Chapter Twenty
When the team players entered the arena, Zhou Qiao noticed that Zhang Yiwei's expression had broken down.
Happy's team roster for the competition is crazy: Ye Xiu, Sun Zheping, Wei Chen, Zhou Qiao, Tang Rou, and Qiao Yifan as a substitute.
There was no treatment.
The starting lineup alone includes three former All-Star players. With the coach unable to provide guidance, the five members of Xuanqi had to choose between targeting Wei Chen or Tang Rou. In the end, they chose Wei Chen, whose weaknesses seemed more obvious.
However, their tactical arrangements did not work.
To summarize the Happy team's performance in one sentence: they eliminated the opponent's healer first.
The guardian angel, surrounded by Sun Zheping and Tang Rou, was sent off after only three minutes, while the other four members of Xuanqi tried to go up to help, but were surrounded by Jun Moxiao.
Yes, four people were surrounded by one person.
Wei Chen and Zhou Qiao demonstrated the qualities expected of ranged classes, supporting each other from both sides. The mysterious elemental mage was completely restricted by the warlock, unable to unleash a single powerful spell that required casting. Meanwhile, the Nightless Marquis coincidentally took down the Guardian Angel with a sniper shot.
...Perhaps it's not a coincidence, after all, Zhou Qiao is indeed a kill-stealer.
As the contestant left the field, Zhou Qiao put her hands behind her back and couldn't help but smile: "Thank you, Xiao An, for your outstanding contribution to the victory of this competition."
An Wenyi's glasses reflected an eerie light: "I'll take this as a compliment."
"Of course it's praise."
Zhou Qiao sat down, stretching her wrists and fingers to relieve the fatigue from the continuous bursts of action in the arena and team matches. At the same time, she didn't forget to provoke Zhang Yiwei, who was slumped in his chair with a pale face: "Coach Zhang still doesn't understand Ye Shen enough. His rise to power in the tenth district can be summed up in four words: 'Don't seek treatment.'"
Zhang Yiwei's face turned from white to black. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn't say anything. He just told his teammates to leave. Zhou Qiao looked at his dejected appearance and didn't let him off the hook. She added a harsh remark: "You brought this upon yourself."
Seeing that Zhang Yiwei's steps were unsteady, Ye Xiu pressed down on her shoulder: "Alright, say less."
Zhou Qiao: "?"
Zhou Qiao: "What right does the League of Legends' face-taker have to talk about me?"
Wei Chen shook his head: "You really do become like the company you keep."
Happy secured ten points from Xuanqi, confirming the qualifying list for Group B. Subsequently, the qualifying results for Group A were also announced: Zhuxian Team and Liaoyuan Team. According to the tournament rules, Liaoyuan Team will be Happy's opponent in the first round of the knockout stage.
The knockout stage begins on May 16th, with one match per week, and the final champion of the challenge will be determined in three weeks.
The knockout stage adopts a brand-new format, eliminating individual competitions, while the ring matches and team matches are scored based on the number of participants.
"This is a new format adopted by the league in response to last year's finals where teams from the same team eliminated the game early."
The new format meant new team formations. During the ten-day break, Ye Xiu organized several team practice sessions. In short, Ye Xiu and Sun Zheping teamed up to crush Zhou Qiao, and then Zhou Qiao would crush Tang Rou.
Tang Rou, who was being kited all over the map by Zhou Qiao, has made great progress in dismantling the map.
After watching another match between Zhou Qiao and Tang Rou, Ye Xiu dragged Zhou Qiao to the opposite side of Sun Zheping.
Zhou Qiao: "I think this is unfair."
Ye Xiu: "What's unfair about it? The number one Mad Swordsman is giving you a sparring partner. Others would beg for that opportunity, okay?"
Zhou Qiao: "..."
After watching how Zai Shui Yi Xia beat up Bu Ye Hou, Tang Rou seemed to be deep in thought.
Ye Xiu pulled out some old match videos from his cloud drive and shared them in the group: "Xiao Tang, it's good to have your own style, but sometimes you need to pay more attention to the team."
Zhou Qiao silently preserved the precious video footage of Yi Ye Zhi Qiu carrying Que Xie and beating Wang Buluo Xing until he was covered in bumps.
The results of the quarterfinals were unremarkable. In the first half, Zhuxian and Xingxin defeated their opponents with absolute dominance, and in the second half, Jia Shi defeated their opponents with absolute dominance. The "dark horse" strategist failed to continue writing his dark horse legend and was eliminated by Zhuxian.
At 6:00 a.m. on May 17, Liu Shaoyou was woken up by a phone call from Zhou Qiao.
"Little Liu~" Zhou Qiao adopted the proper posture of asking for help, her voice very sweet. The three ancient gods sitting around the computer glanced at her at the same time.
Wei Chen muttered in a low voice, "Who is Xiaoxiao talking to on the phone? It's giving me goosebumps."
Sun Zheping didn't care about gossip: "Why bother with so much about a little girl's affairs?"
Wei Chen disagreed: "What if she's on the phone with her boyfriend?"
Sun Zheping: "Isn't she still a minor?"
Ye Xiu: "Wake up! Is your impression of her still stuck in Season 5?"
Wei Chen nodded: "That's right, she was of marriageable age last year."
Ye Xiu gave Wei Chen an indescribable look: "Old Wei, can you control yourself a little?"
Wei Chen shoved Ye Xiu: "Get lost, don't judge me by your own standards."
Sun Zheping patiently asked, "Are you going to watch it or not?"
Ye Xiu gripped the mouse: "Look, look, Lao Wei, stop rambling on about this nonsense and focus on studying our opponent."
