Chapter 5 Afternoon on May 26th

Hanokuni's capital, Edo City, Haneda International Airport.

Bathed in a sea of flashing lights, a grand contingent of over fifty individuals, clad in uniform Huaxia national team attire, heads bowed and hurried, followed the guidance of staff members and briskly exited the airport, rushing into the waiting buses.

Amidst the hustle, Jiang Xiao faintly heard shouts of "Huaxia"...

Two buses were more than enough to accommodate fifty-odd people. Due to the different competition categories, individual and team event members were managed separately, from training camps to overseas travel.

"Is everyone here!?" On the individual event bus, the team leader stood at the front, enduring the barrage of flashes from outside the windows, and shouted loudly.

Fang Xingyun hurriedly raised his hand, "Xiao Pi isn't here, has anyone seen Jiang Xiaopi?"

At the same time, on the team event bus, Jiang Xiao plopped down in a window seat at the back, placing his hand on the aisle seat and saying to Wu Yao, who was following behind him, "Someone's sitting here."

Wu Yao, unruly and unrestrained, disregarded Jiang Xiao's hand and plopped right down.

Jiang Xiao quickly withdrew his hand and said, "Hey, are you lacking Jiu Xing Du Nai?"

Wu Yao looked at Jiang Xiao impatiently and said, "Did you get on the wrong bus? Go away, you're sitting in Song Chunxi's seat."

Song Chunxi, behind Wu Yao, was also a bit dazed, staring blankly at Jiang Xiao and asking, "How did you sneak in here?"

Jiang Xiao pinched his collar and stretched it outwards, "What do you mean 'sneak in'? I'm a national team member, okay?"

"Jiang! Xiao! Pi!" At the same time, the team leader at the front of the bus shouted loudly, "Is Jiang Xiaopi here or not!"

Jiang Xiao instinctively shrank his neck, trying to hide.

Wu Yao grabbed the back of Jiang Xiao's neck like a bamboo rat and directly lifted him up: "He's here!"

The female teacher leading the team looked at Jiang Xiao with a resentful expression and said angrily, "Get back to your own bus! We're staying at different hotels!"

"Alright, alright," Jiang Xiao said helplessly, squeezing into the aisle, glancing at the bus behind him through the rear window, his figure flashing past.

Scary...

The male teacher leading the team on the bus behind was startled when a person suddenly appeared next to him.

When he saw it was Jiang Xiao, the team leader also roared angrily, "Jiang! Xiao! Pi! If you keep messing around, you'll be benched! There are plenty of people eyeing your spot!"

Jiang Xiao shuddered and hurried towards the back. This bus was much more spacious than the previous one, with everyone sitting wherever they pleased.

As he walked through the aisle, a strong, muscular arm suddenly stretched out, blocking Jiang Xiao's path.

Jiang Xiao looked down and saw the bald head of Xing Yan.

Xing Yan looked up at Jiang Xiao and said, "Keep acting tough, don't chicken out."

Jiang Xiao grinned, deciding not to go any further, squeezed past Xing Yan, and sat in the window seat inside, "What, you want to get on the field?"

The solo king from the Southwest snorted, "Nonsense."

Jiang Xiao, "Hehe, I'm ranked fourth, you shouldn't be staring at me, but at eighth."

"Eh?" Jiang Xiao felt a pain on the top of his head and quickly leaned forward, turning his head to look.

He saw Xin Ai'an's delicate face filled with anger, clutching a few strands of hair in her hand.

Jiang Xiao, "You can pull out my hair even though it's so short?"

Xin Ai'an glared at Jiang Xiao and sat down directly.

Jiang Xiao exclaimed, "No wonder you were selected as one of the top eight women, impressive!"

Xing Yan subconsciously touched his bald head...

Hou Mingming in the front row stood up and took the initiative to maintain order, "Shut up, shut up! Keep it down!"

"Slurp... ha..."

...

That night, Jiang Xiao experienced the traffic congestion of Edo City and looked at the foreign land under the night sky, feeling a sense of wonder.

After all, the people here have roughly the same skin color. The passersby on the avenue are not as exotic as Miss Wu Yao...

As the vehicle drove smoothly, turning into the area of a hotel, Jiang Xiao saw the crowds welcoming them on both sides of the road.

"Huaxia will win!"

"Huaxia! Huaxia!"

Various slogans ultimately converged into two simple words: Huaxia.

Banners and shouts, accompanied by cheering crowds, invigorated everyone in the bus.

Are these local Chinese? Or Chinese people who came from China?

On the bus, the students sitting in the aisle stood up one after another, craning their necks to look out the window. Jiang Xiao only felt a giant hand pressing on his shoulder, but he didn't shake it off.

At this time, Jiang Xiao's eyes were locked on the crowds holding up signs at the hotel's main entrance.

Especially a little boy with the colors of the red star flag painted on his face, held high in his father's arms, waving a small red flag back and forth, causing a ripple in Jiang Xiao's heart.

He has struggled all the way to this day, wanting to venture into this bizarre and dazzling world, and also wanting to do something meaningful.

Jiang Xiao's identity is very special. He has entered secret battlefields and silently carried out missions in places unknown to people.

The scene of this bustling crowd made Jiang Xiao realize that there are many meaningful things to do. For him, although the paths lead to the same destination, the scenery along the way is truly different.

Jiang Xiao couldn't help but reach out and wave at the child.

The little boy shyly hid in his father's arms, the paint on his face smearing onto his father's white shirt, but the father didn't mind, and waved the small red flag in his other hand at Jiang Xiao.

