Chapter 474: There Can Still Be This Kind of Strategy?!

"A duel?" Proprietor Fang looked up at his computer screen. "That might not be the best idea."

"What could possibly be wrong with it?" Xun Yuan interjected quickly. "We've all been eager to see the Proprietor's high-level strategic command, haven't we, everyone?"

Clearly, the onlookers were more than happy to fanning the flames of anticipation.

With matters pressed to this point, Proprietor Fang found it difficult to decline. He gave a nod. "Alright then, let's play a match."

Gu Tingyun, maintaining a measure of caution, chose the Protoss—the race with which he possessed the greatest familiarity—the moment the game commenced.

"Let's see what Proprietor Fang chooses." Having witnessed Gu Tingyun's selection, the crowd shifted their gaze back to the Proprietor's screen.

They watched as Proprietor Fang hovered his cursor over the various factions, hesitated for a brief moment, and then clicked Random.

"???"

"Why did the Proprietor choose random?"

"This is simply too condescending!" Zhou Mo snorted coldly. "Does he truly believe he can vanquish the Grandmaster's commanded Protoss legions with any random faction?"

After all, this was a contest of pure command and strategy, entirely distinct from Legend of Sword and Fairy 3. In the latter, one could rely on gathering various powerful items to ultimately defeat Chonglou, but when it came to strategy...

That was not a craft easily mastered by the young. This Proprietor, by all appearances, did not seem particularly advanced in years. In truth, if senior cultivators like themselves wished to disguise their age, it was never entirely imperceptible; subtle nuances in demeanor and posture would inevitably betray the truth.

And strategy, in his estimation, required the tempering of time.

"Perhaps the Proprietor feels it makes no difference either way, since he isn't quite sure how to play, so he just picked at random?"

"Pfft, hahaha!" Mu Qing burst into laughter. "He couldn't possibly be that weak, could he..."

Jiang Xiaoyue leaned in close to Proprietor Fang. "Boss, do you actually know how to play? I've seen the Old Academy Master's commanding, and it's incredibly formidable."

"Of course I do," Proprietor Fang replied casually. "Rest assured, your boss can handle seven computer opponents single-handedly with ease."

"Hmph! You're boasting!" Even Jiang Xiaoyue found this difficult to believe.

Even if a senior had given him private instruction, he should at least speak within the realm of plausibility.

She had witnessed the sheer power of seven computer opponents—that dense, swarming sea of Zerg. There was no Chonglou or Jingtian here to save the day; what could possibly stand against them?

Rack her small mind as she might, she could conceive of no strategy, and could only watch with wide, expectant eyes from the sidelines.

By this time, the match had already begun.

The battlefield was a stone-strewn wilderness of moderate size. On Gu Tingyun’s side, the moment he entered the game, he began racing against the clock to develop his base.

As for Proprietor Fang's side...

"Protoss as well?!" To everyone's surprise, the random selection had yielded the exact same faction. The young onlookers behind immediately cried out in astonishment.

"Won't letting the opponent know your faction affect the game?" Li Wuya spoke up from the side. "The purpose of a random selection is to mystify the opponent, yet with your shouting... hasn't it all been revealed?"

"..." Gu Tingyun turned back with a look of displeasure, remarking, "A true gentleman remains silent while observing a game."

Nevertheless, Proprietor Fang showed no intention of restarting the match, continuing to produce workers.

He then casually sent one worker out to scout the area, an entirely standard opening.

At this juncture, the majority of the spectators focused their attention on Gu Tingyun's screen, noting that he had first constructed a Gateway.

"It appears Senior Gu intends to launch an early probe to test the waters?"

"That seems highly probable..."

Just as a single Zealot was being trained, Proprietor Fang's worker came darting into the base.

As though taking a leisurely stroll through its own territory, it swaggered right past the Zealot.

Then, with utter audacity, it approached Gu Tingyun's working probes and unleashed a barrage of electromagnetic currents upon them.

The faint electrical arcs from the worker struck the opponent's plasma shield, producing a glimmer of pale blue light. It clearly caused minimal damage, merely depleting a small fraction of the shield's energy, yet the sheer insolence of the act...

"How arrogant!"

"Is this worker simply coming here to die?!"

"Does he not realize the opponent has already produced a Zealot?!"

"A provocation, a blatant provocation!"

Before Gu Tingyun could even react, the young men standing behind him were already eager to roll up their sleeves and join the fray themselves.

This was simply too outrageous!

