"Hehe, Brother Porten, Flash is a very talented student. He ought to be one of your most competent commanders, don't you think? "
"Brother Shiming, you have a soft spot for talents, which I understand. But look at him! There would be plenty of commanders like him, so no sense in putting all your eggs in one basket. I have heard that he needed a lot of money for the treatment of his sick mother. It's going to cost you a fortune, you know. You even allowed his game to disturb your critical close-door cultivation and troubled yourself to watch his game. But look what you got—a failure."
Li Shiming remained calm, "Brother Porten, it's not a distraction. I need to take a break too."
"Haha, I know what you are worried about, but fret not! I wager that even if Wang Tong were able to enter the final, he wouldn't be able to take home the title of Champion." Porten said with conviction.
Porten believed that he could alter anything he wanted to as long as he had enough power. It was part of the reason why he was so obsessed with power.
Li Shiming nodded, his face calm as usual. He believed that Flash would not disappoint him.
The second round began. The heat of the battle cranked up, but the two players became calmer, as they both understood that passion should be reserved for another time, and only being methodical and calm would lead them to their victory.
The two players started the game with the same opening tactic as last round; Wang Tong started to build up his defense lines while Flash steadily increased the rank of his force.
It took mettle and confidence for Flash to repeat the same tactic that had failed once.
Did he do it because he didn't know any other opening tactic? Or was it because he thought his opponent's last victory was merely a fluke?
The answer would only be revealed after the battle had concluded.
Flash was clam as he carried out his strategy, while Wang Tong's scout kept a tap on his every move.
The game seemed like a review of the last one till the mid-stage, when Flash had gathered a considerable force and was ready to strike a blow at Wang Tong's new base.
Everyone wagered that the pressure on Flash ought to be immense, since he had led the same invading army against the same defense force under the lingering despair of his last defeat.
Kal was one of the audience members who had become worried for Flash. He and Flash had prepared more than one opening strategy before the match, and he wondered what had made Flash hesitate in deploying the other strategies.
Bisu's face held a gloomy expression. He knew that should Flash fail this round, he would be pressed against by an even greater pressure.
Zhang Jin curled herself up into a ball under the blanket and watched the match with great interest. "Marvelous..." She murmured to herself as she admired Flash's incredible battle awareness.
Flash was a real genius in fleet battle, even though he never invented any new fighting styles as Karl did. His ability to discern the flow of the battle was what set him apart, and made him almost immune to any adverse effect of the opponent's strategies.
Despise crawled back onto Porten's face, but this time, he kept the complaining to himself. Nonetheless, he thought it was unwise for Flash to use the same tactic that had been proven a failure.
Meanwhile, a faint smile found the corner of Li Shiming's lips, as he had realized that he had discovered a real genius, since only a real genius would have the confidence to expose himself to so much risk.
The progression was the same as the last game: Flash led his army to Wang Tong's fresh-out-of-oven third base, threatening the existence of Wang Tong's economy.
However, Wang Tong was more prepared this time, as he had installed a few ambush units along the enemies' way, and also sent in his reinforcements ahead of time.
On the other hand, Flash had also beefed up the guard in his base, making sure that Wang Tong would not be able to drop another sneak attack on him.
Unable to find an opportunity to land a drop ship, Wang Tong decided to focus on the defense. Although Flash did not possess the unbelievable AMP like Wang Tong, he had superior control over the formation of his units to make up for his disadvantage.
Flash's strong suit, in addition to battle awareness, was in his flawless unit makeup and formation controls— skills that were unteachable at school.
Wang Tong's third base was in danger, and without landing a successful sneak attack at the enemy’s rear, Wang Tong felt hard-pressed to defend the waves of attacks.
Wang Tong's third base was gone in a few moments.
Although the beginning of the fight resembled that of the last one, the outcome was drastically different. Having his only economic node being destroyed, Wang Tong's hands were tied as he watched Flash quickly amass a large fleet and open the fourth base.
Flash didn't choose to wage a full-on war with Wang Tong right away, as he knew that the defense inside the remaining two bases was formidable. One mistake and he might quickly lose all the advantages he had built up to this point. Therefore, he decided to bide his time and wait just a bit longer.
Flash's expansion had inevitably put pressure on his opponent, tempting Wang Tong to come out of his turtle shell. Wang Tong held back his urge of rushing his remaining force out of the defensive line, since losing those remaining units meant he would have lost the match.
It was evident then that this match would not last until the late game.
Flash's forces patrolled around the resource nodes, making sure that Wang Tong would not have any chance of establishing another base, while the attack units kept on spilling out from all four of his headquarters.
Wang Tong finally conceded his defeat and typed in "gg."
The score evened at one to one.
Students at Capth boiled over, unable to contain their excitement. They had finally seen what they wanted to see, a perfect commander.
Flash's victory using the same strategy as the last game had undoubtedly eroded his opponent's confidence, as the message was clear, ‘You can turtle in all you want, but I could still whoop your ass until you submit.’
Flash had shown everyone the meaning of real confidence. Instead of losing faith in his ability after a devastating blow, he had remained adamant and eventually overcame his opponent like a real battle commander.
"What luck!" Porten pouted as a few words escaped her teeth.
"He had outshined his opponent in his ability to control the flow. He knew that he had lost the game in the middle stage of the first round, yet he didn't give up until late game. He did this to feed his opponent a taste of heroic victory, a lure if you will. He knew that the revenge would be ten times sweeter when it was done when the opponent was the least suspecting." Li Shiming said as he nodded in approval of Flash's ability.
Flash had countered Wang Tong's turtle strategy, and that meant Wang Tong would not be able to use the cheap strategy on Flash in the coming fights.
Flash had also proven that the acute sense of enemies' intention and battle awareness were deadlier than any fighting styles.
Zhang Jin watched the development curiously as she wondered what Wang Tong would do next.
Flash was a paragon of both confidence and skills; the earthlings were lucky to have gained such a genius.
As everyone became curious as to what Wang Tong would do next, they watched as Wang Tong's lips curled into a wicked smile.
Across the simulation room, Flash smiled back with a pair of knowing eyes.
The two's strange exchange of smiles had dumbfounded the audiences, as they found it hard pressed to come up with the meaning behind those smiles.
The third round started. The two fighters were all on their own since as the top fighters in the world, no one was able to offer them better advice on what they should do than themselves.
Wang Tong's supporters felt anxious, as they worried that pressure would bend Wang Tong's will and lead him to make mistakes. They also wondered what Wang Tong would do once his cheap turtle tactics had been countered.
The audiences boiled over at the sight of Wang Tong's opening formation. It was the Art of Soaring Heaven.
Some people's jaw almost dropped after seeing a player whose was best at defense deploy an aggression focused tactic. Some people marveled at Wang Tong's recklessness in braving the riskiest and the most challenging tactics in the world.
If Wang Tong wanted the element of surprise, he had already lost it a few minutes into the battle after Flash's scout had successfully sniffed out Wang Tong's intention for early aggression.
As Flash readied his anti-air units, Wang Tong's first assault ship sailed out of the starport.
Although Flash's defense mobilization and reconnaissance was impeccable, everyone was caught by surprise by what happened when Wang Tong's force charged into Flash base,