Chapter 352 – China VS USA (Fourth Game)
Li Cangyu, Ling Xuefeng and Qin Mo cooperated in the team battle to complete the outbreak of the summoners. The power was amazing and all opponents were disabled in one breath, causing the domestic audience feel excited. The live broadcast room was filled with "666" and Kou Hongyi spoke excitedly, "The lineup of three summoners is really strong. They broke out at the same time and directly wiped out 90% of the opponents" blood!"
Yu Bing also calmed down and carefully a.n.a.lyzed, "In principle, the three summoners have both control and outbreak. The combination is really strong but there are preconditions. The three people must have enough understanding since their summoned pets can easily influence each other. If the location where the pets are summoned isn"t good, it will block the eyes of the teammates and become a liability."
Kou Hongyi agreed. "There are so many pets that it can become chaotic! Today this lineup could be seen in the World Compet.i.tion but I don"t think any team in the domestic Miracle League can come up with it."
Yu Bing glanced at the big screen where the score had become 2:1. She confidently said, "The national team"s captain and vice-captain have pulled together the third game. The fourth game is the Chinese team"s home advantage and they can certainly hold it!"
At present, the US team lost the third game but they still had the big advantage of two points. The next game was still their match point. If the next game was won, the US team could win the championships with a score of 3:1.
Thus, the fourth game was crucial!
If the Chinese team could withstand the pressure in the fourth game, the score would be equalized and the two sides would enter the final decisive stage. On the contrary, if the Chinese team lost in the fourth game, all efforts in the previous period would be wasted.
Both Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng had played the last game and the players who would be sent in the fourth game became the focus of the domestic audience.
***
Li Cangyu returned to the rest of the team and they took the initiative to clap. Su Guangmo smiled boldly, "Three summoners are terrible. We should be glad that Cat G.o.d and Captain Ling aren"t teammates!"
Tan s.h.i.tian joked, "If Cat G.o.d teams up with Captain Ling, should we join the rest of the teams?"
Zhang Shaohui raised his hand in agreement. "Yes!"
"Rest a.s.sured, we will only be opponents in the domestic league. Right, Xuefeng?" Li Cangyu glanced over at Ling Xuefeng and happened to see his smile. The two people smiled at each other and Ling Xuefeng patted Li Cangyu"s shoulder. Then he raised a serious topic, "Who will be going in the fourth round?"
Li Cangyu stopped smiling and replied, "The fourth game is our home game and there is no doubt that the map will be the Eight-Trigram Array. The key is who will be the commander…" After a moment of thought, Li Cangyu stated, "Captain Lou."
The cold-looking man immediately stood up. "Yes."
Li Cangyu smiled and said, "You will be the commander."
Lou Wushuang didn"t hesitate and simply nodded. "Good."
His personality had always been like this and his way of speaking was often concise. His expression was cold and he never laughed when others were joking. He had an indifferent att.i.tude whenever encountering anything.
Li Cangyu felt that at the crucial moment, only Lou Wushuang could turn the tide.
Su Guangmo was fierce and violent while Tan s.h.i.tian was resourceful. These two people could serve as commanders in key games but their tactical style wasn"t suitable for the Eight-Trigram Array map. Meanwhile, Lou Wushuang"s a.s.sa.s.sination could play an effect in the maze.
Captain Lou was named and Zhang Shaohui consciously ran to his brother"s side and smiled at Li Cangyu. "Cat G.o.d, since my brother is the commander, I"m also playing right?"
"Of course."
The Lou Zhang combination couldn"t be torn down, especially in a key match. The tacit understanding between the two brothers would be a weapon to attack the US team. As for the remaining candidates, Li Cangyu pondered for a moment before finally naming, "Chu Yan, Zhu Qingyue, Yu Pingsheng, you three go."
The lineup for the fourth game was completed. Chu Yan and Zhu Qingyue"s psychics, the Lou Zhang a.s.sa.s.sins and then the berserker Yu Pingsheng who was very strong in defense.
The concept of the Eight-Trigram Array map was originally proposed by Chu Yan and he was the best psychic auxiliary in the country. He was sensitive to various stats and once accompanied by his apprentice, he could use the map against the US team.
Li Cangyu laid out the lineup and then patted Lou Wushuang on the shoulder. "I"ll leave it to you."
These words were simply but were actually incredibly heavy. This game couldn"t be lost or their previous efforts would be undone. The pressure on Lou Wushuang"s shoulder definitely wasn"t lower than Li Cangyu in the previous game.
