Hard to Change One's Nature
With the preliminary rounds halfway through, the members of the Fairy Tale Kingdom were starting to show signs of fatigue.
With the two vanguards in the first formation declining in performance, it's time for the Sharp Shooter Guozi to step in and protect the other team members.
Shasha has yet to find a suitable replacement for Kaycee Gerrard. This young hybrid of the Disaster Beasts harbors a grand dream, and this Moon God Cup may be its closest chance to win the championship trophy.
Based on the personnel configuration of previous years, Shasha had actually led even more powerful psionicists, but he didn't have much confidence to covet the Twelve Stone Cups.
Its best achievement was representing the region, where it tasted the bitter defeat on the final day. That year, its personnel was more luxurious than the current Fairy Tale Kingdom, and it was based on the regional seed team, selecting the eight people with the most potential and the best combat power in real time.
The weakest of the eight team members has already emerged from the cocoon, and the strongest is about to possess Soul Might. In the final step of transforming into a butterfly, it is hoped that they can complete their evolution within the Moon God Cup.
However, when facing opponents on the final day, and engaging in completely unfamiliar battles with other regional teams, its elite forces were utterly defeated, becoming as vulnerable as fragile infants.
Throughout his career, he has always been a very hardworking and responsible head coach – Shasha summarized several reasons after the game.
Regional seeds seem like the best option, but once they arrive in an unfamiliar environment, the geographical differences make it difficult for them to have regular training matches with teams from other regions.
Teams that stay in their local competition zones and beat up their fellow countrymen will inevitably suffer a crushing defeat when they encounter completely unfamiliar opponents and have never experienced intense setbacks. The entire team will be unable to handle emergencies, and their morale will collapse, leading to a complete defeat.
There were also financial constraints, which gripped these team members like a prison.
The Moon God Cup finals schedule involves hundreds of millions of exposures every day. Previously, regional seeds only faced the spotlight from a few media outlets, radio stations, and newspapers in their hometowns.
On such a stage, any mistake will be magnified a thousand times, ten thousand times.
The consequences of these mistakes directly affect their wages and change their lives. These factors force members of the regional seeded teams to lose their fighting spirit, become timid and hesitant.
In summary--
--Shasha believes this is its closest chance to winning the Moon God Cup because of the unique format of the Moon God Cup.
Before the final day began, no one knew what its theme would be.
Many years ago, the Moon God Cup turned into a charity event because the BOSS suddenly decided to implement a "loser advances" themed tournament format. Even so, everyone still enjoyed watching it.
[Topic] For the Moon God Cup, it's like the process of a spirit transforming from a cocoon into a butterfly.
All battles in the world, all military strategies—
They are all emphasizing their own themes.
Without a political agenda, a legitimate pretext for war, or a reason to hold a jousting contest, soldiers will become complacent, generals will become confused, and their fighting spirit will crumble instantly when facing the enemy.
Even in boxing matches, there are prestigious gold belts and filthy underground casinos that foster a strong fighting spirit.
Coach Shasha's confidence in the Fairy Tale Kingdom stems partly from the [theme]. The theme for this year's Moon God Cup hasn't been decided yet, but the older brothers and sisters in the team seem to have already acquired all six colors of the Radiant Stone. They have strong personalities and are not at all resistant to Fujiwara Tamami, the new mercenary. It seems that there is no need for a period of adjustment. Like two streams of water merging together, they quickly become a fierce torrent with a strong centripetal force.
Shasha's other source of confidence comes from his opponents in the Moon God Cup finals.
It had only been to the finals once, and the opponent it faced was a rough-and-ready team of a few college students from Galahad University with outstanding elemental qualities but weak psychic abilities. Their equipment was all borrowed from the regional seed.
In the knightly duels of psionicists, there are many, many factors that can determine the outcome.
Elemental composition, spiritual power, and spiritual energy.
Tactical thinking, coordination, and the ability to control weapons.
Judgment, communication with teammates, and financial support.
The order of the draw, physical strength, and luck.
These things are all important; you can't go far without any one of them.
