Chapter 569: Competition Venue
Chapter 569: Chapter 569: Competition Venue
The match brackets were quickly announced.
The eight people in the waiting room stopped chatting and looked at the brackets on the screen. Caleb Carter merely glanced at it before withdrawing his gaze. His opponent was a Dual Element Superpower User who had just advanced to the Intermediate level.
In the quiet waiting room, one person was apologizing profusely because his opponent was Michael Miller.
"I’m sorry, Mr. Miller. Even though you’re like this today, I’ll still do my best in our match," Alister Keller said with absolute sincerity. "I can help push your wheelchair."
"Scram." Michael had never taken the Water and Wood Dual Element Alister seriously.
Alister wasn’t angry. He simply took two steps back and said, "I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. If you’re in a bad mood, Mr. Miller, please don’t mind me..."
His demeanor only irritated Michael further.
At that moment, Julian Wells whistled loudly and slowly from the side. It turned out that someone on the screen had already taken a seat at the judges’ panel. The first to arrive was Nina Jacobs, the same woman who had appeared with Mason Quincy yesterday.
Although Michael already knew before coming that the new judge was Captain Stella, seeing her in person still gave him a severe throbbing headache. Fortunately, the match groupings had provided him a shred of comfort. Against Alister, it was impossible for him to lose.
"So she’s our esteemed judge. I wonder how she’ll evaluate me?" Julian’s eyes gleamed with interest.
"Captain Carter, I heard Captain Jacobs saved your life. With a connection like that, she won’t go easy on you, will she?" someone probed indirectly. Nina and Caleb were well-acquainted; everyone in the base knew this.
Caleb glared at the man. "You can question my strength, but you shouldn’t question hers."
"Tch, what’s the big deal? Isn’t she also one of the six selected? She’ll just go to City A to be chosen like the rest of us anyway, won’t she?"
"Of course it’s different. She’s guaranteed a spot and doesn’t need to fight for a position like us. We’ll just have to see how everyone does today," Marcus Palmer, who was usually on good terms with Michael, interjected.
He had somewhat guessed what happened to Michael. Last night, he heard that the people from Cloud Piercer ran into Stella. The base’s buildings aging and cracking—anyone who thought about it for a second would know it wasn’t normal. To leave Michael in such a state, daring to be angry but not daring to speak up, there was only one possibility.
"Michael, are you confident today?" Marcus deliberately walked over and asked in a low voice.
"Of course. Unless someone uses their public office to settle private scores," Michael answered.
"What are you afraid of? You’re an Intermediate Superpower User. You’ll definitely pass." Seeing Michael nod, Marcus chuckled inwardly. It seemed these few days of final selections were going to be very interesting.
As one of the headquarters’ representatives, Adrian Paige arrived to find that Nina had already taken her seat early. The person talking beside her was Adrian Shaw; the two seemed to be on good terms.
"Today’s matches will also test the endurance of Superpower Energy, so they will take a bit longer," Adrian Paige said.
The final selection consisted of four matches in total, and these four matches would most likely take up an entire day.
"Yeah, I know." Nina nodded. As a newcomer, her role was more about participation rather than decision-making. Adrian Paige and the others likely had a much clearer understanding of the contestants than she did.
The matches quickly began. The first bout was the Ice Element Julian Wells against the Gold Element Evander.
Even before the match started, cheering banners completely covered in Julian’s name were already hung up in the spectator stands. There was also a brightly dressed squad screaming for him. Their cheers were a chorus of purely female voices.
"They’re from Crimson Briar. Those are all his members," Adrian Shaw explained as he sat next to Nina.
"Yes, I’ve heard a bit about them." Nina also spotted Julian. He was the same man who had taken prolonged curtain calls yesterday—the very man who had made Mason Quincy envious.
"Don’t you think it’s a bit exaggerated?" Adrian Shaw asked. He had expected Nina to scoff at such a spectacle, as he knew Stella’s management was actually very strict.
Nina shook her head. "To have people follow him so devotedly, he must definitely have some capability. Besides, I’ve heard this team has a decent reputation."
"I thought you were completely in the dark, but it looks like you’ve done your homework." As expected, Nina never went into anything unprepared.
"Mhm, I just looked into it a little." Nina watched as both sides stepped into the arena. Julian even made a point to bow elegantly in the direction of the judges’ panel.
"Ahhhh, Captain is so handsome and gentlemanly!"
"Go Captain Wells! Win or lose, we’ll always be by your side!"
"Julian will win!"
"..."
In the spectator stands opposite them, a row of women behind the banners yelled out. It was only after the starting whistle blew that the women quietly sat down and ceased their shouting. Nina knew this was a rule of the matches; to prevent the Superpower Users from being distracted, spectators had to watch quietly, or else they would be escorted out of the arena.
The arena was about the size of a basketball court. The competing Superpower Users stood on the left and right sides respectively, engaging solely in a contest of superpowers.
"Looks like Julian Wells will be stopping here today," Nina heard someone on the judges’ panel say.
She had already greeted the man earlier. His name was Isaac Leopold, and he seemed to be one of Adrian Paige’s colleagues at headquarters.
"Yes. Ice Element against Gold Element—the difficulty has indeed increased," Myra Lawson agreed. The hardness of the Ice Element was still far inferior to that of a Gold Element Superpower.
"I don’t think it’s a sure thing. That guy named Wells has quite a few tricks up his sleeve." Chester Pearson was also one of the judges.
"What does Captain Jacobs think?" At that moment, a man in his thirties asked. His name was Philip Morgan, one of the administrators of the base’s Superpower User Management Center.
"I’m not sure yet."
Nina’s gaze didn’t leave the arena. Julian’s Ice Element Superpower was indeed being continuously crushed by Evander’s Gold Element. Shards of shattered ice filled the air, reflecting a crystalline brilliance under the lights. The opponent’s Gold Element Thorns were ever-changing—sometimes forming Silver Serpents, other times blanketing the entire arena.
"True. After all, Captain Jacobs wasn’t present for the previous matches," Philip Morgan said, though no one else responded to him.
Even Nina was watching the match intently. When a white icy mist permeated the arena, her eyes filled with sudden comprehension. It seemed the Ice Element was constantly being broken, but in reality, it was the Gold Element being led by the nose.
However, there was still a long way to go in the match, so Nina didn’t say anything.
It wasn’t until an hour later that both sides slowed down their attacks. Seeing this, Myra asked Nina beside her, "Who do you think has the upper hand?"
"Ice Element," Nina answered without hesitation.
"Why?" Myra asked curiously. After all, from how things looked right now, both sides’ superpowers were showing signs of fatigue, and the Ice Element didn’t seem to have completely suppressed the Gold Element.
"He will launch a counterattack. The time just isn’t right yet," Nina replied.
"A counterattack? Now I’m even more looking forward to it." Myra’s eyes lit up.
The others around them also heard Nina’s words.
"Isn’t Captain Jacobs being a bit too arbitrary?" Philip Morgan interjected. "I think both sides are equally matched, and they’ve both absorbed Mystic Ice Cores. The Ice Element is inferior due to its strength limitations. If..."
He rambled on for quite a while until Chester yawned loudly beside him.
"Old Morgan, just watch the match," Chester simply advised. Anyone could be an armchair general; he was much more interested in the counterattack Nina had mentioned.