ARML CH86

Peak Matches were entirely based on random matchmaking. After winning this game, Chi Shuo quickly started the next one, and Ye Shaoyang also continued to solo-queue. The two didn’t bump into each other again, so the CP/Shipping fans had to dig for material themselves.

Digging and digging, everyone discovered a shocking secret—Captain Chi’s alt account used for streaming today was [Jungler No. 8], and the number one boss on Xiao Bai’s gift leaderboard, the one who tipped 200,000 torpedoes, was also named [Jungler No. 8].

The CP fans transformed into little detectives, going through VODs from months ago based on the gift leaderboard timestamps. Soon, someone found the video of Jungler No. 8 tipping the streamer Xiao Bai.

At that time, Boss Jungler tipped 100,000 torpedoes in one breath and added Xiao Bai as a friend under the excuse of “Streamer, boost my rank.” The two started playing Ranked, bumped into the trio-queue from Team Jingzhe, and Xiao Bai’s win streak was ended. Afterwards, his younger cousin Xiao Rui went offline, and Streamer Xiao Bai duo-queued with Boss Jungler, achieving a 7-game win streak through mid-jungle synergy.

The second wave of gifts was sent after Xiao Bai earned the National Server Badge for [Abyssal Lord].

In the #Sun and Moon Shine Together# Super Topic Square, someone clipped this video and analyzed: “So the person sending gifts in the stream was Captain Chi, right? Yangyang also said in his interview that it was Captain Chi and Coach Lin who discovered him and signed him to Tianhuan.”

“Captain Chi discovered the highly potential streamer Xiao Bai during his newbie phase, tipped him gifts, added him as a friend, signed him to Tianhuan, and overcame all objections to convince the coaching staff to make Xiao Bai the starting mid-laner. During matches, to let Xiao Bai perform well, he willingly acted as a utility jungle and gave him the Blue Buff the entire time… Wuwu, what a god-tier romance; I’m shipping this so hard!”

“The sister above makes it sound so real; this CP is a bit sweet~”

“Sun and Moon CP, investing in this won’t be a loss!”

The number of people silently shipping and enjoying the “sugar” in the Super Topic Square increased. However, no one spoke out of turn in the live stream’s bullet screen, so Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang had no idea their CP fandom had quietly been born.

Ye Shaoyang continued to play Peak Matches. His fans asked him to use [Abyssal Lord], so in his second game, he continued to use this hero to show off and stomp the enemy. Even without Chi Shuo’s help, he could still carry the game.

Tonight, his luck seemed quite good. The teammates he matched with all played very seriously, and coupled with his increasingly smooth mechanics, Ye Shaoyang directly secured a 5-game win streak in the Peak Matches.

Approaching midnight, Ye Shaoyang closed the game and rested for a moment, telling the netizens in his stream: “The Peak Match entrance closes at 12. I don’t feel like sleeping just yet, so I’ll play a couple more rounds of Ranked later.”

Many people in the stream began spamming the chat—

[Go ask Captain Chi to duo-queue!]
[I have both your streams open; Captain Chi also said he doesn’t want to sleep.]
[What esports player sleeps at 12 AM? Today is the weekend; play until 3 AM for me~]
[Yangyang, play for two more hours; I haven’t watched enough yet!]

Ye Shaoyang got up to use the restroom. When he returned to his seat, he happened to receive a private message on his phone. It was from Chi Shuo: “A lot of people in my stream are asking me to duo-queue with you. Are you sleepy? If not, want to play two casual games?”

Ye Shaoyang replied: “Sure, invite me.”

Chi Shuo’s [Jungler No. 8] alt account was already exposed in the pro circle. Since Ye Shaoyang signed with Tianhuan, everyone could definitely guess that the one who tipped Xiao Bai back then was Chi Shuo, so there was no need to hide it.

He used his alt account to invite Ye Shaoyang to the party.

Both of them had been busy with practice this season. Their international server accounts only hit King a few days ago and were currently hovering around King 5 Stars, which was considered a low-tier match in the King bracket.

However, their win rate exceeded 88%, their hidden MMR was incredibly high, and the opponents they matched against would be very strong.

It was their day off today, and the coach didn’t care how late they played. The streaming effect was great tonight with lots of viewers. The other three teammates were already planning to grind until 3 AM, and Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo also wanted to stream a bit longer to pad their streaming hours; otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to finish their 30-hour monthly streaming quota.

