Chapter 172 The Price of Inaction

The desert sun blazed, allowing those with good eyesight to see objects at great distances.

Thus, the stronger members of the Long-Haired Fortress camp had already clearly seen the two figures standing far away.

One of them was Feng Bujue, and the other… was Tu Aotian.

“Stop!” After advancing some distance, the Colonel raised a hand, signaling the rear, and shouted loudly.

Seconds later, the motorcycle convoy slowly halted, and the Colonel turned back, saying, “All of you stay here. Until we decide the victor… do not interfere under any circumstances.”

These words were naturally directed at the Long-Haired Fortress’s miscellaneous troops.

“Ooh, as expected of the Colonel, so reliable.”

“Hehe! Let those who don’t know the meaning of death taste fear!”

“Ooh! The Six Sky Lords are invincible!”

The lackeys, upon hearing the Colonel’s words, erupted in clamor, their morale soaring; they were like a group of crazed fans already celebrating before the game even started.

“Hmph… a bunch of fools.” The Colonel shook his head, muttering to himself, “If keeping you alive wasn’t useful, who would care about your lives…”

Before long, led by the Colonel, and accompanied by Sanyu Qiangxi, Chongsheng Wei Wang, Chuan Yue Wei Wang, Ma Mahu, and Didiwei, a total of six strong individuals… slowly approached Jue-ge and his companion.

“May I ask your names…” The Colonel quickly sized up the man and rabbit before him, then spoke.

“Haa…” Jue-ge, with a languid demeanor, yawned and replied, “Feng Bujue.”

Tu Aotian, on the other hand, tried his best to maintain a calm posture, and in a deep voice, announced his name: “Tu Aotian.”

“Ho… so you’re Feng Bujue.” The Colonel said, turning his head to look at the three members of Corpse Blades, then looking back at Jue-ge, he said, “I heard… you’re very strong.”

Clearly, the members of Corpse Blades had informed the Long-Haired Six Sky Lords of what they knew, or rather, what they believed to be… the general strength of each member of Hell Frontline.

“Heh heh… did you hear that from those guys?” Feng Bujue also tilted his head to glance at the members of Corpse Blades. “A bunch of cowards hiding behind a rabbit, daring to play games only after taking drugs… you actually believe what they tell you?”

Indeed, he said it… He stated very clearly in the public broadcast that the members of Corpse Blades used drugs to play games…

Objectively speaking, in the eyes of those in the know, this kid was simply reckless and audacious…

Even those big shots in the gaming circle wouldn’t dare to explicitly state this in public, because saying so carried responsibility… If you couldn’t produce evidence, Corpse Blades could turn around and sue you for defamation.

Perhaps some might ask, if Corpse Blades was indeed using drugs, how could they dare to sue someone else? Wouldn’t they have a guilty conscience?

Yes, they wouldn’t…

In many situations, being in the right was useless. People were concerned with the law… and the law was a tool, and an imperfect tool at that, one that would never be perfect.

There were countless examples of “cost of crime” being low, but the benefits being great. The most typical were various cases of infringement. The results of these cases were often that the victim gave up due to difficulties in providing evidence, high litigation costs, and the excessively long litigation period. Even if the victim eventually won, the penalties in these civil lawsuits were insignificant. Many infringers still refused to apologize, denied everything, and simply paid the money. For them, the profits from infringement had long exceeded the cost of crime, and the penalties were far from sufficient.

This result… was undoubtedly disheartening.

And it was this result that emboldened many criminals. The victims, however, had to choose between “the difficulty of seeking justice” and “swallowing their anger and letting it go.”

There were many similar examples. Companies that produced food mixed expired food into the process, companies that produced school uniforms added toxic materials… Even in these cases that could cause serious harm, many simply ended with a fine.

In short… sometimes, the “thief” not only wouldn’t feel guilty, but would even righteously yell “stop thief!”

Looking at the current example… Corpse Blades certainly had nothing to fear. First of all, their behavior wasn’t illegal. No law stipulated that cheating in games was a crime, right?

If this matter was really pursued, it would be the game company pursuing it based on the user agreement within the game. But game companies weren’t law enforcement agencies after all. They couldn’t break into someone’s studio to search the premises, let alone arrest players and conduct urine tests.

