Heroes' Prison

Chapter 741 - 706 Two Gunshots

Finally, the annual grand ceremony arrived at its last day, and that evening, the five top awards were to be presented.

The previous days had been dedicated to ordinary awards, and players did not watch the broadcasts constantly, mostly just checking the news and keeping an eye on the leaderboard. But tonight’s five top awards were a must-watch live, as this was the climax of the entire grand ceremony!

That evening, Huang Yi and Thunder God sat in front of the television, drinking beer and intently staring at the screen.

Thunder God was the most nervous; out of the five top awards, the brothers from the Rose Prison had the capacity to vie for all but the Best Charm Award!

As long as they could win one of these awards, he would retain a glimmer of hope for life and could present a death exemption request to the President of Era Corporation, Mr. Huang Sha. If they did not win any, his life would be in jeopardy.

"Next, please welcome Mr. Oster, Chairman of the World Federation, to present the first top award of the evening—the Best Newcomer Award!" Just then, the host called the award presenter to the stage.

Instantly, applause erupted as a Caucasian middle-aged man emerged from behind the curtain and walked to the forefront—this was the Federal President, Oster.

"This is our enemy," Thunder God muttered under his breath, his gaze locked on Oster.

"Good evening!" Mr. Oster succinctly greeted after arriving at the podium and quickly moved on to the awarding process, announcing the list of 100 nominees.

The big screen began showing the promotional clip for each of the 100 nominees, allotting five seconds of time for each.

"There’s that kid, Ying Lin!"

"That’s the Overlord!"

"Dust overturning history!"

"The Aunt with no need for blood replenishment!"

While watching the promotional clips, Huang Yi and Thunder God named the nominees from the Rose Prison; out of the 100 nominees, Rose Prison accounted for 82 spots! They nearly monopolized the list of nominees, but aside from the highly regarded newcomer T.N.T, only Ying Lin could measure up.

After the promotional clips for the nominees were played, Mr. Oster approached the microphone and announced to the world, "Next, we will reveal the ten Best Newcomer Award nominees!"

As his voice fell, the big screen showcased the promotional clips of the ten nominees, extending to 20 seconds each, providing a richer display of content for the nominees!

"China—Knight"

"Singapore—Ying Lin"

"China—Jian Feng Kuai"

"Italy—T.N.T"

"Japan—Ling Luo"

"Egypt—King of Monsters"

...

In the nominee promotional clips, players from the Rose Prison occupied five of the seats, and if the outsider from Heroes’ Prison, Jian Feng Kuai, was included, that brought their side to six contenders for this award!

Before an attentive audience, Federal President Mr. Oster slowly opened the envelope with the list of nominees and pulled out a card, stating directly, "The winner of the third annual grand ceremony’s Best Newcomer Award is... T.N.T!"

At that moment, Thunder God’s expression slightly dimmed.

Now, the Rose Prison was left with only three awards to contend for!

In the broadcast, a bald-headed, blue-eyed man in a suit swiftly walked onto the stage—it was T.N.T himself.

T.N.T’s appearance was not much different than in The Second World. He shook hands with Mr. Oster, receiving the trophy, gold medal, and flowers, then faced the microphone and took a sweeping glance over the audience.

The entire venue held its breath, the flurry of camera flashes waiting for his acceptance speech.

T.N.T let out a nonchalant smile, stretched out his hand towards the camera, and made a shooting gesture, emitting a faint imitation sound, "Bang!"

He then turned and left the stage immediately.

All spectators around the world were puzzled, not understanding the meaning behind T.N.T’s gesture or what it truly signified.

Meanwhile, in The Second World.

On the southern coast of Hero’s Continent, there was a bustling Guild City—Yuanguang City, built by the Styx Sect Guild with immense capital.

At this time, the city was empty, its usually thriving ports calm and serene, as almost all players had gone offline to watch the live broadcast.

No one knew that hidden in the nearby waters lurked a battleship!

This battleship, like a sea monster of the night, had its rows of menacing cannons aimed at Yuanguang City, giving off a chilling presence.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Just then, streaks of fire shot out from the battleship, tracing brilliant trajectories in the night sky like shooting stars, before crashing down into Yuanguang City!

In an instant, the luxurious Yuanguang City became a sea of fire with bomb blasts echoing everywhere, mushroom clouds rising into the air!

The Tri-nation Coalition of Miyamoto Musashi, T.N.T, and the Pope had finally launched their first offensive against Hero’s Continent!

...

"The winner of the Best Team Award is—Yanhuang Legion!" At the annual awarding gala, the second top award winner was announced.

"Another failure!" Huang Yi sighed in his heart. Both Heroes’ Guild and Sun Guild had made it to the nomination stage for the Best Team Award, but in the end, they didn’t win. The competition was too fierce; all the nominees were S-tier teams.

There was still a chance with Rose Prison, with only two top awards left.

Thunder God silently smoked, staring wordlessly at the TV screen.

