Genius Chapter 141: Crushing

Chapter 141: Crushing

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

When the news of ZenSlasher killing Jiang Xinjiang reached the central lake, the Zenith Expanse elite team took notice. Midnight Bell asked, “What happened!?”

“There are two of their people at the village end, a cleric and an assassin,” Jiang Xinjiang, who still had a few seconds before respawning, said. “That female assassin is a bit tough to deal with. I can’t take her down on my own.”

A magical swordsman was at a disadvantage against an assassin, especially without a Dispel Cloak. In an unprepared state, it was usually just a matter of a few strikes for a fully-equipped assassin to take him out.

Midnight Bell said, “Don’t go over there after respawning. We’ll keep the pressure on here and send someone to support you.”

“Okay,” Jiang Xinjiang replied.

Midnight Bell frowned. Their full assault on the central lake had indeed put immense pressure on the opponents. With nine people against six, they had exhausted their skills’ cooldowns in less than two minutes and finally retook the central lake.

“Sleep, go back to the village end and help Jiang Xinjiang reclaim the point.”

Instead of sending a healer, Sleep was a better choice for the job. As a high-damage physical swordsman, he could team up with Jiang Xinjiang to first deal with the healer and then handle the assassin.

It should be no problem to retake the point at the village tail, but the situation on their side was still strange.

After a fierce battle, the advertising team was indeed pushed back, but it was strange that even though they could drive the opponents back, they couldn’t effectively eliminate any of the advertising team members.

Whenever they were on the verge of making a successful kill, the opponents would choose to retreat. The opponents’ lineup included warriors, physical swordsmen, summoners, array masters, healers, and assassins.

Warriors were nearly impossible to wear down, physical swordsmen had many survival skills, summoners and array masters were in the back row, healers were well protected by their team, and assassins often went invisible. Individually, this lineup seemed easy to kill, but the opponents’ ability to retreat made them increasingly difficult to handle, as they kept moving towards the bridge.

Midnight Bell had suffered once already. FireworksAndLanterns and Apple were again at the village end, where they couldn’t be seen. They might have thought that the opponents were guarding the point, but in reality, those two were simply mobile and flexible, possibly ready to coordinate with Momo’s team for an attack. Furthermore, Momo’s team seemed to be intentionally leading them back, possibly setting up an ambush on the bridge. It was crucial not to push forward but to hold the central lake.

“Defend the central lake and do not pursue,” Midnight Bell advised, becoming more rational. “Our goal is to hold the village end and the central lake.”

At that moment, the village end point was caught in an inexplicable stalemate. Sleep arrived in the vicinity and met up with their teammates. The two planned to eliminate the guarding assassin, but as soon as the assassin saw them approaching, she immediately went invisible, leaving the empty point to them.

Sleep quickly realized something was wrong. While the two of them together could indeed kill the assassin, the assassin’s invisibility made it impossible for them to track. Since neither of them had the Dispel Cloak profession, once the assassin went invisible, they had no means to counter it. They could only focus on the cleric ScarletFruit in the tree, but upon reaching the vicinity of the tree, they found, bizarrely, that they couldn’t climb it!

The tree’s height exceeded their lightness skill’s range, making it impossible to climb using their skill.

Jiang XinJiangyi was exasperated. “It’s just a cleric. They can place summons at a certain location to extend their healing range. The point is within their healing range, but they’re out of our attack range. The tree also blocks our view, and sometimes we can’t find the right angle to target their summons.”

“How did ScarletFruit climb up there?!” Sleep was deep in thought upon seeing the situation.

Celestial Horizon’s tree-climbing system was based on the lightness skill’s range. They could climb up halfway with the skill, but once they reached a certain height, there were no footholds, causing the tree-climbing skill to fail. The village end tree was simply too large, extending over the point. The cleric was positioned high up, and the point was considered within vertical range. Combined with the invisible assassin in the point’s range, the situation was further complicated.

The point’s range was quite broad, and they used skills to probe the assassin’s position, but the female assassin was both cautious and agile.

With two people against two, they simply couldn’t capture the point. They couldn’t catch the assassin or kill the cleric.

