Chapter 4413 — Wei Zhao Directs the Battle

So everyone simply turned a blind eye, looking thoroughly accustomed to it. As one of the Five Great Escort Agencies, a certain privilege was only to be expected, after all; in the Southern Continent's seas, where the strong devoured the weak, being able to achieve this much rough fairness was already remarkable. No one was foolish enough to demand so-called true fairness.

After waiting a while, Qi Mingyuan on the platform finally saw the Dragon Boat Escort Agency's roster. He shook his head at Qi Wenmo beside him, signaling that Wu Baoliang was nowhere to be seen, and only then did Qi Wenmo submit the eight-man roster he had prepared in advance.

Only then did the heads of the other Five Great Escort Agencies each submit their own rosters in turn. Compared with the Sky-Holding Escort Agency, which had only risen to prominence last time, their methods were plainly more seasoned.

Qi Wenmo had been waiting on the Dragon Boat Escort Agency's roster, while they had been waiting on the Sky-Holding Escort Agency's—and on one another's. The Five Great Escort Agencies' greatest rivals had always been each other; the threat posed by the other agencies paled beside what they posed to themselves.

Once all thirty-two agencies' rosters had been submitted, Zhao Bufan, on behalf of the panel of judges, gathered every agency head together. Under the watchful eyes of all present, the drawing of lots began in public.

Since ancient times, in any form of competition, the drawing of lots had always been the stage most susceptible to dirty tricks, the stage most prone to backroom manipulation. Hence everyone paid it particular heed and watched it with particular attention.

Thus those supervising the drawing at close quarters included not only the judges drawn from the Five Great Escort Agencies, but also the various other powers invited to observe the proceedings. With so many masters watching face to face, anyone still able to rig the draw would truly have to possess Wei Zhao's heaven-defying methods.

Soon, beneath the gaze of the multitudes, the results of the draw were announced. Never mind how the other agencies had fared—at least the lots the Sky-Holding Escort Agency had drawn were not too bad.

By the results of the two draws, their opponent in the escort-defense battle was the Noon Horse Escort Agency, and their opponent in the escort-seizure battle was the Ever-Rising Escort Agency.

Fortunately, neither the Noon Horse Escort Agency nor the Ever-Rising Escort Agency belonged to the Five Great Escort Agencies—not now, and not in the past either. So in terms of overall strength, the Sky-Holding Escort Agency was plainly a notch above.

Yet Qi Wenmo showed not the slightest joy at this draw, for although these two agencies could not match the Five Great, they were by no means weak. At the last Southern Continent Escort Gathering, these two had ranked eleventh and thirteenth respectively.

What was more, both agencies' strength was exceedingly stable. Not only at the last gathering, but at nearly every gathering before it, they had essentially held to those same ranks. In other words, looking across all thirty-two escort agencies, the Noon Horse and Ever-Rising Escort Agencies might not count as first-rate, but they fully deserved their reputation as solidly above average.

The more crucial point was this: unlike the Sky-Holding Escort Agency, they had no later main event to save themselves for. Qi Wenmo still had to consider conserving his strength so as not to run out of steam later, whereas neither the Noon Horse nor the Ever-Rising Escort Agency harbored any such notion. Their typical strategy was to fight to the death in every single match, never deliberately holding anything back.

The throne of the Five Great Escort Agencies was for them a hopeless, distant luxury. Their most realistic goal was simply to hold their ranking; squeezing into the top ten this time would already count as a great success. Their past rankings had been earned precisely by fighting opponents to the bitter end, so this time, naturally, they would fight with even greater desperation.

So these two were both absolutely tough nuts to crack. No wonder Qi Wenmo looked so glum and worried. This was his first time leading a team to the Southern Continent Escort Gathering, and if he stumbled at the very start, if he capsized in a ditch right out of the gate, he would truly have no face left to show anyone.

"No need to be nervous. We are the stronger side. If we perform normally, there will be no problem. They are the ones who should be nervous." Wei Zhao patted Qi Wenmo's shoulder and offered these words of comfort.

"Brother Ling speaks truly. It is I who have been too close to see clearly," Qi Wenmo said, breaking into a cold sweat on the spot. Turning to look at the assembled escorts, whose eyes were all fixed on him, he nodded at Wei Zhao in gratitude.

The general is the courage of his soldiers. The battle had not yet formally begun; if even he, the young master, had already lost his composure, the effect on the men's morale could well be imagined. Let such panic spread unchecked, and it might truly bring on a rout as a mountain topples.

Wei Zhao smiled. He did not much care about the Sky-Holding Escort Agency's results, but neither would he stand by and watch Qi Wenmo and the others commit some elementary blunder. If only for the sake of their friendship, he would see to it that the Sky-Holding Escort Agency kept its place among the Five Great as best it could—otherwise, as the powerful ace in whom the Qi father and son placed such heavy reliance, he would lose face as well.

Gazing at the match pairings posted on the huge notice board, the escorts of all thirty-two agencies rubbed their palms and flexed their fists one after another. At last, upon the judges' announcement, they filed into their respective arenas in succession.

For every escort agency, the first round comprised two matches—the escort-defense battle and the escort-seizure battle—with no interval for rest or adjustment between them. They began simultaneously.

Across the vast Demon-Cold Plaza, each of the thirty-two agencies occupied a patch of ground. At the very center of each patch sat a prepared treasure chest; this was their escort cargo, and one might also call it their dueling ring.

Eight escorts took the field. Four of them had the task of guarding the cargo and holding their own ring, while the other four were to go to the opposing agency's ring and launch the seizure.

At a single command from the judges, all thirty-two pairings of the first round began at once. Across thirty-two patches of ground, two hundred and fifty-six Golden Core-stage escorts plunged into the fray. The atmosphere on the spot was instantly driven to its peak, cheers and battle cries surging skyward, loud enough to split the ears.

The escorts in the field attacked, defended, stood off, or circled—all of them on high alert, not daring to show the slightest carelessness. Yet at such a moment it was not they who were busiest, but rather the heads of the various agencies.

Qi Wenmo was a case in point: because the two matches started simultaneously in different locations, it was simply impossible to attend to both. He truly had no way to be in two places at once. In the end, with no other choice, he could only ask Steward Song for help, sending him to direct the other battle, the escort seizure.

Steward Song's standing in the Sky-Holding Escort Agency was in no way inferior to Qi Wenmo's; with him directing the battle in his stead, the escorts would be equally afraid to show any negligence. Yet when faced with Qi Wenmo's request, Steward Song only shook his head with a mysterious air, then pointed at Wei Zhao.

Of course! Only then did Qi Wenmo realize, secretly praising Uncle Song's wisdom—how far-sighted he was! (To be continued...)

...R861