Chapter 183: Struggling?!
Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_
System Notification: Survival Challenge ending in ten seconds!
Everyone was holding their breaths. Apparently, while Li Ruo-Er and Ma Xiaoru were held back by the hordes of Zergs, someone else was pushing his way through the creatures!
Wang Tong was frustrated while taking hits from the creatures, cursing the one who created this system for making the virtual "attacks" feel so real! Nevertheless, he was not giving up. He had to make it through for the sake of the happiness of his life.
However, the Zergs were definitely not bothered by his motivation for winning, and compared to the other two ladies, this boy seemed to be even more tougher to handle. Somehow, Wang Tong was not afraid of getting hurt, or to be exact, he would choose when to get hurt in exchange for greater benefits. Only an experienced fighter would know the strategy of "sacrifice".
However, knowing when to get hurt was not enough to overcome this situation.
The countdown had begun, and Wang Tong was still trying to accelerate. The finish line was just steps away, yet he was intercepted by tons of Zergs. Moreover, if he chose not to take a few steps back, he would be immediately KO-ed by those creatures. Somehow, his all-out charge had sent him into a dead end.
Halmond was nervous as hell. If this round ended in a draw, he could still say it was because of the harsh difficulty. But if Samantha's team won, they would be up for a bad start.
Five… Four…
Students of Ayrlarng held their breaths. The admiration towards Wang Tong from Carl and the rest of the team had reached another level, and everyone acknowledged Wang Tong as their real top-dog. It might be difficult, but still, they wished Wang Tong would be able to create a miracle.
Zhou Sisi prayed hard as she closed her eyes and put her palms together. Being a Catholic, she placed her faith in God, hoping that there would be a miracle!
Wang Tong then unleashed a force and blew the surrounding Zergs away. He had not given up yet, and he would fight until the very end.
Rzzz…!
Wang Tong made a harsh hissing sound as he charged into the middle of the surrounding Zergs. As soon as he did that, the creatures froze their actions. Somehow, the sound had got them confused. The hiss had successfully bought enough time for Wang Tong to make a counterattack!
Two… One!
Ding Dong!
'Time's up! S-Ranked Survival Challenge cleared… Congratulations Wang Tong!'
In fact, it was Wang Tong's head that had made it to the finish line. The scene was embarrassing, but what mattered was he had won the round.
Students of Capth were left speechless. It was unbelievable that someone had eventually done it!
The candidates of Capth were also stunned by what happened. Wally and a few other candidates looked startled, because they couldn't believe that someone could really clear an extremely difficult scenario like this.
Or, perhaps something was wrong with the system?
Li Ruo-Er was the first to step out, wondering who on earth was this Wang Tong fella!
Meanwhile, the other candidates of the Ayrlarng-Bernabeu Alliance rushed towards Wang Tong immediately as they cheered. Ma Xiaoru was even holding his hands.
"Great job buddy! I knew you can do it!" Ma Xiaoru said with a smile. As Li Ruo-Er noticed how cheerful and happy her rival was, the young mistress of the House of Li slightly frowned.
At that moment, it became clear to the students of Capth that Wang Tong was, in fact, the actual ace of Ayrlarng!
Halmond calmed himself and said, "Congratulations, Principal Samantha. He is truly an amazing talent. No wonder you looked so confident."
"Thank you for your kindness, Principal Halmond. That smart kid just got lucky." Samantha was more than happy. However, she kept her politeness.
"Round one goes to Ayrlarng. Next round would be Intel Programming Battle!" Halmond announced in a serious tone. Then, he looked towards his team with his pressuring vision, signaling his team to grab hold of themselves!
The candidates of Capth were infuriated. They had never been in such a humiliating position before; no academy had ever dealt such a heavy blow to them before! Especially a team like that!
However, Wang Ben didn't complain while he was resting by the side, because he was the only one who knew Wang Tong very well. The dude might look silly, but his level of strength was beyond imagination. One had to be fully prepared in order to defeat him.
"Yo Wang Ben, you knew that dude huh? Anything you wanna share with us?" Wally asked. He remembered Wang Ben did mention that dude before, but no one paid any attention during that time because no one expected he would be that good.
Wang Ben lifted his head and replied, "Now it's too late for that."
"So, you mean I'm no match for that punk huh, is that what you're trying to say?" Wally got pissed off by Wang Ben's attitude. He had always been mad at Wang Ben for not showing any respect to him.
"Yea, you're no match for him." Wang Ben replied with a straight face.
Wang Ben's reply made Wally really mad. As Wally stood up and tried to walk towards Wang Ben, Li Ruo-Er unleashed a scent of Soul Energy and interrupted with a smile on her face, "Let's not fight amongst ourselves since we're a team. Don't embarrass yourselves, okay? I'm sure Wang Ben didn't say that intentionally, since he is a man with a few words. If this Wang Tong fella is really that good, why don't y'all leave him to me?"
Wally calmed down as he realized that he had almost made another mistake due to his hot-temper. He had to remain calm like the others in order to protect his image. Wally's face relaxed, as he remembered that an ace should maintain its sportsmanship all the time.
"But before going head to head with you Miss Li, that kid would have to go through me first!"
"Yea, round one was only a gift from us. From now onwards, we're the ones who will be winning all the remaining matches!" Terrance nodded. Being the No.1 amongst second graders, he was embarrassed about their previous loss. He was the leading candidate of the second batch a while ago, and he could've won if he had more time.
Now that Ayrlarng-Bernabeu Alliance had won the first round, Capth was falling behind by the score of 0:1. Up next would be Intel Programming Battle.
As for the other students who were not in the arena, all of them stopped when they heard the announcement about their team losing the first round. No one was able to believe their ears.
"There must be a mistake in the announcement. It's Survival Challenge we're talking about, how could this go wrong?"
"Let's go check it out!"
"You must be joking! Losing to a team of weaklings, how's that possible?"
More students began to gather at the arena. The candidates of Capth looked tensed, knowing that their failure had caused an uproar.
"Everyone survived the S-Ranked Survival Challenge? Really?"
"Oh my god, even Li Ruo-Er and Ma Xiaoru failed, but a nobody named Wang Tong got through instead? That's absurd!"
"Holy crap, who's that dude? Is he strong?"
"Apparently, he's just some ordinary kid with a Level four Soul Energy, but everything about him seems strange!"
The arena was instantly filled with discussions. Some of the students still found it hard to believe.
"Haha, way to go, my man! I knew you could do it!" Carl threw Wang Tong a friendly punch.
Wang Tong dodged and replied, "Woah easy dude, you almost killed me with that punch."
"Good job!" Zhou Sisi complimented with a thumbs up. God seemed to have answered her prayers.
Wang Tong's victory and everyone else's survival had boosted the morale of the team significantly, and even caused an immense pressure on their opponents. Zhang Kui would be competing in the next round.
Wang Tong sat on his chair and thanked his luck. He had actually put himself into danger a while ago as he charged, and luckily remembered the hissing sound which saved him. Somehow, he discovered that the hissing sound of Zergs during battles were not ordinary war cries, but some sort of simple and effective commands. At first, he mimicked the hiss because it sounded funny, and it was able to confuse lower ranked Zergs. Yet, he didn't imagine that it would also work in a situation like that, enabling him to make miracles happen during desperate times.
He felt grateful, it seemed like God didn't want his first love to end that quickly.
The Zhang Brothers had been preparing a lot of strategies for this day; they seemed confident about winning. Tension rose as soon as the match began. However, King was stronger than they had expected. Sometimes, hard work would not guarantee a winning ticket. Zhang Kui had been defending with all his might, yet he was still unable to stand against King's terrifying attacks. Clearly, King had gone full force in order to heighten the team's spirit. In the end, Zhang Kui was defeated within minutes.
Capth won the second round.
Zhang Kui seemed depressed about his loss, feeling that he had disappointed Zhang Yan and Rumi. But it couldn't be helped, as his opponent was too strong.
"Cheer up buddy, we're just getting started. It's not the end of the world." Wang Tong said. Clearly, Capth had decided to strike back in order to defend their "unrivaled" title.
