Only Henry Cooper was there shouting “awesome, awesome, awesome” countless times—this was his and Ethan Brooks’s highlight moment in the game. It had never happened before, and probably wouldn’t happen again, so of course it deserved to be commemorated. Tonight, extra chicken drumsticks!

Sophia Dean and Andrew Miller exchanged a glance; with the “Killer Squad” eliminated, their pressure was greatly reduced and morale soared. But what they focused on more was the detail in Ethan Brooks’s actions just now—did he deliberately not finish off Kill one? Had he planned from the start to lure the other team into rescuing their teammate, so he could wipe them all out at once? If that was really the case, then such composure and boldness were truly remarkable.

No one expected “Nameless” to have such an extraordinary performance.

Sophia Dean wondered if it was because of the bet with Kevin Miller earlier. After all, it was three thousand yuan—for an average student, that’s several months’ living expenses, so he’d probably go all out.

Kevin Miller had clearly thought of this too. Could it be that he had triggered Ethan Brooks’s potential? Now he was regretting it so much he could barely stand it. What he feared most was that Ethan Brooks would keep going and actually outlast him.

Meanwhile, voices came through the channel one after another: “Looks like it really was the bet with Kevin Miller that fired him up. Kevin Miller, you see, big rewards bring out brave men!”

“Kevin Miller, thanks for the three thousand yuan!”

With the team members all jeering, Kevin Miller’s face turned the color of pig liver.

“That’s why ‘Nameless’ is our mascot! Look, Sophie speaks, and our luck just explodes!”

Sophia Dean’s calm voice came through as well: “Well, it’s all about having a good eye.”

Though there was no hidden meaning in her words, they still made everyone feel as if a spring breeze was stirring their hearts.

In the midst of everyone’s chatter, Ethan Brooks had clearly become the center of affection.

On the side of the Demon Claw team, however, the atmosphere was completely different. The air was icy cold, and the crowd watching in Net City, along with Samuel Young’s fans, all felt a bit deflated. Who was that nobody, anyway?

Facing the team’s silence, Matthew Scott said, “It’s okay, even the best horse stumbles sometimes…”

Beside him, Samuel Young, who could only watch his team from a spectator’s perspective after being eliminated, looked a bit haggard. He lifted his eyelids and said, “Boss, you got that saying backwards…”

“The meaning’s the same,” Matthew Scott coughed dryly. “Don’t let it get to you.”

“The circle’s shrinking! Next, we need to regroup and head for P City! Daniel, watch us avenge you and wipe them all out!”

The safe zone on the map began to shrink; staying outside it would cause continuous health loss. This meant all players would be forced into the safe area, and even fiercer battles would break out.

Samuel Young said, “Take down that Nameless guy, I’m waiting to see it.”

Matthew Scott nodded. The Demon Claw team pulled themselves together, their eyes burning with chuunibyou fire, ready to avenge their ace.

Chapter 11: The King of Understanding

Landing, grabbing a gun, and giving the Demon Claw team’s “Killer God” a counter-kill, then using the opponent’s dying body to lure a squad in, and finally using grenades and shotguns to block and kill them—yet in the end, it was all chalked up to just being lucky.

Fine, if it’s just luck, then so be it. Ethan Brooks didn’t want people to think he was acting out of character anyway. The most important thing is to keep a low profile. After all, he was playing this match today just to earn that prize money.

After that, the squads merged into larger teams for mobile warfare. Ethan Brooks noticed that Sophia Dean was indeed smart. Most importantly, she could command absolute obedience within the team. The squad executed her orders to the letter—attack when it was time to attack, retreat when it was time to retreat, pursue relentlessly when they could capitalize on a victory, and turn and run at the first sign of trouble. Sophia Dean commanded the team as if her own limbs, and in several skirmishes, she maneuvered the whole team to gain local numerical superiority over the Demon Claw team and suppress them.

When the Demon Claw team finally regrouped and tried to recover, Sophia Dean led her team far away again. It was pure guerrilla warfare.

Ethan Brooks found that this woman’s judgment was sharp and accurate, her sense of the big picture was strong, and she had outstanding strategic talent. In another time and place, she might have made a great general. Some of her tactics were so ingenious that even if he had arranged them himself, he couldn’t have done better. He’d heard that she was at Dongda, one of the national C10 universities, a place full of top talents, and she was still an outstanding student with a wide range of interests—gaming was just one of them. Was this the true power of an academic ace?

After clashing with Sophia Dean, the Demon Claw team realized that the Super Shadow team’s overall strength wasn’t as high as theirs. Even the top players on the ladder weren’t as good as their own team members. Yet, the Super Shadow team had managed to fight their way to the Binhe District and face them in the elimination round. The advanced strategies and tactics under Sophie’s leadership were the key factor.

However, there was still a gap in overall strength between the two sides. Sophia Dean often gathered superior forces to encircle and annihilate Demon Claw’s small squads, but the opponents always managed to break out, and in terms of casualties, both sides were about even.

Even with a numerical advantage and tactical encirclement, the Super Shadow team could only fight to a draw—this was proof that the Demon Claw team’s individual combat skills were superior.