Abyssal Wanderer.

Chapter 452 NO01d5: Seven Heroes Battle Thebes

"From one to ten, if ten represents a battle where even if you die on the spot, you will feel that your life has been worthwhile; while one represents a cowardly act of actively slaughtering unarmed old, young, sick and disabled people, then I would probably only give the previous battle a score of... about five points."

Alex muttered absentmindedly as he wiped the dirty handprints off his arm.

"It's nowhere near as thrilling as the life-or-death experience I had when I faced the Moon Goddess back then, nor as exhilarating as the thrill of constantly boarding and dismantling spaceships later on... Of course, it's still a bit more satisfying than bullying those companies' so-called 'hunting teams'."

The flames, reaching thousands of degrees, only left a few scorch marks on his skin, which he easily rubbed off into dust.

"What exactly are you...?"

On the other side, the Hungry Knight, whose joints were twisted in many places and whose chest had been torn off, revealing his spiritual core, lay on the ground trembling and said:
"What kind of monster are you?"

The black horse, a symbol of famine, was stripped of its skin and completely dismantled into a pile of mechanical parts, while its pungent black blood flowed everywhere.

"Just human beings."

Alex looked at the Hungry Knight and gave a mocking smile.

"Unlike you, the embodiment of natural disaster, who can still speak even with half of your bones broken by me."

Humans? What kind of dark web joke is this?
The Hungry Knight thought through gritted teeth.

Indeed, while he could be called a Coordinator, it was impossible to tell what part of his body had been modified with prosthetics; he looked like an ordinary person with a strong physique.

Even the way they fight is different.

It was just simple and unadorned hand-to-hand combat; I never saw him suddenly conjure a hot gun from his arm or shoot lasers or directed energy from his eyes.

This thing doesn't even have a heat source inside its body that symbolizes a reactor.

But every punch and kick from this guy carried an extremely exaggerated amount of force.

A single punch could pierce through one's outer shell, exposing the spiritual core.

It wasn't just that their strength was terrifying; every move they made carried a strange quality that seemed to defy the laws of physics.

For example, although it is certainly not his limit, he can jump more than ten meters high—this is not very surprising, because many adjustments and modifications to enhance jumping ability can also achieve similar things.

But after jumping into the air, he, who should have been limited by gravity and become a sitting duck in mid-air, was able to fall back to the ground at an extremely fast speed without any leverage.

The behavior is intuitive, but not scientific.

For example, when you use phased transformation to avoid the "kinetic energy damage" of the opponent's punch, that punch can directly knock you into a phased state.

It still behaves intuitively, but not scientifically.

How the hell did that?
Although it is a meme entity born from a trend of thought, Hungry Knight still wants to question the other party properly at this moment: Don't you talk about the laws of reality?

"Hey!"

Seeing that the other party did not speak, Alex called out somewhat unhappily.

"what!"

"Hungry Knight said hastily."

"Hey, are all meme entities only at your level?"

Alex asked.

What do you mean by "only my level"?
If you were to fight a different type of Coordinator, even if they didn't die, they would be covered in bruises, do you believe me?

How many adjusters can withstand temperatures of several thousand degrees without even having their skin burned through?
The Hungry Knight thought this to himself, but he did indeed say it honestly:
“They may be stronger than me, or they may be weaker than me... There are great differences between memetic entities.”

Alex remained silent, staring intently at the Hungry Knight, making it feel a chill run down its spine.

But before it could say anything more, Alex spoke first:

"Although it can only be considered as barely reaching the depth 8 base strength of some weak paths, it still has the 'immortality' aspect..."

As he spoke, he kept staring at the other person's body, which was undergoing automatic repair.

At this moment, black smoke was constantly rising from the Hungry Knight's "Spirit Core," repairing its damaged body bit by bit.

"That's right. As long as the spirit core isn't stripped away, we can continuously repair and regenerate... Of course, the speed of repair depends on the energy and materials provided by the Master, as well as the level of support from online public opinion."