Next round would be Scarlet versus Jia Gang in Heavy Armed Brawl, and Scarlet was completely overpowered by Jia Gang's dominating skills and power. Basically, there was no element of surprise in Heavy Armed Brawl. Capth had become the leading team with the score of 2:1. Everyone seemed relaxed again. Perhaps the alliance really was lucky in the first round.
Up next would be Battlecraft Combat, and things were starting to get serious. As requested by Samantha, this category would be held using KOF system.
Whoever obtained three victories would win this round of challenge.
The geniuses of Capth were getting impatient. The final two categories were apparently Capth's strongest subjects, not to mention they had dominated the Battlecraft Combat of Earth Confederation.
For the first match, Capth would be sending out Kal, who was the ace amongst first graders.
The alliance started to look nervous. Best was the first challenger of this category since he was the most confident one.
The first match was filled with excitement. Apparently, freshman Kal didn't hold back at all and fully demonstrated his strength, showing superb controlling maneuvers and dealing flawless attacks. Best was KO-ed after thirty-five minutes.
Best's operating maneuvers might be excellent, but his strategies had been fully deciphered by Capth's analysis team not long ago. Furthermore, the speed of his hands was slightly slower than Kal, which was why Best's chances of winning were very low. On the other hand, Kal was seen grabbing his fists and celebrating after winning that match. He had finally proven his strength!
Best sat quietly in the control room. He couldn't believe that he would lose to a newbie. The students of Capth then gave Kal a round of applause for his job well done. Flash and Bisu smiled as they looked at each other. They were pleased to see Kal's amazing performance. On the other hand, Best did improve, and his skills were better than Kal for sure. But in the end, Battlecraft Combat was full of uncertainty, which was why Flash was the best because of his steady performances since the very beginning.
Chapter 184: My Own Victory
Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_
The first match of Battlecraft Combat ended with Best's loss, and the gap between Capth and Ayrlarng-Bernabeu Alliance had widened again. It seemed like their victory in the first round was just a coincidence.
Members of the Alliance were devastated over Best's defeat; everyone seemed crestfallen. Wang Tong wondered if he should be the one competing next. However, he wished to have a bit more time to rest. He needed to regain enough energy for the sake of the upcoming matches.
"Lemme do it. I promise I'll beat the crap outta him!" Carl stood up all of a sudden. He seemed unaffected while the others were depressed.
However, everyone in the team looked at each other. They were more confident about Zhou Sisi or Wang Tong. After all, the risk of losing would be bigger if they sent Carl up.
"I think it's worth trying." Cao Yi agreed. Everyone then dropped their doubts as Cao Yi said that, because he was the most trustable and rational person in the team. Furthermore, he had been helping Carl with his secret strategy recently. Surprisingly, he was never annoyed by Carl's attitude.
"Go get'em, bro!" Wang Tong said that as he noticed that Zhou Sisi wasn't ready for the challenge, not to mention her techniques and strategies were similar to Best's. Hence, the possibility of winning would be very low. Everyone from the team should be able to trust Carl since he volunteered himself confidently.
"Second match: Kal versus Carl."
This would be a battle between two individuals with similar names. On Capth's side, Kal seemed to be very excited about defeating Best, because he didn't expect that he would be able to win against an ace player of Battlecraft Combat with his own strength. Clearly, the victory had significantly boosted his confidence. As Kal looked at his opponent, he wondered if the Alliance had given up, sending some weakling to take him on. In fact, the only thing that got Capth's team confused after going through the Alliance's data was this dude named Carl. No one was able to tell why would Ayrlarng and Bernabeu recruit this clown in their team.
"Excuse me judge, are you sure about that this dude is my opponent? If I were to be a bit more disrespectful, I'd really love to crush him with only one hand."
Kal was very arrogant in this match, perhaps it was due to the previous victory. However, it couldn't be helped because Kal might literally be able to single-handedly defeat a weak player like Carl.
Yet surprisingly, Carl didn't talk back. Instead, he was busy preparing himself and warming up his fingers.
Kal might have said something arrogant, but he immediately focused himself upon entering battle mode. He kept telling himself not to get nervous and make careless mistakes. As long as he was able to do it like how he used to perform, he would be able to make a perfect victory without breaking a sweat!
This was Carl's first time taking part in a major competition like this. Yet to his surprise, he wasn't nervous at all.
He should be nervous, but he was totally calm!
Instead, he was kind of excited and presumptuous, like he was trying to release the energy that had been sitting inside for a very long time at once. He had been preparing for this day, and he was grateful that throughout his journey, his teachers had never given up on him and his teammates had never thought that he was a disgrace.
He had been longing for a day like this, a day for him to finally shine, and the excitement within had turned into calmness.
"Looks like he's doing good. I can sense a strong fighting spirit in his eyes." Wang Tong commented.
"But, isn't it a bit too risky? I think it's better to let Sisi handle this match." Ma Xiaoru seemed worried.
"Haha, Sisi, I noticed that your hands are trembling just now. Clearly, you're not ready yet, so it's best for you to stay outta this. I might sound a bit harsh, but I think Carl was the calmest candidate amongst all of us." Wang Tong said in a serious tone.
Zhou Sisi nodded in silence. Without a doubt, she was not confident at all. Even Best had lost, so there was no way that she would be able to win. She seemed sort of depressed and ashamed. Ma Xiaoru went over and held her hands while blaming Wang Tong for being so harsh on the poor girl.
Nevertheless, Ma Xiaoru respected Wang Tong's greatness and strength. She admired his cool yet fierce attitude.
Meanwhile, Carl's operating maneuvers seemed kind of weird as no one had ever seen such a strange strategy before. Apparently, the dude was building an air base first instead of making anything else. Was he trying to mimic Art of the Soaring Heaven?
However, the key to every strategy was the precise timing of development, and imitation without understanding this would only worsen the situation. After a series of recons, Kal seemed relieved, as it looked like his opponent was not the hidden ace. Perhaps, the Alliance really had given up.
Kal's strategy was to finish his operating maneuvers perfectly and knockout his opponent with a single wave of attacks. However, he did develop an anti-aerial system just in case that dude was also able to pull off some insane Cloning Techniques. Kal needed to end this as soon as possible.
But before Kal could send out his units, his opponent had already begun to attack. On the other hand, Carl was "high" as hell, as he was the kind of person who would break the limit in critical moments. This explained why he could become one of Massa's favorite trainees. There were basically two types of people, some who were very skillful but would freak out due to lack of confidence, and others who were born fearless and would become more excited as the tension rose. Usually, these type of people possessed an unimaginable level of strength.
Carl fell under the second type of people, not to mention that he had prepared something huge for the sake of this occasion.
Carl's strategy was to interfere his opponent by deploying Heavy Armed Units via airdrop!
Although Kal's ground troops had the advantage in terms of numbers, he was definitely overpowered by the long-range attacks of Carl's Heavy Armed Units, and Carl was attacking like a madman, constantly bombarding at random places and continuing his developments in his own base.
At that moment, Flash and Bisu began to look worried. Obviously, this was a new strategy that they had never seen before!
A brand new battle strategy!
While most people were busy copying and rectifying things that were created by someone else, some people preferred to create and invent. They were not afraid of failing and being embarrassed. Instead, they liked to let their imaginations run free.
So did Carl! Apparently, he had successfully created this airdrop strategy that sounded impossible and absurd at the beginning!
Kal was nervous. He wanted to go all out, yet he couldn't leave his base unprotected. Meanwhile, Carl's troops were gradually increasing. Soon, he would be able to surpass his opponent's number of troops and outrace him in terms of operating maneuvers and developments!
No one had expected this!
Vice Principal Halmond was petrified. How was this possible?
The tables were completely turned. Carl, who students of Capth addressed as "Fake Kal" due to the similar pronunciation of their names, had obtained the upper hand. Kal might be more talented than Carl, but Carl was able to outwit him and create a huge advantage.
As mentioned in "The Art of War", instead of power, strategy was actually the key towards victory! However, there was also a one and only exception throughout the millennia, who was known as the legendary Blade Warrior.
