Chapter 1239: Hoist By Your Own Petard
Chapter 1239: Hoist By Your Own Petard
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Thunderclap’s two close-ranged classes rushed forward. Xiao Shiqin didn’t even blink as he looked around. But Thunderclap’s attack formation didn’t weaken because of this though, and Xiao Shiqin didn’t neglect his shotcalling.
Happy might just be purposely trying to confuse them, using this to divert their attention and reduce the pressure. Xiao Shiqin considered this possibility. So even as Shattering Wind and Demon Talent pressed forward, they weren’t just looking for Lord Grim, they maintained their attacks toward Happy’s players. Happy didn’t reduce the pressure, and in fact because of Lord Grim’s disappearance, they had to work even harder under the conditions of a 4v5.
Show yourself!
Xiao Shiqin thought to himself. Ye Xiu couldn’t play like this all the way until the end.
"2 o’clock." In the Thunderclap chat, Dai Yanqi suddenly called out. As she spoke, she prepared to fire a spell in that direction.
"Don’t split your attention, leave it to me!" Xiao Shiqin immediately shouted. He was scared of this scenario exactly. If everyone switched their attention to target Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim, then wouldn’t this situation, which they had established with such difficulty, be broken? Seeing Dai Yanqi’s Firebird Messenger already turning her head and about to cast in that direction, Xiao Shiqin truly applauded Ye Xiu.
It was just a small trick, but it caused a great disruption to Thunderclap’s strategy. Ye Xiu truly understood the players’ logic and reactions too well. At a time like this, anyone who suddenly discovered Lord grim’s whereabouts would instantly try and attack, and with that, Thunderclap’s strategic rhythm would be disrupted.
"But it’s a shame, Ye Xiu’s opponent is Xiao Shiqin." After seeing Xiao Shiqin’s direction in the team chat, Li Yibo spoke with a smile. With an omniscient view, they of course saw Lord Grim’s actions more clearly than Xiao Shiqin could. Li Yibo reached the same conclusion as Xiao Shiqin, but seeing that Xiao Shiqin saw through it entirely and was prepared against it, Li Yibo didn’t feel like going to praise Ye Xiu.
"Yeah..." Pan Lin agreed, his heart beginning to waver. It looked like Happy was really struggling in this match! Should he begin to sing praises for Thunderclap?
As Pan Lin wondered, the situation onstage changed again.
The exposed Lord Grim suddenly began to move. Dai Yanqi’s attack toward him had been stopped by Xiao Shiqin, but he still continued to charge toward Dai Yanqi.
"Don’t panic, it’s Mechanical Seeker," Xiao Shiqin called.
"Haha, seen through again," Li Yibo laughed. "A Mechanical Seeker and a character are very different in size, and so they move a little differently. Perhaps a lot of people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, but Xiao Shiqin is an expert Mechanic!"
The little trick once again failed to come to fruition. Ye Xiu seemed rather helpless, and Lord Grim finally charged out, this time toward Zhang Jiaxing’s Returning Wind.
Attacking from behind to try and save your allies?
Xiao Shiqin smiled. He’d already thought of this possibility long ago!
Fang Xuecai’s Assassin Demon Talent twisted and used a Shining Cut in the direction of Lord Grim’s movement. If this kind of thing didn’t happen, no one would notice, but as soon as it happened, everyone suddenly realized that Thunderclap’s players, in maintaining their nonstop offensive, were coordinating with each other extremely well. The tactics of this team proceeded as precise and orderly as the gears of a machine.
Zhang Jiaxing wouldn’t just sit around doing nothing. When he saw Lord Grim coming toward him, he cast a Sacred Fire, hidden in the grass.
Would it hit?
Zhang Jiaxing didn’t know. He was too familiar with this opponent in front of him and knew just how scary he was. A little trick like this wouldn’t be much use, would it?
This thought hadn’t even finished crossing his mind when, at the position of his Sacred Fire, a blindingly white fire blazed to life.
It hit!
Fang Xuecai was delighted at this development, and of course he wouldn’t let this skill-sealing opportunity slip away. Demon Talent used Swift Run and Swift Movements, prepared to instantly kill with a Heart-Piercing Stab.
This is?
Fang Xuecai stopped. A green-skinned Goblin waved a club as it came toward him. From its excited state, he could tell that it must have eaten an attack, otherwise how could it run so quickly?
This was a trap!
"It’s a Goblin!" Fang Xuecai hurriedly sent a message. This lowest-level little summon was of course nothing to him, and he quickly took care of it.
A Goblin!
Xiao Shiqin jolted. This wasn’t an attack from the rear to save the allies, this was... making a sound in the east and striking in the west!
Just as he reached this realization, Xiao Shiqin watched as the grass began to rustle once again. This time, Ye Xiu no longer bothered to hide Lord Grim’s body, because now there was no one nearby to stop him.
Slide Kick, Charge, Colliding Stab, Shining Cut...
Lord Grim chained all of these low-level quick movement skills from various classes. Relying on the effects of all of these skills used consecutively, Lord Grim’s speed at that moment couldn’t be bested by even an Assassin, let alone any of the slower classes.
Cheng Tai’s Shattering Wind wasn’t fast enough to block him, and in an instant, Lord Grim was in front of his target.
"Captain Xiao, having fun?"
Lord Grim made his move. Dragon Tooth!
