Chapter 1124 OPENING CEREMONY (I)
Chapter 1124 OPENING CEREMONY (I)
AFTER the 'midnight rendezvous' turned into an epic failure, Luo Yan and Shen Ji Yun somehow managed to avoid being discovered, thanks to Shen Ji Yun's quick thinking. Additionally, Luo Yan's father's 'waist injury'—which turned out to be just a pulled muscle—proved helpful. The pain distracted him enough that he couldn't fully assess the situation. Luo Yan believed this was why they managed to overcome that hurdle almost unscathed.
Almost, because it didn't mean there were no lasting effects.
That's right. Even though it seemed that everything was all and well, Luo Yan quickly noticed that his father's attitude towards Shen Ji Yun had visibly cooled down. If before, his father would greet Shen Ji Yun with a smile, like an elder talking to a trusted member of the younger generation. But the morning after the incident, his father barely said anything to Shen Ji Yun.
Not only that, every time Shen Ji Yun tried to talk to Luo Yan, his father would focus his gaze on them. Should he be glad that Shen Ji Yun and Bai Ze's flight back to B City was in the morning? He felt that if Shen Ji Yun had stayed much longer, his father would have really pieced two and two together.
It's clear as day that the other already had suspicion about his relationship with Shen Ji Yun. Because if not, then he wouldn't be reacting that way otherwise.
The only probable reason his father didn't do anything was because he was still at the stage where he was only forming suspicion in his head. But since there wasn't any solid evidence to back up his suspicion, he couldn't do anything about it.
Luo Yan sighed. That's why he avoided mentioning Shen Ji Yun in front of his father all day yesterday. He didn't even accompany Shen Ji Yun and Bai Ze to the airport. It seemed that his brothers also noticed that something was wrong, so they also avoided mentioning Shen Ji Yun.
This showed that even though they weren't exactly happy with Shen Ji Yun, they still helped Luo Yan because they didn't want him to get into trouble. In short, their love for him far outweighed their annoyance towards Shen Ji Yun. Which Luo Yan truly appreciated.
Shen Ji Yun called him later, which he had to take in his walk-in closet just in case his father suddenly passed by his room and heard him speaking to Shen Ji Yun.
Shen Ji Yun asked if everything was okay. He couldn't exactly say that it was, so he had to tell the truth. Of course, Shen Ji Yun being Shen Ji Yun apologized and just took all the blame. Which Luo Yan adamantly denied. If there was one who's at fault here, it was him.
Anyway, after his graduation weekend that started off happily and ended up tumultuously, it was now Monday. Which meant the final tournament of Arcadia Cup was finally starting!
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All 16 teams competing for the championship in this year's Arcadia Cup had gathered once again at Lunaris Vale. They were assembled in an open area, each team positioned on a separate floating cube. At the center of this arrangement was a floating stage, where the host of this year's Cup - the Duke of Spades, would later appear to inaugurate the beginning of the final tournament.
It was ten in the morning. The top 16 match would begin later, at one in the afternoon. All the teams were gathered here, most likely to be shown the official tournament bracket. Finally, they would find out which team they would have to compete against.
Luo Yan looked around. He could see the top four teams of last year - Celestials, Fenghuang, Mozu, and Sirens. There was also team Sanguis that still managed to get a spot despite losing to team Yunyue. He noticed that their team had the least number of people.
It didn't intimidate him, though. Even if there were only eight of them here, their team's quality was not lacking in any way compared to others. They might have the least number of members here, but most of the teams' attention was focused on them. Luo Yan guessed that it was because of Dusk and Rowan.
Since it was already the final tournament, they decided to reveal the two dragons to everyone. It wouldn't matter even if they found out about them now, as there was no way they could thoroughly prepare for the two additions to Team Yunyue. After all, the top 16 matches would begin later. Even if they started preparing now, it wouldn't make a significant difference.
The other teams were probably wondering who Dusk and Rowan were, as they hadn't seen the two during the preliminaries. Some, or perhaps most of them, might have been thinking that they had recruited two additional players just for this final tournament. It wouldn't be too far-fetched, considering that the two dragons, in their humanoid form, looked no different from ordinary players.
Maybe a few had already guessed that both were actually classified as 'pets'. It didn't matter, though. Because, again, what could they do about that information?
A pillar of light suddenly descended onto the center stage. As the light dissipated, a tall man with neatly combed-back black hair emerged. He was dressed entirely in black—black coat tails, black tie, black undershirt, black trousers, and black shoes. A monocle adorned one of his dark purple eyes, and a black spade-shaped earring dangled from one ear.
It was the Duke of Spades.
"Welcome, brave warriors," he greeted in his usual somber voice. "By coming this far, you have proven yourselves to be the elite of the elites. Now, let's begin assigning teams to the tournament bracket."
It was the Duke of Spades.
"Welcome, brave warriors," he greeted in his usual somber voice. "By coming this far, you have proven yourselves to be the elite of the elites. Now, let's begin assigning teams to the tournament bracket."
Luo Yan tilted his head when he heard that. Assign? Wasn't it already ready? Would they only assign teams in the brackets now?
As if to answer his question, something resembling a silver basin filled with golden liquid appeared, floating in each cube. It then flew in front of each team's captain.
The Duke of Spades' voice echoed once again.
"All captains, put your hand inside and pick a number."