Zhou Muchen and Lu Hong, having nothing else to do, followed the group of students all the way to the vicinity of a square.
From a distance, they could see several eye-catching large characters hanging on the wall.
"Phoenix Power Esports. So it's this 'Phoenix Power' after all this time."
"That name... it feels somewhat familiar."
"Maybe we saw it while passing by before."
"Possibly."
"........"
Although Zhou Muchen had previously had someone investigate the Wanlonghui Group's information and knew they had invested in opening a few internet cafe esports venues, their scale wasn't large, so he hadn't paid much attention.
Their main focus was the infinitely potential Wanhui Youxuan, followed by the supermarket business.
As for internet cafes, they simply didn't register on their radar.
Furthermore, they didn't know Li Xiaohui was at Wanlonghui, as that information couldn't be found through simple document checks.
The Wanlonghui Group was not a listed company and had no obligation to disclose information. Moreover, Liu Yutong had deliberately concealed the fact that she had joined Wanlonghui.
Unless you specifically sent someone to inquire about a person named Li Xiaohui, but even then, you'd probably only hear about a purple-haired "Sister Hui" type.
Because within Wanlonghui, people mostly preferred to call each other "Brother XX" or "Sister XX," rarely using direct names or official titles.
Therefore, it never crossed Zhou Muchen's mind that Li Xiaohui was within Wanlonghui.
The place Zhou Muchen and the others arrived at was a branch of Phoenix Power Esports, located on the first floor of a department store building.
This building also housed a branch of Wanlong Supermarket and a branch of Yuyuefang restaurant.
As for why this branch was chosen to host the finals, firstly, it wasn't too far from the university district. Secondly, there was an open space outside the department store, a square, where a temporary viewing area outside the cafe could be set up.
The match between the two teams would naturally still be held inside the internet cafe, as moving the computer setups outside would be unstable, plus the evening weather outside was a bit chilly, and they were afraid it might affect the players' performance.
However, broadcasting the match footage outside was no problem; it just required a large screen and a sound system.
At this moment, most of the spectators had gathered in the small square outside the department store.
The internet cafe had also prepared a large number of plastic stools well in advance, but the estimated number of spectators had conservatively exceeded three thousand. There simply weren't enough seats for everyone, and those who didn't get a stool had no choice but to stand.
Among them, no less than three hundred people from Wanlonghui had come, all to show support for Sister Hui.
Of course, to avoid causing unnecessary alarm, everyone was in casual clothes, not work uniforms.
Liu Yutong had also come, but she was watching the match inside the internet cafe, wearing a hat and large bug-eye sunglasses, keeping a low profile as well.
Apart from the Wanlonghui members, the rest were almost all students from the university district, especially from the Finance University and the Institute of Technology.
This was because the other team in the finals, the Haoyang Team, hailed from the Institute of Technology. Their captain, Mu Yang, was an AK expert, capable of landing headshots almost every time, a highly skilled player.
The other members of Haoyang Team were also quite strong. In fact, more people were betting on them to win the championship than on the Purple Lord Team.
After all, some people, seeing that the captain of the Purple Lord Team was actually a girl, naturally felt their chances of winning were somewhat lower.
Besides the Wanlonghui crowd and the university students, the scene had also attracted many passersby who stopped to join the excitement.
Along the roadside, many vendors had seized the opportunity to set up stalls selling snacks, making the atmosphere incredibly lively.
The closer they got to the internet cafe, the denser the crowd became, to the point of people jostling against each other.
Zhou Muchen and Lu Hong grew increasingly surprised.
They had completely not expected a small esports competition held by an internet cafe to attract such a large audience. It was utterly beyond their expectations.
"Brother Chen, there are so many people here! Looks like several thousand. Even some domestic esports event venues might not have this many people, right?"
"No, current esports events are just so-so. This scale is a first for me too."
"Tsk tsk... Look over there, they're even selling milk tea. The cafe owner is quite business-savvy. There's such a long queue just for milk tea."
"The atmosphere is well done. Just wonder if the competition level matches the scene."
"Hey, it's a university competition, just for fun. But I heard those students shouting earlier, that Haoyang Team seems pretty strong. Their captain is some kind of 'AK maniac'."
"What about the other team? That... Purple something?"
"Look, there's a poster over there. Called the Purple Lord Team. What a lame name, so tacky! Heard their captain is a girl."
"We'll see. If the skill level is too poor, we'll just treat it as entertainment."
"........"
When the two men reached the internet cafe entrance and tried to go in, they were promptly stopped by staff.
The reason given was that it was already full inside.
For this finals, the internet cafe did not offer standing room tickets, only seated tickets.
The main hall had roughly a hundred machines, meaning whoever booked a seat first could enter the cafe to watch.
For those who came late? Too bad, they could only watch from outside.
This was also to prevent overcrowding and excessive noise inside the cafe, which could affect the players' performance, hence the limit on numbers.
However, this didn't stump Zhou Muchen and Lu Hong.
They directly used the power of money to buy two seats and smoothly entered the internet cafe's interior.
Although the number of people inside was much smaller, it was still bustling with noise and excitement, but the viewing experience was noticeably better.
A huge projection screen hung in the center, split into left and right halves, alternately displaying previews of several competition maps.
These were all maps for the Bombing mode to be used in the upcoming match.
Members of both teams had also taken their seats at the respective competition stations.
Right at this moment.
A young man dressed in the internet cafe's uniform, looking like the manager, walked to the center of the venue holding a wireless microphone, a smile on his face.
"Distinguished guests, esports enthusiasts, welcome to the live finals of our Phoenix Power Cup CF tournament! Before the match officially begins, let's warm up a bit and cheer for the team you support!"
As soon as he finished speaking, one side of the projection screen immediately switched to a simple leaderboard interface. It listed the two team names, 【Haoyang Team】 and 【Purple Lord Team】, followed by long numbers, both currently at zero.
"Same rules as before!"
"All milk tea stalls at the venue and on the outside square are serving our signature 'Boyah's Broken Strings' milk tea. For every cup purchased, you can specify which team you want to send your support to!"
"We will tally the cup counts in real-time and display them on the big screen. The team receiving more support cups will have all its members receive an additional championship bonus prize provided by Phoenix Power Esports!"
