ARML CH95

“Congratulations to Team Tianhuan for winning this match 2:0!”

“The MVP of the second game goes to Lieyang once again. His [Flower Fairy] secured 10 kills, and his 1-for-3 trade play was incredibly flashy. With such a KDA, he is undoubtedly the best player of this match!”

“Let us give our applause to Tianhuan once more!”

“Currently, Tianhuan is 2:0 in all three of their Group B matches, with a net win score of 6 points, placing them in first.”

“Let’s take a look at the Group B leaderboard.”

The current points for the 6 teams in Group B were displayed on the large screen.

“Tianhuan has 6 points, CYC has 4 points, AT and MID both have 3 points, TNG has 1 point, and BOB currently still has 0 points. Over the next two weeks, Tianhuan will face their final two Group B opponents—AT and MID.”

“Theoretically, as long as Tianhuan doesn’t lose 0:2 twice in a row, they are guaranteed to advance from Group B!”

“Yes, both AT and MID have previously lost to CYC. Therefore, looking at their strength on paper, the chances of Tianhuan experiencing an upset against these two teams are relatively small.”

“Tianhuan this season has truly made people look at them in a new light. Especially with the addition of the new mid-laner Lieyang, Tianhuan’s tactics have become much richer and their composition drafts more novel. Let’s look forward to Team Tianhuan’s performance in the upcoming schedule! At the same time, let’s also give our applause to Team CYC, who performed excellently in this match!”

When Chi Shuo took off his headset, he heard deafening screams and applause erupting at the venue.

Looking toward the audience, a group of fans in the back row was excitedly waving posters, with some shouting loudly: “Yangyang, marry me!” “Yangyang, I love you!”

Ye Shaoyang’s popularity recently was like the sun at high noon.

Not only had his Weibo followers surpassed ten million, but the number of fans coming to the venue to cheer for him was also increasing.

Because he was an Omega, many fans called him “Yangyang Wifey.”

Chi Shuo turned to look at Ye Shaoyang, who had also just taken off his headset. Two consecutive matches had left a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, his slightly damp hair hanging softly by his ears. With his head lowered, the pale nape of his neck was partially exposed, bearing a pheromone blocker patch—a detail Ye Shaoyang paid attention to every day before going out.

The last mark was in January. Based on previous experience, the temporary mark Chi Shuo gave Ye Shaoyang should last for 3 months, meaning he would need a top-up around late April or early May.

According to the professional league’s schedule, Tianhuan had two matches left in Group B. AT and MID were not as strong as CYC, so there was nothing to worry about when playing against them. After those matches, it would be late February.

After entering Group A, factoring in bye weeks and promotion/relegation matches, it would take about another 7 weeks.

This meant that before they fought their way into Group S in May, he would need to give Ye Shaoyang another temporary mark to ensure it didn’t affect their Group S matches.

As Chi Shuo’s thoughts wandered, Ye Shaoyang suddenly turned his head, and their eyes met.

Chi Shuo’s heart skipped a beat. Realizing Captain Chi was looking at him, Ye Shaoyang smiled, opened his arms, and proactively hugged him.

Chi Shuo: “…………”

Ye Shaoyang said earnestly: “Two MVPs, thank you Captain Chi!”

Chi Shuo’s heartbeat was absurdly fast.

This was the first time an Omega had taken the initiative to hug him. The other party smelled faintly of body wash, which wasn’t quite the same as the pheromone scent in his memory, but it smelled just as good.

Chi Shuo’s mind was racing, but just as he was about to speak, Ye Shaoyang released him, turned around, and hugged Cheng Xing: “Xiao Xing, you didn’t die a single time today!”

Cheng Xing excitedly gave a thumbs-up: “My Brother Yang is awesome!”

Then, Ye Shaoyang hugged Qu Jiang: “Thanks Ah Jiang, your Seraphim was really 666.” Qu Jiang smiled: “You were more 666, frantically sending flowers to the enemy. I reckon the CYC players are going to have psychological trauma.”

Ye Shaoyang then gently hugged Qin Yizhu: “Good work!”

Old Qin laughed: “Sending you a flower, no need to thank me. Hahaha, that was so wicked!”

Chi Shuo: “…”

He had overthought it.

