The following night.
At the Chengdu Esports Center, in a professional-grade studio, commentators Menglei, Fly, and Huahai, dressed in suits, were ready. With a command from the backstage director, the official Douyin Imperial Crown launched!
A large number of netizens rushed in, and the number of online viewers in the live stream skyrocketed. Ten thousand people in five seconds, one hundred thousand people in ten seconds, and more than one million people in half a minute!
And it's still climbing at a visible rate!
"Damn, that's an insane popularity rating!" Menglei was speechless. Everyone said that their AG team was the most popular King of Glory team on the entire internet, but compared to Imperial Crown, they couldn't even compare to half of their popularity!
"Holy crap! The number of online users has already surpassed two million." Huahai exclaimed in shock, her eyes red with envy, "If they turned on the gift-giving feature, wouldn't they be receiving millions of gifts in no time?"
Compared to Meng Lei's sea of flowers, Fly remained calm, chatting and laughing as he said, "Emperor's Crown can make a fortune just from Coca-Cola's title sponsorship fee alone. They don't care about these pittances at all!"
"Oh wow? Feiniu." Huahai exclaimed in surprise, "You know so much about Imperial Crown business deals, you must be an insider at Imperial Crown, right?"
"How could that be?" Fly coughed twice, clenching his fist. "I'm the leader of Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest, not a core member of Imperial Crown. Most of their business deals were based on information I received from a friend."
Menglei jokingly asked, "Could it be that your friend is a member of the Imperial Crown team?"
Fly nodded slightly, then dropped a bombshell. "To be precise, my friend is a core member of the Imperial Crown!"
Upon hearing this, Meng Lei Hua Hai stood frozen in place.
Huahai's eyes widened, and she hurriedly asked, "Which core member is it?"
Fly said with a smile, "Do you know what Baili means?"
Menglei asked in astonishment, " Chou Ox?"
Fly nodded. "Yes, my friend is Chou Ox · Babaili."
Menglei and Huahai's expressions were absolutely priceless.
[ Chou Ox · Baili ], one of the nine core members of the current Imperial Crown, is ranked last year due to his frequent absence from the Imperial Crown Civil War Day, and only holds the title of Uncrowned Overlord within the team!
However, in 2015, on the first day of the Imperial Crown's internal war, Chou Ox · Babaili achieved an excellent result of 4th place in the team, directly winning the title of the Strongest Uncrowned King, becoming the second only to the Imperial Crown's vice captain!
Huahai asked impatiently, "What does Baili look like in reality?"
Since Baili even told Fly about the internal affairs of the Imperial Crown, it means that the two must have a very good relationship.
Fly shook his head. "Never seen it before, I don't know either."
Meng Lei Hua Hai was immediately disappointed!
At that moment, the director's reminder sounded in the in-ear monitor.
Menglei, Fly, Huahai instantly sat up straight.
The long-arm camera peered in front of the three people.
With a serious expression, Menglei said, "Welcome to the 10th Imperial Crown Civil War Day! I'm your main commentator, Menglei!"
"I'm commentator Fly."
"I'm the commentator, Huahai!"
Menglei's face was tense, and he said with a hint of nervousness, "I hope that in the upcoming matches, we can bring you a wonderful commentary!"
The live stream chat was filled with rapidly scrolling comments.
"I can't hold it in anymore, it feels so awkward, like someone I know is on TV."
"Haha, Teacher Meng is as reserved as a green recruit!"
"Huh? Is that commentator's profile picture in the bottom right corner Menglei? Menglei's expression is still very serious, he's not even blinking."
"Pfft! The fact that the famous swordsman stole the crystal is something people will talk about for a lifetime. That's really something. But Huahai and Fly look quite serious and tense too."
"The three of them must be nervous, after all, they're commentating on an internal battle Imperial Crown, and the Captain of the Imperial Crown, Imperial Emperor, is participating for the first time ever! If their commentary is biased, they'll definitely be bombarded by Imperial Emperor's fans!"
" Teacher Meng, please be more relaxed. Treat this like a normal home livestream. Don't keep such a serious face; it really affects the viewing experience!"
Menglei, Fly, Huahai promptly corrected their facial expression management.
With five minutes remaining before the official start of the Imperial Crown Civil War, and millions of viewers watching the live stream online, there was no way the atmosphere could be dull.
"The pre-match predictions from the streamers are out," Menglei said, looking at the chat. "189 King of Glory streamers, including Zhang Daxian, Dehua, and Sang Jie, predict that Captain of the Imperial Crown, Imperial Emperor, will defeat Vice Captain of the Imperial Crown, Jueying, and others with a total score of 2-0, 2-1!"
"Only Grandpa Ge predicted that Captain of the Imperial Crown, Imperial Emperor, would suffer a crushing 0-2 defeat to Vice Captain of the Imperial Crown Jueying, and the others!"
"1v189?"
Menglei was extremely surprised. The prediction result was completely unexpected. He thought that most streamers would predict that Imperial Emperor would lose, but to his surprise, 99% of the King of Glory streamers thought that Imperial Emperor would win!
It's obvious that, apart from Gemini, the other King of Glory streamers didn't consider the actual skill level of either team at all, but were purely acting out of personal feelings for Imperial Emperor!
"The pre-match predictions from the professional scene are out," Huahai said, looking at the public chat. "189 KPL professional players, including Yinuo, Xiaopang, and Qingrong, predict that the Captain of the Imperial Crown will lose to the Vice Captain of the Imperial Crown and his team with a total score of 0-2 and 1-2!"
"No KPL player believes that the Captain of the Imperial Crown will win!"
Huahai was stunned. The professional circle and the streamer circle are completely opposite. They are based entirely on the strength of the two teams and do not involve any personal feelings!
A viewer in the live stream asked a thought-provoking question.
" Teacher Meng, which side do you support?"
Menglei pondered for a moment and said, "Personally, I'm more inclined to support Captain of the Imperial Crown, but realistically, I think Vice Captain of the Imperial Crown and the others will win!"
His words were perfectly watertight.
" Huahai, and you?"
Huahai was in a dilemma. Supporting either side would inevitably offend the other's fans, but he didn't want to offend either. After careful consideration, he said, "I think we should wait until the draft phase, after both sides have finalized their lineups, before we can determine which side has a better chance of winning!"
Her words demonstrated exceptional emotional intelligence.
Menglei and Huahai both breathed a sigh of relief.
They all turned their heads to look at Fly beside them.
" Feiniu, what about you?"
"I... I think the Captain of the Imperial Crown has very little chance of winning. This civil war will most likely end in a complete victory for the Vice Captain of the Imperial Crown and the others!"
Fly's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, his pupils were uncontrollably contracting and dilating, his face was as pale as paper, and his hands on the table were trembling slightly. His symptoms looked like those of a cold and fever.
Menglei sensed something was wrong.
He quickly signaled to the director to cut the shot.
Huahai hurriedly asked, "Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
"No, it's just my old problem. I might have to leave for a bit." Fly pressed his forehead with one hand, a hint of pain in his eyes. "You two hang in there, I'm going to the restroom to wash my face."
"Okay, call us anytime if you need anything."
Fly stumbled out of the studio, leaning against the corridor wall with one hand, and made his way to the restroom, where he immediately turned on the tap.
Pour icy cold water over the face.
With a sudden spasm, everything became utterly meaningless.
The pain in Fly's eyes vanished completely, his gaze regained its sparkle, and he immediately took out his phone and logged into Honor of Kings.
"The captain and the others must be getting impatient."