Chapter 16 The Meaning of the Train

“He actually exposed his position first…” Si Yu murmured in front of the screen in the conference room, “Long-ge is too confident.”

Bei Ling added, “Perhaps… it’s because he understands Xiao Tan’s fighting style better, so he feels more confident in a head-on confrontation.”

Si Yu turned to Feng Bujue and asked, “If it were you, how would you fight this match?”

“Hmm… I’d use wire and grenades to set up a pretty obvious trap, and then right behind that trap, I’d use a military shovel and a second grenade to set up a more concealed trap, and while I’m at it, I’d write ‘why_so_serious?’ on the wall next to the second trap,” Feng Bujue replied very quickly. “After doing all that, I’d cut off the power to the tunnel, or smash all the light bulbs nearby. Then… I’d just have to wait.”

“I feel like there’s an extra step in that process…” Si Yu had finally picked up the habit of making sarcastic remarks.

“Alright, let’s watch the match, watch the match.” Bei Ling interrupted them, her eyes constantly watching the screen with concern.

…

At this moment, the system used two split screens to focus on Wang Tanzhi and Long Aotian respectively.

In the picture, Long-ge immediately stopped shouting and listened intently after yelling that sentence, trying to use his hearing to capture the opponent’s movements. But other than the echo of his own words, there was no other sound.

Xiao Tan’s reaction was also very calm. He knew where his advantages lay, and he also knew what kind of situation the opponent most hoped to see. Therefore, he chose to turn his back to the direction from which the shout came and walked quickly towards the other side.

A direct close-quarters battle was undoubtedly what Long Aotian excelled at. His defensive capabilities were very comprehensive, especially against agile players who used bladed weapons.

Ordinary sword attacks could almost be ignored by Long-ge. He could block with his shield or use his armor to take the hit; and when facing medium-powered skill attacks, he would use defensive skills to resist. Even if his defense was broken, he wouldn’t lose too much survival value.

In addition, Long-ge also had a medical passive skill, and his clothing and equipment attributes also leaned towards defense and recovery. As long as the attacker’s attack strength or speed decreased, giving him a chance to catch his breath, he would recover health…

If the opponent was a fighting-type player who used hammers, clubs, or even fists and feet, Long-ge would still feel some pressure, after all, the opponent would inflict a certain amount of impact damage when attacking. But those who used bladed weapons mostly attacked with slashes and stabs, their strength was generally not strong, and most attacks couldn’t break through his defense.

Therefore, in a normal offensive and defensive process, Long Aotian only needed to achieve the four words “no openings.” As a defender, his stamina consumption was much lower than the attacker’s. The longer the battle dragged on, the more obvious his advantage in stamina would become.

Meng Jingchan lost that match because he couldn’t break through the defense in a normal battle for a long time, so he fell into a passive state. By the time he gradually realized Long-ge’s tactical goal, it was too late… At that critical moment, stopping… the opponent’s health recovery ability was there; continuing to attack fiercely… his own stamina couldn’t keep up. In a dilemma, Chou Hettang Laoxiong was taken away by Long-ge in one wave.

If the two met again, Meng Jingchan would definitely go all out at the start and launch a fierce attack, ending the battle in one fell swoop while his stamina was still abundant. Unfortunately… victory is victory, and defeat is defeat, there are no ifs.

Of course, Xiao Tan would not follow in Meng Jingchan’s footsteps. He knew Long Aotian’s characteristics from the beginning, so his plan was also very clear—a one-hit kill.

“Hmm… no response to me, and no sound either…” Long-ge waited in place for about two minutes, thinking, “As far as I know… Xiao Tan only has one stealth skill, and it must be activated in a crowd. In the current environment… even if his speed is fast, he will be discovered early when approaching me.” He pondered for a moment, and speculated, “This kid Xiao Tan, although not as exaggerated as Crazy Brother, is also very clever. With his understanding of me… he should be…”

Long Aotian quickly concluded that the opponent was moving away from him, and then said, “Sure enough, he didn’t act according to my expectations… but it doesn’t matter.” He seemed very relaxed. After saying this, he randomly chose a direction and walked forward.

…

“Oh… meticulous in the rough.” Feng Bujue suddenly uttered such an inexplicable comment.

“What did you see again?” Si Yu asked.

Feng Bujue replied, “About Long-ge’s shout just now…” He leaned back in his chair and turned to look at Si Yu, explaining, “It seems like he exposed his position, but in fact… it’s a very aggressive offensive tactic.”

“That’s too far-fetched… Captain.” Bei Ling also didn’t see the meaning of this move.

Feng Bujue said, “Think about it… Long-ge is not afraid of melee combat; he also knows very well that Xiao Tan cannot use ranged attacks to kill him instantly. Therefore, even if his position is exposed, he doesn’t have to worry about being sneak-attacked and killed.”