“I’m dying of laughter. Do they think our tree-climbing skill is based on Celestial Horizon?” ScarletFruit said smugly. “When I was climbing trees and escaping in the newbie area, they probably didn’t even know.”

ZenSlasher replied, “Be careful, don’t fall down.”

The tree at the village end was indeed difficult to climb for most people, but it wasn’t impossible.

When Su Mo first entered Newbie Village, he had been curious about everything. He spent nearly half an hour observing the area around the tree and became very familiar with the surroundings. Although the tree itself was unclimbable, there were other footholds. He remembered clearly that while some footholds were too high for the lightness skill to reach, there was a hidden small slope behind the tree. Players needed to approach this slope from behind, use lightness to jump and climb, and then reach the vines above. The rest depended on the player’s own climbing skill.

It was quite fortunate that ScarletFruit’s tree-climbing skills were exceptional.

With the wind picking up and approaching from behind, ScarletFruit was able to reach the high ground unnoticed by the opposing magical swordsman.

After all, the position from behind was tricky, and players generally wouldn’t suspect the rustling of leaves overhead.

“Will they send a marksman over here?” ScarletFruit asked. “If another person comes, we won’t be able to hold this point.”

“That’s fine, it’s even better if the marksman leaves.” Su Mo retreated to the bridge and said to Watermelon, “Keep an eye on their marksman. The two healers can’t protect the opposing array master. If the marksman leaves, then you can go around and cut off the healer.”

Watermelon, feeling quite frustrated and holding a grudge against the opposing marksman, responded, “No problem.”

The information from the village end quickly reached Midnight Bell. When he heard they couldn’t kill the cleric on the tree, he was momentarily stunned.

Hiding in the tree?? Was this a battlefield or a game of hide and seek!?

Sleep said, “We can’t deal with the cleric. If the marksman comes over, we’ll team up to kill the assassin. We don’t need to worry about that cleric. With three of us taking the point, he won’t be as fast as we are.”

Seeing that the lake center point was still stable, Midnight Bell immediately sent the marksman to help out.

However, as soon as the marksman left, the opposing team suddenly changed their tactics and pressed the attack.

FireworksAndLanterns and Apple also appeared suddenly, turning the situation into a 7 vs. 8. Furthermore, the opposing assassin, Watermelon, silently took out their healer. This exchange allowed the three at the village end to kill the assassin and reclaim the point, but the counterattack by the advertising team was fierce. With their healer killed, the opposing team exploited the opportunity to force them out of the point and take control.

Midnight Bell was accustomed to sending the marksman to protect the rear, but it was too late to save the healer.

It seemed as if the opposing team had been waiting for them to move the marksman away, leaving the rear open for their assassin to act.

As the point was about to be captured, Midnight Bell immediately ordered Sleep and the marksman to return and support the lake center.

The support arrived swiftly and pushed the opponents back. However, it wasn’t long before they received the news that the advertising team had captured the village end point.

Midnight Bell asked, “What’s going on!?”

Jiang Xinjiang Yi had died again, “It’s that female assassin again. After she respawned, she joined forces with ScarletFruit to capture the point.”

The assassin’s speed was too fast, and with two people capturing the point, Jiang Xinjiang Yi was completely outmatched.

Moreover, in this situation, the only option was to send another marksman to support and attack the assassin, but that created a problem…

They only had one attacker in their lineup, while the opposing team had two assassins.

Wherever the marksman went, there would be a vacancy on the other side.

As an array master, Midnight Bell was usually focused on team battles and had the marksman watching the rear, so he rarely developed the habit of protecting healer teammates. Even if he could activate his array to protect them, the healers might not always be within his protective range.

With the same lineup, their assassins found it very difficult to kill the opposing team’s healer, while the opposing assassins could easily take out their healers. In fact, their second healer had nearly been killed by an assassin as well.

Sending people to assist at the village end meant that the lake center was likely to be lost.

They continued to guard the lake center, but they couldn’t breach the bridge. FireworksAndLanterns and Apple were elusive and had once again appeared on the lake, seemingly preparing to use their ultimate skill.