Geniuses might be more talented and skilled in mimicking other strategies, but they were nothing compared to those who had the ability to create and invent!
Carl had clearly won in terms of creativity!
After all, the world would never run out of mimickers, but not everyone had what it took to become a creator!
Carl was confident and unbreakable as always; the only thing he had been waiting for was a perfect chance for him to shine!
Carl, who had obtained the advantage, was doing better and better. He was even constantly terrorizing his opponent. Everyone was amazed by his perfect sense of timing. On the other hand, Kal's base was completely toasted.
Kal was able to accept being defeated by Best. However, he couldn't accept the fact that he was being owned by some weak nobody that he had never heard of. After all, Kal was an elite trained by Capth's Battlecraft Combat team. He hung into it and even tried to turn the tables with his own strength. Kal was unwilling to lose, because this was his stage of creating miracles!
Yet, Carl had become unstoppable; nothing else would be able to stand in his path!
Finally, Samantha understood why would so many people recommend Carl. To be honest, she had never expected Carl to win a battle at the beginning. To Samantha, it would be fine for Carl if he could weaken the opponent a little.
However, Carl won!
Kal had removed his hands from the control panel. He had decided to give up.
The fifteen-year-old Kal broke into tears. He was unable to accept his failure. He had never imagined that the first defeat that he suffered would be so cruel.
The other candidates of Capth kept quiet; no one was expecting this result. For some reason, the students of Washington Military Academy had also arrived at the arena, and they were also stunned by Carl's amazing battle strategy.
Clearly, this wasn't some half-assed coincidence; it was really a new battle strategy!
Cao Yi, who was always keeping a low profile, too couldn't hold back his excitement and grabbed his fist. They had really taken a big risk to create a new strategy, and they had been very careful in every step. It was indeed unimaginable for two students to achieve this, not to mention both Carl and Cao Yi were not even top-notch aces.
Today, everyone would remember the name, Carl!
Halmond and Samantha were able to notice that there were still flaws in this new strategy. However, they were sure that sooner or later, Battlecraft Combat players from every academy would study and refine it after watching the video footage of this battle, because this new piece of strategy was clearly very effective.
The player who created this masterpiece would also have the right to name it.
Halmond calmed down and looked at Kal. He understood Kal's current feeling, after all, one would always fall in a battle between two geniuses.
Being the senior of Kal, Flash went over and patted his back, "You did great, leave the rest to us."
At this point, everyone had finally realized that Ayrlarng-Bernabeu Alliance was not an alliance of random weaklings, but a combined force of aces. This was their best team formation.
Kal wiped his tears; he was still feeling bad for losing.
As the host of this tournament, Halmond kept his cool and said, "Young man, we're all impressed by your new battle strategy. Right now, you have the right to give it a name, and you'll be honored forever in the history of Battlecraft Combat!"
Even teachers would never be able to have this kind of honor, let alone students.
Chapter 185: The Battle of Control
Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_
The usually impulsive Carl began to scratch his head; this was one of Wang Tong's bad habits, "C'mon Cao Yi, gimme something, this belongs to us!"
Cao Yi shook his head and replied, "It has nothing to do with me man, you're the one who came up with this, and I'm just a helper."
"Yo boss, why don't you name it?" Carl suddenly turned towards Wang Tong, who had never looked down on him since they met each other, and even had faith in him for supporting him to participate in this match. Carl was grateful to Wang Tong, and really wanted to take this opportunity to repay his kindness. Hence, Carl wanted him to give it a name.
However, Wang Tong smiled and declined, "It's yours, brother. Just give it a simple name that suits you."
"Haha, you got it boss. Alright then, Vice Principal Halmond, the name's gonna be Art of Carl-ism!"
"Art of Carl-ism, good name!"
As Carl was about to grab his fist due to the excitement, he sensed a sharp pain, and realized that his wrists were swollen.
Apparently, Carl had been using every ounce of his strength a while ago, and he was forced to speed up his operating maneuvers due to the pressure from Kal. He was so focused that he only got to realize that his wrists were swollen after the match. His right hand had gone numb, and was no longer able to muster any strength. Unfortunately for Ayrlarng-Bernabeu Alliance, Carl, who had just demonstrated Art of the Carl-ism, would no longer be able to compete, and Bisu, who was very eager to try his hands against the new strategy, felt quite sorry for Carl.
During break time, all of the students were seen discussing what happened. No one was expecting Ayrlarng to have someone that strong in their team. For the first time, Carl became the topic of everyone's gossip. Everyone was saying that he would have a bright future awaiting him. After all, it would be impossible for someone not to become famous after inventing a new battle strategy, especially if the person was a student. It was known to everyone that in the world of Battlecraft Combat, a creator or inventor would always be more celebrated than a player.
Carl had successfully made everyone remember his name; he was the real deal after all!
Sadly, Ayrlarng had lost an important game-changer due to Carl's injury. Yet, even if he weren't injured, it would still be a bit risky for him to take on Flash and Bisu. Those two geniuses had been paying attention to every bit of his movements, which was why it would be tough for Carl to win, not to mention there were still some flaws in his overall maneuvers. Nevertheless, the previous match had greatly boosted Carl's confidence, and he would be able to improve significantly in the future training. This was the time for him to grow.
As the elite of Capth and the ace of its Battlecraft Combat team, Bisu was well aware of what he would have to do next.
Halmond was surprised by Carl's ability. However, he still believed that the final victory would belong to Capth. In fact, Halmond had even discovered Carl's weakness after that match, which was his lack of basic knowledge. If Carl really wanted to shine in the world of Battlecraft Combat, he would really need to pick up as quickly as possible.
Cleverness was a gift, yet practice was the key towards success.
Meanwhile, everyone was focusing on the Alliance. Now that Best had lost and Carl was injured, who else would they send in?
Then, everyone turned towards their final hope, Wang Tong!
Wang Tong stood up and said, "Vice Principal Halmond, I'm the next candidate."
"Ah, finally. I believe you and Bisu share quite a few similarities. This student of mine is very talented in controlling maneuvers, have fun."
"I see… Well, please be gentle then, Mr. Bisu."
Of course, Bisu would never be gentle, since Capth needed to win. Instead, he would be giving his very best to crush Wang Tong and break him into pieces.
After all, Capth would do whatever it took to defend its own glory!
Both candidates walked towards the center stage, and Bisu began to warm-up. It had been long since the last time he was that excited, it was a pity though that his opponent was not Carl.
As a top-notch Battlecraft Combat player, it was obvious that he would be so excited about a new strategy; and Bisu too would like to show his best performance right now.
"Hey Kal, raise your head. We must learn to embrace failure, so that we could learn from our own mistakes."
"Copy that, Flash!" Kal was still quite depressed due to the unexpected loss. He needed time to recover and learn.
Although Flash was only slightly older than Kal, yet he was very steady. Clearly, his maturity came from his better talents.
As Flash looked at Bisu, he knew that his best friend was in the best condition. Carl's new strategy had really gotten Bisu excited, and had even stimulated his urge to give his greatest performance.
In Battlecraft Combat, any technique would become intimidating once it reached its maximum level, especially controlling maneuvers.
However, Wang Tong seemed relaxed while roughly doing his warm-up exercises. But he had no intention of taking him lightly. In fact, Best had been mentioning a few times about his extraordinary controlling maneuvers, which were very different from the Kaedeians.
"Is Wang Tong gonna be alright?" Tita and the rest of the team were worried because this match was extremely crucial. Wang Tong's performance in this round would decide the fate of the Alliance. If he won, their hope would still be alive, but if he lost, it would be game over for sure.
Yet, Wang Tong had not given up, since this was his chance of putting some pressure onto Capth. Moreover, Wang Tong had no fear of players who excelled in controlling maneuvers.
Match three began!
Both players were demonstrating extreme speed in controlling maneuvers. What showed on the monitor was unbelievable, as their deviation was nearly 0.01 second. Somehow, all of the spectators were amazed by this breathtaking scene. At some point, they even wondered if both of them were really humans.
