Chapter 11 The Eleventh of November, 2 A.M.

The fourth round of the All-Out War had concluded, and the top sixteen of the Peak Conquest S2 were freshly decided.

After the livestream ended, recordings of each match quickly appeared on various non-neural connection streaming platforms.

Many viewers who had already watched the livestreams logged out of neural connection mode and immediately went to watch other matches they had missed. Of course... there were also those who, just to show off, went back to watch the matches they had already seen, and constantly spoiled the plot in the barrage...

On the other hand, the game forums were also a hive of activity, with players excitedly discussing the matches that had just ended.

First of all, the Hell Frontline team, which finished their match in just ten minutes... once again refreshed their position in people's minds.

In the semi-finals stage, they had always given the impression of "not going all out," and up to this fourth round, no one on their team had died in a match.

If their opponents were all weak, that would be one thing. But looking back at these four rounds... whether it was Corpse Blades' First and Second Squads, or the Gods' Second Squad, including that dual-roaming team led by individual professional players... all were undeniably formidable.

This made Hell Frontline's "zero casualties" record incredibly sharp... If calculated according to the qualifying round's tie-breaking rules, they should be ranked first among the sixteen teams up to this round.

Next, let's look at the match between Ice Emperor and Order.

Now we can directly call Order's First Squad "Order," because their studio's other teams have all left the competition.

As everyone expected, Order seemed to have advanced smoothly. But... that's just from the result.

Looking at the process, their advancement was not easy.

In fact, in the middle of the match, some people even thought that Order would lose this contest...

No one knew how Ice Emperor found experts like Dian E Wang and Samodiel to help, and no one thought they could set up such a clever plan and create a three-on-one situation against Order.

In previous matches, Order had never been outmatched by more than two people, let alone being reduced to a single member.

Even when they encountered Corpse Blades' First Squad in full state (with drug buffs) in the preliminary round, they only lost two people. And... that was when Gui Xiao went to solo the Boss. When Gui Xiao returned to the battlefield, Zui Wo Changran encountered a suicide attack, and Sheng Yu Pian was ganked in a two-on-one situation; and Corpse Blades had also lost two people (one self-destructed, one was completely crushed by Zen Bro).

Moreover, that was only the first match of the preliminary round, which meant that Order's powerful analysis team could not provide detailed intelligence support. If this match had taken place after ten rounds... no, five rounds... then Corpse Blades' First Squad would probably have been wiped out.

However, Ice Emperor had once pushed Order to the brink of defeat... If you want to know why Order could win in the end, there are only four words—Swallowing Sky Gui Xiao.

Without using summons, he successively repelled two Uniqueness Data beings second only to the Four Pillar Gods, and shortly after that, he eliminated the Qu Ming Nan trio, who were almost all in full state, in an encounter.

It can be said that... this match was of extraordinary significance, it not only showed people the hope of defeating the Order team, but also pushed the ID [Swallowing Sky Gui Xiao] back to the altar.

After S1 ended, there was a period of time when many people questioned Swallowing Sky Gui Xiao's strength. Because he was always severely restricted by Lutter in the competition, and until the end, he did not have any heaven-defying performance, and could even be said to have been beaten quite miserably...

But after this battle, Gui Xiao once again planted terror in people's hearts. The shock brought about by personally going into battle is very different from the visual and psychological impact that can be brought about by commanding summons to fight.

At this stage... apart from a certain insidious novelist, no one thinks that their team can win against Gui Xiao... including the Gods' First Squad.

Their mentality is really like what Ruo Yu complained: "Pray not to meet him before the final..."

Next, let's talk about the third match, Star Crest versus Warring States.

This should be the least suspenseful of the four focal battles.

Although most players have a certain prejudice and psychological dislike for "foreign studios," and people don't know much about Warring States' specific information, the pre-match predictions still favored Warring States to win.

