401: Chapter 401 The "Brilliant Plan" in the Rest Area

Backstage waiting area.

Dead silence.

The 141 contestants who had been cleared out by Yan Pojun in a single move were now all gathered in front of the large broadcast screen.

On the screen, countless diving phantom knights turned into a silver torrent of death.

At the end of the torrent was the man kneeling on one knee, protecting his chest with only a piece of broken armor.

The image froze at the moment Yan Pojun looked up; on his bloodied face, there was no despair, only a calmness after being completely burnt out.

The contestants' throats went dry, their hearts felt as if seized by an invisible hand, making even breathing difficult.

They were the losers.

They were the background characters killed in a single strike.

But looking at the blood-soaked man on the screen, they couldn't muster even a shred of resentment.

There was only a trembling and awe originating from the depths of their souls.

Xu Biao walked to the very front of the crowd, standing directly beneath the massive screen.

He looked up at the frozen image of Yan Pojun, the cold lights casting heavy shadows across his face.

Then, he extended a finger, pointing toward the screen from a distance.

"Don't you understand yet?"

His voice wasn't loud, yet it was like a needle, piercing through the frozen air in the waiting room.

Everyone's gaze instantly shifted from the screen to him.

Xu Biao lowered his hand and looked around at the faces—some blank, some shocked, some unwilling.

He gave a cold laugh.

"First, Yan Pojun has been retired for six years. Why did he choose today, at this critical juncture when high schoolers are competing, to make his comeback?"

"Second, even if a high schooler has a once-in-a-century Mythical-grade profession with enough destructive power, what about her [Mana]? How many times has she summoned a clone army of this scale? Twelve times? Thirteen? Even the top Professionals on the front lines of the damn Eighth War Zone should have an empty Mana bar by now."

He paused, giving everyone time to think.

Finally, he pointed again at the kneeling figure on the screen.

"Third, look at God Yan's current state. He's at the end of his rope, unable to even stand, forced into passive defense. Is this still the Yan Pojun we know?"

The air around them began to circulate again.

Whispers bred in the corners like insects.

Xu Biao spoke emphatically, stating the obvious conclusion in front of everyone.

"This is a complete script; our judgment was absolutely correct!"

"A fake match, self-directed and acted, just to make that little girl Lin Yao famous."

As soon as he finished, the crowd exploded into a commotion.

"A script? Holy shit, I knew it. Those infinite clones are way too fake."

A burly shield warrior gestured emphatically.

"Did you feel that explosion just now? The power was real; an Epic Rank shield in my Storage device almost shattered from the shock. That destructive power can't be faked."

"The destructive power is real, but the Mana pool is fake. This completely defies the law of conservation of energy."

"Could the Organization be using some black technology we don't know about to give her infinite energy?"

The contestants nodded in agreement, their doubts fully ignited and quickly turning into the anger of being fooled.

They thought they were participating in a sacred duel, but it turned out they were just clowns in a paid script.

Xu Biao didn't join the discussion.

He took out a sophisticated brass telescope from his Storage device.

Complex runes were engraved on the telescope's barrel, shimmering with a faint magical glow.

He raised the telescope to his eyes and aimed it at the arena.

Through the high-magnification view, every inch of the scorched earth in the arena was clearly visible.

His gaze swept quickly, searching for any illogical clues.

Suddenly, his movements stopped.

The lens locked onto the very edge of the arena, beneath a massive alloy plate upturned by the explosion.

It was a visual blind spot.

In the narrow gap between the alloy plate and the ground, he saw it.

A hand.

A hand wearing a black tactical glove was gripping the edge of the alloy plate tightly.

Xu Biao's pupils contracted.

He lowered the telescope and accurately called out a name amidst the noisy crowd.

"Zhao Lei."

A refined-looking young man wearing black-rimmed glasses squeezed out from the crowd.

"Brother Biao, what is it?"

"Use Telepathy to contact A-Kun."

Xu Biao's voice was kept very low.

"Tell him we see him."

A-Kun.

Hearing this name, the expressions of several nearby contestants changed slightly.

He was an assassin-type player known for stealthy sneak attacks and underhanded tactics; many present had suffered at his hands.

Zhao Lei nodded without asking further.

He closed his eyes and pressed his hands against his temples.

Beneath the skin of his fingertips, pale blue magic circuits were faintly visible.

A few seconds later.

At the edge of the arena, beneath that massive alloy plate, a sneaky head poked out.

He confirmed there were no clone threats nearby, then made an "OK" gesture toward the waiting area's broadcast camera.

Inside the waiting room, Zhao Lei opened his eyes.

"Brother Biao, I've made contact."

"A-Kun said he activated his [Greater Invisibility Cloak] at the start and hid at the edge of the arena. God Yan's earlier move didn't affect him, and the subsequent clone army explosions happened to miss his location."

Zhao Lei relayed the information from A-Kun.

"He also brought a [Fixed-Point Teleportation Scroll]."

"Ask him... does he want to be a nobody, or does he want to be world-famous!"

Xu Biao laughed heartily; he had already heard A-Kun's answer.

"He's no coward."

"Listen to my command!"

"Open the portal at the coordinates for the very center of the arena."

Zhao Lei's expression changed.

"Brother Biao, this... this is for..."

Xu Biao didn't answer him, but instead turned to face the 140 angry contestants behind him.

"Everyone."

His voice rose above all the noise.

"The opportunity has arrived."

"Yan Pojun is, at least on the surface, at the end of his rope. And that Lin Yao is 100% a fraud who relies on connections."

"We're going to kill our way back in now and take over the match directly."

A frantic fire burned in Xu Biao's eyes.

"If Yan Pojun blocks us, it will only confirm the scandal of the Organization arranging fake matches. We will be the heroes who expose the corruption."

"If he doesn't care, even better."

"We'll eliminate that so-called genius girl right in front of the entire city's audience. All the hype of this match will belong to us."

He spread his hands, his voice full of persuasion.

"Rather than being an angry spectator here, why not go out there and be the protagonist who rewrites the script?"

"Do you dare to take this gamble?"

After a brief silence.

"Clang."

A swordsman drew his longsword.

Immediately following.

Blades were unsheathed, staves lit up, and warhammers were hoisted onto shoulders.