亚洲综合中美

“Number 03 is on way to his first victory,” blares the intercoms, an air of suspense tightened the very crowd, many were on the edge of their seat. A hovering display gave a great overview – it held the immediate location and placement of the racers, ‘-the last lap,’ read across the screen. The moment many waited for arrived, the cars reached the last curve, at the head was a mat-black car over which had ‘Raven,’ written. Various stickers of sponsors laid on both sides of the door, the helmed driver slammed his foot, “-WE HAVE A WINNER,” he crossed the finish line, “-THEO DENLORD IS THE VICTOR!” screamed the commentator. The crowd followed suit, mostly the female demographic – everyone cheered and cried, everyone, save the losers. The racers drove to the garages off-track.

A bespectacled man sat amidst fellow supporters. Long silvery hair was neatly tied into a ponytail, he watched with one leg over the other.

“He’s handsome,” whispered across.

“I wonder who he is?”

Upon the winner’s announcement, he stood, fixed his tie and suit, climbed the stairs, and entered a brightly lit corridor. ‘-He won,’ he thought, listening to the echoes of his footsteps.

“Theo Denlord has won the Exrion Grand Championship,” said the screens scattered along the hallway, “-we’re here at their garage for an interview,” said a well-dressed man who giddied to the roaring car. He held his microphone to the driver, who had yet to remove his helmet, “-Lord Theo, how does it feel to win the famed Exrion Prix?”

.....

“How does it feel?” he pulled the helmet, “-amazing,” he smiled, sweat sparkled against the slightly flushed cheeks, “-every racer has a dream to compete on an international level, the grand championship is a proving ground for the elite. After many years of failures, my team and I have reached the summit,” he laughed, mechanics in the background waved their wrenches as well, “-I’m very grateful and honored.”

“Thank you for the kind words,” nodded the interviewer who turned at the camera,”-we’ll join shortly for the prize ceremony,” the screen swapped for highlights of the event. A narrator spoke of the long journey the teams walked, the sacrifices made along, and the effort it took to reach the world stage.

Shy out the entrance hall, an outward passage leads to the track’s inner area, the garage area whereby an oval-shaped road accommodates the various teams who lined the many large buildings. Access is restricted, two intimidatingly dressed gentlemen waited with weapons at their backs. The footsteps scattered in a dancing fashion against the tiled stairs leading outside. The shadow cast by the cool and gentle interior swaps for well-cared foliage of trees lining the walkway that gave onto a two-lane road ending in a massive gate to the right. He turned and approached the entrance; the guards nodded and opened the gates without verification. Tow trucks carried broken cars; some toppled during the race, others crashed into their fellow racers, and an unfortunate few drove straight into an empty wall.

Continuing the journey shortly gave onto the rest area, mechanics worked whilst the racers and workers had their break via drinks through vending machines. The departments were numbered alongside bearing their team’s name, ‘Raven,’ read across one of the warehouses. A large corridor ending in large gates went from one side to the other, in the middle were the workers and the cars. Supply trucks were a stone throw away at a different area. Hands in pockets, a recognizable figure wandered into the ‘work’ area, “-My lord,” cried a simple mechanic, “-why are you here?” he shook.

“Is it hard to deduce?” he smiled, “-I came to congratulate the winning team,” hearing the title be called, those working other stations rushed to the center.

“You shouldn’t have,” said the mechanics.

“Good work needs be rewarded,” he said, standing on higher ground, the wind gracefully flew in his direction, even the sun seemed to give the spotlight, “-in celebrations of having won the Grand Prix, I hereby grant a fully-paid one week vacation to Alphia’s Odgawoan, the De Costle stripe.” The announcement brought tears to their faces, the hard work was recognized. *Incoming Message: éclair.* “Master, transport waits at the entrance.”

Scenery changes from the race track to a road running within groves and meadows toward a tightly sloped hill, upon reaching the summit – it gave onto a great view over Rotherham. The voyage continued till the three skyscrapers – the car pulled at the back entrance whereby a lift headed for an office. It opened to a pristinely immaculate hallway of which had an open view of the town below. A tap clicked the locks, the door opened to a dark office which lit automatically. Various displays toggled to life – the windows tainted to a gentle black.

