Chapter 1 Desert Duel

The scorching sun hung high in the sky. Amidst a stretch of yellow sand, two teams faced each other across a dune, the burning sand causing the players to sweat profusely and enter a state of [Stamina Drain]. Even without moving, their stamina values were slowly decreasing.

"The desert terrain is too open; it's disadvantageous to us. We might lose," Xing Duhe said dejectedly.

This was Kuang Dao's Jiangcheng Club team. They were lucky, not encountering any strong teams. They had stumbled along the way, but now it was the final round of the qualifiers. As long as they won, they would advance.

But it seemed Jiangcheng's good luck had run out this time. The random terrain was an open desert, unfavorable to their close-combat tactics, while their opponents excelled at ranged attacks.

Xing Duhe's mentality was very disheartened, and influenced by him, the team's morale was low.

Kuang Dao frowned, disliking this, and said, "Don't be discouraged; it's not over yet. Who wins and who loses is not certain."

Xing Duhe shook his head. "Our chances of winning are too small."

"You're the team leader; don't say things like that!" Kuang Dao was increasingly dissatisfied with Xing Duhe's leadership, as he had no leadership ability at all, no brilliant commands, and only brought negative energy to the entire team.

"Oh? Then what's your brilliant idea?" Xing Duhe glanced at him sideways.

"The enemies are good at ranged attacks, so we can only close the distance. But rushing over rashly would get us kited, so I think luring them in for an ambush is a good idea. I can hide in the sand, and you pretend to escape, luring them to where I'm hiding. Then I jump out to hold back their rear, and you launch a counterattack. That's how we'll have a chance."

"Perfect, I have two masks; who will bury themselves with me?" Kuang Dao took out two oxygen masks, which were his standard equipment, and now they could come in handy.

The team members looked at each other. At this moment, Xing Duhe snorted, "Since it's a tactic you came up with, if we lose, it's your responsibility."

Xing Duhe was trying to shirk responsibility. If they lost, he could push the blame. Kuang Dao was very disgusted by this behavior, too lazy to pay attention to him, looked at the other teammates, and a martial arts specialist stepped forward to be his partner.

They quickly chose a location. Kuang Dao and the martial arts specialist put on masks and hid in the sand. The four outside, including Xing Duhe, did some camouflage and began to lure the enemy, walking onto the dune and exposing themselves to the enemy's sight.

"Heh, they couldn't resist." The other six-person team discovered Xing Duhe and the others, and Electerx in the team smiled coldly.

Electerx was in this team. Seemingly a team composed of ordinary experts, these six players were actually all "spies" from different foreign clubs in the Aquamarine Star Division, secretly forming a team to "challenge" others. Every division had such teams.

"The opponent is a small club. I've watched their matches. They are good at close combat, and their coordination is poor. The terrain is favorable to us. As long as we keep our distance, they're doomed," Electerx said.

They approached the Jiangcheng team, maintaining a long distance, and began to carry out ranged attacks. These players mainly used superpowers. Electerx could generate wind seeds in his palm, gradually growing into a small sand tornado. One of his teammates could fire destructive beams with his fingers, and another could knead the air into a white ball and throw it out to create an impact explosion.

Xing Duhe and the others hurriedly ran away. Electerx's team chased closely behind. Soon, they discovered that there were only four people in the Jiangcheng team.

"Where are the other two?" Electerx became vigilant, suddenly raised his hand, and said, "Stop! They might be trying to lure us in."

Electerx thought that if the Jiangcheng team was trying to lure them, when he stopped, Jiangcheng would also stop, or at least slow down to entice them. However, Jiangcheng did not slow down, dragging a long trail of dust, wishing they could run as far as possible.

Xing Duhe ran with his head down. He had no intention of carrying out Kuang Dao's tactics, and was being deliberately obstructive. Xing Duhe had a little plan in his mind. Didn't Kuang Dao say he wanted to ambush? Then let him stay underground. He would meet the opponent, pretend to lure them, and at least he would have fought with the enemy. This would make Kuang Dao a bystander throughout the whole process, making it seem like Kuang Dao's plan was a failure, allowing him to shift the blame to Kuang Dao, and push him out to make the higher-ups disappointed with Kuang Dao.

But he couldn't deliberately deviate from Kuang Dao's ambush location. The other teammates also knew the location, so he couldn't make it so obvious. So, he would just make a fuss about luring the enemy, and whether the opponent followed or not, he would just run headlong.

Xing Duhe was an old hand in the professional circle for many years, a peripheral figure with no achievements. He was recruited by Jiangcheng, and his salary was more than before, but he didn't care about the team's performance. He just wanted to keep his position as team leader and continue to enjoy a generous salary. There were all kinds of people in the circle, and an old hand like him was a typical example.

