"Go now. I will be waiting for you on the final stage."
Karl gritted his teeth and started back to the simulation room with a newfound determination.
"Hehe, looks like your grandson is going to lose this round. The Kaedeian is way out of his league."
A throng of people crowded at the entrance to his grandmother's shop. Ever since the tournament started, this store had become the most frequented stop in the neighborhood.
"My grandson will win. He is a genius, just like his father!" Although the old lady could not grasp what was happening on the screen, she was convinced that her grandson would be victorious.
Her stubborn belief made the people shake their heads. The gap in the two players' power was substantial, and they felt pity for the old lady who had to suffer from her grandson's inevitable defeat.
The old lady didn't mind other's opinion. She knew that Karl would win eventually.
The third round started.
Karl had finally given up on the Art of Karl as everyone had expected. Two defeats in a row would be a costly enough lesson for Karl to relent his signature moves along with his pride eventually.
However, would Karl still be as powerful as he was without the Art of Karl?
Karl wagered that his change in the strategy ought to make others look down on him. But he didn't mind and thought that whoever laughed at him was simply too dumb to understand him.
"Karl's moves are getting more chaotic. He lined up some defense units and then started to chase the tech tree instead, and now, he is constructing a starport. I find it rather confusing. "
"Hehe, don't be so harsh on him. Don't forget that his opponent is Lola. "
"Touché. However, I do feel that the other three quarter-final matches were more entertaining to watch than this one. There is barely any surprise. "
Lola didn't choose to rush her opponent. She wagered that as long as she kept accumulating forces while bidding her time for the perfect moment to strike, she should be able to win this round with ease.
Karl went for a second base. To untrained eyes, this was almost a suicidal move because it stretched his already meager defense thinner while his opponent was lurking near his base, waiting for the perfect moment to lash out.
"No way!" Flash suddenly shouted out, disbelief shining in his eyes, "Is...Is this for real?"
Cao Yi clenched his fist. He had been practicing this new strategy with Karl for a while, but it would be the first time to be used outside of their training room.
"It looks like a knockoff version of the Kaedeian's TABT tactic."
"This is suicidal. Lola's anti-stealth technique was about to be completed at any time now."
While comments and snickers swelled in the arena, Karl had amassed a considerable forced and charged them out towards Lola's base. The backbone of the force was TABT stealth machine, an almost forgotten unit.
Lola would not let such a golden opportunity slip away as she had encircled Karl's force at the very middle of the map.
Needless to say that Lola had detected the TABT. However, she considered TABT the most useless units, since they could be easily detected with radar.
Karl was engrossed in his assault. Every time radar scanned an area; he would pull his forces back and move the TABT forward to cancel out the radar's detection. Then immediately, he would charge his army at the enemies, rinse and repeat. After a few rounds of going back and forth, audiences noticed something astonishing was happening: Lola's forces were almost gone.
Everyone was stunned by the turn of events: Karl had won the battle at the center of the map.
This was unbelievable! Once Karl had gained control over the entire middle section of the map, he exerted his force further into Lola's base. Without any defense, Lola's base was obliterated in mere seconds.
Karl had won a round!
E
ven when all odds were stacked against him, he managed to win a round back.
When Karl saw the "gg" on the screen, he howled in delight.
Everyone wondered if he had won because of the new battle tactics that Karl had invented or was the victory just a fluke.
The victory elated the audiences in Ayrlarng and Bernabeu. The previous two defeats had been unbearable to watch.
Karl's grandmother smiled nonchalantly and then announced to everyone, "Told you so."
Everyone was speechless at Karl's victory. They had never seen any battle tactic more interesting than Karl's.
Despite the chaotic execution, Karl had won a round and regained some confidence.
"This lad is extremely lucky!"
"Indeed he was, or maybe Lola had lowered her guard after leading the game with two points."
"Perhaps she felt it was more in line with the Kaedeian's humble philosophy to hold back her power and allow Karl to take a brief respite."
However, Wang Tong, Flash, and Bisu realized that Karl's victory had more to do with his new battle tactics than luck.
The fourth round was about to start, and this round would be able to put the arguments between the two school of thoughts to rest.
With the sudden turn of events, the audiences watched the game with a newfound eagerness.
Karl's eyes glinted. He had relented the thoughts of fame and victory to focus solely on the battle at hand; he had finally entered the Karl mod.
"Battle start!"
Lola had deployed her signature strategy, while Karl had surprisingly used the most common two bases opening tactic. To defend against early aggression, a stout defense was necessary for the two-base tactic. However, its focus on defense would give the opponent an opportunity to take control of the map during the process, and thereby, giving the opponent more options during the late game.
Lola knew that once she had fended off the main wave of the attack coming out from the two bases, she would be able to defeat the opponent with ease. GoRush was an expert at the traditional two-base tactic, and he found many rough edges in Karl's execution.
As everyone was wondering if Karl would deploy the TABT tactic again, they watched as Lola completed the upgrade of her radar facility. She had a sneaking suspicion that Karl was going to use the TABT strategy and therefore, she had played much more conservatively to avoid repeating her mistake.
She didn't have to wait long until her suspicion was confirmed after her scout noticed that Wang Tong had started to amass TABT units. However, unlike last round, Lola was well prepared, as she had produced a large group of anti-stealth units.
Karl didn't mind his opponent's countermeasure and continued to deepen the rank of his stealth units.
After much waiting, he finally found the right moment to attack as he charged his units into his opponent's rank. Lola had already positioned her units and covered the entire area with upgraded radar; she was ready for the battle.
Karl's fingers immediate gained speed as he started to control the TABT units while adjusting the charge formation. When a radar scan hit his stealth units, he would pull them back and fill the position with TABT to interrupt the radar signal before he let his stealth units loose again.
Although Karl didn't execute any extravagant moves, his strategy and tactics worked.
People watched in disbelief as they saw Lola's defense started to crumble.
The three hosts shouted out in surprise together.
Karl's forces rode over Lola's crumbled defense line into the main base, as reinforcements followed suit.
Despite the Kaedeian's last-ditch effort to save her base, she watched the base being burned down as she conceded her defeat.
Without waiting for an official surrender. Karl stood up from his chair to receive audiences' feverish applauds and cheers for his remarkable victory.
The game hosts were agitated as they found that they were on the brink of discovering yet another new fighting style invented by Karl. The marvelous new strategy hinged on the fact that the radar was not able to eliminate the stealth effect of the TABT unit. If the stealth unit was able to avoid the peak of the radar signal, the remaining radar signal was not able to provide a constant stable detection, and thereby, hindered the effectiveness of Lola's defense.
Karl pounded on his chest like an animal, and then let out a shout.
Karl was so passionate after his victory that he had affected everyone in the arena. Passion was unique to the earthlings, as it was different from the Kaedeian's indifference, or the Ivantian's aloofness.
A swell of cheers and excitement rose among the sizzling audiences.
If Karl had invented another unique tactic, he would become the most remarkable commander in human history.
Karl was particularly stubborn in embracing the spark of creativity, however absurd the idea was. Yet, it was the very stubbornness, which so many had laughed him for, that led him to his success today.
Right then, it was Lola's turn to become confused and unsure of what to do. She was convinced that she had executed every move with caution, and therefore, her unexpected defeat dumbfounded her.
People in the little grocery store also boiled over, cheering for Karl's victory.
They were convinced that the old lady's grandson was destined to become the greatest commander, like anyone who was able to invent two fighting styles.
In contrast to the excitement on everyone's face, the old lady held an indignant expression that read, "Told you so!"