Volume 7: Doing Business with the World Chapter 213 Ball Grabbing Game
Among the twelve knights invited to participate in the competition, some were borrowed from the Adventurer's Guild, some were borrowed from Lola, some were borrowed from Viscount Pope, and some were hired with money.
The knight's profession is both offensive and defensive. Cavalry combat focuses on offense, while infantry combat focuses on defense. However... the knight's offense is more suitable for large-scale group battles in open areas. When there is only one opponent and the playing field is limited to 50X50 meters, the knights will naturally not bring their mounts onto the field.
I watched the last match between Xiaohua and seven walkers. These knights came from different forces and races - yes, there was also a plain elf knight, a barbarian knight, and a sea knight - and were divided into three groups according to their abilities after a half-hour pre-match discussion. After the start of the match, they divided into three groups to attack Yu who was standing on the field.
And when the twelve knights rushed towards him at the same time, Yu chose to break through the middle lane without hesitation and rushed towards the "weakest" shield knight Isaac in the middle lane group.
The other three knights realized something was wrong the moment Yu counterattacked and quickly moved to evade. However, Isaac, who was holding a shield, was slow to react, or he thought that his defense was high enough and he might be able to hold on. He hesitated for a moment and was tragically knocked away by Yu's spear...
Although Yu doesn't look particularly fierce and even seems a little dull, he is the strongest warrior of the Fire Department!
When he weighed "only" 130 kilograms, he could withstand the giant axe thrown by the Nightmare Knight head-on!
Now, Yu weighs 140 kilograms!
And he is not a fat man, but a muscular and flexible man... It can be seen how terrifying the muscle density of his body is!
The force that knocked Isaac away neutralized the inertial momentum of Yu's sudden sprint. His right foot stepped forward to create a deep pit on the ground, and his waist drove his upper body to rotate sharply. The spear that had just swept Isaac away chased after the spear knight Wayne who was moving horizontally!
Among the knight brothers, the younger brother Wayne was more powerful than his older brother Edward. In a hurry, Wayne crossed the spear, spread his legs, lowered his waist, and the spear that swept over like a meteor hit the spear with a "clang".
Wayne's face changed. The strong impact force was transmitted from the gun to his arms and then to his whole body. His feet, which were in a defensive posture, slid back half a meter and plowed two shallow pits on the ground.
Yu seemed a little surprised that Wayne blocked the attack, but he did not take advantage of the situation to pursue him. Instead, he retracted his wrist, retreated his spear, and then pulled it to the right rear with his backhand. His body turned sharply again, drawing a gorgeous and extremely dangerous spear flower.
With a "bang", another knight who was holding a war hammer and trying to suppress Yu from the flank was hit in the chest and staggered back several steps before he could steady himself.
After defeating the formation of the middle team, Yu suddenly squatted down and jumped several meters in an instant. He merged himself with the spear and rushed towards the left team as fiercely as a crossbow arrow fired from a siege crossbow!
Elro, the shield knight of the left team and the family knight of the Philip family, shouted and took the initiative to come forward!
The sound of violent collision rang out again. Although Elro was not knocked away directly like Isaac, he staggered back three or four steps before he was able to barely dissipate the remaining force!
The strongest shield knight was repelled. Although the other three also held shields, it was obvious that they were no longer able to stop Yu. Yu quickly selected the weakest one among them, and with a few "clang clang clang" thrusts of his spear, knocking the man to the ground...
The other two people in the same group looked terribly pale and hurried to find Elro to "huddle together"...
And Yu followed up again!
“……!!” The audience was speechless and couldn’t even scream.
In the audience seats directly south, the human warrior and his dark elf ranger friend almost dropped their jaws.
"Is there such a huge difference in the strength between the Snow Wolf warriors?!" The Dark Elf Ranger gritted his teeth and said, "No, that little flower was just acting! The last fight was just a 'fake fight'!"
VIP area west, guest player lounge.
In front of the observation window, Viper Korf, who was wearing a hood and mask, turned his head stiffly and looked at Alex: "You... you were just swept by that little flower's spear tail once and slapped once..."
