And faced with Aiden's harsh words, Andy immediately responded, "Then bring it on! I really want to see what gives you the confidence to say that."
In his view, Aiden's strength wasn't worth looking at, at most, he could bully ordinary people.
"Then just wait and see." Aiden glanced at him, then turned to look at Chizuru and Mai Shiranui, who had stopped arguing under the restraint of Maki and King. But the two girls each puffed their cheeks and turned their heads away, ignoring each other.
Good, the classic scene of mutual ignoring.
It had a very anime-like sense of déjà vu.
But at least they weren't arguing anymore.
Then Aiden looked at the other fighters. Most people had curious or amused expressions, and a few gossip-loving ones were whispering among themselves.
However, since he chose to build a harem, he had to be mentally prepared to receive strange looks and comments from others, so Aiden didn't care at all.
At this time, Terry had already dragged Andy back. This sunny, cheerful young man actually had a very good personality, and before leaving he apologized to Aiden's group again. This made Aiden feel that if he really drew the Fatal Fury Team tomorrow, he shouldn't hit too hard.
As his thoughts shifted, a staff member came to stand before the fighters.
"Everyone, you may enter."
"May I ask which team enters first?"
Was this even a question?
The moment the staff member finished speaking, almost everyone looked toward Chin Gentsai.
But Chin Gentsai waved his hand, "You all go first!"
He felt he was already old, things like showing one's face should be left to young people.
However, the fighters held great respect for this elder. After all, the fighting world valued not only strength but also seniority, and at the moment, there was basically no one whose seniority surpassed Chin Gentsai's.
Seeing this situation, the staff member had no choice but to look toward Chin Gentsai's trio.
"Senior Chin Gentsai, the ceremony needs to start on time. What do you think?"
"Ah! Fine then."
Chin Gentsai sighed, took a swig from his wine gourd, and led his two disciples toward the doors of the conference hall.
Two staff members immediately moved to push the doors open for him. And the instant the doors were pushed open, the sound of continuous camera shutters burst from inside. At the same time, amid intense applause and screams from the guests, a host-like person raised a microphone and began introducing,
"Ladies and gentlemen, and viewers watching at home, the first team to appear is led by a veteran elder of the fighting world, Senior Chin Gentsai. Let me see what their team is called… oh, their team is called the Psychic Warriors Team, the Psychic Warriors Team from country Z."
The host glanced at the card in his hand, which listed the team names and member information registered before the ceremony. So he wasn't afraid of getting it wrong.
He continued, "And Senior Chin Gentsai's teammates are his two disciples. One is the psychic fighter Chin Kensou from country Z, and the other… oh my god, it's actually the lead singer of the Japanese BOF band, the popular idol girl, Athena Asamiya!"
Facing such a scene, Chin Gentsai drank with a calm expression. Kensou scratched his head shyly, while Athena displayed her idol nature, striking poses as she waved to the crowd.
After they walked across the specially laid red carpet, the teams behind them also entered one after another.
"Next is Kusanagi Kyo from the Japan Team… he is last year's champion of Japan's Mixed Martial Arts Tournament, and his teammates are… Nikaido Benimaru… Daimon Goro…"
"Next to enter is the Fatal Fury Team. Members, Terry… Andy… Joe…"
"The Art of Fighting Team, whose goal is to surpass their limits, members, Takuma Sakazaki… Ryo Sakazaki… Robert…"
"The mercenary Ikari Team from Brazil, led by Colonel Heidern… Ralf… Clark…"
"Following them is the Korean Kim Team, led by Kim Kaphwan, with team members Chang Koehan… Choi Bounge…"
"And then… oh my, next to appear is the most dazzling team of this tournament, the Women Fighters Team! This team is composed entirely of beautiful women. Don't be fooled by their beauty, their punches may not be any weaker than their looks. The leader is Mai Shiranui from the Shiranui-ryuu… Yuri Sakazaki… King…"
"Let's take a look. The final team to appear is… huh? The last team is named after the Kagura Corporation, the Kagura Team. The members are Miss Kagura Maki and Miss Kagura Chizuru. As for the third teammate, it's actually a man from country Z, Aiden. My god, I'm jealous. He actually gets to be teammates with two rich ladies…"
Amid the host's excited voice, Aiden and the Kagura sisters made their entrance last.
After waving to Shermie and Helena, Aiden and the Kagura sisters crossed the red carpet and stood together with Mai and the others.
Next, the host went up onto a temporarily built stage and explained the tournament rules and precautions. But while he was speaking, the fighters were gathered in small groups, not listening seriously at all, each chatting among themselves.
"So you're people from the Kagura family."
While Aiden was chatting with Shermie and Helena, who had come over again, Kusanagi Kyo unexpectedly walked toward them. But he didn't recognize Shermie's identity, and directly struck up a conversation with the Kagura sisters.
Speaking of which, among the Three Sacred Treasures families, only the Kagura family, owners of the Yata Mirror, were extremely sensitive to Orochi blood.
The Kusanagi and Yagami clans couldn't detect its presence at all. Just like in the game's story, when Kyo was beaten up by Goenitz, he still didn't recognize that the man was the Orochi Heavenly King who ruled the winds, Goenitz.