Seeing the other person's eyes, the Hungry Knight immediately reminded him:
"Also... if the damage is too severe, it's possible that it cannot be recovered during wartime. In that case, it would also be considered a death, resulting in an immediate loss for the team by the organizers."

Alex didn't answer; he remained silent for a long time, then suddenly said:
"Although I just told you to use your full strength, you didn't actually use your full strength, did you?"

The Hungry Knight remained silent.

"After all, he's one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a calamity incarnate that ranks among the top in human history... He shouldn't only have this level of strength. Where's your trump card? The ability called Meme Release, why didn't you use it?"

"Alex asked."

"My meme release ability can only be used at the last moment... I judge that this is just a sparring match between master and servant, and there is no need to use my trump card."

"Unless you really want to kill me."

Hungry Knight's Way
"You really can kill me, right?"

Alex smiled but did not answer.

Hungry Knight wasn't the only one who hadn't performed to his full potential.

…………

"...In conclusion, the most appropriate option at present is to take no action."

During the operational meeting, V put his fingers together and said this.

Zhou Liqi swiped across the holographic map, pointing it west of Thebes.

"As the embodiment of the United States, the Servant Columbia is likely to possess abilities related to site construction or industrial production; in addition, the Summoner Sam Washington is most likely the Coordinator of the Ampros Path... Are you sure that it's the right choice for us not to take any action?"

He said this.

After completing the Servant summoning, they are completely cut off from external intelligence sources—this is a tactic of the Bacchus Order that cannot be avoided or bypassed.

That's understandable, since the entire Dionysian War was broadcast live. If they could also contact the outside world, it would be like having a cheat code for seeing through walls.

Of course, what none of them know right now is that the so-called "live broadcast" does not actually refer to meticulous, 24-hour high-intensity monitoring of every detail.

Although it is unknown how they did it—perhaps the Bacchus Order was able to predict the course of war to some extent—they would present those relatively dramatic or suspenseful moments with the most perfect camera angles and sound recordings.

None of the participants could even find the "photographer" who was following them at that moment.

In short, because all the companies had done a good job of protecting their intelligence before the war, Zhou Liqi could only deduce the configurations of each opponent by constantly collecting battlefield information.

But he had great confidence in his own judgment.

"If we let a pair of masters and servants who are good at building positions continue to develop, our current few advantages will only be further squeezed."

Zhou Liqi said this. The fact that the other party was so eager to invite reporters to broadcast the so-called restoration ceremony is proof that the Servant's own stats are not good enough and that he needs public opinion support to strengthen himself—he is even willing to reveal the Servant's true name for this.

It's clear that Sam is quite confident in his abilities once he's fully developed.

This confidence made Zhou Liqi feel like he had a thorn in his side.

Having experienced the devastating defeat in the African Wars of Independence, he knew that while sophisticated tactics were important in war, the real key to victory or defeat lay in the size of the two sides and their logistical systems.

Elite troops may win enough battles, but as long as the enemy's logistics are continuous, one's own side will eventually be worn down by an opponent of greater size.

Returning to the strategy for this war, he needed to take advantage of the enemy's early development stage, while his side still held the advantage, and eliminate the enemy in one fell swoop...

“You seem to have misunderstood something, my dear Master.”

As if she could read Zhou Liqi's mind, V looked up, took a rose from the bouquet in the center of the table, and pinned it to her chest.

"We currently have no advantage whatsoever."

He said this, still wearing a strange smile on his mask.

Upon hearing this, everyone present at the war council—all the living people—instantly turned grim.

"Please don't look at me with such a scary gaze... I'll blush."

V, wearing a smiling mask with a blush, said this, then his tone turned serious:

"Then let me emphasize it again... The energy reaction of that Servant from the North is chilling even from this distance. Facing such a being directly, we have no chance of winning."

"As for the one in the southwest, a considerable battle broke out as soon as it was summoned. Considering the time and space gap, it could only be an internal conflict between master and servant. It is certainly a good thing that master and servant are at odds—but you might as well consider what kind of path adjuster that master is, who dares to confront their servant head-on?"

