Chapter 101: The Cunning Gardener
Translator: Double_L Editor: Tehrn
The students of Bernabeu were stunned by the lethality of the Tactics of the Enchantress and were also startled by the powerful and beautiful lady in front of their eyes; yet everything that happened was within their expectations. Ma Xiaoru whirled her sword and unleashed her tactics, creating a path through the Zergs. However, more Zergs seemed to emerge in order to close the gap, causing the “wall” of Zergs to get thicker and made it even more difficult for those partic.i.p.ants who were left behind.
Ma Xiaoru dashed across the bridge before the Zergs could close the gap, as she was about to do so, w.a.n.g Tong made it by the bridge right on time and followed Ma Xiaoru’s movements without hesitation, his timing was perfect.
w.a.n.g Tong was able to sense the aura of the Tactics of the Enchantress before that, immediately, he knew what had happened as Ma Xiaoru unleashed a burst of GN Force, so he took the advantage to follow her across the bridge.
Ding! Ding!
The bell rang twice, Ma Xiaoru and w.a.n.g Tong were the firsts to reach the goal, followed up by Apache with a two minutes time difference; apparently, he was stalled by a bunch of Zergs attracted by w.a.n.g Tong.
Students of Bernabeu were angered as they saw w.a.n.g Tong acting carefree on the screen, “Where did this as*hole come from?”
“Taking advantage of the others, how shameful!”
“He didn’t do anything back there!”
“That cunning little fox just happened to follow Ma Xiaoru across the bridge!”
w.a.n.g Tong was able to take that advantage all thanks to Ma Xiaoru’s powerful Tactics of the Enchantress which created such a huge chance. Moreover, he could pull that off because he was blessed with the agility of an eel and a perfect sense of timing.
Martyrus gasped in surprise when he saw w.a.n.g Tong followed behind Ma Xiaoru, he knew he was going to lose this round because of Ma Xiaoru’s partic.i.p.ation. He was surprised by w.a.n.g Tong’s swift and slippery actions; however, he was able to reach the goal because of Ma Xiaoru’s aid. Nevertheless, luck was a part of one’s actual strength; Martyrus lost fair and square!
No wonder Samantha selected w.a.n.g Tong, he got to have some potential to be one of their candidates. Martyrus had a feeling that things were starting to get interesting.
As the Zergs were swirling and gathering around Apache, he raised his Horseslayer up in the air, and streams of GN Force began to gather like a lightning rod.
Slas.h.!.+
Woosh…
Apache became one with his Horseslayer and charged through the Zergs like a drill, slas.h.i.+ng every opposing Zerg into two. It was indeed a brutal technique, no matter who was his opponent, he would vanquish with a single slash; one shall stand, one shall fall.
Apache reached the goal like a hurricane, the remaining Zergs retreated and waited for the next target. Apache sheathed his Horseslayer and adjusted his breathing, then turned his eyes toward w.a.n.g Tong and Ma Xiaoru. He had underestimated the power of the Tactics of the Enchantress, and he totally had no idea how w.a.n.g Tong made it to the finish line. He began to have a strong interest in both of them.
w.a.n.g Tong glanced at his low-cla.s.s blade, then he looked at their long sword and Horseslayer. At that moment only, he realized that partic.i.p.ants were able to choose their weapon according to their personal needs, before that, he thought everyone would be using the same weapon. The system gave him that weapon because he had only been using blades like this in previous matches; if he had known earlier, he would have asked for Excalibur.
The clock was ticking, gradually approaching to the time limit of thirty minutes. Suddenly, a loud bang occurred, and someone blasted toward the ground like a cannonball.
It was Cao Yi.
He didn’t intend to charge through the “wall” of Zergs because he wasn’t as good as Ma Xiaoru and Apache at fighting, and Cao Yi knew he would lose if he charged abruptly. However, everyone had their methods of getting the job done; Cao Yi gathered his GN Force around his legs, then shot himself across like a cannonball, yet it wasn’t a perfect touchdown with his a.s.s. .h.i.tting the ground first.