On the TV, Lin Yiqin, the Dungeon Group Leader of the Xuanyuan Guild, went on stage, representing the Yanhuang Legion with an acceptance speech for the award.

Then, the award ceremony moved to the third top-tier award—the Best Guild Award!

After a while, once the promotional video for the nominee list finished, the award presenter began announcing the nominations—

"China—Heroes"

"China—Sun"

"Egypt—Desert"

"United States—Heaven"

"India—Ganges"

"Brazil—Amazon"

...

Heroes’ Guild and Sun Guild, once again, both made it to the nomination stage!

Huang Yi and Thunder God’s hearts were suspended once more!

"And the winner of the Best Guild Award is..." said the presenter, tearing open the envelope and raising the pitch of his voice by an octave as he read the name on the card—

"Heaven’s Guild!"

In an instant, Thunder God’s body trembled slightly!

This award, once again, was a fail!

"Ah-Yi, now we can only hope you manage to win the Best Individual Award!" Thunder God stubbed out his cigarette with a shake of his head and a sigh.

"Let’s hope there’s no dark horse this time!" Huang Yi also grew somewhat nervous. Although he had a great chance of winning, if there was another upset like Sharp Sword, it would be hard to predict.

In the TV broadcast, the founder of Heaven’s Guild—the Pope—hurried onto the stage, receiving the trophy, medal, and flowers.

The whole world held its breath again, waiting for his acceptance speech.

The Pope smiled slightly, then suddenly stretched out his hand and made a shooting gesture towards the camera, his lips parting to emit a faint "Bang!"

Then, he immediately left the stage, leaving behind a bewildered audience.

"What’s going on? Why did both T.N.T and the Pope make that gesture?"

"In such a public setting, to make such an impolite gesture, are they joking?"

The room erupted in an uproar as countless audience members began whispering among themselves!

Viewers around the world watching the live broadcast were equally confused, with reporters hastily speculating, as they too were clueless about the significance of the two gunshots from the Pope and T.N.T.

"Breaking news from our station! Breaking news from our station!" Just then, the television channel that Huang Yi and Thunder God were watching suddenly erupted with the urgent voice of a broadcaster—

"Just moments ago, Hero’s Continent’s super-first-class guild—the Styx Sect Guild—suffered a fierce bombardment by magic cannons on their famous Guild City, Yuanguang City. The Styx Sect Guild has initiated a state of emergency. Preliminary investigations indicate that the assailant is a battleship from the Japanese Martial Arts Guild! This attack likely signifies the official outbreak of a national war..."

"It’s war!" Thunder God and Huang Yi looked at each other, immediately realizing the meaning behind the previous two gunshots from the Pope and T.N.T!

In fact, they had already heard some rumors from agents they had planted inside Heaven’s Guild and had been on guard. Both Sun Guild and Heroes’ Guild had fortified their territories more rigorously than before.

However, they had only speculated that a war might break out, not expecting it to actually happen—and so swiftly at that!

Thunder God stroked his chin, pondering: "They are quite bold! Our Hero’s Continent has 29 National Honor Points, with every player’s attributes increasing by 29%, and they choose to invade us without the benefit of their own National Honor Points. I didn’t expect them to dare to strike like this!"

"It must be because Miyamoto Musashi is obsessed with revenge; that man is insane and tenacious. Also, although Hero’s Continent lacks top-level resources like World Stones and Dragon Beast Skin, we have a wealth of intermediate-level resources, which can easily lead to envy. I am reincarnated in Singapore now, so I can’t provide reinforcement. You should be more vigilant! If the war goes well, level grinding can be quick; it isn’t necessarily a bad thing," said Huang Yi.

He had personally experienced the thrill of leveling up quickly by killing players from enemy nations, skyrocketing over ten levels in just a few days, not to mention the additional 10 levels awarded after the conclusion of the national war. If he had to grind levels in the Tower of Pantheons, he didn’t know how long it would take to achieve the same progress.

"Hmm! Indeed, it could be an opportunity. I’ve been grinding the Tower of Pantheons to the point of nausea lately; leveling up is too slow. I might as well kill some enemy players for quick leveling," Thunder God replied, nodding.

"The winner of the Best Charm Award is, from Indonesia, the female expert—Fuchan Fenrao!" Soon, the grand ceremony on TV was presenting the fourth top-tier award.

Fuchan Fenrao was a veteran high-level player who had been active in the circle of experts since the same era as Dao Feng. Her victory over Zhitian Shi was not too surprising.

Once Fuchan Fenrao had finished her acceptance speech, the host finally announced the award that all players worldwide were most concerned with: "Now, we come to the last award of this year’s grand ceremony—the Best Individual Award! May I invite the CEO of Era Corporation, Mr. Huang Huapeng, to present this award!"

Huang Yi and Thunder God immediately tensed up, their gaze fixed intently on the TV screen!

The most critical moment had arrived!