Chapter 111 The Bumbling Tactics of Bumbling Men

Let's turn our attention to the south of Gu Zhi City.

The three-way brawl in the alley had become a tug-of-war.

Wang Tanzhi was facing off against Heitie Zhenjie. Although the former excelled at assassination and surprise attacks, he was not adept at grappling or combat techniques. If he couldn't quickly gain the upper hand in close quarters, he would gradually be at a disadvantage. Fortunately… Xiao Tan was agile and nimble, skilled in maneuvering, so he hadn't been defeated yet.

On the other side, Qi Sha, a combat maniac who excelled at head-on confrontations, was barely holding his own against Kyo Kusanagi. His fists were indeed fast, but Kyo Kusanagi's sword was no slouch either… With fists and swords clashing, and bodies and shadows flitting about, the two fought to a standstill, each sustaining injuries.

However… as time passed, the disadvantages of Xiao Tan and Qi Sha became increasingly apparent.

Because…

"This is bad…" Qi Sha thought after the *n*th exchange with his opponent, "I've been fighting for so long, and I finally managed to gain a slight advantage, but then that beauty in the back uses a healing skill, and Kyo Kusanagi is back to full health. Am I just wasting my time…?"

Similarly, Xiao Tan, whose stamina was steadily declining, felt the same way: "Hmm… Sister Qin's [Blitz Heal] and [Holy Spirit Enchantment] are both remote, non-guided skills that can be activated in a very short amount of time. As long as her healing and support continue, defeating those two swordsmen will be like swimming against the current, extremely difficult. If this goes on… the longer it drags out, the slimmer my chances of winning become…"

Thinking of this, Xiao Tan came up with a plan.

"Hey! Qi Sha." Xiao Tan shouted to Qi Sha in the distance while dodging Heitie Zhenjie's attacks, "I have a proposition. Want to hear it?"

"Might as well." It wouldn't hurt to listen, Qi Sha had no reason to refuse.

"This is going nowhere… Dragging it out will definitely lead to defeat. As for running away… although we can temporarily save our lives, the situation afterward will become very difficult," Xiao Tan continued. "How about… we cooperate here and take out the three in front of us together?"

"How would we cooperate?" Qi Sha immediately replied. As he spoke, he clashed with Kyo Kusanagi again, causing the latter to cough twice, while Qi Sha's arms trembled violently.

"You cover me…" Xiao Tan paused for half a second and replied loudly, "...nine seconds… no, seven seconds is enough!" His voice was firm. "As long as you buy me seven seconds, I can kill Huajian. And then…"

"You don't need to say anymore." Qi Sha interrupted Xiao Tan before he could finish. "I refuse."

"What?" Xiao Tan was quite surprised by Qi Sha's reaction. In this battle that was clearly trending toward defeat, their alliance might be the only turning point, but… the other party had rejected him so decisively.

"First, this kind of battle tactic doesn't align with my fighting philosophy. My fists… are for defeating opponents, not for stalling for time or creating openings," Qi Sha replied. "Second, this is, after all, a killing game. There's no trust between you and me. What if… after seven seconds, you turn around and run, or attack me instead? I'll just have to accept my fate."

"Wang Tanzhi, I don't know if you're being naive or cunning… but I definitely can't accept this kind of proposal." Qi Sha said, glancing at Huajian's side, "Speaking of which… your team's medic should have already thought through these situations, right? That's why she's so confident."

"Heh… you flatter me." Huajian, standing within the protective circle of the two swordsmen, interjected at this moment. "My plan is also born from the circumstances and changes with the situation. 'Already thought through'… perhaps some can do it effortlessly, but I can't." She looked at Xiao Tan and continued, "Xiao Tan, your proposal at this moment is indeed logical, but with a little thought, it's not hard to see… that there are too many unstable factors hidden behind it."

Huajian paused for two seconds, thought for a moment, and then gave an example: "Can you really kill me in seven seconds? Can Qi Sha really hold off Heitie and Kyo for seven seconds? Even if he can, what price will he pay? Also, even if you really succeed, what will be your follow-up actions? Even if I'm really killed by you, can you two successfully silence the remaining two? And so on and so forth…" She shook her head and said, "The risks are too great, there are too many variables, but the benefits… are very unclear. So, for Qi Sha, agreeing to your proposal is not as good as 'running away'. At least choosing the latter can actually save his life."

"She's right…" At this time, Qi Sha continued to Xiao Tan, "Whether from a rational perspective or a gambler's mentality, cooperating with you is an unsuitable, inappropriate, uneconomical, and very unseemly choice."

Wang Tanzhi sighed. "Hoo… okay…" With a leap, he dodged another wave of sword qi from Heitie Zhenjie and said to Qi Sha, "Then what's your plan…?"