The pain was excruciating, it was so painful that he almost fell unconscious. w.a.n.g Tong went over immediately to help him up, and Cao Yi looked blur as he got up.
“That was crazy, dude, why don’t you try a touchdown with your head next time?” w.a.n.g Tong joked.
Cao Yi looked confused, “Touching down with my head? That’s suicidal! Wait… actually, he might be right, the dynamics of the blast would increase with my head touching down first.”
“Thanks, w.a.n.g Tong. I’ll think about it!” Cao Yi replied in a serious manner.
“For G.o.d Sake, I was just joking. Please be careful next time.” w.a.n.g Tong was almost left speechless by the crazy dude. He didn’t expect to see another weird person outside Ayrlarng.
“Okay, time’s up! I believe the others are not coming, so I think we’re good to go,” Apache stretched himself as he spoke, he had been waiting boringly for more than ten minutes.
Even though the score was 2:2, partic.i.p.ants of Ayrlarng took less time to reach the finish line; hence the victory of round one belonged to Ayrlarng.
w.a.n.g Tong who first looked like a n.o.body began to give Martyrus headaches. That wasn’t good, he had to be more careful about the later rounds.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the Intel Programming Battle would begin in ten minutes after a short break.”
Martyrus calmed down, everyone needed a rest after the exciting match.
“Princ.i.p.al Samantha, please help yourself with some tea, I brew it myself,” Martyrus said. As the commander of Bernabeu, he had to relax and remain calm no matter how tense was the atmosphere, even if he had to fake it.
Samantha smelled a refres.h.i.+ng aroma and commented, “It smells fantastic, I believe you’re using the latest blend from Andromeda, am I right?”
“Haha, that’s right. However, it should taste different as I made my very own blend using fresh tea leaves that just arrived recently. Honestly speaking, I believe students are like tea leaves, their taste would vary depends on the one who brews it. Nevertheless, your trump card was quite a surprise,” Martyrus said while enjoying his cup of tea.
“He was lucky, that kid is no good except for his brain. He won because of pure luck.”
“Haha, you’re too humble Princ.i.p.al Samantha. In my opinion, that kid is quite talented aside from being smart. Unlike those who would strike at the right timing, I noticed that he was spending his time to observe the terrain, probably a.n.a.lyzing the species of Zergs and their distribution. I believe he must be very good with the ecology of Zergs and very familiar with their habits; he even knows how to blend in with the smell of Zergs, not everyone would know about that.”
“Thank you for the kind praise Princ.i.p.al Martyrus, he is a smart kid indeed.”
“Haha, those who could flex and bend according to different situations would have what it takes to go places,” Martyrus’ comment was right on, w.a.n.g Tong’s speed and confidence on his timing during the bridge crossing had proven that he wasn’t an easy opponent to be underestimated.
It was more than a praise though, deep down Martyrus was aware that somehow w.a.n.g Tong preferred using sly tricks even though he was quite talented, which meant that he wasn’t good at tough battles. Martyrus was relieved as he believed that he had uncovered all of Ayrlarng’s hidden cards.
Intel Programming Battle has begun. Ayrlarng sent out Rumi to challenge Bernabeu’s Lu Qiqi. Bernabeu was expecting an easy win, but everyone was shocked when they saw the tenacious resistance from the timid and bashful Rumi. Her performance was ferocious like she had taken on another personality.
The intense battle went on for nearly thirty minutes; unfortunately, Rumi still lost in the end. She was talented, but Lu Qiqi was better than her in terms of skills and experiences. Even though Rumi’s resilience was slightly better, Lu Qiqi’s perspective of the overall situation was stronger than Rumi; hence Bernabeu won fair and square. Nevertheless, it was a close match.
End of round two: Ayrlarng 1, Bernabeu 1.