Tokyo Akihabara, Mitsubishi Headquarters Building, the venue dedicated to competition participants was as tense and orderly as a battle command center.
"All team members, report your location and terrain on the battlefield!"
"Number 0131, Hukateng, Dark Swamp!"
"Number 0026, Blood Gun Jiulang, Gravel Wilderness!"
"Number 0006, Gunno Yosai, Ancient City Ruins!"
"Number 0221, Dragon of Echigo, Primeval Jungle!"
"Number 0001, Kaiâs Tiger, Ancient City Ruins!"
...
"All entrants, quickly scout the surrounding terrain and organize your formations!"
Amid these relentless shouts, President Igarashi stood in the center of the venue accompanied by Captain Tsukamoto Hideki, watching the dozens of large screens displaying the tournament fields with a stern expression.
No one paid more attention to this match than the Japan Region. This was a crucial opportunity for Japan to erase the shame of their previous loss in the national war. To wash away this disgrace didnât necessarily mean winning the world championship, but they must thoroughly defeat the China Region. The draw result in the last national war was utterly unacceptable. Over the past decade, the real-life island disputes between Japan and China had heightened tension, extending to sports, competitions, and technological advancements. Therefore, the Japan Region had to defeat the China Region!
Listening to the reports, Igarashiâs brow suddenly twitched, and he quickly turned to ask, "Captain Tsukamoto, how many of our key players are in the Ancient City Ruins?"
Tsukamoto Hideki responded gravely, "Sessho Kanpaku, Gunno Yosai, Kaiâs Tiger, Ghost Half Storage, Haidao Yigong, General Sword Saint are all in the Ancient City Ruins!"
As the user of the God-level Hero Hell Gate Master "Hattori Shoji," Tsukamoto Hideki did not compete, keeping it a secret. Similarly, another God-level Hero, Mobility Master, was also not deployed. The Japan Region believed that even without the Hell Gate Master or Mobility Master, they could secure a win over the China Region. If God-level Heroes were required for Japan to win, how could they face the adversary Korea District, which was equally hostile and more advanced? In that case, the Mitsubishi Team might as well disband. Of course, not deploying God-level Heroes was also a facade; if the battle went poorly, they could always claim a mission prevented the God-level Heroes from competing.
Hearing the captainâs report, Igarashi frowned, "It seems the committeeâs private rumors are true, all players with high Command Power were ârandomlyâ placed in the Ancient City Ruins map."
Tsukamoto was puzzled, "Why?" Why? As a professional player, he should know why, but that was precisely why Tsukamoto was savvy enough to become a captain.
Igarashi nodded slightly with a satisfied subtle smile, "The committee modified the rules after listening to players worldwide to separate especially strong professional players from ordinary ones, offering regular players a chance to achieve good ranks. However, when the ladder ranking of the Battle Network System is fully implemented in the future, such things wonât happen."
Tsukamoto immediately joined in and nodded, "That means this map gathers both the worldâs top players and the most mundane players! Like some players from the China Region whoâve been boasting recently."
Igarashi laughed heartily, "Precisely! Before level 50, most players use 1, 2, 3-star regular troops, and Advanced troops are too few to show their power, so thereâs this boring Human Race archery sea tactic stacking Command Power with a single troop type. While that boring tactic indeed creates strong suppression early against the Hell Race, which lacks ranged troops, enabling some lackluster players to achieve good results, the current map is urban combat, where archery seas have no use. Itâs the main stage for our high-speed mobile Hell Army, and itâll be a massacre! A cleaning of the weak playersâI believe weâll achieve great results, I have confidence in our team members!"
Tsukamoto chuckled, "President is right, weak players remain weak players, even with Divine Artifacts, they canât become real powerhouses!"
Igarashi laughed but sighed, "But there are pros and cons; this situation also significantly impacts Haidao Yigongâs Gege troops. However, itâs a test of his ability as a professional player to fight in adversity."
Tsukamoto added with a smile, "Haidao Yigong was a top expert of the Elf Clan during the public beta, with incredible judgment of archersâ range. I believe he can effectively utilize the narrow urban combat terrain to unleash the concentrated destructive power of Gege Bursting Fireball."
During their banter, a cry suddenly erupted in the room, "Baka! Impossible! This canât be happening!"
Tsukamoto was startled, "Mr. Yamada?"
Simultaneously, one of the screens on the wall suddenly blacked out with the sound of a defeat, echoing throughout the venue! The room was in shock!
A team member abruptly stood up, bowing as he said with shame, "President! Iâm sorry, I failed, I was beheaded by Da Fei. An unidentified ghost dragon descended from the sky, scattering my formation and using aging and slowing effects. I couldnât escape!"
The venue was in uproar! While everyone was still strategizing and observing the surroundings, a main player got instantly killed by this legendary amateur player from China? Was this rapid tactic due to his extraordinary skill, or was it too amateurish? But those details were irrelevant; the key was his ability to behead Yamadaâs main account before he could reactâjust how strong was he?
Tsukamoto immediately commanded, "Silence! All Ancient City Ruins team members, hide your troops in any available building shelter, Mr. Yamada, report your position!"
Igarashi also reacted immediately, pulling out his phone with a grim face, "I must contact my international friends immediately, Da Fei has appeared, he must be eliminated!"
...
ââSystem Prompt: Congratulations! You have defeated the player "Ghost Half Storage" from the Japan Region, and you have won the battle!
