After Liu Zilang successfully eliminated team Vitality with the use of a decoy, there was a change in the way the live Western audience viewed at him; it was as though they had seen a ghost.
Naturally, this also included those on the live commentary.
Most of the people there thought that Liu Zilang was fooling around when he swapped his perfectly serviceable gun for a frag grenade.
When he calculated his throwing arc so that the blast would send its victim sitting on his butt under the tree, the live audience thought that he was a trickster.
However, after that round of exchanging fire, everyone was suddenly aware that whatever he did earlier was no prank, but a carefully calculated plan from the start!
That was too f*cking scary!
At this point, no longer was Liu Zilang regarded as someone who was struggling to stay relevant as the sole survivor of his team.
The things that he could pull off…seemed limitless.
…
Time continued to pass in the tournament.
Underhood from South America, and Navi from the Commonwealth of Independent States, had been engaged for a fairly long time. They had knocked out their fair share of opponents, though those were revived in time by their teammates.
Miraculously, there were zero deaths on both sides.
By the next circle refresh, the two teams resolutely laid down a smokescreen and parted ways to move into the play area.
If Mfreeca and Vitality, who were attracted by their gunfight and was killed off by Liu Zilang as a result, had known the resolution of this encounter, they might have spat blood out of anger!
At the same time, team C9, who had paid the price in the form of a teammate when they were forced to stop in their tracks, had eliminated their assailants, Korean team ACE.
After catching a breath, they saw the stream of kill notifications by Liu Zilang on their screens.
Suddenly, they felt a wave of terror.
Even Shroud, the “Demon King”, was not sure what the outcome would be if they had encountered Liu Zilang at the bridge earlier…
The next white circle veered slightly to the east, though Liu Zilang was relatively close to the play area, and therefore did not need to hike a long distance.
On the Hua Xia commentary platform, Su Changming and the others were analyzing Liu Zilang’s potential strategies.
“We’re now at the fourth last circle of the match. 7 teams remain, totaling 21 players.”
“That’s right. Compared to the last match, the number of players has been decreasing at a speedy rate. The Sosnovka circle was too deadly.”
“Heheh. I think the deadlier thing was 4AM’s antics on the west bridge. Five teams attempted to cross, and none of them survived.”
“Come to think of it, Liquid was partly to blame.”
“Indeed. Other teams were imitating their ‘smoke corridor’. Unexpectedly, that reduced them to roadkill, and in the end, the survivors had to jump into the sea.”
“Anyway, back to the present. I think the lone wolf Vic doesn’t need to be too hasty in entering the play area.”
“I agree. In his earlier position, C9, Underhood, and Navi would have passed that road from the right. If he was moving solely on his pair of legs, he would have been easily discovered along the way. Discounting the advantage the opponents have on cars, it would be rather difficult for him to face entire teams of opponents.”
However, what followed was out of everyone’s expectations.
He did not enter the white circle immediately, nor did he stay put in his current location.
Instead, he slowly crept like a cat around the boundary of the play area.
What the hell was that?
Observing from the sidelines?
For the next moment, the three people on the commentary platform could only look at each other dumbfoundedly and had nothing to say.
What was there to analyze!
The three commentators swallowed their pride, and each resolved to not speculate further on Liu Zilang’s potential moving patterns.
Every unexpected move by Liu Zilang felt like a slap on their faces!
At the same time, the other teams started to make their move into the play area.
In a professional tournament like this, the teams would not be blindly moving around in the fourth last circle.
The play area at this point was very small, with a diameter of about a thousand meters. It was all too easy to bump into an enemy.
Most of the teams gambled their luck with a 3-1 or 2-2 split formation.
If the circle refreshed on either group, they can provide cover to the other group with their geographical advantage.
However, if neither of them were in the play area…
They would have to curse their bad luck and leave everything to fate.
For example, team Faze in their current situation.
Even though they were a European team that shared an equal ranking with Liquid, there were not many camera scenes centered on them this match.
This might be because they were keeping a very low profile in this match.
It might be their strategy or their tactics, though one thing they were not willing to admit was that they did not want to die an untimely death again to the mysterious three-wheeled motorcycle that fell from the sky…
In a 2-2 split formation, the players in team Faze had realized that neither group was in the play area, and started to curse at the system.
Despite their curses, they still had to outrun the blue circle.
The four players of Faze converged onto a point and changed into a tight formation, and slowly moved toward the play area.
Little did they expect, not too far away, there was a man in a ghillie suit and armed with an AWM, lying prone under the shade of a tree observing them.
Even more unexpectedly, in the direction they were moving, the three remaining players of SKK were patrolling within their domain.
“Faze is moving blindly, and it isn’t paying off for them! SKK so happens to be blocking their path to the play area.”
“That’s true. However, SKK’s attention is now focused on team Savage, who is at their front right. They did not notice that a full squad of four players is sneaking toward them.”
“Eh? In that case, do you think Faze and Savage could perform a joint pincer attack and take out SKK?”
In the tournament screen, Satan of SKK was seen seizing the opportunity and, with his Kar98K, performed a preemptive strike on a player from Savage who was squatting on the ground, moving up and down while consuming an energy drink.
The tactics of SKK had always been to keep a low profile, but once brought into a fight, strike like stormy waves crashing onto the shore.
Wave after relentless wave, until the opponent was battered to pieces.
After Satan had knocked out an opponent, they were planning to push closer on their vehicle.
However, Faze had arrived from the back and attempted a sneak attack on them.
SKK’s reaction was extraordinarily fast.
On the jeep, Karl and Vivian immediately pulled the brakes on the car, and in a split second dismounted from their jeep.
Satan was even faster in his reaction.
Without anyone providing cover for him, he aimed his gun toward the wheels of the jeep. In a short while, the jeep exploded, and an “artificial cover” was formed.
At this time, hearing the gun sounds in front of him, Liu Zilang crawled with his body flat on the ground and snuck toward Faze’s rear.
…