"Quick... help me up."
Lin Ying lay on her side on the ground, clutching her stomach with both hands, her face contorted in agony, cold sweat pouring down her forehead, her body convulsing uncontrollably.
The instigator, Huyan Lan, stomped her high heels on the table, her beautiful eyes looking down arrogantly, and said with a practiced punch, "One punch and you're already in excruciating pain? You're even weaker than Yin Long."
"Hey, big-breasted girl, stop comparing me to that Nurarihyon guy, okay?" Outside the door, Yin Long rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed. "I'm strong and resilient, what makes him think he can compare to me?"
Hu Xiao Roar clicked his tongue and said, "Damn it, Xiao Lan, I'm not trying to be mean, but your fists could take down a bull. If you happen to knock Nurarihyon half to death, you'll be in deep trouble."
"Don't worry, I held back," Huyan Lan said with a sidelong glance. "If I had used my full strength, he wouldn't have just been writhing on the ground in pain; he would have been sent straight to the eighteenth level of hell."
The onlookers at the Imperial Crown were dumbfounded, as if waking from a dream.
So when Phoenix said "let's try," she meant "let's test our fists."
"I overheard someone in the Imperial Crown core members talking badly about me inside." Huyan Lan's gaze swept over everyone, a cold smile playing on her lips. "Who could it be? It's hard to guess."
The Yuejing shuddered and shrank back to Hanlu beside her. What a joke! Her body was even weaker than the Nurarihyon. If she were to take a heavy punch from the Phoenix, it was uncertain whether she would see the sun rise tomorrow.
That side.
After recovering, Lin Ying struggled to get up from the ground, staggering and swaying. She glared fiercely at Phoenix, expecting a passionate kiss in return, but instead received a heavy punch.
" Phoenix, how dare you play me?"
"A mudfish trying to be paired with a golden Phoenix? That's utterly delusional!"
Huyan Lan, her heart-shaped diamond earring gleaming coldly, said with a captivatingly aloof beauty, "This is just a warning. If you dare to have any more wicked thoughts, I won't hold back! But there won't be a next time."
Lin Ying looked like he had swallowed a dead child; his face was extremely ugly. He thought to himself, "Once I've squeezed all the commercial value out of Phoenix, I'll find you in breach of contract, expel you from the team, and recover your billions in breach of contract penalties."
I'll also hire professionals to create a video of you with a completely different face, and arrange for an online army to spread it all over the internet, ruining your reputation!
Just then, the voices of staff members could be heard from outside the door.
"The 5v5 team competition is about to begin. The Three Champion Emperors and the participating Imperial Crown players, please come forward and prepare."
Huyan Lan left without looking back, " Silver Dragon Mountain Lord, Huranlang Yujingzi, come with me to the match."
Damn it!
Watching Phoenix and the others leave, Lin Ying was so angry that her teeth itched. It's true that birds of a feather flock together; Phoenix's arrogant personality was exactly like the Imperial Emperor's.
"Just you wait, Phoenix! If I don't avenge this day, I'm not the kind of Yazi Nurarihyon I'm after!"
The Sovereign Dominion Preparation Room.
In a pitch-black room where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, Su Hang was on a QQ voice call, discussing team tactics with Zhou Keyu, Yugong Youjing, and others.
Yugong Youjing frowned and said, "It feels like no matter what tactics we use, the chances of winning against the Imperial Crown, a lineup of five emperors, aren't very high."
"That's true," Zhou Keyu analyzed. "Apart from Su Hang in the development lane, who can gain an advantage, the rest of the lanes—top lane, mid lane, and jungle—are all at a disadvantage."
"What do you mean the top lane is a disadvantage?" Yugong Youjing said, dissatisfied. "If I pick Ukyo Tachibana, I can go toe-to-toe with Champion Emperor Mountain Lord Sanjun."
"Brother-in-law, the problem is, will Imperial Crown even let you play Ukyo Tachibana?" Zhou Keyu said, half-laughing and half-crying. "If they just ban Ukyo Tachibana, you'll be retired on the spot, won't you?"
"Ahem." Yugong Youjing blushed slightly and said, "Actually, I'm pretty good at playing other top lane heroes too, no worse than Ukyo Tachibana."
"Come on, brother-in-law," Zhou Keyu said, his face darkening. "If you can't get your signature hero, Ukyo Tachibana, you'll only get beaten up when facing the Silver Dragon."
"You can't be so absolute..."
On the QQ group call screen, Zhou Keyu and Yugong Youjing were having a lively discussion, while Su Hang, alone in the preparation room, was gazing at the exquisite ring box, his thoughts wandering.
This ring box contains the Imperial Ring, a gift worth 120 million RMB, which was raised by the twelve core members of Imperial Crown Imperial Crown they became the strongest team in the country.
The Imperial Ring is inlaid with twelve gemstones and not only bears the handwritten signatures of the twelve core members of the Imperial Crown Imperial Crown, but also seals away their [blood].
Su Hang recalled the words of loyalty spoken by the core members.
"Captain, we've invited the world's top jewelry masters to micro-carve the blood samples of our twelve core members into the images of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals, and then seal them inside twelve gemstones."
"We're doing this to show our loyalty to you. If any of our core members betray you in the future, then you can break the gem, extract the blood droplet sample, and use DNA testing to find us in reality."
"At that time, we hope that Imperial Emperor will personally kill us traitors!"
Su Hang stroked the ring box. Back then, the core members of the Imperial Crown were extremely loyal. According to the level of loyalty, the Phoenix was the highest level of absolute loyalty, followed by the Silver Dragon and the Mountain Lord, and then the Jueying, the Yuejing, and others.
But now.
Or rather, everything changed after receiving the Imperial Ring. Silver Dragon, Phoenix Mountain Lord, and others betrayed the team and left. Over the course of nine years, all the core members of the Imperial Crown secretly committed acts of betrayal.
Recently, he's been thinking about something: if the core members of the Imperial Crown hadn't given him the Imperial Ring, would there have been no subsequent betrayal?
" Su Hang, Su Hang, are you still listening?"
Zhou Keyu's voice brought Su Hang back to reality from his reverie. He put away the ring box, took out a can of sugar-free cola, and said, "Speak freely."
Zhou Keyu said in a deep voice.
"I think we have to put all our eggs in one basket, which means playing a four-protect-one strategy to ensure your marksman's development. As long as you have a high economy and good equipment, you definitely have a chance to defeat the Imperial Crown."
Su Hang, speaking about Kaifeng sugar-free cola, said, "That's what I think too."
"But that would put a lot of pressure on you," Zhou Keyu said after a moment's hesitation. "And you'd be competing alone, without any fans to support you. Fighting alone would probably..."
"Pressure is what drives motivation," Su Hang said, taking a sip of his sugar-free cola, his bloodshot eyes gleaming with fighting spirit. "For someone like me who's used to playing solo, I can only unleash my highest level of skill when fighting alone."
Zhou Keyu and the others breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that as long as Su Hang could withstand the pressure, there was still a chance of victory, no matter how slim.
Su Hang reassured them, "As for you guys, don't feel too much pressure. The 5v5 team match is a best-of-three series. I'll cover for you. Play freely in the first game and don't have any worries."
"OK."
"No problem!"
Zhou Keyu, Yugong Youjing, and others were in high spirits.
Zhou Keyu asked curiously, "Speaking of which, which marksman did you choose as your hero in the first game?"
Su Hang uttered two words softly.
Zhou Keyu asked in surprise, "Choose him?"