This made Aiden quietly breathe a sigh of relief upon noticing him walk over. Otherwise, if a fight broke out, he could only do what Goenitz did, beat Kyo violently.
Listening to Kyo and the Kagura sisters talk, Aiden chatted with Shermie at the same time. Multitasking wasn't hard for him.
Shermie, who had been talking to Aiden about daily life topics, suddenly shifted the subject and spoke in a low voice, "Goenitz came looking for me last night."
"Hm?" Aiden immediately frowned. "When did he arrive in Japan?"
"He's been here several days already." Shermie shrugged. "But this whole time, he's been taking Yashiro, oh no, taking Shalan sightseeing everywhere. He only came to find me last night. And, well, he also asked about you."
"So he knows I'm participating in this tournament?"
"Mm. He said he wants to introduce the other two members of the Hakkesshu to you. They're currently in charge of reception duties for this tournament… I'm guessing once the ceremony ends, they'll come for you."
When she said this, Shermie had a faintly amused expression, clearly she knew who those two people were.
And Aiden, of course he knew.
Mature and Vice, sent by Goenitz to monitor Rugal…
Mature and Vice, two members of the Hakkesshu whom Goenitz had awakened long ago.
Among them, Mature possessed speed and agility far beyond human imagination, while Vice possessed strength that was ridiculously powerful.
It was just that they didn't have personal codenames like the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, and their strength wasn't on the same level as the Heavenly Kings.
But they were still not opponents any ordinary fighter could defeat.
After Goenitz awakened them, he ordered them to hide by Rugal's side to observe what changes would occur in Rugal after being granted the Orochi power.
However, after hearing Shermie say that Goenitz had told them to come find him, Aiden was somewhat surprised, but didn't resist the idea. He was only curious about Goenitz's true motive.
Aiden lowered his head in thought, and at this moment Shermie said again, "The two of them are total beauties, you know. Their figures are amazing too, especially their legs… to be honest, I'm a little jealous."
"You're not bad yourself." Aiden glanced at Shermie's legs wrapped in black stockings, very shapely.
"I can't compare with them in that, but in this area I'm still confident." Shermie puffed out her chest. For now, she had no rivals, except for the female Tengu she hadn't met yet.
"Mature and Vice would feel inferior," she continued.
"You've already met them?" Aiden lifted his head again and looked at her… at her chest, and nodded. Indeed, that would make other women feel inferior.
Shermie helplessly shrugged, "Even though I don't want to follow Goenitz's orders, I'm very willing to meet Mature and Vice. Among the eight of us… among our eight brothers and sisters, the three of us are the only women, so our relationship is pretty good."
Now that was surprising. Aiden had thought she only got along well with Chris and Yashiro.
Thinking that, Aiden asked again, "Do you know why Goenitz wants them to look for me?"
"Who knows… Goenitz never tells us anything. Anyway… it's probably not for that matter."
Shermie was genuinely puzzled. Goenitz's behavior was getting stranger and stranger. Even though he kept saying resurrecting Orochi was the fate of the Hakkesshu, many of the things he was doing didn't line up with resurrecting Orochi at all.
Especially this trip to Japan, Shermie originally thought Goenitz had come to kill the members of the Three Sacred Treasures families. After all, she had met the Kagura sisters before.
She figured even the two of them together wouldn't be enough for Goenitz. Then she encountered Kusanagi Kyo today and realized even adding him wouldn't make a difference.
But now? Goenitz had been in Japan for several days, yet he had spent every day taking his adopted daughter sightseeing, and didn't seem to have any intention of carrying out the plan to resurrect Orochi.
Shermie thought about this half the night yesterday. She even suspected that Goenitz also wanted to break free from his fate… but she didn't dare confirm it. After all, Goenitz had the firmest will among the Hakkesshu, he possessed absolute loyalty.
"This is giving me a headache!"
Thinking of this, Shermie let out a rare sigh. Then she decided to stop thinking about it. After all, she had already prepared herself to escape her own fate.
———
Speaking of which, although Rugal's goals were far from pure and his methods later on were pretty underhanded in order to become number one in the world, one thing had to be said, the man was quite generous.
After the entrance ceremony ended, he even had staff members give everyone present a gift, a few little trinkets made of gold. While their value wasn't much to most people, they made King extremely happy.
After all, she was the person who needed money the most among everyone present. She earned money before even fighting, and she immediately wished events like this would happen more often.
Aiden didn't lack money. After glancing at the gifts, he casually gave them to King, then followed the crowd to the restaurant on the fourth floor.
There, the organizers had prepared a lavish lunch.
No one disliked free lunch, there were no exceptions.
Picking out a few dishes he liked, Aiden carried his tray and wandered around, sitting with Mai for a bit, then sitting with the Kagura sisters, then going over to Shermie and Helena. In the end, Athena called him over too. Aside from the waiters, he was the busiest person in the whole restaurant.
After lunch, the day's events came to an end. Although the organizers said there would be a cocktail party in the afternoon, apart from the guests, the fighters had no interest. They left in small groups.