Chapter 1 He Never Intended to Snatch It

From the very beginning, Feng Bujue had no intention of snatching the "Sword Dance Manuscript."

Because the moment he saw the main quest of this scenario, he had already gleaned a very important hidden message from it.

【Acquire the "Sword Dance Manuscript" before any other player and maintain ownership of it for one hour.】

At first glance, this was a simple and straightforward task. After most people read the task description, they would immediately remember two things: first, grab the Sword Dance Manuscript; and second, keep the manual on their person for an hour.

Then, they would start thinking about their next move or simply go do something else.

But Feng Bujue's way of thinking was different. After seeing the quest, the two words that concerned him the most were "before any other."

From a subjective point of view, the hidden meaning behind these two words might be ignored. But if one were to examine the meaning of these two words from the perspective of the opponent and the bystander, there was much to be discovered...

First of all, from the most basic setting...this newly launched "Team Melee" mode was essentially still a "killing game." Since it was this type of scenario, regardless of the side quests and hidden tasks, the "main quest" given to each participating party by the system had to be the same.

That is—all teams received a task description like "Acquire the Sword Dance Manuscript before any other player."

Then comes the question...

Although it was an obvious and very superficial thing, very few people realized a fact: there was, and could only be, one team that could truly get the Sword Dance Manuscript "first."

Because only the first team to obtain the Sword Dance Manuscript would meet the concept of "first"; when the members of that team gained "ownership" of the item, even if other teams snatched it away, they would be acquiring it "after them."

And "acquiring the Sword Dance Manuscript after other players" was obviously not in line with the task description.

In other words...

Once the sword manual fell into the hands of a certain team of players, that team would have completed "half" of the main quest. As for whether the "other half" could be completed...that was another matter. The key was...from that moment on, all other teams, hostile to this team, lost the possibility of achieving the condition of "before any other."

At that time, the system would naturally prompt those people that "the main quest has failed," and they would definitely realize the hidden meaning in the description of this task after the fact.

At this point, those people lost the way to "win by completing the main quest," leaving only another way to win—kill all opponents.

If the main quest had been set up like this from the beginning, that would have been fine, and there would have been many strategies to achieve this goal; but...in this scenario, there would still be a "team holding the ownership of the Sword Dance Manuscript" at that time. If left unattended, they would win through the "main quest" after an hour, and the scenario would end.

In this way, everyone would have to find ways to destroy the team holding the Sword Dance Manuscript within an hour, under the premise of being hostile to each other; moreover...destroying that team might not be a permanent solution, and no one could say for sure whether the change of hands of the "Sword Dance Manuscript" would trigger a new main quest.

In short...after this analysis, Feng Bujue quickly understood—this seemingly uncomplicated main quest was actually unbelievably twisted.

Even if he didn't know at the time that the Sword Dance Manuscript was on the person of He Yang Xinci, such a powerful Boss, he didn't intend to do that main quest...

And later developments also confirmed his thinking.

Those players who, after reading the quest, were thinking of "the praying mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind," such as Kuang Zong Jian Ying and Cai Bu Pa Ne, who had been hiding in the dark until now and hadn't made a move...they undoubtedly underestimated the system's insidiousness and planning ability.

Including Juan Menghuan, who had discussed with Bi Lao Shi and wanted him to lie dormant and "pick up the scraps," and the Sengoku duo who foolishly stood on He Yang Xinci's side, and even Xu Nü Shen...everyone naturally assumed that this was a scenario centered on "snatching the sword manual."

But in reality...compared to that method of winning, those who planned to "kill all opponents to win" from the beginning would have a greater advantage.

That person...was Feng Bujue.

The focus of his plan today was on how to use other players' obsession with the Sword Dance Manuscript and their biased interpretation of the main quest...to use He Yang Xinci as bait, and force the players out one by one.

As long as everyone was in the "open," Feng Bujue had a hundred ways to kill his opponents...

Therefore, Jue Ge didn't mind showing up early, and he didn't care who got the Sword Dance Manuscript first. He dispersed and contained the combat power of He Yang Xinci and others, let Ruo Yu duel with He Yang Xinci, and put on a show of wanting to snatch the Sword Dance Manuscript...the fundamental purpose of these actions was to balance the power of all parties and make the situation more chaotic, so that the players would kill each other one by one for different purposes.

Of course, during the course of this plan, there were also some accidents; one of them was "He Yang Xinci" himself.

This Boss was indeed not simple...whether it was his strength or his reaction to threats, it was all above Feng Bujue's expectations, and he was quite troublesome.