To determine whether a player was cheating, the game company could only investigate from the data level. As long as the player’s login data was normal and the optical brain hadn’t scanned any non-compliant external devices or abnormal programs, there was no way to manage the matter.

In the end… what someone ate before playing a game, was none of your business, right?

However, if a relatively influential individual or organization stated that Corpse Blades was cheating in a public setting, and that person couldn’t provide any evidence… then that person had to be careful, because their words and actions were visible to all and easy to prove… Corpse Blades Studio could file a lawsuit on the grounds of “defaming the reputation of a legal entity.”

In this situation, if the defendant was also a large company, that would be fine… even if their legal department’s fight failed, they could at least afford to pay the money; but if the defendant was an “individual,” and an ordinary citizen with no money or power, the result would likely be very tragic.

Therefore… Feng Bujue’s current act of daring to speak out, while pleasing many people in the gaming circle, also made them sweat for this madman…

“Feng Bujue! You better watch what you’re saying…” Sanyu Qiangxi, upon hearing those words, glared at Jue-ge and said, “Speaking from a personal standpoint, let me give you a piece of advice…”

Sanyu Qiangxi’s words were indeed out of good intentions. His meaning was roughly… “I’m just someone working in a gaming studio, I have no grudge against you, and I don’t care if Corpse Blades goes bankrupt, I can just find another job. But you better not be too arrogant, or no one will be able to help you when you get sued into bankruptcy.”

“No need.” Who knew, Feng Bujue didn’t appreciate it at all, and interrupted him very simply, “I can take responsibility for every word I say, I appreciate your kindness.” After saying this, he paused for two seconds, then looked at the Colonel and said, “Rabbit, don’t be fooled by those people…” He pointed at the members of Corpse Blades and smiled, “I… am ten times stronger than they describe…” A sinister smile suddenly appeared on his face.

“Heh… haha… hahahaha…” The Colonel also laughed, from a chuckle to a burst of laughter. He laughed for a full half a minute before slowly stopping, then said, “Heh heh… interesting, very interesting!” He adjusted the beret on his head. “Then can I ask… since you’ve become this strong, or rather… this confident… why didn’t you wait for us here alone?”

“Brother Feng… originally did intend to come here alone to fight.” Before Jue-ge could answer, Tu Aotian next to him spoke first, “It was I… who insisted on coming with him.”

“Oh?” Upon hearing this, the Colonel shifted his gaze to Tu Aotian’s face.

The eyes of the two (rabbit) met, like thunder striking the earth, a gleam of mutual appreciation and burgeoning passion erupted between the martial artists.

“It concerns the survival of the village…” Tu Aotian continued, “As the guardian of the village, how can I allow Brother Feng and the others, outsiders, to help me defend our home, while I myself hide in the village and cower?”

His words made sense. Whether for emotional reasons or for the self-respect of a martial artist, he had to be present for this battle.

“Hmph… guardian, eh…” The Colonel snorted coldly, “Truly remarkable…” As he said this, he secretly amplified his Dou Qi (battle aura), “To be able to say such words at such a young age… heh heh…”

At this time, Tu Aotian remained silent, his eyes locked on the opponent. The surging killing intent of the other party also stirred up his Dou Qi.

“And someone like me, a weakling…” As the Colonel’s next words arrived, his figure instantly appeared behind Tu Aotian, “is destined to only be a ‘plunderer’…”

In that instant, Tu Aotian’s expression drastically changed. His strength was not weak, really not weak… so he could sense that the Colonel was already behind him.

But his strength was indeed not strong enough… even though he had guessed that the other party would launch a surprise attack, his body couldn’t keep up with the Colonel’s speed.

Chi——

The Colonel used his hand as a blade, stabbing towards Tu Aotian’s back.

He was not only astonishingly fast, but also silent when he attacked…

What did you say? Since it was silent, why was there a “chi” sound?

That was naturally because… the sound didn’t come from the Colonel’s hand.

“You!” A second later, the Colonel couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

Accompanied by the sound of air being pierced, Feng Bujue’s Lingxi Yizhi (Numinous犀指 One Finger) instantly arrived, accurately clamping the Colonel’s thrusting hand blade, preventing the latter from advancing an inch.

