Chapter 261 - Easy Fight

"It's you controlling them!" Joker exclaimed in sudden realization.

In that moment, he noticed something subtle but crucial: faint, silver threads connecting Luo Qingxin and the others.

These threads were almost invisible in the darkness, but now that Joker had seen them, he could trace their source directly back to Fang Xiu.

Joker believed he had figured everything out: Fang Xiu, with his ability to foresee the future, had anticipated all of his moves. Then, by using these silver threads, he was controlling the three captains, making them fight like puppets on strings.

So, from the beginning, the three captains were just puppets, and Fang Xiu was the one truly fighting him.

A faint, almost imperceptible smirk curled at the corner of Joker’s mouth.

Now that he had uncovered Fang Xiu’s trick, everything seemed simple. All he had to do was sever those threads and break Fang Xiu’s control over the captains.

'A team’s external brain, huh? Heh... I'll just cut off the connection between the brain and the body,' Joker thought to himself.

Although defeating the three captains was beyond him, cutting the silver threads in the middle of a fight was well within his abilities.

Suddenly, he unleashed a blinding surge of lightning from his body, forcing the captains to retreat momentarily.

Without hesitation, he aimed an attack at the air behind them—right where the silver threads connected.

To him, these threads seemed fragile, incapable of withstanding his strike.

However, what Joker didn’t realize was that, as he launched his attack, all three captains exchanged cold smirks, though their voices rang out in anxious protest.

"Stop!"

"You won’t succeed!"

All three of them struck back in unison. Li Xiaoru’s general shot a flurry of arrows, Luo Qingxin unleashed a barrage of ice shards, and Xiong Tianguang sent forth a flying mantis, its scythe-like arms slicing through the air toward Joker.

Seeing their apparent desperation only solidified Joker’s belief that he was on the right track. He scoffed inwardly, determined to cut the silver threads even if it meant exhausting more of his clone’s power. Ignoring their attacks, he pressed forward.

Finally, after relentless effort, Joker succeeded. The silver threads were severed.

A moment later, Xiong Tianguang’s figure slowly faded away.

'An illusion!?' Joker immediately realized something was off, but it was already too late.

A massive purple mantis appeared out of thin air at his side, its scythe-like forelimbs slicing into his body with a brutal slash.

The strike hit its mark, instantly restricting Joker’s movements. Before he could react, Luo Qingxin and Li Xiaoru's attacks followed up seamlessly.

Ice rapidly encased his body, freezing him solid, while Li Xiaoru’s Heavenly Spear smashed through his head with brutal force.

BANG!

Joker’s body exploded into fragments, leaving behind nothing more than a tattered wooden puppet.

“It’s finally over. I didn’t expect a mere clone to be this difficult,” Xiong Tianguang said, appearing from the shadows nearby, a touch of amazement in his voice.

“Thankfully, Fang Xiu was using telepathy to secretly direct us the whole time. He even used the silver threads to mislead Joker. Without him, this fight would’ve been much harder to win so quickly,” Luo Qingxin said, her eyes reflecting a gleam of admiration as she glanced at Fang Xiu.

No matter how many times they fought under Fang Xiu’s guidance, the feeling of him having the future under control never ceased to amaze them.

The other captains nodded in agreement.

Li Xiaoru let out a hearty laugh, “I’ve never fought such an easy battle in my entire life. It’s like cheating on a test with all the answers in front of you—so satisfying!”

Telepathy was a new ability Fang Xiu had gained after breaking through to the third tier, because of Nightmare.

Nightmare had always been able to connect to dreams, and dreams were merely a manifestation of the mind. This ability allowed Fang Xiu to communicate directly with the captains, relaying precise instructions to them during the battle.

He had refrained from using this ability earlier to better deceive Ace of Heart and the others. But Joker was far more intelligent than Ace of Heart, so Fang Xiu had adjusted his strategy accordingly.

"Let’s go. We need to find Joker's true body," Fang Xiu said, standing up once again, ignoring the praise of his teammates.

The battle wouldn’t be truly over until they defeated Joker’s real body. That was the only way to secure victory in this war.

And after all, Joker wasn’t just any opponent—he was a fifth-tier powerhouse.