202: Chapter 202 The French's Decisive Withdrawal

It did not keep Chen Aoyun and Toslev waiting for too long; when the countdown hit zero, the thick twilight quickly dissipated.

The moment the twilight vanished, Chen Aoyun and Toslev simultaneously turned their heads to look in the direction of Sakura Country.

Sakura Country, which originally had twenty Towers before the twilight descended, now only had nineteen left!

Toslev did not make a scene, merely casting an appreciative glance at Chen Aoyun.

Chen Aoyun also felt slightly more at ease in his heart.

"Killing the special target deducts total points from Dragon Country; even if Dragon Country is eliminated, it cannot stay out of it. Helping Russia figure out the rules allows Dragon Country to participate in the game in a roundabout way, so it won't be completely marginalized in this scene. Especially after Russia figures out the rules, other countries have too few Towers to be a threat in this scene, and USA has no eligible Heroic Spirit Manifestation to attack. Calculating it this way, only Sakura Country remains as a suitable target for destroying Towers..."

If Toslev wants to destroy Towers, he can only destroy those of Sakura Country; this point aligns very well with the interests of Dragon Country.

It is also the fault of the rules for this scene. The rules for this scene are very strange; it seems like 'Defending Athena', and the threats to face appear to be wave after wave of Wave Demons.

But in reality, the Wave Demons that arrive pose no threat at all. Unless one's own Towers are destroyed in large numbers by other countries, this Tower Defense Game could go on until the end of time.

Of course, the prerequisite for playing until the end of time is disregarding gains and losses. Wave Demons are very easy to kill, but the special targets under the twilight are becoming increasingly difficult to kill.

As long as your Towers are not destroyed, you can indeed keep playing, but for the special target that appears every ten waves, if the white special target cannot be successfully killed, it will deduct total points. As the special targets become harder to kill, the longer you persist, the greater the probability and frequency of being deducted points.

Chen Aoyun believes that even if the rule for destroying Towers was not actively exposed, countries other than Russia, USA, and Sakura Country would soon be unable to persist and would voluntarily give up. And the three countries that would not voluntarily give up would determine the final ranking as their Towers continuously decrease.

"Damn it, the moment the twilight vanished, I only focused on Sakura Country and didn't notice that at that exact moment, my Russia also lost a Tower." Toslev's voice rang in Chen Aoyun's ears.

Chen Aoyun was stunned; he counted Russia's Towers, and there were also 19, the same as Sakura Country, one less than before the twilight began.

"It must have been the Sakura people who did it at the last moment before the twilight ended!"

Two countries that have only had a 'Cold War' but never a 'Hot War'. Chen Aoyun could not find a Heroic Spirit Manifestation for Russia that met the conditions to destroy the USA's Towers. Likewise, USA would not have a Heroic Spirit Manifestation capable of destroying Russia's Towers. Therefore, Toslev said at this moment that Russia's Towers had been destroyed by someone again, so it could only be the Sakura people!

"Now, Toslev has already identified you as the culprit behind destroying his Russia's Towers! Toslev is a very vengeful person, and based on the situation on the field, for every subsequent twilight, Toslev will target your Sakura Country for Tower destruction. What exactly was the situation with that strike Russia fired just now? The wonder entry I wrote will allow you to take away my USA Tower count! Don't suffer too great a loss! The change in rules will cause many countries to voluntarily withdraw early; time is tighter than you and I imagined, hurry up and occupy those 'war excuses'!"

After the twilight ended, the Wave Demons continued to come in wave after wave. Brown from USA and Saku Kenichi from Sakura Country communicated in secret using a special method.

Facing Brown's inquiry, Saku Kenichi, like a wise man holding victory in his hands, said firmly, "Rest assured, the rules were misunderstood, so that attack was naturally ineffective! The fact that you see Sakura Country missing a Tower is just my disguise; you need not worry. However, the change in rules did indeed exceed our expectations; I originally thought we could accumulate more resources to face the final wave, but after the rule change, I fear it will be ahead of schedule. But don't worry, I know what to do!"

Just as Brown and Saku Kenichi said during their secret conversation, the Strategists of other countries have already begun to struggle with whether or not to continue this 'Tower Defense Game' which, for them, has no chance of winning and where the longer they persist, the greater the potential loss.

The Strategist of France discussed with the Strategists of other countries, "The special target has changed from rewarding extra points to deducting points if not killed. Isn't this just scamming people?! Moreover, during the last twilight, although France killed the special target, I discovered that the combat power of the Heroic Spirit Manifestation is not like Towers; it has no growth potential. For you and me, who are lagging behind, perhaps we won't be able to kill the special target in the next wave! This cannot go on; I am considering whether I should withdraw!"

