Critical strikes are the reward for the brave!

Watching his screen turn gray, Mystic slowly licked his cracked lips, his face expressionless.

How could he put it?

When he first got killed during the regular season, he had been bewildered and furious.

Now, though, dying suddenly felt almost liberating. Or had he simply... gotten used to it?

Wasn't there a saying that life was like, well, that? If you couldn't fight back, you might as well learn to accept it.

"Nice! Nice!"

Everyone in the IG lounge lit up at the sight. JackeyLove nearly jumped straight into the air.

Su Xiaoluo's chest heaved, his eyes shone, and even his hands trembled with excitement.

There was no helping it. After that play, IG's chances of winning had skyrocketed. They practically had half a ticket to the World Championship in their pocket!

Over in the WE lounge, by contrast, silence reigned.

Their coach, Redmi, had even begun wondering whether it was time to move elsewhere.

On the Rift.

Two kills in one play, with a Red Buff thrown in.

Lu Chen's scaling instantly took flight!

"Damn." Ning Wang had just reached his bottom-side jungle. He smacked his lips. "Feels like I don't even need to cover bot anymore."

That long-forgotten sense of security nearly left him unable to process it.

"You can still come," Lu Chen said casually. "Once I force them to recall, come camp them a bit. That'll completely blow their bot lane apart."

With such a massive lead, and on Caitlyn at that, he doubted the opposing Xayah and Braum could even leave their turret.

Let alone place wards.

Ning Wang drew in a sharp breath, then understood. "You've got a point."

Cruel as it was, this was undeniably what LPL junglers loved doing most.

When Marin had first arrived, he had been camped countless times. His experience had been miserable!

Besides, even if they couldn't get a kill, they could scare the opponents away from farming!

Lu Chen shoved another wave.

He recalled and bought a B. F. Sword outright, while Mystic still had only his pitiful starting Doran's Blade and a pair of Boots of Speed.

The moment he returned to lane, Lu Chen began pushing past the minion wave and pressuring them without restraint.

With the Red Buff on him, the opposing duo didn't even have the right to look at the minions!

"Chen Yu is playing so aggressively," Remember said. "He doesn't even want WE getting any experience!"

Exactly.

Mystic and Ben had been forced clean out of experience range!

Looking at the Caitlyn ahead of them, who had gone so far as to stand behind their own minions, both felt utterly helpless.

The real problem was that Condi didn't dare come help break the freeze. If he did, he'd probably just hand over a triple kill!

And so it continued.

Lu Chen froze wave after wave.

The gap between the two AD carries widened to over thirty CS, with more than a full level separating them!

Only when Ning Wang came to secure Dragon did Lu Chen ease off and head into the jungle to help.

Mystic finally breathed a sigh of relief. At last, he could farm a few minions under his turret.

But before he could finish the wave, the notification announcing Dragon's death sounded.

Hearing it, he had no choice but to retreat toward his second turret. If he stayed, the enemy jungler would probably join them for an immediate dive!

"This is so painful to play," Remember couldn't help saying. "At this rate, WE's bot lane is going to be useless!"

"Absolutely," Godlike agreed. "Just watching feels suffocating. They can't farm, and they can't even stand under their own turret. They've effectively gained nothing for these past few minutes."

Whatever the casters and spectators thought,

after helping secure Dragon, Lu Chen returned to lane and started pushing the turret.

The opposing bot duo couldn't defend it anyway.

Once the turret was low, Baolan knowingly stepped into the jungle, leaving Lu Chen to claim the entire bounty alone.

"Your team has destroyed a turret!"

First Turret secured!

When Lu Chen recalled, a golden greatsword appeared in his inventory.

At the same time, the official stream's chat exploded.

"What do you mean, a nine-minute Infinity Edge? Is he cheating?"

"How is this even possible?"

"Mystic only has Berserker's Greaves? Let me write 'tragic' on your thigh!"

"Okay, okay, so that's how C God wants to play."

"Classic anti-aircraft gun versus cavemen."

"A level-seven Caitlyn against a level-five Xayah. Holy crap."

"With a gap like that, WE might as well stop playing. Bot lane should just AFK in the Fountain."

But it wasn't over yet.

Since shoving bot posed no challenge, Lu Chen left base and headed straight back down with Baolan.

"Is he planning to wipe them out completely?" Remember paused in surprise. "WE has to respond, or this Caitlyn is going to push straight through bot lane!"

Just as he said,

WE's team comms were busy discussing how to deal with the problem in bot lane.

Looking at the scoreboard, Xiye took a deep breath before saying firmly, "Collapse on him."

"Okay. I have Flash," Condi replied in a low, somewhat numb voice.

"I can TP too," 957 added. "But their Shen has his ultimate, so be careful."

Mystic and Ben, on the other hand, said nothing. Both had been beaten numb.

In truth, given how far behind they were, there wasn't much they could contribute anyway.

Never mind their items-neither had even reached level six!

Soon,

as Lu Chen farmed in front of the blue side's second turret and Ning Wang was spotted by a ward invading the top-side jungle,

all five members of WE moved!

The glow of a teleport lit up in the Tri-brush behind him.

Condi's Jarvan IV and Xiye's Kassadin came straight through the Red Buff area to cut him off.

Meanwhile, Mystic and Ben walked down from their base to the rear of the second turret.

"Here they come!" Remember shouted. "WE is going all in on bot lane! Five against two!"

"How is IG going to respond?" Rita stared intently at the big screen. "It looks like it's already too late to run!"

WE was willing to abandon waves and turrets in their other lanes if it meant shutting Lu Chen down!

"Chen, what do we do? Should I sacrifice myself?" Baolan asked urgently.

"I have ult," TheShy said as well.

"Don't rush." Lu Chen remained calm, studying the situation as he laid traps.

Right then,

Condi struck first. Jarvan IV flew out of the jungle with an EQ combo, then slammed down Cataclysm!

957's teleport finished at the same moment, and he hurried toward them.

Kassadin closed in with Riftwalk, throwing out Q and E together.

Lu Chen instantly lost nearly half his health!

"TheShy, ult me!" Only then did Lu Chen give the order. "Baolan, lock down Kassadin!"

The next instant,

Shen's ultimate descended. The light of Stand United shone around Lu Chen, wrapping him in a thick shield.

Alistar immediately activated his ultimate, then knocked Kassadin airborne with a WQ combo.

Completely unhurried, Lu Chen ignored the Jarvan IV right beside him. He placed a trap beneath Kassadin's feet, then unleashed an auto followed by Q, E, and another auto!

Two auto attacks-one a passive Headshot, the other a critical strike!

Kassadin's health plummeted!

Only then did Maokai finally arrive, casting W to root Lu Chen.

Xiye finally broke free of the crowd control. Terrified by that outrageous damage, he immediately used Flash and his ultimate to escape.

Lu Chen could only squeeze out one final auto attack.

"Kassadin still has almost two bars of health here. He shouldn't di-" Godlike stopped mid-sentence, his expression freezing.

Caitlyn's bullet flew through the air and struck Kassadin.

Critical strike!

A damage number of 278 rose above him, wiping out all his remaining health!

That was just how absurd critical strike damage became with Infinity Edge!

"IG Chen Yu has slain WE Xiye!"

"Killing Spree!"

"Another crit! That's only a twenty-percent chance! In the end, Kassadin still couldn't escape that lethal shot!"

Remember's voice surged with excitement. "That's right! Critical strikes are the reward for the brave!"