Explosion!

"I'll see how awesome you really are..." Xiao He rolled up his sleeves, ready to go on stage, looking annoyed.

"Don't rush." At this moment, Xie Haining stopped him. "Let others go up and test him first. This guy's abilities are a bit strange. It's better to observe him further. I know you might be able to defeat him, but if you're exhausted, the next person to go up could turn the tables on you. Who knows if they have any secret weapons? It's best to be cautious."

After thinking about it, Xiao He felt that it made sense: after all, Shel Nash had been benched all this time, which showed that O Continent Team had a lot of confidence in him. And most importantly, he was arranged to be the second player to play, in other words, there was someone else after Nash.

It's quite possible that the person behind Nash is the secret weapon, and Nash just sent him out to wear him down.

"Then I'll go on," Li Zhengliang said, standing up. "I'm very versatile and can handle all kinds of situations."

"Yes, that's good." Cui Man nodded. "If we can take them down, we should, but we must play it safe. We must not take any risks. Even among LV5, the opponent is very famous; they are a strong fighter who survived from the veteran LV5s."

"Understood," Li Zhengliang replied, then stood up and walked towards the elevator.

"Candle Dragon, did you see anything?" Cui Man asked, turning to Xie Haining.

"That guy's bombs are a bit suspicious," Xie Haining replied. "Nash didn't do anything when the bombs exploded, so it shouldn't have been detonated by him; the bombs probably detonated automatically."

"Is that so?" Xiao He asked, somewhat surprised. Old Xie was truly observant; in just a short while, less than a minute in total, how could a normal person see so many details?

At this moment, Qin Weize also returned from the field.

"How are you? Are you badly injured?" Cui Man asked Qin Weize.

Qin Weize shook his head. "I used Omnidirectional Impact to offset some of the blast's power in the last explosion, so I wasn't seriously injured. It was mainly the earlier explosions that left me dizzy and disoriented..."

"Could it have detonated upon contact?" Cui Man asked Xie Haining. "The first explosion blasted the Horned Dragon into the second bomb, which then detonated it, followed by a series of explosions?"

But Xie Haining shook his head. "I don't think so... There were a few explosions earlier with some error, it's obvious that the Horned Dragon were detonated before they even entered the blast radius. I think he probably only has one type of bomb, a timed bomb. It's just that he can set the detonation delay arbitrarily, from 0 to 100."

"And the power of the explosion..." Qin Weize took the healing potion from Cui Man's hand. "He said he used an LV2 bomb, otherwise I would have been reduced to ashes long ago."

"Can the power be adjusted?" Xie Haining frowned and muttered to himself, "I have a strong feeling that this guy is a threat. If I don't deal with him, it will make me very uneasy. If Qilin can't handle him, then let me take over."

"Qilin... it should be fine, right?" Li Xue muttered to herself, looking at Li Zhengliang on the field with some worry.

"You two, already?" Yue Feng turned to Li Xue, then clenched his left fist and poked it inward with his right index finger.

"How vulgar!" An Xiuru kicked Yue Feng's leg and said irritably.

"What's wrong? Neither of you are married!" Li Xue rolled her eyes at him. "If you're not happy about it, go find someone yourself!"

Xiao He ignored the commotion and focused his attention on the match. Li Zhengliang was a well-rounded player, a rare all-rounder even at LV5, while Nash's abilities were more offensive, so dealing with him shouldn't be too difficult.

At this moment, the host announced the start of the competition, and Li Zhengliang got into position.

Xiao He noticed that Nash had already been walking around the court before the game was officially started.

"That guy, was he planting a bomb in advance? But..." Xiao He couldn't help but think of what Xie Haining had said about Nash being a time bomb: Could the detonation time have been pre-arranged? Impossible...

Li Zhengliang knew Nash's abilities, so he didn't choose to approach rashly. After all, Nash had been loitering around there, clearly indicating that he had already planted bombs beforehand. Therefore, a long-range attack was the safest option.

"Ha!" Li Zhengliang waved his hands a few times, then struck Nash with a palm, and the golden dragon pounced on Nash.

However, the golden dragon's landing point was actually slightly off; it deliberately didn't aim at Nash, but instead landed behind him.

