Baron was approached quite quickly by a big name from India, Chanakya. By his demeanor, Baron could guess that this man did not come to talk to him out of mutual respect. In fact, he seemed quite steamed.

“Are you Baron Magellan? The man who defeated Bai Qi?” Chanakya practically shouted while still making his way over to Baron.

“I am, and you must be Chanakya of the Indian community. How are you?” Baron humored the man.

“Don’t do that. Tell me, how did you manage to do it? I don’t believe that my archenemy would lose to someone like you.”

“Well, it happened. Plus, I had a lot of incentive to take him down.”

“Don’t try to pull one over me. Bai Qi is on my level, no way he would have lost to you. You must have cheated!” Chanakya was making quite a bit of noise that others around them glanced over to see what the commotion was about. It was then that another man from the Indian community walked calmly over.

“Well, Chanakya, if all you are going to do is accuse me of untruthful matters, I think we are done with our little conversation here.” Baron started to walk off.

“GET BACK-” Chanakya began but stopped when a hand was placed on his shoulder. The hand belonged to Ashoka the Great, the best strategist in his community of India. To this new development, Baron turned stopped dead in his tracks.

“Chanakya. Your behavior is quite unruly, how about you go and take a little break?” Ashoka asked at the same time he clenched his fists tighter upon Chanakya’s shoulders.

“Fine, this isn’t over, Baron,”

Chanakya’s departure from the scene was a bit of a relief for Baron.

“Thank you, Ashoka.”

“Ah, you know who I am?”

“Of course, there aren’t many who are able to reign in one of the most powerful men in the Indian community. You are one of them.”

“Very observant, young Baron. I have heard of your battles, and I have to say that you sure are experienced given how little time you have been on this planet.”

“Well, to be fair, my knowledge of past battles and strategists are quite vast.”

“Oh? Then what do you know of me?”

“The pacifist warrior king of India. Under your rule was perhaps one of the most pivotal points of India’s history. Your legacy is unlike any other”

“And what would those be?”

“The rules you set in place during your time is a large reason why the subcontinent of India is largely vegetarian and will continue to be the case for a long time to come. You were also the one who popularized Buddhism. The Buddhists you sent to other parts of Asia were quite impactful to more than just a handful of nations.”

“Ah, when I put those measures in place, it just felt like the correct thing to do. It brings much joy to my being that my actions have impacted so many future generations. Tell me, do people still remember me when you were alive?”

“We do, but the knowledge of your existence is mostly among the table of historians. However, your legacy of peace after the slaughter at Kalinga at a time when wars were the norm was respectable.”

“Thank you, Baron. I will have to take your word for all of this, but you have unknowingly revitalized my fighting spirit.”

The conversation that the two of these men shared afterward was nothing short of amazing. Baron had many questions to ask Ashoka during his time on Earth. After clearing up many of these questions, Ashoka was called over by a few other notable strategists of other communities. Such an exchange was something that both of them would remember for a long time.

Wandering through the party was what Baron decided to do while looking for a few people that Baron wanted to get in touch with. After going around for a few minutes, he finally found two people that he truly wanted to have a conversation with. They were conveniently together, the legendary Alexander the Great and Julius Gaius Caesar.

Baron approached two of the finest conquerers the world had ever seen. Upon getting closer, Baron noticed that Alexander was drinking quite a bit. Something else he noticed was that the pair seemed quite disconnected from the party at hand. Almost as if they were pondering something upsetting.

“Gentlemen, my name is Baron Magellan. What could two of the greatest conquerors have on their mind that they would forego such an extravagant event?” Baron asked.

“Baron? Ah yes, I remember Eumenes’ reports mentioning someone by the name of Baron. Something about being a rising star? Oh, forget it.” Alexander waved Baron off while downing another glass of wine. This was certainly not the reaction that Baron was expecting. Thankfully, Julius Caesar seemed much more willing to talk.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Baron. You must excuse Alexander here, he tends to drink a lot in stressful times.” Julius said.

“Stressful? What matter could have the two of you this stressed out?”

“It’s complicated, but we are predicting that we will not be able to do well in this Sun Tournament, the Death Match Tournament, and before you know it, we will not exist as a community in the not too distant future.” Alexander drunkenly blurted out sensitive information. Of which Julius was not too happy about and so gave him a side glance of contempt.

“...Oh…well...that is unfortunate. Is there a specific problem or is it a whole collection of issues?”

“Seeing as to how this matter is relatively well-known, I suppose it is alright to speak of it to you. Well, it’s just that while our strategists have a good head on their shoulders, the number of blueprints and training we have of all of these modern weapons is just lacking substantially compared to other communities.”

