Chapter 24 After All Is Said and Done

Long story short, after the "Middle General Battle," the score became two to zero. The upcoming "Lieutenant General Battle" would be [Michael] against [Weary Dream Returns].

By this match, everyone… including Weary Dream Returns himself felt that the [Worthless Dream Alliance] was doomed.

From an outsider's perspective, they were likely to be swept, perhaps not even getting to the Vice-General Battle; analyzing from the team members' own perspective, even if they tied the score to two-two, [Bi Laoshi] couldn't win the match point in the final "Chief General Battle."

However, this sense of "doom" did not affect Weary Dream Returns' mindset or performance.

Teleported into the battlefield, he did not retreat or feel lost. He just stood proudly, holding [Chonglou], with no distractions, seeking only battle.

[…Two…one…fight!]

The instant the countdown ended, Weary Dream Returns burst forth with surging Dou Qi, shattering obstacles, like a roaring mountain and a tsunami devouring the enemy.

But Michael stood in the torrent of energy, unmoved, not retreating a single step.

Chi—

The halberd's edge rose, the whistling wind touched, Weary Dream Returns faced the strong enemy fearlessly, attacking with his halberd.

Michael's figure turned, meeting the attack with his bare hands, actually grasping the sweeping halberd, stopping the opponent's attack.

"A prodigal son returning, indeed showing extraordinary measure." In this instant, Michael, who was restraining his opponent's weapon, was able to speak in a rather calm tone, "But it seems… still somewhat lacking…"

"Hey, hey…" Weary Dream Returns was not too surprised to hear this. He just laughed, "What's with the tone that makes it seem like you know me so well?"

While speaking, he had already increased the strength in his wrist, urging his divine power again!

"Hmm?" In that second, not only did a trace of change appear on Michael's face, but… he was also forced back a step.

"Speaking of… this is our first time meeting, right, brother? Who exactly are you? Also… your team is so strong, where did you guys come from?" While Weary Dream Returns exerted pressure, he also asked a few questions.

These questions were not only his but also what the audience and other participants were very interested in.

"Heh…" The next second, Michael actually laughed too, but he did not answer Weary Dream Returns' questions, but rather continued on his own, "Not bad…" He paused for half a second, then said seriously, "Come, try harder, let me see how much substance there is to your 'strength.'"

"Hmph… good!" Weary Dream Returns thought that the other party didn't want him to pry information, so he deliberately provoked him. In that case, let's fight.

Therefore, he raised his fighting spirit again, urged his divine power again, continued his attack with his halberd, and advanced his killing move.

On Michael's side… after the contact just now, he also knew that Weary Dream Returns planned to fight this battle by "constantly raising the limit"; out of "duty," Michael decided to use a slightly higher combat power than his opponent to test and observe, so he immediately made a move to meet him.

For a time, divine power, holy power… the two extremes converged, vented, and stirred, boundless and limitless, shaking all directions.

Although the two parties involved still seemed to have some leeway, the battlefield could no longer withstand such great power… In the blink of an eye, this place had already been transformed, mountains shifted, the earth moved, rocks cracked, and rocks flew.

Under this change, the two combatants had no choice but to leap up and switch to aerial combat.

For Michael, who "naturally has wings," this was undoubtedly a good thing. He thought that in a place where there was no way to borrow strength, the opponent would not be able to "urge his divine power again."

But he was wrong…

Even in the air, Weary Dream Returns' soul intent could still create an endless stream of power out of thin air, constantly breaking through the limit.

In that instant, Weary Dream Returns stretched out his arms and held his halberd, using the power of rotation and the might of divine power, in a brief, commanding opportunity, he used a move called [Overturning Clouds with Myriad Waves].

This was the first S-class skill comprehended by players in Thriller Paradise, and also the ultimate move that Weary Dream Returns used to break through the shackles in his heart. Performed by Weary Dream Returns today, it was an even higher realm.

Boom—

The might of the halberd rose, divine power surged, and Dou Qi was like an angry torrent, pouring down.

Seeing this, Michael hurriedly used his holy power, crossing his hands to block, but was still pushed towards the ground by the power of that move…

With a shattering blow, overturning clouds and splitting the sea, the mountain body of Mount Cangyun had just been shaken open, and now it suffered this heavy blow from the sky, and could not help but disintegrate, causing the ground to collapse and valleys to appear, with countless rocks falling into the valley.

"It's not over yet!" Weary Dream Returns' attack did not stop.

With his current strength, he could see that Michael, after receiving the move, was far from being pushed to the brink… Therefore, he immediately stepped on those falling rocks and charged back and forth, chasing after the falling enemy.

Taking advantage of Michael's unstable posture, Weary Dream Returns connected with another move, [Cascading Moon Seven Radiance].

Halberd light flashed, and the sharp light was cold and murderous; the killing move that followed like a shadow was exquisite, fast, dangerous, and outstanding.

But, with holy power in front, it was still… ineffective!

Not only was it ineffective, but Weary Dream Returns, who continued to make moves, was the first to have his Qi disrupted, while Michael still seemed very calm.

This round of aerial entanglement did not last too long. When the two landed and the attack and defense temporarily stopped, Michael spoke again: "There is a question I want to ask you now."

"Huh?" Weary Dream Returns was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Heh… good, you ask, I can take a breather."

In his bones, he was still a proud person. Even if the opponent did not intentionally give him time to breathe, he did not want to take advantage of it silently.

