For Zola to be the captain of that team, apart from his own superb power, his outstanding tactical accomplishments were another fundamental reason Tang Hanpei had given him such a heavy responsibility.
As a captain, reasonable and accurate judgment was far more important than his own fighting strength.
"We need to land!
I don't have many power cards left! "a card artisan said in a panic.
Once he said that, the faces of the other card artisans all changed, and the power in their apparatuses had nearly bottomed out!
If their power was exhausted, they would fall to their deaths from midair.
The most important thing to do just then was to immediately descend to the ground and replace the power cards.
Zola's heart suddenly jumped, and a chill abruptly rose up from his back. Could his adversary have already accounted for the power cards?
"Everyone, five hundred meters in the direction of your three o 'clock, and then land!" He didn't have time to think carefully, so he resolutely gave the order.
"No!
I don't have enough power! "The card artisan had just been drained of all color, and he didn't have time to say anything more as he stooped down to fly down!
"Damn!" Zola cursed to himself, but he didn't have time to say anything else.
Every second he stayed where he was meant to be an extra second of danger.
The other card artisans were also a little panicked by that time, and Zola's order immediately pulled them back from their dazed state. They quickly followed Zola and flew in the direction of their three o 'clock.
By then, their individual power was on display, and even Chen Mu had no way to lock onto their dazzling tactical maneuvers, which made him shiver inwardly.
Just as Zola was leading the remaining ten card artisans in the direction of their three o 'clock, a large swarm of red bombs drilled out of the clouds to their left!
Damn!
Zola powerlessly closed his eyes, knowing that the card artisan who had just been flying down was dead for sure!
Time difference. Another time difference!
There was a loud boom from below, and the bombs exploded in unison, swallowing up that card artisan in an instant. In the midst of such a terrifying explosion, not even ashes would be left!
In fact, not even ashes would be left.
Zola suddenly opened his eyes, and a cold light flashed in his chilly pupils.
Damn! You'll pay the price!
"Land!"
The remaining eleven card artisans all drew beautiful arcs as they flew toward the ground.
Chen Mu was a little regretful that that round of attack had only killed one card artisan.
The commander of that group of card artisans had seen through his second attack route, which made him not dare to be the least bit careless.
"Follow me. Be careful."
After saying that, Chen Mu quietly passed through the clouds, approaching his adversary's landing point.
Up until now, the entire plan had been executed perfectly. Apart from the fact that the other party's landing point was a little different from his estimation, the deviation of five hundred meters was not enough to completely ruin his plan.
Zola did not dare to relax in the slightest. His opponent was like an extremely brilliant chess player, every move he made was extremely ingenious.
He did not believe that the other party did not have a backup plan. If there was no accident, the other party should have set up an ambush near the landing point.
The timing difference just now was also extremely accurate.
If it weren't for his quick reflexes, the entire army would have been wiped out.
"Five of you, stay alert in the air. Five of you, land and switch cards!" Jorah shouted in a low voice.
His nerves were extremely tense, and the other party's pressure was so great that he couldn't breathe.
Right now, both sides were in a race, and the next moment would be the most crucial moment to decide the outcome of this battle.
If Zola and the others succeeded in changing their cards, although they would not be able to return to their peak state, more than 70% of their strength would be enough for them to win this battle.
But he was also certain of one thing, and that was that his adversary would certainly think of a way to obstruct them from replacing their power cards.
If they didn't replace their cards, they would only have a dead end.
No matter how powerful a card artisan was, they wouldn't be able to exert any power without energy.
Quickly checking the power card in his apparatus, he saw that it was less than seven percent. That data made Zola's expression change slightly.
Less than seven percent meant that he could at most launch two waves of attacks.
After the two waves of attacks, he would have to land and complete the replacement card. Otherwise, he would directly fall to his death from midair.
The one who had set it up had calculated that!
If Zola had been a little doubtful before, he was now absolutely certain of that!
Up until then, he had discovered to his amazement that every step they took had been within his adversary's expectations.