However, the college students who defeated Shasha possessed several crucial qualities.
They bear a striking resemblance to the older brothers and sisters in the Fairy Tale Kingdom.
They love dueling and enjoy it. They only care about winning or losing after the match is over.
Their fighting spirit was as firm as steel, and like Fiego Sebastié, they had an extremely strong desire to win.
If only one person on a team really wants to win, Fiego will find himself in a very awkward position, unable to keep his thoughts in sync with the captain.
However, when everyone in a team is really eager to win, they will ignore a lot of noise and naturally create a chemical reaction. The team can unleash amazing fighting power, and verbal communication is often not as convenient and quick as a look or a gesture.
Shasha's team witnessed the incredible cohesion of this dormitory team when they were getting thrashed. It was the most wonderful duel it had ever experienced from the stands in its career, and it would have been even better if it hadn't been the loser.
The team members from the Fairy Tale Kingdom also possess this trait. It was because Shasha saw these traits during the preliminary selection that it believed this team had the potential to win the championship.
Although they all have some flaws, five fingers clenched together can form a fist.
In most sports events around the world, numerous clubs spend a lot of money and time researching and equipping their players to help them get through the difficult adjustment period.
What surprised and delighted Shasha was Qi Ji.
--Sharks Chili initially thought A Hao was a highly valuable penetrator, but JK's performance in overcoming difficulties and surpassing himself later left Little Shasha speechless.
Next is Daniel's execution skills, which he inherited from the gunsmith. It seems that the functions of these team members are unrelated, but they are all capable of standing alone.
But when the audio from the game recording returned to Shasha realized that none of this had happened naturally.
Choosing attacking points, retreating to defend, holding high ground, and personnel positioning—all these decisions came from Qi Ji, the fountain commander, the worst captain who barely fired a single shot.
Put the right people in the right jobs, in the right rooms, and with the right guns.
Whether it's setting up offense or defense, Qi Ji is truly multitasking. He can consider the actual situation on the field from each player's perspective and then quickly issue the correct instructions.
If the "look of a champion" exists, then Qi Ji already possesses the bearing of one.
--Sharks Chili had never seen such a humble and unassuming captain. Just the fact that he could get everyone in the team to obey his orders, understand them, and execute them perfectly was enough to make 80% of the teams look up to him and feel ashamed.
The Moon God Cup is an extremely intense competition. In the tense gunfights, the strongest always prevail, which subtly influences the overall dynamics of the competition.
The one with the highest kill ratio always seems to be the leader, simply because their gun is ruthless enough.
In the eyes of the audience, the one who gets the most kills must become the captain handpicked by the coach. Otherwise, they won't get product endorsements or corporate sponsorships, and public opinion storms will destroy the team's cohesion.
The Fairy Tale Kingdom doesn't have this problem because most of the team members are students of a gunsmith. Their teacher is the most ruthless gunsmith in the entire underworld, capable of killing the most outrageous elite units.
However, in actual battles, the gunsmith rarely made decisions; the strategic decisions against the Madness Butterfly Sect were made by Ming De and the think tank.
With the cooperation of local officials, the specific actions were planned and decided upon jointly by the task force and the anonymous individuals.
At the tactical decision-making level, if there were a keen-eyed Lapis Lazuli Guards, the Gunsmith would hand over the decision-making power to Jason Megan. He didn't consider himself a particularly brilliant person—he could design a plan for attacking the enemy, use all sorts of unusual weapons to kill the enemy, and smash the skulls of electronic androids, but only in rare cases would he offer decision-making advice to the other Nameless warriors.
The soldiers who had been tasked with breaking into the Little Brotherhood and wiping out Lawrence Madison's rapid reaction force had received operational guidelines from their Big Sister, but those were merely guidelines; the actual execution depended on the micromanagement of each regimental commander.
The members of the Fairy Tale Kingdom were all students of the gunsmith. They never cared who the captain was, because their teacher had never actually been a captain. If the Nameless Ones were to form a team, the gunsmith wouldn't be the captain; Jason Megan, the lapis lazuli half-wolf, would be the decision-maker.
