Chapter 358: Life and Death

Actually, wanting to win with fewer units is not difficult; at the very least, the simplest principle is something anyone can understand.

As long as you arrange the formation, let several Flash Silver Tanks advance and retreat simultaneously, and maintain movement, you can distribute the damage received as evenly as possible across every Flash Silver Tank.

And anyone who understands even a little bit about RTS games should be clear that the practice of focusing fire on a single unit is far more reasonable than letting damage be distributed evenly.

Assume the enemy's Flash Silver Tanks are lined up in a row, moving in a long snake-like formation.

Then the best angle of attack is the head of the snake, not the side.

As long as you pinch its head, then sway left and right, disrupt the formation, and simultaneously micro-manage the remaining low-health units to hide behind other healthy units—anyway, it's pretty much like that.

Although Chabei's technique is not bad, his experience is clearly not as rich as Yun Mu's; after one wave of engagement between the two sides' units, he was actually defeated by Yun Mu, who wiped out all his Flash Silver Tanks despite being outnumbered.

Facing this situation, no matter who came, there was no possibility of a comeback; in silence, Chabei could only choose to surrender.

This time he did not post a message on the public screen, just quietly waiting for the third match to begin.

Yun Mu has a feeling that this time she will probably win quite arduously.

If she plays according to the conventional style.

Having already lost two matches, Chabei will definitely play this game quite seriously; precisely because he knows how to play better than others, he will make more stable moves.

And even if Yun Mu loses this game, she still has two more chances, so she can completely afford to play a bit more riskily.

Since that is the case, as the third match begins, Yun Mu immediately builds five repair workers and simultaneously sends out mechanical dogs to scout.

Just as she expected, the mechanical dogs failed to see the situation inside Chabei's base, being destroyed by the Combat Bunker guarding the entrance before they could even get close.

It is a similar situation on Yun Mu's side; her plan does not allow for Chabei to know it in advance.

After confirming that the vision is secured, Yun Mu decisively sends out those extra repair workers produced at home to build Ore Refineries at three other Mining Fields closer to the base!

One Ore Refinery costs two thousand, so three cost six thousand! Doing this is almost equivalent to giving up on producing other units.

If Chabei were to attack now, she would have no power to fight back, but!

As mentioned before, Chabei, having lost two matches, will definitely play quite cautiously this time; without knowing the situation inside Yun Mu's home, it is absolutely impossible for him to choose a rush! And according to the RTS theory of five-element mutual restraint: stealing beats stability, stability beats harmony, harmony beats recklessness, recklessness beats dogging, dogging beats stealing, and healing beats everything.

Chabei, who chose stable development for this game, has already fallen completely into her trap! Waiting for him will be a super hegemon that has completely abandoned combat capability in exchange for development far exceeding the current timeline!

Hehehe, this match, she has taken it!

"Player Chabei is completely unaware of Player Yun's bold operation; facing a completely black field of vision, he chose the most classic operation in Old Days Front—ignoring it."

"But this time, the opponent is clearly not someone who can be defeated by just developing step-by-step; in the same amount of time, Player Yun's economy is now more than double that of Player Chabei!"

"The units of both sides meet in the canyon! Player Yun's units have been completely wiped out!"

"Player Chabei wants to take this opportunity to expand his advantage, but is soon obstructed by Player Yun's second wave of troops; can he realize Player Yun's economic development?"

"Ah, Player Yun's Combat Laboratory has researched the ultimate technology 【Heavenly Punishment】; Player Chabei, who built the Radar building, should be able to see the countdown prompt for 【Heavenly Punishment】."

"Player Chabei chooses to assemble his troops for a decisive battle with Player Yun in the center of the map. Player Chabei's units are completely annihilated, and there is half a minute left on the Heavenly Punishment countdown."

"Player Chabei has chosen to surrender!"

"Let us congratulate Player Yun for successfully winning this match!"

"I'm really sorry, but I have a reason why I must keep winning."

Although that is what she said, the corners of Yun Mu's mouth, which she simply could not suppress from rising, had clearly betrayed her mood.

There's no helping it; this kind of "stealth-win" match is purely a satisfying game for her, and she even couldn't resist researching the 【Heavenly Punishment】 technology at the end.