“Well, I don’t mean to be rude, Julius Caesar, but you are the man who marched an army of soldiers into the heart of Rome. Something that would be considered treasonous. You are the man who started the tradition of Emperors in Rome. Something that past Romans would have never accepted. You are the man who won over the hearts of so many people that they allowed you to do all of this.” Baron said citing some of the facts he knew of Julius.

“Well, that’s...um.”

“You are one of the most ambitious people in history. You make things happen because of the power and respect you command. When something isn’t to your liking, you change it. What happened to that man?”

“...This is a difficult time for us.”

“You’re not thinking like the Julius Caesar that conquered Gaul. You’re thinking as if you’ve already lost the war, but the battle has barely begun. Let me put it to you like this. From what I gather, Sun Tzu made this epic journey to a bunch of different communities not only to set up this tournament, but also to buy blueprints and get a better feel for the different strategies that were normal for the respective community, but completely bizarre to him.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m just saying that Sun Tzu knew that the coming Death Match Tournament would see the fight escalated to heights never before seen by this planet. So he made sure that he gave the Chinese community every possible advantage he could. He didn’t like the norm, so he went out to change it. That is what you have to do.”

“That is a very rousing speech, young Baron, but it might be hopeless. This might not be a fight where I can leave with my complete confidence intact. This issue has been bugging me for quite a while now. I just don’t know how much more I can take.”

“Hang on now, I agree with this kid. Perhaps we have been thinking about this wrong the entire time. We have always considered our current state or our state in a couple of centuries down the line. Perhaps we should take a step back and reassess our options and think about the best course of action for our community for the extremely long term.” Alexander said suddenly having a realization.

“Now that sounds like the man who toppled the Egyptian and Persian empires. Someone who makes visions into reality,” Baron said reveling in the fact that he had inspired one of his personal role models.

“I suppose it is worth a shot. Even if this is not possible, I suppose reevaluating our options with a new perspective would change quite a few things.” Julius said after contemplating for a few seconds.

“Say, Baron, you seem to know quite a bit about us. How have you heard of our...”

After that, Baron had yet another successful and very informative conversation with Alexander and Julius. Unfortunately, this did not last very long since the two of them decided to pull a few of their comrades aside and conversed with them. This left Baron to go in search of others.

Eventually, Baron managed to catch a glimpse of Napoleon Bonaparte. The sad thing was that Napoleon was so encircled with people who wanted to get to know him that Baron was not even able to get close. In the end, Baron decided that his time was better spent trying to find someone else. In this room, there weren’t too many people who recognized him, which was about what he expected. Though he was able to have some nice discussions with Frederick the Great, Charlemagne, Alexei Brusilov, Bernard Montgomery, and others, it didn’t quite catch his attention.

That is until he managed to converse with Sun Wu. Surprisingly, Sun Wu was alone by himself just doing nothing. Baron had seen this man before but did not know much about him. So Baron figured that it was best to get to know him now. As interesting as some of the other individuals were at this party, Sun Wu seemed the most mysterious of them all. Sun Wu looked at Baron as the latter approached.

“Sun Wu, how are you? I have heard that your skill is right up there with the best of this community.” Baron asked, trying to get an exchange going.

“...What was your name again? I have seen you around, but I can’t seem to put a name to your face.” Sun Wu asked in a very hushed tone.

“My name is Baron. Leader of the Under 1 Banner faction.”

“Mmm. Umm. I suppose you can say I’m quite skilled.”

“What do you think are your chances of winning the solo match?”

“...Umm. Well. I have traveled with Sun Tzu to many of these communities and had many simulations with the best of the best. To be honest with you, winning is not very likely for me. Unless the map relies solely on one’s strategic prowess and none on blueprints. Even then, I will have at most a one in four chance of beating everyone else.” Sun Wu spoke after having to think for a little while. It seemed as if he was putting on an act for Baron.

Baron continued to try and get to know Sun Wu, but that did not really pan out. Mostly due to the fact that Sun Wu didn’t seem particularly interested in the conversation and it took him a little while to even reply. After a few more rounds of this, Baron decided to bid farewell to Sun Wu and left to go find others. Just about every encounter after this was fairly successful for Baron and he managed to find many of those that he wished to meet. What Baron didn’t see while he was leaving was Sun Tzu approaching Sun Wu.

“Brother,” Sun Tzu spoke to get Sun Wu’s attention.

“...”

“Hmm. Your condition does not seem to be getting any better. It’s already been a thousand years, do you feel you’ve made any progress?”

“I really don’t know. What I experienced completely shattered my will. The challenge, it’s too much for anybody.”

“Well, I’m counting on you to put on a good show. So you better get your act together for at least the duration of that simulation, understood?”

“I’ll try, brother.”