Chapter 1237: Thunderclap’s Focus
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
"Ah, the older generation really is…" Dai Yanqi was also dumbstruck. She had already put her guard up. Who would have thought that Happy would turn away so decisively just because of the words she said? This sort of reason wasn't logical! But the problem was that it truly happened, and Dai Yanqi couldn't help but feel a bit afraid. She hadn't ruined her own team's rhythm, right?
"Concentrate. Defend your position well and get back on track!" Xiao Shiqin messaged the team chat. Seeing the captain's words, Dai Yanqi seemed to have been hit by a tranquilizer and calmed down. Soon afterwards, her Elementalist Firebird Messenger hurried forward.
"Be careful of them switching targets, " Xiao Shiqin added.
"Switching targets?" Dai Yanqi was a bit surprised.
The crowd was in an even more of an uproar, because just when Xiao Shiqin typed out those words, Ye Xiu had typed in Happy's team chat: turn!
All of Happy suddenly turned around and switched back to Dai Yanqi's Firebird Messenger. Their shift towards Xiao Shiqin had been a bait. Unfortunately, Xiao Shiqin saw through their little trick and promptly warned Dai Yanqi no to cut in too deep. Dai Yanqi had originally readied a Teleport, and the moment she paused because of the warning, she saw Happy suddenly turn around and rush towards her.
"How crafty," Dai Yanqi wasn't a chatterbox, but she was among those who liked to talk in matches. As she grumbled, Firebird Messenger quickly retreated. Her staff flashed with lightning and a Lightning Bolt shot out. It was the very first attack in this team battle.
Lightning spells were fast, but in the end, it wasn't as immediate as firing a bullet. It only took the blink of an eye for elemental power to condense into electricity, but it still took some time, enough to react to. To pro players, a window for reacting and a close enough distance to complete the necessary action was more than enough.
Firebird Messenger's Lightning Bolt pierced through Happy's formation, but it didn't hit anyone. Following afterwards, Dai Yanqi had Firebird Messenger activate Absolute Focus and cast the Level 75 skill, Fire Bird. A Fire Bird formed at the tip of her staff and flew out with with its wings spread. The heat waves swept over the grasslands, wilting the once tall and straight stalks of green grass. Stalk after stalk bent over to half the size of their surrounding friends.
Compared to Lightning Bold, the area covered by Fire Bird was much larger, so Happy could not just open a path for the spell to pass by. Since it was no longer possible to continue maintaining their formation, Happy split up to the left and right. As the Fire Bird flew, the heat waves blurred their figures.
From the rear, sounds of machinery turning could be heard. They hadn't targeted Xiao Shiqin, instead, it was Xiao Shiqin's Life Extinguisher who took the initiative to look for them. The knee-high grass hid lots of the ground machines. Happy could only see rustles from wherever the machines passed by, but they didn't know what exactly was hidden in the grass.
Firebird Messenger retreated as Life Extinguisher advanced.
But Firebird Messenger didn't back away too hard, and Life Extinguisher didn't advance too fiercely either. They seemed to be intentionally leaving Happy some space. These two long-ranged classes carefully controlled the distance, maintaining a certain gap between them.
The unknown machines traversing along the ground were getting nearer and nearer from multiple directions, arriving at different times.
Landmine Quake!
Fang Rui's Boundless Sea leaped into the air and slammed his two hands towards the ground. A wave of formless and colorless qi could be seen from its effects on the grass as it spread out towards the surroundings with Boundless Sea at the center.
Boom boom boom boom!
When the rustling grass and the grass wave collided, fire and light exploded into the air, creating a plume of smoke. Fang Rui had timed it well. He didn't care what the machines were and simply let out a Landquake Mine to destroy them.
But… those weren't all of them.
Who knew how many machines Xiao Shiqin had put into this wave. There were still three rustles in the grass. Perhaps they hadn't arrived yet, or perhaps Xiao Shiqin had maneuvered them away, but either way, they had avoided Boundless Sea's earthquake and started charging towards Happy again.
Qi Bullet!
Boundless Sea punched in the direction of a rustle.
However, Qi Bullet's flight speed was nothing worth noting. The mechanical tool sped up and easily evaded it.
Bang! Bang!
Lord Grm's Myriad Manifestations Umbrella transformed into its gun form and fired twice. But under the cover of the grass, it was difficult to get a good aim. After two shots, the rustling was still there.
Ta ta ta ta ta...
Su Mucheng saw that Lord Grim's few shots didn't hit, so she had Dancing Rain use Gatling Gun. The stream of bullets chased after the rustling grass in a line, finally shooting it into a smoke and fire. Su Mucheng didn't stop. While her skill was still in effect, she immediately switched to a different direction. However, Xiao Shiqin was clearly wary of Happy catching them all in one fell swoop. He had all three of his machines move along paths far from each other. Even though Su Mucheng quickly switched directions, she didn't have much time left on her skill. After a few bullets, her Gatling Gun stopped.
However...
Ta ta ta ta ta...
Lord Grim's Gatling Gun fired. His attack path followed along Dancing Rain's previous path. If you didn't look at the starting points of the bullets, it was practically impossible to tell that this attack had actually been done by two people.