Students of Capth were unable to believe their sights. No one had ever expected someone would be able to compete against Bisu in terms of controlling maneuvers. They wondered how a strong player like Wang Tong could stay unnoticed, and why would he choose to join a weak academy like Ayrlarng.
They even began to feel the intense pressure!
Bisu too had noticed that his opponent was able to keep up with his pace, which was totally unexpected; even Flash was unable to beat him in controlling maneuvers, yet this fella was right in front of him!
In fact, Bisu had been complaining about being unable to improve due to the absence of stronger opponents. To him, mastering controlling maneuvers was the key to an absolute victory, and nothing else would matter!
With the narrow gap of strength between him and Flash, Bisu had always been trying to train himself harder in order to claim Flash's title as the strongest player. Yet, he would need a stronger opponent in order to achieve his ambition.
At last, that person has arrived!
Bisu smiled, revealing one of his canine teeth as he began to speed up his controlling maneuvers. Bisu was trying to pressurize Wang Tong, wondering if he would be able to keep up.
The monitor was showing both players' instantaneous data and average data. Bisu's average APM had already reached five hundred, and was even able to hit above five hundred and ten at his fastest speed; the terrifying speed and precision of his hands were totally beyond imagination!
On the other hand, Wang Tong's average APM was about four hundred and ninety-eight. Hence, he was able to keep up with Bisu.
The students of Capth were expecting Ayrlarng to surrender after Carl's injury. Yet, to their surprise, Ayrlarng was saving the best for later.
This was definitely not the Ayrlarng they were familiar with.
Even though Wang Tong was strong, unfortunately for him, the candidate of the unrivaled Capth was the "King of Controlling Maneuvers" Bisu.
Judging from the current situation, both players had chosen to begin the match by doing a stable setup, which was Earth Confederation's favorite all-rounded setup. It seemed like none of them would be demonstrating any new battle strategy. In fact no one would expect Wang Tong to surprise them with anything new since Carl had already done so, which even caught Halmond's attention. However, they were afraid that Wang Tong would also be able to use Art of Carl-ism. Nevertheless, students of Capth were relieved after watching how he did his setup.
As a matter of fact, imitation of another battle strategy would not be powerful enough. The key of success was to really understand the strategy itself in terms of timing and operating maneuvers. Most importantly, this mastering process took quite some time.
It was easy to tell that most of the spectators who were watching the match were quite familiar with Battlecraft Combat, and they had noticed that Wang Tong was forced to speed up due to Bisu's accelerating pace. Wang Tong would need to outrace Bisu's speedy hands in order to win, unless he had other tricks hidden in his sleeves. But soon, everyone realized that Wang Tong's controlling maneuvers had reached its maximum level and his operating maneuvers had also reached its limits.
Both Bisu and Wang Tong had been doing recons on each other at the beginning, and unleashing interfering attacks at each other in the middle of the match. It seemed like the end of this match would be happening in no time due to Bisu's amazing performance. To be honest, he could have attacked directly if he was hoping to end this as early as possible. Yet, he chose to launch his attacks at the end, because it would be safer since he was unable to obtain most of the advantages earlier. Bisu was afraid of getting ambushed if he were to attack blindly. Hence, he chose to develop a complete fleet and crush his opponent with his almighty controlling maneuvers!
Even Flash dared not to drag the match and fight him at the end. In fact, it would be exactly what Bisu was hoping for, if the opponent chose to counter him with Cloning Technique.
"This seems good for our team captain. He will be able to win if he unleashes his Cloning Technique, right?" Rumi asked. However, everyone else in the team had their doubts.
"Bisu's APM was the highest amongst the academies throughout Earth Confederation. Wang Tong might be strong, yet Bisu is stronger. Wang Tong's Cloning Technique is incredible because he has the perfect sense of balance. It is obvious that Bisu will not give Wang Tong a chance to do so since he was aware of that as well. Based on the overall situation, the one who clearly controls the pace is Bisu, and I'm sure that he already has the perfect plan to counter Wang Tong's Cloning Technique."
Of course, Bisu would never be controlled by his opponent's pace. He would do anything to make sure that Cloning Technique wasn't going to happen.
Unfortunately, Wang Tong seemed to be unable to notice this, and he was still focusing in his operating maneuvers. Compared to the last match with Bernabeu, it was clear that Wang Tong had improved a lot. So far, there was no mistake in his performance. However, it was not good enough. If he were to become a fleet commander, he would need to read his enemy. Yet, he was heading towards the exact spot where his opponent wanted him to be; in short, Wang Tong had fallen into his opponent's trap.
Chapter 186: Strong Enough to Leave the Opponent Speechless
Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_
Flash grinned as he noticed that Bisu was about to end the match with something that was originally created by Bisu to be used against him. Flash was curious of what sort of strategy Bisu had come out with; he wanted to know if it would really be able to subdue him.
Both players had finished developing and equipping their fleets. It was clear to the spectators that Bisu's hands were faster and he was more experienced than Wang Tong. Somehow, the "quality" of Bisu's troops seemed better. Nevertheless, both of them had gotten ready for the final showdown.
Candidates of Capth were well aware of Wang Tong's fantastic Cloning Technique, which was almost as good as the Kaedeians'. He was obviously blessed with a great sense of balance and impressive synchronization of his left and right hands. However, Kaedeians' Cloning Technique was not an unrivaled technique, as there were also much stronger techniques in this world.
Both of them gathered their fleets at last. They had also been doing a great job in reconnaissance, as both players were able to tell what was going on at the other side.
Bisu was the first to make a move the moment he sensed the right timing. On the other hand, Wang Tong had also begun to unleash his Cloning Technique. Based on the number of the increasing fleets, he would be able to win in no time.
However, people seemed to be more interested in how Bisu would counter Wang Tong's Cloning Technique.
The match was getting more and more intense!
Both Bisu and Wang Tong were almost adjusting their breathing at the same time while firing at each other in space; both of them seemed well-matched in terms of technology development.
The match had turned into a race between two pairs of speedy hands!
FIRE!!!
All of a sudden, the war zone was bombarded with rounds of explosions, turning it into a sea of flames. The system then began to scan and calculate a number of fleets destroyed after a "tug-of-war" of less than three minutes.
Generally speaking, Battlecraft Combat was not only a battle of fleets and control, but also a competition of a feet commander's operating maneuvers and battling methods. However, the final decision would still be based on the outcome!
Bisu grabbed his fist in excitement; he had successfully demonstrated his perfect creation: the ultimate Art of the Celestial Blossom!
Usually, final showdown between fleets would take place after both players finished setting up their formations, and researchers of Earth Confederation had even tested and concluded that the Triangle Formation was the most efficient one during battles. But, casualties would be unavoidable in battles like this, regardless of formations and strategies. Yet, Bisu was confident that he would be able to do better with his brilliant controlling maneuvers.
They key of his Art of the Celestial Blooming was to move his fleets around constantly while executing rhythmic attacks, so that he would be able to reduce casualties, and at the same time, enhance his firepower. However, this sort of strategy was difficult to master as the user could potentially become an easy target if his or her controlling maneuvers were slower, or the formation wasn't perfect, absolutely suicidal.
However, Bisu was confident in doing so, because he had that sort of speed and precision in his controlling maneuvers!
As shown on the monitor, Bisu's highest APM had increased to five hundred and forty-seven, even higher than the count that he was able to achieve in his previous training! Not to mention the fact that it was the Utilizable APM!
It was a perfect strategy indeed!
He wasn't afraid of getting locked on by Wang Tong's cloned fleets, because his extraordinary strategy had enabled most of his fleets to negate Wang Tong's attacks!
Meanwhile, the crowd was completely amazed by Bisu's superb controlling maneuvers. Although he wasn't able to demonstrate a new strategy like Carl, he had created something amazing with his out-of-this-world controlling maneuvers!
However, Bisu's excited face immediately turned pale after one second. He was utterly petrified by something impossible.
Apparently, ninety percent of Bisu's fleets were annihilated… He was the one that was losing!
