NOVEL NEXT Chapter 41 - Award Ceremony
Chapter 41: Award Ceremony
The next day,
it was a hive of noisy, bustling activity in the Central Square.
The Central Square had been expanded once in the past and its current scale had been enlarged many times. Now, the Central Square could accommodate more than 100,000 people.
A public square that could accommodate more than 100,000 people was considered huge under normal circumstances.
Yet, in spite of its increased capacity, the public square right now was absolutely crammed with people.
There wasn’t even standing room, much less space for sitting down.
Moreover, everyone who came to attend this award ceremony were all invited guests. Other than a very specific group of people, only those who were of the level of Intermediate Martial Arts Warrior and above were qualified to attend.
Compared to the massive squeezing and jostling in the overcrowded areas in the rear, the area in front was lined with sofa armchairs. Each guest had one armchair to himself. It was exceedingly comfortable
This was the VIP guest seating area. Only those guests of high social standing, wielding great authority or those with outstanding contributions to society could qualify to be seated here.
At this moment, Giovanna, together with Lu Shan and Lu Shui, had just arrived and taken their respective seats.
When she saw that her family was seated right at the front, and that there were literally more than 100,000 people crowding together in the rear, Giovanna went pale with fright.
In the few decades before the current event, there were also numerous award ceremonies that had been held here.
However, during those occasions, Giovanna and her two children had never once qualified to receive the normal invitations. They could not even attend as regular spectators, much less as VIP guests.
In their recollection, there was apparently only once when Lu Yu himself was qualified to attend. That was when Lu Yu was at his peak in terms of his strength and power.
When they received their respective VIP invitation letters yesterday, Giovanna, Lu Shan and Lu Shui were all extremely astonished.
When they got home and found that each of them had received the VIP invitation letter, they were then convinced that this must have something to do with Lu Yu.
With a face full of uncertainty and doubt, Lu Shan asked, “What on earth did Dad do? How come our whole family received VIP invitation letters?”
“It must be related to the Fearsome Beasts’ attack on the city last week. Dad must have made a big contribution,” Lu Shui chipped in.
The two children were very excited. They could never have imagined that their own father would suddenly advance so much in such a rapid fashion in his abilities at the grand old age of 90, and even made a great contribution in the battle to defend the city against the Fearsome Beasts’ attack.
Overnight, the two children, who were originally just ordinary people, became elevated to the status of being the 2nd generation of a powerful martial arts practitioner.
Standing on one side, Giovanna didn’t seem so perturbed by the recent turn of events. She had been with Lu Yu for a few decades now. She was already used to the simple peaceful life, and she was content with being safe and sound, blissful and happy.
“Old man must have taken a very big risk. The two of you must work hard and not let him down. Quickly train up and develop your abilities. Don’t depend on your Dad for everything,” Giovanna reminded them.
By now, all the movers and shakers of society had arrived, and they proceeded to their assigned seats one after another.
Right at the front most row were the City Lord and the City Lord’s Advisor. Next were the Dojo Masters and the Deputy Dojo Masters of the 5 great dojos.
Lu Shan could see in one glance that Lu Yu was seated amongst the few guests in that particular row, and he couldn’t help shouting out,
“Look! It’s Dad!”
Lu Shui and Giovanna immediately looked towards that direction when they heard him shouting. Indeed, seated amongst the movers and shakers of society was Lu Yu!
However, to the massive crowd surrounding them, Lu Yu was practically an unknown entity. When they saw the unfamiliar Lu Yu, they began gossiping and speculating.
“Who is that guy? How come I have never seen him before?”
“I heard that this guy made a great contribution during the last battle to defend the city against the Fearsome Beasts’ attack. It so happened that the Central Dojo has just been rebuilt. Don’t tell me this guy is the new Central Dojo Master?”
“I have also heard about that. It seems that there is now a new dojo master, and he is also concurrently the captain of the 4th squadron.”
“Wonder what kind of abilities does the new dojo master have?”
Before long, all the guests had arrived, and the award ceremony commenced.
Primarily, the City Lord and the City Lord’s Advisor were the ones presenting the awards.
Firstly, the warriors who made contributions during the battle against the Fearsome Beasts attacking the city were presented with their awards.
“Next recipient is East End Dojo’s Martial Master…”
Lu Yu, who was scheduled to go last, watched the warriors go up stage one by one to receive their awards. He soon discovered something very incongruous, and it made him frown ever so slightly.
All the warriors who had gone on stage to receive their awards were either the guards from the City Lord’s Office, or members of the 4 great dojos.
