"Hi, which military academy are you from?" A handsome young man with dyed red hair greeted us with a smile as he walked over.
His skin was fair and delicate, and his blue eyes shone with a spiritual light as they fell upon Xu Jintang.
Xu Jintang cleared his throat, " The Leikedasi substitutes."
"Oh, what a coincidence! I'm from the Clifford Military Academy's reserve team." Chu Er smiled and extended his hand. "You're also going to the spectator section, right? Shall I take you there?"
Xu Jintang shook his hand and nodded without changing her expression, "That works too."
With outsiders present, Song Tianqi and the others became serious, each with a stern face, pretending to be solemn and aloof as they followed Xu Jintang and the other two.
A short while later, the group followed Chu Er around a corner and arrived at the viewing area.
"Please make yourselves at home. The reserve teams from various military academies will be coming over here soon."
Xu Jintang looked up at Chu Er, "Where are you sitting? We'll sit with you."
Chu Er, then chuckled and said, "Sure."
He turned and pointed to the first row, "We'll sit at the very front; we want to observe the strength of the other military academies' regular platoons up close later."
Xu Jintang gestured to Song Tianqi and the others, "Let's go."
There are only twenty seats in the first row.
After Xu Jintang and his group of five took their seats, they quickly occupied half of the seats.
Chu Er returned to his group and sat down.
His seat was right next to Xu Jintang's.
Chu Er approached with a smile and took the initiative to strike up a conversation, "I heard that your current official team from Leikedasi is quite strong. You were really in the spotlight during the challenge rounds."
"Your official team also made quite a splash in last year's challenge match, so we're evenly matched." Xu Jintang began to offer mutual praise.
Chu Er's smile deepened, "Little sister, how about we be honest? Is your Leikedasi reserve team stronger than the regular team?"
Xu Jintang crossed her arms and glanced at him. "What about Clifford?"
"Hey." Chu Er patted Xu Jintang's shoulder familiarly and pulled her in front of him. "It's all an open secret. Which of the five major military academies would dare to deploy secret weapons in their regular units now? In the end, all the other military academies are watching us closely. We're all in the same boat. There's nothing wrong with telling the truth, right?"
Xu Jintang pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow, "So your Clifford's reserve team is stronger than the regular team?"
Chu Er smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Otherwise what?"
Seeing his candor, Xu Jintang shrugged and said, "Then we're pretty much the same."
The two locked eyes for a few seconds, then smiled at each other, understanding each other implicitly.
Soon, reserve teams from other military academies began to arrive.
Neither Chu Er nor Xu Jintang spoke again, and both turned their gazes to the audience.
The spectator stands are located on a high platform on the second floor, offering a panoramic view of the entire arena from below.
At this moment, the official team members from the five military academies had all assembled and were sitting in the waiting areas on both sides of the arena, waiting for their turn.
"The members of the five military academies' regular squads this year are all exceptionally strong."
"Sigh, the official teams are all in the open; who knows if they're hiding some secret weapons?"
"It seems we're all thinking the same thing. I think the reserve teams from the five major military academies... might be something special."
Whispering discussions arose from the viewing area.
Xu Jintang, who was sitting in the front row, changed his posture, put his hands on the armrests of the lounge chair, and continued to rest as if nothing was wrong.
Chu Er had clearly anticipated this situation, and sat upright, as steady as a mountain, without the slightest panic.
Since no one else knew what the reserve team members of the five military academies looked like, the group quickly quieted down after their discussion.
At this moment, Zhuang Silin, who was in charge of hosting today's exhibition match and ring match, leaped onto the ring.
"Today's exhibition match rules are that the five military academies will compete against each other in an elimination tournament to determine a single winner who will serve as the defending champion for today."
"The exhibition match consists of two rounds. In the first round, one team will receive a bye and advance directly. The other four teams will be drawn into a series of matches, with the winner advancing directly to face the team that received a bye in a new elimination round until the final winner is determined."
"In addition, this exhibition match and the title defense match will be broadcast live in their entirety. All participating team members are requested to be prepared."
After announcing the competition rules, Zhuang Silin raised her hand and waved, and a light screen immediately appeared behind her showing the team draw.
At the same time, members of the formal teams from the five military academies stood up and stared at the drawing screen, waiting.
Yu Wanyao kept her lips pursed throughout, her expression serious, showing how much she valued today's exhibition match.
Although this exhibition match isn't a formal competition, it still attracts a lot of attention.
As the First Military Academy, Leikedasi naturally wants to maintain its leading position in this pre-event activities.
Chapter 198
At this moment, the live broadcast of the Military Academy League pre-season event was launched.
