16. KUG's overtures
FOU's atmosphere is probably the best in the entire LPL.
Their contestants have all been in the industry for many years, are quite laid-back, have good personalities, and have developed deep friendships with each other over the years.
Lin Jiang often interacted with them, and they had a pretty good relationship in private. When he was looking for a team, their mid-laner, A-Jue, was very worried about it.
After the training match started, they banned five mid-lane champions for Lin Jiang, giving him a lot of face and forcing him to only pick the Nine-Tailed Fox, also known as the fox.
A-Jue also really enjoys interacting with Lin Jiang. After entering the game, she started teasing him: "[Jiang Jiang, you're the beautiful Ahri today, so don't kill me!]"
Falling behind in last-hitting: [Pretty little Ahri, you're blocking my cannon minion, you're going to kill me!]
Lin Jiang sent her home: [Little Ahri, you're actually serious now, I'm getting serious.]
Faced with such a shameless training subject, the OT team members wanted to laugh but dared not, struggling to suppress their laughter in the voice chat.
Lin Jiang typed helplessly—
[Public] Nine-Tailed Fox Demon: Too much talk, blocked.
After he blocked the opponent, the enemy Viktor immediately got serious, went in for a trade of blows, and even gained a slight advantage. But that wasn't all; the enemy jungler used a near-perfect vision advantage, flashed over, and ganked mid lane.
A fox below level 6 is very weak, and doesn't even have the ability to survive.
Lin Jiang could only use Flash to create distance and avoid a bloody battle.
call--
That's still too targeted.
However, the more difficult the situation, the more likely a breakthrough can be achieved.
He quickly leveled up to level 6 and went straight to the bottom lane to gank 4v2. With a perfect maneuver, he successfully took down the enemy AD carry.
Viktor arrived as well, but the revamped Ahri gains a stack of her ultimate ability for every kill she participates in.
As we all know, the fox's ultimate move is a god-tier escape ability, with each level representing a displacement.
Lin Jiang used two skillful drifts to get over the wall and escape perfectly.
Then Viktor started again: [Why is Ahri running so fast? Let me pet her!]
Ah Jue was just being sarcastic; he knew Lin Jiang couldn't see him, but he still wanted to be cheeky.
As a result, Shen Ju started ranting: [What kind of rotten fish are you?]
Victor: [?]
Victor: [No, brother.]
Victor: [I didn't do anything to you, I was just joking with Lin Jiang.]
Shen Ju: [How dare you joke around when you're this bad?]
Shenju: [Blocked.]
Victor: [Me...?]
At this moment, a burst of laughter erupted inside FOU.
"Haha, I say, A-Jue, why did you provoke him?"
"Even Mao couldn't out-argue him, so you're just humiliating yourself by arguing with him."
"Who knows what Shen Ju will do next..." A-Jue said, then suddenly remembered something and his face turned serious. "But don't you guys think their overall strength has increased a lot since Lin Jiang joined OT?"
"Be careful not to lose to them tomorrow, that would be a real disgrace."
His teammates were all deep in thought.
After the public chat conflict broke out, all FOU members became noticeably more serious.
Lin Jiang ganks their bottom lane, they gank their top lane; Lin Jiang takes the dragon, they take the Rift Herald.
FOU's Ajue is not as good as Lin Jiang, but their top and jungle completely outclassed OT, gaining a huge advantage in the mid-game and not giving Chenju any time to develop, forcibly ending the game in 25 minutes.
Lin Jiang realized that the opponent would continue to target him, so he picked Galio for mid in the second game.
He used his ultimate skill to provide full-screen support, which not only saved A Deng and Song Zhixu's lives but also allowed Shen Ju to grow stronger, forcibly dragging the game into the mid-to-late stage. He then used Shen Ju's advanced development to narrowly win the second game.
In the third game, FOU banned Galio, leaving Lin Jiang with only Twisted Fate. However, Twisted Fate's support effect was not as good as Galio's, and Chenju had not yet developed. FOU managed to push them out of the game.
After three training matches, both sides stopped short of each other.
Looking at the results of the training match, Fang Luxing sighed, "As expected, we still can't beat them."
The opposing team is targeting Lin Jiang, forcing Chen Ju to step up and carry. However, AD carries are inherently slow to develop, and if the opponent forces them to play in the early game, they will be helpless.
Looking at the data panel, Lin Jiang fell into deep thought.
Is there really no other way?
FOU is just a mid-tier team. If we can't even beat them, making the playoffs is simply absurd.
Moreover, they finished at the bottom of the OT Spring Split rankings. Their only chance to qualify for the World Championship is to make it to the playoffs, improve their ranking, and fight for a spot in the gauntlet.
Moreover...
Lin Jiang pressed pause.