This thing bombed her once in the real world, and its power was quite astonishing.

But inside the Old Days Front game, it wasn't all that powerful.

The main reason is that the cooldown time is too long, and the construction points spent on research are too expensive.

It belongs to the category of things that are flashy but impractical.

If Yun Mu didn't have such a huge advantage, she would never have researched this thing.

It's a pity Chabei surrendered too quickly; she hadn't even had the chance to use 【Heavenly Punishment】.

Damn it, the greatest joy of playing Old Days Front is treating the opponent to a nuke—no, treating them to Heavenly Punishment, damn it!

This kind of behavior of specifically waiting for the Heavenly Punishment cooldown to end and then directly surrendering, not letting the opponent have their fun, is truly despicable! It should be fiercely boycotted; no, it must be boycotted, damn it!

"Phew, I lost."

The green-haired youth walked out of the Duel Pod; the expression on his face was somewhat dejected, yet also somewhat relieved, and at the same time, there was a sense of expectation from having found a goal.

He came before Yun Mu and said sincerely: "Using the opponent's psychology to determine strategy? I've truly been taught a lesson."

"You must win; I don't want to see the guy who defeated me fail to take the Champion title."

"You mean you have the strength of a Champion, huh?" Yun Mu raised an eyebrow, teasing him half-jokingly.

"That goes without saying." Chabei nodded confidently: "If there weren't a guy like you, this show would be nothing more than a small game I was destined to win."

Yun Mu originally wanted to tell him not to be too narcissistic, but the next second, she was surprised to find that everyone around, except for her and Chabei, was in a state of stillness.

As if time had been paused.

The last time she encountered this situation... it seemed to be when Heral descended before her in person. "Hahahaha!"

Looking at Yun Mu's expression, Chabei suddenly burst into laughter.

"Be proud, mortal!"

"You are the one who has personally defeated the God of Wine and Victory!"

"I shall bestow upon you the blessing of victory, as well as the title of 【Defeater of Victory】; if we meet again in the future, come and taste the wine with me."

As soon as the words fell, the time around them returned to normal.

Chabei, who had been boasting the second before, suddenly froze, and as if some kind of disease had struck, he collapsed onto the ground.

And in Yun Mu's mind, the message notification from the Game Panel sounded as well.

【You have encountered the 【God of Wine and Victory—Avala lv???】 (Myth)】 【The activation progress of your title 【Favorite of the Gods】 +1】 【Your status has added 【Triumphant Victory】】 【No matter what kind of predicament you face, there is a possibility of winning, as long as you tightly grasp that hope that flashes by in an instant. The blessing from a deity is just that unreasonable.】

【Your title has added 【Defeater of Victory】】 【You successfully defeated the God of Wine and Victory, even if it was only in a newly released strategy game.】

【Avala, possessing a mortal, sealed his divine power, but even so, no mortal should have been able to defeat Him.】

【Perhaps the divine aura on your body has obscured this influence, or perhaps as a person from another world, you are simply not affected by the God of Wine and Victory?】

【The truth remains unknown, but the fact that you were victorious is an undeniable reality.】

【Carry the pride and joy of your victory and continue to win; perhaps one day... no, never mind.】

【Divinity +1】

【Lucky +5】

Huh? What happened?

Yun Mu stood blankly in place. When the teacup fell, she subconsciously took a step back to Retreat, not reaching out to catch it. The staff of the Old Days Front program immediately reacted and rushed to organize people to go to the teacup.

After a tense and exciting examination, it was finally confirmed that he had only fainted and there were no other problems.

The program's medical staff speculated that it was likely due to being too nervous during the match, and now that he had relaxed, he had fainted directly.

As for Yun Mu, she was still thinking about that God of Wine and Victory at this time.

Could it be that she had some kind of constitution that attracted gods? How could she run into the gods of this world wherever she went? No, it seemed she really did have such a constitution.

She almost forgot her identity as a Chuanzhezhe.

But then again, are you gods so idle? You all ran over to participate in the Federation's competition program; it's absurd.

Looking at it this way, wasn't she in great danger?

Yun Mu had not forgotten that she was being targeted by the God of Plague.

Could the God of Plague not do what the God of Wine and Victory could? If the other party also possessed a mortal to approach her... no, perhaps she didn't need to be this nervous.

