Breaking the Deadlock

"To be honest, this flaw is really embarrassing..." Xiao He said, a little embarrassed.

Now, after Xie Haining brought it up, he belatedly realized: Nash's movement technique, "Explosive Leap," which relies on explosions to move, isn't that the only explosion he can instantly detonate?

Because they would blow themselves up, they don't explode instantly, but instead rely on timed explosions to attack enemies.

Furthermore, Nash often uses "Explosive Leap" to move while setting detonation points during combat, precisely to avoid the blast radius of his own detonation point.

"No wonder this guy always gets stuck within thirty meters..." Xiao He frowned and thought to himself.

The arena has a diameter of 100 meters, so if Nash is more than 50 meters away from the enemy, his explosion could threaten him. Thirty meters would provide him with a safe reaction time and allow him some space to move if the enemy has planted a bomb behind him, so as to avoid being caught in his own explosion.

Knowing when Nash sets up his explosive stops and the area around them allows you to find a safe zone on the court. However, this weakness isn't fatal, because even knowing Nash's rules for setting up explosive stops is useless; only Nash can see the explosive stops, and most people simply can't remember them...

But Xie Haining is no ordinary person.

If anyone can remember Nash's explosive moments, it's Xie Haining. But Nash wasn't stupid either.

Xiao He always felt that this match was either exceptionally exciting or so incomprehensible to everyone.

After the initial panic subsided, Nash regained his composure and began to increase his range of movement on the court. As long as he left enough explosive opportunities throughout the game, he could compensate for his lack of Superpower.

However, Xie Haining wouldn't let him set up the minefield so easily. He moved around the area while firing his gun. His shooting accuracy was excellent; without external factors, he could hit the target every time.

But after taking two shots, Nash began to take precautions. His instantaneous explosions would definitely hit him, but he could set up some very weak explosions, which could help him move and also deflect the bullets.

Xie Haining continued shooting on the field, deducing the bomb sites Nash set based on his movements and calculating the absolute safe zone.

But this couldn't go on forever. Once Nash had set up his bomb sites all over the court, Xie Haining would have a hard time. So Xie Haining was also speeding up his attack, hoping to end the battle before Nash could set up his bomb sites.

"Tsk, what an annoying guy..." Nash muttered to himself as he moved.

He knew Xie Haining couldn't see the detonation points, so Xie Haining didn't actually know the exact location of the minefield. The other man had only deduced an absolutely safe area based on the locations of the detonation points and remained within that safe zone. In reality, just one misjudgment would have been fatal, but this man never made a single mistake...

"Don't get impatient..." Nash muttered to himself, beginning to expand the scope of the explosion settings.

Increasing the blasting range does indeed increase the possibility of Xie Haining making a mistake, but it also poses a significant risk to him.

The farther the detonation point is set, the larger the blast radius, and the more space he has to move around. This is the origin of the "thirty meters" safety distance.

But at that moment, Xie Haining suddenly threw a flashbang from his pocket and fired a shot at it. The bullet missed the flashbang, but grazed its edge, causing the flashbang to change direction instantly in mid-air and accelerate towards Nash.

"Hmph..." Nash snorted coldly, waved his hand to set up an explosive point between himself and the flashbang, and used Explosive Leap to create distance. But at this moment, Xie Haining pulled the trigger again, changing the trajectory of the flashbang with another shot.

But Nash had already guessed that Xie Haining would do this, so at the moment of his Explosive Leap, the detonation point he had just set also exploded, pushing the flashbang into the air. "Bang!" A distant muffled sound came as the flashbang exploded in mid-air, but the moment Nash landed on the ground, two bullets accurately hit his forehead and chest.

With a "whoosh!" sound, Nash felt his mind explode. However, he was still Mutant, and even with less than LV2 defense, he wouldn't actually be blown to the head by such a weapon.

Nash fell to the ground, unable to help but curse, "That bastard, he deliberately forced me to do Explosive Leap so he could aim at my landing point in advance! But, humph..."

The moment Nash fell to the ground, an explosion erupted from the court, stopping Xie Haining from continuing his pursuit. Then, explosions followed one after another, crackling and popping like firecrackers.

However, Xie Haining was in an absolutely safe zone, and none of the explosions hit him.

Although Xie Haining's clothes and hair were blown around by the aftershocks of the explosion, he was not injured.

Xie Haining slowed down time, carefully considering. "Is the enemy planning... a feint? No, using the explosion to cover their movements while trapping me here, then shrinking the minefield encirclement to trap me in a dead end?"

Suddenly, Xie Haining accelerated and charged towards the explosion zone.

Although the explosion was quite powerful, Xie Haining could withstand it as long as he avoided the epicenter.

After all, Nash didn't use his strongest explosives, which allowed Xie Haining to take advantage of the situation. Of course, Xie Haining was also constrained by the competition rules; otherwise, in actual combat, if he had switched to a high-powered firearm, that headshot would have ended the fight long ago.

"Tsk, have we been spotted?" Nash, behind the explosion zone, spat in annoyance and moved towards Xie Haining, adjusting his minefield encirclement.

The two were engaged in a battle of wits and courage on the field, which most people watching couldn't quite understand, but Xiao He was thoroughly engrossed. He was the kind of person who was somewhat clever, and he could roughly guess the intentions of both sides.

At that moment, his thought was: if Ye Wanqing hadn't directly changed those two people's names, he never wanted to run into them again in his life...

To the audience, it might seem like two chess players are neither attacking nor defending, but just making random moves on the board. However, what they don't know is that both players are "setting up" and "breaking the deadlock." If either of them makes a mistake, they will lose the entire game. The fierce battle on the field continues, but Xie Haining is at a significant disadvantage in one aspect.

Ammunition.