Da Fei laughed wildly! Awesome! Just what is needed, now I understand why Americans love using drones to kill, it must feel like this! This goof was still looking around, unaware that I was watching from the sky! This goof was still amassing troops into a tight formation, unaware that Deirdreâs team crushed down from above! I bet he didnât even know how he died, I attacked the unexpected!
Gotta say, thank goodness for the surprise attack, almost let him hide in that broken house by the street! Otherwise, a failed hit wouldâve left my Necromancer Dragon surrounded, unable to return. Lucky I had the Necromancer Dragon, otherwise the beheading mightâve failed. And he had so many soldiers, packed full on several streets, over a thousand perhaps, no less than eight hundred! If they all attacked from every direction, Iâd have no place to run! Seems like international competition doesnât attract mediocrities!
While fortunately reflecting, Da Feiâs avatar on the national server received alert sounds with messages. Needless to say, they were updates on the tournament maps from Hemorrhoid Ointment and the girls. Da Fei switched over to take a look, there they were!
Lei Huolong: "Brother Fei, Iâm at the Ancient City Ruins grounds, which ground are you on?"
Huh? Iâm there too!
Bu Feiyan: "Brother Fei, which ground are you on?"
Harem Beauty: "Brother Fei, my friend Fleeting Blossom is in a field called Castle Ruins, itâs very unfavorable, where are you?"
Da Fei was extremely surprised! Such coincidence? Also in the Ancient City Ruins? Could it be the same field? Though the number of qualifiers was much smaller, grounds were naturally fewer than qualification rounds, so being in the same field wouldnât be impossible, right?
Da Fei instantly replied to all with pride, "Iâm also in the Ancient City Ruins, just beheaded a Japanese player named Ghost Half Storage, send your coordinates!"
Lei Huolong was shocked, "No way? It just started seconds ago? Thatâs a key player from the Japan Region, super strong!"
Hahaha, turns out he was a professional player! No matter how professional, facing my advanced crushing heâs down! Da Fei was smug at heart and made a confirmative sound, "Strong my foot, heâs a goner! Be quick, serious business!"
Lei Huolong hurriedly said, "Brother Fei, you rock, my coordinates are..."
Bu Feiyan was similarly shocked, "How could this be? Ghost Half Storage is on par with Uranus, and he got beheaded just like that?"
Hahaha! Even the Goddess is startled! I love showing off and keeping mystery in front of the Goddess! Da Fei said, "Sis, busy with serious stuff now!"
Bu Feiyan quickly came to her senses, "Right, our guildâs Uranus, Neptune, Heavenly Kill Star, Earth Demon Star, Earth Fierce Star all are on the Ancient City Ruins map, we need to confirm if itâs the same map, then weâll unite when we meet."
Wow, your guildâs emulating Outlaws of the Marsh? Da Fei laughed and said, "Okay! My principle is Chinese donât fight Chinese, united against others!" Tch! Confirming the mapâs easy, I just need to fly the Necromancer Dragon high up, ask if they see me? But thatâs a foolâs move, and I, of course, wouldnât do that.
While Da Fei was busy exchanging messages and networking, other countriesâ professional players in the venue seemingly also received reports from the Japan Region and reacted immediately, hiding in buildings! Both commanders and soldiers hid in buildings to avoid being slain by Da Fei, then acted according to the situation and collaborated. Though being slain seemed unbelievable, for players with Divine Artifacts, everything was possible.
The battlefield turned strangely calm.
...
Now, Da Feiâs Reconnaissance Eagle started heading toward the first coordinate reported by Fleeting Blossom, assuming they indeed shared the same map. Da Fei then successively discovered players from other countries and BOSS-level monsters roaming the streets.
Da Fei realized the trouble, each player spotted had significant forces! Though not as many as his own, engaging would mean losing hundreds while killing a thousand, wouldnât it? The rules had changed, killing players was useless; the Heroâs Proof must be obtained by defeating BOSSes or exploring. With formidable enemies surrounding and uncertainty of BOSS strength, fighting BOSSes was indeed highly risky, it wasnât an ordinary mess.
Then, as the eagle flew, a yellow dot suddenly appeared on the radar, yellow dot? What was that? Da Fei quickly switched to eagle view and zoomed in, finding a manhole cover! Manhole cover?
While puzzled, the eagle circled, and the yellow dot disappeared on the radar. Disappeared?
Da Feiâs brow twitched, was this a hidden mechanism facility? Yes! The rules mentioned players could use various mechanisms and that some hidden ones were only discoverable with a high level of Reconnaissance Skill. Such suddenly appearing and disappearing yellow dot must be a hidden mechanism, and a rather advanced one, because the eagle and I shared vision, shared God-level Reconnaissance Technique! A yellow dot vanishing so quickly under God-level Reconnaissance, ordinary players couldnât possibly notice, right?
In just a mere venue, why arrange such secretive mechanisms? Could there be deeper meaning? Fine! The so-called possessing what others lack, maybe thatâs my breakthrough point through the mechanism?
While pondering, the eagleâs target reached, and sure enough, it spotted a Five-star Red Flag, Fleeting Blossom! They truly were in the same map! And her situation was perilous, already tracked by two foreign players, both parties holding a tense standoff at a distance! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, youâre welcome to vote for it at Qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com for reading.)