nodding encouragingly. "That's it! Hao Bro! From the moment you chose your name, you've been quite an extraordinary guy!"

"Thanks, Coach!" Hao Bro, who was trained by Meteor, was just as energetic as his assistant coach, Meteor: "I really am a genius!"

"Next up, Daniel Fragerak." Shasha paused deliberately when he said the last name, "What should your teammates call you?"

Hao Bro shouted excitedly, "I'm super awesome!"

Xiao Min whispered to Daniel again, "How did he even come up with such a tasteless joke?"

Daniel replied in a low voice, "I have no clue either."

Coach Shasha: "Have you thought it through?"

Daniel immediately replied, "Coach, it's up to you."

Shasha wrote in her notebook, "Then I'll call you [Duo Hun]."

Hao Bro: "Cool!"

"Why?" Daniel, confused.

"Your surname sounds the same as the name of the great hero Cú Chulainn, [Duo Hun], you should have heard of this myth."

Daniel wanted to say something more.

"But... it sounds childish. It..."

"You made me make the decision!" Shasha emphasized, "And there are many professional players who participate in the Best Moon God Cup as a means of making a living, and some VIPs also have this code name. For example, Teacher Su Ling's code name is Phoenix, Mr. Victor's waiter is called Bloodhound, and your gunsmith teacher can't possibly be named Gunsmith—in the Lapis Lazuli Guards group, very few people use their real names."

At this point, Shasha patted Daniel's arm seriously again.

"Your elemental composition is the best among your friends. The name 'Duo Hun' suits you well. I hope it will protect you and accompany you further and further."

Daniel remained silent, neither refusing nor agreeing, simply acquiescing.

Next up was Xiao Min. Before Shasha could even ask, this clever girl, with a glint in her eye, asked the coach first.

"Coach, what should we call you?"

Without hesitation, Shasha replied immediately, "You can call me Sharks Chili! ~ I'm a super sexy and hot guy!"

Xiao Min looked embarrassed; she suddenly felt that Coach Shasha, who still had a childlike heart, wasn't so reliable.

Kaycee immediately asked, "Were those two mechanics who came with you the Cockroach Evil and the Scorpion Lailai?"

At this very moment, Billy the Kid and Fuyanni are huddled in front of a tablet, carefully studying past game videos. They're also holding their phones, placing bets on the Hellcats official lottery platform, essentially becoming middle-aged online gamblers.

Hearing Kaycee's shout, the two of them turned around at the same time.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Yeah, yeah."

Shasha immediately crossed its arms, looking quite smug.

"Of course! They are all very obedient!"

"Where's the gunsmith teacher?" Daniel pressed. "He's wearing a mask; he probably doesn't want to be recognized, right? He needs a name too!"

Shasha said arrogantly, "Why call him Gunsmith? Just call him Xiaoming. He's your equipment designer."

"Xiao Ming... Xiao... Xiao Ming?" Xiao Min found it hard to accept. That was Aunt Hong's boss, her stepmother's superior, and a hero revered throughout the underworld.

Seeing this, Shasha yelled towards the flight attendants' lounge.

"Xiao Ming! Xiao Ming!"

Jiang Xueming raised his arm and gave a Thumb- up down the corridor. "What's up, boss?"

Shasha grinned with satisfaction, showing off the training results to his classmates. "Look, Mr. Gunsmith is very adaptable; he's already got into character!"

Xiao Min was a little distraught. She grabbed Daniel's arm and said, "How dare our coach? What kind of monster would dare to call the Nameless Boss that?"

Daniel: "I have no clue either."

Hao Bro spoke almost in sync with Daniel.

When the phrase "I Have No Idear" was uttered in a homophonic refrain, Daniel felt a mix of amusement and exasperation. This wasn't the first time Hao Bro had done this; each time, it brought both offensive shock and inexplicable surprise.

