Chapter 172 At the Same Time

At the same time, on the other side of the city.

Honghu and Zhao Yingwang, who were engaged in a fierce battle, naturally felt the wave of sound sweeping across.

"What's going on?" Honghu flicked the longbow in his hand, scattering a shower of light arrows. Taking advantage of this momentum, he retreated and jumped out of the battle circle.

Standing behind the stone demon, Zhao Yingwang tilted his head and replied, "Are you referring to that wave of sound just now?" He added in an indifferent tone, "It's not a big deal, probably just a big move released by other players fighting."

"No..." Honghu adjusted his glasses, "I mean... why did the commentary stop..."

"Huh?" Zhao Yingwang was stunned when he heard this. "That's right." He stroked his chin and said, "But... that has nothing to do with our contest, right? Didn't you complain that the narration was too long-winded before?"

"My personal preference for this setting is not important." Honghu stated in a very calm tone, "According to my observation, in this script, as long as there is a fight involving players, there will be commentary inserted." He paused for a moment. "Considering that the format of this Peak Hegemony Battle is a free-for-all, there will definitely be multi-perspective broadcasts. I speculate... this commentary is very likely to be the official commentary provided by the system."

Zhao Yingwang thought for a moment and replied, "Hmm... Since it's official commentary... there's really no reason for it to stop."

Honghu said, "We have been in a state of battle during this time, so we can clearly know the dividing point from when the commentary was there to when it disappeared..."

"It's right before and after the wave of sound hit." Zhao Yingwang interjected.

Honghu turned his gaze towards the direction from which the wave of sound spread, and pondered, "Something must have happened over there..."

"Even if your analysis is correct... so what?" Zhao Yingwang said, "Don't tell me you want to suggest... that we stop fighting now and go over there to check the situation together?"

"Why not?" Honghu said, "Having fought to this point, you and I are still evenly matched. What impact would stopping have?"

"Hmph... that's true." Zhao Yingwang snorted coldly, "At least from the surface, no one is at a disadvantage." He only said half of what he meant, and the other half that was inconvenient to say clearly was, "As for how much strength each side has left hidden, only the parties involved know."

...

By the blood lake.

The twelve players in groups of three did not notice the cessation of commentary, because their attention was all focused on the giant creature in front of them.

The experts from the four guilds reached a consensus almost simultaneously - "This place is not suitable to stay for long."

However, before they had time to leave, another strange event occurred.

"Heh... finally, there's someone who looks a bit more decent." A gloomy voice suddenly sounded. Although it was not loud, everyone around the blood lake heard it clearly.

"Hey, hey... another rather vicious-looking guy has popped up from behind." Xiaoming, who was charging ahead in the first line of retreat, spotted the newcomer at a glance.

They saw a monster with a blue face, fangs, three heads, six arms, a human body, and a snake tail, all scarlet red, wriggling forward...

The Qu Ming Nan trio were the fastest and most decisive in retreating among the four groups, but their luck was also the worst... because the Bloodthirsty Demon (Shi Xue Mo) from the Nine Undead Fiends happened to be coming from the direction behind them.

"Wolves in front and tigers behind..." Lao Qu murmured, "Fortunately, the volume of this one behind isn't so exaggerated."

Zhen Ge interjected, "No, no, no... volume doesn't represent strength. Judging from the arrogant attitude of this half-snake monster, he's likely stronger than the giant blood corpse in the lake..."

Just as the three of them were hesitating whether to charge past him, in an instant... a strange shadow flashed past them.

"Interdimensional travelers, huh..." The Bloodthirsty Demon thought disdainfully as he passed the Qu Ming trio, "Although they're much stronger than the monsters in the city, in front of me... they're still as slow as if they're standing still."

As for the three from Bingdi, they didn't react until the Bloodthirsty Demon brushed past them.

"What is that thing..."

"So fast."

"Fortunately, it didn't attack us, otherwise..."

A chilling feeling rose up, and the three of them broke out in cold sweats, feeling terrified afterward.