From the beginning until then, the rhythm of the battle and the initiative had all been in his adversary's hands.
Understanding that, he immediately understood that his adversary would never let go of that fatal weakness.
His gaze was nervously darting back and forth in the jungle below. The ground was a mess, and the tall firs had been ravaged into a complete mess by the blast wave. Broken branches were everywhere, and there wasn't a clean and tidy place.
The blast wave from the explosion had been too violent, and Zola had never seen such a violent explosion before!
That red bomb was a lot more powerful than an ordinary bomb, and the paranoid Zola felt that it was certainly his adversary's trick.
He was using the appearance of the bomb to numb them, but in reality, the energy composition inside was certainly not that of a bomb. What a sinister guy!
Thinking of those idiots who hadn't dodged but had used their energy cloaks to take the red bomb head on, he could only feel sorrow for them.
Suddenly, there was a faint energy fluctuation in the air.
The six card artisans in the sky, including Zola, were all on alert.
That energy fluctuation was very weak, but those who were still alive were all true aces!
He had long since anticipated that his adversary would certainly have some backup, and that fluctuation must have been his adversary's hidden killer move.
The energy fluctuation was very weak, and it looked to be quite a distance from them. Zola's heart jumped.
A sniper card artisan?
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Zola couldn't help but yell, "Pay attention to evading. Our adversary might have a sniper card artisan. Defend and counterattack!
The six card artisans in the sky looked as though they were facing a formidable enemy, and Zola's warning made their hearts skip a beat!
If one looked closely, their bodies had been in a state of slight swaying, which wouldn't consume too much energy and would allow them to avoid being locked on by the enemy hidden in the dark.
They were burning with rage. Each of them had experienced countless battles, and they had never been forced into such a situation by their adversary!
Still, they didn't disobey Zola's orders. The energy in their apparatuses was almost bottoming out, and their most pressing concern was to hold out for a while.
They only had to wait for their five companions to replace their energy cards, and then they could bear our wrath!
Even if it was a sniper card artisan, we would still tear them to pieces!
Every card artisan's eyes were spitting fire. Up until then, they still hadn't seen the shadow of a single enemy.
If they weren't strong enough, that would have been fine. But, they hadn't even seen their adversary's shadow before being smothered to death, which made them extremely sullen.
The five card artisans descending to the ground also sped up, even though the ground was crisscrossed with countless broken branches piled up irregularly without any foothold.
By that time, however, the five card artisans couldn't care less as they flew toward those broken trees.
In the instant that their feet touched the ground, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief!
The feeling of having their feet firmly planted on the ground finally gave them some sense of security.
Still, those huge round logs weren't a good foothold, and they had to be very careful to maintain their balance.
But, they also knew that it was the most critical time. In order to stabilize their bodies, they didn't have the slightest regard for their image. Some of the card artisans were half sprawled on the logs, while others were riding on them. Some were using their feet to hook onto the forks of the branches, with all sorts of strange postures.
Just as they stabilized their bodies, they all took out the depleted power cards from their apparatuses!
Seeing that, Zola breathed a sigh of relief in midair. Now, they only had to insert the power cards back into the progress meter, and they would have won.
Those card artisans were all people with rich combat experience. Although they had previously looked down on them, they didn't dare to slack off in the slightest. They were nervously staring at the location of the weak energy fluctuations.
Zhou Liang's face was a little pale, though it wasn't from the cold.
He had experienced quite a few actual battles, but he had never encountered such a dangerous and urgent situation.
Having received formal education, of course he wasn't stupid.
He knew that they had fallen into an elaborate ambush.
Up until then, they hadn't had any power to resist. That feeling was really terrible.
He threw away the depleted four-star power card without any pity, and his hand went to his waist, where the four-star power card was in the card bag.
But, unlike the others who were silently exchanging cards, his eyes were wide open, and he was vigilantly watching his surroundings.
He didn't believe that the ambushers, who had been acting so watertight, would give them such an obvious chance to catch their breath.
Just then, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark shadow flashing by out of the corner of his eye.
