The next morning.
The beach of Waugua Island.
After Lin Ran brought Luo Qingyan down, all the contestants could be said to have arrived.
Thus, the cruise ship from Waugua Island to the mainland of Sakurajima was ready to set sail.
All the contestants had been invited by the organizers to wait here for the arrival of the cruise ship.
It could be seen that there were still many contestants dispatched by each country, with at least a dozen or twenty teams from each country.
There were about thirty countries and federations on Blue Star, and if each team had seven contestants, plus the various accompanying personnel...
On this small beach, there were already more than ten thousand people.
However, although each country sent quite a few teams, not many were truly vying for the championship. The main teams were usually only two or three.
The remaining teams were mostly composed of young people in their mid-twenties, primarily there for practical training and to gain experience and lessons.
They would become the real main contenders for the championship after two or three years of tempering.
As for those contestants who were over thirty years old and had lost their eligibility to compete, as long as their performance in the competition was good, they could remain as coaches in the national team, serving until around 35 or even 40 years old.
This had always been the customary training method for those countries aiming for the championship.
One generation for research, one generation for the main team, one generation for inheritance.
They had established a complete and well-rounded professional league around the Global Student Exchange Tournament.
On this foreign beach, Lin Ran was dazzled.
The endless stream of foreigners from different countries, with their diverse appearances and characteristics, naturally seemed novel and interesting to him, who had lived in Dragon Country for so long.
As for Luo Qingyan, she felt a sense of indifference, leaning listlessly on Lin Ran's shoulder, silent, her thoughts unknown.
At this moment, with a melodious roar, a huge black shadow like a small mountain appeared on the distant sea horizon.
"Here it comes, the cruise ship is here!"
The contestants, who had been chatting, suddenly became excited and all stopped to watch.
"It's quite big!"
Arthur chuckled.
Caesar snorted coldly:
"I don't deny it's big..."
"But the creator of this thing truly has no artistic aesthetic sense."
"Look at this broken ship, it's ugly as hell, and the decorations and paintings on it are as disgusting as if they were smeared with paste haphazardly..."
"I really don't know what these Eastern Islanders are up to."
"Not to mention Lin Ran's Golden Emerald Ark that we saw yesterday..."
"Even my Golden Ship would be much better than this broken ship in every aspect."
Arthur was not as picky as Caesar:
"But it's big! Big is justice! Don't you understand..."
"As for the messy things on it, although I don't like them either, they are also part of their culture. It's not necessary to criticize if you don't understand."
Caesar continued to snort with dissatisfaction, but he didn't say any more.
As the cruise ship slowly approached, a small, mustachioed Eastern Islander standing at the forefront of the shore spoke:
"Everyone! Everyone! Please listen to me..."
"I am the chief person in charge of this Global Student Exchange Tournament—Tanihiko Tanigawa!"
"Now, please allow me to introduce you to the cruise ship slowly approaching us—the Amakusa Taro!"
"This cruise ship has a total tonnage of approximately 5 million tons, a hull length of about 5200 meters, and a height of 360 meters. It is the largest registered cruise ship in the world."
"And it far surpasses the second place!"
Saying this, a proud smile appeared on Tanihiko Tanigawa's face, making his old face flush red.
"This cruise ship has a magnificent grand ballroom in the center alone that can accommodate nearly 10,000 people."
"As for its maximum passenger capacity, it far exceeds 100,000 people, which is definitely enough for everyone to have fun as they please..."
"Even inside the Amakusa Taro, we have specially built a small water park, which holographically simulates a summer scene..."
"It will definitely allow you all to experience a completely different Eastern Island scenery!"
After speaking, Tanihiko Tanigawa proudly raised his head, awaiting possible cheers and applause from the contestants.
However, to his great regret, not a single person present paid any attention to him.
What was even more infuriating was that these people continued to chat among themselves, not concealing their voices at all.
"I feel... it's not as good as the Golden Emerald."
"Exactly, anyone can build something big, it's just a matter of willingness to spend money..."
"I really don't know how he has the nerve to be so proud."
"Sigh, I was still amazed by the Golden Emerald I saw yesterday... I will never forget that luxurious, low-key, and tasteful aircraft..."
"It's about the same... they put all their effort into the details, not this kind of mindless, brute-force stacking of materials... this cruise ship is really boring..."
"Just being big and stupid is useless. It would be better to give each of us a rubber dinghy and let us paddle to the other side ourselves, maybe it would be more fun."
"The Eastern Islanders always want to win people's expectations in such strange ways, they are completely dreaming!"
"..."
Stimulated by these nonsensical remarks, Tanihiko Tanigawa's face immediately turned grim.
He certainly knew what the "Golden Emerald" they were talking about was.
Frankly speaking, Tanihiko Tanigawa was also extremely shocked when he first saw that video.
That aircraft had completely surpassed the limits of human imagination, breaking through the ceiling of vehicle history and reaching a dual peak of appearance and practicality in the vehicle series.
With expectations already raised by that, their so-called "Amakusa Taro" naturally appeared large but empty in comparison...
However, it was not feasible to make last-minute adjustments to something that had already been arranged within a day.
Moreover, they couldn't come up with anything more eye-catching than the Golden Emerald...
The plan to show off with the gimmick of the largest cruise ship in history had thus failed!
Tanihiko Tanigawa felt as if his heart was bleeding.
No one knew better than him how much Sakurajima Yen had been spent on the research and construction of this thing...
Now, it seemed like a huge loss!
And the culprit of all this was that mysterious person from Dragon Country!
Tanihiko Tanigawa cast a sinister glance at Lin Ran.