Chapter 21: A Battle of Two

The two pairs of contestants with the shortest times in the preliminary round met, yet contrary to everyone's expectations, a winner was not decided in an instant.

Unknowingly, fifteen minutes had passed, and the situation on the field still appeared to be a calm stalemate.

But the content of the match was absolutely nothing like calm.

In the past fifteen minutes, more than ten skirmishes had occurred, and the result of every battle was the near-total annihilation of all forces on the field. But any expert could see that amidst these mutual annihilations, the scale of victory had actually begun to slowly tilt.

Although the battle results were basically evenly matched, the locations where the battles occurred had begun to slowly move closer to littlebear and Faith's base.

>>>>>>

"Faint! I don't believe I can't outfight these two kids!" At this moment, littlebear's heart was filled with rage.

But his anger was not due to the passivity on the field, nor even because of the defeat that could already be foreseen.

His anger actually stemmed from this: in his view, Ling Tian and Lei Xue's resource allocation and troop deployment timing were not precise, far from being perfect limit-bursting. Yet under these circumstances, after every skirmish, the side that held the slight advantage was actually the opponent!

Everyone can surely imagine how frustrating and infuriating it is to feel that the opponent's skill level is inferior to your own, yet be beaten by them so badly that you cannot even lift your head.

On the other side, Ling Tian and Xue'er were carefully accumulating the hard-won advantage, slowly expanding their area of control. In this process, Xue'er casually dropped a forward base right under littlebear's nose, and this move unexpectedly converted the advantage into a winning momentum ahead of schedule.

Because the "Beast" littlebear was thoroughly enraged by this contemptuous move from the enemy.

He mobilized all his forces for a charge; although his partner "Assassin" Faith also performed a pincer attack at the right moment, the person who could finally stand on the battlefield and proudly welcome victory was still Ling Tian and Lei Xue...

>>>>>>

It was finally over.

littlebear shook his head dejectedly and packed his bag to leave.

Suddenly, a gentle voice came from behind him: "Do you know where you lost?"

"Beast" heard this and turned his head sharply, then his pupils contracted instantly, and he said in a deep voice: "Farseer?"

In a sense, the newcomer was a bit like KID, possessing equally outstanding looks and a dazzling smile, although at this moment that smile gave people a cold feeling...

He nodded to littlebear: "Just call me Liang Shui."

littlebear's voice trembled slightly: "In your opinion, was my limit-bursting perfect?"

Liang Shui nodded: "Yes."

"Beast" almost roared: "Then why couldn't I outfight them?"

"Rhythm." Liang Shui gently shook his finger and continued: "Your limit-bursting was perfect, but that was only individual perfection. You must remember, this is a 2v2 match."

"Your Zerg and Faith's Protoss, due to racial differences, did not reach peak troop strength at the same time; yours was slightly later than his. Your opponents, although their resource allocation in the early game did not seem perfect, used this to precisely adjust the time both of them reached peak troop strength to the same instant. Perhaps for most of the time, your forces were superior, but at the very instant the decisive battle began, the total force of the opponent was slightly higher than yours."

"This gap was actually not large; perhaps it was just the two Zerglings you were running towards, or a Zealot about to finish building in Faith's barracks. This gap would not cause you to lose the battle, but it allowed the opponent to successfully seize the rhythm. Every skirmish after that occurred at the exact moment when the two opponents had just reached their optimal state, not you."

"The gap accumulated bit by bit like this. When it reached a certain level, the advantage of the opponent's races showed itself. The basic units of the Terran and Protoss could form a perfect combination of ranged and melee attacks, while you were forced to produce Reavers and Hydralisks to make up for this gap, and the resources and time spent on upgrading technology further widened the distance between you. The forward base the opponent dropped at the final moment simply made you feel hopeless."

"Do not try to find excuses. Losing this match was simply because your skills were inferior!"

littlebear listened as sweat poured down, muttering: "Could they be invincible...?"

"No." Liang Shui shook his finger again, "Their calculations were indeed precise. But this precision also allows me to easily grasp their timing. The time the first unit appears, the time reinforcements arrive, the time forces merge... Under the premise of perfect limit-bursting, it is very difficult for them to advance these landmark times by even 0.1 seconds!" Liang Shui revealed a smile with a hint of pride, "The defender already has some advantage, let alone having mastered the opponent's attack timing! Also, never forget, my partner is wzllt229, known for the strongest defense!"