Ali rubbed his still painful side with a grimace, "Yeah, Xiaohua said she wouldn't really hit me, otherwise I would have fallen to my knees a long time ago, and I wouldn't have been able to hold out for more than 20 minutes."
Six specially invited travelers: "..."
"Black Flame" Sarati, who showed his true face, didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "No wonder the spear tip that hit me was retracted halfway - then what were we fighting just now?!"
"The Snow Wolves aren't afraid of piercing. We, the travelers, will be at a disadvantage if we fight them." Ali said with a smile, "So, we can fight them however we want. If Xiaohua wants to win, she has to catch us and throw us out. If she injures us, she loses. We won't be at a disadvantage."
Six specially invited travelers: "..."
If they didn't come to fight and win or lose, they would earn 100 gold coins, which is equivalent to their annual income, these guys would definitely team up to beat up Alex...
Ali noticed that everyone looked unhappy, and took a few steps back carefully. "Hey, don't be so angry. If you didn't play the last game longer, there wouldn't be so many people willing to bet on the red team this time, right? If the tournament team loses money, where will our compensation come from? The seven of us will receive 700 gold coins just for our hard work, and we need to eat!"
The travelers were silent for a while, and tacitly... turned their attention to the competition field.
A spellcaster can earn 10 gold coins for just showing up, but it's not that easy for others to make money. Running errands for others, delivering goods, accompanying young men shopping and picking up girls, etc., who hasn't done this when they are down and out - forget it, you have to make a living!
"Xiaohua performed well in the last show, and the lottery sales for this show exceeded 12,000."
In the VIP room, Xiao Yun said to Viscount Pope with a smile, "There's no need to hold back on this one. We can finish the fight in ten minutes. Excluding the blue team's win-loss ticket and a few odds tickets, we can make at least eight or nine thousand. Isaac's money spent on repairing the stadium will be recovered several times over."
Viscount Pope was naturally very happy, because he made money.
But he was still a little worried: "Is Isaac okay? That blow just now was not light."
"It's okay. He is a second-level knight after all and can take a beating. Those adventurers in the Elf Port who were not wearing armor were thrown more than ten meters away by our people for a long time, and they were still alive and kicking after getting up." Xiao Yun said.
Viscount Pope: “…” Well, he, who can barely ride a horse, really doesn’t understand the professional world.
On the field, five minutes after the game started, the second-level knights who were there to make up the numbers, including Wayne, were defeated by Yu, leaving only four third-level knights - the Shield Knight Elro, and three alien knights.
In the sixth minute, the Sea Knight (Octopus) tried to use his own strength to push Yu out of the court, but Yu used the force to push himself out.
In the seventh minute, the Barbarian Knight came on the scene.
In the ninth minute, the Plains Elf Knight, who had fought Yu alone with his agility, admitted defeat...
The audience angrily threw the tickets that had become waste paper into the air. The audience who bought the blue team's single-odds winning and losing tickets, and the few who were more adventurous and bought the blue team's winning tickets within ten minutes, cheered desperately...
When Xiaohua came out to thank the audience together with Yu, the whole audience cheered - even the audience who lost money (the upper limit of betting for two games in ordinary seats was only 20 silver coins) did not hesitate to applaud.
Needless to say, Yu repelled twelve knights within ten minutes, and even if he was thrown into the front battlefield, he would definitely be a humanoid self-propelled chariot that rushed forward recklessly; and Xiaohua, although the professional strong men sitting in the audience saw belatedly that the first fight was a "fake fight", the strength he showed was worthy of their recognition - not everyone can catch a slippery walker with his hands without injuring the opponent.
Standing in the center of the stadium, feeling the cheers from the entire crowd and watching countless people waving their arms towards them, the two Snow Wolf warriors couldn't help but smile.
Especially when they raised their arms in response to the audience's cheers, the rhythmic, emotional voices of countless strangers shouting their names in unison made Yu and Xiaohua feel overwhelmed.
"Ayun is right. I am unpopular because I am not strong enough." Xiaohua was very excited and said in a loud voice, "Maomao, I want to be stronger, like you... no, stronger than you!"