Now they understand that Sharks Chili was right, and Qi Ji was the best candidate.
This young man, who looks like he's never fired a gun before, has excellent mental arithmetic and memory. He has a great sense of space and can accurately pinpoint the locations of the first and second team members. His distance judgment and calculation abilities are world-class.
It was as if Qi Ji had encountered similar scenarios countless times in the world of virtual games.
For Qi Ji, the knightly duels were very interesting.
At first, he felt that the game was not as realistic as reality, and many parameters and physical laws were very unfamiliar to him.
Later, he felt that reality was not as good as games, because no one can maintain a reaction time of 100 milliseconds and a positioning time of 180 milliseconds in daily life.
Psionicists possess reflexes and bioelectric systems far exceeding those of ordinary people. Among top-tier CS: GO players, maintaining a positioning ability for 200 milliseconds puts them among the fastest-reacting individuals in the world.
Here, "[positioning]" refers to the time from "seeing the enemy to completing aiming".
We once witnessed the godlike skill of wielding firearms, as seen in the scene where the gunsmith shot down the electronic android. It was an external lock-on, where the Fragrant Dream spirit forcibly guided the physical body to achieve multi-point targeted kills.
For Qi Ji, his daily work required him to maintain a similar conditioned reflex, almost as natural as breathing.
Fighting to snag a bargain at the auction house, battling against automated scripts.
He selected a spot on Banana Road and fired, then got banned by VAC for using cheats.
He was typing and playing like a pro.
Each action determines his daily income, what he eats for each meal, and whether he goes hungry or continues his carefree life.
He loves games and is so engrossed in them that he has developed a mental to-do list and schedule.
By clearing out his usually packed schedule and treating each member of the Fairy Tale Kingdom as a game character, and through repeated training, inputting language and receiving effective feedback to solve a simple math problem, Qi Ji completed his transformation in the first half of the competition and has now reached the cocooning stage.
And this kid has a really sweet tongue. When the team members hear a command, he acts like a little brother passing notes to his older brothers and sisters who are taking an exam, and the notes contain the correct answers.
Lying in a rocking chair in the club office, Sharks Chili was overjoyed.
The semi-finals have just ended, and with another resounding victory, Fairy Tale Kingdom has already secured its place in the city championship and will now compete for the regional representative position.
The team members have three days of rest, half of which is reserved for travel and half for interviews, so they can rest for a total of 26 hours.
The headquarters of the Fairy Tale Kingdom is located next to the small commodity market in Conch Town, which is the liveliest place in town.
The team that finished the second round has more time to adjust than other teams that lost once, but today the players need to meet with the boss.
It's worth mentioning that the meeting between the gunsmith and the general manager of the Fairy Tale Kingdom was deliberately saved for last.
The students were in good condition, except for Hao Bro and Kaycee, who looked listless. The team's supplements were almost gone, and they had also used up the chocolates and energy-boosting elixirs that the company had sponsored last time.
Shasha specifically commissioned the gunsmith, hoping he could procure a few more powerful tonics, otherwise the road to the city championship would be very difficult.
After the students had greeted the shop owner, Jiang Xueming finally changed out of the Garfield costume and took off the faded cat head.
Without a word, he walked towards the boss's office, past the bustling sugar-blowing workshop, past display cases filled with colorful sugar figurines, silently thinking to himself—
--Should I get some for my wife and kids? These candies look really pretty.
He was completely distracted and unprepared, and the moment he stepped into the office, he felt a familiar spiritual pressure.
Little Shasha had told him before that the owner of the Fairy Tale Kingdom seemed very interested in him, and that she was a girl.
The gunsmith didn't think much of it. He was probably there because of the nameless man's biography or heroic tale. Just like with Fujiwara Tamami, he figured if they met, chatted for a bit, and then dropped all the preconceived notions, they could get along well, right?
But the moment he stepped through the door, he instinctively reached for his gun at his waist.
The aura emanating from the stench of blood was a dangerous signal. When the door was fully opened, a familiar face sat in the boss's chair— Flavia.