These were just hugs of mutual encouragement between teammates after a match. Ye Shaoyang maintained a very good sense of boundaries, with no intimate physical contact, simply patting the other person’s shoulder.

Even in the eyes of the audience, an Omega player hugging his Alpha teammates was no big deal. After all, Ye Shaoyang’s hugs were brief, accompanied by encouraging shoulder pats, looking entirely like the candid demeanor of “good teammates.”

However, during that brief moment when Ye Shaoyang gently hugged him…

Chi Shuo had almost uncontrollably reached out his arms to pull the other party into a tight embrace and never let go.

Was it the possessiveness caused by the mark acting up?

Chi Shuo took a deep breath, calming his inexplicably racing heart.

He stood up, not looking back at Ye Shaoyang, and said flatly: “Let’s go, time to shake hands with the opponents.”

Led by Chi Shuo, the 5 members of Tianhuan went to CYC’s soundproof booth to shake hands, a basic etiquette after a match.

When CYC’s captain shook hands with Ye Shaoyang, he couldn’t help but joke: “Thank you for the flowers!”

Ye Shaoyang replied: “You’re welcome. If you want, I can send you another bouquet?”

CYC members: “…”

No thanks, we’re afraid of having nightmares tonight!

The 5 members of Tianhuan bowed and exited the stage amidst applause from the entire venue.

The post-match reporters originally wanted to interview Ye Shaoyang again, but since the previous two interviews were already him, Ye Shaoyang didn’t want to steal all the limelight and suggested the coach go instead.

Thus, Coach Lin arrived at the interview room.

“Welcome to the interview booth, Coach Lin of Tianhuan!”

“Hello everyone.” Lin Feng finally felt a sense of vindication, his smile brighter than usual.

“We noticed that Tianhuan’s tactics this season are very different from before. Many netizens have been asking on the message boards: Is your coaching staff designing tactics centered around the mid-laner?”

“Not entirely. Our mid-laner is of course exceptionally outstanding, but a match is a collaboration between 5 people. The coaching staff also considers the hero pool each player excels at, then combines and matches them to find the optimal strategy.”

“Out of curiosity, exactly how deep is Tianhuan Lieyang’s hero pool?”

“That’s a secret,” Coach Lin said with a smile.

Other coaches watching this interview all wanted to spit blood—

Stop keeping secrets!

Your Tianhuan has way too many secrets, we can’t take it anymore!

“Were today’s ‘detention system’ and ‘flower delivery system’ comps you drafted on a whim, or were they practiced in advance?”

“Of course they were practiced extensively in advance. We prepare seriously for every match. For example, the pull from the detention system’s Seraphim and the CC from the Trap Hunter were practiced privately countless times by Chi Shuo and Qu Jiang, otherwise, they couldn’t have chained them so perfectly.”

“There’s another question everyone is very concerned about. We all know Tianhuan used to run jungle core comps, but so far this season, all three matches have been mid-core. Is Tianhuan planning to abandon the jungle core?”

“Well, our jungler was targeted too miserably,” Coach Lin sighed. “If the coaches of other teams didn’t specifically target our Chi Shuo, we wouldn’t have changed our approach, having Chi Shuo act as a utility player while the mid-laner controls the tempo.”

The implication was: Who told you to target Chi Shuo?

So we had Chi Shuo play utility and raised a Great Demon King in the mid lane to beat you!

“As for whether Chi Shuo’s jungle core will make an appearance, that depends on the situation,” Coach Lin smiled. “The good news is, during the BP phase, the enemy coaches won’t consecutively ban our jungler anymore.”

“…” This sentence was practically an alarm bell, making the scalps of many coaches in the league tingle.

Watching this, the coach of Team Beimu couldn’t help but complain: “That old fox Lin Feng! He means that since the enemy coaches aren’t banning junglers, Tianhuan can bring out a jungle core at any time, right?”

“Of course. The decline in Chi Shuo’s skill is just outside speculation; we don’t actually know his true level,” Zhao Xinping said calmly. “Don’t forget how Tianhuan made it to the World Championship in Season 6.”

“Mid-jungle synergy?”

