Pan Lin looked at Li Yibo; Li Yibo looked at the sky.

Ye Xiu, Fang Rui, and Wei Chen's trash talking had completely disrupted his judgement. He rarely dared to make comments on Happy's actions, and now he was even more afraid to speak up.

It wasn't just the commentator and guest whose judgements were disrupted, but also Huang Shaotian himself.

Was it a trap?

No matter how confident someone was, they would inevitably have such uncertainties at times like this. The path he had planned out for Triple Slash immediately became foggy. If Windward Formation was hiding there, then Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash or Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain might be ready to ambush him too.

Would a ghost boundary suddenly appear in front, or would cannonfire envelop the area?

Huang Shaotian, the expert opportunist, conducted himself resolutely, but in this moment, he began to hesitate.

However, there was no other way out.

Ye Xiu and Fang Rui were closing in from behind, so no matter what was waiting for him ahead, he had to try.

In that moment, Huang Shaotian understood that he had probably really fallen into their trap, or perhaps he had made a move that forced his opponents to move their pieces. Either way, he wasn't in a good situation at all.

It seemed like he'd have to wait and see if there was an opportunity to act!

Triple Slash continued forth, Troubling Rain's form merging with the sword light around him. However, Huang Shaotian couldn't solely focus on the path ahead, because the two behind him both had ranged skills, so Huang Shaotian had to make sure to guard his own back as well.

He turned around. Speak of the devil!

Boundless Sea raised his hands, forming a loose grab. This was the position for Cloud-Grasping Fist.

As a Blade Master, Huang Shaotian had no way of interrupting it, and it wasn't going to be easy dodging Cloud-Grasping Fist at this range. The Cloud-Grasping Fist's qi energy had yet to fully form. Everything could only be determined from the moment the skill was fired. In that moment, the Qi Master would have to use their hands to form the skill, and that was also when the direction of the Cloud-Grasping Fist would be locked.

As for Lord Grim? The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella was held parallel to the ground, the umbrella tip drawn back and energy gathered at the mouth of gun that was exposed. He was using the Launcher skill set into the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella's gun form, Laser Rifle. It was a charged shot too.

That was when Huang Shaotian noticed a change in lighting. He spared a moment to look upwards, seeing dark purple clouds gathering overhead, getting thicker and thicker. Warlock skill Chaotic Rain was prepared to fall.

Even as skilled as Huang Shaotian was, he was at a bit of a loss as to what to do in this situation.

Ye Xiu, Fang Rui, Wei Chen.

The three characters simultaneously attacked, and none of these skills were instant. One was charged, the other two cast, and they were all placed clearly in front of him.

Three skills. Which would activate first, and which would activate later?

Not even Huang Shaotian could figure that out! Preparing their attacks so openly like that… It didn't have the abruptness of instant attacks, but it created huge psychological pressure. Even with his incredible reaction speed, their little trick had Huang Shaotian struggling.

It's coming!

Boundless Sea's hands suddenly slammed closed and Cloud Grasping Fist's invisible qi energy flew out. But at the same time, the muzzle of Lord Grim's Myriad Manifestations Umbrella flashed, Laser Rifle roaring out. However, the moment the laser shot forth, Lord Grim shook the muzzle a little. This small detail had Huang Shaotian unable to figure out where the Laser Rifle was actually aimed.

What a b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!!

Huang Shaotian was so harried that he could only trash talk to himself.

Roll!

Troubling Rain rolled across the ground, but Huang Shaotian had no idea if he could really dodge all of these attacks. By now, he was acting entirely according to his instinct.

Boom!

Laser Rifle brushed by, a miss!

As for Boundless Sea's Cloud Grasping Fist, it had been fully completed by now, and Troubling Rain's form was still within range. Cloud Grasping Fist… missed as well!

Huang Shaotian felt his spirits soar, but then suddenly, there was a light "splash" sound that came from Troubling Rain's shoulder. Like an omen, it was followed by a relentless downpour of rain. Cursed purple droplets of Chaotic Rain splashed onto the ground and Troubling Rain.

In the end he failed to dodge them all completely!

Huang Shaotian sighed, not bothering to rush to act.

Chaotic Rain did very little damage. The crux of the skill was the Confusion that it could inflict.

Under Confusion, the character wouldn't go crazy under the system's control, but the orders that the player inputted would be messed up.

Trying to make the character go left might would make it go right; trying to make it go forwards might instead have it backing up.

If it was just that, then things would be easy to deal with. With training, it wouldn't be hard to learn how to play with reversed controls, but the problem was that it wasn't so easy to deal with Glory's Confusion. The reversed controls came and went at random; that was truly called confusing, and there was no way to truly master it. With the same reason, it was impossible to execute skills with precision either.

The only thing you count count on to counter a Confusion was luck.

However, was luck enough to deal with his current opponents?

