Chapter 1 Pre-Match Interview

"...The international competition is about to begin. This time, I have invited several captains and contestants for a simple pre-match interview."

The video showed Han Xiao's base in the Juberly Hub. Four professional players were sitting on the sofa, being interviewed by Rou Bao. The four were Wang Hou Jiang Xiang, Hao Tian, Li Ge, and Kuang Dao Nu Jian, all captains of participating teams or individual contestants. Xue Ran Fan Hua, who had originally placed second in the individual competition, had not entered Han Xiao's interstellar team and was still playing with mud on Aquamarine, so he was missing from the interview.

The four greeted the camera and then entered the normal interview process. Rou Bao transformed, as if he had become a host of the Star Sea Times. He sat up straight, prim and proper, meticulous, but even the most formal posture could not hide the cheapness emanating from him.

The interviews were all about routine questions, such as whether they had confidence, what preparations they had made, and what their expected ranking was—asking if you have confidence? Try saying "no" in front of a wide audience! Does the club still want to operate!

What preparations have you made? Who would reveal such team secrets to you! If the opponent sees it, wouldn't half of the blame be on you and half on me!

Expected ranking? Which club doesn't say it wants to be the champion? Even if our goal is only the top eight or top four, we can’t lose face. Professional players who don’t aim for the championship aren’t good cooks!

The four professional players answered such questions fluently, all with template-like answers. After asking these questions, Rou Bao started chatting with the four about everything under the sun. For this kind of informal interview, the topic can be more casual. Rou Bao threw out foreign experts and teams for everyone to evaluate, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

"Who do you think is the strongest enemy you value most in this competition?" Rou Bao asked.

Li Ge pondered and said, "France's Tulip Club, the American Devil team, TS Thundersnake team, Key, the British Rose Knights team, the Japanese Yamata team, the Korean Kimchi Club, etc. I look forward to competing with these experts. Although the opponents are very strong, I have confidence.”

These teams are all famous big shots in their respective countries, and their status in their own countries is the same as that of the four major Huaxia families.

Rou Bao nodded and looked at the other three, "Then do you have any opponents you value?"

Wang Hou Jiang Xiang: "No."

Hao Tian: "My only opponent is myself."

Kuang Dao Nu Jian looked at the two great gods on the left and right, who were ready to fight at any moment and exuding an imposing aura. He swallowed and said cautiously, "I, I think what Li Ge said is pretty good..."

Hao Tian and Wang Hou Jiang Xiang glanced at him, their eyes full of "no promise" and "young people" kind of disappointment. Kuang Dao shrunk his neck from the stare.

Li Ge had a stiff smile on his face, wishing he could take off his shoes and slap the faces of these two captains who looked like door gods, criticizing him indirectly as if he couldn't understand!

While they were having a happy interview, a dense barrage of complaints floated across the screen.

Solomon's Key quickly watched the Huaxia interview and switched to the interview videos of other countries.

On the French side, the captain of the Tulip team, Lost Angel, was being interviewed.

"...You ask me which opponent I value? Hmm... the three Huaxia teams, they are strong enemies. Most teams should think so, right, haha, and Wang Hou Jiang Xiang and I are old opponents.”

Lost Angel is a veteran with a mellow voice and a cheerful answer.

Solomon's Key watched other countries' interview programs. When the host asked about the opponents they valued, Huaxia's name was always on the list. All teams attached great importance to the Huaxia teams.

The level of e-sports in Huaxia clubs is good, ranking among the top tier, but this is the first time they have been targeted by all teams. This attention comes from their opportunity. Huaxia is the only region with participating players who have mixed in the interstellar world in advance. These foreign clubs have been paying close attention to the experiences of Huaxia players in Black Star and regard them as strong enemies.

Exiting the forum, Solomon's Key looked at the teammates in the room and said lightly, "It seems that other teams have the same idea as us, the Huaxia team is a trouble."

Outside the house was a snow-covered land, boundless, with scattered demon nest camps. From time to time, demon armies roamed the land. This house was also a military camp. The players including Solomon's Key were all in the appearance of demons. The race of the panel information was infantile demon, more than two meters tall, with short goat horns on their heads, tails dragging behind them, thick legs with reverse joints, black demon scales on their bodies, equipped with armor and weapons, fully armed, and although their faces were ferocious, they still had some human face outlines, with different appearances that could be distinguished.

This is the base planet chosen by the American club, one of the garrison planets of the Extinguishing Legion—Frostwinter Star! These people are professional players from the Key Club, all famous.

The pitiful Ilex, far away on Aquamarine, is a retired player belonging to the Key Club. Key is very enthusiastic about placing "scouts" and "spies", and has a mature operating team to provide various intelligence and indirect assistance to its own team.

The captain is "Solomon's Key." This account is the official account registered by the club. Each captain uses this name. The previous generation retired, and this generation's "Solomon's Key" just took office last year. He defeated all the players in the team through selection. The Key Club saw extraordinary potential in him and made an exception to let him serve as captain, deciding to focus on long-term training and place high hopes on him. The Key executives are preparing to build a trump card team around him and several veteran players for one or two seasons, betting on the future, hoping to have the opportunity to achieve a three-peat dynasty—this is the dream of every team.