At this time, Tu Aotian also reacted, leaping swiftly to the side, looking at the two not far away with a pale face.

“You… you actually…” Judging from the Colonel’s expression and tone when he said these words, it was the first time he had encountered such a thing, “You can actually use two fingers to catch my ‘Long-Haired Silent Fist’!”

“Hmph… what’s so strange about a ‘weakling’s’ fist being caught?” Feng Bujue used the other party’s words to mock him in return, then immediately launched an attack.

A [Brat’s Low Sweep Kick] unexpectedly swept towards the Colonel’s lower body.

For martial artists of the Long-Haired Six Sky Lords level, the “low sweep kick” technique… strictly speaking, couldn’t even be considered a technique. Even if they didn’t deliberately dodge, as long as their lower body was stable enough, what could happen from enduring a single kick?

But Feng Bujue’s low sweep kick wasn’t an ordinary low sweep kick, it was a Brat’s Low Sweep Kick… [Ignoring special skill levels, 100% chance to trip any monster that can theoretically fall, and enrage the opponent to attack you] This effect was simply a law of causality weapon.

As long as you couldn’t dodge it, even God would be tripped.

“Ah—ya—”

Sure enough, after Jue-ge kicked, the Colonel was astonished. Because his hand was still being clamped, he couldn’t retreat. Moreover, he didn’t think that being kicked in the lower body by a low sweep kick would cause much damage. So… he tightened his leg muscles and endured the blow.

It wouldn’t have mattered if he hadn’t endured it, but once he did… he fell down.

The three players of Corpse Blades, as well as Ma Mahu and Didiwei, the other two Sky Lord NPCs… all watched the Colonel’s slow-motion fall with incredible shock.

They couldn’t understand why the Colonel would be tripped by a kick that even a child could execute, and why he fell so meticulously and perfectly… as if he was faking it.

“Hmm… it’s been a long time since I used this combo to kill someone…” Seeing that the “trip” had become a reality, Feng Bujue immediately released his fingers, took out the [Must Break Defense Blade] from his bag, and slashed down at the Colonel’s neck.

The whole process… was too fast to follow. In an instant, he had already raised the knife and brought it down.

As the Colonel’s body fell to the ground, the back of his neck had already been severed by the kitchen knife. Lying on the ground… was clearly a corpse.

“Hey… that’s impossible… the Colonel… that Colonel who never used a second move to kill anyone…”

“Lord Yanshou Xingjun (Longevity Star Lord) was actually so easily…”

“Uh… ah—”

The lackeys in the distance immediately fell into panic after seeing the situation here, nearly turning around and running away.

The three members of Corpse Blades Second Team and the other two Sky Lords also had solemn expressions at this time. A chill was slowly rising in their hearts…

“Alright, the warm-up ends here.” Feng Bujue raised the kitchen knife, put on a fanatical expression, licked the blood on the handle, and looked at the remaining opponents with a grinning smile, “…if this can even be considered a warm-up.”

“Is this guy really a reasoning novelist? Why does he look like a perverted killer…”

“No, no, no… this must be an act, using a crazy performance to disrupt the opponent’s mind.”

“An act? Is that necessary… he can even instantly kill that kind of Boss-level NPC, is there any need to use psychological warfare?”

“Maybe… he does this out of… uh… interest?”

At this moment, the viewers watching the livestream were all passionately discussing Jue-ge’s behavior. Among them were some members of professional teams who had already finished the first round of the rematch, and they were also paying attention to this crucial battle…

“Sigh…” After a moment of silence, the oldest Rabbit Star Lord present, Yisuan Xingjun (Calculating Star Lord) Ma Mahu, sighed and stepped forward, saying, “I thought… the only opponents in this world who could make me serious were the legendary Duanmao Shenquan (Short-Haired Divine Fist) Quan Zong (Fist Ancestor) Tu Fage (Rabbit Fa-Ge), and… our Six Sky Lords’ leader… Shangsheng Xingjun (Ascending Star Lord) Kailuote (Carrot)…” As he spoke, he slowly walked to Jue-ge’s front with faltering steps, “It seems… today, one more name will be added to that list.”
Hu Die Lan