Nash's "ammunition" is inexhaustible, but Xie Haining's is not, and a protracted battle is obviously overwhelmingly disadvantageous for Xie Haining.

Perhaps realizing this, Xie Haining slowed down the pace of the attack, which gave Nash an opportunity. He continued to roam the court, quickly setting up his own minefield.

"This is bad..." Xie Haining muttered to himself, taking out two smoke bombs from his pocket and throwing them on the ground. The smoke spread and obscured his figure.

"Hmph, futile struggle." Nash sneered and moved the detonation time forward by one second.

When setting up the "minefield," he would continuously adjust the detonation time of the previously set explosive points, and when a temporary explosion was needed, he would advance the detonation time of the explosive points by one second.

Several explosions occurred at these points, the shockwaves dispersing the smoke from the smoke grenades. Just then, Xie Haining burst through the explosions. Nash was startled and immediately began to reposition himself.

In fact, Nash didn't plan his next actions and minefield in advance; rather, he adjusted his actions based on the timing of the minefield's detonation.

"It's no use, I've considered all possibilities..." Nash sneered, but then a sudden chill ran through him: something's wrong...

"Are you sure you've considered everything?" Xie Haining passed through the explosion points and then rushed along the edge of the arena.

Nash had set up explosive opportunities in almost every area of the court, with one exception: the area where he confronted Xie Haining at the beginning of the game, the area where Xie Haining exposed his weaknesses at the very start of the match.

Thinking of this, Nash suddenly recalled that when Xie Haining was introduced by the host when he first came on the court, Xie Haining had subtly adjusted his position. Only then did he realize: this man had already been planning his move when he came on the court.

As the two teams first entered the court, Nash was quietly setting up his minefield while the host introduced them.

However, the game hadn't officially started yet, so Nash couldn't attack and had to maintain a safe distance of 30 meters. When Xie Haining came on and adjusted his position, Nash followed suit and was forced to a position against the wall.

There was no room to retreat in that area, so Nash naturally didn't lay a bet.

"Damn it, they actually started back then..." Nash gritted his teeth and thought to himself, "But there's still a chance to make amends."

After passing through the several detonation points, Xie Haining landed in the safe zone near the edge, forcing Nash into a corner. Now, Nash is facing Xie Haining who is approaching, and behind him is the minefield that was just laid.

"Tsk..." Nash spat in annoyance, then Explosive Leap leaped into the minefield behind him.

Although entering the minefield would indeed make him unsafe, it was still better than fighting Xie Haining in a safe zone without any explosives.

With the game at this point, Xie Haining will definitely continue to harass Nash in close combat, because when fighting Nash, the only truly safe zone is the area where Nash himself is.

However, Xie Haining suddenly made a "mistake" at this moment. He entered one of Nash's detonation points, and the detonation point's range was just enough to hit Xie Haining without harming him...

Nash was overjoyed and was about to detonate the explosives, but hesitated at the last moment. "Wait, what if this guy did it on purpose? No, that's impossible... He can't see my detonation points, it can't be intentional. His Superpower is reaction time, not super intelligence. How could a normal person remember so many detonation points?"

Nash struggled internally, but he didn't have much time to hesitate; at this point, he had no choice but to take a gamble. Therefore, Nash adjusted the detonation time and detonated the explosive point in front of Xie Haining ahead of schedule.

However, in that instant before the detonation, Xie Haining suddenly lunged forward, thus throwing the center of the explosion behind him. Xie Haining was not knocked back by the blast, but was instead propelled forward by the shock of the explosion, rushing towards Nash.

"Damn it!" Nash thought to himself, realizing the situation was dire: if Xie Haining got close, he was doomed.

Xie Haining rolled to his feet, quickly raised his gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!" The moment the gunshot rang out, Xie Haining fired the last bullet from the chamber.

At that distance, the shot was fast and accurate; Nash had no chance to dodge. The bullet struck him squarely in the forehead, and he groaned as he fell backward, his consciousness beginning to fade.

Xie Haining immediately threw down his gun and rushed forward, preparing to defeat Nash in a final close-quarters fight.

However, at that moment, a powerful explosion erupted in front of Nash, engulfing both Xie Haining and Nash. The deafening roar echoed throughout the arena, and the two figures were sent flying through the smoke and dust.

"Goodness, knowing he couldn't win before being hit, he simply planted a time bomb, opting for a mutual destruction..." Xiao He chuckled, resting his chin on his hand. "Shel Nash... a respectable opponent. I like this guy."

The referee stepped forward to check on the two men, then raised his hand and waved, indicating that both were incapacitated.

It actually ended in a draw...

"My goodness, this is the first time we've had a draw in this arena!" the host exclaimed excitedly. "They've put on a truly spectacular match, both evenly matched. Let's give them a round of applause, folks!"

"Tsk, this host probably didn't even understand the show, did he? Just stirring things up..." Xiao He rolled his eyes and thought to himself.

However, the explosion seriously injured both people at the scene, so medical personnel immediately rushed to their aid.

After taking half a bottle of the treatment, the two temporarily regained consciousness and were carried off the field on stretchers.

"Do you really remember all my detonation points?" Nash asked Xie Haining suspiciously as he lay on the stretcher.

"How could that be? I'm not a prodigy. Besides, I can't see your detonation point. You can set it anywhere—there are too many possibilities." Xie Haining laughed. "I mainly judge the location of the detonation point by observing your body movements. When I'm about to enter your detonation point, you always subconsciously tense up and adjust the detonation time. All the information is given to me by 'you.' I just had enough time to observe."

"Ah..." Nash frowned and sighed, "Indeed, my true enemy is time..."

"Time is not your enemy," Xie Haining said with a smile and a wave. "Eternity is."

After saying that, Xie Haining was carried towards the Dragon Country's rest room, while Nash was carried to the other side by medical staff.