Although Star Crest's strength is not bad, and they have the champion of S1 sitting in command, the other players besides Little Ma Ge are all brand new players. Obviously, the studio wants these future stars to show their faces more through the competition, so they can "sell" them for a good price in the future.

Such a team... on the surface, their combat power is not bad, but they have two insurmountable flaws: first, a lack of tacit understanding and cohesion; second, except for Tian Ma Xingkong, everyone else lacks competition experience.

In the end... this is a matter of concept.

No matter what the players and coaches think, the Star Crest management is not so eager for the championship, they just need to get a "decent" ranking to be satisfied.

And what kind of ranking is considered "decent"? Basically, as long as it meets the two points of "not missing those competitions that require a certain ranking to participate in" and "guaranteeing exposure."

Therefore, Star Crest will put an S1 champion plus three rookies in the first team lineup. The title of the first team and the halo of the champion guarantee the degree of attention they receive, and the competition itself allows them to accumulate experience and increase exposure. It doesn't matter if they don't win the championship... as long as the value of these players can rise through the competition.

On the other hand, Warring States is obviously ambitious and determined to win.

In short, these two teams... there is too much difference in the studio's concept and the desire to win the championship. With similar strength, Star Crest has a greater chance of losing, not to mention that Warring States' First Squad is stronger than them... and their strength is unfathomable.

ps: Seeing this, if you vaguely feel that I am dissing a certain Premier League team, or you are a fan of that team, please tell yourself that this is just an illusion... an illusion... illusion... lusion...

Then finally, let's look at the fourth match, Red Sakura First Squad vs. Order Second Squad.

If the MVP of the Hell Frontline match was Blood Corpse God, then the MVP of this Red Sakura match must be Xu Huai Shang.

This match was originally quite suspenseful, the overall level of Order's Second Squad is quite good, the only difference is that their trump card [Barcode] is a little worse than the enemy's trump card [Xu Huai Shang].

As a "queen"-like existence among female professional players, Xu Huai Shang's ability is at least on the same level as "Zui Sheng Meng Si", while Barcode's level is obviously half a level lower.

What's more, Yin Tianchou, he... uh... I mean Barcode, was unfortunately taken out by two non-trump card members of the opposing team before the match entered the final stage.

In that final battle, Xu Huai Shang also played the role that a trump card should play. When she used a move [Sakura.Moon Sever] to kill Brave Invincible, Brave Fearless understood... this match was over.

Before long, Fearless Bro, whose stamina value had been drained by the skill, became a lamb to the slaughter; and when he died, Order's Second Squad was left with Ye Zhi, a medical specialist, plus a Big Snowman with a worrying IQ. This combination is not enough to deal with [Blood Rose] alone, adding Xu Huai Shang... the result is self-evident.

To sum up, in the fourth round of the semi-finals, some people regretted being eliminated, and some people became gods overnight.

Before the competition videos on the online platform have finished playing, the forum masters, keyboard heroes, and professional water armies have collectively dispatched, eager to start predicting and analyzing, pointing fingers at the country, and creating public opinion...

And outside the network, in reality.

There is one person who is already planning something else...

…………

Three o'clock in the morning, S City suburbs, a certain crossroads.

This place is remote, it is no exaggeration to say it is the wilderness; although there are a few street lights on the roadside, there are definitely no surveillance cameras or other equipment.

At this time, there is a thin figure wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and sports pants standing in the middle of the road, muttering something.

In front of him on the ground, there is a magic circle drawn with chalk, about two meters in diameter. In the middle of the magic circle is a small metal basin filled with red liquid, suspected to be blood, and many messy, unknown materials. And on several symmetrical points in the magic circle, there are also several lit red candles.

"in_namen_satans,dem_herrscher_der_erde,dem_konig_der_webefehle_ich_den_kraften_der_finsternis..."

The man muttered for a while at a rather fast speed, and then, at a time when the moonlight was obscured by dark clouds, suddenly...

Whoosh——

A gust of strange wind suddenly blew out the candles.