This generation of Solomon's Key is not as stable as the old players. His combat style and command style are characterized by speed, ferocity, and aggressiveness. The executives have high hopes for him, and he believes that with his ability, it is a matter of course to receive such treatment. He is arrogant, but he has the capital to be arrogant. His teammates, fans, and executives appreciate his aggressiveness.

Humility is a virtue of Huaxia, but not a virtue of America. Straightforwardness and arrogance are the characteristics of American players.

In the first league, most clubs held a wait-and-see attitude, planning to integrate the team and familiarize themselves with the event, and there were no mandatory requirements for rankings, but Solomon's Key didn't care about those. His only goal was the championship!

"There are many opponents, but only a few strong enemies can hinder us. Huaxia Dynasty is one of them. Apart from these obstacles, other teams pose no threat and are all prey for us to score points..."

Solomon's Key put his legs on the table, looked around at his teammates, and the corners of his mouth raised, with a confident and contemptuous smile.

"Guys, let me lead you to win the championship!"

...

Three days passed in a flash.

Han Xiao handled the affairs of the mercenary group and temporarily stopped accepting employment, declaring that he would take a period of rest. The international competition would last three or four months. Han Xiao only planned to give the players a vacation in the early stage, about a month. He would also take a rest and work on the job advancement requirements and sub-occupations.

Today was the opening day of the international league. Han Xiao stayed in his room and opened the forum. The top post was the real-time recording of the international league, which had not yet started at this time.

In the hall of the base, all the Black Star players gathered here, with the participating players surrounded in the center, waiting for the mall to refresh the gathering crystal.

Kuang Dao rubbed his hands. He felt nervous at the thought of competing with experts from various countries. He had never been on such a big stage.

"I have established a reputation in the regional competition, but if I perform poorly in the international competition, most of my previous efforts will be ruined. Only by performing brilliantly in the international competition can I establish my reputation, and even go further!" Kuang Dao felt fiery in his heart and secretly prayed that he would not make any mistakes.

On the other side, Hao Tian, Wang Hou Jiang Xiang, and Li Ge were talking.

"If any of us are unfortunately assigned to the same group, it is best to cooperate with each other. If a team loses hope of qualifying, then help another team in the same group. If there is a civil war, don't fight too hard..." Li Ge said.

Hao Tian interrupted him and said lightly, "No matter who the opponent is, I will do my best. My professional ethics do not allow me to slack off."

Wang Hou Jiang Xiang yawned and said lazily, "Even if I slack off, you can't beat me."

Li Ge almost crooked his nose. Why don't these two understand the overall situation!

We are now representatives of Huaxia. If the ranking is not good, whether it is reasonable or not, it is wrong, and it will cause huge negative impact on the team's reputation. The competition is only about the result. What is wrong with making some appropriate adjustments for a better result?

People must learn to be flexible.

At this moment, a prompt appeared on the participating players' panels. Everyone hurriedly entered the mall, and the gathering crystal had been refreshed.

After buying it, they directly crushed it. The crystal sprayed out a cloud of mist that enveloped everyone. When the mist dissipated, the participating players disappeared from the spot, just like the effect of the dungeon crystal, entering a copied scene.

Kuang Dao's eyes flashed, and the surrounding environment changed drastically. He was in a huge arena, surrounded by other Huaxia participating players. Looking into the distance, players of different races appeared out of thin air.

Players from various countries descended one after another, gathering together, looking at each other. The accounts above everyone's heads were all famous.

"French Tulip, British Rose Knights, American Devil, TS, Swedish Battle Axe..." Kuang Dao looked at them one by one. They were all world-renowned strong teams. At this moment, he had a real sense of participating in an international event. Excitement and excitement made his body tremble slightly.

And beside him, Wang Hou Jiang Xiang was still lazy, waving hello to many foreign players from a distance. Many great gods knew each other.

This scene appeared in the forum's broadcast video. Players enthusiastically counted the famous professional great gods, and the lively atmosphere was like a carnival for millions of people.

The host appeared in the center of the arena, attracting the attention of the players. He first congratulated the participating players present for being shortlisted for the national league, and then said a lot of official remarks, the event was organized by the International E-sports Organization, etc., probably talking to himself for five minutes, and finally entered the formal link, and began to explain the competition system.

"There are a total of 13 sub-divisions, with a total of 39 strong teams and individual players from all over the world shortlisted for the international event. The competition mode continues the sub-division event. The team competition projects include team competitions and arena competitions. The individual competition projects include singles competitions..."

Listening to the host's narration, Han Xiao nodded secretly. There were relatively few competitive events in the first league. In the previous life, there were more competition projects in the later leagues, with more tricks, challenge matches, dungeon matches, scene survival matches, hunting matches, racing matches, and other strange projects. For the sake of viewing, the event projects were becoming more and more perverted—not only to fight, but also to fight for a hundred flowers to bloom, to fight for confusion, and to fight for socialism.

The host continued: "39 teams and players will be divided into three groups, A, B, and C, and will compete in a group cycle. The winner will win points, and the amount of points will be adjusted according to the war damage. The top eight teams in total points and the top sixteen individual players can enter the finals..."

He looked around, and all the professional players had different expressions, some were excited, some were dignified, some were confident, and some were serious.

"Then I announce, the draw begins!"