"The playstyle in a match can be said to be the soul of the player. Some people think using a few of their own mistakes to exchange for a fatal error from the opponent is an excellent playstyle," Liang Shui faintly revealed a look of contempt, "Others simply use deception and exploiting the opponent's flaws as a means to victory."

In another room, I and KID inexplicably sneezed at the same time.

"But true victory should be a flawless victory!" Liang Shui spoke with some excitement, a hint of faint fanaticism showing in his eyes, "As long as you never make mistakes, you will never fail! Only like me and 229, leaving no flaws, harboring no luck, slowly crushing the opponent completely—this, this is the unyielding way of the undefeated!..."

"In the next match, I will personally prove this to you! Those two brats are still too green for me..."

Watching Liang Shui's figure gradually fade into the distance, littlebear couldn't help but feel somewhat bewildered.

A hand patted his shoulder: "Was that just now the guy rumored to have the nickname 'Farseer'?"

"Probably..." Beast said uncertainly, "But I think he looks more like a lunatic."

Faith did not reply, but slowly said with some longing: "If we say our opponents just now were the perfect dual limit-bursting style, then the partnership of 'Farseer' cool-water and 'Paladin' wzllt229 is the perfect dual expansion style... I wonder what the scene of their battle will be like..."

"Anyway, it has nothing to do with us anymore... Faith." littlebear sighed rarely, but finally couldn't help continuing: "This is a battle between the sharpest spear and the strongest shield. Who do you think will win?"

Faith did not answer him, but softly murmured to himself: "Last year, on this very battlefield... 'Scarlet King' also fell beneath this move of 'Limit Defense' by 'Farseer' and 'Paladin'..."

At this moment, in an unnoticeable corner, a young man was also murmuring to himself: "Before a solid shield, perhaps a dagger is more useful than a spear..."

>>>>>>

At the same time, on another battlefield, the battle between me and KID had reached a fever pitch.

... Perhaps a less ambiguous way to say it is: the battle "between" me and KID had reached a fever pitch...

The cause of the matter was this:

The enemy, taking advantage of our inattention, secretly buried two Lurkers in KID's mineral area.

Lurkers are a scourge to the world; the farmers were crying out in anguish. Could the High Templars of the Light Temple simply sit idly by?

Of course not.

So two Psionic Storms exploded simultaneously; the Lurkers, living up to expectations, were turned into two pools of blood, but unfortunately, a group of farmers also went down with them.

At that time, I really tried to explain this matter to KID:

Although there were indeed half a squad of my Reavers at the scene of the incident, the enemy units were invisible, you know? Invisible units, understand? My Reavers couldn't see them.

What? I had a Scanner Sweep? But the Scanner Sweep was far away; saving people is like putting out a fire, how could the Scanner Sweep fly over in time?

What? You used a Scanner Sweep to scan at that time? Then why didn't you say anything... If you don't say it, how would I know...

As a result, KID was very angry, and the consequences were severe.

My half-squad of Reavers quickly became sacrificial lambs. They very unfortunately perished collectively under the splash damage of our own tanks, simply because they unfortunately encountered one Zergling scouting for the enemy.

So I was also very angry, and when angry, hands shake; when hands shake, Psionic Storms are thrown even less accurately...

KID's tank ground attack also quickly rose to level 3...

But unfortunately, the opponent's strength was simply too weak; even under these circumstances, I and KID successfully ascended the high ground of one of the bases.

Seeing the opponent on the verge of annihilation, I desperately maneuvered the troops to attack high-value units first, while KID's troops were almost all squeezed to the back.

Immersed in the feverish activity of grabbing points, I didn't even notice the flashing red dot on the opponent's base...

Draw…

KID suddenly typed out this word.

Pull? Pull what?

I was somewhat confused, but my hands were still frantically operating on instinct.

Back… another word popped up.

Drawback…

"Retreat…"

Damn it, couldn't you just say the whole thing at once…

KID's hint instantly snapped me back to my senses, and I reflexively began controlling my troops to retreat.

But only then did I despairingly notice: the rear was already blocked solid by our human-allied forces, with tanks slowly retracting their barrels in a futile attempt to make way…

Too late.

