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Chapter 1649: Killing Intent with Back to the Wall

Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi

The victor was Ye Xiu. The Samsara fans in the stadium couldn’t be too happy about this no matter what. But they couldn’t blame Sun Xiang.

Ordinary viewers truly had no way of detecting a lot of the subtleties of this match.

Sun Xiang couldn’t control the peak form One Autumn Leaf, Sun Xiang had the injury of his class change. These were all words that Ye Xiu had directly said in the chat, but for ordinary gamers, even searching with this guidance, they couldn’t see how Sun Xiang couldn’t control his character, how he had this injury.

They could only see from his dropping health how Sun Xiang had been at a disadvantage at that point in time. But soon enough, Sun Xiang’s One Autumn Leaf had used a Dragon Breaks the Ranks to break free. When he fought against Lord Grim, he had stabilized his position.

In the subsequent battle, neither side could be said to have a great advantage, and that difference in health from before was maintained all the way until the battle ended.

13%.

This was that difference, and was the amount of health that Lord Grim had remaining. Ye Xiu had won, but Sun Xiang’s answer sheet was by no means ugly. In fact, in the eyes of the pro players, who understood things a bit better, Sun Xiang had earned a very high score.

Sun Xiang, coming off stage, earned applause.

Samsara’s fans were encouraging Sun Xiang not to be discouraged. They had no idea right now that Sun Xiang had grown beyond their imagination.

With Sun Xiang coming off stage, it was time for Samsara’s second player to step up. Because of the unique format of the third match, no one knew who would be the second player that Samsara sent up. Perhaps even Samsara themselves were waiting until Sun Xiang lost and they could see the current situation to determine who would be their second player.

At that moment, Samsara’s captain Zhou Zekai stood up to welcome the returning Sun Xiang. No one paid much attention.

Zhou Zekai greeted Sun Xiang, the two of them high-fived like in a relay, and still no one paid much attention.

And then, the two of them brushed shoulders as they passed each other; Sun Xiang returned to his team and sat down, while Zhou Zekai continued to walk forward. The entire stadium went wild.

Team Samsara, their second player was actually Zhou Zekai, their captain Zhou Zekai?

This was even more shocking than Zhou Zekai playing first in the previous group arena. In that round, Samsara had at least left Sun Xiang as their fifth player. Their first player was very strong, but they still had a reliable anchor. Even though the final outcome wasn’t what they’d hoped for, at least there was this kind of logic in their arrangement.

But this match?

Sun Xiang had already gone first, so setting Zhou Zekai as the fourth player was the most logical choice; putting him in fifth would give more stability, putting him in third would be more aggressive. But now, they put him right in second... what was this?

The order of the players was decided on the spot. If Sun Xiang’s performance as the first player had been especially strong, a 1v2 or even a 1v3, then sending up Zhou Zekai second to aim for as many points as possible was still fairly logical. But right now, first player Sun Xiang had fallen without any victories, yet Samsara didn’t save Zhou Zekai to anchor. Instead, they directly sent him up as their second player. Truly, not many people could understand this stance.

“They’re sending up Zhou Zekai second? This...” In the broadcast, commentator Pan Lin faltered in his words.

“Can’t understand it at all!” Li Yibo, who always liked to save face, no longer tried to stay vague. He directly admitted this.

What was Samsara thinking?

In the end, the ones who could understand their logic were still the other pro players. After getting over their initial shock and thinking it over, they could understand the thought behind Samsara’s arrangement.

Sun Xiang first, Zhou Zekai second.

This was a whole, these two things couldn’t be considered separately. In this group arena where the battle order could be changed on the spot, Samsara hadn’t taken full advantage of this point. From the very start, they had worked out an order, and the core of this roster was Sun Xiang first, Zhou Zekai second.

So, at the very start of the match, Sun Xiang hadn’t cared about whether Happy had reported to the judge yet, he had simply directly walked to the competitor booth.

This wasn’t because he was careless and overconfident, nor was it because Samsara was trying to play any tricks. This was the plan that Samsara had decided upon for this final match from the very beginning, a roster order that was sharp to the extreme.

Sun Xiang first, that was necessary.

Zhou Zekai second, that was also necessary.

This was a kind of “back to the wall” killing intent. Even though Samsara wasn’t facing that kind of desperate situation right now, they still brought out this kind of determination.

So, Sun Xiang didn’t care at all whether Happy had reported to the judge. No matter who their first player was, he would be fighting them.

Nor did Zhou Zekai care about whether Sun Xiang had played the opening match well. He resolutely continued as Samsara’s second player.

Fighting with their backs to the wall, that meant they could only advance, they could not retreat. Even though Sun Xiang’s loss meant that Samsara’s arrangement was facing a very big difficulty, it was exactly for this reason that Zhou Zekai couldn’t back down. If he retreated now, if they made further adjustments, maybe they could create a seemingly-more stable roster, but for Samsara, that back to the wall determination and killing intent would disappear.

Therefore, Zhou Zekai didn’t back down.

This player, who was silent to the extreme offstage, had absolute confidence and courage when it came to battle. He had the determination to carry everything on his shoulders. Because he was the true core of this team, because he was the captain of this team, he led this team forward, lifting up everyone’s morale, relying not on words, but on actions.

Applause rose up.

It was unknown how much of Zhou Zekai’s determination and conviction Samsara’s fans could sense. They only knew that when it came to their captain, they needed to support him unconditionally, no matter the time or place.

Second battle of the group arena, begin. Happy, Ye Xiu, Lord Grim; Samsara, Zhou Zekai, Cloud Piercer!

Ye Xiu could be said to be the last one in the whole stadium to know of Samsara’s arrangement. When he saw Zhou Zekai’s Cloud Piercer appear on screen, he was very surprised as well.

But very quickly, he was like those pro players who had determined Samsara’s thought process. Ye Xiu sensed the back to the wall killing intent of the other side.

And right now, Sun Xiang had already fallen. This killing intent was almost entirely reliant upon Zhou Zekai to maintain. If he, the second player, also didn’t play as well as they hoped, then Samsara’s group arena today might be even more disastrous than last round’s. Samsara’s energy was entirely gathered upon Zhou Zekai right now.

13%.

This was the health that Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim had remaining. There was no chance that he could defeat Zhou Zekai with this amount of health, but if he could cause even a bit of trouble to his opponent, then that would be a direct hit blow to Samsara.

Stay firm, quick and forceful, no pretense!

While many people were sure that Ye Xiu would have Lord Grim recover some health and then slowly wear down the opponent, Ye Xiu had Lord Grim charge forward.