Chapter 1655: The Hindrance of Cannon Fodder
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
“Happy’s Fang Rui is going to play next,” Pan Lin saw the scene going on at Happy’s player area. He felt a bit regretful.
He felt like Fang Rui should have played last round, but Happy sent Mo Fan out instead. Li Yibo immediately had a discussion about the merits of it, and Mo Fan’s calm and unhurried tempo affirmed their opinion that Happy’s decision was fine.
But then, a dramatic change happened. If you looked at the outcome, then sending out Mo Fan had been a grave mistake. Not only did he lose an extremely pivotal match, he had been utterly crushed. The loss was a huge blow to Happy’s morale. As for Samsara? Their state of mind could be seen through Samsara’s fans, who were sitting there pleased, confident that victory was already in their grasp.
Group arena: 4 to 2. Ever since the new competitive format for the playoffs came into play, let alone the finals, no group arena in the playoffs had ever had such a huge disparity. What was worse was that in this 4 to 2 group arena, Zhou Zekai, who had won three rounds in a row, still had nearly half of his health left.
“1v4!!!”
The crowd was already chanting for a 1v4. Before today, no one thought it was possible for a 1v4 to happen in professional play. However, today, Zhou Zekai’s condition, as well as Cloud Piercer’s health and mana, made everyone feel like a 1v4 was a genuine possibility.
“The difference between Happy and Samsara is really being shown here…” Li Yibo suddenly said.
“Happy only has one Ye Xiu, while Samsara has a Zhou Zekai, and now a Sun Xiang,” Li Yibo said.
Sun Xiang.
He was seen as the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle for Samsara, becoming this season’s Best Partners with Zhou Zekai.
Sun Xiang had blocked off Happy’s biggest threat, Ye Xiu. Afterwards, Zhou Zekai took down what little health remained on Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim. Then, he went on to beat Su Mucheng and Mo Fan. Now, Cloud Piercer was like a tiger looking for his next prey.
As for Fang Rui?
Last round, Pan Lin thought that it would be safer for Happy to send out Fang Rui. However, for this round, Pan Lin didn’t look at Fang Rui as favorably as he had last round.
This was because of Zhou Zekai’s momentum. Even an All-Star player like Fang Rui didn’t seem like he could stop Zhou Zekai’s momentum. It felt like Fang Rui was just cannon fodder.
And this was the feeling they got even not knowing Fang Rui’s actual situation.
“You gonna be okay?” Ye Xiu grinned as he asked Fang Rui.
For the other Happy players who didn’t know that Fang Rui wasn’t himself right now, it didn’t sound like anything was wrong. The team had four senior members. Apart from Su Mucheng, the other three weren’t exactly the most serious people. It was common for them to talk trash about each other.
But Fang Rui knew that these seemingly normal joking words had real meaning today.
“Even if I’m not, I’ve got to go. The team really can’t do without me,” Fang Rui said proudly.
The others on Happy didn’t find anything wrong, but Ye Xiu could hear what Fang Rui was implying: Yes, we don’t have any other choice. No matter how things are, I have to go.
Ye Xiu didn’t say anything more. He wasn’t completely clear how Fang Rui’s condition was, but he knew that Fang Rui was a responsible player. He wasn’t going to play if he didn’t think he could win. It could only mean that he could still fight. He didn’t want to go before probably because he only wanted to fight if it was necessary, and right now was the time.
“Watch me bully him!” Fang Rui clenched his Golden Right Hand and walked towards the stage. But this time, whether it was Ye Xiu or Fang Rui, their easy going attitudes weren’t able to infect the others. Everyone on Happy looked exceptionally solemn. All of them knew how grave their situation was.
Mo Fan, who hadn’t contributed anything last round, looked even more dejected when he returned. The comforting from his teammates were completely ignored.
“Don’t worry,” Ye Xiu looked towards him.
Mo Fan walked right past him. Those words were too light. How could he casually wave off such a devastating defeat?
“Your teammates are still fighting,” Ye Xiu continued.
