Martial Arts Livestreaming
Chapter 410 - 377: Group C Final Round

Chapter 410: Chapter 377: Group C Final Round

October 26th, still at the Hill Sports Arena in New York for the third round of Group C in the Combat World Cup.

Tonight, the 50,000-seat stadium is packed!

As the group matches reach this stage, the qualifying spots for most groups have essentially been determined; the final round matches won’t affect the outcome, except for a few groups where the situation is very tense, and the last round will decide who qualifies.

Among these groups, Group C is undoubtedly the strongest and has garnered the most attention.

The attention on Group C has even surpassed the groups that include the American Team, Brazil Team, and Russia Team because these strong teams have mostly been sweeping through the matches effortlessly. Watching an overpowering team can be refreshing initially, but it becomes boring after a while. The audience now prefers to see intense matchups, and Group C definitely meets that criterion.

Tonight, Japan, currently first in the group, will face Hua Country, currently second. The outcome will directly determine who from Group C will advance.

Also, both teams have already drawn significant attention; Hua Country Team boasts popular players like Wu Li and has recently amazed everyone with Li San; Japan’s impressive performance in this World Cup has surprised everyone, prompting more than twenty authoritative U.S. media outlets to move Japan from sixth to fourth place in their championship rankings!

Of course, after defeating the Thailand Team, Hua Country also moved up from eighth to sixth. So tonight, it will be sixth vs. fourth!

Will Hua Country pull off an upset and defeat Japan? Or will Japan continue their dominant streak and forcefully advance to the top eight? Everything will be revealed tonight, making this match reach the highest viewership ratings of this World Cup so far!

New York Time, 7:35 PM, Cai Xiaoyan and her best friend line up to enter the Hill Sports Arena.

"So many people!"

Just entering the arena and seeing the dense crowd around, Cai Xiaoyan exclaimed.

"Look at all these handsome foreign guys, Xiaoyan! Look over there, that guy is so handsome, he looks like someone out of a comic book!" her best friend excitedly shouted in Cai Xiaoyan’s ear.

Cai Xiaoyan looked where her friend was pointing; a tall Caucasian man with very distinct facial features, fair skin, and dressed in a distinctly British fashion.

"Too milky, not my type," Cai Xiaoyan glanced and quickly looked away.

Her friend snorted, "Sheesh, you just like those muscle types like Wu Li, so boring."

Cai Xiaoyan raised her chin, "Wu Li, now that’s a real man!"

Her friend giggled, then suddenly lowered her voice, "How would you know he’s a real man? You haven’t tried him."

Cai Xiaoyan didn’t get embarrassed but looked somewhat hopeful, "I wish I could try, but no chance."

Her friend spat, "You’re such a perv!"

Cai Xiaoyan’s eyes twinkled, "You think someone who practices martial arts like Wu Li would have a high drive?"

Her friend replied, "Probably, maybe that’s why he punches so fast."

"Ha ha!"

"He he!"

As the two joked, their conversation delved into realms better left undescribed. Sometimes girl talk accelerates faster than boys...

Not long after, they found their seats and sat down, looking around curiously, everything seemed so novel.

"Little ladies, did you come from Hua Country?"

Hearing their conversation, a man sitting a row back leaned forward and asked.

Turning around, they saw an Asian man, speaking Chinese.

"Yes, we’re from Hua Country. Are you Chinese?" Cai Xiaoyan asked.

The man smiled and nodded, speaking Mandarin with a northeastern accent, "I’m originally from the northeast, immigrated here."

"Nice to meet you!" They greeted back smiling.

"You two girls like combat sports too?" the northeastern man asked.

Cai Xiaoyan’s friend pointed at her, "It’s all because she likes Wu Li, insisted on dragging me all the way to watch."

"Chasing stars, I see," the northeastern man realized.

Cai Xiaoyan frowned, "It’s because tonight’s match is crucial for Wu Li. If the Hua Country Team doesn’t qualify, a lot of people online will bad-mouth him."

"Oh? Why?" the northeastern man asked, puzzled.

So Cai Xiaoyan briefly recounted recent events, including the press conference two days ago.

"It’s all because Wu Li is too straightforward. His ’no comment’ has angered many, saying he’s become arrogant," her friend commented with a sneer.

Cai Xiaoyan’s eyebrows furrowed in anger, "I believe Wu Li has his reasons! And he’s done more than enough, his matches were all victories."

Her friend raised her hands, "All right, all right, I shouldn’t have badmouthed your macho hero."

"Hmph!"

After a bit of playful banter, the northeastern man suddenly said thoughtfully, "I, for one, don’t care about all that. There’s only one thing that matters to me."

Cai Xiaoyan asked, "What’s that?"

