"Bang!" Zhuo Shangke slammed the water cup onto the table.
"Is this what you call saving face for others? I've emphasized repeatedly to you to be mindful of international relations, but you just won't listen!"
Although Zhuo Shangke's tone was fierce, the smile on his face betrayed him. All that talk about saving face was just for show; what he really wanted was to see the Huaxia Team sweep all the competing teams with an invincible stance.
"Pffft!" The four couldn't help but laugh. Zhuo Shangke, who was always so rigid, was pretending to be angry, but it was too funny. Who knew he had such an adorable side?
"Zhuo, I remember that every time we won a team, you were the one cheering the loudest on stage, right?" Fang Jueyu said.
"Crush them! Don't give them a single point!" Lu Chao said, looking into Zhuo Shangke's eyes. "Teacher Zhuo, those were your words, weren't they?"
"Hahaha, isn't it just to save face for other schools? If we act too aggressive, other countries might not want to play with us anymore, or even cancel the tournament. How boring would that be?"
"You don't have to worry about that. I'll a few million US Dollars as the championship prize. I bet no one can resist that!" Fang Jueyu said casually.
"Hahaha, you little brat, I used to have a standard hatred for the rich in my younger days. Why can't I hate you?"
Fang Jueyu didn't let him down at all. The Jiangnan University team from Huaxia completely swept the competition on the first day of eliminations, winning all matches with a score of 10:1.
This meant Fang Jueyu broke through all of the opponent's defense nodes while the opponent only managed to crack one of his, and that was only because Fang Jueyu, for "international relations," held back a bit to give them a point.
Even last year's top-four team from England helplessly lost to them. Not a single match lasted over five minutes. Such dominance had only been seen in recent years with Fei Ke'er joining the United States team.
After the first day of matches, the top eight had emerged. The following three days would see the semifinals, the finals, and finally, the championship match that would decide who lifted the trophy.
"Tomorrow we face the East Raider Team, everyone. Get a good night's rest tonight so we can win the championship and go home!" Zhuo Shangke revealed the final brackets.
After the quarterfinals, they would face the winner of Group B, whether it be the German team or the French team.
But for them, it made no difference; whoever came wouldn't beat them.
"Old Fang, what do you think of tomorrow's match?" Lu Chao asked.
"What do you think?" Fang Jueyu showed a sly smile. "I heard that a few years ago, our Huaxia team lost to the East Raider Team in the semifinals, and they humiliated us."
"Yes, I know their captain that year. They lost 7:10 to East Raider. The score difference wasn't too big, but their newspapers made a big deal out of it for days, making us lose face," Chen Feng said grimly.
"In that case, let's return the favor and 'begrudgingly' give them a 10:0 this time!"
"Hehehe, we think alike!"
"You four are so bad; you're practically all villains!"
The next day's matches started smoothly, thrilling the massive audience that had enjoyed the previous day's spectacle.
Since Fei Ke'er joined the United States team, they were undeniably world-class. Other teams even saw breaking one of their nodes as a matter of pride!
In most games, they dominated with a score of 10:0. Such was Fei Ke'er's terrifying strength.
Traditionally, the United States would simply sweep all teams and secure the championship, but this year Huaxia had become an astonishing dark horse, advancing with an equally formidable display.
In today's semifinals, the audience for Groups B and D was scant. While those teams were also strong, compared to the long-time leader United States and this year's dark horse Huaxia, their matches were much less appealing.
Opinions on the strength of the two teams varied widely.
Some believed the United States was stronger due to Fei Ke'er. In the group stage, they hadn't lost a single point, whereas Huaxia's Jiangnan University team lost a node each match.
However, Huaxia's audience knew very well what kind of person Fang Jueyu was—he was a mix of flashy moves and undeniable strength. Although it was 10:1, who could say he didn't let that 1 point slide on purpose?
"Welcome to the semifinals, everyone!" The host's voice boomed. "Today, we have last year's runner-up team, East Raider, competing against this year's dark horse, the Huaxia Team. I'm sure today's matches will be spectacular!"
"Hey, hey, hey, look! East Raider already has a nickname for Dean Fang? 'Demon God of the Empire!'"
"Hahaha, are they serious? Their commentating style is still so over-the-top!"
"Do you think today's match will also be 10:1?"
"Impossible! Didn't you read Dean Fang's post yesterday? He said 10:1 was just for international considerations, but for today's match, I don't think those matter much, do they? Look at their expressions!"
A few in the audience overheard the exchange among Fang Jueyu's fans and turned their attention to the four members of the Huaxia Team.
Yesterday, during the group stage, Fang Jueyu was the only one seriously competing, while the other three were just napping and playing around, showing what it meant to win without effort.
But today, each one of them was raring to go, and there was a glint of darkness in their eyes, emitting a palpable aura of menace.
"What's going on? I feel like I see four characters written on each of their faces. Do any of you feel that?"
"Me too, I feel like I'm watching four big men approaching four tiny girls step by step!"
"Oh, it's too crude, too violent. I don't even want to watch anymore!" someone said, covering their eyes.
"I suddenly feel sorry for them!"
"Everyone, be careful! The Huaxia Team is strong this year; we can't afford to be careless!"
"Hmm, according to our plan from yesterday, Higashino Kun and Otake will attack their nodes, while the other two will handle defense!"
"Don't worry! Our latest combo code can definitely break through their defenses, with attack efficiency exponentially higher than previous data bombs!"
"Last year, we sent the Huaxia Team packing; let's do it again this year!"
"Are you guys ready?" Fang Jueyu said lazily as he took a sip of water. "Play with them for a bit longer today, I'll handle defense, and you can try out the code I taught you yesterday!"
"Crap, I haven't even memorized it yet!"
"Who told you to spend all day playing games yesterday?" Fang Jueyu said exasperatedly. "Forget it. Anyway, they can't break through, so take your time and treat them as practice targets!"
"Hey, Fang, the internal team chat is live-streamed! The audience can hear everything. Isn't that a bit too blunt?"
"Hahaha! Really? I didn't know!"
The audience fell silent.
"Did you hear their team chat?"
"I did. Did he say he was treating East Raider's nodes as practice targets?"
"What kind of outrageous words are those?"
"Is this something a person should say?"
"Ugh, it's downright cruel!"