Gu Tingyun, however, remained visibly composed. After all, he now possessed two Zealots; dispatching a single worker was an entirely trivial matter.

Yet everyone watched as the two Zealots moved to intercept, only for the worker to twist its frame and flee faster than anyone anticipated.

"At least it knows fear!" Zhou Mo nodded. "It appears this worker understands the lethality of a Zealot."

No sooner had he spoken than Proprietor Fang's worker executed a sharp turn and returned, resuming its assault on Gu Tingyun's probes.

What insolence!

The two Zealots pressed forward once more.

This time, they clearly intended to leave Proprietor Fang no avenue of escape, closing in from two distinct angles.

Yet, Proprietor Fang's worker immediately veered to the left, tracing a wide arc before continuing its outward flight.

Furthermore, it managed to slip precisely through the narrow gap between the two Zealots.

"...It's going to escape again?"

At that moment, another Zealot emerged from the Gateway.

This particular Zealot suddenly surged forward, rushing toward Fang Qi’s worker with a burst of speed far exceeding the norm.

Under the newly introduced control scheme, if a player commanded a unit personally, they could use their own focus to precisely regulate the spiritual energy within the Protoss warrior's body. Even ordinary humans could manage a hundred-meter sprint; for a Zealot to unleash a burst of speed higher than usual was naturally a simple matter.

Proprietor Fang's worker executed a remarkably fluid series of maneuvers, twisting its frame once more.

Clang!

The dual blades struck the worker's trailing edge, causing its plasma shield to flicker and vanish, a strike of undeniably high damage.

Then, everyone watched as Proprietor Fang hastily withdrew the heavily damaged worker.

"Hmph! What is the use of employing a single worker for harassment?" Xun Yuan remarked disdainfully. "The opponent's Zealots need only take a few steps to send it fleeing in utter disarray."

"If this was an attempt to lure the enemy away, it was executed far too clumsily," Wang Xie evaluated.

"Indeed," Zong Wu nodded in agreement. "Senior Gu is now fully capable of sending his Zealots to harass the enemy base."

Zealots were entirely unlike workers; their destructive capability was by no means negligible.

At that moment, someone glanced at Proprietor Fang's base. There were no offensive structures whatsoever, nor were there any defensive pylons or cannons. "Look at the Proprietor's base—he hasn't even constructed a Gateway!"

"Could it be that he was so absorbed in his worker harassment that he completely forgot about his own development?!"

"Hahaha, if the Zealots strike now, his entire base will be wiped out instantly!"

"Principal Gu has four Zealots now! They are moving out!"

"The Proprietor has begun placing Photon Cannons!"

"Is there still time?" Xun Yuan scoffed. "Deploying defensive structures at this hour, without a single soldier to back them up—how does he expect to defend?"

"Hmm?! Why have Senior Gu's Zealots suddenly turned around?!" Everyone watched as Gu Tingyun's Zealots, having traversed only half the distance, abruptly reversed their course and began rushing back to their base in a frenzy.

"Boss Fang cancelled the defense towers being built in his base?!"

"Why is Senior Gu's base on fire?!" Mu Qing suddenly pointed at the screen and cried out in alarm.

Glancing upward, he nearly spat a mouthful of blood onto the screen: there, in the top right corner, hidden behind an inconspicuous hill, a photon cannon belonging to Boss Fang had appeared at some unknown point, furiously bombarding Gu Tingyun's workers and headquarters!

And some worker, emerging from who knows where, was still puffing and panting as it constructed yet another photon cannon!

"!!??" Just now, absolutely no one had been paying attention to a place like that!

To think that even though this location was remote, anyone who looked even slightly closer would have discovered it despite the distance. In fact, by the time the third and nearest defense tower was being built, if even a single Protoss player had cast a careful glance in that direction, they could have reported it.

But the problem was, building defense towers not in your own base, but in someone else's base—what kind of strategy was this?!

Two Zealots newly produced from Gu Tingyun's gateway rushed forward to reinforce, but before they even reached it, their vision went dark.

Right there in the hidden spot behind that photon cannon stood two more photon cannons!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One Zealot was already gone.

Never mind Gu Tingyun; even the players watching from behind were about to spit blood.

From the very beginning, he had never intended to play by the rules. What infuriated them most was that he had actually pulled it off right under their noses: ... Am I a fool or something ... ?

They were utterly questioning their life choices!

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PS: I probably won't be able to add extra chapters during the New Year, but I can guarantee two chapters a day. Please understand, thank you.

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