Chapter 1 The Calm Before the Storm

November 9th, morning. The battle reports for the third round of the Aozhan Sijie (Four Realms Melee) were released, and the top thirty-two of the Dianfeng Zhengba (Apex Conquest) S2 were finalized.

Three things were worth mentioning after this round.

First, of the remaining thirty-two teams, only [Hell Front] and [Worthless Alliance] were not operated by studios. Considering that all four main players of [Worthless Alliance] were professional gamers... [Hell Front] became the only non-professional team remaining in the competition.

Second, all of Shi Dao Studio's teams were eliminated by this round. Although they sent the most participating teams of all the large studios, they didn't occupy a single spot in the top thirty-two.

Third, on the morning after the third round of the preliminaries, Meng Company suddenly announced an unexpected piece of news on its official website.

Before this announcement was released, most individuals or groups following the competition, including Feng Bujue, believed that the Dianfeng Zhengba (Apex Conquest) S2 finals would begin after the preliminary teams were eliminated down to two. However, this prediction… was completely overturned by Meng Company's actions this morning.

According to the official information, this Dianfeng Zhengba (Apex Conquest) S2 preliminary round—Aozhan Sijie (Four Realms Melee)—would end after the "Top Four" were determined. And the final—Zhushen Huanghun (Twilight of the Gods)—would be a free-for-all involving all four teams.

This news was like a stone thrown into a calm lake... the competition strategies of the major studios were instantly disrupted. What originally required winning four more rounds to advance to the finals now only required winning three. And the various uncertain factors in the finals also increased exponentially. Thus, a series of collecting, calculating, deducing, and adjusting tasks... suddenly emerged out of nowhere.

Of course, for Feng Bujue and Honghu, this sudden situation didn't bring much pressure. Because they didn't have the support of studio resources behind them, which meant... there wasn't much room for adjustment. No matter how much the upcoming competition system differed from what they expected, all they could do was make slight adjustments before the match as circumstances dictated.

...

November 10th, 8:00 AM. The match list for the fourth round of the preliminaries was released.

Among the sixteen matches in this round, four could be called key battles—

First match: Hell Front vs. Zhushen Second Team.

The reason this match would be a focus was simple: because anything related to "Hell Front" would become a focus now.

Due to their low-key performance in the preliminary rounds, Jue-ge and his team's explosion in the preliminaries seemed particularly dazzling. They won each of the three preliminary rounds with overwhelming victories, a record that was enough to make them the recognized dark horse.

In addition, the members' strength, personality, and appearance also earned the Hell Front team considerable popularity. Even if this popularity was mixed with many Feng Bujue worshipers who had the psychology of cult followers...

————

Looking at the second match: Sengoku First Team vs. Starlight First Team.

The reason these two teams were the focus was mainly because the information about them was of great collection value.

As mentioned earlier, Sengoku Studio was a foreign studio that joined the game after S1. Local players and studios weren't very familiar with their various aspects. Besides the fact that all the main members were Japanese players, what could be confirmed at this stage was... [Sengoku First Team] had also easily advanced with an undefeated record all the way, and their strength was very solid.

As for their opponent, [Starlight First Team], there was no need to say more... the "Arsenal" competition was something that studios would watch even if ordinary players didn't. Maybe the current main player in their team would become your main player in the future.

Also, [Pegasus], the S1 champion, was also in the team. The "mysterious prize" he received in S1 was still a subject of much speculation... Although Jue-ge and a few others already knew that what he got couldn't be used in the game at all, this matter wasn't made public...

Therefore, many studio investigators were still wary of the reward that Little Ma received in the last competition, and were closely watching his every move; as if it would be abnormal if Little Ma didn't take out one or two nuclear bombs or release a few Genki Dama-level skills...

————

Next up was the third match: Bingdi vs. Order First Team.

Whether you believe it or not, in the eyes of the outside world, Bingdi was a strong team with the hope and ability to defeat Order First Team. In terms of record, both teams advanced with undefeated records in the preliminary rounds, and both maintained a seemingly unreserved appearance in the preliminary stage.

Although most people still thought that Order First Team had a better chance of winning, they didn't think that Bingdi had no chance at all. Anyone who had watched the live broadcast or recorded videos of both sides felt that the process of this match would be quite glued, at least not one-sided.

————

Finally, there was the fourth match: Hong Ying First Team vs. Order Second Team.

In a sense, all the matches of [Hong Ying First Team] were considered key battles. There was no need to say more about Xu Huai Shang's personal popularity, and her three teammates were also beautiful players with very high standards. Such a team naturally wouldn't lack spectators in every match.

And the [Order Second Team] they encountered in this round was undoubtedly a strong enemy.

Among all the professional teams entering the preliminary rounds, only Order and Zhushen had the depth where even their "Second Team" was considered to have the strength to win the championship. This... was the foundation of being "industry-leading". Whether Hong Ying admitted it or not, there wasn't much obvious difference between their second team and their first team, at least they were at the same level.

Therefore, this match might also become Xu Huai Shang's farewell performance in S2...

...

November 10th, 11:55 PM, Hell Front Conference Room.

"Alright, everyone understands the deployment for this match, right?" Feng Bujue sat in the main seat at the conference table, chewing on potato chips, and said to his teammates with a lazy expression.

In the past twenty minutes, he had explained in detail all the key points that needed attention in the next match to his teammates, and he did so for only one reason—he had decided to be a substitute for this match.

"Understand is understand..." Miss An was the first to respond, "But... this is already the fourth round of the preliminaries, is it really okay for you to let me play?"

"Don't worry, there is a reason for my arrangement." Feng Bujue replied with a smile, "Although your specialization level and character level are slightly out of sync, your strength is still very strong, so there is no need to be humble." He shrugged, "Besides... you finally got out of those troubles with Shi Dao, you should vent appropriately, shouldn't you?"

"Then I have to thank you?" An Yueqin replied with squinted eyes, "However, you still haven't told us... how exactly did you deal with that matter..." She paused, "Seriously... you really did something illegal, right?"

"Yes, I did." Two seconds later, Feng Bujue actually replied with a calm tone.

"Huh?" An Yueqin was also stunned, "You actually admitted it..."

"Admit it, so what?" Feng Bujue replied, "Even if I don't admit it, you all think so in your hearts, right?"

"Yeah." Xiao Tan immediately nodded very straightforwardly.

Ruo Yu and Xiao Ling remained silent and didn't comment.

In the eyes of these esper users, the authority of "law" was truly limited. In fact, not to mention them, who possessed supernatural powers, even someone like "Jiang Daode" had a very different perspective on the law from ordinary people.

And Feng Bujue, who had already had some antisocial tendencies before meeting Woody, was now obviously in an even more unscrupulous state.

"That's it then." Feng Bujue continued.

"What do you mean 'that's it'..." An Yueqin looked at Jue-ge with some worry, "I don't want the author I'm in charge of to be criminally detained during the company's promotion period."

"Don't worry about that." Jue-ge said, "It's impossible for me to be caught."

"Where do you get your confidence?" An Yueqin asked.

"Go home and ask your great-grandfather." Feng Bujue put his hands behind his head and replied casually.

"Hey! I'm worried about you, what's with your attitude?" An Yueqin replied somewhat angrily.

"I'm serious." But Jue-ge replied, "You can go home and ask your great-grandfather... that is, Professor An Si, the founder of Si Rui Group... he will explain to you... why I have this kind of confidence."