As the decades passed, the twelve communities who were participating in the mock tournament had been kept quite busy whether it be training their strategies, acquiring new and better blueprints, or practicing with their teammates to decrease the likelihood of them messing each other up. However, there were 12 individuals who trained more than anyone else; and that was the 12 who would represent their communities in the solo match. This one simulation would award the winner with a third of the points any one community can possibly get. The losers would not receive anything.

These 12 had the hopes and dreams of millions of inhabitants on Planet 4 upon their shoulders. If they won, they would shoot to superstardom and gain riches, as well as backing from multiple different communities. If they lose, they get nothing. All eyes were on this event. Those who would be participating in the solo portion of the tournament were named before the mass movement.

From the Greco Roman community, a relatively young man by the name of Maximilian Juventus. This man was only one of a handful from this particular community who decided to venture outside of their borders and roam the vast Planet 4 by himself. The Egyptian community chose King Ramesses the Second to represent them. Perhaps their best chance of winning at the moment. The Indian community opted to put in Rajaraja of the Tamil King faction.

France decided to have a 3 man simulation between Marshal General Turenne, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Louis Bourbon. In the end, it was Turenne who barely got away with the victory. Erich Von Manstein, the overall planner for the German community, would be the one to take a part in the solo simulation. As for Russia, they went with Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov as he was the one who was the most rounded.

Muqali, one of the generals of the Great Ghengis Khan, would be participating in the solo portion for Mongolia. The US had sent in one of their brightest to fight, Maksim Mikhailovich Belov. The British queen Gwendolen decided to put in Herbert Plumer due to his modesty and his tendency to think things through to pull in a complete victory.

All but one of the most important figures in the Ottoman community decided to have Suleiman the Magnificent as he had received a bit of training with newer technology. The Japanese had the ultra-nationalistic and ruthless Hideki Tojo as their participant. Lastly, the Chinese community shoed in the mysterious man Sun Wu to represent them.

As with any other important event, there were many who wished to profit off of it so betting houses were very common during this time in many communities. Many of the people who came to witness the grand spectacle or to do business in the Chinese community drifted in a year before the start date. This was so that they could set everything up, as well as get all the necessary paperwork finished before the tournament began.

The scale of this event was unlike anything the Chinese community had ever hosted. As such, there would be much more paperwork, and such to go through, which was why the Chinese community expanded the Elder system to accommodate 5,000 individuals. Instead of the 100 that they had previously. At this point in time, Baron managed to get into the elder position, but due to his participation in the tournament, he was excluded from such duties. However, Edler Xun Guan, Guan Yu, Yue Fei, Ban Chao, and Li Xin who were part of Under 1 Banner faction were not so lucky.

Even with this massive increase in people working, the influx of people actually exceeded Sun Tzu’s initial estimates by up to five times. As a result, the Sun Coalition faction had to rely on hiring many of the lesser faction members to help out with the workload. At the start, relatively few people would come trickling in from time to time. These were the ones who did not travel here through a portal, so they were manageable.

However, the problem started when the participating factions decided to open up their portals to let their people into the Chinese community. The Greco Roman community, the British, the Ottomans, the Germans, the French, the Mongolians, and the Russians were still manageable since they all had less than 5,000 people coming in each.

The problem lay with the other communities. One of the first signs of something big to come was the arrival of 20,000 Egyptians that had mostly come to witness the event. Then the United States of America community came up just shy of 50,000. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Japanese arrivals dwarfed both of them when there was a lineup of nearly 80,000 individuals. Finally, the mother of all bad news came to those who were forced to work in registering these portals. The Indian community was to come in full force with 200,000 people waiting to get into the Chinese community.

This immediately sent the people who were working in the frontlines as well as the Sun Coalition to go into overdrive. As much as they did not like to admit it, the Sun Coalition faction was completely caught off guard to such a situation. In the end, Sun Tzu gave the order that anyone not doing anything important for the community was to immediately go over and help out this situation. It did help, but with the number of people, it was hectic, to say the least.

After months of this craziness, the people coming in through the portals were starting to dwindle. All in all, it was estimated that almost 650,000 new people came into the Chinese community to be part of the scene. Of course, there were still a few individuals who were still coming in, but the vast majority of them were not through the portals. So, the people who were busy as can be for the past few months could take it easy once more. For now.

Almost immediately after the first surge of new arrivals came did the Chinese community see a level of liveliness that they had not been able to enjoy for centuries. Of course, once this was all over, it would likely not be able to be sustainable. That is not to say that they could not enjoy this fantastic scenery while it lasted.

Those who would be participating in the mock tournament would have most of their housing accommodations paid for since they did have to pay a sum upfront. The rest would either have to pay for their own accommodations or would just not have a place to rest. Since no one needed to sleep, it was more of a luxury, rather than a need. For those who came seeking profits, they would start setting up shop as soon as they stepped foot into the community. If they wanted, they could man the stalls every day for however long the tournament lasted, but that would not be wise. As such, many came in groups of two or three so that there would be time to make profits, as well as to enjoy all the wonders that the Chinese community had to offer.

All of this excitement and general activity started long before the tournament officially began, so there were no shortages of blueprints to look at, people to fight in simulations, testing out blueprints in simulations, and much, much more. One common circumstance in this situation was that those who were participating in the tournament would actively seek out potential rivals in the group portion of the tournament and have a simulation or two with them.

A few groups were raring to go, a few groups were more reserved and decided not to reveal their strengths and weaknesses, and then there were those who would challenge the locals to compare notes about warfare. Heck, even those who were not participating would go out to do these many times a day. As a result, a lot of new friends were made this way. And a lot of networks expanded.

The Sun Coalition could not have asked for a better turnout. Though there were many new issues with this sudden influx of people, it would not take long under the leadership of Sun Tzu to hammer out the small details. This was an unequivocal success! Something that had been in the works for literally centuries. To Sun Tzu, it felt great. It felt like an accomplishment that he could be proud of. More than his title of the head of state, more than his power, and influence, and money, and connections.

Basically, unless something terribly wrong was to happen during this tournament, this tournament would be remembered as his doing. Something that no one else had been able to accomplish. He had hoped that it would last millennia into the future. Even if he was no longer hell-bent on warfare, it would serve as a nice ode to himself. That was why he announced to everyone that he would name the tournament after himself. The Sun Tournament.

Not many people disagreed with the choice in name, after all, he was the one to mastermind something of this scale. No one had thought it was possible, no one had even dared to dream of such a large scale tournament, aside from the Death Match Tournament. Yet, Sun Tzu managed it.

As the days, then months passed by, the date to officially begin the tournament was nearing. But, just before they began, there was a very fancy party at the heart of the Sun Coalition headquarters. This room boasted the most extravagant relics and other such oddities from around the world that many did not even have the money to look for. This party was exclusive.

Even though there would be 1,200 participants in this tournament, only 400 individuals were allowed into this banquet of some of the most influential people on the Planet. Alongside a few representatives of the Jordsand community and a few other extremely influential individuals of other communities who were not invited to participate in the Sun Tournament. Only the most powerful, and the elite were able to get an invitation. Thanks to Jaxon Long, Baron Magellan, and Roxi Blaze were able to get an invite.

Being in the presence of greatness to such a scale was new for Roxi and Baron, but for Jaxon, he had a bit of practice with the customs, and manners of this world. He had to quickly transfer his knowledge of all these proceedings to his friends since they were not well versed in these types of international affairs. This party was a chance for the three of them to make some solid connections with those that resided outside of the Chinese community. That said, the three of them had no idea just how much interest they had captured from 3 very different groups for 3 very different purposes.