The words of the France Strategist received approval from many present, and the Britain Strategist echoed, "After the Wave Demons appear, the further away from the crystal, the more resources are obtained upon killing them. It is this rule that keeps the advantage of USA and Russia snowballing; their Towers can be spread to the maximum of twenty, and they still have surplus resources to strengthen the Towers. And what about us? We don't even have enough resources to fill twenty Towers, and at the same time, we have to save resources to deploy Heroic Spirit Manifestations during the twilight to deal with special targets. You are right; let's wait for one more twilight. If the strengthening speed of the special targets really exceeds the speed of building Towers, I will also give up in this scene!"

Among these countries that lagged from the start, only the Romans raised a different opinion. He said, "I think we can try to persist a bit longer. Don't forget the rule that existed from the beginning: when only three countries remain, the final wave will appear, which will determine the ranking of this scene. USA, Russia, and even Sakura Country, although they have been snowballing, for some reason, they have also been losing Towers; perhaps you and I can persist until..."

The France Strategist sneered, "Persist in what? Their speed of obtaining more resources is faster than the speed of losing Towers! Once twilight, lose one Tower. But after they lose a Tower, not only can they replenish one, but they also have surplus resources to strengthen them. Haven't you seen that the Strategists of those three countries are like geniuses? Theoretically, concentrating resources to strengthen one Tower yields the highest benefits, but these three countries use resources to evenly strengthen all Towers. They are guarding against the possibility that one Tower gets destroyed inexplicably, so the loss won't be fatal! The losing of Towers by those three countries is a game between them; it has absolutely nothing to do with us countries that lagged from the start!"

These words immediately silenced the Strategists of all countries, and this Frenchman did not forget to add a finishing blow, "USA, Russia, Sakura Country—they have the maximum of twenty Towers, yet they use a strategy of evenly distributing resources to strengthen the Towers. Conversely, you and I, countries that lagged from the start, in order to deal with the special targets under the twilight and to have one or two Towers capable of killing Wave Demons from a distance, have instead concentrated resources on strengthening some Towers while the Tower limit hasn't even been filled. The rule about inexplicably losing Towers, neither you nor I are clear about. I fear only those three countries know. You are dreaming now, thinking of relying on other countries losing Towers to hold out until the final wave, but those three countries are not stupid! If we ever have a chance to catch up, the opponent will also give us a Tower loss; what then? Our resources are concentrated on one or two Towers. If the strengthened Tower is destroyed, wouldn't that be equivalent to having our base raided?"

Speaking up to this point, the France Strategist suddenly shut his mouth. He did not want to analyze the pros and cons for other countries anymore. Anyway, the longer they persist, the greater the potential loss, which is not a bad thing for France.

The France Strategist suddenly stopped saying anything, and the other countries instantly caught on. This conversation was also overheard by Chen Aoyun, but he did not care. The rule that the final wave would appear when the remaining countries did not exceed three was something Toslev had already told him. The tendency of the Strategists of various countries to withdraw was not hard to guess at all, and it was also within his expectations.

Conversely, there was one thing Chen Aoyun found strange, so he turned to look at Toslev and asked, "The black special target under the twilight, after killing it, can deduct one total point from any country; can this deduction be reserved? My meaning is, Sakura Country should have also killed the black special target during the twilight just now. However, I checked Dragon Country's total points, and they have not decreased."

Toslev said, "Just like the red token, after killing the black special target, there will also be a token, and it can be kept unused. As long as this scene has not ended, it can be used at any time to deduct total points. However, I didn't keep it. My Russia was deducted one total point by USA, and I have already used that token to return the favor."

Now the total points for USA and Russia are tied for first place; it is very reasonable for these two countries to use tokens against each other to deduct a point. The problem is, why hasn't Sakura Country, which should have also obtained a black token, made a move? In terms of Tower quantity and strength, Sakura Country has already caught up through two disgusting wonder entries; under the twilight, Sakura Country absolutely has the ability to kill two special targets simultaneously. The hostility between Sakura Country and Dragon Country is so clear and bright; why would Sakura Country hold a token and not greet Dragon Country with it immediately? Are they keeping it to breed?

Taking a deep look at Saku Kenichi in the distance, Chen Aoyun always had an inexplicable sense of crisis in his heart. But where the sense of crisis came from, he could not figure out.