"Why do you want to team up with that non-candidate…" Michael blurted out half a sentence, but quickly realized that he shouldn't say certain words, so he changed his words, “…why do you want to team up with [Bi Laoshi]? You should know… the impact his existence will have on you.”

To outsiders, his words would be interpreted as something else, but Weary Dream Returns understood the other party's original intention: "Oh? You even know about 'that thing'? Heh… it seems you are really strong enough to be at the 'data observation' level…" He paused, "However, I don't expect you to understand us, I can only answer you… for our Worthless Dream Alliance, 'victory' is not the 'most important' thing."

Weary Dream Returns' answer was indeed the meaning of their entire team.

In the end, the [Worthless Dream Alliance] was not a team that had too much obsession with victory. If they were, they would never have allowed Bi Laoshi to join the team…

With Honghu's connections, would it be difficult to find a first-class expert to fill the ranks? Taking a step back, with the strength of their existing members, what about publicly recruiting a team member? Wouldn't the strong players who wanted to join the team break their heads trying to get in?

The thing that most people didn't realize this S3 was that… in essence, the [Worthless Dream Alliance] was actually a "casual team that didn't pursue results."

Their situation was probably like this—"Three or five good friends playing an online game together, seeing that this game is going to have a competition, so they agreed to form a team to participate together"; this kind of thing is extremely common and normal among casual players, the difference between the [Worthless Dream Alliance] and them is that the members are very strong… that's all.

After understanding this, it's easy to understand Bi Laoshi's matter…

As casual players, our original motivation for playing games is often just "to have fun with friends"; however, many times, our purpose will change imperceptibly…

The level, rank, equipment, and ranking of the game character, the weekly activity attendance rate, DKP points, etc., when we begin to obsess over and get lost in the wealth, status, and sense of superiority we obtain in the virtual world… the happiness brought by the game is no longer the original taste.

Many years later, looking back, the once-popular game has long become a tear of the times, and the account that has been poured a lot of effort into is just a speck of dust in the sealed database. Even the friends who once fought together in that illusory world have long since lost contact… In the end, only the memory of fighting together can be preserved, adding a bit of sigh.

The members of the [Worthless Dream Alliance] are a group of people who still retain the "original motivation" of the game, a group of men who put the "process of fighting together" above the "result," a group of… "Worthless Uncles."

Although their personalities are different from each other, they can understand each other and get along well; they are the purest "players"—fighting with all their strength and enjoying the joys, anger, sorrows, and joys of playing games together, not acting out of utilitarianism, and not blaming each other for things in the game.

Unfortunately, from the perspective of a "candidate," there is no doubt… they are all unqualified.

Being content with the status quo, passionate and simple, self-salvation, taking care of oneself… These qualities are not impossible for candidates to have, but they can't "just be like this."

"Okay…" After listening to Weary Dream Returns' answer, Michael looked into the latter's eyes for a few seconds, then said, "It seems what you said is the truth…" As he said this, he raised his head, looked at the sky and said, "Then there is no need to observe the remaining two."

Weary Dream Returns didn't know what he was talking about, and the audience didn't know what he was talking about.

After he said that, he stood there silently for a while, and then, as if he had received some kind of "feedback," he nodded slightly and looked at Weary Dream Returns again.

"Hoo…" At that moment, Michael breathed a long sigh of relief, and said again, "In this way, 'our' 'mission' has come to an end." He paused for half a second, looking at his opponent with a kind of look that was very inconsistent with his appearance and age, almost "kind," and continued, "Finally, let me say something off-topic… Perhaps you don't quite understand what I'm talking about, but… I still want to tell you that I never regret betting on you… Your growth this year has also proved that I didn't see the wrong person. Of course, as a matter of business, my judgment at this moment is still… you are unqualified."

Weary Dream Returns really didn't understand what Michael was saying, but that was no longer important, because when Michael finished speaking, he had already used a holy power far beyond Weary Dream Returns' current level and launched a move called "Light of the Other Shore," directly blasting Weary Dream Returns into nothingness.

At this point, the [Worthless Dream Alliance]'s S3 journey came to an end; although they were swept out, judging from the process… they didn't lose unjustly, after all, their opponents were so strong that people wanted to report them.

In fact, the first thought that many people had after watching this match was to report them. Some media even started drafting inflammatory articles about the Gate of Heaven being a cheating team before Weary Dream Returns' match was over… Although none of these people had evidence, they generally believed that based on the content recorded in the match recording, there was no need to explain anything more.

However, a puzzling thing happened before these people put their faces out to be slapped…

On the morning of the 19th, before the match recording of this semi-final battle was generated, Michael, the captain of the [Gate of Heaven], and his six teammates appeared in the still-open match live broadcast channel.

For the vast audience, this was definitely a moment that refreshed their worldview… This group of mysterious players who had always been extremely low-key and had never communicated with the outside world had not only made a rare appearance outside the match, but also in this highly anticipated live broadcast.

From the live broadcast screen, the place where the seven people were located was a primitive conference room that had not been decorated at all; although all seven people were in the camera, only Michael was speaking on behalf of them…

His speech was very short. First, he thanked Dream Company for urgently approving their request to use this official platform to publish a certain decision. Then, he said a piece of news that made all players feel that they "must have misheard"—the [Gate of Heaven], forfeits.