However, now the opponent is far ahead of her, and after using up those best nodes, competing is actually quite disadvantageous for Miss Ship's Officer. But no matter how disadvantageous, it seems unnecessary to connect laterally.

Lateral connection, aside from wasting the time of one node, doesn't seem to have any meaning that he can see.

And at the thirteenth and fourteenth nodes, Hilveld also did not choose the optimal solution. If the choice of the twelfth node was to avoid the opponent's path, Fang Hong could still understand.

Then for the next two choices, he really couldn't make any sense of them.

Fang Hong couldn't help but scratch his head, wondering whether Hilveld made a mistake or if he didn't understand. However, for something related to Alchemist at this level, it's really rare for him not to understand.

Not only him, Zheng Yongzai was also completely puzzled.

Honestly, he initially noticed that his opponent was somewhat inexperienced, but despite the inexperience, the level was still very high. After some initial clumsy struggles, the opponent quickly caught up considerably. But from the twelfth node, it seemed as if the other party got lost, repeatedly circling at the lower level.

When he completed half of the course, the opponent was still at one third of the way.

But after looking a little longer, Sonan Steelbrow, beside him, reminded him: "Don't get distracted, kid." But the Dwarf turned his head to glance at that light spot of Hilveld's, couldn't help but raise his thick brows, watching this scene, a gleam flashed in his eyes.

The match was proceeding in an orderly manner, and it seemed that the outcome had been quite evident from mid-race. One side was far ahead, and in such a situation, it's generally impossible for the other side to have a chance to turn the tables.

However, the first to notice the anomaly and speak up was actually Luo Yu:

"Miss Hilveld seems to be catching up..."

At the fifty-fifth node, the gap between the two players narrowed for the first time.

This doesn't mean that Hilveld's node connection speed increased. In fact, Zheng Yongzai had already connected to the sixty-third node, the leading node count had expanded from six earlier to eight now.

But unfortunately, this competition was not about who connects more nodes to win, but about who reaches the finish line first—

Although the opponent connected more nodes, the overall progress, on the contrary, was shrinking their advantage.

"What's going on?"

Zheng Yongzai was also startled internally.

In a flat plane, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line; this is an obvious principle.

Although in most Artisan League events, solo speed races are not the main event, just like solo games in earlier years were always just exhibition items. But over the years, a consensus had already been reached, that the straight line through the center of the Star Sphere is a path that must be contested—

And he had evidently traveled far on this path, the opponent couldn't possibly catch up, no matter what.

If it were someone else, they would surely focus, ignoring others and solely concentrate on further extending their advantage. After all, although the opponent is pursuing, his lead is not small, but at this time, Zheng Yongzai found his old problem surfacing again.

When he noticed his advantage shrinking, he couldn't help but nervously check where exactly the problem was.

And seeing his expression, Sonan Steelbrow knew what the young man was thinking and couldn't help but shake his head. Distraction is a major taboo for both participants and professional craftsmen.

A craftsman is actually a very introverted profession; no matter how big the issue, it has to wait until the work at hand is completed with full concentration before addressing it.

It's not that you can't summarize experiences and lessons, but that's something for afterward.

Sure enough, Zheng Yongzai became somewhat distracted, and his hands slowed down, watching helplessly as Hilveld caught up quite a bit more. At that time, he was truly anxious; Vikki's voice seemed to be calling his name, but mixed in the noisy hall, it felt as distant as the sky.

That tone was very familiar, with a hint of disappointment—

But the young man took a deep breath. At that moment, he suddenly recalled his last trainee assessment, his heart somehow suddenly much calmer.

Despite his various flaws, he had ultimately arrived on this stage. Everyone who reached this point is indeed an outstanding young generation Alchemist, as is he.

After hesitating for a while, he finally understood what Hilveld was doing.

And on the other side of the Crystal, Fang Hong had realized this point a little earlier than him.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

But the shortest straight line does not necessarily mean the shortest process.

The Star Sphere is a sphere, and the distribution of structural points inside is not uniform; the closer to the center, the denser they are. And the speed of connection between two points doesn't depend on the distance between them.

In other words, there is actually a shortcut in solo speed races, which is to choose a path where the intervals between points are as long as possible, so that even though it seems like taking a detour, it might actually be much faster.

But among the thousands of structural points within the Star Sphere, which Invoker would have the leisure to find such a path?

After all, in the Artisan League, there is no title like SOLO King.

Only in the thousand-year history of Eteliria Alchemists.

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