“Exactly. If Chi Shuo still maintains his S6 form and plays mid-jungle synergy with Ye Shaoyang, that will be the hardest to deal with,” Zhao Xinping said.

“Grass!” Zhao Xin’an wanted to bang his head against the wall. He was basically the one who introduced Xiao Bai to Tianhuan, wasn’t he? Indignant, Zhao Xin’an grumbled, “Why did I have to hand the opponents such a powerful partner?”

“You did a great job as an introducer. Sending you a flower, no need to thank me.” Zhao Xinping pushed a vase of flowers from the conference table in front of her younger brother.

“Sis, don’t be like this!” Zhao Xin’an pushed the flowers back, wanting to cry but having no tears. “When Ye Shaoyang plays against Beimu, if he dares to pick Flower Fairy, I’ll risk my fucking life to assassinate him!”

“This Lieyang you guys are talking about does have pretty good skill,” Sean suddenly interjected.

“…Do you have a way to deal with him?” Zhao Xin’an turned to look at Sean, meeting his deep blue eyes. Sean smiled mysteriously: “We have many powerful mid-laners in the European Region too. We just need to use double fighters to dive and kill him. When the time comes, I’ll pick a magic tank for the mid lane, and he won’t be able to suppress me.”

“Sean’s idea is good, we can study it,” the coach said excitedly.

“Tianhuan is still in Group B, are we starting to study them now?” Sean asked doubtfully.

“Ahem, Tianhuan this season is extraordinary. I have a premonition that they will go on a win streak all the way up from Group B and Group A, eventually becoming the biggest Boss in Group S! It’s better to be prepared and study them in advance,” the coach said.

“I agree,” Zhao Xinping said. “Beimu is ranked in the top three in Group S, so we don’t need to worry about being eliminated. Finding time to study Tianhuan’s routines might also give us some inspiration.”

“Whatever you say is right, Sis!” Zhao Xin’an immediately started flattering her.

At the same time.

The coaches of teams like Jingzhe, Huowen (Fire Rune), and Xueying were also paying attention to Tianhuan’s matches.

In the past, Group S coaches would never watch Group B matches. After all, the skill gap between Group B and Group S was almost an insurmountable chasm, like the difference between King and Diamond tiers. Rather than watching Group B, it was better to watch live broadcasts of foreign leagues.

But this year was different.

Group B had a Boss that was farming mobs, leveling up, and stealthily developing—Team Tianhuan.

Therefore, the Group S coaches coincidentally all started watching Group B matches.

And then everyone was left somewhat speechless by Tianhuan’s various bizarre compositions and cheeky routines.

Of course, with the strength of Group S teams, they weren’t afraid of Tianhuan’s weird comps. What they feared was…

Tianhuan hiding even more powerful compositions!

After all, “why use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken?” There was definitely no need to bring out their strongest systems against Group B, right?

If just using some mid-core compositions made Group B cry for their parents, who knew what Tianhuan’s stronger systems looked like. Major teams all began studying Ye Shaoyang’s playstyle, guessing what kind of combinations Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo would have.

Even before entering Group S, Tianhuan had already become a high-priority opponent for the Group S coaches.

Over the next two weeks, Tianhuan had two consecutive matches scheduled against AT and MID.

As Coach Lin predicted, these two teams were not very strong. Tianhuan defeated them very easily—they just picked mid-core comps, let Ye Shaoyang roam crazily, control the tempo, and push towers.

Group B teams found it extremely difficult to kill Ye Shaoyang while he was protected by Chi Shuo. As long as Ye Shaoyang snowballed his economy, he became the most terrifying Boss in the match. The marksmen of Group B were almost traumatized by his kills.

Tianhuan swept Group B. 5 matches, 5 consecutive wins, without losing a single small game. With a net win score of 10 points, they ranked first in Group B and unequivocally secured the promotion slot to Group A.

With the help of his teammates, Ye Shaoyang also topped the MVP count leaderboard with 9 MVPs.

During the regular season, Group B’s matches were the first to conclude.

On March 15th, all Group B matches ended, and Tianhuan was confirmed to advance to Group A.

Now it was the Group A coaches’ turn to collectively suffer from headaches.

—Exactly how were they supposed to sanction this Great Demon King mid-laner from Tianhuan?