At this point, V chuckled softly, then continued:
"The Servants summoned by the committee haven't made any special moves. This might be because the Servants themselves are weak, but it's more likely that they possess some kind of ability to conceal their presence. Admittedly, these kinds of Servants are often not good at direct combat, but are only skilled at infiltration and decapitation... But please tell me, among all the participating factions present, which side is least able to withstand decapitation tactics?"

At this point, everyone present looked even more grim.

"Finally... there's that Columbia goddess. Yes, we can indeed, as Master said, immediately gather our strongest forces and disrupt their development rhythm, taking the first kill in the Dionysian War in one fell swoop. But what price will we have to pay for this?"

V's gaze swept over everyone present, then he said:

"The majority of the Master's combat power comes from all of you here. Every comrade lost is a blow to our chances of victory. And what we gain in return for this bloodshed and sacrifice is nothing more than a fragment of the Holy Grail. Its boost to my combat power is far from enough to make up for the loss of you. Besides, who can be sure that other contestants won't emerge from the shadows and become the predator?"

At this point, V spread his hands, seemingly somewhat helpless.

"Therefore, the best course of action right now is to wait... remain calm and wait for the right opportunity."

"In the end..."

At this moment, one of Zhou Liqi's attackers spoke up.

"Isn't this because you're too weak as a Servant? You have the ability to act alone, but you can't do anything except run away."

After comparing them, it seemed that V could only defeat the contestant from the committee in a head-on fight, and he still couldn't find the other party.

Upon hearing this, V took off his hat and bowed humbly to the man, apologizing:

"Not at all. I'm just like you, good at winning against the odds."

His tone was sincere yet tinged with a flippant quality, making it impossible to discern whether it was sarcasm or encouragement, but the man clearly took it as the former.

The attacker stood up, about to retort, but Zhou Liqi interrupted him:

"okay."

He first used his eyes to press the man back into his seat, then looked at V and said:
"Even if your analysis makes some sense, I still don't think we should completely give up the initiative on the battlefield... Being led by the nose has never been my tactical style."

In response, V shook his head and advised:
"So far, there are still two Servants that haven't been summoned. It's not too late to start this grand show once all the actors are in place."

"No... placing your hopes on fate is the beginning of failure."

Zhou Liqi stood up and began assigning tasks.

"Go and probe the strength of those two Servants in the north and southwest... Just gather information, and it's best to avoid battle if possible. If possible, discuss with their Masters the possibility of jointly defeating the goddess Columbia."

"If communication or cooperation is not possible, then prioritize your own safety. If necessary, you can decide to release memes to escape... Although you can't defeat them, your meme release is still top-notch for escaping, right?"

He said this.

V rose and bowed to him, saying:
"As you wish... my voice is your voice. But if I may be frank, if I were to separate from my Master, what if the Committee's Servants took this opportunity to assassinate me..."

"I'm not as fragile as you think... Argo!"

Zhou Liqi said directly.

As the sound of "Argo" filled the air, the view outside the windows of the entire operations room was plunged into darkness.

It seemed as if some enormous object was hovering above the building.

Or perhaps it had actually been hovering there all along.

"It was her main cannon that completely destroyed that level seven adjustment factor back then... With her support and protection, we can at least hold out until you return to defend."

Zhou Li prayed.

V seemed to want to say something more, but in the end he just nodded.

He then flicked his cloak and disappeared from everyone's sight like a gust of wind.

After V left, Zhou Liqi turned around and looked at his companions.

Those people were also looking at him with great enthusiasm.

Decades have passed, and now we can finally hear the captain's words...

"Then, everyone, let's board and set sail!"

Zhou Liqi responded to their expectations.

The crowd erupted in thunderous cheers.

Amidst the cheers and applause, a trace of inappropriate melancholy flashed through Zhou Liqi's heart.

in case……

He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but he couldn't help thinking about it.