Immediately afterwards, all the street lights around him started to flicker at the same time, as if there was a bad circuit contact.

In those few brief moments, this crossroads was plunged into complete darkness.

A few seconds later, the moon reappeared from behind the clouds, and the surrounding street lights all returned to a stable, bright state.

And at that crossroads, there was already one more figure...

"Hehehe... you always give people surprises, Feng Bujue."

Hearing this "hehehe" laugh, everyone should already know who was summoned by the magic circle. And from his first line after his appearance, the person wearing the black hooded sweatshirt, playing summoning magic here in the middle of the night... is Jue Ge.

"Are you surprised that I summoned you...?" Feng Bujue also said with a smile.

"Hehehe..." Woody's signature obscene laughter is really impossible to change, "Not surprised, a surprise."

"Okay, whatever..." Feng Bujue didn't want to continue playing this word game with the other party, so he responded casually, and then said, "I don't know how long you can stay here, I'll get straight to the point..." He paused, "Let's... make a bet."

"Hmm?" Woody was slightly taken aback when he heard this, and then showed an almost perverted smile, "Hehe... hehehehe..."

He laughed madly for a while, then pushed the white-glowing glasses on the bridge of his nose with his middle finger, and then said, "Hehe... Feng Bujue, before I answer 'bet' or 'no bet,' let me ask one question..." His tone changed slightly, "Do you really think that there is a possibility of 'equal betting' between you and me?"

"It doesn't exist." Feng Bujue's response was also very straightforward, "In terms of the four elements of gambling, you have all the advantages."

"Oh? There's actually a theory of 'four elements of gambling'?" Woody replied, "How come I've never heard of it?"

"Because I summarized it myself." Feng Bujue replied.

"Is that so? Hehehe... then I'm very interested in hearing it." Woody continued.

Feng Bujue shrugged and said directly: "First, the 'technique' to complete cheating and to detect cheating; second, the 'psychology' of absolute calmness and flawless planning; third, the 'luck' summoned by courage and belief; fourth, the 'force' sufficient to protect oneself or collect the chips after the bet breaks the limit."

"Hehehe... a very good summary." Woody laughed, "Most gambling does rely on cheating, and those fish who don't even know this and don't have the ability to detect it are not worth sympathizing with for losing everything; and in gambling where cheating is impossible, it mainly depends on intelligence battles, demeanor, language, actions... the skills of performance and observation determine the victory or defeat; and then... gambling that doesn't even require intelligence battles, such as slot machines, depends on luck. This is also what gamblers need most—the favor of heaven." He paused for half a second, "And outside of these decisive factors, 'force' is the final insurance. Not being able to take the winnings away alive doesn't count as winning."

After finishing this passage, Woody put his hands in his pockets, shrugged his shoulders and laughed a few times: "Hehe... you understand all these principles... but you still want to gamble with me?" He seemed to feel that this question was still not sharp enough, and added a second later, "I have to emphasize... I am a devil, I am not the kind who 'disdains to cheat' or 'I won't deny the debt for the sake of face'."

"I naturally understand all of this." Feng Bujue continued to smile, "So what?"

These words made the smile on Woody's face disappear.

"Hmph..." After a few seconds of silence, Woody snorted coldly, and then said, "Feng Bujue, you really make me both love and hate you..."

"You don't have to love me, I have a girlfriend." Jue Ge immediately complained, "You should hate me... Compared to 'love,' 'hate' is an emotion that is easy to bear. As far as I know... many people hate me, and I still live well." He tilted his head and smiled playfully, "But if too many people love me, I will be very tired."

"Hehehe... I was just making an analogy, I don't have any 'emotions'." Woody continued, "Anyway... let's bet..." He spread his hands, "What do you want to bet?"

"I use the champion of the second stage of this 'Candidate Game'..." When Jue Ge said those five words, there was a very obvious change in Woody's expression, "... to bet for Li Ruo Yu's love."