They should indeed be thankful that the Bloodthirsty Demon's nature was very combative and brutal. If Duo Ling hadn't given it a heads-up beforehand, it probably would have dealt with all the players and monsters it encountered along the way. Even if it encountered Derivatives, it wouldn't mind a fight.

Roar—

The giant blood corpse crawling out of the blood lake also noticed the existence of the Bloodthirsty Demon. It turned its face over and let out a roar, as if trying to scare away the approaching threat.

"Such a large blood corpse is indeed rare." The Bloodthirsty Demon was not affected by the roar at all, and continued to approach with the posture of a confident powerhouse, "It's just right as the main course for dinner, hehe... that lake can be considered the soup."

...

Somewhere in the north of the city.

As a ray of white light dissipated, a player was killed out of the script. And his opponent was Wang Tanzhi.

Xiao Tan was indeed a very lucky player. After the finals began, he had already encountered and successfully killed two players. Although neither of them were seeded players, they at least provided four points.

"Phew... pretty good." Xiao Tan relaxed slightly after leaving the battle.

"You're the one who's amazing, you're giving me the creeps." A voice suddenly sounded from behind Xiao Tan.

As soon as the words were spoken, the blade moved.

Before the four words "giving me the creeps" were finished, the combat knife in Xiao Tan's hand was already pressed against the speaker's neck.

But he didn't cut down, because the one speaking was just a semi-transparent holographic image.

The holographic image was that of a shapely blonde woman wearing a jacket and jeans; her face was beautiful, and her voice was very magnetic, with a bit of an older sister vibe.

"A simple projection shouldn't be able to make sounds, right..." Xiao Tan's mind raced. "Could this be a summon? A ghost? Or... something else..." He retreated a few steps, watching in all directions, trying to find the controller of this projection.

"Handsome guy, I'm talking to you, why aren't you paying attention to me?" The projection said again, "I've been watching you for a long time, you're not mute."

Xiao Tan looked at the holographic image again and then realized that "she" had a guild logo on her jacket.

"Shan He?" Xiao Tan's expression changed slightly. "You're a player?" He wasn't too surprised. After all, *Thriller Paradise* had all kinds of skills, and maybe the other party was using some kind of clone skill or a transformation skill to turn herself into a semi-transparent spirit.

"She is Matcha Su from Shan He." At this moment, another voice sounded.

This was a voice that Xiao Tan was very familiar with – Feng Bujue's voice.

Almost at the same time that Brother Jue's words sounded, Matcha Su's projection also disappeared.

Faced with these strange situations one after another, Xiao Tan was a bit confused. He quickly looked in the direction of the voice and saw... a blonde beauty walking out of an alley not far away, with a man with messy hair following behind her.

"Brother Jue... what's the situation?" Xiao Tan asked when he saw this.

At this moment, Feng Bujue was pressing one hand on Matcha Su's shoulder, while the other hand was holding a Death Poker card against Matcha Su's neck, "escorting" her as he walked over.

"The situation is..." Feng Bujue said, "When I was on my way, I discovered that she was secretly following and monitoring you, so I secretly followed and monitored her." He paused for a moment, then continued, "Just now, she probably felt that the time was ripe and prepared to attack you. But she didn't expect... the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."

"Uh... what I actually wanted to ask was..." Xiao Tan said, "Why are you still holding her hostage? Wouldn't it be better to just kill her?"

"Hehehe..." Feng Bujue smiled sinisterly, "Taking her alive is, of course, because keeping her is still useful..."

"Is it really okay for you to say such easily misunderstood lines with a perverted expression..." Xiao Tan retorted.

Matcha Su, however, appeared quite calm: "I'm not worried about you doing anything out of line, but... are you sure you can control me?"

"Based on the information I investigated before the competition, as well as about ten minutes of observation..." Feng Bujue replied, "I can confidently determine that you are a rare player who specializes in machinery. Your own combat ability is not bad, but it is also quite limited. To be frank, if your fighting specialization isn't even at B-level... you won't be able to escape my clutches."

"Okay, okay... I surrender..." Matcha Su shrugged helplessly and spread her hands. Then, she turned her head slightly and gave Brother Jue a wink, "What do you want? Tell me."