"Because your name sounds the same as Comrade Xiaoming's," Shasha said to Xiao Min in a serious tone, "You'll have to think of something else."

Xiao Min scratched her head and cried out, "I hate naming people the most!"

"Then think about it carefully. If you can't think of anything, you can go online and generate a batch randomly, then choose a suitable one." Shasha turned to little sister Kaycee, "Sister! What should I call you?"

Kaycee first read out her full name, "My name is Coach Kaycee Gerrard, what do you think of me?"

"Then you should call yourself KJ! It's simple and easy to remember!"

Kaycee: "This is way too casual!"

Shasha changed her expression, looking quite troubled. "Your elemental composition is really ordinary. In my experience, a background character like you is like a third-rate anime heroine with no distinguishing features—you're practically forgotten after one glance—you have absolutely no presence."

"Completely invisible?" Kaycee's face turned pale; she had suffered a heavy blow.

Shasha then said, "Since everyone uses Chinese, how about we put the first letter of your surname at the beginning, and you can be called JK?"

"That sounds even more ordinary," Kaycee's face grew even uglier, and she finally had no choice but to accept her fate.

After thinking for a long time, Liu Xiaomin picked a name that looked good from a random name generation website.

"Coach, I've decided, this is my name."

Shasha glanced at it and was very satisfied. "Great! You did a good job! You'll be called [Fries]! You're the ultimate dream for so many people! Yay!"

Xiao Min nodded like a chick pecking at rice, "Mmm-hmm! The Fries are so delicious!"

"Coach, I have a question." Daniel leaned back in his chair, raising his hand with a serious expression. "What are we going to do next?"

"Don't rush!" Sharks Chili said solemnly, pointing with his pen, "We only had five thousand dollars in budget when we set off! Even accommodation was a problem! So when we get to Forty-One District, the first thing we need to do is find a reliable sponsor."

Daniel: "My family has a lot of money."

Hao Bro: "I've saved quite a bit of money by working part-time while studying!"

Xiao Min: "I have pocket money."

Kaycee: "Coach, there's no need to find sponsors, is there?"

The students seemed unwilling to have any ambiguous relationships with local businesses in Forty-One District; they were there to compete, not to make money.

Sharks Chili points the way.

"--This is very important! Students! This is very important!"

"I can't explain its importance in just a few words. In the first competition, we don't need to wear uniforms or advertise for any particular company, but if we're fortunate enough to make it to the second half of this journey and this event, you'll understand the significance of sponsorship."

I know what you're all thinking.

Sharks Chili patted each student on the shoulder, telling them to listen carefully.

"You think sports are a very pure thing, but the Best Moon God Cup is different. We're going to Forty-One District to complete the last piece of the puzzle, to find our last teammate."

"Since you see sports as so pure, then don't spend your own money. Try living the real life of a Moon God Cup athlete! People need to eat, sleep, and maintain their physical and mental well-being. Like other athletes, try to support yourself through this sport! This is also part of the training, an essential path!"

"Any achievement or honor in this competition should be associated with Forty-One District."

"After all, we're starting from here and heading to Adulis. We don't have to face the brutal selection process from District 1 to District 9, compete with a bunch of professional game boosters for business, or worry about the vicious lottery system sending us to those terrifying VIPs."

"The people of Forty-One District are watching us. They make a living here, they work here, and countless businesses, big and small, represent their way of life."

"Unlike the convenient internet environment, in the underground world, the customs and traditions of different areas, as well as product trademarks, all carry unique symbols—we want to go out under the banner of local businesses in Forty-One District and leave all the winnings to this land. That's the original intention of the Best Moon God Cup."

Hao Bro listened for a long time, but still couldn't understand.

What does that mean?

Coach Shasha wanted to explain further.

Daniel, however, understood the coach's unspoken meaning first. "Since we're starting from Forty-One District, we should adapt to local customs, right?"

"That's right!" Shasha nodded in approval. "You're really smart!"