"Do you even need to ask?" A ferocious smile appeared on Qi Sha's face. "I'm going to use my own strength to beat all four of you guys… to death!"

"Heh… I knew it." At this point, Xiao Tan wasn't surprised by this answer. "Because…" His eyes also sharpened. "I only have this choice left!"

With their minds made up, their fighting spirit soared.

The atmosphere on the scene also changed.

"Hmph…" At this moment, although beads of cold sweat appeared on Huajian's temples, she wasn't panicked. "Both of them want to use the simplest and most brutal way to reverse this unfavorable situation…?" A nameless fire suddenly rose in her heart. "Please forgive me for giving you two a completely derogatory comment…" She looked at Xiao Tan and Qi Sha, who were fighting at opposite ends of the city alley, and said娇嗔, "...Men are all idiots!"

In this game, the type of person Huajian hated the most was—"the macho hot-blooded fighter who thinks that going berserk can solve everything."

Unfounded confidence, a strangely ignited aura, stubbornness that won't shed a tear even when facing death, and a highly infectious temperament towards their own kind (for some reason, Tianma Xingkong felt he was being targeted)……

The very existence of these guys is a provocation to those non-fighting-specialized players.

Those who plan and then act, and leverage their advantages, ultimately lose to those who are careless and act on the spur of the moment. This kind of failure, this kind of thankless result, is undoubtedly very depressing.

Huajian… naturally didn't want to swallow this bitter pill.

"Let me personally…" At this moment, Huajian took out a bag of lime powder from her knapsack and thought, "...crush your fighting spirit!"

[Name: Summoning Art - Rock Sprite]

[Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, Permanently Learned]

[Skill Category: Summoning]

[Effect: Summons a Rock Sprite to fight for you (Cooldown time 80 minutes, duration 18 minutes, maximum of one Rock Sprite at a time)]

[Cost: 30% spiritual energy, a bag of lime powder]

[Learning Requirements: Summoning Specialization C]

[Note: A sprite born from rock, possessing a hard body and strong mental resistance, and also incredibly powerful.]

Before she could finish speaking, a white light flashed in front of her.

A simian-like monster made entirely of rock was summoned by her.

And this… was just the beginning.

In the next second, Huajian raised the [Rod of Asclepius] in her hand and used [Power of Evolution] (Doubles a player's basic physical skills and stamina limit, and increases their stamina recovery rate to 1000 seconds, duration three minutes, cooldown thirty minutes) and [Spirit Awakening] (Doubles a player's summon creature abilities and spiritual energy limit, and increases their spiritual energy recovery rate to 100 seconds, duration three minutes, cooldown thirty minutes) on herself and the Rock Sprite respectively.

Then, she immediately took out a card-type item from her knapsack…

[Name: Fusion]

[Type: Consumable]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Effect: Temporarily fuses two creatures controlled by the player into one (duration ten minutes, the player can also be used as a fusion material)]

[Note: The power of this card can create a fusion effect without sacrificing fusion materials.]

As the card with the blue vortex and red shadow patterns disappeared into light.

Huajian's and the Rock Sprite's figures also turned into white light, and after a vortex-like light effect, merged into a strange shadow.

Huajian, after fusing with the summoned creature, actually turned into an object floating in mid-air like a clam shell. Her "body" was like a giant stone clam with a crack, and within that crack… her face was exposed. Of course… at this time, that face was also made of rock, not flesh and blood.

"Whoa, whoa… what kind of form is this…" Xiao Tan was seeing this scene for the first time and couldn't help but exclaim, "Can players transform into this kind of non-humanoid state…?"

"Oh? There's actually this kind of method…" Qi Sha seemed very curious. "But… no matter how you look at it, this is a defensive transformation…"

In fact… Huajian herself didn't know what she would become after the fusion. She just guessed… that she might turn into some kind of humanoid battle beast covered in rock armor and was prepared to join the melee combat directly in that form.

She didn't expect… that the result would be a strange thing.

However, Huajian quickly calmed down and thought: Before transforming, I used the two special effects of the [Rod of Asclepius] to bless myself and the summoned creature's abilities respectively. Presumably, the individual formed after the fusion… has absolutely no low combat power.

[Please note that some menu functions have been locked.]

[Your status bar has been changed.]

[Your skill bar has been changed.]

As soon as the fusion transformation was completed, three consecutive system prompts sounded in Huajian's ears.

She immediately summoned the game menu to view it and found that… at this moment, her knapsack bar was locked, "stamina" had disappeared, "survival" had returned to 100%, and spiritual energy… had actually reached [10001000].

Looking further down, she saw… four new skills that appeared in the skill bar.