In fact, Lou Wushuang and Li Cangyu were the same type of people. This was why Li Cangyu chose him at the key point.
Su Guangmo, Xie Shurong, Cheng Wei and the others debuted at the same time but Lou Wushuang was two years behind them.
During the time when Su Guangmo led the Flying Feathers team to win the championship, when Cheng Wei won the Best Newcomer Award and when the rookie Tan s.h.i.tian debuted and led the Time team to the top of the league, Lou Wushuang was still unknown.
The Ghost Spirits team made a late effort and won the championship in the fifth season. Every step of the Lou Zhang combination was very solid.
Lou Wushuang"s heart was definitely the most tenacious among the young captains.
He led the Ghost Spirits team step by step to today, from an invisible person to the first a.s.sa.s.sin of the league. He had long been accustomed to a variety of headwinds and developed. Regardless of any disadvantages, he could calmly deal with it with a tough mentality.
At the crucial moment, Li Cangyu sent him as the commander, showing Li Cangyu"s appreciation and trust in him.
***
Lou Wushuang didn"t say much. After taking on the command, he sat quietly in his seat and continued to wait.
After the intermission, Li Cangyu and Noah went back to the computer. The fourth game was the Chinese team"s home game and Li Cangyu resolutely submitted the game mode, death racing.
This choice was expected by many viewers. Death racing reflected the advantages of the home court more than an economic war and it wasn"t as easy to be targeted as the arena.
Li Cangyu followed up by submitting the maps: Suzhou Gardens, Eight-Trigram Array and Dark Reef.
The US team"s captain, Noah couldn"t help frowning. In the last game, he forced Li Cangyu to choose Universal Studios. In this game, Li Cangyu forced him to choose the Eight-Trigram Array.
According to the principle of "a map that has been disabled once can"t be disabled again", he disabled the Eight-Trigram Array map in the second game and could no longer disable it.
Noah reluctantly banned Suzhou Gardens and Dark Reef, leaving behind Eight-Trigram Array. The audience was excited since the Eight-Trigram Array was finally used, The efforts of the Chinese team"s designers wouldn"t be wasted!
Looking at the thumbnail, the map was a circular icon that was rich in colour. At first glance, it looked like a maze. However, the domestic audience members had often encountered the five elements and they started to recall their tragic experiences. Many people said that this map would pit foreigners.
Li Cangyu saw the other side selecting the map and then submitted the list of players— Lou Wushuang, Zhang Shaohui, Chu Yan, Zhu Qingyue and Yu Pingsheng.
This lineup had never appeared before. Yu Bing said, "According to the lineup, this map is likely to have status effects or traps. The role of the two psychics is displacement control while the berserker will protect the teammates. Lou Zhang is responsible for the output."
Kou Hongyi said, "The US team can send people afterwards and can target our lineup. However, our lineup doesn"t have any obvious weakness. Noah should send more pressure-resistant cla.s.ses to prevent the instant kill of the double a.s.sa.s.sins."
He just finished speaking when Noah submitted his lineup— the paladin Barrett, the berserker Madison, the healer Winfrey, the archer Aldridge and the black magician Daisy.
There were a paladin, berserker and healer, which was a very pressure resistant lineup.
It was the most sensible thing to send a strong defense when the enemy map was unclear.
The captains of both sides finished their selection and it was time for the map preview.
The panoramic map of the Eight-Trigram Array started to play on the big screen and the American players collectively showed blank expressions.
What the h.e.l.l was this?
The map was divided into five small squares of gold, green, blue, red and brown. The middle of the small square was a white area which was obviously a labyrinth with a complicated route. The five-coloured area had entrances to the labyrinth and the five roads eventually lead to the middle disc.
The puzzling thing was that the five colour blocks weren"t static but rotated clockwise every 30 seconds.
Winfrey looked at the captain with confusion. "The white area is obviously a maze but what are the rotating colour blocks?"
"I don"t understand it either." Noah rubbed his temples to ease his headache. "It"s more complicated than our Universal Studios."
Thomas was straightforward. "The colours of this map is very beautiful. Did they make so many coloured areas for colour matching? The colour blocks will turn, just like the turntable used in the raffle!"
Jack stared blankly at him and stated, "The coloured areas are likely to be traps."