KID's atomic bomb was already screaming down…

>>>>>>

In all previous matches, I had never seen KID upgrade the atomic bomb tech tree.

But not having used it didn't mean he couldn't; at the very least, through this experience, I can authoritatively confirm one thing: KID's calculation of the atomic bomb's lethal radius was extremely precise; all his troops remained outside the blast zone, completely unscathed.

And my troops…

Were annihilated.

In that instant, the vein on my temple bulged violently, but I didn't want to say anything about it.

I simply frantically began mining while rapidly upgrading the Carrier tech tree. Thus, by the time KID, fighting alone, reached the base of the sole remaining opponent, my relentless efforts had also granted me a squadron of Carriers.

The enemy's defensive perimeter had shrunk to its absolute minimum.

What he waited for was perhaps merely a dignified defeat… He didn't know that, in the darkness unseen by him, a squadron of Carriers was speeding toward him.

But KID could see.

KID merely smiled, withdrew his troops, and then another flashing red dot lit up on the opponent's base.

He seemed to want to tell me with this gesture: Even if you have a squadron of Carriers, you won't snatch a single point from me!

My response was to instantly A-move and eliminate that Ghost unit that had locked on the nuke…

This move finally caused the war between me and KID to erupt in full force.

>>>>>>

Due to the unchangeable alliance, our vision was shared, and attacking any unit of the other required selecting force-attack… Under these circumstances, we didn't need to guard against each other's sneak attacks, but the operation demanded astonishing mental effort.

Although KID's forces were far ahead of mine, I controlled more mines than he did, and I also possessed a squadron of the ultimate counter-unit to him—Carriers! So in terms of the battlefield situation, I held a slight advantage.

However, due to the shared vision, my Carriers, even when positioned on high ground, were not protected by the fog of war; the opponent could attack them with ease.

Moreover, the Carriers' mobility lost all meaning; once the Carriers moved out, my base was in constant danger of being forced back by a massive ground force.

I could only, while maintaining defense, carefully use the Carriers' range to restrict the opponent's economy and the number of robots.

Under this immense pressure, I fully enjoyed it, enjoying the long-lost feeling of operating at full capacity.

KID's left hand, fluttering like flight, and the slight sheen of sweat on his forehead proved he too had gone all out; but if one observed carefully, one could still detect a faint, barely perceptible smile at the corner of his lips…

Under this subtle stalemate, our forces slowly grew stronger.

My Carriers deployed into an enigmatic arc; High Templars waited in ambush at key positions; Zealot squads advanced slowly along bizarre routes; behind them followed a massive horde of bloodthirsty Dragoons; a small number of Corsairs and Transports shuttled back and forth within the Carrier formation…

In the opposing position, the immensely powerful Siege Tanks had raised their barrels, standing ready; Spider Mines, utilizing their rapid movement, were scattered across every corner of the map; in the sky, the roar of Battleships and Valkyries echoed through the clouds; countless robots with their gleaming missile launchers further demonstrated their owner's determination to seize air superiority.

The great battle was on the verge of erupting…

So, who would be the final victor?

The audience outside the arena suddenly fell unexpectedly silent.

Perhaps they too wanted to know: in this match that was purely a contest of micro-management, was the "King Crimson," hailed as one who could stop time, superior? Or did the Demon, also famous worldwide for micro, hold the edge?

Just then, an accident occurred.

A figure already forgotten by everyone suddenly woke up at this moment; it was our poor opponent.

Out of professional dedication, he had been waiting for our final offensive.

The existence of the fog of war meant he was unclear about the story between me and KID; the atomic bomb that never fell, on one hand, left him utterly baffled, and on the other, made him understand one thing:

The opponent did not intend to grant him a dignified defeat.

With this realization, the player still, admirably, waited for ten long minutes. But our failure to launch an offensive made him begin to speculate: what horrific means were we planning to use to humiliate him?

For a person, perhaps the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown. The pressure caused by the thick fog of war on the map grew ever stronger; the thought that countless viewers might be preparing to mock him like a clown made it unbearable, and finally, he decided to choose to quit.

Thus, at the most critical moment when KID and I were locked in a tense standoff, the word "victory" simultaneously appeared on the screen; that striking font seemed to remind us: you are comrades standing in the same trench…

At least, for now…

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