Chapter 47

[With this heavy rain, what will happen to the baby?]

Looking at it now, only Jiang Mingzhe's full-body raincoat seems the most reliable.

[It's tough on Leng Ge; he gave both thermal blankets to Mingzhe, he's just relying on his connections.]

[Brother Leng may look cold, but he's not cold-hearted at all. He really is. I'm so moved.]

[It's Yun Jingcheng's turn to protect Xiaoyu! This is getting exciting!]

[Damn the production team, don't they have any contingency plans?] "Congratulations to LSG! They've pulled one back! It's now 2-1, looks like WRC needs to step up their game!"

"It's unbelievable! We all thought LSG's Fairy Chang'e system was a one-off, but we never expected them to deliver a second equally amazing mid-core game!"

"We don't know what strategy LSG will adopt in the next game. In the meantime, we would like to thank them for once again presenting us with a wonderful mid-core system."

"...The audience took a short break, and the WRC requested a halftime break, which suggests that there may have been some internal disagreements."

"Impossible! This is the finals! They wouldn't bring something they haven't practiced with! LSG must have been preparing for the finals for a long time!" Gu Zuo's angry rebuttal could be heard from the players' room.

He calmed himself down and said, "Their mid-core system is indeed outstanding, but the current meta is clearly one centered around marksmen and junglers, so something must be wrong."

This is an island surrounded by the sea, with a dense and undulating forest in the middle and the beaches on both sides covered with jagged reefs that stretch as far as the eye can see.

To prevent the guests from sticking together from the start and reducing the fun of the show, the speedboat circled the island to spread out the starting points of the five groups of guests as much as possible.

"Sand! I want to play with it!"

As soon as the speedboat came to a stop, Jiang Mingzhe was about to jump off; his raised arm clearly showed his excitement.

"Dad, I want to build a sandcastle! Where's my little shovel?!"

Jiang Mingzhe kicked off his shoes and socks, his bare feet feeling the fine sand and cool waves, completely forgetting the game objective of today's variety show.

Leng Zhi bent down to pick up the shoes and socks that the little one had thrown around, and said with some helplessness, "This is a deserted island, there are no toys."

Jiang Mingzhe exclaimed "Ah!" and finally realized what was happening.

However, this could not stop his desire to fly freely.

He recalled his classmates' descriptions of beachcombing in kindergarten, and his enthusiasm soared: "Then can we catch lots and lots of fish and crabs!"

"Yes! There are also seashells!" he muttered to himself. Before Leng Zhi could react, he quickly ran to the rocks not far away and began searching.

Wow! There really are seashells! Look how pretty they are!

His little paws were his shovels, and soon he had a new catch. Jiang Mingzhe held the seashell high, and under the sunlight, it reflected a mesmerizing play of light and shadow.

Unfortunately, this was just an empty shell of a clam, buried in the sand for who knows how long, and the clam meat was nowhere to be found.

Leng Zhi took the useless little gadget, looked at Jiang Mingzhe's eyes which were brighter than the sea, and swallowed his words.

He placed the sun and moon shell at the bottom of his backpack: "It looks nice."

This empty, simple backpack is the guests' only supplies. It's not very big. In a typical survival show, the guests should be looking for fresh water and food on the island and then relying on the supply pack to get through the night.

Jiang Mingzhe was in high spirits. He was completely captivated by the open beach and explored forward.

"A giant conch shell!"

"This seashell is the prettiest!"

"Wow, there are even tiny crabs here!"

Unbeknownst to them, Leng Zhi's backpack was already half full of "beach trash." Jiang Mingzhe, however, treasured it dearly, repeatedly insisting on taking it all home.

The only edible thing here is probably two tiny sand crabs. These crabs are no more than the width of a finger, and even if they're grilled until crispy, they're just a small snack to fill a tooth gap.

The emergency discussion at WRC was initiated by the coach.

He was originally a staunch supporter of the core-shooting system, just like Gu Zuo. He thought that LSG's so-called "core" was just an unexpected and accidental phenomenon, using the unconventional hero Xian Chang to catch them off guard.

But in the third game, LSG's performance gave him a slap in the face.

—They have come up with a completely new core system.

Like S City, M City is a port city, but due to their different geographical locations, the scenery of their seas is quite different.

The team members' anticipated culture shock did not occur; on the contrary, Tang Wenshi found the local food very difficult to adapt to.

"What is all this? A plate of beans, a few sausages... Is this supposed to be a meal?"