In that moment, Huang Shaotian fell into despair. His plan had been completely ruined. Not only had his reconnaissance mission failed, he hadn't been able to lure Happy into Blue Rain's ambush either.

And he had no choice but to ask for aid from his teammates. This wasn't a time to let pride and dignity get in the way. If he died like this, then it would be a huge and direct blow to his team. Meanwhile, there was a far better, though uncertain, chance with letting Blue Rain charge in.

Huang Shaotian chaotically controlled his character, but no matter confused or not, he had to keep his character moving. He couldn't just stay there like a sitting duck. At the same time, he was already composing a message in the team chat. He had to explain the situation in as much detail as possible while requesting aid.

Providing aid didn't mean that as soon as Blue Rain's members arrived, Troubling Rain would be able to escape danger. Happy would naturally do their best to prevent him from being saved. This was a kind of pin, and Blue Rain would need a plan to counter this pin.

Hopefully they'll get here on time...

Huang Shaotian sent the message. Uncharacteristically, there wasn't a single unnecessary word. He briefly and clearly explained his situation.

"Isn't it a bit late to have only just sent a message?"

Who would've thought that someone would reply as soon as his message appeared?

Then, a white light swirled around Troubling Rain and cleansed his Confusion.

This was the Paladin skill, Purify, and there was only one Paladin in today's match: Soul Speaker, played by Blue Rain's Xu Jingxi.

"I found the old captain!" Lu Hanwen's message popped up in Blue Rain's chat, just the sight of it eliciting joy in them.

"Kill" Yu Wenzhou's order was curt and direct, seeming cruel and emotionless. In reality, with his hand speed, he would naturally make sure to use as few words as possible when giving orders in battle. Cruel and emotionless… that was called thinking too much.

The sound of a blade piercing the air rang out at once.

A Blade Master's swordplay was generally very swift, but Lu Hanwen was using a greatsword. This attack of his was imposing, comparable to Berserker.

Is everyone here already? Huang Shaotian didn't stop his controls. He knew that his teammates had probably already been preparing to give support, otherwise they wouldn't be able to arrive so timely. However, he didn't have the time or energy to be moved about it now. Blue Rain's aid was probably within Happy's expectations. If so, then what tricks had Happy prepared against Blue Rain's full team?

"Careful, Hanwen!" Huang Shaotian could only hear the sound of sword swings; he couldn't see what was happening over there. However, considering his understanding of his old captain Wei Chen, there was no way that cunny, slippery old fox would make dealing with him easy. It wasn't a trap or anything, was it?

"I'm keeping watch!" That was when a single reply from Yu Wenzhou dispersed Huang Shaotian's worries. With him keeping watch, then everything was under control, right?

"Over here, Huang Shao!" Zheng Xuan's Spitfire Bullet Rain appeared in Huang Shaotian's field of vision, throwing skills in the opposite direction of where Huang Shaotian was facing to help provide cover for his escape.

Blue Rain was displaying their teamwork, so what about Happy? How would they deal with this situation that they should've been prepared for?

All the spectators looked on awkwardly.

At such a crucial moment of time, Happy's team members were still relentlessly trash talking Wei Chen, reminding him that it wouldn't look good if his junior to defeated him.

"You're twice his age!" Ye Xiu reminded.

"More than," Fang Rui corrected.

"If you get cut down so easily then that would be quite the embarra.s.sment," Ye Xiu said.

"Indeed."

This time, Wei Chen didn't reply. Naturally, this wasn't because he was alright with being mocked like this, but it was because he couldn't spare any effort into arguing with these two while Lu Hanwen's greatsword Blade Master was hara.s.sing him. Plus, he could clearly see another character standing not too far off, watching on predatorily.

Swoksaar.

The memories of his past resurfaced.

That winter over ten years ago, Glory launched. The ma.s.s promotion of the game had all those online gamers on the edges of their seats. Wei Chen, even now, could still see that winding line of people, all waiting to buy their first Glory account card.

It was on that day, standing in that line, after waiting for a full four hours, that Wei Chen successfully obtained an account card. Then, this card was given an ident.i.ty: Warlock Swoksaar.

That was the very same Swoksaar in front of him.

Standing not too far, but not too close, as if watching the world below from the heavens, like a general on the field, always keeping track of everything that was happening.

The change in player seemed to have changed the character as well.

This was Swoksaar, yet it was no longer his Swoksaar. He had a marvelous successor, who had managed to gain glory far beyond what Wei Chen had accomplished.

All those years ago, he was the captain, the ace player, but against this boy who could count as his student, he had lost.

As for today? The position of captain, the ace, had all been taken by the other, while he had fallen from grace. He was late to the game, so late that he broke the record for the oldest player in the scene. However, this time, he was the challenger. From that day onwards, he knew that there would come such a day. Like an usurper, he rose to the challenge against this man who stood at the the top, who was no longer a boy.