The northeastern man spoke passionately, "Tonight is a fight against the little devils, how can we lose? We must win! We need to thoroughly beat those little devils!"

Cai Xiaoyan and her friend exchanged looks, surprised that tonight’s match held such significance for many Hua Country people.

"You’re right, we need to thoroughly beat those little—well, those pretty well-living islanders!" Cai Xiaoyan nodded in agreement.

...

At 8 p.m., the first match was about to begin.

Tonight’s first match had Thailand Team and Nigeria Team competing, and only after that would Japan Team and Hua Country Team take the stage.

As the players from both teams entered, the referee took his position, and the match quickly commenced.

In the first round, both sides fielded players who had never played before.

This wasn’t about any new tactics or secret "weapons," but because both teams knew that whatever the result tonight, their teams wouldn’t qualify for the next round.

Thailand Team currently had 5 points; even if they scored 7 points tonight, making a total of 12 points, it still wouldn’t be enough. Since Japan Team had 11 points and Hua Country Team 8 points, one of these teams would inevitably end up with more than 12 points regardless of their score tonight.

As for Nigeria Team, with a total of 4 points, they had even less of a chance.

Thus, for both teams, tonight was their last match in this edition of the World Cup. They chose to let some players who hadn’t participated before make an appearance, also ensuring nobody came for nothing.

Consequently, the match was neither intense nor particularly exciting—as all were substitute players with limited capabilities.

It wasn’t until the fourth round, the welterweight match, that the spectators perked up a bit as the captains from the Thailand Team, Siti, and the Nigeria Team, Adiya, faced off against each other.

It was unclear whether it was pre-arranged, but tonight Siti had moved up from lightweight to fight in middleweight, while Adiya had moved down from middleweight to fight in welterweight, and thus the two met.

"Probably for the ratings, intentionally arranged."

By this time, many people were thinking along these lines, yet nobody disapproved of this arrangement; instead, they were looking forward to it.

UFC had never had top-tier fighters from Thailand, and after tonight’s match, everyone would have a clearer idea of whether a Thai fighter could really achieve any standing in the UFC.

Both fighters quickly started, both of them stand-up fighters with sharp strikes and similar styles. The match was a give-and-take, quickly getting the audience excited. As soon as these two made their move, their movement speed, striking speed, response time, and explosive power were all clearly a notch above the previous matches!

"Who do you think will win?"

Backstage in the rest room, Li San asked Wu.

The Hua Country Team was watching the match on TV in the room, with some also warming up.

"Siti."

After pondering, Wu made his judgment.

Beside him, Zhao Lixin nodded, agreeing with Wu’s assessment. Siti had a mercury-like center of gravity and possessed two types of secret explosive techniques, giving him a lot of advantages; Adiya’s techniques were relatively more straightforward.

"If Adiya were a ground fighter, his chances of winning would be higher," Li Tongyun also added his assessment.

Wu nodded. Though Adiya’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was at master level, his strongest suit was still stand-up striking, which wasn’t much of a threat to Siti.

Sure enough, by the third minute of them engaging, after getting used to Adiya’s attacking rhythm, Siti suddenly unleashed his explosive power using the same two secret techniques he had used against Zhao Lixin in the past — spirit hypnosis and boiling blood!

Eventually, relying on his power post-explosion, Siti secured the victory.

Minutes later, a man dressed in staff attire entered a private box.

Inside, Victor turned to face him.

"How did it go?"

"Got it."

The man nodded, pulling out two transparent bags from his bosom, containing a blood-stained towel and swabs.

Victor instructed, "Along with the pre-match urine samples of both, quickly hand them over to the experimental group."

"Okay."

...

On the field, after this match, both teams again fielded ’newcomers,’ returning to the previous pattern.

The final score settled at 4:3, with Thailand Team winning by one point and an overall score of 9 points, temporarily overtaking Hua Country Team, though it didn’t make much difference.

Both teams left the field, and Hua Country Team and Japan Team started to enter.

"Here they come, here they come!" Cai Xiaoyan excitedly shouted, craning her neck to closely watch where the Hua Country Team was.

"Ah, I see him, see him! Wu, Wu!"

Cai Xiaoyan, clutching her best friend’s arm, shook her frantically and then took out her phone to start snapping pictures and filming videos.

When the players were positioned and the referee stepped onto the stage, someone from the Hua Country Team’s preparatory area walked straight up to the platform—it was Wu.

Wu spoke a few words to the referee and then stepped down.

A few minutes later, an announcement sounded, broadcast twice, and the whole venue buzzed.

"Uncle, what’s being said?"

Cai Xiaoyan and her best friend’s English wasn’t good, they relied solely on mobile translation when outside, and they couldn’t understand what was being said in the broadcast.

The man from Northeast explained, "They’re announcing that the Hua Country Team has requested a special match format."