Liu Shaoyou was not in a good mood: "Speak."
The sweet girl's operation plan failed, and Zhou Qiao stopped using a high-pitched voice: "I would like to ask you to analyze the Zhuxian team."
"I don't look into that."
Zhou Qiao: "Waaaaah!"
Liu Shaoyou was speechless: "Do you guys never watch the news?"
Zhou Qiao: "Don't insult my profession."
Liu Shaoyou: "The Zhuxian team changed owners recently. The new owner is very rich and a die-hard Zhuxian fan."
Zhou Qiao: "Huh? With Excellent Era and us around, they still want to acquire Jade Dynasty? What kind of die-hard fan are they?"
Liu Shaoyou: "I admire your confidence. Goodbye."
Liu Shaoyou hung up the phone without hesitation. Zhou Qiao searched for "Zhu Xian" on her computer and found a news item among the overwhelming entertainment news and pirated websites that Xiao Jie, the author of "Zhu Xian," had acquired the "Zhu Xian" team.
Zhou Qiao: "Got it, the Zhuxian team has found a powerful backer."
Sun Zheping crossed his arms and said calmly, "In short, we can see that they are hiding their strength. We'll just have to defeat them when the time comes."
Having prepared themselves mentally, they wouldn't let their mindset be affected on the eve of the match. Even with the best equipment, they still need room to maneuver to perform well. The group discussed the team match arrangements based on the video recordings of last night's match, and Ye Xiu arranged several more intra-team matches, finalizing the order of appearance in the arena matches.
On the day of the competition, Zhou Qiao entered the venue through the player entrance and saw that the audience seats next to Team Happy's player seats were full of people.
This spot was considered the team's fan seat. After Ye Xiu's identity was exposed, only a few of Ye Xiu's personal fans sat here. This was the first time that five rows of people had been filled like this.
Zhou Qiao was quite surprised: "This is our fan club?"
Chen Guo was also surprised. Although she was the boss of Happy, she was now mostly doing team leadership work. Happy was still being torn apart on the Glory forum. Chen Guo didn't dare to organize fan activities, for fear that Happy or Ye Xiu's haters would sneak in and engage in real-life battles.
After hearing (Yan Yu) say that Zhang Jiale was beaten by Baihua's security guards during the away game (Zhang Jiale: ...), Chen Guo felt that with Ye Xiu's ability to attract hatred and his chubby physique, he definitely couldn't withstand a punch from someone.
But when she saw the fans spontaneously organizing activities, Chen Guo felt a surge of warmth in her heart. She didn't know what to say for a moment, but she felt that she couldn't remain silent.
At that moment, Yan Yu, sitting in the center of the first row of the audience, snapped his fingers, and people in the back row immediately unfurled a banner: Happy, victory is certain!!!
Everyone cheered.
Chen Guo walked over: "Little Yezi, what's this?"
Before Yan Yu could speak, someone nearby chimed in, "Big Sister, this was a secret event organized by our guild members. They specifically asked Xiqiao not to tell you, wanting to give you a surprise. How about it, not bad, right?"
Chen Guo was moved: "It was truly a pleasant surprise."
Others had already started greeting the people in the players' seats: "Baozi, you idiot!"
Zhou Qiao: "Am I just out of touch, or is this a new way to express affection?"
Luo Ji laughed: "They played well."
Noticing Zhou Qiao's gaze, a fair-skinned girl smiled at her. Zhou Qiao didn't interact much with the guild members, unlike Baozi and Luo Ji who frequently communicated with them, so she wasn't familiar with them and returned a slight smile.
Encouraged, the girl took a deep breath and shouted, "Go, honey! I've been a fan of yours for years! You're the best!"
Zhou Qiao: "?"
Zhou Qiao looked at Yan Yu with a terrified expression: "Wife, let me explain!"
Wei Chen: "Eek."
After a brief love triangle drama, the arena match began, with the captain of the Zhuxian team starting. Unfortunately, this arrangement failed to gain the upper hand. Baozi Invasion made a few brilliant moves after a brief disadvantage and turned the tide, ultimately winning by a narrow margin against Wanjian Guiyi.
Xiao Jieqing, who had been sitting smugly next to Ye Xiu, gave Lin Yi a stern lecture with a stern face, then put on a fake smile, shook his head and sighed, "I'm sorry you had to see this."
Zhou Qiao rested her chin on her hand and said lazily, "It is indeed quite funny. If you can't make the arrangements yourself, why are you talking so loudly?"
Xiao Jie's smile vanished.
Zhou Qiao switched hands and rested her chin on her hand: "Don't take on a job you're not qualified for, great writer."
Xiao Jie: "What do you mean?"
Zhou Qiao blinked: "So you mean your captain didn't actually make a mistake, and he was overturned because Baozi countered his style of play? You can't even see that, can you? Or is it because you arranged the order of appearance that you absolutely refuse to admit this mistake?"
Xiao Jie said sarcastically, "I really didn't see that coming. Would you be willing to teach me?"
Ye Xiu: "Writer Xiao must be joking. Do you expect us to tell you how to defeat your own teammates? Besides, even if I told you, would you believe your competitors?"
Xiao Jie snorted coldly: "Of course I believe what Ye Shen said. Since it's inconvenient to say now, I'll listen attentively after the match."
Wei Chen laughed and said, "I'm afraid you won't be in the mood to listen then."
Xiao Jie retorted sarcastically, "I'm in the mood to listen to what my defeated opponent has to say."
Zhou Qiao: "Teacher Xiao, I'm really curious, your Glory skill level is so ordinary, why are you so confident?"
Chen Guo coughed, suppressing her laughter: Xiao Jie's trash-talking skills were too ordinary.
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