After the two formed a team, Chi Shuo casually asked, out of concern, “Are you tired? Do you want to go drink a glass of water first?”

The adult Alpha’s deep and gentle voice caused many people in the stream to scream that their ears were pregnant.

Ye Shaoyang smiled and said, “Not tired. Ready to queue.”

Chi Shuo clicked Ready, and the two quickly entered the matchmaking queue.

Major domestic teams rarely forced players to practice in the middle of the night. Therefore, the time slot after 12 AM was the peak period for pro players to play Ranked. For players with streaming quotas, starting a stream after midnight was a common occurrence.

Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang found a match.

When they saw the ID [Fangfang Zhengzheng] appear in the lobby list, both were simultaneously rendered speechless.

Fang Zhengqing was also speechless, slowly typing two question marks in the team chat: “??”

[Xiao Bai]: Hello, Captain Fang ^_^
[Jungler No. 8]: Solo-queue?
[Fangfang Zhengzheng]: Yeah, looks like I won’t be able to finish my streaming quota.
[Fangfang Zhengzheng]: If I don’t stream for a few more hours, my bonus will be deducted.

The fans in the stream instantly grew excited.

[Aww, Captain Fang! They actually matched with Captain Fang!]
[I’m a bit curious who is on the enemy team; the hidden MMR must be super high.]
[Holy crap, this side has Shuoyue, Lieyang, and Fangfang—three Great Gods. The other side must have Great Gods too, right? According to the matchmaking mechanism, the win rates of the teammates in this game are going to be terrifying!]
[Probably another pro player traffic collision accident [Doge.jpg]]

In the team chat, the two matched randoms were also thrilled.

[Bunny Princess]: Captain Fang! I want to take a screenshot as a souvenir!
[Loss Streak Delete Game]: Xiao Bai, is this the recently popular Lieyang?
[Bunny Princess]: So Jungler No. 8 is Captain Chi? Ahhh, what kind of god-tier luck do I have!

Now things were getting lively.

With Fang Zhengqing and Ye Shaoyang matched together, how would the two mid-laners play?

Ye Shaoyang took the initiative to type: “Captain Fang can take mid; I’ll fill.”

Captain Fang was a veteran player after all; as a rookie, it would be too thoughtless for him to fight Fang Zhengqing for the mid-lane. Besides, Ye Shaoyang actually really wanted to see how Chi Shuo and Fang Zhengqing’s mid-jungle synergy would turn out.

[Fangfang Zhengzheng]: Xiao Bai is letting me have mid?
[Fangfang Zhengzheng]: Okay, then I’ll play Mid Laner.
[Jungler No. 8]: I’ll play Jungler.
[Bunny Princess]: I’ll play Support. What will Xiao Bai pick?
[Xiao Bai]: I’ll fill, you guys pick first.
[Loss Streak Delete Game]: I can only play marksman decently. Xiao Bai, can you play Top Laner?
[Xiao Bai]: Sure.

Both sides quickly selected their team comps.

Their side: [Black Dragon Knight] top, [King of Fighters] jungle, [Cobra King] mid, and the bottom lane duo were the two randoms playing [Holy Spirit Archer] and [Forest Envoy].

The enemy team: [Vampire Duke] top, [Fighter] jungle, [World-Ending Mage] mid, and the bottom lane was [Poison Warlock] and [Dark Priest].

After entering the match loading screen, a massive wave of bullet screens flooded the stream—

[Holy shit, laughing my ass off, the enemy bot lane is Jingzhe’s A-Yuan and Momo duo!]

[Fangfang Zhengzheng (Square & Upright), Yuanyuan Runrun (Round & Smooth)… the naming style of your alt accounts is quite unique.]

[The Jingzhe Poison Comp is split into two sides. Can Old Fang be ruthless enough to kill his own marksman?]

[The enemy top laner is Beimu’s Reporter Zhao, hahaha. I’m watching his stream on Little Bear TV, his channel was finally unbanned! [Scatter Flowers Celebration.jpg]]

[Today’s match is so lively! Watchers don’t mind a big fuss, start fighting, start fighting!]

Netizens who saw the IDs of both sides excitedly blew up the comment section.

In the game’s Global Chat—

[Yuanyuan Runrun]: Why is Captain Fang on the other side? Are you abandoning us, Captain Fang~

[Fangfang Zhengzheng]: Shh, I’m just an undercover agent on the other side.

[Jungler No. 8]: ……

[Reporter Zhao]: What the fuck?