“Then wouldn’t it be the same if he didn’t shout?” Si Yu continued.

“Wrong.” Feng Bujue denied, “There is a fundamental difference.” He raised his finger and pointed to Xiao Tan on the split screen, “He knows the opponent’s position now.” He pointed to Long Aotian again, “And he doesn’t know the opponent’s position now.”

Bei Ling continued, “Oh! I understand.” She suddenly realized, “Passive play!”

“I see…” Si Yu also understood, “Xiao Tan is actively moving away from the opponent; and Long-ge… because he doesn’t know Xiao Tan’s position, so no matter which way he goes, it can be regarded as an active behavior of searching for the opponent.”

“Sigh…” Feng Bujue sighed, “You two had to be reminded by me to realize this difference, that kid himself… I don’t think he’ll be able to.”

“However… the system needs a certain amount of time to determine passive play, right.” Bei Ling continued.

“Time is one factor, the other two factors are his consciousness and actions.” Feng Bujue said, “In terms of consciousness, simply put… Xiao Tan must subjectively believe that what he is doing is helpful to defeating the opponent. In that case, let alone walking in the opposite direction, even if he digs a hole and crawls in, or sleeps on the railroad tracks, he will not be judged as passive play. His behavior of shaking the elevator in the first round is a good example. Although it was actually useless, he was subjectively looking for a solution.” He paused for a moment, “If he doesn’t have a very clear purpose in his consciousness, for example, he only knows that he should temporarily stay away from the opponent, but he doesn’t know what to do next. At this time, it depends on his actions…”

“His current action is running away…” Bei Ling said.

Feng Bujue spread his hands, “Yes, so… we can only hope that… he already has an idea in his head.”

…

“I have absolutely no clue~” Xiao Tan murmured as he walked, “It’s been ten minutes, and I haven’t seen the end of the tunnel, nor have I come up with a way to deal with Long-ge. Doesn’t that just become a simple escape…” He held his head in his hands, squatted down, and scratched his hair, saying, “I’ll be judged as passive play soon, right…”

“Think, think, think…” Xiao Tan said to himself. He stood up and paced back and forth. “One-hit kill, one-hit kill…” He repeated this sentence over and over again, occasionally glancing at his skill bar and item bar. “It has to be fast enough… strong enough… and there’s only one chance, I absolutely can’t miss… Long-ge’s flying shield skill and chasing skill can prevent me from flanking, and there’s no space for me to kite in the tunnel… If one hit fails, I’ll be caught in a protracted battle.”

The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. If it weren’t for the consideration that the footage of this match would be broadcast, he probably would have curled up into a ball and rolled back and forth on the ground.

“Can I only hope that Long-ge gets hit by a train and dies…” Xiao Tan muttered, “But judging from the situation in this tunnel, as long as you stand against the wall, you won’t be brushed by the train…”

His judgment was correct. Even if the train really came, there would still be tens of centimeters of distance between the two walls and the carriages when the train passed through this tunnel. Players could stand sideways without any problem, as long as their shoulder width didn’t exceed one meter, they wouldn’t be touched.

“Besides… I can’t be sure that the train will definitely come from Long-ge’s side, what if it comes from my side…” When Xiao Tan thought of this, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

As mentioned earlier, although Xiao Tan is not as good at planning as Feng Bujue, he will have amazing moves as long as he has a "flash of inspiration".

At this moment, perhaps due to some innate talent, a crazy idea with a strong gambling nature was born in Xiao Tan’s mind…

…

“After running at sixty percent speed for so long, I still haven’t seen the exit… It seems that the system doesn’t intend to let players get out of this tunnel.” By now, Long Aotian could basically confirm that the direction he had chosen was opposite to Xiao Tan’s. “Looks like I chose the wrong side…” He sighed, “Hoo… but Xiao Tan should have turned around by now, otherwise he will be judged for passive play.” Thinking of this, he turned around, “Then I’ll go back too, meet him earlier and have a straightforward fight.”

Woo—Kuchi Kuchi Kuchi…

At this time, the rumble of a train coming came from the far end of the tunnel.

Before long, a huge locomotive appeared in Long Aotian’s sight.

Long-ge had naturally considered the possibility of a train passing by. Seeing this, he quickly moved to the side of the wall and stood with his back against the wall.

“An old-fashioned steam train… it’s quite fast.” Long-ge turned his face and looked at the gradually approaching locomotive.

Suddenly, his expression changed. In two seconds, Long-ge showed three expressions: doubt, surprise, and shock…

“[Beep—]” Long Aotian swore, and continued, “That’s too exaggerated! How did he get up there!”