Ancient City Ruins, Bell Tower District. The Spanish player, Sebastian, was in a standoff with a Chinese amateur player and waiting for reinforcements. It wasnāt really about confronting the Chinese player but rather the height of the Bell Tower made it difficult for his archers to reach, so they had to break through from the ground floor, which would cost some casualties.
At the beginning of the match, Sebastian hadnāt had the chance to clearly assess the situation, subconsciously teaming up with a Canadian player to ambush the Chinese player whose formation was full of flaws. However, a sudden lethal strike from above forced the Canadian player to scram, and Sebastian himself barely survived.
The shock in Sebastianās heart at that moment was unimaginable!
In Spain, eSports are far less developed than football, and the professional level of eSports isnāt outstanding, mostly staying at the level of university student teams. Sebastian, game ID "Invincible Fleet Philip II," was a leader among this group of college students, already reaching the professional level by the time of public testing.
University students usually have romantic sentiments and fervent dreams, and Sebastian, being a descendant of nobility, is no exception. His homeland, Spain, was once the overlord during the Age of Exploration and the empire on which the sun never sets, with colonies all over the world. However, that glory and honor are long gone, and now Spain is just a second-tier minor country in Europe. Hence, Sebastianās dream is to recreate the glory of Spainās Age of Exploration in the game, a slogan that resonated widely among his schoolmates.
But even in the game, dreams still couldnāt overcome reality. Germany, France, and Sweden in the European Union Zone were just too powerful. Even the UK, which had once replaced Spain as the overlord, was not something Spain could shake. So, he began to search for more powerful like-minded partners.
Soon, he found friends in Portugalās Castro, Hollandās Kluiv, and Turkeyās Sanchez. These young friends were not only incredibly skilled but also shared his nostalgia. Their countries too had their moments of glory during the Age of Exploration. Thus, the young alliance was formed. They leveled up together, sailed the seas together, ran instances together, built an alliance website, and drafted and published an ambitious blueprint of starting as pirates on the website. They gathered thousands of supporters among college students, becoming a force that couldnāt be ignored in the European Union Zone.
This time, Sebastianās purpose in the competition was to see how wide the gap was between him and world-class veterans. However, Japan took over the competition, orchestrating a unified front against China Region, which made the competition unfair and prevented him from challenging players from other countries lest he be seen as a rule-breaker and be jointly eliminated.
Though his young heart was unwilling, hot blood doesnāt mean recklessness. Being a student leader, he surely wouldnāt do anything foolish. Instead, he would adapt to the circumstances and gain as much advantage as possible on the playing field. After all, even receiving blows only from China Region was not so bad, as the caliber of their gameplay was also relatively high internationally.
But just recently, a surprise beheading had given him a reality check! While he knew China Region held high standards, this level of skill was even more unfair! He could now slightly understand Japanās position.
Soon, he joyously discovered that his friends were also in the same competition arena! Without a doubt, his and his friendsā skills had at least been acknowledged by the server ā they were on the battlefield with the highest-level players in the world!
He finally felt emboldened and not alone anymore! Why should our alliance take orders from the Japanese? We are destined to plunder the world under the name of pirates, and we will eventually be at odds with the world!
Thus, after a brief discussion, the young friends unanimously agreed that it was most important to gain real benefits in this high-level competition. And the real benefit right now was the Bell Tower in front of them! Thus, friends sped toward the Bell Tower. Of course, the main goal was still to regroup ā everyone was regrouping after all.
At the moment, the friends were exchanging information while having an easy offline chat. It was indeed much relaxed; the Japanese alliance meant they didnāt have to worry about encountering attacks from players outside of China Region, so they could meet up more freely and focus on what they wanted to do, but this didnāt mean they had a favorable impression of Japan.
Just then, "Sultan of the Great Ottoman Empire" Sanchez laughed, "You know what, I just encountered a troop of Chinese players. He and I marched side by side down a street for two minutes."
"Emperor Avishenruo Castro" was amazed, "Youāre really calm!"
"Sultan" laughed heartily: "Of course, I know he must be rushing to meet up and will definitely not entangle with me. Then something even funnier happened. The Japanese asked me if I had seen any Chinese players, and I said yes, I was greeting them from afar! Guess what the Japanese said?"
"The Flying Dutchman" Kluiv laughed: "Did they want you to bite them right away?"
"Sultan" sneered: "Exactly! Who do the Japanese think they are? Why should they command me? They need to pay for their arrogance, so when crossing the bridge, I even deliberately gave way to that Chinese player, letting him go first!"
"Great Emperor" said with a laugh: "By us not cooperating like this, weāve left a big gap in our Allianceās net, really disadvantageous for the Allianceās situation!"
"Invincible Fleet" chuckled: "Itās already very disadvantageous. From the start of the match until now, four Alliance players have been eliminated by the Chinese, and the China Region hasnāt lost anyone yet."
"Isnāt that even better? If the Alliance really did manage to eliminate the China Region, we might very well be their next target. Just let them fight equally against each other!"
"However, the opponent occupying the Bell Tower is Da Fei from the China Region, a famous person whoās not easy to deal with. Iām sure our fleet commander can relate deeply, right?"
Sebastian sighed deeply: "Friends! What happened just now really made me realize how powerful Da Fei is. Heās playing a different game from us, it seems. Perhaps, we must prepare for the worst, or perhaps the best."
"Sultan" in surprise: "I understand preparing for the worstāwe jointly attack but fail to achieve anything and just get eliminated directly. But whatās the best plan?"
Sebastian laughed: "Didnāt you just demonstrate it a while ago?"
"Sultan" laughed: "Just now? Ah, I just caused a bit of trouble for the Japanese."
Sebastian spoke meaningfully: "Friends, what kind of environment do we need to grow and become powerful? A chaotic environment! The more chaotic, the better! The civil war within the European Union Zone provided us a great chance for development, but the civil war suddenly paused due to the Japaneseās interference. I donāt know how much money the Japanese offered or what terms they proposed, but in any case, I donāt want to see a force capable of stabilizing the situation appear! Neither the Americans nor the Japanese!"
"Sultan" immediately caught on: "Exactly, the Japanese are now able to ally with many countries against China, and in the future, they can just as well ally with many to fight us! This kind of offline alliance method also goes against the fairness of the game!"
"Great Emperor" said solemnly: "Exactly, we need to think of ways to drag the Allianceās feet, create conflicts, and make other countries think that union is just a joke! Make everyone disgusted and nauseous at the mere mention of unions in the future!"
Dutch laughed: "Well said. Thereās no need for us to exhaust ourselves against a tough opponent like Da Fei. We attack when we can, and create chaos when we canāt! I believe many countries arenāt really united sincerely, theyāre just worried like us about being suppressed by the Japanese alliance if they donāt cooperate, so conflicts are easy to stir up! Anyway, once we join forces, weāll become a force that canāt be underestimated."
Everyone laughed heartily: "Anyway, anyone who sincerely cooperates with the Japanese, we will make their life miserable!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote and support it on Qidian (qidian.com). Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)