287: Chapter 287: Truly Brilliant Tactics

Gou Fugui felt his skin crawl under their stares.

Looking at the "confess and be lenient, resist and be beaten to death" looks in everyone's eyes, he didn't know whether to keep faking tears or stop.

"Um... you big shots, brothers and sisters..."

Gou Fugui rubbed his hands awkwardly, his eyes beneath his gold-rimmed glasses darting around with extreme guilt, until finally, he sighed in utter despair:

"Actually... the whole thing started from a trivial... internet surfing incident."

Under the icy gaze of the six experts, Gou Fugui, feeling extremely aggrieved and lacking confidence, recounted the sequence of events:

"A couple of days ago, I was just trying to defend Brother Jiang's glorious image, right? So I ended up arguing with a hater online for three hours..."

"The person on the other side seemed to be a fan of that Qin Zhuo. To make them lose their cool, I went on a rant online calling Qin Zhuo's fire a 'roasted local chicken'..."

"Who would have thought that Qin Zhuo also likes surfing the net! And she was incredibly nasty, recognizing my screen name through the livestream ad I did at the opening ceremony..."

"Then, the moment she landed, she followed the internet cable to hunt me down in real life... After that, the blind guy from Shushan Dao Wu got wiped out trying to stop her, and then the guys from Xihai and Kuangsha saw us being chased and thought we were carrying some world-shaking treasure, so they joined the hunt too..."

Gou Fugui's voice grew quieter as he spoke, until he almost buried his head in his crotch.

"..."

"..."

"..."

After hearing the entire process that triggered this extremely abstract "super melee."

The six high-end combatants from Magic City Martial Arts University collectively fell into a ten-second absolute silence.

Xie Fuyao's handsome face, already full of depression, was twitching wildly.

Cong Nanshan crushed the branch in his hand.

Qiu Yunan's hand trembled as she pushed up her glasses.

They had assumed that the earth-shattering brawl over there, which forced various peerless geniuses to reveal all their trump cards, was because they had discovered some core treasure of an S-rank secret realm, or were fighting over some heaven-defying spirit artifact!

And now you're telling me...

That this epic melee, which nearly tore Forbidden Zone No. 009 apart and shocked the entire internet.

The root cause was actually because you, a two-bit peddler, played keyboard warrior online and called someone a "roasted local chicken"?!!!

"I really want to kill you, you menace!!!"

Cong Nanshan was furious, almost activating his Mountain-Moving Ape Dharma Image on the spot to execute this troublemaker, Gou Fugui:

"Do you have any idea how chaotic things are outside right now because of your big mouth?!"

"Our intelligence has been insulted in the most severe way..."

Xie Fuyao covered his face. He felt that Magic City Martial Arts University should really consider changing its name to "Magic City Abstract Psychiatric Asylum"!

However, after a brief moment of speechlessness and rage.

This group of elite combatants, the pillars of Magic City Martial Arts University, managed to calm down, albeit reluctantly.

"Although the cause is absurd, from a tactical perspective... this fatty, like a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse, has actually done us a huge favor."

Bai Zimo, who had been busy typing on his micro-computer, adjusted his glasses and analyzed it quite rationally:

"Currently, the most threatening teams are all tied up in that super melee. Meanwhile, our high-end combatants have, quite luckily, managed to assemble without any injuries within less than an hour of the start."

"In terms of the situation of the brawl, we now hold the absolute initiative!"

Everyone nodded upon hearing this.

That's right, no matter how ridiculous the process was, the result is good!

As long as the six Tier 4 experts stick together, they are definitely a terrifying force that can walk sideways in this [Forbidden Zone No. 009]!

"Since the high-end combatants have assembled, what should we do next? We need the two captains to come out and set the tone, right?"

Gu Changfeng drew his long sword and scanned his surroundings.

Mentioning the "two captains," the team confidence that had just been built instantly and bizarrely collapsed again.

"..."

Everyone looked at each other.

"Team 1 captain... Brother Jiang..." Gou Fugui raised his hand guiltily and mumbled, "Based on what I know of Brother Jiang, there's a high probability, possibly, probably... he's already found some prime location that nobody can find and is sleeping peacefully."