With regard to the members of the 4th squadron, both the City Lord and the City Lord’s Advisor never once mentioned their names throughout the whole proceeding.
Based on what Lu Yu knew, in that battle, the 4th squadron suffered massive losses.
Other than the woman that Lu Yu had saved, the rest of the squadron were annihilated.
And in this battle, the contribution the 4th squadron made was definitely highly commendable and noteworthy.
They had stayed in the outer city and put up a fierce resistance against a large number of Fearsome Beasts long enough to allow the other warriors and ordinary people sufficient time to retreat and take refuge in the inner city.
Under this cloud of confusion, Lu Yu glanced at the East End Dojo Master, Tan Jun sitting by his side and asked in a low voice,
“Dojo Master Tan, how come there is no mention of the members of the 4th squadron?”
When Tan Jun heard him, he smiled and replied, “This award ceremony is funded by the Federation. When the City Lord’s Office holds an award ceremony, it is natural to award our own city’s heroes, and that’s where they will in turn receive the allowance. What have the people in the military zone got to do with us? The military zone will award their own allowance to their own people.”
When Lu Yu heard his explanation, he nodded slightly as he finally understood.
The Federation’s management system was indeed strictly segregated as such. One civilian arm, one military arm. The city and the military zone were planned and managed independently.
Nonetheless, though in principle it was how things were conducted, Lu Yu still felt uneasy over the whole matter.
After all, the 4th squadron did give a lot and contributed a great deal in this battle. In fact, they had made the biggest sacrifice amongst all the participants.
To ignore these facts in order to get more allowance, wouldn’t that be a slap to the 4th squadron’s face?
Lu Yu shook his head sadly but did not say anymore. He would revisit this issue later at a more opportune time.
Very soon, all the recipients in front of him had received their awards, and it was down to the last recipient.
Standing up front, Yan Hong said with a faint smile, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the next recipient is the last one in today’s award ceremony. He is also the most important one. Let us give a warm welcome to the Esteemed Honorable Great Martial Master, Lu Yu!”
When Lu Yu heard his name being called, he composed himself and walked up stage.
Down stage, not far away, Giovanna, Lu Shan and Lu Shui became very excited when they saw Lu Yu, their faces aglow with pride and joy.
As for the rest of the spectators, they were already immensely curious about this newcomer right from the start. Now that they finally hear his name being called out to receive the award, they buzzed excitedly with inquisitive gossip.
“I say! No wonder he can sit alongside the other dojo masters of the 4 great dojos and even become the 5th dojo master. He is already a Great Martial Master!”
“Our Lunan City has finally gotten another new Great Martial Master! How many years has it been?”
“The strength of a Great Martial Master, plus his contribution during the battle against the Fearsome Beasts attacking the city. It is no wonder he can assume the role of the new dojo master without being questioned.”
Besides the spectators attending the ceremony in person, those who did not get any invitations or were not qualified to attend, could still watch the ceremony on live broadcast.
Many of those who knew Lu Yu, especially his neighbors, were all aghast when they saw Lu Yu on the broadcast.
“Wasn’t Old Mr. Lu a Grade 1 Martial Arts Warrior last year, and was about to drop off that level too? How did he become a Great Martial Master in just one year?”
“Damn! To think that I used to be neighbors with Mr. Lu Yu! If I had known, I would have tried to be on better terms with him. Then, I would be able to achieve a meteoric rise to success in life now!”
“Isn’t that Lu Yu? When did he become a Great Martial Master?”
“Is this the same warrior who participated in the Holy War? At the age of 90, not only did he not regress, he actually advanced so rapidly! That’s incredible!”
In an attic somewhere, Zhang Wu saw this scene unfold before his eyes, his face full of shock and disbelief. He shouted out urgently,
“Grandpa! Come take a look quickly! Isn’t this your old war comrade? How did he become a Great Martial Master?”
Not far away, when Zhang Hong heard shouting, he walked over. As he watched the live broadcast in which Lu Yu was the center of so many people’s attention, he was bowled over with shock.
“This fellow! One year ago he was just a Grade 1 Martial Arts Warrior. A few days ago wasn’t he just a Martial Master? In just a few days, he had leapfrogged to become a Great Martial Master?” he thought in bewilderment.
All of a sudden, Zhang Hong felt extremely regretful. If he had known, he would have been more polite to Lu Yu on the day of the test. Though he might not be able to cozy up to him, at the very least he would not have offended him.
Zhang Hong began to feel panicky. What if Lu Yu decided to settle the score with him? How could he possibly withstand the wrath of a Great Martial Master?