The opposing team banned five mid-laners and picked the mid-lane first, all in an effort to suppress Lin Jiang.
Every team knows that to counter OT, you need to control the mid lane; OT is unavoidable.
"To win, you must make a breakthrough."
Lin Jiang opened his notebook and frantically wrote down the next training plan.
"Song Zhixu, play at least 10 solo games with me every day to improve your laning skills."
Song Zhixu: "Yes!"
"Zhou Wen, your training is going well. Keep it up, and focus on improving your roaming ability, especially the timing of your moves to the top lane."
Zhou Wen: "Okay."
"Ah Deng, your rhythm is still too chaotic. Don't think about those complicated strategies for now. Just focus on the lower jungle and pay attention to the dragon's rhythm. You can give up the rest."
Ah Deng: "Yes, Captain!"
“Chenju.” Lin Jiang looked up at him. “Your task is the most crucial: train two early-game heroes, the sooner the better.”
Shen Ju looked into his eyes, suppressing his racing heart, and said, "Okay."
Everyone was doing their job, and even Coach Fang was working tirelessly to provide them with various data to help them better maintain their strengths and make up for their weaknesses.
When Duren returned from his social engagements, he was stunned by the intense training atmosphere and wondered if he had joined the wrong team.
Upon closer inspection, it's true.
It's those little bastards, Shen Ju.
As he took off his coat, he called his brothers: "Our OT team really hit the jackpot. Ever since Lin Jiang came to OT, those little rascals have been so well-behaved and obedient, and they've been so proactive in training."
His brother replied, "I don't believe you unless you lend me Lin Jiang."
Duren: "You're dreaming."
The man laughed, then his voice deepened: "But Lao Du, don't blame me for not warning you. It seems like KUG is considering making peace with Lin Jiang. Be careful, or you might end up with nothing."
Duren muttered, "That can't be right."
Looking back at Lin Jiang training his teammates diligently, I suddenly understood the feelings of KUG's management.
With Lin Jiang on the team, there's an extra backbone, avoiding disputes—a leadership ability that money can't buy.
No wonder KUG regretted it.
...
KUG Esports Club, headquarters of League of Legends.
The elevator stopped on the 6th floor with a "ding."
Alike entered the stadium loosely dressed in his team uniform. He had dyed his hair a light gray perm again and looked rather unhappy, having just woken up from an afternoon nap.
"Didn't they say they were going to assign me a personal assistant? Why is it still the same old auntie cleaning my room? She even lost one of my earphones."
The life manager rushed over to explain, but Alike didn't want to listen at all.
He put on his Bluetooth headset. "I don't care, you have to find me a satisfactory one. You made it all agreed before I came, why are you ignoring me now? Be careful, or I'll complain about you."
That arrogant attitude infuriated the life manager.
The people around him advised him, "Hurry up and find him an assistant. How much does it cost to hire one? Don't forget who signed Alike. I heard someone say that Alike calls Young Master He 'brother' in private."
The life manager was stunned for a moment, not understanding, "Wait, isn't Young Master He the only son of the He family? Where did he get a younger brother? And Alike doesn't even have the surname He..."
"Are you stupid? Can't it be a cousin? A distant relative? Anyway, listen to me and don't offend him. I'm doing this for your own good."
With things said to this extent, the manager had no choice but to swallow his anger.
He suddenly missed the time when Lin Jiang was still around. He always put the big picture first, and the nutritionist and health care provider the team hired for him never said a bad word about it.
"Do you think there's any possibility that Lin Jiang might come back? Hasn't KUG been trying to make amends with him lately?"
"I don't know. But Young Master He came down today to discuss this matter."
"Is Young Master He so concerned about KUG? He even managed to get him to come down for such a small matter."
"This is the first investment he made as an adult, he must have an emotional attachment to it..."
As they chatted, a large number of security guards appeared around them without their noticing. They were all dressed in black suits and wore black sunglasses, and they expressionlessly dispersed any unrelated personnel.
The elevator stopped on the 6th floor with a "ding".
A silver-gray figure slowly emerged from among the neatly dressed men in black suits.
He was busy answering a phone call, and the watch on his wrist, which he casually peeked out from under the light, reflected the brilliance. He was dressed in high-end bespoke clothing and exuded an extraordinary aura.
Everyone in the work area instinctively stopped working, wanting to see what the young master of the He family looked like, only to be reprimanded by the senior executive in charge: "Don't you have anything to do? What are you looking at?"
Everyone knows that this young master of the He family is someone who doesn't show his emotions, acts in a low-key and mysterious manner, never allows his photos to appear in any media, and doesn't participate in any topics.
Even KUG, which is He Gu's most important project, has only seen its staff a few times, and most of the time they only see a side profile.
So what exactly happened in KUG? It's worth Young Master He getting involved personally.
No one understood why.