Zhou Liang was startled, and just as he was about to open his mouth to shout, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his throat. Everything went black in front of his eyes, and he lost consciousness.
The wind and snow were intertwining, and visibility was already very low. On top of that, there were fir trees that had fallen in disorder, and the dense branches easily blocked people's line of sight.
In the air, Zola had been thinking about a problem.
His adversary certainly had something up his sleeve!
He didn't have any doubt about that. A person who could set up such a trap would never fail to take advantage of that.
From the time they descended to the time they finished exchanging cards, the time it would take wouldn't exceed ten seconds.
He couldn't think of any way to break through their protective circle within ten seconds and eliminate the five of them.
A close-range attack by a card artisan would never escape their detection, and most of them were grade-seven card artisans!
That weak energy fluctuation was some distance away from them, and he hadn't detected any energy or perceptual fluctuations within a kilometer.
But, without knowing why, he had a kind of premonition that his adversary absolutely had a way to adapt!
His adversary had advanced step by step, and with two precise time differences, it showed the masterful tactical ability of the person who set it up.
If it were him, what would he do?
Zola furrowed his brow, thinking hard.
Just then, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark shadow flashing by from the corner of his eye.
He was startled, and then the blood on his face abruptly drained completely!
Suddenly, he knew his adversary's method!
The cardless sects. He had thought about it a thousand times, but he had never thought his adversary would use them!
Zola felt as though he had fallen into an icehouse. His whole body was icy cold, and a bone-chilling chill spread throughout.
Two!
Two cardless sects!
Those two cardless sects were like two bolts of black lightning, moving at a shocking speed between the five card artisans. The five card artisans who had just pulled out their power cards were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered in front of them, without any power to fight back.
Card artisans without energy were shockingly weak when facing the cardless sects!
In the blink of an eye, three card artisans had been quietly put down, and the remaining two hadn't even realized it.
Zola's eyes were red!
But, he knew it was too late to rescue them.
The energy in their wrist apparatuses was already pitifully low, and the skills of those two cardless sects were shockingly superb!
"Disperse!
Everyone get down and change cards! "With no time to think, he could only make one last gamble!
The other five card artisans looked at each other and didn't make a sound. They scattered in all directions with a bang, flying off in all directions.
Zola knew that was their only chance.
The cardless sects weren't card artisans, after all, and they couldn't fly. As long as they pulled away, they could buy time.
As long as they bought time, they might still have a chance …
Zola didn't hesitate to abandon the remaining two card artisans on the ground.
He had already discovered his adversary's weakness, which was that they didn't have enough power!
It should be said that there weren't many of them!
Otherwise, there wouldn't be just two of the cardless sects on the ground.
Then, his expression suddenly changed, and he was aghast to find that he had been locked onto!
Chen Mu and Sang Hanshui were flying quickly through the clouds. By that time, he didn't care about the possibility of exposing himself because he had discovered that his adversary had already turned into birds and scattered!
It had to be said that it was a problem that gave him quite a headache.
As long as any one of them changed their power card, the situation would quickly take a turn for the worse.
No one wanted to endure the counterattack of a grade-seven card artisan on his deathbed.
If his adversary only wanted to draw their attention, that would be an even simpler problem.
The decisiveness of the card artisan in the lead was beyond Chen Mu's expectations. Without thinking, he unconsciously locked onto that card artisan.
Damn!
His adversary actually had other powers?
That judgment was a huge blow to Zola's confidence, so much so that he was a little slow in evading.
A huge force hit him hard, and a heart-wrenching pain spread to every nerve in his body. The intense unwillingness made him want to scream, but he found that he couldn't make any sound.
He could feel his body losing control and falling in free fall, and the whistling sound of the wind in his ears seemed so far away.
Dong!
It was only then that he heard the deep, thunderous sound of the explosion.
His consciousness gradually blurred. There was no more terror, only relaxation. All of the fighting had nothing to do with him, and he could finally rest well.