"Okay." Yu Zheng nodded.
The two smiled at each other and bumped their shoulders against each other.
"Next..." Edward held the sound shell to his lips and shouted loudly to the audience, "The Snow Wolf Tribe from the prairie across the Inland Sea will show us their most exciting, fierce and true warrior sport - the Snow Wolf War Ball Game!"
On the east side of the VIP area, in the passage leading from the Snow Wolf Clan lounge to the competition venue, twenty Snow Wolf Clan warriors, each one stronger than the last, suddenly walked out.
After walking down the stairs, the twenty warriors took a deep breath and roared at the same time: "Roar - roar roar roar!!"
Yu and Xiaohua turned around at the same time, distanced themselves from each other, and growled threateningly at each other and the audience: "Roar!!"
The twenty-two warriors quickly divided into two sides, following Yu or Xiaohua, confronting the opposite side, some raised their arms, some slapped their chests, some growled threateningly, and some roared intimidatingly; the dangerous and primitive roars intertwined and entangled, and actually suppressed the cheers of the audience.
The audience sitting in the front row couldn't help but cover their ears. Even the audience sitting in the last row were on edge . The instinctive warning made their scalps tingle and their goose bumps appear one after another.
The primitive, bestial roar of the wolves swept the entire venue. After being shocked, the audience felt that the aggressive genes in their genes were ignited. Even the women were so excited that their blood surged up and they once again cheered wildly to the sky...
Dozens of staff members worked together to carry the Snow Wolf armor onto the field. When the warriors put on the armor in public, the staff removed the bricks and stones that surrounded the field and cleared the battlefield - the drama projection stage used in the morning had been dismantled at noon.
Edward took out a small notebook and explained the rules of war ball to the audience during the preparation.
Since kicking the ball was not considered, there were no goals on the battlefield. Soldiers scored by running along the sidelines or passing the ball into the end zone.
In addition to eliminating kicking, the Snow Wolf Warball also changes the rules of American football:
First, the four-quarter system of the game was cancelled, and only the first and second halves were retained (authentic American football has a two-minute break in the first and third quarters, and the two sides exchange venues), with each half lasting thirty minutes.
Secondly, the exchange of offensive and defensive players is cancelled (authentic American football is divided into offensive and defensive groups). 11 people play the entire game, responsible for both offense and defense, and there are only two opportunities to replace players in the middle.
Finally, passing the ball farther than ten meters is prohibited… otherwise, with the Snow Wolf Clan’s arm strength and accuracy, they can score a touchdown with two or three long passes, so what’s the point!
The original rules of American football are not many, and after being modified into the Snow Wolf Tribe War Ball, they are even simpler:
The two sides kick off in the middle of the field, the side that grabs the ball attacks and the other side defends.
The offensive team can pass the ball or run with the ball to the opponent's touchdown zone, and the defensive team can use any means to chase and intercept the ball. As long as the ball is grabbed by the defensive team, the offensive team can launch an immediate counterattack. If the offensive team fails to get the ball back until it is intercepted, the offense and defense will switch.
If the ball goes out of bounds, the attacking team gets another chance to attack.
If the attacking side fails to advance ten meters after three consecutive attacks, the offense and defense will switch.
A passing touchdown is worth one point, a running touchdown is worth two points. If the points are equal at the end of the game, there will be 15 minutes of overtime.
After putting on 30 kilograms of armor, the Snow Wolf warriors, whose bodies had expanded even more, walked to the sidelines to show off their muscles to the audience. The audience in the front row excitedly stretched out their hands to touch the warriors' inhumanly strong bodies. Those who touched them screamed in surprise, without showing any fear at all...
Some people also asked why there is no lottery for war ball games…
In the VIP room, Xiao Yun, who was delighted with this scene, smiled with his eyes narrowed.
Xiaohua's match and Yu's match showed off their muscles, and also demonstrated to the audience the charm of the Snow Wolf Tribe that combines "safety and danger" - the Snow Wolf Tribe is very strong, but at the same time, the Snow Wolf Tribe is not a group of barbarians without wisdom who act recklessly, but an intelligent race that knows how to abide by the rules!