No one amongst the spectators could believe what they were witnessing! Everyone started to wonder if there was something wrong with the system. Even Halmond was shocked. In fact, he had been having a strange feeling at the beginning as Wang Tong walked in, like he could tell something bad was about to happen to them.
Students of Capth were infuriated. They would've suspected the opposing team cheated if this match didn't take place in their arena and using their equipment. The only possible explanation was a system malfunction occurred at the end of the match. However, the possibility of this to happen was extremely low.
The system then analyzed the status of Wang Tong's fleets. Apparently, his rate of casualties was fifty-eight percent, but this percentage was more than enough to buy him a victory. Furthermore, Wang Tong had also amazed everyone with his insane APM count of five hundred and seventy-nine!
Bisu was shocked by Wang Tong's APM. He had always been proud of his APM, yet this time, he was completely overpowered. Apparently, Wang Tong's controlling maneuvers during critical moments were even stronger than him!
Bisu accepted his fate of defeat, yet there was still one thing he couldn't understand. He was desperate to know how could Wang Tong's Cloning Technique able to withstand his Art of the Celestial Bloom.
In reality, the fleet commander would typically take over the control of the entire armada by infusing his or her own Soul Energy into the Commanding System during the critical final showdown. Generally, the commander's Soul Energy and techniques were the key factor to the number of fleets in control, and also the attacking methods. The fleet commander would need to possess immense Soul Energy as well as mastering every complicated controlling technique in order to enhance the armada's firepower. Nevertheless, this last resort was only meant to be used in case of emergency, as it would cause a great amount of damages to the user's body. The fleet commander would require a long period of time to recover in reality.
In fact, only a few amongst hundreds of thousands of Command Force students would have the chance to use it in the future. Yet, every student was required to learn this, because this could be their saving rope in real battles.
One had to master this in order to become a fleet captain or fleet commander.
Bisu's Art of the Celestial Bloom was meant to be used at the end of a battle. Not only could this glorious strategy nullify the lock-on from the cannons of the cloned fleets, this also happened to be one of the greatest methods of dodging the attacks from Zergs' Space Hives during battles. The main focus of his method was to counterattack while maintaining the minimum casualties of his fleets. It might be slower and the hit rates were lower, yet it wouldn't matter since the counter attacks were mostly grouped artillery attacks; the most crucial part was nothing but controlling maneuvers.
On the other hand, fleet formations would be based on the enemy's formations and also the sufficiency of one's APM. Obviously, it would be even more difficult and burden one's body and Soul Energy in real battles. However, students would be focusing more on creativity instead.
Nevertheless, Bisu's ultimate attack was ferocious and amazing.
The monitor then replayed the loser's performance, and all of the spectators were startled by his brilliant performance. In fact, the whole Pan Solar System and the Kaedeians would be amazed by his breathtaking strategy. It seemed like Carl's surprising performance had stimulated Bisu's perfect controlling maneuvers; he had even exceeded his previous performances during training.
Which brought in the next question, how was Wang Tong able to survive?
Aside from Wang Tong, everyone was suspecting him of cheating, even Halmond. Samantha and the other candidates from every other A-Ranked academy had no idea how he did that. Clearly, it was something more than the ordinary Cloning Technique.
Everyone finally understood what on earth that insane APM of more than five hundred and fifty was, as the monitor showed Wang Tong's replay. Apparently, he had unleashed an extraordinary Cloning Technique that was out of this world!
Normally, Kaedeians' Cloning Techniques were either cloning from left to right or right to left in order to maintain the efficiency and fluency of the process. Bisu's strategy was specifically designed to counter the "conventional" Cloning Techniques. Yet, he had never expected Wang Tong would demonstrate some sort of centralized Cloning Technique known as Axis Cloning!
Group of fleets commonly dispersed starting from the outer part, yet Wang Tong's version was totally different, which explained why Bisu was unable to target all of his fleets. Not only was that Axis Cloning the perfect counter of Art of the Celestial Blossom, it had also significantly improved upon the glitches of Cloning Techniques.
This sort of Cloning Technique was not something new, but it was barely used because of the high requirement of speed and physical fitness. Most importantly, it also required skills in locking on moving targets, not to mention there were also series of complicated controlling maneuvers that required precise judgments. It was basically impossible for most people.
In the end, Bisu suffered a devastating defeat. Although Wang Tong had won, he had lost more than half of his troops during the final showdown. Even though Bisu was unable to utilize Cloning Techniques, he was slightly better than Wang Tong in terms of both qualities and quantities of his fleets.
If Wang Tong was not able to pull off that fantastic Cloning Technique, Bisu could've won by obtaining the advantage and outrace him in the second and third phase of their match. But unfortunately, Bisu had lost his main forces in phase one, which further explained his defeat.
Two upgraded battle strategies were demonstrated in this match. Yet, whether it was Wang Tong or Bisu, both of them had clearly amazed everyone else with their insane APM and scary abilities, and had even achieved something unimaginable by the Kaedeians!
If the video of today's match were to be shown to fellow Kaedeians, it would definitely scare the crap out of the students and teachers of the Royal Academy.
Even if Bisu were to fight against one of the aces from Kaedeian Royal Academy, he would never suffer a devastating loss since he was still able to deal quite a damage to the Kaedeians with his Art of the Celestial Blossom.
Yet, for some reason, Art of the Celestial Blossom had made Wang Tong's Axis Cloning look even stronger.
After all, in the battle between two geniuses, one would stand and the other would fall.
Bisu sighed as he sat down emotionlessly, but wasn't upset over his defeat. Originally, he was planning to create another historical moment today by demonstrating his Anti-Cloning Technique strategy. He was hoping to announce something that would surprise the Kaedeians.
However, Bisu's ultimate strategy was completely overpowered by Wang Tong's outstanding Cloning Technique; he was no longer the focus of the people.
Moments later, Bisu stood up slowly. As one of the senior students of Capth, Bisu was definitely tougher than Kal, and he would never lose the pride of Capth even though he was defeated!
Chapter 187: Evenly Matched
Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_
Students of Capth remained silent as they began to feel the immense helplessness of losing.
Wang Tong sat still as well. To be honest, he had never practiced that technique before, and this was his first time using it. As soon as Wang Tong mastered the Cloning Technique, he had immediately noticed a flaw in the technique itself, yet no one had ever thought that it needed to be improved because it was already mighty. Also, the technique itself was already quite difficult to be mastered.
In fact, this idea came to Wang Tong from nowhere as soon as he saw Bisu unleashing his killing moves, most probably because of his superb sensitivity, understanding, and talent in this category. Unlike the mastery of Soul Energy which had to be achieved step by step, Battlecraft Combat focused more on the player's flexibility and the ability to control.The consumption of Soul Energy would be higher during battles in reality, while the required output of Soul Energy during training would be forty to fifty percent lower compared to real battles, in order to ensure the convenience of training. It wouldn't be much of a problem since Soul Energy would become stronger as one's age increased.
Wang Tong was gifted indeed. Together with his Tactics of the Blade which had been supplying him with more than enough amount of Soul Energy to fortify his controlling maneuvers, no doubt he was extremely pleased with the excitement within!
All thanks to Bisu's amazing performance, Wang Tong was able to get the idea of Axis Cloning. Somehow, his instinct against crisis had enabled his hands to react faster than his brain.
Honestly speaking, Wang Tong was surprised by his own performance as well.
Fate played an extremely important role today in his mastery of this ultimate Cloning Technique.
Everyone was left speechless by their superb performances. Their astounding battle strategies and techniques were definitely enough to cause an uproar amongst academies. This match was definitely a clash of titans.
There was no loser in this match.
Both Wang Tong and Bisu then stood up and shook each other's hands in silence; the feeling at that moment was truly beyond words.
Halmond sighed, yet he kept his cool and smiled towards the winner, "I believe there's no need for me to compliment on anything else. Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a round of applause to our candidates for their mind-blowing performances!"
Everyone in the arena got up and applauded to the two of them. No one was screaming or cheering; the whole arena was only filled with the sound of thousands of clapping hands.