The Military Academy League, held every five years, is arguably the most anticipated event in the entire Federation, so even though it's just a pre-event activity, it still attracts a lot of attention.
In less than two minutes, hundreds of thousands of viewers flooded into the live stream.
[Are the pre-event activities starting this early this year?]
[Because the policy was relaxed this year, the number of military academies registering for the competition has increased. I heard that more than 400 have already registered, and it might break 500 in a while.]
[Sigh, with the policy relaxed, many newly established military academies can now participate. Will the top five military academies' positions change hands again?]
The last time the positions of the five major military academies changed hands was more than a decade ago.
Xihe Alliance Military Academy, currently ranked fifth, was an inconspicuous small military academy more than ten years ago. Before the league started, no one expected that such an unknown small military academy as Xihe Alliance Military Academy could suddenly break through the ranks.
The final rankings shocked everyone.
Since then, Xihe Alliance Military Academy has maintained its fifth-place ranking, a position it has held to this day and has never fallen out of the top five.
[Who knows? Maybe another dark horse military academy will emerge, hahaha.]
[Let the people from the five military academies handle the tension; we can just watch the show, hahaha.]
The names of each military academy flashed continuously on the lottery screen.
A few seconds later, the image froze.
" Leikdasi Military Academy vs. Imperial Military Academy "
" Quiet Moon Military Academy vs. Clifford Military Academy "
"No bye this round: Xihe Alliance Military Academy "
" Xihe Alliance Military Academy is incredibly lucky, they got a bye and advanced directly," Chu Er remarked, resting his chin on his hand.
Xu Jintang looked down, "How strong is the Imperial Military Academy's regular squad?"
Chu Er chuckled, "They're just average. Your regular team members would be more than capable of beating them."
Xu Jintang raised an eyebrow and turned to look at them. "What about the Imperial Military Academy's reserve team?"
Chu Er shrugged. "I don't know."
The Imperial Military Academy is a very old and prestigious military academy.
In the last star era, interstellar society was still in the stage of feudal imperial society, and ordinary citizens did not have the freedom and rights they have now.
Later, when monsters launched a collective attack, humanity faced a tremendous crisis.
At this time, the ancestors of the Jing Family appeared, leading the people of various alliance tribes to unite, resist the attack of the monsters, and readjust the Federation social system.
From then on, the feudal imperial interstellar society began to develop towards a new era of Federation cooperative society.
Because the teachers and students of the Imperial Military Academy had made many great achievements in the war against the monsters, the Imperial Military Academy was not abolished even after the imperialist system disappeared. Their teachers and students maintained their position as one of the five major military academies through generations of inheritance and strength.
Compared to the other four military academies, the Imperial Military Academy's beliefs lean more towards a steadfast commitment to traditional culture, possessing a solid foundation like the earth itself.
Upon seeing the matching results, the expressions of the five members of the Imperial Military Academy's regular squad all turned serious.
Before coming, everyone had watched the battle video of Yu Wanyao's five-person challenge round-robin tournament.
Compared to the strength of those few, Yu Wanyao and her group of five were far superior.
"Captain, we..." the team member began hesitantly.
Song Renyi took a deep breath and clenched his fists slightly. "It's okay, just do your best."
From the moment he was selected for the official team, he knew that he could only be used by the military academy as a pawn to distract others. He felt resentful and unwilling to accept this.
He even took the initiative to challenge the secret teams at the military academy.
The result was obvious: he lost miserably, without any chance to fight back.
In the end, they had no choice but to accept their fate as pawns.
Song Renyi slowly raised his head, his resolute gaze fixed on the arena. "Everyone, prepare for battle! Imperial Military Academy, shining eternally!"
The other four team members extended their hands, stacked them together, and shouted in unison, " Imperial Military Academy, shining eternally!"
There is still 15 minutes until the exhibition match begins.
After announcing the match results, Zhuang Silin turned and left the ring.
At this moment, the promotional video for the Military Academy League began to play on a loop on the light screen projected above the arena.
The logo of the Military Academy League is a silver ring with blue vines wrapped around it, symbolizing unity.
A few seconds later, the screen began playing highlights from the five military academies.
The first program to be broadcast was from the Leikdasi Military Academy, showing scenes of new student enrollment, the orientation ceremony, and students' daily classes and training on a light screen.
Next up is Clifford Military Academy.
Chu Er and a few others from the substitute team also made a brief appearance in the highlights.
After the highlights of the five military academies were played, the screen gradually dimmed.
The scene quieted down.
Zhuang Silin returned to the ring. "Now, please welcome the members of the Leikdasi Military Academy Regular Team and the Imperial Military Academy Regular Team to the stage. I will serve as the chief referee for this round of the exhibition match, responsible for the personal safety of all participating team members."