Rules are always good things, whether they are the strong who establish the rules or the weak who live under the protection of the rules - those middle school boys on the earth who shout that there are no rules and oppose rules, if they are really thrown into Syria, Haiti, or the slums of Africa, Xiao Yun will lose if he can survive for 24 hours without crying to go home...
After watching two matches, Prince Maurice was about to leave. When he stood up, he found that twenty-two muscular monsters had come on the field and were divided into two sides. They were all wearing heavy armor, so Prince Maurice sat back down.
"Ball-grabbing game?" After listening to the host Edward's introduction of the rules, Prince Maurice seemed dissatisfied and said to Laura critically, "This is meaningless. It would be better if both sides had a hundred-man free-for-all. Isn't this the most popular 'game' among the orcs?"
Laura glared at Prince Morris unhappily and pouted, "Your Highness, how do you know it's boring when you haven't even seen it yet? Are you a prophet?"
The Duke's son, who was sitting on the other side, looked at Laura like a little brother looking at a big sister... although he was actually about the same age as the deceased Marcus.
"Okay." Prince Maurice was not angry at all. He even spread his hands to express his helplessness. "Big dogs always like to play with balls. I hope they can have more fun."
Prince Maurice had not said this for five minutes before he was slapped in the face.
The two teams of Snow Wolf warriors lined up on both sides of the center line. Edward, the part-time referee, swallowed nervously, carried a three-pound oval-shaped war ball filled with rubber and covered with cowhide, walked to the center of the two teams, yelled to Yin Bei to kick off, threw the ball hard into the air, and quickly fled the battlefield...
Yu and Xiaohua, who served as quarterbacks, squatted down almost simultaneously, jumped straight up, and reached out to grab the ball.
Two giants, nearly 2.3 meters tall and weighing over 280 grams, collided in the air, and with a "bang", they bounced away at the same time, and neither of them got the upper hand.
The soldiers standing in the front row rushed forward to grab the ball, and the soldiers standing in the back row rushed forward to stop the other side from grabbing the ball. Amid the collision, some were bounced away, some were knocked sideways, some were pressed to the ground, and some wrestled savagely with their evenly matched enemies...
A cornerback/running back from Xiaohua's team grabbed the ball and just after running two steps behind Yu's team, he collided with Xiaohua and fell to the ground. Then Yu jumped up like a spring, rushed out from the side, and violently knocked the player away.
He was really knocked away... The huge body of this team member flew farther than Isaac who was knocked away, and directly hit the guardrail of the audience seats which was made of cement and welded into the iron pipes. With a loud "bang--cracking!", cracks appeared on the cement base and the iron pipes were bent.
Although he didn't crash into the audience, he still scared the audience in the front row...
Laura, who was far enough away and sitting in the safe VIP room, was so shocked that her hands were shaking.
Prince Maurice even hissed and took a breath of cold air...
Just the kick-off scramble shocked the audience to the point of twitching their eyes and tingling their scalps - these guys were really ruthless to their own people! Even more brutal than the previous fighting match!
To the west of the VIP area is the lounge for specially invited players.
The travelers are fine and their emotions are relatively stable.
The knights were shocked and upset - it turned out that Yu had shown mercy to them before?!
Edward trotted over to the soldier who was knocked out of bounds and saw that he had quickly gotten up, holding the ball tightly in his hands, raising his hands and shouting, "Little Flower Team's ball, Little Flower Team gets the offensive right!"
No matter how badly the Little Flower team members were hit, they all jumped up and cheered as if nothing had happened...
Edward doesn't need to play in the next game, he can just stand far away and shout.
Xiaohua, who was the quarterback, threw the ball to the soldier who had grabbed the ball earlier, and then he pounced fiercely like Yu...
The sound of brutal collisions rang out again. The fighters who were trying to intercept each other used all kinds of methods, such as sliding tackles, grappling, and bumping, protecting teammates who were running, and knocking away the opponent's players... After all, they were all wearing armor, and their already full resistance to attacks was further improved, so they could be as fierce as they wanted...
