He, who is always scheming for profit in games, excels at discovering BUGs and loopholes—these are often the breakthroughs that can generate considerable gains. Having developed such habits, even his combat style has become extremely cost-conscious.

Using the smallest price to reap the greatest rewards—this is his principle.

He likes BUGs, is good at finding BUGs, and is adept at exploiting BUGs.

And right now, he discovered a BUG, a loophole. In that instant, he instinctively, almost involuntarily, had his Autumn Brooks raise his gun.

But this reflexive shot, in the end, was never fired.

Because James Carter's reaction was even faster, his timing even more precise.

Boom!

Falling Flower Palm!

A palm strike was launched, landing precisely on a tiny gap in Desert Lone's attack chain—a flaw that, in the eyes of others, simply didn't exist.

Ethan Brooks saw it.

And by the time he saw it, James Carter had already acted, and Autumn Leaf had already interrupted Desert Lone's offensive.

Night Cloak!

Before Desert Lone could even be knocked away by the knockback effect of the Falling Flower Palm, Autumn Leaf had already swung out the Night Cloak, trapping him in midair, immediately followed by a cloud of Dispersing Powder.

Autumn Leaf launched a counterattack.

Just like Desert Lone, the skills James Carter used were not limited to the Battle Mage's own skill tree. Right now, players were only around level thirty; if they stuck to a single class's skill tree, the available skills would be very limited. So, many people chose to learn some of the shared skills available before class advancement within their class line, to enrich their combat options.

Battle Mage belongs to the Mage class, but in terms of combat style, the various Mage subclasses differ greatly. Yet, within such a class system, James Carter's skill selection was even broader than most. Skills that clearly didn't belong to the same combat style were somehow seamlessly woven together in his offensive.

A Summoner's summoned Goblin appeared on the battlefield.

The Elementalist's Flame Impact ignited on Desert Lone twice.

The audience almost forgot Autumn Leaf's class, only reminded each time a Magic Rune was fired that this was a Battle Mage.

“Amazing!”

“Brilliant!”

The surrounding players buzzed with discussion.

Just moments ago, people who thought Desert Lone was fierce and that 4012 consecutive wins was indeed more impressive than 3686, were now starting to favor Autumn Leaf.

Autumn Leaf's attacks continued relentlessly, never interrupted, but the look in people's eyes gradually changed. Because, to their astonishment, they realized that even though Autumn Leaf's offensive had never been broken, the previously suppressed and passive Desert Lone was gradually evening the playing field.

Autumn Leaf was attacking, and Desert Lone was attacking too.

The current situation was no longer one side attacking while the other defended, but a head-to-head clash between equals.

“What a tough guy!” Ethan Brooks exclaimed in awe. Desert Lone's stubborn fighting style was truly worlds apart from his own philosophy. In the past, he would have scoffed at such an approach. But this Desert Lone, with a tenacity and stubbornness beyond his imagination, made him feel a kind of faith completely different from his own, yet absolutely worthy of respect.

Both sides' HP was dropping almost in sync. The battle had reached a fever pitch, with neither side holding a clear advantage. The outcome would only be decided at the very last moment.

Collapse Fist!

Even at this moment, Desert Lone's momentum hadn't diminished in the slightest. Collapse Fist—the strongest move available to a Striker at this level—was unleashed powerfully toward Autumn Leaf.

Victory or defeat would be decided by this blow!

Everyone could see that Autumn Leaf's HP was no longer enough to withstand this Collapse Fist. Desert Lone ignored everything else, neither dodging nor holding back, unleashing this punch with unstoppable force. Meanwhile, Autumn Leaf's battle spear, having been thrust deep, couldn't be withdrawn in time to block; the Falling Flower Palm, which could have been used as a trade, was unfortunately on cooldown, and all the Magic Runes had just been used up.

No way to retreat, no way to dodge—Autumn Leaf seemed to be in a desperate situation. But just then, Desert Lone suddenly jumped.

A jump for no reason, a baffling jump—but soon everyone saw that it wasn't Desert Lone jumping on his own, but because he had been attacked.

Thorny Vine!

A Summoner's anti-air skill suddenly burst from underground. Even Desert Lone was completely unprepared and was instantly struck into the air.

But—all it takes is one punch!

Thorny Vine changed Desert Lone's position, but didn't interrupt his attack. Desert Lone's fist still stubbornly swung toward Autumn Leaf.

But Autumn Leaf had already crouched down, perfectly syncing with the airborne effect of Thorny Vine, instantly widening the distance between him and Desert Lone. The withdrawn battle spear shot out swiftly—Piercing Thrust!

Long spear, short arm.

Although Desert Lone struck first, in the end, it was Autumn Leaf's battle spear that landed the hit first. In his airborne state, after taking this Piercing Thrust, it looked like he no longer had any chance of victory—his fist fell helplessly.

The outcome was decided!