With the help of staff, the bus finally slowly passed through the crowd and drove into the hotel's square, the welcoming people were blocked outside the square gate.

As the bus came to a stop, the students filed out.

To everyone's surprise, people were extremely familiar with each contestant, knowing them like the back of their hand.

Even though there was very little footage of their selection matches, their past and their journey of struggle were all dug up after they put on the national team uniform.

Every time someone got off the bus, the crowd in the distance would shout the student's name.

"Hou Mingming!"

"Hou Mingming!!"

Even Hou Mingming, as proud as he was, couldn't help but raise his hand and give a slight signal before turning to walk towards the hotel.

"Fan Ren!"

"Xie Yan!"

"Yu Jin!"

...

"Wow! Jiang Xiaopi!"

"Jiang Xiaopi!!"

"Go, Jiang Xiaopi!!! Charge forward!"

Jiang Xiao's appearance caused the sound to rise significantly.

Jiang Xiao's feet flashed, and a bright golden halo quietly appeared. The next moment, under the feet of the cheering crowd at the door, bright golden Halo of Yearning rings lit up one after another.

Even in front of the brightly lit hotel, the crowd stepping on the Halo of Yearning was so dazzling.

Then, the cheers grew louder...

Imprinting the faces of blessings and laughter in his mind, Jiang Xiao raised his right hand and followed the team, heading towards the hotel with his head lowered.

It seemed that there were many more reasons to win.

That night, everyone received their room keys and checked into the hotel.

Jiang Xiao was once again assigned to the same room as Grandmaster Zhao. There was a great advantage to staying with the old cadre, which was that the lights went out early and he went to bed early.

Uh... The downside was that Zhao Wenlong also woke up early. Jiang Xiao didn't need an alarm clock every morning, he could wake up to the sound of him drinking tea.

Everyone thought that nothing would happen tonight, but they were notified one by one to quickly rest for half an hour and gather in the hotel's auditorium on the first floor at 19:30 for a meeting.

At 7:20 p.m., led by Fang Xingyun, the trio from the Imperial Capital Star Martial Academy arrived at the hotel auditorium. All the participating students and team leaders were already seated, and the small auditorium was silent.

At 19:30, a staff member with a badge on his chest appeared on stage on time and began to lecture the crowd:

"This year's Star Martial World Cup is jointly organized by Hanokuni and Bubblecai Country, so you must be prepared to fly back and forth between the two countries."

"Compared to participating students from other regions, we are very lucky. We almost don't need to adjust to the time difference. It can be expected that many Chinese people will come to cheer for you at the stadium. This is your advantage."

"Put aside all your dissatisfaction and complaints, overcome all difficulties, your only goal is to win."

"In this year's Star Martial World Cup individual competition, a total of 652 contestants from more than 113 countries and regions around the world have obtained the qualifications to participate!"

"There are no so-called preliminary rounds! There are no so-called elimination rounds! For you, every game is a final that determines your destiny! Win, advance! Lose, go home!"

"Of course, the prerequisite is that you still have a life to go home. In every Star Martial World Cup event, the number of deaths is not small!

For you, this is not just a competition, but a battle of life and death!

You are Star Warriors, natural warriors, and in this World Cup arena, victory or defeat represents life and death!"

"Due to the unpredictability of combat, there may be situations in some rounds where individual contestants get a bye, but please give up this idea, that person will definitely not be you."

"If you can win, then your schedule will be very intensive. This is not only a competition of your combat strength, but also a competition of willpower. In previous years, due to various reasons, some students have withdrawn from such intensive schedules.

I hope you can persevere to the end and do your best to complete every game, but I also hope that if you have any problems in your body, mind, or spirit, or leave any symptoms in the game, do not remain silent!

Use your pride in the right place, notify us in time, and we will do our best to help you overcome the difficulties. Do not endure it alone for fear of being asked to withdraw from the competition!

But I want to say the ugly things first, if we analyze that you are disqualified and cannot participate in the next round of battle, you must honestly withdraw from the competition!

I know this may be the only opportunity in your life, but believe me, the road of life is still very long, really very long."

"Three days later, at 8:00 a.m. on May 29th, we will watch the first round of the draw ceremony in this auditorium. Your numbers are your ranking numbers in the team."

The team leader on the podium said loudly: "On June 1st, the finals will officially begin.

Yes, you heard me right, June 1st is the first round of the finals for you to stand on the world stage!

Don't let it be the last round. I wish you excellent results, and I wish you all the best. Do you all understand?!"

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

The team leader nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, now, come up and collect your numbered clothing."

The ten people came to the stage one after another in order of ranking to collect their clothes.

Jiang Xiao received his No. 4 jersey, a long sportswear with a gold, red, and white color scheme.

White is the base, the sleeves are red, the words "Huaxia" are printed on the right chest, and a red star flag is on the left chest.

On the red left sleeve, there is a "dragon" character written in calligraphy on the left shoulder, the dark gold font is like a flying dragon and dancing phoenix, like a character and a painting.

The tail of the dragon sways down, extending from the left shoulder all the way to the left cuff, unrestrained and extraordinary.

The short sleeves and pants are pure white and have the Chinese flag printed on them.

Whether it is the long-sleeved jacket or the white short sleeves, they all have a bright red number "4" printed on the back, without any name above it.

Only the country, only the number, no name.

Jiang Xiao hugged several sets of jerseys and walked down.

No matter how windy and rainy June is in Hanokuni, whether it is sunny or hot, Jiang Xiao is prepared to wear a long-sleeved jacket to fight, he wants to wear his lucky shirt inside.