They were gossiping like crazy in their private groups—
[I heard it's because of Lin Jiang; Young Master He wants to win Lin Jiang back.]
[Holy crap, is it true? Can Lin Jiang really come back? I really want him to come back...]
[Lin Jiang has been with KUG for four years, and Young Master He has some feelings for him. This time, he ruined the deal, and I suspect everyone under him will suffer.]
[I think it's not for Lin Jiang, it's for Alike.]
[How should I put it?]
[I heard Alike is He Shao's cousin, and he personally signed him.]
[Wow, does that mean Lin Jiang's departure was tacitly approved by him?]
Shh! You can't say that.
The group was bombarded with messages, a dense mix of true and false, as they were getting closer to the big news.
suddenly--
[The results are in: Manager Chen from the training department has been fired.]
Question marks filled the screen, and no one understood why the manager was fired in the end.
[Oh my god, I suddenly remembered a ghost story.]
[You tell me, you tell me.]
[Isn't Manager Chen the one who ruined Lin Jiang's negotiations?]
Why would Manager Chen discuss the contract with Lin Jiang instead of the project manager?
[They didn't take it seriously, so the talks broke down.]
[Manager Chen was pushed out to take the fall.]
[Could it be that the project manager sensed something was wrong and sent Manager Chen instead...?]
The internal group got more and more excited as they discussed the gossip, and the more messages they scrolled through, the more explosive the story seemed to be. Suddenly, the meeting room door was opened, and security dispersed the group again.
Everyone tacitly fell silent.
Surrounded by a group of security guards, He Gu passed through the work area and glanced inside casually, startling everyone into silence.
[My god, I was almost killed by Young Master He's gaze.]
[This is the first time I've seen Young Master He so angry; Manager Chen is quite a character.]
[KUG is really in trouble this time.]
After He Gu left, the executives looked grim. They had a few heavy words and then dispersed. Soon after, a termination notice was posted in the company's group chat.
Manager Chen was indeed fired on the spot.
Now, even the gossiping office workers are starting to believe that Young Master He is really going to help Lin Jiang wipe out KUG!
Group messages are flying everywhere again.
He Gu returned to his office area, and his staff came in to get him some documents. He raised his hand to signal them to leave.
The assistant was perceptive and knew he was in a bad mood, so he immediately arranged for those people to go outside to hand over the duties.
The heavy door was closed, sealing it tightly.
He Gu casually tossed the documents onto the table and loosened his tie.
"Click," the lighter is turned on.
He took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked at the embers in his hand. Suddenly, he thought of Lin Jiang's dejected appearance as he puffed away at the supermarket entrance.
He took two shallow puffs and then extinguished the cigarette in the flowerpot.
Large, curved floor-to-ceiling windows magnify everything, including people's inner emotions.
In the transparent, reflective glass, he saw his silver-gray suit. Just as Lin Jiang had said, changing the color would indeed make him look much younger.
—Why are you wearing a black suit again? It looks so old-fashioned, like an old man.
—I see all those rich young men wearing white, blue, or purple, don't they? Why don't you learn from them?
Haha, you're six years older than me, isn't it normal to have a generation gap?
The Lin Jiang in my memory is clean and bright. She turns around and smiles at me in the wind, and her smile is more radiant than the sunshine.
He loosened his tie and sat back in his seat.
He stared at the phone on the table for a long time, and finally reached out to pick it up and flipped to that number again.
He didn't know how he and Lin Jiang had gotten to this point.
He went abroad to pursue further studies.
Lin Jiang stayed in KUG to work hard.
He thought everything was going in the right direction, but in the end, Lin Jiang didn't even tell him his private number.
Even something as important as leaving didn't require consulting him.
The heavy door was slowly pushed open; it was Alike.
He's usually incredibly arrogant in front of others, but he becomes obedient as soon as he sees He Hu.
"Brother, why didn't you come to see me today? I saved a seat for you at the competition tomorrow, you absolutely have to come."
He Gu glanced at him, tossed his phone back onto the table, and picked up the documents: "I'm busy."
"Brother!" Alike got angry and went over to press down on the document in his hand.
"Can you stop trying to fob me off? You've made a whole trip just to get Manager Chen here, and you're telling me you're too busy?"
"Are you coming or not? I'm playing in the same venue as Lin Jiang on the same day. Aren't you going to come and support me? I've been getting cursed to death by his fans these past few days. Don't you care about me at all?"
He Gu paused for a moment as he turned his hand over. "Aren't you alive and well?"
"I'm just putting on a brave face. Are you coming to see me or not?"
He Gu glanced at the phone on the table, then lowered it again.
Then she gave a soft "hmm".
Alike was so happy he almost jumped for joy. "Okay, okay, I'll go get you the tickets right now! Bro, don't run away, just wait for me here!"
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