However, Electerx misunderstood and pondered, "They're escaping so hastily; it doesn't look like a lure, and the desert is an open terrain, so the possibility of an ambush is relatively low. Chase after them!"

By a stroke of luck, Electerx fell for it. After chasing for a while, he stepped into the ambush location. Suddenly, a cloud of sand exploded in the team! Kuang Dao and the martial arts specialist charged out from underground, directly attacking the rear!

The incident was sudden, and Electerx and the others' faces changed drastically!

Kuang Dao went all out, tearing apart the opponent's formation. Xing Duhe in the distance saw this, his face collapsed, and he had no choice but to bring his teammates back.

The scene was chaotic. Electerx and the others were also extremely skilled, and even with the ambush's success, Jiangcheng was still caught in a melee. Fortunately, Kuang Dao performed outstandingly, taking down two squishy superpower users, completing a double kill, and establishing the situation.

As Electerx fell unwillingly, the surroundings finally quieted down, with only the sound of the wind blowing up the yellow sand.

Jiangcheng, victory!

"We won!" Kuang Dao excitedly waved his fist.

"We actually advanced…"

Xing Duhe opened his mouth, with an unbelievable expression. He had made it so obvious, but the enemy still fell for it. Were they that thick-skinned?

…

As the lengthy final round of the qualifiers ended, the list of qualifiers was hotly released, and the players in each division were greatly encouraged, and the league's popularity rose again.

The qualifiers were just an appetizer, competing for qualification. The regular season was the main event!

From here, the competition entered a formal rhythm, not as rushed as the qualifiers. Every match was watched by all.

The top 38 teams and top 62 individual players selected from thousands of teams and hundreds of thousands of players were undoubtedly highly anticipated. Han Xiao looked through the list. The four major powerhouses had all advanced, and most of the rest were well-known club teams, such as Mad Blades, Nine Gates, Violent Rain, etc., and some foreign clubs. There were only a few dark horse teams.

Jiangcheng was impressively on the list of qualifiers. Han Xiao recalled that the Jiangcheng team in his previous life did not obtain the regular season qualification. The team that replaced their spot seemed to be a foreign player team.

In terms of individual competitions, Kuang Dao made it to the regular season just like in his previous life, and received more attention than in his previous life. There were only four Mechanic class players in the individual competition qualifiers, all of them were Gunners. Kuang Dao was the only Melee Mechanic, and scarcity was a virtue, attracting a lot of attention.

In addition, the Jiangcheng competition recording was dug up, and Kuang Dao's performance can be described as the mainstay, turning the tide, leading Jiangcheng to qualify, and fiercely absorbing a wave of fans. On the other hand, the real team leader Xing Duhe was completely ignored. In the eyes of the audience, he was just a passerby. In their view, Kuang Dao was the core of Jiangcheng, one god carrying five trash.

Xing Duhe was very jealous, but he couldn't perform like Kuang Dao, so he could only watch Kuang Dao receive various praises, feeling depressed.

Kuang Dao really had close-combat talent, and his operations were becoming more and more brilliant. Mechanic players repeatedly watched his solo recordings, learning the techniques.

Some players dug up previous posts and found that Kuang Dao was one of the four who triggered the Black Phantom's hidden plot. His equipment was of high quality, and the effects were very rich, undoubtedly from the hands of Black Phantom. The players were extremely envious and longed for it. Han Xiao shared a wave of popularity along the way.

"The first step's results are better than in the previous life." Han Xiao was very satisfied, and indeed, he didn't pamper Kuang Dao for nothing.

Not long after, the secondary league also ended smoothly, and the champion and runner-up obtained qualification, making up for the regular season's 40 team spots and 64 individual spots.

The official announced the regular season's group draw, and all players were evenly divided into four groups: A, B, C, and D. Each team competition group had 10 teams, and each individual competition group had 16 players.

The regular season adopted a points system, with intra-group cycle battles. The top two teams in each team group advanced, and the top four players in each individual group advanced.

The team group list of the Aquamarine Star Division's regular season caused an uproar among players.

Yu Xiang Qie Zi, Dynasty, and Changkong, the three major powerhouses, were impressively assigned to Group A!

Moreover, the other teams in Group A included two first-line powerhouses, Dragon and Tiger Club and Tiangong Club, as well as a foreign club team. This was a veritable group of death!

With so many strong teams, only two could advance, and at least one powerhouse would be eliminated in this round, which immediately affected the hearts of fans of various strong teams.

Before the regular season even started, the atmosphere was already tense, with the storm on the horizon!