Fortunately, Jue Ge's miscalculation also had a "second" factor...that is, the [Void Thorny Beast EX] that Hama Man and the others sent.

Jue Ge originally thought that those heroes had just sent him a set of equipment similar to the Tin Foil Hero's battle suit; using this kind of high-tech stuff to bully the NPCs in the martial arts world should be just right, at least in the initial confrontation, the other party was very likely to be directly crippled by those machine guns, beams, or missile weapons that they had never seen before.

He never expected that those three big shots from the Yu Chao Lian would actually be a little serious...

Perhaps they felt that since Poker Hero would also take this thing to other universes, it wouldn't harm their own territory if something went wrong, so...the Tin Foil Hero, who was in charge of the "hard technology" part, "enthusiastically" made the size and physical combat power of the battle suit about the same as the "Hulkbuster armor" in a certain universe; and Hama Man, who was in charge of the "soft technology" part, added many "experimental" black technology weapons to the battle suit...those kinds of things that he didn't dare to use casually in his own universe; finally, Dr. Eternal, who was in charge of the "additional functions," was probably also an "Earthling"...he also very "considerately" sent various powerful "magic technology" Buffs to his fellow villager's battle suit.

In this way...a humanoid mecha with infinite energy, both physical and magical powers, amazing combat power, and only a slightly strange appearance was born.

And the first experimental object of the [Void Thorny Beast EX] after its debut in the scenario world was...Leng Yuqiu.

What exactly happened in that small forest will not be described in detail here...anyway, Leng Yuqiu is now nowhere to be seen, neither alive nor dead...everything happened very quickly, and everyone can imagine the specific process.

It is said that at the moment, Feng Bujue fired a positron cannon...unstoppable, sweeping away everything in its path.

At this moment, the advantage of the players was revealed...

Basically, when they heard Jue Ge say the words "Fourth Industrial Revolution," they had instinctively felt the danger.

Oda Ai, Sasaki Akira, Juan Menghuan, and Bi Lao Shi...the four who were closer to Jue Ge began to run away before he finished saying the word "Ougi." (secret art)

At this moment, they had no intention of attacking each other at all. They all had the same thought in their minds—"No matter what Feng Bujue is going to do, I always feel that if I stand still and wait for him to finish saying the name of this move, I might die..."

On the other hand, Ruo Yu, who was standing farther away, knew Jue Ge better than others, so when she heard the sentence "I choose you," she had already turned around and slipped away.

While running, she also confirmed the positions of Wang Qiong and others. Seeing that they had all run away without a trace, Ruo Yu also breathed a sigh of relief.

At this point, you must have seen it...

At the moment when Jue Ge launched his attack, He Yang Xinci was the only living person standing on the main street of Linlu Town.

He didn't know what a "positron cannon" was, so he didn't run away in the first place.

It wasn't until the surface of the energy furnace on the chest of the [Void Thorny Beast EX] flashed red that he realized something...

Boom—

With a roar, a red beam of light passed through the street. The terrifying power was unprecedented to the people of this world; all objects touched by the beam (mainly corpses and scattered weapons) would be annihilated even if they were only touched by the white energy edge.

After the bombardment, a ditch-like mark was left in the center of the street, and the temperature of the entire street rose by at least twenty degrees.

And He Yang Xinci's figure...had disappeared.

"I'll go...Boss was blasted into dregs..." Bi Lao Shi couldn't help but muttered as he poked his head out.

Most people would make this judgment when they saw this scene.

However...

"Tch...ran away..." Feng Bujue, who was riding in the battle suit, had already begun to search for the enemy's whereabouts.

If He Yang Xinci hadn't dodged this move, he would have been dead without a doubt; if He Yang Xinci was dead without a doubt, the Sword Dance Manuscript would have to be buried with him; if the Sword Dance Manuscript was gone, the main quest would fail; if the main quest failed, the system would prompt...

To sum up, since the system prompt hadn't come, He Yang Xinci must have dodged the attack of the positron cannon.

In an instant, this chain of deduction had formed in Jue Ge's mind, and formed a conclusion.

If those geniuses are people who use instinct to overcome thinking, then Feng Bujue is a person who uses thinking to surpass instinct.

His accurate and rapid judgment allowed him to react to the next scene faster than everyone else present...