The criminal who once worked at the Little Brotherhood's brown sugar factory reappeared before the gunsmith.
The secretary standing ramrod straight to the side was none other than the White Snake, Duran, who corresponded to the Black Snake.
One sister wore a red and black suit shirt, while the other wore a blue and white skirt and trousers jacket.
Once the gunsmith had fully opened the door, Duran greeted him with a warm smile, "Please come in!"
Jiang Xueming stood in front of the gate, making no other move, and asked cautiously.
"This woman won't hug me, won't kiss me, and won't let my wife know I came into this house, right?"
Duran narrowed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and revealed a ruthless, opportunistic smile.
"Of course not! Oh! What are you afraid of? We should be afraid of you!"
The gunsmith emphasized--
"--She has no idea that a rich woman is sponsoring my club, sending money to my coaches, and even wanting me to come to this office alone to meet with the two of you, right?"
Duran burst into laughter, while Flavia, standing to the side, made no move. Given her penchant for amusement, she should have been doubled over with laughter by now.
These sisters should have been punished, even as witnesses, for all the crimes Little Brotherhood. Since being sent to the Qingjin, they've disappeared without a trace, seemingly under protection.
Today, when he reunites with the two people who changed his destiny, they have transformed into employees of the World Health Organization and run a food and medicine factory in Forty-One District that heals the body and mind.
Flavia's mental state is very strange--
She looked at the gunsmith as if he were a stranger.
After a very long time, the big boss looked up and asked his good secretary Duran.
"Do I know him? Duran! Should I know him? This guy and I have a history? He's not bad looking. I never thought I'd end up with someone like him?"
Duran lightly slapped Flavia across the face, just with his hand, without changing his body posture at all, as if he had done this kind of intimate gesture many times before.
"She's already married! Wake up!"
Flavia's mouth was agape; she looked rather dim-witted, a little dazed.
"Hmm! That's good too! It saves me from having my heart broken again."
Jiang Xueming stepped forward and finally saw Flavia's expression clearly.
--The Latina girl looked up, and her healthy skin tone, visible through the collarbone and neck, was striking.
The skin was covered with rows of words radiating golden-red flames, the handwriting of David Victor. Hell Highway had rewritten a chapter in the life of this ferocious black serpent.
Jiang Xueming asked Duran, "Did the teacher help you?"
Duran shrugged indifferently, his expression calm.
"It was a painful ordeal, involving running around everywhere, starting with security and defense, cooperating with the Guangling Zhixi operation, and paying the price for every person harmed—the death penalty has been spared, but punishment is inescapable."
Jiang Xueming: "Looks like you're doing well lately?"
Duran looked around the office, tilted his head, and smiled.
"Well, at least we have a place to stay. We can make candy for the children, deliver delicious heart medicine to the elderly, and have special agents watching over us when we travel far away. The boss has always been keeping an eye on us."
Jiang Xueming leaned close to Duran's ear and whispered, "Flavia, she..."
"I don't remember anything," Duran replied softly. "Mr. Victor rewrote her story; she's now a kind-hearted, lustful, and greedy little princess. Even her name has been changed; she's no longer called Cici, she's called Alice. I really don't know how to thank Mr. Victor."
"What are you two whispering about, all huddled together!" Flavia yelled. "Duran! Didn't you say he got married? Are you planning to have an affair with him? You have to include me in this exciting thing!"
Duran rolled his eyes and lightly slapped Flavia across the face.
She said helplessly to the gunsmith--
"--But his attitude is still the same as before. Mr. Victor specifically instructed that elemental nature influences thought patterns, and human nature cannot be changed. I'm sorry to have troubled you."
Flavia, who had just been slapped, stood with her mouth open, seemingly not angry at all. Her fangs, a characteristic of her blood-soaked body, gleamed.
Duran and the gunsmith looked at Flavia together and said...
"She's always been like this—shameless, vulgar, greedy, and lustful. No amount of writing can change that."
Flavia looked smug, proudly crossing her arms and tilting her head back.
"Thank you for the compliment!"