Chapter 1774 Encirclement

The cannon fire began to rumble at a steady pace.

Su Mucheng hadn't fully opened her field of vision, but she was already, as before, using the splash damage effect of the Gunner's attacks to inflict area damage behind the stalactites. The Electronic Eye skill had also finished cooling down at this time, and was released again to extend the field of vision to the other end.

Step by step, steadily and surely. Su Mucheng was not eager for quick success at all. Her attacks weren't particularly dense either. Instead, she used more normal attacks. Normal attacks didn't consume mana, and although their power was small, they had the characteristics of a Gunner's area damage. At this moment, she wasn't completely sure of Yunshan Luan's position. These attacks were just a way of feeling him out. If she could hurt Yunshan Luan, then she would damage him incidentally. If not, then she would at least scare him.

Lu Boyuan really felt the pressure. He had thought of all sorts of possibilities for Su Mucheng's pursuit, but he never expected that the other party would fight so unhurriedly.

Shells landed around Yunshan Luan, some far and some near. Obviously, the other party wasn't sure of his exact location. However, this time, Lu Boyuan was also unclear about Mu Yu Chengfeng's precise position. Even though he had turned his perspective at the last moment when Yunshan Luan rushed into the stalactites to make a final confirmation, some time had passed since that moment. Su Mucheng's attack was so unhurried that it disrupted Lu Boyuan's judgment. He couldn't determine Mu Yu Chengfeng's position at this time.

As a result, he had no way of judging the distance between them, no way of knowing if letting Yunshan Luan rush out at this moment would give him a chance, and no way of knowing how much the stalactites were blocking Su Mucheng's view.

So all that was left for him was pressure.

The cannon fire continued to boom.

Lu Boyuan didn't forget that Su Mucheng also had the Electronic Eye skill. The Electronic Eye didn't need to get close to him. As long as it turned its perspective towards this side from a distance, Su Mucheng's next offensive would be clearer. The current, unhurried bombardment was clearly a probing tactic.

He couldn't let this stalemate continue. He had to take action. Advance or retreat? He had to make a decision.

Lu Boyuan observed the terrain.

The terrain was far from ideal. The stalactites he could use to transition to a different direction were all quite far away. This third escape route he had found in haste was indeed not perfect. Could it be… that Su Mucheng had deliberately let him come here, and she had seen through that this escape route was a dead end?

No, it couldn't be said to be a dead end either.

Lu Boyuan was, after all, familiar with the map. When he had scanned this stalactite, he immediately knew in his heart the transition that could be launched from here. But now…

Lu Boyuan turned his view. The most appropriate transition direction in his mind would expose him to Mu Yu Chengfeng's cannon fire.

This retreat wasn't a dead end originally, but after Yunshan Luan stepped onto it, Su Mucheng sealed off the exit, turning it into a dead end. He had completely fallen into Su Mucheng's control, which was why she was so calm and unhurried.

Alright!

Since that was the case, he had no hesitation. With no way to retreat, he could only charge forward.

Faced with such a predicament, Lu Boyuan was not discouraged. On the contrary, because there was no way to go, he strengthened his resolve: since there was no way to go, then he would meet the challenge head-on and fight a bloody path out.

Following this, Yunshan Luan turned to the other end of the stalactite and suddenly stuck out half his body.

He saw Mu Yu Chengfeng, he saw the Electronic Eye, and Su Mucheng reacted quickly, immediately aiming the cannon at this end and firing. Lu Boyuan immediately pulled back Yunshan Luan's body, but the explosion landed right next to him, and the impact of the area damage came, causing Yunshan Luan to roll on the spot to absorb the impact. Then, as soon as he got up again, he poked out his body to the other side.

Left or right?

The choice Su Mucheng had to face at this time was that simple. So Lu Boyuan had Yunshan Luan probe to the left, pulling her attention slightly to this side, and then immediately rushed out from the right. All he could fight for was this tiny bit of space.

The last chance!

Lu Boyuan was very clear. Yunshan Luan, who had rushed out, moved swiftly, rushing straight towards Mu Yu Chengfeng.

Boom!

The muzzle spat fire. While firing at this end, Mu Yu Chengfeng jumped back, using the recoil of the cannon fire to drift backwards. Su Mucheng wouldn't do fixed-point shooting at this time. With such a forced attack, it was extremely necessary to retreat appropriately to maintain the space for attack.

The firelight and smoke of the explosion fell to Yunshan Luan's feet. He dodged, he charged. He had no other choice. The only way forward was this one. Get closer, constantly get closer. As long as he could get closer, even if he had one breath left, there would still be a chance for him.

One advances, one retreats.

The two began to chase. The distance was gradually shrinking, but Yunshan Luan's life was also constantly decreasing. From 42 percent, to 35 percent, 30 percent, 20 percent…

He could catch up!

Lu Boyuan was overjoyed. The consumption he had calculated was enough to support him in completely breaking through to Mu Yu Chengfeng. This was the little bit of space he had fought for at the beginning. It was because of this little bit of space that Lu Boyuan could feel that Su Mucheng's offensive wasn't perfectly established, that there was a bit of awkwardness in the rhythm, and that the distance wasn't her most perfect firepower line distance. The compression and lockdown were far less tight than the previous wave.