After enjoying his first local lunch provided by a local guesthouse, Tang Wenshi immediately made a video call to his wife back in China.

He broke down in tears: "Darling, I want to go home and cook for myself."

After that, Manager Chen stopped thinking about letting everyone experience local specialties for meals. She booked Chinese restaurants for the next week, which finally shut up the coach who was "unaccustomed to the local environment".

After settling into their training location, the whole team went to the beach in M ​​City.

Country Y is surrounded by the sea, with low-rise buildings painted in large areas of white, a stark contrast to the bustling port park of City S, and it does indeed resemble a movie filming location.

The wind blowing in my face carried the salty smell of the sea and the biting cold of winter.

"Achoo!" Yu Fu couldn't help but sneeze.

He pulled his coat tighter around himself and complained, "It's so cold at the beach..."

Luo Hongshuo lifted his eyelids: "Who told you not to bring a down jacket? I remember someone was smugly saying this morning before leaving home, 'What do you mean, winter in Y country is nothing special?'"

Yu Fu clutched his collar, trying to block the strong sea breeze that was rushing in. He knew he was in the wrong and didn't bother arguing with Luo Hongshuo.

In country Y, the average temperature in January is ten degrees Celsius. Back in city S, he always wore a coat in that temperature, and today he had specially chosen a very British-style outfit.

Then he changed the subject: "It's better to compete at home, eat well and sleep well, and Coach Tang and Captain Leng don't have to leave their families... Captain Leng, why are you looking at me like that?"

Zou Lin was lying on his back on the bed, talking on the phone with his good buddies.

"Brother Huang, we hired summer workers at the shop today, so I'm free. Want to go to an internet cafe?"

Across from me was the same blond guy from the internet cafe a few days ago. He spoke in a lazy voice, while the background noise was a series of loud blue switch keyboard clicks: "I'm duo queuing in the internet cafe right now. Come on over, let's play a trio next game."

Zou Lin jumped up, cursing as he put on his coat: "Seriously, you guys went to an internet cafe and didn't even invite me? Are you even brothers?!"

"Don't tell me you're going to help in the kitchen? Stop joking and just come downstairs."

When Zou Lin opened the door, he bumped right into Zou Shu, who rushed in.

"Bro! What's wrong with you? Why did you bump into me?!"

Zou Shu was even more anxious than him, grabbing the phone from Zou Lin's hand: "Quick, quick, did you download the app that Leng Shen streams?"

Zou Lin, puzzled, opened his phone: "Hey, that 'Cold God' you call me so affectionately, you used to..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Zou Shu interrupted his joking remarks: "Click on it, there's a lucky draw in the live stream, if you win you can participate in the friendly match."

A friendly match! This is a great opportunity to compete on the same stage and get closer to the pros.

Upon hearing this, Zou Lin immediately shut up, clicked on the lottery link at lightning speed, and successfully participated just a few seconds after the lottery ended.

With only three minutes allotted for the draw, Zou Shu didn't have time to have his parents also light up, so all their hopes were pinned on the brothers' phones.

Li Chi's impassioned voice came from the screen: "It seems our audience is quite enthusiastic. In just three minutes, tens of thousands of viewers have signed up. Now, every participant has received their number, and our guests will draw lots next!"

To generate excitement among the audience, the lottery process was full of gimmicks. The five children pressed the lottery button in turn, and then read out the winning numbers. As the lottery progressed to the last one, it landed in Jiang Mingzhe's hands.

Zou Shu gripped his phone tightly, holding his breath—the first four numbers hadn't won, and now he could only pin his hopes on Leng's adopted son.

Jiang Mingzhe stretched out his little hand, pressed down with a snap, and began to loudly read out the numbers on the screen.

None of the seven digits match.

Seeing his friend's expression turn to one of shock, Zou Lin patted him on the shoulder and casually reassured him, "It's okay, the probability of that happening is very small anyway. I'm going to the internet cafe now!"

With the sound of the door opening, only Zou Shu, still in a daze, remained in the room.

Forget it, we really shouldn't place too much hope in such a slim chance.

Zou Shu could only console himself with this thought.

Soon, the program team sent invitation links to the software backends of the five lucky winners.

However, despite the show's emphasis on encouraging viewers with readily available devices and game accounts to participate, it's clear that many enthusiastic viewers who couldn't actually participate also entered the draw.

After the other four people entered the room, the fifth person, who had been absent for a long time, finally replied with a private message:

A scarf, still warm from the body, was thrown at Yu Fu's face.