[Reporter Zhao]: Just you wait, Old Fang. I’m specifically going to flank and dive you this game!

[Fangfang Zhengzheng]: Don’t dive me, go dive my jungler. He’s Chi Shuo.

[Fangfang Zhengzheng]: Oh right, he also brought his Xiao Bai.

[Xiao Bai]: Hello, Great Gods ^_^

Everyone: …………

What kind of matchmaking system was this?
It threw a bunch of pro players with 80%+ win rates all into the same game.

On Little Bear TV, in the Beimu Team’s Zhao Xin’an’s stream, he couldn’t help but say: “Grass grass grass, a type of plant, I’m not swearing!”

The viewers in the stream were dying of laughter. Xiao Zhao had finally gotten unbanned; he better not get banned again.

Netizens started placing bets.

[I bet on the Blue team winning. After all, it’s Captain Chi and Captain Fang’s mid-jungle synergy.]
[I bet on the Red team. Jingzhe’s duo lane is bot, and Xiao Zhao is top. Both side lanes are strong.]
[The Blue team has randoms as support + marksman, the Red team has randoms as mid + jungle. The odds are 50-50, right?]

The randoms who got matched into this game were completely dumbfounded.
Was this a case of immortals fighting while mortals suffered?

The enemy mid-lane player: “Captain Fang, please don’t insta-kill me, I’m so scared of your little snakes.”
The enemy bottom-lane player: “God Xie, please push the tower a bit slower. Let me defend for 6 minutes before you push~”

At the start of the game, everyone was busy typing in chat.

It wasn’t until 1 minute and 30 seconds when the minion waves and buffs appeared. The enemy jungler was an ordinary gamer and didn’t come to counter-jungle Chi Shuo’s Blue Buff; he obediently farmed his own jungle. Chi Shuo quickly arrived at the Blue Buff camp to take it, and Fang Zhengqing followed closely behind.

Seeing Chi Shuo whittle the Blue Buff down to low health, Fang Zhengqing pinged: [Initiate Retreat]!
Chi Shuo simultaneously pinged: [Initiate Retreat]!

Stream Viewers: “…”

This looked exactly like the scene of a Jungler and Mid Laner fighting over the Blue Buff when matching with randoms in Ranked.

Fang Zhengqing said in the voice chat: “Give me the Blue.”

Chi Shuo instantly killed the Blue Buff with a Smite and said flatly: “No.”

Fang Zhengqing raised an eyebrow. “You were always giving Xiao Bai the Blue earlier, weren’t you? If the mid-laner gets the Blue, they can fast-push.”

Chi Shuo replied: “Xiao Bai is my mid-laner. Are you?”

Fang Zhengqing: “…”

Friendship ended. Deleting WeChat right now.

The netizens in the stream were dying of laughter.

[Discussing the different treatments of Captain Fang and Xiao Bai.]
[Captain Chi implies: Xiao Bai is my mid-laner, I’m happy to give him the Blue. Who are you? Why should I give it to you?]
[Friends are only meant to take an extra life from you when playing a match.]
[Captain Fang, go delete his WeChat right now!]

For this match, Ye Shaoyang picked the top laner [Black Dragon Knight]. He hadn’t practiced this hero privately, but Old Qin played it every day, so he knew the hero’s mechanical tricks. Moreover, the Black Dragon Knight was a thick-skinned tank making him hard to kill. Even laning against the league’s top-tier top laner, Reporter Zhao, he wasn’t afraid of losing health.

In this game, the top lane was Ye Shaoyang vs. Zhao Xin’an. Because Ye Shaoyang’s hero was a tank, he wouldn’t get solo killed and could withstand Zhao Xin’an’s pressure. In the mid-lane, Fang Zhengqing could suppress the random mid-laner. In the bottom lane, the Xie Yuan and Li Yunmo duo would have no problem stomping the random marksman. Looking at the three lanes, the odds of winning for both sides were 50-50.

The key to victory still lay in the junglers’ roaming and team fight performance.

[Captain Fang and Captain Chi have been old friends for years; their synergy should be very tacit!]
[Looking forward to Captain Fang and Captain Chi’s mid-jungle synergy~]

Netizens unaware of the truth excitedly spammed the screen.

At this moment, many people still didn’t know the story from the Star City Youth Training Camp back in the day: When Chi Shuo and Fang Zhengqing played mid-jungle synergy, one would die and the other would feed, resulting in a 10-game loss streak in Ranked.