Queen's Arms

Setting the foundation for her grand ambitions, Xu Xiaoyou opened the world forum.

Upon entering the world forum of Oasis, she was greeted by the promotional PV for the Matrix Cycle Life season; the central area of the forum was highly conspicuous, with version concept art flanking both sides.

Scrolling down, she saw highlight reels of various professional players, with battle footage so dazzling that it was clear the editors and special effects artists had put in a great deal of effort.

With half a month left before the start of the professional league qualifiers, major top-tier powerhouses had begun their pre-heating phases, building popularity and hype for their respective pro players.

Her attention focused on the few players with the highest reputations.

Popularity Rank TOP 1, Wu Shen Lu | Firepower Value 13w+.

She had seen this person's name frequently while searching for information related to Oasis; he was the guild leader of the rank-one guild, Queen's Arms, and had led his team to multiple professional league championships starting from the S1 season, Silent Dawn.

Age of Steam, Cradle Fairy Tale, Raging Waves... the professional champions of the previous seasons had, without exception, been swept by Queen's Arms, and the team's dynamic emblem hung high and prominent.

Two gear-bladed weapons crossed in front of a Heart shield emblem, with a small jeweled crown sliding along the edge of the heart; the girl in the background had her face obscured, draped in the stars and moon, her lips pressed thin as she raised a white soldier in her hand, placing a move on the world chessboard.

"Queen's Gambit..." Xu Xiaoyou murmured.

She felt an odd sense of familiarity looking at this team emblem—counting them up, she was surprised to find that Queen's Arms had actually dominated all the league championships from S1 to S8, only fading from public view during the S9 season, Eerie Prison.

It wasn't that their myth had been ended by a rising star or that their championship glory had been taken; it was simply because they hadn't signed up for the Oasis leagues of S9 and S10 at all.

Shortly after Old Man Manchester's suicide note was exposed, the long-dormant Queen's Arms suddenly made a high-profile announcement of their return, explicitly stating they would compete for the sovereign key of Omniscient Mode, instantly detonating the world forum's popularity.

Even today, it still occupied the top spot on the trending discussion list.

": With Queen's Arms returning, I'd say there's no suspense left for this Oasis league; from the commander Wu Shen Lu to the buffer Goddess of Medicine Yaoyao, it's a Galaxy Dreadnought with top-tier specs. With such a luxurious lineup, I don't even know how they could lose."

": Haha, yeah, in previous years they always steamrolled their way to the finals, causing quite a few teams to disband from the pressure."

": Other guilds would be thanking their lucky stars to have just one of these top-tier combatants, but Queen's Arms has five of them. Even their logistics and analyst teams are the absolute best. How are other guilds supposed to play?"

": I heard that back then, Deep Blue Tide was so tilted after being crushed in the semi-finals that he talked big about finding them in reality, and he hasn't participated in the league since. To this day, that incident hasn't caused much of a stir."

": They're probably a top-tier power in reality too."

": I even suspect they're internal personnel from the Order Court."

": I feel like you guys are overhyping Queen's Arms a bit. I prefer Silent Sequence. I think Queen's Arms was afraid to sign up for the league because Silent Sequence's momentum was too strong, and they only announced their return this time because they had no other choice."

": ↑ Don't be ridiculous, buddy. Get the cause and effect straight. It's only because Queen's Arms stayed low-profile that other guilds had a chance to develop over the last two years. When it was on top before, did you see Silent Sequence making even a ripple?"

": Just watch this time, haha. Silent Sequence will definitely beat Queen's Arms until they cry for their mothers. Don't go secretly dropping little pearls in your blankets when that happens, Queen's fans."

The fans of the two major guilds already disliked each other, and with trolls fanning the flames, the powder keg was instantly ignited, with both sides holding their ground in an incredibly fierce battle.

"Nanjiamu: I feel like it's not as good as... Golden Navigator."

Xu Xiaoyou was speechless, marvelling at how bored people must be to argue over such things.

Aside from Wu Shen Lu, she spent some time memorizing the guild leaders of several major guilds, intending to find a time to carefully analyze their personalities and behavior patterns to tailor her approach.

Names like Smiling Jazz, the leader of Silent Sequence; Franklin, the leader of the King's Clan; Perseus, the leader of Winter Dawn; Li Liujin, the leader of Daybreak Elegy; and that mascot seen in every corner of the forum—Nanjiamu, the vice-leader of the Golden Navigator.

Since she had decided to enter Oasis, she would inevitably have to deal with these people in the future, so she naturally had to be fully prepared.

Just then, a friend request popped up.

"Player 'Mori no Natsu' has requested to add you as a friend."

Xu Xiaoyou raised an eyebrow.

This name, she remembered, was the little family head's online handle. For her to choose to enter the game to find her, could something urgent have happened outside?

After accepting the request, Akabane Tsubaki teleported directly to the starter village and found her before long.

The girl's appearance in Oasis wasn't much different from reality; she wore a peaked cap backward, a cream-white jacket draped over her elbows, and a black tube top vest underneath. Her little devil style pleated skirt swayed in the wind as she ran up to her in round-toe Martin boots, panting before she could even catch her breath, looking quite flustered.

"Yuzu, this is bad!"

"The news about you outside is spreading like crazy!"

"It's the Northern Bank. Do you remember that girl we brushed past? A photo of you was taken and posted to someone's social space. Now the whole world knows you're in the Northern Realm of Red Heaven."

"Is that so?" Xu Xiaoyou pondered for a long time.

She wasn't particularly worried about her location being exposed; after all, the deterrent power of the luminous prism grade was right there. Everyone knew Deep White Midnight was usually at the Universal Heavy Industries headquarters in R'lyeh, yet no one was suicidal enough to go looking for trouble with her.

Furthermore, the association was already monitoring her constantly. Hesitant because they hadn't figured out her background, they hadn't made any major moves yet.

The only possible trouble would be fanatical worshippers of Dark Gold Rose showing up, which might inconvenience her travels.

In fact, from the moment she decided to expand Dark Gold Rose's influence, she had expected this day to come.

"The point isn't that. The point is that lunatic, Deep Blue Tide," Akabane Tsubaki said, her expression turning somewhat strange for some reason as she struggled to organize her words. "She seems—she seems to be very interested in you, Yuzu. She's telling everyone everywhere that she'll be coming to find you very soon."

Deep Blue Tide?

The first person Xu Xiaoyou thought of wasn't that luminous prism grade lunatic; she thought it was someone's prank.

Because that person had no connection to her. In her subconscious, fixers above the prism grade were distant and powerful existences like the sky; even someone as aged as Sebas had once shrouded the night sky of Dragonfly Town in the haze of death with a single strike.

But after a brief search, her thoughts were suddenly washed blank, as a terrifying deduction in her mind began to overlap with reality.

"What should we do now?"

Before Akabane Tsubaki could even finish her question, she froze in place, watching as the blonde girl turned into a beam of light and logged out of the game on the spot.