Bisu's feeling was complicated. Somehow, it was beyond words, and perhaps this was the heaviest round of applause he had ever received.
"The fourth match will begin shortly after a ten minutes break," Halmond announced.
No one was expecting Ayrlarng-Bernabeu Alliance would be leading by 2:1 in Battlecraft Combat KOF.
The other students of Capth were shocked by Bisu's defeat. At first they assumed that Bisu lost because of some careless mistakes, but then were blown away as they got their hands on the match summary. They couldn't believe that there would be someone else with a stronger APM than Bisu!
It was completely absurd to think that someone like that existed in Earth Confederation! Not to mention that person was one of the students of a dying A-Ranked academy!
The arena was completely flooded with spectators during the past ten minutes.
Li Ruo-Er might have seemed like not paying much attention to Ayrlarng's side throughout the match, in fact, she had been paying close attention to every reaction of Ma Xiaoru. Things were not going on as planned for Capth, yet Li Ruo-Er remained calm and did nothing but observe in silence.
Aside from Li Ruo-Er, Wang Ben was also remaining calm despite Capth's critical situation. He had been keeping a straight face throughout the tournament.
Capth had always been unrivaled in Battlecraft Combat ever since the emergence of Bisu and Flash. Both geniuses had been dominating every competition across Earth Confederation for the past two years. Flash and Bisu were the only ones that were qualified to comment on anything in this category. In fact, aside from Earth's ranking, both of them were even crowned as top players in the ranking of Ivantians, Martians and Kaedeians.
However, Capth was now on the edge of getting defeated.
The whispers of the crowd died down as Flash walked towards the center stage. Flash looked steady and calm, even though he would be facing a real tough opponent. After all, this young second grader who had been under the military's recruitment radar was Capth's ultimate final fortress. Flash was their savior in every critical situation.
Fellow students of Capth immediately regained their confidence as soon as Flash stood up. He wasn't called "Control-Killer" for nothing.
Flash was so perfect that even the finest controlling maneuvers would never stand a chance against him. He was an all-rounder with an outstanding perspective, that was unrivaled across Earth Confederation, not to mention he was also a very experienced player.
He was indeed an opponent to be feared, as Flash was the guarantee of an absolute victory.
Everyone from Capth laid their hopes on Flash for this upcoming crucial match. They even kept quiet and tried not to affect his performance.
Wang Tong might have owned Bisu in the previous match, yet it would still be useless if he couldn't defeat Flash. According to the agreement, the only way to win this category was by obtaining three victories.
Before the match began, both players walked towards each other and shook hands, their grips quite firm! After that, they walked back to their control room to get prepared and warm up.
Everyone was curious as to whether it would be the almighty perspective that would be dominating, or would Flash be crushed by Wang Tong's insane controlling maneuvers.
The arena was completely packed with students of Capth, as everyone was dying to witness this ultimate final showdown. This was definitely the climax of the day.
The fourth match had begun!
Both players immediately began their operating maneuvers. Since most of the spectators were also Battlecraft Combat players, they were immediately able to tell that the setting up of both players were close to perfection. It was like watching someone competing against his reflection. As the match progressed, Flash began to implement his elegant and absolute dominance.
As for Wang Tong, he somehow seemed to be chickening out and focusing only on defense instead.
However, playing defensive or not, Flash would still never be bothered by it as he would only make the right decision based on the situation. Clearly, Wang Tong would choose to play it safe because he knew that his high APM would be useless against him.
But did Wang Tong really think that he could win by playing defensive?
Flash's key strengths were his perfect sense of timing and his ability to seize the slimmest chance. Yet this time, he wasn't planning on unleashing any massive attacks, because Wang Tong had been developing his ultimate defense at the very beginning. Any sort of taunt was basically useless against him.
Wang Tong's hands were speedy enough to handle those kinds of attacks while using the gap times to expand his troops.
Not only did Flash's two rounds of taunting attacks end up useless, those attacks had even helped Wang Tong at some point. Flash began to sense something weird. Judging from the current situation, Wang Tong had already obtained a little advantage, and his advantages were increasing.
Just as Flash had planned.
However, Wang Tong showed no signs of attacking, and continued to expand his base and also increase his operating maneuvers. His recon troops were constantly circling around his base area; he had set-up a flawless defense.
This was not the first time Flash fought against a defensive opponent, and he had no problem handling this sort of opponent as he would strike during his opponent's deployment vacancy period. Flash was very good in terms of operating maneuvers, yet his operating maneuvers were different from the others as it would be based on his opponent's battle strategy. His method of playing was to observe and counter accordingly. Most people had their own ways of thinking and reacting to the situations, yet Flash was amazingly able to make the right move at the right time.
Flash's strategy to counter Wang Tong's ultimate defense was to expand his army by developing an anti-defense force. Yet, Flash didn't go full force on that, because Wang Tong's defense was really tough. If he were to expand blindly, he wouldn't have enough troops to defend if Wang Tong chose to ambush. Most importantly, Capth's victory would be doomed.
Of course, Flash would never be making such mistakes. He immediately began to expand steadily while increasing the number of his troops. He was also keeping an eye on Wang Tong, and would strike at once if he were able to find any flaw in his defense.
After all, the greater the defense, the easier it would fall apart during crisis.
Unlike the previous matches, both players seemed to be pressuring each other this time in a chilly atmosphere.
The first one who made a mistake would be the one who would lose.
Everyone seemed to wonder if Wang Tong was trying to drag the match into a war between Battlecraft fleets.
Flash might be in trouble if this match was really dragged into a space dogfight. After all, Wang Tong had single-handedly crushed Bisu, and even created the insane Axis Cloning. Basically, he was almost unrivaled in this part.
Halmond knew that Flash was well aware of this, and obviously knew better than anyone else. Wang Tong was trying to deplete and exhaust his army and strike back when he had established a difference between their military might, which would be fairly dangerous to Flash himself.
Flash was still waiting for a chance to strike. He had been provoking Wang Tong since the very beginning, yet his opponent remained still. He really needed to draw out Wang Tong's troops in order to find out his weakness. However, instead of attacking Flash after gaining the advantages, Wang Tong maintained his defense and was still continuing to expand.
Students of Capth began to look anxious. Clearly, Flash had more time to develop his army and maintain the advantage of his troops in terms of quality and quantity, since Wang Tong was playing defensive. Yet, it was still not enough to destroy Wang Tong's "iron fortress", not to mention the fact that Wang Tong also possessed insane controlling maneuvers.
Chapter 188: To Win Without Any Confrontation
Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_
"Oh no, this is bad! Bisu, do you think it's gonna get worse if Flash was dragged into a dogfight?" Kal seemed worried. He had somehow recovered from his sadness after sitting beside Bisu.
Bisu shook his head, "Wang Tong's defense is very unique, way different from the ordinary ones that we know of. It feels like some sort of pressure that is asking to be attacked, and my guts are telling me that this is definitely a trap."
"But he's clearly playing defensive. How's he gonna attack?"
"Take a look at the movements in Wang Tong's base. Reinforcement is always arriving in time no matter which part of his base was attacked. The whole thing that he has built in the very beginning is a trap that would make you become impatient and force you to attack, or trick you to let your guard down while focusing on expanding your troops. Overexpansion of your troops would weaken your current defense and create opportunities for your opponent to attack. Wang Tong's extraordinary controlling maneuvers is definitely more than enough to break one apart!" Bisu began to feel an immense pressure from Wang Tong, yet Kal wasn't feeling anything. It was not because he was weaker, but because his experience was not as much as Bisu's.
Somehow, Wang Tong's current performance looked even stronger than his previous performance against Bisu!
However, this time, he wasn't focusing on controlling maneuvers and chose to focus on battle perspectives like Flash. As both players were battling each other to obtain the initiative, Wang Tong was seen continuously applying an invisible pressure to Flash, forcing him to attack or expand. And Flash knew that he would be dragged along under Wang Tong's pace if he were to fall into his opponent's gimmick. After all, a Battlecraft Combat player like Flash that focused on perspective and timing would never want to be dragged under the opponent's pace, even if he were forced into a struggling battle. However, Flash seemed to be held back by Wang Tong's unusual playing method.