As soon as he knew about the Goblin, Xiao Shiqin instantly realized that he himself was Ye Xiu’s true target, and he was already defending himself. But Lord Grim arrived too quickly, so quickly that Xiao Shiqin was feeling regret. Lord Grim could use skills to achieve this kind of movement speed; they really shouldn’t have been tricked by that Goblin.
Roll!
Life Extinguisher rolled to the side, dodging the Dragon Tooth. He swung his Mechanical Box to the side and a Magnetic Field Coil was thrown onto the ground.
Boom!
The Magnetic Field Coil hadn’t had time to release its magnetic energy when Lord Grim’s spear pierced it, directly disrupting it. The spear jumped and again flashed in front of Life Extinguisher.
In the end, Ye Xiu was most familiar with handling a spear. All those years controlling the Battle Mage One Autumn Leaf hadn’t gone to waste.
Xiao Shiqin could only have Life Extinguisher dodge again, but Lord Grim wasn’t some ordinary Battle Mage. If the spear’s range wasn’t enough... The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella shifted to gun form, and Anti-Tank Missile was launched!
Boom boom boom!
The flames of the explosions swallowed Life Extinguisher whole, but at this moment Xiao Shiqin still sent a message in the chat. "Leave me, maintain the rhythm."
The Thunderclap players who had been prepared to rescue him suddenly stopped, but they understood their captain’s intentions. Ye Xiu’s powerful offensive toward Xiao Shiqin was his attempt at breaking the current situation. If the Thunderclap players broke formation to save thier captain, Happy would be free of their current difficult situation, and might even be able to launch a counterattack. This could be considered a variation of BOX-1 tactics, and Thunderclap’s players, with their high tactical background, instantly understood.
"Maintain the rhythm, respond as appropriate," said another Thunderclap player. It was Fang Xuecai, a longtime teammate of Xiao Shiqin’s in Thunderclap, the vice-captain of Thunderclap. He knew that Xiao Shiqin didn’t have much space to give commands, so he supplemented the strategic plan.
They couldn’t gather the strength of the entire team to force a rescue, but they couldn’t not rescue him. Maintain the rhythm, respond as appropriate, a playstyle like that was to incorporate Lord Grim and Life Extinguisher into the rhythm of the battle as a whole. It was the logical way of breaking BOX-1 tactics.
But... To Thunderclap, Xiao Shiqin was more than just a battle core. He was the commander. This battle against Happy in particular required many directions from him, constantly adjusting their tactics and attack rhythm to target Happy’s weak point, An Wenyi. But at this moment, under Ye Xiu’s offensive raining down upon him, an offensive that could instantly defeat countless formidable players...
"How about it? Still have time to type any words?" Ye Xiu, shockingly, could still find the space to ask this question.
The crowd was silent. No one knew how to express their current emotions.
Xiao Shiqin... This was retribution, wasn’t it?
Against Blue Rain, he had bullied Yu Wenzhou. Yu Wenzhou’s handspeed was too slow to keep up with a rapidly changing battle, so Xiao Shiqin purposely directed his team so there were many changes and ultimately defeated Blue Rain.
And now, Ye Xiu, this Glory Textbook was teaching a lesson to the helplessly sighing Blue Rain. Was there really no way of dealing with Xiao Shiqin’s harassment?
Of course there was, and it was simple. Tooth for Tooth, use their own strategy against them!
If he wanted to harass with a complex and changing battle style, Xiao Shiqin also needed to rely on a large number of commands. His handspeed wasn’t a problem, but, when faced with this explosion of attacks raining down upon him...
"Your life or your commands?"
Ye Xiu’s question was the dilemma with which Xiao Shiqin was currently struggling.
Thunderclap’s players quickly realized as well, without Xiao Shiqin’s commands, the amount of damage they were dealing was quickly slipping, and it seemed like Happy’s weak point An Wenyi could endure this level. After all, he had walked with Happy through the Challenger League and played half a season with them on the main roster. He didn’t neglect his daily training, either. Perhaps his talent was limited, but after a year and a half of growth, he was far from mediocre.
Thunderclap’s strategy, broken!
The live crowd finally reacted with applause and cheers. And once An Wenyi was able to stabilize the situation, Happy’s counterattack finally arrived. With regards to player quality, many people had already realized prior to this match that Happy was superior to Thunderclap.
"We have to save Captain!" Dai Yanqi said in the chat.
The others were also debating, but they also wanted to wait for Xiao Shiqin’s direction. A "save" could be typed out! While he was tangled with Ye Xiu, Xiao Shiqin still occasionally had the space to issue a direction.
His life or his commands? This was the dilemma Xiao Shiqin faced.
To save or not to save? This was the choice Thunderclap had to make.
But Ye Xiu seemed like he knew that Thunderclap was facing this difficult decision. Lord Grim’s attacks grew even more ferocious, so much so that people felt that the slightest slip could send Life Extinguisher straight to death.
Was it so bad that he couldn’t even type a single word? The blood of the Thunderclap players went cold.
"Dai, help him!" At last, Fang Xuecai couldn’t resist any longer, directing Dai Yanqi to give some support, or at least make an opening so that Xiao Shiqin could give a command. Just pointing them in the right direction would be enough!
"Understood!" Dai Yanqi’s Firebird Messenger turned around.
The crowd saw all of this. Xiao Shiqin was suppressed, Dai Yanqi went to help him, this... this was a strategy often used by powerhouse teams with top-tier players during team competitions. Star 1v2.
This Ye Xiu... When the other side had stars, he played tactics with them. When the other side played tactics, he played as a star?