‘Sigh,’ he exhaled, ‘-it’s done,’ he smiled, ‘-Raven won the Championship. We’ve come a long way, a very long way,’ he thought, ‘-from X102 to X110, the past eight years have been tough, Phantom lost prestige in the business world and Arda grew to a shell of its prior glory. For three years nothing went our way, business was bad, very bad, our companies bordered bankruptcy, if not for Raven, Phantom would have fallen into debt. X102 to X105; the Haggard dynasty was forced to live frugally, Phantom sank – research stopped. Phantom was forced to give the drug manufacturing to us, Snow and Cimier established a stronghold in Kreston – the drug market is highly contested. The Dark-Guilds no longer stand at the top. Elendor forced the Overlord to take refuge in Hidros... profits took a massive hit. The Great Collapse truly hurt us and our livelihood, sacrifices were made. My focus was on Arda and the economic crisis – life grew painful for the people. We won the war and reconquered the province – the Haggard Dynasty became the ruling family. We couldn’t tax the people, Glenda’s agricultural reformed was used to feed the starving kingdom. Between Phantom and Arda, I chose Arda and Glenda. On the other side, Hidros failed in negotiations with Alphia, soon, the Federation truly broke into non-aggression pacts and trade agreements. We departed as a family, each picking the survival of their kingdom over friendship. It had to be done, and I don’t blame anyone. Alphia’s northernmost province was captured by the Empire, and to this day, the fighting continues since Alphia teleported inside the Southern province of Ease(within the main continent) and conquered their trading town. It’s a battle of numbers and attrition, the Empire has quantity whilst Alphia has quality, the war is being fought arduously. Frankly, the battles are mostly being settled on the sea of the Aisl Ocean. Julius and I knew holding onto grudges would bring our downfall. Therein, I decided to forget the past and move forward, the identity of they who caused such an upheaval grew less of a concern. Survival over petty squabbles. In the new year of X105, we established the Bank of Arda, there was but one way to kickstart our economy, and it was the creation of Gold. We artificially inflated the economy, granted the people loans to restart their lives, and increased the pool behind which the currency was backed. Needless to say, six months later, Arda elapsed the standard of living and grew prosperous. Villages expanded into towns, settlements built into villages, towns became cities and Glenda expanded massively. Aside from the economic crisis, there laid another trouble in the distance – the limiting factor of power, the catalytic technology employed by the major nations couldn’t keep to the growing times – the growth curve straightened, bigger and better meant more power, and the latter wasn’t easily obtainable. Finding power became akin to finding gold, if not better. I gambled right,’ he smirked, ‘-I used Raven’s funds to invest in Maicite and conducted research, often paying the researchers from my account to get what I needed – the project began on X102 and for the years leading to X106, I slowly acquired rights to major mines, signing an exclusive contract with Easel Run Gard to be granted the full ownership of any emergence of Maicite mines. Vanesa slothfully completed her mission of infecting part of the world, her illness had no cure, many assumed it to have been the Monster Curse that had taken plenty o’ life. Smart investors and companies focused their efforts on flooding the medical market, there was profit to be made, she served as a great decoy to hide my plans. On new year’s eve of X107, Phantom announces the discovery of new ore and technology to resolve the power crisis. Let me say one thing, that day, Phantom was slaughtered by calls from the major nations, everyone wanted to get a piece of the action, investors came in hordes, we sky-rocketed in price as if it were nothing. By the end of the month, Phantom surpassed Elon’s Dynasty, after which the two signed a formal agreement to be a united company named Adam, the profits were sent into better research, the University of Rotherham grew into the best university in Hidros – Magiology’s focus shifted to the effects it had on Maicite. Let’s say the Empire was not pleased by our efforts, more power to use meant better weapons – the Monopoly the Cobalt Unit came to possess after Phantom’s fall was returned. Hard as they tried, catalyst and use of Maicite were exclusive to us, Phantom had control over the world’s most important commodity, Power. X107 to X110, the Haggard Dynasty regained our prestige.’

*Knock, knock,*

“Enter.”

“Master,” said a lovely lady dressed in blue, “-éclair and I have been waiting...”

“Yui,” he said, “-I apologize, there were things I needed to complete before leaving for the party.”

“Whatever you say, master,” she chuckled, “-Midne and the others wait.” The location shifted from the skyscraper to another newly built building to the west of the three pillars. Renowned stars and starlets were among the guests. Dusk sprawled, Igna found himself before a carpet stair leading inside Apexi and Ansoft’s headquarters. After Julius had talks with Amsey, the duo decided to pitch in and rescue their organization, with the failing economy at said time, it was hard, if not for Igna’s gamble in the Maicite market, the Great Collapse would have been the end of Phantom and the Haggard. Tonight’s event was a screening of a movie the two agencies collaborated on – the story of the fallen Starlet, the same movie said to have been lost, the project Staxius began and never completed. The starring actress was Aceline – after the tour of X102, the various idols split to follow their own paths, Apexi wasn’t able to hold them for long. They swore to remain friends, a promise of which they followed. Years later, Julius gathered idols, many were deep in the Odgawoan life, opting for an acting career – their struggles to maintain relevancy was short-lived. All changes, and soon, many known idols sunk deeper into irrelevancy – save for one, Aceline, she kept her promise and climbed the ladder to stardom with her trusted manager, Scott.

“Cousin, over here,” waved a cheerful Julius.

“How goes it, cousin,” returned Igna.

“Good,” they joined in a friendly embrace.

“I see Malley’s doing fine,” he glanced at her stomach.

“Oh please,” she chuckled, “-it’s heavier than it looks,” she said.

“It must be,” he nodded.

“Congratulations are in order,” said Julius, “-the Raven’s won the Championship.”

“The victory is fine and all,” they followed up the stairs, “-the true importance was the gathering of foreign teams. A truly international competition aiming to foster good relations between the kingdoms.”

“Alphia has it rough,” commented Julius.

“Long as the war doesn’t affect us, we’re fine.”

“Don’t be so heartless,” the interior showered the guests with golden lights.

“Not heartless, just indifferent.”