A smile floated up the corner of Zola's mouth as he fell at high speed.
The other card artisans turned pale with fright, and quite a few of them couldn't help but cry out, "Captain!"
Just then, the energy fluctuations, which had been weak all along, abruptly grew stronger!
The faces of those card artisans changed again. They had all thought that the enemy hiding in the dark was quite far away from them because the energy fluctuations had always been weak. They hadn't thought the enemy would be so close to them!
Nine Wheels of Traction!
Nine palm-sized wavy wheels stuck close to the surface of the jungle and suddenly arrived.
The nine wavy wheels were like nine beams of flowing light, extremely fast. They didn't even have time to disperse before the nine beams of flowing light appeared beside them.
The speed of lightning went from extreme speed to extreme stillness, which left everyone dumbfounded.
The nine wavy wheels formed a perfect circle, and the glowing needles on each of the wavy wheels were spinning with some kind of complicated pattern.
Everyone felt the perception in their bodies go out of control, and they couldn't help but be shocked!
How could that be?
The remaining five card artisans' faces all changed, and they no longer cared about the energy in their apparatuses, all of them activating their power cards!
Interfering with perception was doubtlessly a powerful force, especially against card artisans!
Although that kind of power was powerful, it was hard to control.
It could be said that cards that could interfere with perception were even rarer than illusory cards.
Humans' understanding of perception was pitifully small, not to mention using external objects to interfere with it.
From ancient times until now, the number of card masters who could make such cards could be counted on one hand.
And the number of cards that had been passed down were pitifully few.
The remaining five card artisans were all card artisans with perception over level seven, and their ability to control perception was extremely strong, so they wouldn't have been easily affected.
But their perception and physical strength were both at an extremely low level. On top of that, they had been ambushed, and their leader had died, which was a huge blow to their morale.
Otherwise, when Xiaobo had used that move, the effect on them would have been quite weak.
But now, the effect on them was very obvious.
And just then, dozens of red bombs drilled out from the clouds, like piranhas smelling blood, and madly pounced on them!
None of the card artisans, who had lost their composure, noticed that several transparent air wavy blades were quietly attacking them from below!
Boom!
There was another loud noise.
When the smoke and dust dispersed, there was nothing left.
The Big Bad Army of the Federation Comprehensive Academy was completely annihilated!
Huff, huff, huff!
Sang Hanshui was panting. He didn't even have the strength to lift a finger. That day's battle hadn't been long, but he had used all his strength in every round of attack.
Chen Mu grabbed Sang Hanshui from behind, and they landed lightly.
Xiaobo, Wei-ah, and little Bu Mo were already waiting for them below.
Xiaobo stared at the corpses that had already lost their vitality, and stood rooted to the ground.
After a few minutes, he moved his gaze away with difficulty, and said bitterly, "Did we really win?"
"Of course!"
Little Bu Mo was curious why Xiaobo would ask that. He pointed to the corpses on the ground and said, "Hey, aren't they all dead?"
"Dead?"
Xiaobo murmured a little absent-mindedly, "Grade seven card artisans, the dignified Grade seven card artisans of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, are they also so fragile?
They died just like that! "
Little Bu Mo was still puzzled, but he also felt strange. That day's battle was a lot easier than that night.
These people were really fragile!
Little Bu Mo, who still hadn't figured out what was going on, nodded matter-of-factly and said, "Yes, they are really fragile!"
Sang Hanshui was probably the one who could understand Xiaobo the best.
Grade seven card artisans, for ordinary card artisans, could almost be said to be unattainable.
If any one of those aces were to fight with them alone, Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo wouldn't have the confidence to win.
However, such a team with amazing combat power was unexpectedly annihilated in an instant. He still felt that it was inconceivable, like a dream.
Thinking about that, Xiaobo and Sang Hanshui couldn't help but look at each other, and their gazes couldn't help but shift to Chen Mu again.
But this time, both of their gazes were filled with deep reverence!
Wei-ah also looked at Chen Mu, and in his indifferent gaze as usual, there was an additional touch of light!