The week passed quickly and the people were all given a notification about the competition on their communicators. Shi Lang and the others came to the gathering hall and they found the place swarming with heads of different kinds.
They were looking at a big billboard in front of them, soon a commotion began and a lady, standing on the flying disc came over. This lady was a humanoid, she had blonde hair and scarlet lips, and her features were nothing less than enchanting. Everyone was facing her mesmerized. Shi Lang suddenly snorted, and his team woke up.
He said, “Do not look at her face. She is not to be messed with.”
Ryan nodded and said, “Sir, what was it that she did?”
The rest of the team was also looking at him. Shi Lang said, “Cover yourself with spiritual energy. You will know.”
This method was protection and also one of the easiest methods to detect spiritual disturbance. The layer over the body will interact with the spiritual energy in the void. Sure enough, after the team did what Shi Lang told them, they found the spiritual energy in the gathering hall was somewhat different. It seemed to be trembling.
The team understood what was going on. Steel said, “Indeed not to be messed with.”
The rest nodded, and Lucas said, “This method is very clever and handy. Jane, try to break it down?”
Jane shook her head and said, “It is no use to waste energy on these spiritual methods. Let us see, what she is about to say.”
Lucas and the other technicians nodded in agreement. They all had come to understand that spiritual techniques cannot be broken down by just looking at them. However, Shi Lang said, “What she is doing is called Spiritual resonating. She is not a cultivator. However, their civilization does have the skills to manipulate the energy in the void.”
The people nodded and they were enlightened, after all, Shi Lang was the most experienced among them. Just when the rest of the team also wanted to join the conversation. The lady standing on the flying disc said, “Hello, everyone. I am your host for, El. Welcome to the Galactic Showdown.”
Following her welcome, the crowd cheered. The number of people was so much, that even a sparse cheer might give the illusion of loud noise. El did not ask them all to quiet down, but her disc hovered over the people. This lady was wearing a long dress and did not reveal much, but she was like a goddess, so hardly any male thought impure about her.
El noticed the cheer calming down and said, “We have a thousand groups. The computer will arrange them at random and then the teams can select a mode of the fight before the battle begins.”
Shashi was also standing with Shi Lang and the rest and said, “I suggest that you choose an administrator battle, this way you will be able to reduce the death risk for the team.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “To be honest, I wish they choose the solo battle, I am itching to kill and cut people.”
Shashi looked at him and realized that Shi Lang was not thinking about survival anymore. He was directly looking to kill people. He could not understand the sudden blood lust and the others were also looking at him.
Shi Lang said, “Look around, everyone here is not to survive but to kill. Look at the eyes of these people. They all understand that survival among a horde of killers is only possible when you kill the person who stands in your way. This is not a competition but a trap. The galactic council had called us all over in the name of this competition, letting us fight with each other.
Do you think that any civilization, that is given a chance to gain some identity at a galactic level, whether it is the lowest among the lowest, will hesitate? Every person you see here is the best fighter of a civilization. These people all fight to the limits and they will not stop until they die.
This way the galactic council higher table will be able to maintain its monopoly for a longer time. Death of the best team will harm the civilizations.”
He finished speaking and the team immediately woke up from this lecture. They seemed to be overlooking the fact that this was a place where they were nothing more than a bug that could be crushed easily. The insects fought for supremacy with much more ferocity than the sentinel creatures.
El said, “The results are ready. Your communicators will be delivered with the news soon. So, please do not waste time and initiate the tossing program on your comms and the winner can select the battle mode..”
Her tone was calm and soft. She was leading the people to discuss faster so that she could go back to rest. These were simple tricks and the Federal Team was not bothered by them. They were all waiting for the opponent to appear first. If they appeared timid, they will be bullied, but if they pretended to be forced, they will not be able to face the onslaught, so it was better to remain cold and calm.
After fifteen minutes, when El implored the people for the nth time. Shi Lang received a toss invitation. He smiled and selected tails. The program was quick and but the federal Team lost the toss. The opponent sent him a text, “Will you be afraid if I came out with mechs?”
Shi Lang clicked his tongue and said, “I don’t really know what to say about the poking skills of the galactic civilizations. I mean look at this chump.”
He showed the message to his team and the people smiled. He replied to the person, “Pick whatever.”
The other team thought that Shi Lang and the others were confident about beating them. So in the end they chose the administrator battle. The federal team sent five administrators and Shi Lang gave them only one instruction, “You five have your own distinctive styles in fleet battles. We generals play with the games you design, so go there, and do what you do best, together.”
They all felt fired up and said, “Hoorah.”
That said, the five administrators walked out of the gathering hall and they came to a simulation room. The rules were simple, destroy the enemy fleet and reduce their combat efficiency by fifty percent and you win. If the enemy still does not give up you can erase them. However, this will lead the losing party to death.
The motto was to make people know their limits. Either they will lose with pride or they will die with stupidity. You cannot thrive on being too prideful. This place had a staggering five hundred room simulation arena, one room for two teams. The federal team found their room and took their seats. The rest of the teammates were asked to wait outside. They could watch the war progress on the screens outside.
The federal team stood wearing black suits, they had to change the color so they do not look too flashy, only Shi Lang was the one wearing a red suit. He leaned against the wall with his hands crossed against the chest. On the surface, he looked calm, but in his heart, he wished that if the team could not win then they surrender. The training in the past did not make the team stronger on a physical level, but also on a mental level.
The skills they practiced in the simulation realm ranged from battle skills to fleet battles and stuff. The rest of the team looked at a group standing opposite them. They were also dressed in a tactical suits but the design was different. The group of people looked very lean and timid compared to the federal team.
They could not look them back in the eye. Shi Lang said, “Do not intimidate them too much. They have come here with effort, but they are just nervous. Shashi, after the battle, goes exchange feelings with them.”
Shashi shivered and asked, “General, why do your words make me feel like I am a gigolo?”
Jane shrugged and said, “Representative Shashi, who asked you to have a little face that is too white?”
The rest of the team laughed while Shashi clenched his jaws. He was getting irked by these kids. All they did was bully him. Shi Lang said, “The battle started.”
On the screen, the scenario of the battle was displayed. Jane asked, “They selected the first fleet as a model.”
The rest also recognized the ships from the first fleet. They all looked at the man leaning against the wall, and then back at the screen. Ryan said, “The enemy looks strong.”
Steel nodded and Lucas said, “They have the technology level similar to us. But they lack one aspect.”
The rest nodded, the aspect was spiritual energy incorporated into the ships.