Yu was having a hard time getting rid of Xiaohua, and the opponent's runner ran several meters in the blink of an eye. He simply grabbed a teammate and threw him out brutally, knocking him down...
The opponent didn't expect this trick at all, and he was knocked away and the ball slipped out of his hands; the soldier acting as a "human weapon" quickly got up and hugged the ball.
“That’s also possible—!!” In the south audience seats, the dark elf ranger and his human warrior friend roared ferociously.
Modern people pay attention to the sense of attack when playing action online games, and action movies can sell high box office, not to mention this world; the Snow Wolf-style war ball, which is many times more intense than the ball games played by humans, has just exchanged offense and defense, and the audience's blood is boiling and adrenaline is soaring. Even the most elegant elves can't help but scream...
"The Badminton Team advances twenty meters!"
"Out of bounds!"
"Team Badminton advances 15 meters!"
"The feather team advances..."
"The feather team touches down and scores!"
"Team Xiaohua attacks!"
"Team Xiaohua advances ten meters!"
"Team Xiaohua advances twenty meters!"
"Out of bounds!"
Edward was not a qualified commentator, but the simple rules of war ball and the fierce and exciting conflict between the two teams did not require him to exaggerate the atmosphere; when the Little Flower Team, which had lost the ball once and was struggling to advance step by step when launching the attack again, finally scored a point, the cheers from the whole stadium were more shocking than any previous time.
"Well done, Team Flower!!"
"Who was that runner who scored? Tell me his name!"
"That's amazing! He dragged a person into the scoring area. That's amazing! Ahhhh why is it so amazing!"
"Come on, Yu, grab the ball! Score another point!!"
When the game started again, the two quarterbacks rushed towards each other without grabbing the ball. Before they collided with each other, they were both tackled by several players from the other team. They stretched out their unyielding hands from the crowd with difficulty...
"Ahahahaha! Are they all planning on killing the opposing captain first? Ahahahaha!!"
In the ordinary audience seats, young people slapped their thighs and laughed until tears came out.
This time, the middle-aged man did not despise his disciple. He stared at the bouncing ball with great concentration.
The centers, wingers, and quarterbacks of both teams collided with each other, and the other players rushed for the ball. The running back of the Little Flower team was lucky enough to catch the bouncing ball in his arms, and the three ferocious opponents pounced on him like hungry wolves.
This warrior was one of the few agile warriors in the Snow Wolf Clan, similar to Hongye and Ashan. He immediately squatted and jumped, stepping over the heads of the three men.
“Aaaaaaaa——!!”
This scene was so exciting that even though the soldier was knocked down by others after he jumped over, the audience still howled wildly as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
"What a pity, it was just a close one!" Prince Maurice was completely unaware that he had been slapped in the face, and he left his seat and walked to the viewing window without knowing when. When he saw that the player who had previously scored was intercepted, he pounded the windowsill with his hand in regret.
The prince's bodyguard was afraid that he would get too excited and fall, but he didn't dare to pull the prince back to his seat, so he was very worried...
The ball of the Xiaohua team was snatched away by the badminton team during the next attack. The badminton team immediately launched a counterattack and was stopped after crossing the center line.
Prince Maurice was so angry that he jumped up and down: "What the hell! Protect the ball! Do you want to play properly, you bastards?!"
The thinner son of the Duke stood on the right side of the prince, his face flushed with excitement, and he slammed the windowsill with his hands, which were whiter and more delicate than a woman's. He forgot what pain was. "Stop Yu! The two balls were taken away by Yu! Overwhelm him! Don't let him go!!"
Laura stood on the left side of the prince, cupped her hands into a trumpet, and shouted with all her might: "Xiaohua, come on! Xiaohua, come on!"
Master Eddie, who was sitting alone, said: "..."
Being too unsociable is not a good thing, so Master Eddie could only stand up silently and stand by the window.
The resentful Master Eddie glanced at Morris secretly.
So... the ball-grabbing game is boring?
