Apocalypse Gachapon Chapter 2016: Battle of attrition (2)

Upon noticing the enemy's formation shift, the detachment from the First Thousand-person Team's left flank quickly adjusted their strategy too, merging straightaway with the four-hundred-strong group. A force of six hundred and fifty then launched into surrounding and wiping out the two hundred and fifty foes.

Right then, every fighter across the battlefield dove into fierce melee. To the right, Zhong Hongke commanded 100 warriors facing off against 250. In the middle, six hundred and fifty from the First Thousand-person Team surrounded and crushed two hundred and fifty. On the left, 250 clashed head-on with 500!

The rapid succession of tactical shifts by both sides in mere moments left observers reeling, yet no one could deny the sheer brilliance of those formation alterations. The endgame layout that emerged was probably far from what either side had foreseen.

"What's your take—who's gonna win?"

White Robe turned to Cheng Liujin at his side and inquired.

Without a second's pause, Cheng Liujin declared, "Obviously, the First Thousand-person Team."

"See, Zhong Hongke's squad stands as the cream of the crop in the whole Thousand-person Team. Even at just one hundred strong, they can take on three times their number no problem. Toss in Zhong Hongke himself as a top-tier fighter, and numerical inferiority won't stop their total triumph."

As a pinnacle master of the Star-Eye Clan, Cheng Liujin spotted key details instantly.

"The central clash of six hundred and fifty against two hundred and fifty turns into a total rout too. Truth be told, the Seventh Thousand-person Team started out weaker overall. Lacking numbers, they're doomed to fold. Over on the left, sure, they're outnumbered, but merely by half again. That's plenty to stall until the other fronts wrap up and help shows. Only question is how many from the First Thousand-person Team survive the fray. On adaptability, the Seventh Thousand-person Team held their own admirably."

The crowd nodded in unison. And sure enough, events unfolded just as Cheng Liujin foresaw. Zhong Hongke's elite hundred crushed their rivals with overwhelming force first, then sped to the center. The trapped two hundred and fifty, hemmed in by six hundred plus, shattered at once and got swiftly mopped up.

In the end, even though the Seventh Thousand-person Team maintained superiority on the left, the battle was irredeemably theirs to lose. Once the First Thousand-person Team's core arrived, total annihilation followed.

Following a brief pause, the terminal tallied the full score. Results showed the Seventh Thousand-person Team utterly destroyed, with seven hundred and eighty-two survivors from the First Thousand-person Team.

As the Seventh Thousand-person Team exited, dejection hung heavy over them. They'd brainstormed plenty of schemes for the fight, convinced proper execution offered a slim shot at winning. Yet the crushing defeat left them utterly humbled.

Loss was anticipated, but not such a devastating one. Annihilated completely, they'd barely taken down just over two hundred enemies. Doubt crept in: had the power disparity grown this vast already?

Ye Zhongming had observed the entire showdown closely—his people were in the thick of it, after all. With the fight over, tension eased from him a touch.

"Spot anything noteworthy?" Leader Eye grinned from nearby, asking.

"I couldn't help pondering: had the Seventh Team gone for a straight-up brawl, would their final kill count top two hundred even in defeat?"

Ye Zhongming gave a faint smile before adding, "Truth is, that's not much help. The underdogs always scramble for a win pre-battle. No fault in their pick."

The Cloud Peak King habitually viewed things through the lens of toppling foes: what moves would he make as the weaker force? Or as boss, how to orchestrate the First Thousand-person Team's downfall?

No sooner had the opener wrapped than the next kicked off: Second Thousand-person Team clashing with the Tenth Thousand-person Team.

This matchup featured a hefty disparity too. As the newest outfit, the Tenth Thousand-person Team lagged in personnel caliber. Despite years of growth, their roots stayed shallow, no match for the veteran squads.

The map pulled at random: 'Isle of Profuse Flowers.'

A oceanic arena, this one—thirty uniform round, level reefs dotted evenly across the waves. Each faction picked their spawn point freely.

In essence, you could station all one thousand people on a single reef if you wished, or distribute them across every reef—simply put, the flexibility was incredibly vast.

Though it carried some element of chance, it heavily challenged commanders' real-time leadership skills.

The moment the battle erupted, gasps of surprise rippled through the crowd below. Astonishingly, both factions selected identical tactics: stationing 100 warriors apiece on ten linked reefs.

Two of those reefs saw overlapping claims, sparking combat instantly from the outset.

Fierce close-quarters brawls engulfed those two reefs, with fighters from adjacent ones jumping in for support. These areas plus nearby reefs turned into fierce battlegrounds. Each side kept pouring in reinforcements, escalating the chaos beyond the opening round.

In the end, the Second Thousand-person Team scraped a hard-fought win, their casualty rate surpassing forty percent. Just around 600 fighters remained fit for the following clash.

Zhi Chaka, captain of the Thousand-person Team, bore a deeply sour look. These devastating losses outstripped even the First Thousand-person Team's. A second-round fight loomed unavoidable. Triumph there still left them too weakened to challenge the First Thousand-person Team. Championship dreams lay thoroughly crushed.

The third match pressed on. Far more eyes locked onto it than the previous two.

This stemmed from Ye Zhongming's trusted ally Jie Kui's Third Thousand-person Team stepping up to battle.

This battle-hardened warrior, who had faced life-and-death trials alongside Ye Zhongming since the Novice battlefield, kept an extremely low profile after joining the Bronze Camp. Yet his boss's blazing fame unavoidably thrust him into the spotlight too.

Still, Jie Kui shone with exceptional talent, evident not just in his sharp situational judgment but also his ruthless approaches.

Upon assuming control of the Second Thousand-person Team, bolstered by Ye Zhongming's backing, he first stayed silent, mapping out the group's inner workings. Then he unleashed a lightning purge, wiping out Ka Lanka and Leng Jiao's old loyalists and crushing opposition through savage tactics.

Following that, he deployed techniques, skills, equipment, and more from Ye Zhongming to rally hearts, sharing every meal and bunk with the troops. His revealed assassination prowess, which stunned onlookers, let him firmly grasp the Thousand-person Team's reins over time.

Furthermore, Jie Kui had returned from the Novice battlefield as a budding magnate. After kitting himself out, he dumped all remaining funds straight into the Thousand-person Team.

Brutal but hands-on, detached yet fully committed—Jie Kui of this mold had won total allegiance from his men as their rightful commander.

Once Ye Zhongming came back from the Library Palace, he handed Jie Kui even finer rewards. Their combined stature then climbed to new heights.

With these treasures forging raw battle might, the Third Thousand-person Team's fighting spirit surged, warriors endlessly questioning themselves: could they seize the top honor?