Chapter 185: The Battle of Control
Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_
The usually impulsive Carl began to scratch his head; this was one of Wang Tong’s bad habits, "C’mon Cao Yi, gimme something, this belongs to us!"
Cao Yi shook his head and replied, "It has nothing to do with me man, you’re the one who came up with this, and I’m just a helper."
"Yo boss, why don’t you name it?" Carl suddenly turned towards Wang Tong, who had never looked down on him since they met each other, and even had faith in him for supporting him to participate in this match. Carl was grateful to Wang Tong, and really wanted to take this opportunity to repay his kindness. Hence, Carl wanted him to give it a name.
However, Wang Tong smiled and declined, "It’s yours, brother. Just give it a simple name that suits you."
"Haha, you got it boss. Alright then, Vice Principal Halmond, the name’s gonna be Art of Carl-ism!"
"Art of Carl-ism, good name!"
As Carl was about to grab his fist due to the excitement, he sensed a sharp pain, and realized that his wrists were swollen.
Apparently, Carl had been using every ounce of his strength a while ago, and he was forced to speed up his operating maneuvers due to the pressure from Kal. He was so focused that he only got to realize that his wrists were swollen after the match. His right hand had gone numb, and was no longer able to muster any strength. Unfortunately for Ayrlarng-Bernabeu Alliance, Carl, who had just demonstrated Art of the Carl-ism, would no longer be able to compete, and Bisu, who was very eager to try his hands against the new strategy, felt quite sorry for Carl.
During break time, all of the students were seen discussing what happened. No one was expecting Ayrlarng to have someone that strong in their team. For the first time, Carl became the topic of everyone’s gossip. Everyone was saying that he would have a bright future awaiting him. After all, it would be impossible for someone not to become famous after inventing a new battle strategy, especially if the person was a student. It was known to everyone that in the world of Battlecraft Combat, a creator or inventor would always be more celebrated than a player.
Carl had successfully made everyone remember his name; he was the real deal after all!
Sadly, Ayrlarng had lost an important game-changer due to Carl’s injury. Yet, even if he weren’t injured, it would still be a bit risky for him to take on Flash and Bisu. Those two geniuses had been paying attention to every bit of his movements, which was why it would be tough for Carl to win, not to mention there were still some flaws in his overall maneuvers. Nevertheless, the previous match had greatly boosted Carl’s confidence, and he would be able to improve significantly in the future training. This was the time for him to grow.
As the elite of Capth and the ace of its Battlecraft Combat team, Bisu was well aware of what he would have to do next.
Halmond was surprised by Carl’s ability. However, he still believed that the final victory would belong to Capth. In fact, Halmond had even discovered Carl’s weakness after that match, which was his lack of basic knowledge. If Carl really wanted to shine in the world of Battlecraft Combat, he would really need to pick up as quickly as possible.
Cleverness was a gift, yet practice was the key towards success.
Meanwhile, everyone was focusing on the Alliance. Now that Best had lost and Carl was injured, who else would they send in?
Then, everyone turned towards their final hope, Wang Tong!
Wang Tong stood up and said, "Vice Principal Halmond, I’m the next candidate."
"Ah, finally. I believe you and Bisu share quite a few similarities. This student of mine is very talented in controlling maneuvers, have fun."
"I see… Well, please be gentle then, Mr. Bisu."
Of course, Bisu would never be gentle, since Capth needed to win. Instead, he would be giving his very best to crush Wang Tong and break him into pieces.
After all, Capth would do whatever it took to defend its own glory!
Both candidates walked towards the center stage, and Bisu began to warm-up. It had been long since the last time he was that excited, it was a pity though that his opponent was not Carl.
As a top-notch Battlecraft Combat player, it was obvious that he would be so excited about a new strategy; and Bisu too would like to show his best performance right now.
"Hey Kal, raise your head. We must learn to embrace failure, so that we could learn from our own mistakes."
"Copy that, Flash!" Kal was still quite depressed due to the unexpected loss. He needed time to recover and learn.
Although Flash was only slightly older than Kal, yet he was very steady. Clearly, his maturity came from his better talents.
As Flash looked at Bisu, he knew that his best friend was in the best condition. Carl’s new strategy had really gotten Bisu excited, and had even stimulated his urge to give his greatest performance.
In Battlecraft Combat, any technique would become intimidating once it reached its maximum level, especially controlling maneuvers.
However, Wang Tong seemed relaxed while roughly doing his warm-up exercises. But he had no intention of taking him lightly. In fact, Best had been mentioning a few times about his extraordinary controlling maneuvers, which were very different from the Kaedeians.
"Is Wang Tong gonna be alright?" Tita and the rest of the team were worried because this match was extremely crucial. Wang Tong’s performance in this round would decide the fate of the Alliance. If he won, their hope would still be alive, but if he lost, it would be game over for sure.
Yet, Wang Tong had not given up, since this was his chance of putting some pressure onto Capth. Moreover, Wang Tong had no fear of players who excelled in controlling maneuvers.