Kal noticed that Bisu seemed disheartened after a while, like he had given up.
"What's wrong, Bisu?"
Bisu didn't say a word. Somehow, the ultimate Battlecraft Combat player that he and Flash had always expected to see was finally born! Wang Tong was definitely the super-fighter that possessed both an impressive perspective as well as outstanding controlling maneuvers.
Bisu and Flash had always been wondering if there was really a person who possessed the skills of the two of them. If that person really existed, he or she would definitely be able to claim the title as the true No.1 in Battlecraft Combat.
Yet, this wasn't something that could be learned easily. Even Bisu was weak in terms of perspective while Flash's highest APM was only around five hundred twenty. However, Flash was able to become the top player because he was doing better than Bisu in terms of operating maneuvers, and had better performance during multiple engaging battles. Yet, Flash was not the strongest amongst mankind because there were still Ivantians, Martians and Kaedeians that could do better than him. Although Kaedeians were humble, they happened to be extremely talented in Battlecraft Combat as well.
The close-to-perfect player that they had dreamt about just happened to be right in front of their eyes. And to be honest, both Bisu and Flash had never expected someone from Earth Confederation to surpass the two of them.
However, not a single spectator seemed to be able to understand Bisu's thoughts. The students of Capth were even complaining about Flash's indecisive actions. Apparently, they had been hoping that he would take the initiative and beat the crap out of Wang Tong! To them, it was quite wasteful to give up the chance of attacking an easy target. But instead of attacking, Flash was only provoking Wang Tong since the beginning of the match, which had never happened since his debut.
Nevertheless, Flash was still someone to be feared; he was also known as the "War Machine" because his battle strategies was always able to counter his opponent's movements, not to mention he was also able to adjust the details in every single existing battle strategy and make it into his own original strategies with completely different effects. Moreover, his attacking timing, choice of battlefield, and army formation were as perfect as the Ivantians. This was why Bisu was no match for him, even though he was better in terms of controlling maneuvers.
Flash was incredibly gifted, and even though his battle strategies didn't look majestic, they always managed to crush his opponents badly. Thus, people soon began to acknowledge his strength.
Halmond had been keeping quiet since the beginning of the match, Flash was one of his favorite disciples. That kid was unique as he was able to turn every piece of strategy into something else. In the beginning, teachers used to complain about this bad habit of his and his unwillingness to change; his winning rates were low, and he seemed to have a lot of crazy ideas and feelings that wouldn't work. However, Halmond soon found out that this was actually Flash's talent and immediately recruited him, turning him into one of Earth Confederation's best candidates. Flash's extraordinary sense of timing was definitely a gift from God; he was definitely a precious rare talent throughout the past decades. Furthermore, Flash was very hardworking. He had been training extremely hard ever since he was recruited by Halmond. People now knew him as the genius and unrivaled Flash, yet no one knew about his hectic past.
However, Halmond soon realized how terrifying Wang Tong's talent was. At first, he was amazed by Wang Tong's victory against Bisu by demonstrating amazing controlling maneuvers, but this time, he was shocked to find out that Wang Tong was even able to control the overall pace.
Wang Tong's level of strength was totally absurd!
Halmond then looked towards Samantha. He had never thought of underestimating her, yet, she was apparently still being underestimated by him!
Flash also realized that he had finally met his strongest opponent since his debut. Halmond knew that Flash would be able to obtain a groundbreaking confidence if he was able to win, but it would be very difficult.
Flash was on the passive side in this match instead of Wang Tong, and if he were unable to stay focus, he would be toasted for sure.
Meanwhile, Samantha was very proud. She was absolutely convinced by Wang Tong's dominance!
Wang Tong was in his best condition, demonstrating something that was completely different from his Art of the Soaring Heaven. Art of the Soaring Heaven specialized in using offense as its defense and taking control of the attacking pace. Yet, what he was doing now was turning defense into offense, pressuring his opponent with an iron defense. This was definitely a good strategy against strong players like Flash, and at this point, he was still hoping for Flash to take the bait.
Yet, Halmond seemed to notice that Wang Tong might be talented, but he wasn't a natural player, as he required stimulation to fire up his engines. Halmond learned about this while watching his previous match with Bisu, and Flash's level of strength too had triggered his amazing performance at the beginning.
Wang Tong got the idea for this strategy after watching the footages of Flash's previous battles. Originally, he was planning to pump up his defense and drag the game into a dogfight since he was quite confident about his Cloning Technique. But as the match progressed, he suddenly realized that he was able to pressurize his opponent with this sort of defensive strategy, and he was given more options because of that, including finishing the match without a final showdown. However, Wang Tong chose to play it safe as his opponent was the amazing Flash, and that person's operating maneuvers were perfect and spot on. Flash had even tried to lure Wang Tong to attack by creating a few loopholes on purpose. Wang Tong could've attacked if he were his previous self, and the one who would have been doomed would be him if he had responded carelessly.
It seemed like Flash's battling method and style was kind of artsy.
Wang Tong was learning Flash's methods of controlling the situation as he battled, and wanted to combine it into his defensive strategy. Somehow, Wang Tong felt great and motivated to learn his opponent's advantage for his own good.
On the other side, Flash seemed to look nervous for the first time, because so far, he had never launched any real attacks against Wang Tong. Wang Tong still had a few loopholes in the beginning, but as the match progressed, Flash noticed that Wang Tong's strategy was getting better and better. And although he had been trying to counter with a few methods, his methods didn't work in the end.
At that point, Flash realized that Wang Tong was as good as him, which also explained why Wang Tong's perspective was never disturbed and his strategy was unaffected. Flash could tell that Wang Tong's actions were getting more and more proficient.
Flash's serious expression slowly turned into a gentle grin. He was well aware that things would be different if he were able to win this match. In fact, he had been longing for an opponent like this.
Flash had no intentions to pursue fame and glory, all he wanted was an improvement! Now that the opponent he had been longing for had finally arrived, it was time for him to unleash one hundred percent of his strength.
Both players were gradually closing the gap between each other. For the first time, players were focusing on expanding army instead of technology development.
Only about ten people amongst all spectators were able to tell what was going on. Even Kal had begun to understand this intense battle between two commander-like players! It took Kal quite a while, but he also had eventually noticed that instead of focusing on area controls, both of them had always been focusing on situational controls!
Meanwhile, Best and Carl happened to be the only ones that were able to tell what was going on. Since Best was skilled in operating maneuvers, he could easily smell the pressure within Wang Tong's strategy. Clearly, the opponent would fall into Wang Tong's trap if he or she were to attack. But if the opponent followed to go defensive, Wang Tong, who had been doing it first, would obtain the advantage for sure; if his opponent chose to expand, the opponent would also need to constantly look out for any signs of disturbance. Keeping in mind the interfering attacks from someone with an APM of five hundred and above was very tense.
Perhaps, Best knew better that Bisu, as all he saw in Wang Tong's strategy was nothing but despair. Suddenly, Best remembered one of the strategies of war, which was to win without any confrontation.
Chapter 189: Absolute Suppression
Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_
Flash was able to weaken his opponents with his operating maneuvers. However, Wang Tong seemed to have shown a different level of operating maneuvers.
Perhaps Flash was the only person who would be able to stay focused and fight on while being locked in a stalemate for such a long period of time. If someone else was put into his position, that person might have already surrendered long ago. In fact, only the player himself would be able to understand that sort of depression and desperation.
Although it had only been a couple of months since the previous tournament against Bernabeu, Wang Tong had improved drastically in this short period of time, and Best knew about this better than anyone else. Flash would've already been defeated if he had no new tricks up in his sleeves. Yet, if he couldn't think of any way to disrupt Wang Tong's amazing operating maneuvers, there would be no way that he could last until the final showdown.
Best was curious of Wang Tong's pressuring defensive strategy; he had never seen anything like that before!
