Chapter 929 - 427: Fall_2
[20 seconds remaining until forced logout]
The emotionless system voice ruthlessly echoed in Motan’s ear, as if mocking his foolishness.
Motan’s face was deathly pale as he slumped over the table, his trembling elbows knocking a bottle of ink to the floor. He squinted, trying to find a way for the snow-white Angel chess piece to escape a situation that seemed hopeless, even without his guidance.
But such a solution had never existed; otherwise, Motan would have noticed it before.
It took him a full two seconds to accept this despairing reality.
He had miscalculated, truly miscalculated this time...
He thought he had considered everything because he had never encountered major issues with disconnection before, and thus hadn’t paid much heed. And now he was critically hit by a mishap that, although he couldn’t have prevented, he could have easily anticipated and prepared for in advance.
Why hadn’t he arranged for it beforehand? If he had left Feather Song here and established a backup Counselor group with several experienced warriors from the Holy Land, at the very least, the situation wouldn’t be as hopeless as it was now.
Was it because he hadn’t anticipated this, or did he subconsciously want to be the protagonist of this stage along with Yu Chen, to dance with her in the midst of this storm?
Remarkably childish...
[So this is the price...]
Sweat dripped from Motan’s forehead, mixing with the large ink stains on the map, creating a bizarre scene.
[15 seconds remaining until forced logout]
The reminder sounded like the reaper’s bell, leaving Motan no time to dwell on his previous mistakes.
He must find a way, he had to find one no matter what!
Log in as quickly as possible?
No, even if the personalities he switched between did not delay in this critical moment, the process of actively logging out, leaving the Game Cabin, switching personalities while mentally exhausted, and then logging back in with the ’Absolute Neutrality’ personality took far too long. Given the 2:1 game to real-world time ratio, even if he didn’t waste half a minute, and the personality switch was optimally smooth, it would still take at least a dozen minutes of game time to log back in, and by then it would be too late to salvage anything.
Use [Reflection] to its fullest to stabilize his mental state and buy time?
But he had no idea which personality he was about to switch to! If he was about to switch to the ’Orderly Kindhearted’ personality, then using [Reflection] to mirror the ’Chaotic Neutral’ would not only lack any positive effect, but it might even cause an immediate logout, and vice versa.
Have Feather Song take over command?
Don’t be ridiculous. Putting aside the fact that Feather Song was currently arranging matters in the enemy territory, even if she had Yu Chen and all of Eagle Eye Team Two to Nine as friends and could command remotely from outside the main tent, without the map as a reference and without prior preparation, it would be impossible for her to make precise and correct decisions. At best, such an action would only burden others with a sense of guilt and serve no additional purpose.
If that was the case...
Motan bit down hard on his tongue, and because the pain in the game was not acute enough, he bit until his mouth was full of blood, losing 2% of his Health Points before he could barely focus again.
[12 seconds remaining!]
He opened the messages, quickly scanning through the intelligence just handed up by Eagle Eye Team Nine, who had just taken over monitoring, all while desperately imagining Yu Chen and the others’ current situation...
Intense headaches exploded uncontrollably.
Ignore them, as long as he didn’t lose his ability to think!
’Yu Chen, if you see about a thousand Mutants surging from the south within three minutes, ignore them and maintain your current route. Continue to advance.’
His legs could no longer support his body, and he fell heavily onto his back on the floor.
It didn’t matter; he could still memorize the map. Eagle Eye Team Nine, his eyes, were still there.
’If you don’t see a large number of Mutants within three minutes, then repeat the right-angle change of direction you did once before, to the south and then east. Afterwards, arrange the Advanced Stage Holy Knight on the left flank, and everybody accelerate to break away from the main road!’
[10 seconds remaining until forced logout]
It didn’t matter; if he could be a bit quicker, he might still make it!
’There could be three situations next. First, if your left flank is constantly harassed by five hundred Mutants and you lose space to move right, then converge northward in advance. This method is a stopgap; you must return to the main road as soon as you’re free from harassment.’
Motan’s breathing became rapid, and the increasing feeling of detachment made it hard for him to stay conscious, but ’hard’ was just ’hard’, not ’completely impossible’.
’The second situation is if the pressure on the left flank is less than expected, but the Mutants filling in behind you are too close on your heels. In that case, send Fire Tong to the rear, and once he reaches the assigned position, have everyone turn around on the spot. Make Fire Tong the spearhead, activate the Expedition Halo, and break out directly to your current back left. If all goes well, it should give you around two minutes of safety.’
[Wait... The Expedition Halo doesn’t take effect during combat, right? No... what I just said was wrong...]
It was only after Motan had already sent the message that he suddenly realized his mistake, hastily adding a follow-up message to Yu Chen, "The second approach is flawed, don’t use it!" Then, he prepared to readjust his thoughts and formulate a new plan.
But then he flashed upon the thought that if he did this, there wouldn’t be enough time left to tell Yu Chen about the third contingency plan...
[Moreover, is that approach really sound? Is there truly nothing overlooked like there was just now?]
[Judging possible scenarios based on mere imagination, and then arranging measures in advance, is that really effective?]
[But if I don’t do this, once I go offline shortly, what will happen to Yu Chen and the rest...]
[So, if I can’t use the Expedition Halo, what should I do!?]
[I haven’t even had the chance to think about the third scenario, and after thinking, it seems there’s no time to tell Yu Chen, but what if it happens...]
[And there are so many other possibilities that could follow, what should I...]
[What am I doing!]
[Time...]
’Motan! Are you okay? We’re still safe for now, how about you?’
Yu Chen’s message flashed before his eyes.
However, he hadn’t yet figured out what to do if the Expedition Halo couldn’t be used...
[Forced offline in 5 seconds]
Five seconds!? Why is there only five seconds left?!
"Hei Fan!"
What can be done in five seconds, what on earth was I doing before!?
"Hei Fan!"
[It’s no good...]
Motan closed his already dissipating eyes in agony, and collapsed at last.
"Hei Fan! What’s happening to you..."
Whose voice is that? I can’t make it out, am I going offline...?
He thought hazily, and then seemed to feel a slender arm struggling to prop him up from beside him.
Motan stood up, and his eyes refocused on the Southern Region Map that was littered with chess pieces.
[Forced offline in 3 seconds]
Wait, Yu Chen and his group’s location seems to be just right to...
[Forced offline in 2 seconds]
No, wait! I’ve got it, with just a slight change in angle, the mutants to the south and behind them could...
[Forced offline in 1 second]
It’s feasible! Let me tell her, I need to tell her!
Motan, who had already lost the ability to speak, was roaring inside his head, but everything before his eyes began to twist rapidly, and that voice that kept calling out in his ear had also vanished, he felt himself falling... falling rapidly...
Damn it, I had it figured out...
Damn it, damn damn damn, damn damn damn damn damn!
The sensation of weightlessness continued...
Chapter 427: The End