Mo Fan turned his head. Ye Xiu was no longer looking at him. Mo Fan followed Ye Xiu’s gaze to Fang Rui, who was still holding his clenched right hand up in the air.
“So we haven’t lost,” Ye Xiu turned his head to look at him.
We haven’t lost yet, we…
Mo Fan stared blankly into space as he sat down at the corner that had always belonged to him, at the corner where no one would disturb him.
But at this moment, Mo Fan suddenly felt like he wanted to sit a bit closer. That way, perhaps he’d be able to see the match more clearly?
The fifth round of the group arena began.
It was only the fifth round, and Happy was down three players. Their fourth player went on stage to challenge Samsara’s second player, Zhou Zekai, who still had 45% health.
The shouts for a 1v4 shook the stadium. Happy’s fans were in low spirits. At this moment, they couldn’t find the energy to compete with Samsara’s fans. They could only grit their teeth and watch the next match.
The map loaded, the characters spawned.
Even though it was the fifth round, apart from Ye Xiu vs Sun Xiang, all the other rounds had gone by quickly. None of them had gone over two minutes.
What about this round?
Everyone paid attention to Zhou Zekai and his Cloud Piercer. The broadcast didn’t make an exception. As soon as the round began, they directly focused on Cloud Piercer, ignoring Fang Rui’s Boundless Sea.
Because it was the first time anyone had done a 1v3 in the finals. It was a feat that no other famous God had done before. Just this alone was enough to be written into the annals of Glory history. However, right now, he had the chance to take it one step further. He was making his way towards the even more unbelievable 1v4.
Nothing shined brighter than Zhou Zekai right now. He was the focus of everyone. Fang Rui? Boundless Sea? In their eyes, he was just a hindrance, a hindrance to history. Everyone was just waiting for him to be broken apart!
Fang Rui wasn’t given any attention by the camera, but he was going to make himself known: “How arrogant! It looks like you haven’t gotten your fill of fighting yet!”
Everyone laughed.
What sort of situation are you in? Yet such big words. How hilarious.
Ignore him!
Everyone hollered in their hearts. Sure enough, Zhou Zekai ignored him. Cloud Piercer rushed out.
He rushed out again!
Excited screams filled the stadium.
Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Mo Fan, and Fang Rui. Zhou Zekai was just as determined, decisive, and unwavering as before.
Anyone who didn’t support Happy was probably aflame with excitement.
The broadcast finally gave in and gave a bit of focus towards Fang Rui. Zhou Zekai had once again charged forward. What was Fang Rui doing?
The scene shown by the camera suddenly turned still.
The canyon walls on the two sides weren’t blurry from movement, and there was no shaking from the character looking around. The camera seemed to be displaying an image. Everything in the image was still. The point of view seemed to be moving, but it was very very slow. Sometimes, he’d be looking left. Sometimes, he’d be looking right. Sometimes, he’d be looking behind, at a wooden sign saying “Military Area, Death to Intruders”
Boundless Sea wasn’t moving. After four rounds of the group arena, someone had finally made the decision not to take the initiative to attack, choosing instead to wait for the opponent to come. After checking the surroundings, Boundless Sea began spinning around in place.
What is he planning?
Everyone thought to themselves. People began noticing this hindrance, this person who had been regarded as cannon fodder.
Fang Rui, the master of playing dirty, Fang Rui. What could he do besides playing dirty!
Everyone immediately thought of the wooden sign that they saw from Fang Rui’s viewpoint.
Military Area, Death to Intruders!
This bastard. Was he thinking of some sort of scheme to directly send Zhou Zekai’s Cloud Piercer into the area designated “Death to Intruders”!
But how could it be that easy?
For one, Boundless Sea was closer. Plus, Cloud Piercer was a Sharpshooter. He wouldn’t let Boundless Sea get close to him easily. In that case, how was Fang Rui going to send him to this forbidden zone?
Everyone felt like it was impossible, but they couldn’t help but worry…