Boom! The machine on that path exploded. When Lord Grim turned his gun, he still had half of Gatling Gun's duration left. Bullets chased after the last remaining mechanical tool, but who would have thought that it wouldn't be enough! Everyone could clearly see that the bullets landed on the right patch of grass, but the mechanical tool seemed to be perfectly fine!
Mechanical tools weren't like summoned creatures with health. They would go boom with just a knock. A bullet hitting, let alone multiple, was enough. The only explanation was that it didn't hit, but… the bullets clearly landed on it, unless...
Ye Xiu suddenly reacted, but it was too late. A patch of grass rustled in front of them, and then something suddenly leaped up out of the grass.
This wasn't a mechanical tool that traversed on the ground. It was an aerial Air Drop. However, Xiao Shiqin had it fly extremely low so that it would be covered by the grass. But because it wasn't touching the ground, Ye Xiu's previous attacks missed because of the slight deviation in position. At this moment, Air Drop was suddenly in front of them. Its stomach opened up and was just about to drop some bombs...
Boom!
The Air Drop suddenly exploded before it could drop any bombs. Amidst the black smoke, a white flame could clearly be seen.
Sacred Fire!
Prediction and timing were An Wenyi's strengths. At the most crucial moment, a calm Sacred Fire block the Air Drop.
The crowd applauded.
This wave of machines had happened in just a few short seconds. All of Team Happy had worked together to intercept these machines. Their teamwork had been beautiful.
"Pay attention. The other side's Assassin has disappeared…" Fang Rui typed in the chat.
Fang Xuecai's Assassin Demon Talent had been between Xiao Shiqin's Life Extinguisher and Cheng Tai's Shattering Wind, but he was now nowhere to be seen.
Was he crawling through the grass, or was he using the Thief skill on his weapon, Stealth? Ye Xiu and the others started searching the grass. No matter which option he had chosen, any movement in the grass would leave behind a trace. The grass was only knee-high. The Mechanic's mechanical tools could hide there quite cleanly, but it wasn't so easy to hide an adult.
Demon Talent was gone right now, but Dai Yanqi's and Xiao Shiqin's pincer was still ongoing. While Happy was busy cleaning up Life Extinguisher's machines, Firebird Messenger took the opportunity to cast two high-level spells. Without trying to make any predictions, lightning and fire AoE spells were cast directly above Happy's heads. From the looks of it, she wasn't trying to stop Happy from advancing, but trying to blast Happy's formation apart.
A pincer from the front and rear. An Assassin gone without a trace. Chen Tai's Grappler, Shattering Wind, was the closest to Happy. He was constantly moving, and even though he had yet to make an attack, his presence alone gave them quite a bit of pressure. Happy had to dodge the attacks from the front and rear, while also making sure they weren't grabbed by Shattering Wind. If a Grappler grabbed them, the formation would certainly fall apart. Shattering Wind was moving around, looking for an opening. As Happy dodged, they also tried to see if they could swallow up Shattering Wind. However, Thunderclap had Xiao Shiqin watching over. His judgement towards tactics was clear and precise. Only the crowd knew just how dense Thunderclap's chat was. The density of messages was not lower than that of their match against Blue Rain.
Was Xiao Shiqin planning on using these varied and complex tactics to outpace Happy?
However, Happy's leader was Ye Xiu, not Yu Wenzhou. Their tactical skill was the same, but in terms of hand speed, if you said Ye Xiu was superior to Yu Wenzhou, then even Yu Wenzhou's most loyal fans could only concede tearfully.
Why? Why did Thunderclap need to make things so complicated? Xiao Shiqin made numerous commands, and every player's movements and attack rhythms were constantly changing. Not only were they adjusting according to Xiao Shiqn's instructions, but they had their own plans too. Thunderclap had clearly prepared this set of tactics.
What exactly is this?
"I get it!" Li Yibo suddenly shouted. His skill level was still far higher than the average player's. He saw through Thunderclap's tactical intentions first. But right after he yelled it out, he immediately felt regret. He was exposing himself too much! Why am I so overjoyed? I should be calmly explaining the thought behind Thunderclap's tactics. That would have made me look even more knowledgeable!
Unfortunately, the deed had been done. Pan Lin helped lead him in: "Coach Li, you've seen through Thunderclap's intentions?"
"Haha, I had a feeling earlier, but now I'm certain. Thunderclap is doing exactly what I had thought," Li Yibo said mysteriously.
"Please guide us Coach Li." How could Pan Lin not know of Li Yibo's cunning plot. In his heart, he was looking down on him, but out loud, he had to praise him.
"Thunderclap's strategy is similar to their one against Blue Rain with lots of variations. But when facing Blue Rain, they were mainly focused on varying and adjusting their tactics. Right now, they're more focused on their attack positioning and variation in rhythm."
"The purpose is the same. They're targeting a certain player on the opposing team. Against Blue Rain, their target was Yu Wenzhou. If Yu Wenzhou is unable to give out enough commands on time, Blue Rain would have trouble keeping up with Thunderclap's fast-changing tactics. Against Happy, their target is An Wenyi, Happy's healer!" Li Yibo said with certainty.