“I’m getting a bit tired. The perseverance of that opposing magical swordsman is really something,” ScarletFruit said, lying on the tree and watching Jiang Xinjiang Yi running over from a distance. “It’s better if they change the guard. Why does it always have to be a magical swordsman?”

Yu Zhen explained, “Midnight Bell can’t hold the position. A single healer isn’t as effective as Cantaloupe, and with the marksman gone, there’s a vacancy in the rear. Their lineup is stable, but it’s easy to collapse once it’s split.”

“It’s probably because they didn’t expect double assassins to be so hard to deal with,” ClearWind said. “Normally, you wouldn’t have an assassin guarding the point, and even if you attack the cleric, you can’t hit them.”

“And they’re so cautious,” FireworksAndLanterns added. “We’ve been pushed back by them this time. Why haven’t they followed up?”

“Hehe, they’re probably afraid we’ll ambush them,” FireworksAndLanterns said. “Apple and I are playing hide and seek with them. Just now, someone who had respawned tried to sneak a capture but got scared off by my bear. But I wasn’t even over there. I was hiding in the bushes on the slope with Apple, keeping an eye on the lake. Seeing the situation wasn’t right, we decided to head to the lake to scare them.”

Apple said, “They can’t guess whether we’re going to take the lake surface or guard the point.”

Bitter Melon added, “In the end, our defense is still solid. With this tactic, if we lose our main force at the lake center, they’ll have a chance for a counterattack.”

“Then we need to make them lose people first,” Su Mo said, his gaze shifting past the warrior to Midnight Bell. “But I think they’re already in a difficult situation.”

After several exchanges, the gap in points between the two sides had widened.

Starting with the marksman and extending to the healer.

Or rather, at the lake center and village end, Midnight Bell realized that they had been completely restrained by Momo.

The opposing lineup, with its super-tough tank and strong healing support, included a versatile physical swordsman, an array master skilled in both offense and defense, a summoner with excellent operational awareness, and a stealthy assassin. This six-person combination, although each member had clear weaknesses, came together like an impenetrable fortress. The front line was very tough, and the back line’s defense was airtight.

If their entire team had pushed forward, it would have been easier to fight, but Momo had skillfully avoided their weak points and defensive gaps. By relocating three fragile players and one cleric, they had created a new defensive point. Sometimes, having fewer people made it harder to break through. On the contrary, with fewer people, the healer could sustain everyone, the array master’s array covered the entire back line, and the warrior only had to guard one direction.

With such a lineup, they could easily engage in a war of attrition against seven or eight of them.

The point-guarding combination of assassin and cleric, and the mobile combination of magical swordsman and summoner.

Peach Blossom Lake, with its three-point linear capture map, had been played in a novel way by them. Midnight Bell found it impossible to adjust the lineup to stabilize the village end. The village end couldn’t be defended by a single person, and only a two-person defense could hold it. Full occupation required either deploying a marksman or a three-person combination, but once such adjustments were made, the main force of the advertisement team would push forward completely.

This kind of restraint had demonstrated a flexibility they could not imitate.

“Why has the enemy’s momentum diminished compared to before?” Bitter Melon said, standing by the bridge, debating whether to charge in for a few strikes or to continue playing exhausted and defenseless.

ScarletFruit remarked, “Hey, are you guys overacting? Try to deceive them a bit more and give them some chances.”

Watermelon added, “Yes, keep dragging it out, otherwise the battlefield will become meaningless once it ends.”

ClearWind said, “I was still considering them as opponents, but their momentum is even less than what we initially encountered with FirstUnderHeaven.”

“Cough,” Cantaloupe said, “I heard that FirstUnderHeaven took an hour’s break after our match before continuing to queue up.”

“It’s not surprising,” Su Mo explained briefly to the team, “They’re used to crushing with their lineup, and their coordination is almost always targeted at most common strategies. In a 10 vs. 10, we can’t beat them, but when their numbers are reduced, they face issues like reduced DPS and insufficient warrior output, leading to sudden problems where they can’t effectively kill us.”

The teammates responded with understanding.

