"Xiaopang, originally, Zongshi had a shot at beating you among the streamers and claiming the Jungle Overlord title. But Exalted Emperor crushed him, and his mental game fell apart, so he's no threat!"
Fly explained at length, "That makes Exalted Emperor the non-pro player who poses the greatest threat to you, aside from AG Zhong!"
Xiaopang nodded.
Fly continued, "Exalted Emperor showed astonishing talent in both the jungle and farm lane before. We guessed he might go after the Overlord title for one of those two lanes."
"But now he's suddenly taken on the challenge of getting Gan's Major National Badge in three days."
"Do you know why?"
"Why?" Xiaopang asked.
"He's keeping his touch sharp by going for a Major National Badge." Fly narrowed his eyes to slits. "So the jungle and farm lane talent he showed in ranked matches before was just a smokescreen. The Overlord title he really wants is the one for mid-lane mages!"
"Mage?"
It was as if enlightenment had been poured straight into Xiaopang's head. "So that's it."
"But the final list of lane challenges for the Overlord Feast hasn't been settled yet. We can't be completely sure which of the three-jungle, farm lane, or mid lane-Exalted Emperor intends to challenge."
Yaodao cut in. "All we can say is that he's most likely to go after the Mage Overlord title!"
Fly nodded in agreement.
Yaodao suddenly said in a conspiratorial tone, "Brother Niu, I heard Xiaopang say you're planning to go after the Champion Emperor title this year. Is that true?"
"Of course it's true." Fly glanced at him. "What, are you going after the Champion Emperor title too?"
"I'm not that ambitious." Yaodao clasped his hands behind his head and smacked his lips. "Just challenging Brother Tongzi at the [Clash of Kings] and winning the Farm Lane King title from him took a hell of a lot of effort. I can only dream about the Champion Emperor title."
"[Citong] really was a shame."
Fly wrung his hands and sighed. Back then, the Chongqing Wolves had still been called Chongqing QGhappy. Citong, Fly, and three other veteran team members had been known together as the QG Five Tigers!
They had founded the QG Dynasty in the 2017 KPL League and dominated the competitive scene. Even AG and eSatr had had to step aside and avoid their edge.
Although the air purifier incident had made things very tense between him and Citong for a time, they were men, after all. You couldn't know someone without crossing fists, and Citong was still a close friend of his.
Xiaopang asked, puzzled, "Why did Brother Tongzi retire back then?"
"He was the first Farm Lane King. With that King Title alone, even if he'd transferred to another team, tons of KPL clubs would've fought to sign him. So how did he make up his mind to leave the KPL stage after competing there for seven years?"
"Because the grassroots team [Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest] held out an olive branch to him," Fly said leisurely. "They offered him generous recruitment terms that Citong couldn't refuse!"
"Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest?"
Xiaopang was stunned.
Even Yaodao was taken aback.
The Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest Team was the number one team in the Apple V region. It had been founded by Mountain Lord, one of the three Champion Emperors, and had been closely tied to the QG team in its early days. Later, the Premier League's Wolves acquired QG and renamed it the Wolves.
Only then did Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest separate from the present-day Wolves, though the two remained close.
The reason the Wolves had been able to stand tall and remain firmly in Group S no matter how poorly they performed in the league was that Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest had been supplying them with a steady stream of fresh blood from behind the scenes.
Yaodao rubbed his chin as he recalled, "Brother Niu, the other day you said one of the three Champion Emperors was a woman. You don't mean Tiger Emperor Mountain Lord, do you?"
An image of a ferocious tigress appeared in Xiaopang's mind, and he shuddered at once.
"Not Mountain Lord," Fly said, shaking his head. "It's Phoenix, the captain of Phoenix Crown and Rosy Robes."
"Phoenix Emperor?"
Realization dawned on Yaodao. Many years ago, plenty of players in the Honor of Kings community had suspected that Phoenix was a woman, but her identity had been kept extremely secret, and there had never been any actual evidence.