"Trying to force me out of the minefield? You cunning old man..." Nash sneered, leaping forward and actually leaving his own minefield on his own, then circling around to Li Zhengliang's right.

Li Zhengliang, with his feet moving swiftly like the wind, charged towards Nash with his Wave-Treading Steps. But after only two steps forward, a powerful explosion erupted behind him, sending him flying. Then, explosions continued to erupt one after another on the court.

Li Zhengliang used a Cloud Ladder Step to escape the explosion, but another large burst of explosions and sparks erupted in the air immediately afterward.

At this moment, Xiao He noticed that the explosion range set by Nash this time was not completely accurate. It was clear that he had just randomly set up a large area of explosions in mid-air to force Li Zhengliang to fall to the ground.

Nash's goal was probably just to block Li Zhengliang's movement route in the air, since the range of movement in the air is too wide, and even he couldn't possibly calculate it that accurately.

However, Xiao He paid no attention to when the bombs were set or how they were triggered, as he was too busy checking the detonation points. There were too many factors to consider; Xiao He simply couldn't keep up. Only Xie Haining was able to notice those details.

"Sure enough, they're all timed explosions." Xie Haining frowned. "This guy must be really good at chess."

"No way?" Xiao He said incredulously, "How could that guy predict it so accurately?"

"It's very simple. He sets up the 'minefield' in advance, and then decides his action sequence based on the detonation time of the minefield. If there is a deviation, he will temporarily add a few fast-exploding bombs to make up for his error," Xie Haining explained. "As for the detonation points in the minefield, they are all set in advance in a specific order, just like predicting the opponent's moves in chess."

"Isn't this practically predicting the future?" Cui Man asked in astonishment. "Can it even predict that far ahead?"

"It's not that difficult," Xie Haining said, pointing to the screen. "See? That guy is constantly adding new detonation points to adjust the enemy's position. Once the enemy's position meets the conditions, he walks towards the minefield that's about to detonate."

"What a terrifying fellow..." Xiao He sighed, "Are there really humans with such brilliant minds?"

"It's just that you're imagining it to be difficult; it's not that hard to do. Look, he actually made a mistake too." Xie Haining pointed to the screen. At this moment, the minefield that had been set up earlier on the open ground to Nash's right rear began to detonate, but Li Zhengliang hadn't actually entered that minefield, obviously because the detonation time set by Nash had already expired.

"And look, he's constantly setting up new minefields during the operation," Xie Haining pointed out. "Pay attention to his hands; every time he raises his hand, he's probably setting up a new explosive point. This guy has a very clear mind."

Cui Man crossed her arms and frowned, saying, "It all boils down to one thing: 'Only Nash himself can see the bomb sites he set up.'"

Xie Haining rested her chin on her hand and pondered, "Or perhaps..."

"Or perhaps?" Han Tianyu asked curiously. Xie Haining continued, "He remembers the locations of all the detonation points he set?"

A moment of silence fell over the crowd. Nash had clearly set up at least thirty bomb sites; could he really accomplish this from memory alone?

"I can remember all his detonation points, but..." Xie Haining replied, "I spent half an hour memorizing them."

"So, Candle Dragon, can you handle him?" Cui Man pressed.

Xie Haining pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "It's quite troublesome. Even if I can remember his detonation points, it doesn't mean I can defeat him. I need more intelligence, especially crucial intelligence."

"Let's wait and see." Cui Man nodded and continued watching the game with everyone. But even Li Zhengliang was completely passive on the court, constantly being led by the nose by Nash, and had no chance to attack at all.

Although Li Zhengliang also has ranged attacks, they are far inferior to Nash's. The key difference is the distance between them. Nash always ensures that there is at least 30 meters between him and Li Zhengliang. At this distance, Nash can react to any attack, while Li Zhenliang is constantly wandering around the court, and you never know when he might step into a minefield.

The phrase "walking on thin ice" perfectly describes Li Zhengliang's situation on the field.

"What's wrong? If you don't attack, you'll never win, huh?" Nash scoffed, keeping his right hand raised as he circled around Li Zhengliang.