"Put it on, then close your mouth."

Yu Fu immediately wrapped his scarf around his neck and head, making a little ball: "Thank you, Captain Leng, for the warmth!"

"Go back to training. If you don't go back soon, Panzer will freeze to death," Leng Zhi said calmly.

Yu Fu nodded frantically: "The captain really has a great sense of the big picture."

Leng Zhi glanced at him and said, "Yu Fu, you'll have an extra hour of training today."

Yu Fu: "...?" The first game of the playoffs was scheduled to be played in KM's main city.

The entire team took a long-haul flight a day in advance to reach the battlefield.

Leng Zhi felt that his teammates were very motivated today.

Especially regarding Yu Fu.

When discussing the system against KM with the coach, Yu Fu, who usually has no opinions on tactics, unusually raised his own requirements.

"I can play the side lane."

There are many ways to play on the flanks, but they can be broadly categorized into two approaches.

One option is to act as the team's second support, buy a full set of tank items, and become the team's strongest shield.

This is also the most common playstyle. Especially in the current version, which tends to find rhythm in the jungle, it has become very difficult for a side laner to solo-kill a lane.

Another approach is the border warfare method mentioned by Yu Fu.

"Battle on the sidelines" means that the sidelines will no longer be a silent, snow-white shield, but rather a lone cavalry, where one person fights their way through the top lane and brings benefits to the team with their personal skills.

Coach Tang was originally frowning:

"KM's style is quite unique. They really like the side lane system, abandoning the marksman and relying on the advantage of the side lane to quickly clear levels, thus compensating for the disadvantage of the marksman not getting enough gold."

"To be on the safe side, we still need to strengthen our early game and hold out on the flanks for as long as possible, since they become weak in the late game."

Hearing Yu Fu's sudden remark, he looked up in surprise.

“You also need to pick a warrior hero… This is also a countermeasure, but… it really tests the depth of your hero pool.”

As long as tanks on the side lanes can hold out for as long as possible, they're doing neither much nor little, and they're easily replaceable with each other, so there aren't any strong counter heroes.

The warrior side lane is completely different. There are more than 20 heroes in the game that can be classified into this category. They are mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining. If they are not handled well in the draft phase, they can easily become the team's weakness because of their skill characteristics.

"Teacher Tang, don't worry," Leng Zhi, who had been silent all along, curled up his lips. "Fighting on the side is Yu Fu's forte. He has the deepest hero pool in our team."

Tang Wenshi was somewhat surprised: "Really? I've never seen him play the side lane."

"That was for the team's sake. He volunteered to play as a tank. Panzer translates to armored division...you know what an armored division is, right?"

Leng Zhi rested his chin on his hand, forcefully stabbing the pen tip onto the paper, creating a bluish-green ink stain:

"The difference between an armored division and a tank division is that it increases the proportion of infantry, artillery, and other branches of service. In other words, it is not limited to tanks; it can also be an excellent offensive force in the unit."

"Not only that, as a multi-service mixed division, the range of weapons and forces it can master is truly diverse, isn't it, Panzer?"

Because the league only registers unique international nicknames for team players when they reach the playoffs, the name Panzer hasn't been heard from Yu Fu for a while.

Upon hearing the captain solemnly explain the meaning of his name and call him in a familiar tone, Yu Fu's anxious heart suddenly calmed down.

“Yes, and the draft is handled by the captain… I’ve almost never encountered a disadvantageous situation where I’m countered,” the carefree young man suddenly looked up, his expression solemn. “Even if I do, I can come back.”

"Didn't you want to play in the World Invitational Tournament on your own turf?" He turned around, his eyes reflecting the gray-blue sea. "If you win the championship, the World Invitational Tournament next year might just be in S City."

Zou Shu closed the door tightly and said impatiently, "Now that there are four of us, let's exchange information about each person's current situation."

Leng Zhi glanced at Zou Shu. This kid must want to see him make a fool of himself.

He politely declined, saying, "You go first, I'll speak last."

After Yu Fu and Zou Shu briefly introduced themselves, it was Luo Hongshuo's turn.

He pointed to his backpack: "I'm a freshman at S City Industrial College, majoring in computer science. But it's summer vacation now, so I don't have any academic pressure and can focus on training."

Yu Fu: "You're not going to drop out of school again, are you?"

Luo Hongshuo was someone Leng Zhi met at the orphanage. He was a top student with a strong sense of justice. After being admitted to a prestigious university, he dropped out to play e-sports at an internet cafe in pursuit of a vague dream.