But Fly had interacted with Champion Emperor players, so his word was absolutely authoritative.
Fly smiled. "Whether it's Phoenix Emperor Phoenix of Phoenix Crown and Rosy Robes or Tiger Emperor Mountain Lord of Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest, they've both contributed enormously to the Honor of Kings professional league."
Xiaopang and Yaodao wholeheartedly agreed.
For instance, the championship trophy for the World Champion League had been named after the captain of Phoenix Crown and Rosy Robes: the [Golden Phoenix Cup].
Likewise, the championship trophy for the Challenger Cup had been named after the captain of Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest: the [Tiger God Cup].
Fly sighed deeply. "But when all is said and done, Phoenix and Mountain Lord are both pitiable people."
"Pitiable people?"
Xiaopang and Yaodao were baffled.
Fly nodded. "You two got into Honor of Kings a little later, so there are things you don't know. Nine years ago, Phoenix and Mountain Lord were actually members of the Imperial Crown Team in the Android Q region. They were even its vice-captains."
"Huh?" Xiaopang's eyes widened.
Yaodao looked even more incredulous.
Two of the three Champion Emperors had actually been vice-captains of Imperial Crown. Even an esports Long Aotian TV drama wouldn't dare pull that!
"Only a small number of people know about this," Fly said with a smile, his hands resting in front of his stomach. "I just happen to be one of them."
Xiaopang and Yaodao's faces were full of curiosity. They loved nothing more than juicy old gossip from the Honor of Kings community.
Fly coughed. "Remember, don't tell anyone else."
"Brother Niu, our lips are sealed."
Xiaopang and Yaodao zipped their lips.
"In 2016, Phoenix and Mountain Lord claimed the first Champion Emperor titles, becoming the undisputed strongest players in all of Honor of Kings. With the Imperial Crown Team's name behind them as well, they were in the limelight."
Fly went on, "At the time, the Imperial Crown Team was celebrating the first anniversary of its founding. Its twelve core members, including Phoenix and Mountain Lord, decided to hold an offline team gathering."
"After that gathering ended, Vice-Captain Phoenix left the team without warning!"
"Vice-Captain Mountain Lord left immediately afterward."
"Why?"
Xiaopang's eyes widened. "So many top players and KPL pros were breaking their heads trying to join Imperial Crown. Why would they leave on their own?"
"'Left on their own' isn't quite right," Fly said. "The Imperial Crown Team expelled Phoenix and Mountain Lord."
"You know what happened afterward. Phoenix founded the Phoenix Crown and Rosy Robes Team in the Apple Q region and refused to acknowledge Imperial Crown as the strongest team. Mountain Lord founded the Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest Team in the Apple V region and likewise refused to acknowledge Imperial Crown as the strongest team!"
"So there's a story like that behind it." Yaodao was intrigued. "What exactly happened at that offline gathering?"
Fly shook his head. "Nobody knows except Imperial Crown's twelve core members from back then."
"But Imperial Crown's ordinary members at the time, along with some veteran Honor of Kings experts who knew about it, gave that incident of the Champion Emperors leaving Imperial Crown a name."
"What name?"
Fly said gravely, "[Three Emperors' Rebellion]!"
"Three Emperors... Rebellion?"
Xiaopang and Yaodao froze in their seats.
Yaodao was the first to react. "Didn't the Imperial Crown Team only banish Phoenix and Mountain Lord? By rights, it should've been the Two Emperors' Rebellion..."
Yaodao's voice cut off abruptly at the end.
Xiaopang realized something too.
The two of them looked at Fly, horror written all over their faces.
"That's right."
Fly nodded and narrowed his eyes. "That Champion Emperor player, whose gaming skills, connections, influence, and power to rally people could be called the greatest in Honor of Kings history, also came from the Imperial Crown Team!"
"You should both be very familiar with his in-game ID."
Xiaopang and Yaodao spoke at the same time, saying the [two-character ID].
A wary look flashed in Fly's eyes. "Yes, it's..."