He could! He could completely do it! He had to seize this opportunity firmly this time. It didn't matter if he didn't have much life left. Even if he had 10 percent left, it was enough. He would never let Mu Yu Chengfeng escape from Yunshan Luan's hands again.

Five steps! There were still five steps left!

This step would be a breakthrough step. Within five steps, the gaps in the Gunner's attack rhythm would become loopholes. Su Mucheng might be able to shorten this distance to four or three steps with her superior experience and awareness, but in any case, after taking this step, the threat of the Gunner would be greatly reduced, and it would be his turn to take control of the situation!

Lu Boyuan stared intently at Mu Yu Chengfeng in front of him, not allowing himself to be even half careless. As a result, he saw Mu Yu Chengfeng suddenly put away her hand cannon, and in her hand was a rifle.

Changing guns?

Lu Boyuan's heart tightened. Changing guns, or changing weapons, could have many subtle effects in actual combat. One of them was to add an extra skill to the character, a skill crafted onto the weapon.

If Su Mucheng suddenly switched Mu Yu Chengfeng's gun at this time in order to increase her attack speed, that was possible. But a Gunner who didn't use a hand cannon would have a decrease in weapon power and would lose the blessing of the class skill "Heavy Firepower Control," and the power of all skills would also decrease across the board. This kind of ebb and flow change didn't seem enough to regain control of the situation at the moment. What's more, Mu Yu Chengfeng had switched to a rifle, and her attack speed was only slightly better than a hand cannon.

So… it was very likely a skill that would play a turning role at this time. What could it be?

Without having to think about the weapon skills of the unspecialized class and think of 24 class skill trees all at once, he only needed to think about the four class skill trees of the Gunner for Mu Yu Chengfeng. Even so, several answers flashed through his mind in an instant. Lu Boyuan could only pay attention to one as soon as he thought of it. As a result, at this time, the rifle clicked, as if something had been activated.

What was it?

Lu Boyuan widened his eyes, and then he saw that at Mu Yu Chengfeng's feet, something pierced into the ground and rose up. It was actually the Stabilized Stance again.

How could it be?

It wasn't just Lu Boyuan who was surprised. Stabilized Stance had just been used not long ago. The cooldown for this level 75 ultimate skill couldn't be so fast. This wasn't like crafting a Stabilized Stance on another weapon and then recovering it by switching weapons. The skill scroll used to craft a skill that was already mastered on a weapon didn't mean that the character had two of that skill, but only increased the skill's level by one.

There was absolutely no way it could be Stabilized Stance. There was no way to remove its cooldown like that!

Eh? Remove cooldown?

Suddenly, it dawned on him.

The skill crafted on the rifle was undoubtedly the Sharpshooter's skill: Double Control, a skill that could clear the cooldown of a selected skill immediately. The one Su Mucheng had chosen was Stabilized Stance.

To think she would do this…

Lu Boyuan revealed a wry smile. He never expected Su Mucheng to pull such a move in the end. In this case, he was destined to lose.

The grappling judgment of a Grappler was strong, but there were also existences that could not be grabbed. For example, the Summoner's summoned beast, the Demon World Flower, was rooted to the ground and could not be moved. A Grappler's grappling skill could only create attack damage to it, but could not produce a grabbing effect. In short, for targets that could not be moved, grappling skills would be directly converted into damage, but would not produce a grabbing effect.

A Gunner under Stabilized Stance was undoubtedly an immobile target.

The grabbing effect could not take effect. Even if it could create damage, it could not control Mu Yu Chengfeng's attack. Stabilized Stance granted the character an increase in attack and defense, as well as a super armor state. No attack could interrupt the Gunner's bombardment in Stabilized Stance. Even at zero distance, with attacks that could not be interrupted, the Gunner was enough to eliminate the target in front of her, even if it would cost her a certain amount of life.

Boom!

In the end, under the convergence of a Satellite Beam, Yunshan Luan fell. Yunshan Luan's life forced Lu Boyuan to no longer be able to retreat. At the last moment, he could only desperately inflict damage on Mu Yu Chengfeng in Stabilized Stance. In the end, when he fell, he finally took away 28 percent of Mu Yu Chengfeng's life. However, when grappling skills could not produce a grabbing effect and only dealt damage one grab at a time, the output was quite fast and amazing. Fortunately, Yunshan Luan's life was indeed not much left, otherwise, if he had supported a few more times and collapsed the Stabilized Stance, the outcome might have been rewritten.

In the end, the third match was won by Su Mucheng of Happy. Mu Yu Chengfeng had 59 percent of her life remaining, giving her a significant advantage. This match could be said to be the one with the most obvious advantage and disadvantage since the start of the individual competition. Even in Jiang Botao's match against Mo Fan, Mo Fan's fierce attack launched during Jiang Botao's skill cooldown had made Jiang Botao extremely passive. In this round, even though Lu Boyuan had taken down 28 percent of Mu Yu Chengfeng's life at the last moment, which was more efficient than Mu Yu Chengfeng's output to him in the same stage, it could not change the fact that he had been in a passive state for most of the match. From the initial successful calculation against Su Mucheng to being shaken off, the match was entirely under Su Mucheng's control. This victory was well-deserved.

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The third update is here!