"Shintenkukyokuken (God-given Ultimate Sword Style) · Ougi (Secret Art)..." After a moment, He Yang Xinci, holding his sword, fell from the extremely high sky, with the force of a thunderclap, "...Tenrai Zan!" (Heavenly Punishment Slash)

"Ha! Looking for death!" The corner of Feng Bujue's mouth curled into a smile, and his eyes and hands moved across the operating table with astonishing speed, immediately responding, "Fourth Industrial Revolution · Defensive Style · Barrage Coverage!"

Although what Jue Ge did...was just to let the mecha open the hatches on its shoulders and release a barrage to sweep the sky, he was still stubbornly shouting a self-made move name to the other party through the loudspeaker.

Although his methods were a bit bullying, they were indeed effective; technology-oriented weapons were inherently very restraining against characters in the martial arts world, and even if it was a Boss-level existence like He Yang Xinci, it would probably be over if he insisted on coming hard against this attack.

"Mr. He Yang! I'll cover you!" Unexpectedly, at this moment, Sasaki Akira suddenly rushed out from the side.

This only male member of the Sengoku Team during s2, although he had always put on a sickly state and his personality was low-key...but in terms of hard power, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage even against Kuang Zong Jian Ying.

The most important thing was that Sasaki Akira's ability to analyze and grasp the battle situation had always been extremely outstanding, and he could always inflict the most effective damage on the enemy when they were most uncomfortable. For example, now, he rushed forward at high speed while the [Void Thorny Beast EX]'s barrage attack was still firing...

This move could be considered to have caught Jue Ge's flaw.

Because the action of "barrage coverage" needs to be carried out continuously, usually until the enemy's attack ends before stopping, otherwise the effect will be discounted. Therefore, Jue Ge, who was releasing a barrage at He Yang Xinci in the air, could not respond to Sasaki Akira's attack at the same time.

"[Byouken (Sickly Sword) · Take Tonbo]!" (Bamboo Dragonfly) Sasaki Akira seized the opportunity, spread his arms, and spun around like a bamboo dragonfly, attacking the [Void Thorny Beast EX].

Although the appearance of this move looks a bit childish and ridiculous, its power is not worse than those conventional fighting moves, especially when dealing with this kind of "large enemy," its lethality is amazing.

"Seems pretty interesting, I'll also try to see if I can cut this guy..." Two seconds later, Oda Ai also attacked along with Sasaki Akira.

Her ability to interpret the battle situation may not be as good as her teammates, but her reaction and movements are very fast. Seeing Sasaki Akira's actions, she immediately understood that this was a good opportunity and took the opportunity to attack as well.

"Ah...they're really playing hard..." Feng Bujue muttered unhappily when he saw this change.

He also knew that these two Sengoku guys were also characters who could "dismantle Gundams with their bare hands." Even if their instant destructive power was not as good as He Yang Xinci's, he couldn't ignore them when they attacked together.

"It's time to let you see the real operation..." In the next second, Jue Ge once again showed an Apm that surpassed ordinary people, which looked as if he was randomly slamming the keyboard, and the [Void Thorny Beast EX] quickly ascended under his operation.

Relying on the powerful propulsion device at the bottom of its feet, this mecha can take off vertically without changing its posture, reaching a maximum flight speed of Mach 2; even when it just takes off, the acceleration time from zero to Mach 1 is only about four seconds.

Of course...these are all theoretical values. In actual use, you will encounter many problems, such as...energy output problems.

No matter what the mecha does, it needs "energy"; although the [Void Thorny Beast EX]'s "Super Ark Energy Furnace," which combines the advantages of various technologies, is "infinite energy," the total amount of energy that this energy can output in a certain period of time is limited.

Not long ago, the positron cannon that Jue Ge used was an extremely energy-consuming attack method. After using such an attack, the peak output of the energy furnace will decrease for a period of time, which will affect the other performance of the mecha.

Therefore, the [Void Thorny Beast EX]'s ascent this time was a little slower...

And this "little bit" of time was enough for Sasaki Akira's and Oda Ai's attacks to land.

Zheng zheng zheng zheng—

Soon, Sasaki Akira's ultra-high-speed continuous slash hit the mecha's knee, making a sound like a circular saw cutting metal.

Oda Ai also followed up, although she started a few seconds slower than her teammates, but when she rushed to the mecha, she was almost at the same level as Sasaki Akira.

"[Iai (Drawing Sword) · Nue Naki]!" (Nue's Cry) Oda Ai's attack was even more fierce. She used a horizontal slash that split the sky and the earth, trying to cut the [Void Thorny Beast EX] in half.

Ka—

Then, there was a strange noise, and the part below the waist of the [Void Thorny Beast EX] really broke away from the upper body...