Match three began!
Both players were demonstrating extreme speed in controlling maneuvers. What showed on the monitor was unbelievable, as their deviation was nearly 0.01 second. Somehow, all of the spectators were amazed by this breathtaking scene. At some point, they even wondered if both of them were really humans.
Students of Capth were unable to believe their sights. No one had ever expected someone would be able to compete against Bisu in terms of controlling maneuvers. They wondered how a strong player like Wang Tong could stay unnoticed, and why would he choose to join a weak academy like Ayrlarng.
They even began to feel the intense pressure!
Bisu too had noticed that his opponent was able to keep up with his pace, which was totally unexpected; even Flash was unable to beat him in controlling maneuvers, yet this fella was right in front of him!
In fact, Bisu had been complaining about being unable to improve due to the absence of stronger opponents. To him, mastering controlling maneuvers was the key to an absolute victory, and nothing else would matter!
With the narrow gap of strength between him and Flash, Bisu had always been trying to train himself harder in order to claim Flash’s title as the strongest player. Yet, he would need a stronger opponent in order to achieve his ambition.
At last, that person has arrived!
Bisu smiled, revealing one of his canine teeth as he began to speed up his controlling maneuvers. Bisu was trying to pressurize Wang Tong, wondering if he would be able to keep up.
The monitor was showing both players’ instantaneous data and average data. Bisu’s average APM had already reached five hundred, and was even able to hit above five hundred and ten at his fastest speed; the terrifying speed and precision of his hands were totally beyond imagination!
On the other hand, Wang Tong’s average APM was about four hundred and ninety-eight. Hence, he was able to keep up with Bisu.
The students of Capth were expecting Ayrlarng to surrender after Carl’s injury. Yet, to their surprise, Ayrlarng was saving the best for later.
This was definitely not the Ayrlarng they were familiar with.
Even though Wang Tong was strong, unfortunately for him, the candidate of the unrivaled Capth was the "King of Controlling Maneuvers" Bisu.
Judging from the current situation, both players had chosen to begin the match by doing a stable setup, which was Earth Confederation’s favorite all-rounded setup. It seemed like none of them would be demonstrating any new battle strategy. In fact no one would expect Wang Tong to surprise them with anything new since Carl had already done so, which even caught Halmond’s attention. However, they were afraid that Wang Tong would also be able to use Art of Carl-ism. Nevertheless, students of Capth were relieved after watching how he did his setup.
As a matter of fact, imitation of another battle strategy would not be powerful enough. The key of success was to really understand the strategy itself in terms of timing and operating maneuvers. Most importantly, this mastering process took quite some time.
It was easy to tell that most of the spectators who were watching the match were quite familiar with Battlecraft Combat, and they had noticed that Wang Tong was forced to speed up due to Bisu’s accelerating pace. Wang Tong would need to outrace Bisu’s speedy hands in order to win, unless he had other tricks hidden in his sleeves. But soon, everyone realized that Wang Tong’s controlling maneuvers had reached its maximum level and his operating maneuvers had also reached its limits.
Both Bisu and Wang Tong had been doing recons on each other at the beginning, and unleashing interfering attacks at each other in the middle of the match. It seemed like the end of this match would be happening in no time due to Bisu’s amazing performance. To be honest, he could have attacked directly if he was hoping to end this as early as possible. Yet, he chose to launch his attacks at the end, because it would be safer since he was unable to obtain most of the advantages earlier. Bisu was afraid of getting ambushed if he were to attack blindly. Hence, he chose to develop a complete fleet and crush his opponent with his almighty controlling maneuvers!
Even Flash dared not to drag the match and fight him at the end. In fact, it would be exactly what Bisu was hoping for, if the opponent chose to counter him with Cloning Technique.
"This seems good for our team captain. He will be able to win if he unleashes his Cloning Technique, right?" Rumi asked. However, everyone else in the team had their doubts.
"Bisu’s APM was the highest amongst the academies throughout Earth Confederation. Wang Tong might be strong, yet Bisu is stronger. Wang Tong’s Cloning Technique is incredible because he has the perfect sense of balance. It is obvious that Bisu will not give Wang Tong a chance to do so since he was aware of that as well. Based on the overall situation, the one who clearly controls the pace is Bisu, and I’m sure that he already has the perfect plan to counter Wang Tong’s Cloning Technique."
Of course, Bisu would never be controlled by his opponent’s pace. He would do anything to make sure that Cloning Technique wasn’t going to happen.
Unfortunately, Wang Tong seemed to be unable to notice this, and he was still focusing in his operating maneuvers. Compared to the last match with Bernabeu, it was clear that Wang Tong had improved a lot. So far, there was no mistake in his performance. However, it was not good enough. If he were to become a fleet commander, he would need to read his enemy. Yet, he was heading towards the exact spot where his opponent wanted him to be; in short, Wang Tong had fallen into his opponent’s trap.