He stroked his chin: "It's not impossible, let's see. I feel like taking a break from school would be a disservice to the original owner's perfect academic record."

After hearing Leng Zhi's story, everyone fell silent.

After all, there are too many flaws. Unlike Zou Shu, who has followed the variety show all the way and seen all kinds of ups and downs, the two of them are not like Zou Shu.

Yu Fu sighed and said, "Zou Shu, if we go back, you'll have to confiscate all those messy books your sister is reading!"

Zou Shu: "Haha, I wish I could, but how could I dare to interfere with her? She's my little ancestor."

Watching them banter, Luo Hongshuo felt a slight stirring in his heart. He suddenly stood up and said sincerely, "Captain Leng, don't feel guilty. I grew up in an orphanage. My only support is our team. Wherever my teammates are, that's where my home is. Staying here makes no difference to me."

Upon hearing this, Yu Fu also said, "Me too! The team is my second home, and since we can come here, we can definitely go back. Let's not rush, let's win the world championship first!"

Whether he listened or not, Leng Zhi lowered his eyelashes and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice.

"Alright, we must take back the world championship that belongs to us."

There was a two-second silence in the meeting room.

Immediately following was a chorus of "Good!"

Willful, arrogant... In short, they are quite confident in their own abilities, and they certainly have the right to do so.

The PowerPoint presentation switched to the next page, which displayed the names and logos of eight teams.

"Although there are 32 teams, the overall strength of some regions is relatively weak, so the teams that come every year are the same ones. Here I have selected eight relatively threatening teams."

Manager Chen, with tears in his eyes, said, "Waaah, Captain Leng, my mind was a complete mess just now... But now that's happened, we can't schedule any practice matches."

“It’s alright,” Leng Zhi smiled. “We have no shortage of sparring partners.”

Manager Chen looked down and saw that Leng Zhi had already opened Gu Zuo's chat box.

Because of the rule that heroes cannot be reused, this time it wasn't Chang'e, but another equally unorthodox mid-laner, Sword Dancer.

This did not affect Tyrant's performance. He once again revitalized this mage, who had been relegated to the bottom tier in professional competitions, with a tactical adaptation that was full of tricky angles.

"That's where they're wrong." The coach patted his head. "Don't you understand? The fact that they can go against the rules shows that they have a flexible mind."

"Coach, is there really no other way?" Bian Xiangyu asked.

The coach sighed: "Just like Xiao Zuo said, those who haven't trained can't compete. Our insistence on using a sharpshooter for so long is absolutely correct. Look at them, didn't they also win the last wave with their sharpshooter? The reason I stopped the game is to explain this to you."

He became serious: "Your operations are definitely the most powerful in the league. The reason you can do this is because of all of our countless days and nights of review and analysis. Our database is rich enough that we have encountered all kinds of situations."

"But now, please put aside your previous thinking—listen carefully to the following game."

"Don't use the old model again, and don't overlook any details of LSG. Only by following their thinking can we make the business come back to normal."

The coach's last words echoed in the players' room:

"We must win, and reclaim the exclusive glory that belongs to you."

On the other side of the stage.

Tang Wenshi said with a smile, "If nothing unexpected happens, the neighbors next door must be arguing endlessly about how to defeat the Chinese nuclear system."

The black-haired youth unscrewed a bottle of ice-cold soda, tilted his head back and drank it down, letting the steam brush against his cheeks.

"There are too few people who can understand the situation." A hint of loneliness appeared at the corner of his eye.

"The key point is not whether it's the marksman or the jungler, but whether each person in the team has the ability to shoulder the responsibility and whether they can gain the complete trust of their teammates," Luo Hongshuo blinked, "Am I right, Captain Leng?"

Leng Zhi looked away: "Hmph, that's enough that you know."

Luo Hongshuo lightly punched the captain in the chest:

"Let's win one more game and get a three-game winning streak."

[Was this heavy rain part of the program's plan?!]

[Watching the guests go on their adventures in the rain is quite interesting, but isn't this a children's variety show?]

[Don't even mention it. Xiaoyu and Jiang Mingzhe were relatively well protected. Duoduo was lucky to find the plastic greenhouse. Youyou and Sister Shaoqi, on the other hand, really had a tough time.]

[And Xixi, the camera over there just cut off, I wonder how Xixi is doing, sob sob]

[It's the last day, we wanted to watch a heartwarming children's variety show, can we please stop with this!]