This iron defense was controlled by a person with the maximum APM of above five hundred and seventy, who at the same time possessed a robust recon team and a great awareness of the overall situation. Basically, Wang Tong was unrivaled if he chose not to go offensive and kept maintaining a strong defense instead.
Finally, Flash couldn't wait any longer and chose to attack one of Wang Tong's new and weaker base. He had to seize this opportunity to attack if he didn't want to wait until the final showdown.
Students of Capth immediately cheered in excitement. Finally, Flash had made a move instead of remaining still. The match had been quite boring as both players were acting like two cowards, and all they did was just checking on each other instead of attacking; it was kind of embarrassing.
However, Flash decision surprised Bisu. Although Flash had a good perspective, Bisu was able to understand the situation better since he was a spectator. Apparently, this was not the chance to strike yet. Nevertheless, this was the only opportunity Flash had, because if he chose not to strike now, he'd be owned by Wang Tong in no time for sure.
The battle has gotten intense as soon as it began. Wang Tong had a huge team of Heavy Armed Units that served as his defense line, not to forget he was also armed with his precise control. Controlling speed was all that mattered at this point. With his super APM, Wang Tong would be able to handle Flash's attacks while continuing to expand his operating maneuvers.
However, Flash still chose to go full force even though he was struggling to destroy Wang Tong's base, and within minutes, the casualties of Flash's army had increased drastically. Not only that, he was unable to destroy Wang Tong's base. Flash also realized that he would soon be surrounded by Wang Tong's troops if this continued. Hence, he chose to retreat after sacrificing a great amount of his units.
Carl and the rest of the alliance candidates cheered; the chance of subduing Flash at one fling was finally here!
Meanwhile, the students of Capth were fairly anxious. Kal even noticed that he was sweating a lot while watching this match; he was no longer depressed about his defeat.
It was a scary battle indeed!
Wang Tong's strategy was to tempt his opponent to attack him, and if his temptation succeeded, it would be game over for his opponent. Even Flash could no longer wait and charged towards Wang Tong, which was definitely a huge mistake.
Everyone was expecting Wang Tong to strike back. However, Wang Tong didn't do so. Instead, he regrouped his troops and carried on with his defensive play. Wang Tong's legion was expanding again!
That was indeed one hell of a defense!
To Flash, that was definitely a close shave. Although Flash did lose a great number of troops, he was given enough time to regenerate and replenish. After a short while, Flash had gained back the number of troops he lost. He was really lucky, and Wang Tong had just missed his chance to end this.
Yet, Flash wasn't happy at all. Instead, he was also hoping for Wang Tong to attack him. In fact, Flash would be given a chance to turn the table if Wang Tong chose to strike back. But Wang Tong had noticed that somehow and didn't go after him.
Nevertheless, Flash couldn't help but wonder if Wang Tong was really trying to defend all the way until the final showdown, or was he an idiot.
If that were the case, he would focus on technology development and assemble his armada as soon as possible. After all, Flash was very confident in his own skills, and he believed that he would still have a chance to win even though Wang Tong was very good in controlling maneuvers.
But if he really decided to focus on technology development, what should he do about his defense? Flash was well aware that his defense was not as good as Wang Tong's, and there would be a temporary opening once he switched his strategy. If Wang Tong was able to foresee the timing to strike in this short period of time, it could mean grave danger to Flash.
Flash knew that acting indecisive was very dangerous in a battle, so he immediately decided to change his strategy and focus on technology development instead! Flash also decided not to provoke Wang Tong anymore because he would never be able to get past his tough defense, and he had lost enough troops by doing that just now. Wang Tong obviously didn't have the intention to strike either. The situation had developed into a race of technology development, and whoever finished first would have a bigger chance to win.
Flash was completely focused on his technology development; he was getting ready for a final showdown!
Meanwhile, Bisu and Kal were grabbing their fists firmly. In the beginning, they were worried that Flash would be tricked by Wang Tong. Luckily, Flash noticed that and immediately changed his strategy. However, Wang Tong was still busy developing basic troops instead of developing his technology.
This was a chance for Flash to turn the table!
The students of Capth saw a shimmering ray of hope!
Wang Tong's timid defensive strategy had backfired on him!
Flash's main troops were seen searching for a chance to pressurize Wang Tong, ready to attack at any moment. He had stopped developing troops and totally focused on technology development. In the meantime, he purposely acted like he was trying to look for trouble by flying his troops over Wang Tong's base, Flash did that in order to create an illusion of him expanding his army.
Furthermore, it would be a good way to lure Wang Tong out since he would need to make sure if Flash was hiding his troops around Wang Tong's base; this had turned into a psychological warfare!
As it turned out, Flash had also outraced Wang Tong's technology development since he had been focusing on defense throughout the match.
Flash's perspective, precise judgment and decisiveness were the reasons why he was the greatest Battlecraft Combat player in Earth Confederation. In fact, those were the requirements that every player should embrace.
Perspective was indeed the most critical skill to be mastered.
Wang Tong's advantage would be taken away by Flash in less than five minutes; the battle of brains was getting more and more intense!
Flash had finally revealed his dominance!
Students of Capth were very excited when they saw a chance of winning. The match had been going on for more than an hour, yet it only felt like ten minutes. Nevertheless, they were ready to win in any minute.
Meanwhile, Bisu, Best, Carl and the other candidates were breathing heavily. If Flash were able to survive this crucial period of time, he would be the winner for sure.
All of a sudden, Wang Tong changed his strategy, deploying all of his troops from the base at once!
The face of Bisu and his other teammates turned pale immediately, because Wang Tong had chosen to strike at the perfect period of time, the most vulnerable period for Flash's army.
It wasn't a taunt, but an all-out-attack!
Wang Tong was not planning for a face-to-face battle with Flash, but directly aiming for his technology development instead!
Things were already too late for Flash. The defense of his base was not as tough as Wang Tong's. Hence, there wasn't enough time for him to stall at all. All he could do at this critical situation was to destroy as many troops as he could.
Flash then deployed his main team and charged towards Wang Tong's base, but Wang Tong's iron defense would be able to buy him enough time to stall, and even though his technology development was weaker, he possessed a great number of troops. But most importantly, Wang Tong had struck before Flash could complete his technology development.
The virtual space was completely ridden in the flames of war.
Flash sighed as soon as his technology development center was destroyed. In fact, he knew that he was going to lose when Wang Tong unleashed his attacks. He was defeated by an absolute suppression from his opponent, and luck had nothing to do with it at all.
Flash chose to give up even though he still had a few bases and a decent number of troops. He was too tired to further embarrass himself. His fate was sealed.
He was completely owned by an incredible opponent.
Finally, the undefeatable Flash had fallen.
As the system announce the final result, everyone froze and remained silent, as if the time had stopped.
Wang Tong closed his eyes and recalled what happened a while ago. In fact, the previous success of his offensive strategy in PA had given him the idea of going defensive this time, and he couldn't believe that it worked too!
Wang Tong treasured rare opportunities like this. Only strong opponents like Flash would be able to stimulate his inspirations. Eventually, all of his intensive training had paid off very well, and battling against amazing opponents like Rhin, Bisu and Flash had helped him improve dramatically.
Nevertheless, a number of flaws still existed within his battling methods and strategies. But after achieving great successes, his next step would be focusing on the improvements of his strategies and also to increase his battle experiences.
As Wang Tong opened his eyes, he noticed that Flash was already waiting for him outside his control room. Wang Tong was quite surprised.
"Congratulations." Flash kept his cool even though he lost. He lost fair and square, and although it might sound strange to the others, he was actually quite happy for being defeated by a player that possessed the same level of strength like him. He was no longer lonely in being at the top of the peak!
"Thank you very much!" Wang Tong accepted Flash's compliment happily.
Roar…!
Carl and the rest of the team rushed onto the stage and had him surrounded.
"You did it man, you're the best! We won!"
"It's unbelievable! I can't believe he really did it!"
"Yup, we have defeated Capth in this round! I'm happy to pinch your face if you still think that this is just a dream!" Zhang Kui laughed.