Noah felt it was reasonable and stared at the map for a moment before making an accurate judgment. "Traps will be marked and these coloured areas obviously have no traps. However, the Chinese team wouldn"t divide the map into five colours for the sake of looks. The different colours must have different meanings." Noah paused and continuing, "If my guess is correct, this should be a status map."
The captain"s words woke them up and everyone stared at the big screen, not daring to miss a single detail.
A status map with five colours, meaning there should be five different effects. This was much more complicated than Universal Studios!
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Chapter 353 – China VS USA (Eight-Trigram Array)
The domestic audience understood the Chinese five elements and quickly knew the principles of this map. The middle white area was the eight-trigram array and the roads inside were a large labyrinth according to the principle of yin and yang. The five colours around it symbolized the five elements. Gold was for metal, green was for wood, blue for water, red for fire and brown for earth.
As for the corresponding statuses, it was necessary to understand it in actual combat.
Once the map preview was over, the players quickly came to the computers and sat down. The outcome of this game would affect the final result. Therefore, the expressions of players on both sides were extraordinarily serious. Even Zhang Shaohui, who usually loved laughing and joking, was very calm at this time as he quickly tapped on the keyboard as a warm-up.
The map loaded and both sides simultaneously refreshed on the Eight-Trigram Array map.
To the surprise of the US team, there was only one refresh point in the maze and four around it.
The Universal Studios map also had one refresh point in the maze. It was clear that the Chinese team"s map designers thought of using the maze as a pit. However, the US team"s luck wasn"t bad. The one who appeared in the maze was the paladin with the highest defense while the Chinese player was the a.s.sa.s.sin Lou Wushuang.
All other players refreshed in the surrounding coloured areas and their positions were relatively scattered.
The moment Winfrey refreshed, she saw the deceleration effect on her body. She immediately spoke on the voice channel, "The blue area is deceleration!"
As the commander of this game, Winfrey was under great pressure. Even so, she was the vice-captain of the US team and had to remain absolutely calm. She glanced at the mini-map and immediately ordered, "Report your respective status!"
The berserker Madison refreshed in the metal area. "The gold is a 50% attack bonus!"
The archer Aldridge stated, "Brown is 50% more defense!"
The last one, the black magician Daisy refreshed in the wood property area and said, "I"m in green but I don"t have a state on my body."
Winfrey had an excellent memory and immediately typed a summary in the team channel. "Gold is bonus attack, brown is bonus defense, blue is deceleration and green is no status. There is still red so be careful later!"
The American players said this but their thoughts were going in a circle.
The messy colours and variety of statuses, the Chinese team"s designers could really play!
In fact, it was especially easy for the Chinese players to remember this.
According to the principle of the five elements, gold represented weapons and sharpness so the gold area increased attack. Earth represented steadiness and thickness so the brown area increased defense. Water was slow so the blue area would cause deceleration. Fire was burning and the red area caused blood loss. The wood property was a sign of recovery so the green area had a purification effect (clear all negative states).
The Chinese team refreshed and quickly searched for their teammates in the five coloured area while gaining statuses.
Zhang Shaohui didn"t hesitate to come to the metal area to get the attack bonus. Chu Yan appeared in the fire attribute area and his blood loss was serious but he quickly came to the wood attribute area to eliminate the negative effect. Zhu Qingyue was in the water attribute area and was slowed but he also ran to the wood area to remove it. Yu Pingsheng refreshed in the brown earth area and gained the defense bonus.
This map was actually very simple and interesting. The coloured areas were arranged in the clockwise direction of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Metal and earth enhanced attack and defense while water and fired decelerated and caused blood loss. If there was an adverse effect at the start, they could go to the wood area to remove it and then gain a status that was good for them.
Since the five areas were in a circle, they could move clockwise or counterclockwise to get to the purifying wood area while trying to avoid the water and fire adverse areas as much as possible.
In other words, among the five coloured areas, only red and blue were unfavourable. Green was purification while gold and brown were status additions.
It was already an obvious hint that the person who refreshed in the green area didn"t gain anything. In addition, green was usually used for skills such as resurrection and purification in the Miracle game. However, the American players didn"t think of this. They simply thought of green as stateless and didn"t reason out that green had a "purification" effect.
Winfrey refreshed in the water attribute area and quickly gained three layers of deceleration. Her left was red and the right was green. None of her teammates refreshed in red and she didn"t dare rush there. Thus, she had to move at a slow pace towards the green next door.
Miraculously, the deceleration effect on her body disappeared!