If possessing a mortal, their strength shouldn't be very high.

She still had Lucy, whose lower limit was Champion and upper limit was Legendary, to protect her, so there was no need to be nervous at all.

"Did something just happen?"

Lucy's voice suddenly came to her mind, making Yun Mu feel much more at ease.

"Why did you come over?" she asked with some curiosity.

"... That teacup contestant is not quite right. It seems something happened before he fainted, but I don't know what."

So that was why she manifested as an Ether Body and rushed over immediately.

The corners of Yun Mu's mouth rose slightly, and she briefly described what had just happened to Lucy.

"Could it really be that God of Wine and Victory?" Lucy seemed to know the other party; it appeared that the other party had already existed during the era of the Scarlet Court.

It is a quite ancient deity.

"As for that guy, there's nothing to worry about," Lucy recalled and said, "During the era when the Scarlet Court ruled, that deity liked to walk on the earth."

"Enjoying the wine and duels on the road like a traveler, whether it was card games, gambling, cockfighting, or arm wrestling, as long as it was an activity where a winner could be decided, that god would actively participate in it."

"Um... comparing who can pee further?" On a whim, Yun Mu couldn't help but make a joke.

"..." The memories Lucy had been brewing were instantly interrupted by Yun Mu.

"How would I know that!" she said.

Lucy's voice disappeared from her ear, and in the world of Ether, Yun Mu could sense that the other party was moving toward the location of her body.

It seems the question she just asked was a bit too subtle? She should be more careful in the future.

And on the other side, the memories in Lucy's mind were also surging.

"Let's make a bet, Queen of Scarlet."

"Bet on what?"

"How about betting on the fall of the Court?"

"Are you serious?"

"Of course... don't look at me with that gaze, just treat it as a game, how about it?"

"How do you want to bet?"

"Let's bet that the Court will fall during your reign, how about that?"

"... If you weren't a god, I would have already kicked you out."

"Bet? If I lose, I'll give you my divinity."

"A very Seductive proposal... but I refuse."

"Betting with the God of Victory is something only a fool would do."

"Is that so... then forget it."

Heh, Avala, God of Wine and Victory, perhaps the ending was already destined from that time? Or is it that, even today, you are still chasing that person who can truly bring you defeat?

In the audience, Lucy, who had been sleeping with her eyes closed, opened her eyes.

Except for Lita sitting beside her, no one noticed that just a moment ago, this beautiful Young Girl had stopped breathing for a period of time.

After resolving the chaos caused by the teacup, the next match began quickly.

Brenna had a bye and advanced smoothly.

The ones playing the match were that Dwarf uncle and Talitaluosi.

There was no suspense at all; facing Talitaluosi's absurd operations, the Dwarf uncle couldn't display his advantages at all.

After giving away several waves in a row, he turned into a demon... ah no, he just, he just got red-faced!

The nose exposed outside his beard was flushed red with anger, followed by his operations becoming distorted, directly squandering all his main forces, and then being pushed flat by Talitaluosi in one wave.

Almost every game had a similar script; it really made one not know what to say.

With the competition at this point, only Yun Mu, Brenna, and Talitaluosi remained in the top three.

If possible, Yun Mu naturally hoped not to face Brenna.

That would be equivalent to one of their own fighting another, but this was obviously not up to her to decide; it depended on the machine's choice.

Fortunately, her luck value was high, plus the luck bonus brought by the title she just obtained, 【Defeater of Victory】.

There shouldn't be any problems, right? Although she had sufficient confidence in her own luck, she still dared not confirm it before the facts emerged.

【Metal Gear VS Talitaluosi】

To think there was a bye?

It is reasonable, though.

In that case, it will just be a matter of seeing who, between Brenna and Talitaluosi, can ultimately win.

"There is no need to feel too much pressure." Yun Mu reached out and patted Brenna's shoulder lightly: "I am still behind you."

"Mm."

Brenna did not say much else, only smiling and nodding lightly.

However, looking at her subconsciously rubbing fingers, it seemed her heart was not as calm as it appeared on the surface.

Yun Mu had no way to help with this, and could only wish in her heart that she would be able to win.

You must do your best, Brenna!

(End of this chapter)