"Don't talk to me, I don't understand English." Li Zhengliang said breathlessly, secretly thinking: This guy is troublesome, I have to find a way to close the distance, otherwise I won't be able to win a decisive blow at this distance.

Thinking of this, Li Zhengliang took a deep breath to regulate his breathing, then assumed a horse stance, creating a Golden Bell Shield around him, and immediately charged towards Nash. It seemed he intended to withstand the impact of the explosion and charge head-on.

Nash also noticed this, and he began to adjust his position.

Xiao He discovered that what enabled Nash to use this tactic was the technique of teleporting through explosions.

Nash's instantaneous detonation techniques are primarily for movement. The explosive power isn't strong, but the shockwave allows Nash to move quickly. While it's not quite instantaneous teleportation, Nash always maintains a safe distance from his enemies, allowing him to consistently use minefields to buy himself time.

Li Zhengliang knew that he would inevitably encounter landmines on his way forward, but he couldn't attack them without getting close.

He had only taken a few steps when an explosion came from beside him, causing him to stagger back a couple of steps. However, his Golden Bell Shield blocked most of the damage, allowing him to avoid the epicenter of the explosion and further reduce the impact.

This also helped Li Zhengliang break the chain of events, giving him room to adjust his position. He began to carefully stay on the outer edge of the explosion, leaping and nimbly moving towards Nash. However, he also knew that a powerful explosion was bound to occur on the straight line between him and Nash, and he wouldn't be able to reach Nash without breaking through this barrier.

However, knowing the explosion point is on a straight line means there's a way to avoid it! Li Zhengliang thought to himself, using his Wave-Treading Steps) to run in a strange arc, preparing to circle around to Nash's side, but...

Li Zhengliang felt the scenery in his field of vision instantly distort, and then he realized that it wasn't the scenery that was distorted, but rather that he had been blown away, causing his field of vision to rotate. When he came to his senses, the ground was already almost touching his face.

Li Zhengliang gritted his teeth: How can we admit defeat like this!

He suddenly stretched out both palms and struck the ground, using the recoil to bounce up and adjust his posture.

"That area is dangerous, you know?" Nash smirked. "Didn't you notice I've been hanging around there the whole time?"

Li Zhengliang was stunned for a moment. The next moment, the explosions on the field crackled like firecrackers, and the flames and shockwaves from the explosions instantly engulfed Li Zhengliang's figure.

"Hmph, the fireworks were pretty good today too." Nash snapped his fingers and smiled slightly, a tiny spark bursting from his fingertips. But at that moment, Li Zhengliang suddenly rushed out of the explosion, his expression resolute.

"Charging straight at me, you've got guts..." Nash sneered, then detonated an explosion beneath his feet and retreated.

With a loud "boom," Li Zhengliang was caught in the explosion and flew out like a kite with a broken string, crashing to the ground. He tried to get up for a while, but Li Zhengliang eventually collapsed to the ground again.

"Alright, you've already tried your best," Cui Man said, pressing her earpiece. "Let's get off the court; there are still other matches to play."

Nash chuckled and stared again at the drone overhead responsible for broadcasting, "Shouldn't it come out now?"

Xiao He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "I'll go up there and kill you right now."

As he spoke, he turned to Cui Man. Cui Man nodded and smiled, "No matter what, we can't let them provoke us twice in a row and then ignore it. Let's go, let's win the first round."

"Old Xiao, keep it up! Let me know if you need any help," Ye Wanqing said, touching his face.

"Hmm." Xiao He nodded and walked towards the elevator. A deafening cheer came from above; it must have been the host announcing that Yinglong was the next contestant.

The elevator doors opened, Xiao He stepped forward onto the field.

At that moment, the man with the red, tousled hair and gaunt face was watching him from the other side of the field, arms crossed, and pacing around. When Xiao He approached, he smiled and said, "Finally decided to come out, huh?"

"Yes, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," Xiao He said with a smile, cracking his knuckles. "I don't dislike guys like you."

"A guy like me?" Shel Nash scoffed. "You have no idea what kind of guy I am, but you'll find out soon enough..." Nash grinned through gritted teeth. "Come on, let me explode!"