Winfrey reacted with pleasant surprise, "Green can purify. Everyone, come here to meet me!"
It had to be said that the US team"s luck was really good and Winfrey happened to encounter purification.
The four US players quickly came to the green area while the Chinese players came to the gold area.
It had been nearly 30 seconds since the game started so the five discs would rotate clockwise.
By the time Winfrey realized this, it was too late!
The five colour blocks started to rotate like a turntable.
It was originally in the order of gold, green, blue, red and brown. The US players were in the harmless green but once the blocks turned, the four players of the US team were moved to the blue deceleration zone next door!
Winfrey ordered with a b.l.o.o.d.y face, "Go back!"
The deceleration effect rapidly stacked on their bodies and the four people moved like a snail. The four members of the Chinese team would never let go of such an opportunity!
After getting the golden attack bonus, Zhang Shaohui and Yu Pingsheng acted. Yu Pingsheng used Mountain Chop to block the US team"s road, properly separating the healer from her teammates. Then Zhang Shaohui followed up by using Pain Blade on the healer!
Was this wanting to kill the healer?
The audience was a bit shocked. After all, it was difficult for an a.s.sa.s.sin to kill a healer unless the healer was a rookie.
Winfrey used the priest"s skill to purify her dizziness and found that the deceleration effect of the map wasn"t resolved. The map statuses obviously weren"t affected by skills.
Zhang Shaohui and Yu Pingsheng continued to chase her and she used the Healing Language buff to save her life.
At this moment, an a.s.sa.s.sin lurked behind her and used Pain Blade to make Winfrey dizzy again.
It was Lou Wushuang!
Lou Wushuang used his familiarity with the maze to rush towards the group battle and stun the healer while the US team"s paladin was still in the maze.
Zhang Shaohui was happy at his brother appearing and followed up.
—Back Stab, Fatal Blow and Death Strangulation!
The brothers were almost identical in their movements. The set of moves. .h.i.t and Winfrey"s blood fell to 30%!
However, she could quickly wake up. After the stun cooldown was over, Winfrey sighed with relief and used Holy Light Surge to restore her blood to 80%.
The US team started the counterattack as the black magician"s Dark Fear hit. The archer also opened up Death Arrow Rain.
The moment their big moves were about to hit, they were surprised to find their targets were out of range!
This was the psychic"s illusion!
"Not good!" Winfrey was instantly alert but it was too late!
Chu Yan had been preparing to cast a spell. The moment the other party used the black magic group control, he released the psychic array.
—Psychic Array, Time and s.p.a.ce Illusion!
This big move teleported the American team"s black magician and archer away!
Time and s.p.a.ce Illusion was the core of the psychic illusion flow method. It could transfer allies or enemies within range to the designated location but the transmission distance couldn"t exceed 20 metres. The American team"s archer and black magician were just 20 metres away from the red fire attribute next door so Chu Yan decisively moved them there.
The transmission at the critical moment directly transferred the two US players to the fire attribute area and they started to lose a lot of blood.
At the same time, Zhu Qingyue also used a psychic array.
—Desperate Cage!
A soft light spread at the specified position to form a six-pointed star. Once the array was completed, the soft light formed a cage and the opponent was confined inside.
The American team"s archer and black magician were trapped in the fire attribute area and their blood started to fall. Winfrey wanted to add blood to them only to find that her deceleration effect made her almost unable to move.
In addition, behind her were the terrible Lou Zhang brothers and the fierce berserker, Yu Pingsheng.
Yu Pingsheng used Cut Through Thorns to block her way.
The American team"s berserker wanted to run over to help but was trapped in place by Chu Yan"s Desperate Cage. Lou Wushuang, Zhang Shaohui and Yu Pingsheng broke out and directly emptied Winfrey"s blood!
At the same time, the death of the archer and black magician appeared on the big screen.
In death racing, the deaths caused by the map environment didn"t count as a head. Only Winfrey"s head was counted by the system and the Chinese team"s score became 1:0.
However, three US players were killed at the beginning of the game, with one of them being the healer. This was definitely a heavy blow to their morale.
Winfrey gritted her teeth as she waited to be resurrected.
She had never seen such a tricky map. The various states were complicated and difficult to remember and this map also rotated. She was always calm but she suddenly had a headache as she looked at the colourful map in front of her.
How to fight next? Was the paladin still in the maze? Could the Chinese team"s map be more pitted?
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