At their realm, Bobo would truly be too naive if he believed that his defeat was just a fluke. He hadn't even managed to force Wang Zhong into a corner. As he was receiving treatment, Bobo was, in fact, pondering over this matter. Despite his pride and arrogance, he wasn't an impulsive person; furthermore, he still had Alasi, who was the one that had control over the entire situation of this match.
"Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, it's now 11 am Federation time! The 5th match of the CHF's round of 16, the group battle between Tianjing and Torres is about to start! I'm your host, Ruo Zhi!"
The resting time for both squadrons was almost up. Coupled with Ruo Zhi's announcement, countless eyes immediately converged on the stage, while thunderous cheers rang out in response. Although the earlier duels were spectacular, the winners would become kings, while the losers will be reduced to bandits. This group battle was the deciding factor.
"I'm your host, Chen Yu'er. With the match headed into the group battle phase, I believe that everyone is impatiently waiting to see the best both sides can offer! The group battle is the most comprehensive way to test the squadron's overall combat prowess!"
With a smile, Ruo Zhi said. "On Skylink, the number of people viewing this match has already broken 15 million, setting a new record! As for popularity figures, both Tianjing and Torres are still evenly matched!"
Admittedly, there were lots of Tianjing supporters, while there were also quite a number of Torres supporters. After all, they were an experienced aristocratic families within the Federation. Furthermore, they weren't on the decline like Bella Dean, nor were they overbearing like the Zhao Family. Torres' fame and reputation were still extremely high in the hearts of the Federation citizens. At this crucial moment, the supporters for both squadrons were putting a lot of effort into their cheers and supporting chants.
Both squadrons walked out from their respective resting rooms.
Although they had lost 2:3 in the duelling phase of this match, all of the Torres squadron members have already regained their self-confidence and calm-headedness. This was a mindset expected from a powerhouse squadron.
A genuine expert needed to learn how to break out of adversity; it was impossible for those who have never experienced it to become experts.
"The 5 man group from Torres have appeared. This is a rather interesting formation." In the first instant, Ruo Zhi had already noticed the problem in that formation. "Their 2 mainstay assassins, including Caliban Crowe, who had obtained a crucial victory in his duel, are not present in this lineup!"
"Captain Alasi, Vice-captain Bobo, mainstay soldier Cabel. The other 2 people are unexpectedly their substitute ranged soldiers! Are they prepared to use the 3-ranged tactic?" Chen Yu'er exclaimed with a dumbfounded look on her face.
By her side, Ruo Zhi could not help but to nod his head in agreement. "Frankly speaking, this tactics is spot on! It's a counter to Tianjing! From the previous matches, I can already feel that Tianjing's defensive capabilities are as tough as nails! However, what about their direct offensive capabilities?"
In the current situation, with Grai not being able to return in time to participate in this group battle, there was no one in Tianjing other than Wang Zhong who possessed any powerful offensive capabilities.
Barran? It was definitely impossible for him, as group battle offensives were clearly not the style for heavy soldier types like him. Emily? She was still far from ready!
Scarlet, an intelligent ranged soldier. Evidently, she was also inadequate.
As for the others, they were basically useless!
"It's really a pity that Grai's unable to return to this match." Ruo Zhi said as he read the information he held in his hand. "Compared to Torres's strange formation of 3 ranged soldiers, Tianjing's formation clearly is more conservative. Every one of their 4 main lineups, Wang Zhong, Barran, Scarlet, Emily is present, with their missing slot being filled by Tianjing Academy's third year student, Lily. Like Barran, she's wielding a heavy shield for this battle. Their combat strategy is already clear for all to see, and they too have noticed the problem. They had responded by sending up their substitute heavy soldier to increase the defensive capabilities. However, in such a match, will Tianjing's substitute, Lily, really be able to shoulder this responsibility?"
Tianjing's greatest problem was that their substitutes' standard was much lower as compared to their main lineup. Basically, they would be useless even if they were sent up on stage.
However, that wasn't the issue, and no one was really paying much attention to Ruo Zhi's analysis. Everyone's eyes were focused on the cross wheels in Wang Zhong's hands.
Without any warning, all the people in the arena erupted into madness. As for Skylink, it had exploded with the number of shouts and cheers ringing out. The level of liveliness had reached an unimaginable level, with the viewership count actually rising by over 200,000!
That's right, that was the charm of the Laforgue Infinite Slash Cross Wheels!
It was a feeling of worship, the Federation's worship of heroes, as well as the legendary Laforgue, who had used his cross wheels to create one miracle after another. However, ever since Laforgue's demise, there was no other cross wheel users. It was clearly one of the 10 Great Divine Weapons, yet it had been considered by countless Federation citizens to be a useless weapon. That had created too many topics of discussion during Wang Zhong's initial rise to stardom.
"The second coming of Laforgue!"
"It's clearly the first coming of the King, okay! Although senior Laforgue's very awesome, he's a maverick! He's definitely not as all-rounded as Wang Zhong!"
"I declare that Torres can just surrender! So what if they have 3 ranged soldiers! Even when added together, they can't be more formidable than Wang Zhong's cross wheels!"
The Skylink and arena were reeling with cheers and shouts of joy. However, the Tianjing squadron didn't have any good expressions, as their opponent's formation was completely different from what they had predicted. This time, even the theoretical genius Wang Zhong had miscalculated.
Perhaps, this wasn't a miscalculation, as Tianjing truly had too few strategies that were still viable. Furthermore, their opponents could counter them from a wide variety of angles. With the diversity and strength of their opponent's lineup, this group battle had now become the biggest hurdle for Tianjing.
"Those group of fellows from Torres really are keeping their cool." Gui Hao finally managed to show a smile. Seeing the formation from both sides, he could finally feel some relief.
No matter how cool Wang Zhong's cross wheels were, Gui Hao was too lazy to voice it out. However, he was definitely able to confirm the range of those cross wheels was shorter than the attack range of Torres' 3 ranged soldiers!
Of the 3 ranged soldiers from Torres, there was no need to talk about Alasi. The Mogren's Guns were well known for their outstanding range. As for the other 2, one was a cannon user, while the other used a high calibre sniper!
There was no need to talk about the superiority in firepower. Just these pair of ranged soldiers would far outclass the firepower Wang Zhong's cross wheels and Scarlet's dual pistols could provide!
Giving up on their mainstay assassins to increase their ranged firepower. Torres was clearly bullying Tianjing for their lack of a genuine defensive-type heavy soldier or long-ranged soldier. Being an S rank aristocratic family squadron, it was unexpected for them to choose a formation focused on defence and counter-attacking, just to deal with Tianjing's commoner lineup. Nevertheless, only the winner had the qualifications to judge others. If they lost, they would not even have the qualifications to criticise Tianjing.
"If Tianjing wants to win, Wang Zhong cannot focus his energy on defence. He needs to attack. Look at Barran and that substitute heavy soldier. If they're unable to defend against Torres's firepower…"
"Haha. If they aren't able to handle it, we'll wait and see how All Mouthy King settles a 1 VS 5." said Gui Hao with a smile. "I believe that it will be a spectacular show!"
This was obviously an ironic remark..
1 VS 5? Faced against Bobo and his Golden Trident, Alasi and his Mogren's Guns, as well as the support of 3 other squadron members? No one could face off these 5 people by themselves! At the very least, no one in the CHF could do it, and All Mouthy King was no exception.
The members of both squadrons went to their allocated positions 100 metres apart on the stage, signalling the start of the group battle.