Everyone's mouths twitched.

Very good, this is very Jiang You.

Expecting him to command the overall situation in the qualifiers is like expecting a sow to climb a tree.

"Then what about Team 2 captain Lu Xingye?" Xie Fuyao took a deep breath.

Cong Nanshan pointed despairingly at the distant core battlefield, which was still ablaze with fire and occasionally erupted with bursts of edgy black blade light, his tone weary:

"Don't bother looking. That idiot just formed some wild cannon fodder team called the 'Xingye Coalition' and led them straight into that meat grinder where the gods are fighting."

"I reckon his team is minutes away from turning into white light and getting collectively sent back home."

"..."

The six experts from Magic City fell into another ten seconds of dead silence.

Team 1 captain has disappeared from the map, gone on paid leave.

Team 2 captain took a group of cannon fodder to join the melee, actively delivering kills.

Leaderless!

This is definitely the most bizarre start for a strong team in history!

"Forget it."

Xie Fuyao shook his head helplessly. He rubbed his throbbing temples and said to Senior Ji Youyou and the others:

"Junior Sister Ji, since we can't count on the two captains, we have to rely on ourselves now."

"Looking at the current situation, although we have six people, aside from Jiang You and his battle pet, our individual combat power is at a disadvantage against monsters like Zhao Zhenlei and Qin Zhuo."

Xie Fuyao's eyes narrowed, and he quickly took command, proposing the safest plan:

"Therefore, we must stick together for now! Our top priority, even if we can't find Jiang You, is to find that battle pet of yours from Class F, the Tier 5 Great Demon Bai Lan!"

"As long as Bai Lan joins the team, we will have absolute Tier 5 suppression! Then we can sweep the map and be guaranteed victory!"

Everyone agreed after hearing this.

This was indeed the most perfect and rational tactical plan at the moment.

However.

Just as the Magic City group decided on this plan to stick together and were preparing to set off to find Bai Lan.

"Heh... still looking for people? You won't get that chance!"

A voice, extremely rough and filled with extreme sneers and mockery, suddenly came from the dense bushes right in front of them without warning!

"Who?!"

The group from Magic City Martial Arts University immediately braced themselves for an enemy!

"Hum—!"

In the air in front of them, a violent ripple like water waves suddenly appeared, and the entire space was roughly torn open from the inside like a curtain.

Immediately following, six burly figures radiating extremely terrifying blood energy fluctuations strode out from the illusion formation!

The leader was shirtless, his muscles knotted like refined steel. With every step he took, the fallen leaves beneath his feet turned into powder under that invisible pressure!

The captain of the Northern Border Military Academy's Team 1, the "Human Nuclear Bomb" Zhao Zhenlei!

He was also the only known Tier 5 Grandmaster in this arena!

Behind him followed five top-tier team members wearing the Northern Border Military Academy uniform.

The blood energy fluctuations on these five were all, without exception, Tier 4 mid-stage, or even Tier 4 late-stage top experts!

One of them, a thin young man holding a formation compass, was clearly the 'rat' who had set up the large-scale illusion formation, perfectly hiding their entire team in the shadows!

"Northern Border Military Academy?!"

Xie Fuyao and Senior Ji Youyou's pupils constricted, and their Hearts sank.

The enemy had unknowingly crept right under their noses and even used an illusion formation to eavesdrop on them for ages?!

Zhao Zhenlei stood with his arms crossed, looking down at the Magic City group from a high vantage point.

His rough face no longer showed the previous irritability, but instead revealed an extreme arrogance and shrewdness that suggested "everything is under my control."

"Brilliant! What a truly brilliant strategy!"

Zhao Zhenlei sneered while clapping his hands very slowly, making a "clap, clap, clap" sound. His large, bell-like eyes were filled with the shrewd light of someone who saw through everything:

"I, Zhao, used to think you guys at Magic City Martial Arts University were just arrogant. I didn't expect that not only are you arrogant, but your schemes are also so damn deep!"

"Huh?"

The Magic City group looked at each other, completely bewildered.

Deep schemes?

What deep schemes?