Yu Zhen added, “In simple terms, their tactics are solid, and their overall coordination is good. However, their teammates’ individual skills are not strong, and their team’s adaptability and flexibility are lacking.”

ScarletFruit muttered, “They call themselves an elite team with excellent coordination, but they were still dominated by us in the team battles. In the end, their coordination isn’t as good as ours.”

Hearing ScarletFruit’s reasoning, Su Mo chuckled and said, “Well, that’s also a valid point.”

Although their team often engaged in PvE, there were numerous extreme situations in PvE. Their team lacked sufficient healing, and occasional ultimate skills were enough to cause their demise. So, since starting in the dungeon, they had developed the habit of chaining skills, relying on teammates’ protection, and valuing their lives. Over time, they had also become very quick to respond to teammates’ skills.

They were very familiar with the cooldowns of protection and defensive skills, and they knew precisely who controlled what and who attacked. With such awareness, all that was needed was tactical command and coordination, making their team both offensive and defensive.

Want the lake center? Fine, take it; we’ll take the village end.

Want to defend the village end? Sure, we’ll pressure the lake center.

Want to push to the village entry directly? Okay, cross the bridge first and take it slowly.

In less than half an hour, the advertisement team reached 1,000 points first, and the Zenith Expanse elite team lost.

The team fell silent. When they saw the failure reminder, everyone’s faces were grim. Before the battle, they had mocked the opponent’s peculiar combination, thinking that such a mismatched team wouldn’t stand a chance in the battlefield. They had crushed countless teams with such disjointed setups in regular battles. But unexpectedly, throughout the entire match, they were tense and frustrated, struggling to capture points, only to be outmaneuvered by the opposing team.

Sleep said, “Let’s go back and summarize. Did anyone record the match? We need to break down their tactics.”

“No need to summarize.” Midnight Bell looked at the words of defeat and thought about the summoner from the battlefield with indifference. “Their tactics can’t be broken down.”

As soon as the advertisement team exited the battlefield, everyone eagerly began to open their rewards.

“Damn, the Zenith Expanse was a goldmine!”

“I got two five-star treasure chests!!”

“I got a six-star one!!!”

“Damn, killing a Zenith Expanse player gave us more rewards than a whole day of battles.”

“This is awesome. Can we match up with them again? I want to do this one more time.”

They had fought many battles in recent days, but the rewards from the chests were not always five-star. Most teams received four-star rewards, and only when facing stronger teams did they encounter five-star treasure chests. Su Mo sold most of the materials he didn’t need on the trading platform. After gathering for so long, he still needed one more material for his weapon. Looking at the two six-star chests in the team, he decided to wait until Myriad Palace Insight got the lucky buff before opening them.

“Doesn’t playing against higher-level teams increase the quest ratings we can get?” Apple asked. “This quest battlefield isn’t based on average scores, right?”

“That’s not the case.” Su Mo closed his inventory and explained, “I’ve been observing for a while. Recently, the changes in the quest leaderboard scores are related to your entire Stage Two battlefield rating. In fact, the higher the ranking of the opponents you defeat, the higher your corresponding score will be, and the overall bonus will increase as well.”

ClearWind looked at Su Mo and said, “You’ve really been studying the leaderboard lately.”

Apple suddenly became excited. “Then I have a chance! I just checked the scores of FirstUnderHeaven a couple of days ago. If the quest battlefield score bonus is high enough, I might just need to win a few more matches to surpass FirstUnderHeaven.”

FireworksAndLanterns said, “Wow!”

Watermelon added, “It should definitely be enough. Zenith Expanse gave such a big boost this time; you can start preparing for a name change card.”

“Ah?” ScarletFruit suddenly said, “But FirstUnderHeaven came to me last night to buy materials and spent 500,000 gold coins.”

Apple paused his hand on the leaderboard. “?”

“I found out he even had a merchant customize his score for him,” ScarletFruit continued. “I checked this morning, and it seemed to have increased by about 300 points.”

Apple closed the leaderboard and said, “Let’s go for the next match.”

Author’s note: 

Apple: I’m sure my grind speed will match his spending speed.