It was the next tenth wave of Wave Demons arriving. After this wave of Wave Demons ended, the twilight would descend once again. Chen Aoyun noticed that the abandonment the Frenchman spoke of earlier was not just talk. Before this wave of Wave Demons arrived, the Frenchman voluntarily dismantled all his Towers. Without Tower defense, the crystal the Frenchman was defending was quickly broken. France also became the third country to be eliminated, after Dragon Country and Ottoman.

Once eliminated, there is no need to worry about whether the special target can be killed or whether points will be deducted. Although the Strategists of other countries also had plans to perform the same operation, in the end, they could not achieve the decisiveness of the Frenchman. Soon, the twilight descended once again.

After the twilight descended, there were still two special targets, one black and one white. However, the special targets that appeared this time were larger in size, had thicker health, and higher defense!

When the two special targets came from afar and approached, Toslev tried to probe their health and defense using Tower attacks. After a round of concentrated fire from the Towers, Toslev exclaimed, "How did they become so hard to kill?! Judging by this health and defense, it is simply impossible to kill both targets simultaneously under the twilight. We can only join forces to kill one."

Chen Aoyun narrowed his eyes and looked; Toslev had already changed his approach. From the last twilight, where Towers concentrated fire on one special target and the Heroic Spirit Manifestation took on the other special target alone, it changed to the Towers and the Heroic Spirit Manifestation joining forces to kill one special target. Compared to the black target, which could deduct one total point from another country upon being killed, Toslev prioritized killing the white target, which would cause self-deduction of points if not killed.

Subconsciously looking up at the countdown for the end of the twilight, Chen Aoyun nudged Toslev's arm and pointed overhead, "The duration of the twilight has also changed; it has gone from twenty minutes to fifteen minutes."

Toslev looked up; indeed, the duration of the twilight had shortened, but no expression of worry appeared on his face. Instead, he said with the bearing of a Strategist, "It's fine, if it's hard to kill, then it's hard to kill. We cannot kill two special targets simultaneously, but killing one is always no problem. Moreover, everyone's situation must be the same. It is hard for me to kill, so for USA and Sakura Country, which are in the first tier of Tower quantity and strength, it should also be hard to kill."

Toslev was right; if it is hard to kill, it is hard for everyone. Two special targets, and now only one can be handled at a time. The happiest one was of course Chen Aoyun.

"In order to ensure their own points, Sakura Country should also choose to kill the white target that prevents them from losing points," he paused, and Chen Aoyun's expression fell again, "Not necessarily. Compared to not losing points, the Sakura people, who would bite Dragon Country even if they died, might be more willing to kill the black target to deduct Dragon Country's total points..."

The more he thought about it, the more he felt the possibility was extremely high, and Chen Aoyun was somewhat depressed for a moment. Toslev guessed Chen Aoyun's thoughts and asked in confusion, "What kind of hatred or grievance do you Dragon Country and Sakura Country have, anyway? I have also checked how to initiate a National War; the consumption is huge. If Sakura Country wants to initiate a National War against your Dragon Country in the future, it would be fine if they held the purpose of monopolizing your Dragon Country. But instead, in order to prevent other powerful countries from aiding your Dragon Country, Sakura Country promises benefits everywhere, and is even willing to share your Dragon Country with other countries after the National War is won. Sakura Country is the one putting in the effort, yet the fruits of war are shared by everyone; winning such a National War would not yield much benefit for Sakura Country. Why is Sakura Country so single-mindedly determined to put your Dragon Country to death?"

The matter was too complex for Chen Aoyun to explain clearly; he just said indifferently, "Does a dog need a reason to bite a person?" After that, Toslev did not pursue the question, but turned back to focus on dealing with the special target.

The special target had indeed become much harder to kill; with the Heroic Spirit Manifestation and Towers firing simultaneously, Toslev only managed to finish it off five minutes before the end of the twilight. After the white special target was finished off, Russia would not lose points, but with only five minutes left, it was obviously not enough time to deal with the other special target.

"Shall we fire another shot at Sakura Country?" Before the countdown for the twilight ended, Chen Aoyun suggested. Anyway, idle is idle, and since the same Heroic Spirit cannot appear twice, Toslev threw out a few more Heroic Spirits to have Chen Aoyun help determine which one met the conditions, while not forgetting to ask about the stories behind these Heroic Spirits. This time, Chen Aoyun popularized the Heroic Spirit [Chuikov] to Toslev, who listened with great interest and would have almost forgotten the main business if not for Chen Aoyun's reminder. Just as there was less than half a minute left in the twilight countdown, the trajectory shot towards Sakura Country's Towers streaked across the sky. However, just like the last time, after the trajectory was shot, Toslev always had a strange feeling that he had missed the target...