Chapter 1312: Another Target to Research
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
An Wenyi was stunned. Just as he wanted to reply, Zhang Xinjie was already leaving to shake hands with the next member of Happy.
It sounded like a casually spoken formality, but if it came from Zhang Xinjie, then it wasn't just a courtesy. This strict Tyranny vice captain would only say something like this if there was enough proof to back it up.
Happy hadn't been stingy in the support and trust they gave him. An Wenyi was incredibly moved by this and had worked hard to repay them. However, there was always that voice of doubt. That voice of doubt grew louder and louder with each defeat.
He was too rational, to the point where the care his team showed him couldn't penetrate the darkness in his heart.
However, Zhang Xinjie, the player he idolized, one known for his meticulousness, had said the words he had most needed to hear at a time he needed them most.
The darkness in his heart cleared as easily as that. This was, perhaps, so-called serendipity.
He could do it! Because if even Zhang Xinjie thought so, then there was no way it could be otherwise!
An Wenyi's mind was filled with these voices. He raised his head, facing each member of Tyranny with a smile, shaking their hands.
Happy had been defeated by Tyranny 2 to 8. This live broadcasted match didn't have many spectacular scenes to savor. The broadcasters regretted their decisions because the other Blue Rain versus Samsara match was unusually fierce, eventually ending in Blue Rain's victory of 7 to 3. After Samsara had lost to Hundred Blossoms, they had another loss added to their score. Additionally, the lead they had on the second ranked team had been reduced to under twenty points. Samsara's image of invincibility had finally loosened after their second loss.
However, though this match was spectacular, the most unexpected match was the Thunderclap's home game against 301 Degrees. The score ended in 1 to 9, Thunderclap being crushed. More importantly, their team, one that rivaled Samsara in strength, had been defeated once again.
The reason?
Yang Cong of 301 Degrees had used Life-Risking Strike again to take out Xiao Shiqin's Life Extinguisher.
From Happy to Tyranny and now Thunderclap, this was the third time Yang Cong had struck with Life-Risking Strike, taking out a vital member of the opposing team and giving his team the victory.
Yang Cong, who originally didn't play such a style, had used it so crazily after switching styles. In five rounds, he had used Life-Risking Strike three times, and even more terrifyingly, he had succeeded all three times. This use rate and success rate was suffocatingly impressive.
Something else that should be taken note of was that apart from Round 19, where the assassination of Little Cold Hands had been all up to Yang Cong, in Round 20 against Zhang Xinjie's Immovable Rock and this round against Xiao Shiqin's Life Extinguisher, Bai Shu had been critical in both situations.
What style did this guy have, and how was he so good at cooperating with 301 Degrees' players? No one in the Alliance had the answer, and each team had all looked towards England's Super League for reconnaissance on Bai Shu's ability. Everyone had sensed that 301 Degrees was on the rise. Don't just look at how they were only ninth on the current rankings, but 301 Degrees had recently all been pitted against strong teams, yet were still rising through the ranks. On the other hand, teams like Wind Howl were against mid-lower tier teams, and only then did they seem unstoppable. If they were to meet a strong team and fall, then they might be tossed out of the top eight with a pursuer like 301 Degrees behind them.
301 Degrees...
Suddenly, they had become an unknown enemy. All the teams were researching them, including Happy. However, at Happy's current strength, it was difficult to obtain information from England's Super League. There was pitifully little videos they could find from searching the web. In the end, after looking all over, using VPN and cracking their devices, they had finally managed to connect to a video hosting service over in England and found info on the team Bai Shu was once a part of: the England Super League team, Sprout.
Then, watching this team's videos, they were rather shocked.
In that team, Bai Shu used a Knight called Bough. Apart from this Knight, there were two Assassins in this team. In the team competition, these two Assassins appeared together, and not in rotation. However, these team competitions were different from the Glory Pro Alliance. In the England Super League, team competitions were a 6v6.
The style Sprout employed was the one 301 Degrees was currently using: Assassin's Life-Risking Strike. Bai Shu's Bough had an important role in this team, covering for the two Assassins and ensuring that their Life-Risking Strike would hit. After watching the battle recordings, it was clear that Bai Shu wasn't only an expert at covering and supporting, but also doing all sorts of CC on the target when the Assassins were preparing to use Life-Risking Strike. In addition, he'd even help deal the finishing blow to a weakened opponent when the Life-Risking Strike wasn't enough.
His awareness, methods, habits, none of it was something that could be summarized easily and quickly. They had to spend a lot of time to research. The big teams all felt depressed! Wasn't there enough to research from scratch this season?
Ye Xiu's unspecialized Lord Grim, Fang Rui's dirty Qi Master, and now 301 Degrees was joining in, too, bringing in an expert that no one understood.
There was nothing that could be done. No matter how troublesome, they still had to do it. However, Team Happy's luck could be considered the best. The next time they'd meet 301 Degrees would be Round 38, the last match of the season. They had plenty of time to research Bai Shu and 301 Degrees, after Bai Shu's recruitment and Yang Cong's switch in playstyle.
For Happy, what was more of a headache, was the problem of their healer. After losing to Tyranny in the twenty-third round, the hate against An Wenyi continued. Even Chang Xian, who always supported Happy, was expressing concern.
"He has talent. We believe in him." These words were no longer enough. The people needed to see proof in their performance.
In Round 24, Happy's away game was against Team Parade.
With Happy's current performance, no one thought that a lower ranked team like Parade would be enough to test An Wenyi's skills. It'll probably be just like when they beat Radiant 10 to 0, covering their healer's weakness with powerful offensive.
But in this team competition, Happy was met with trouble.
"Did you think you could crush us like you did with Radiant? Don't be so arrogant!" Parade's captain, Grappler player Wu Shuai yelled imposingly into the chat.
Around eight minutes after the battle started, Team Parade's formation was still very whole, but Team Happy's One Inch Ash had already been wiped out. Happy was currently at a one player disadvantage and Parade was launching a fierce offense, trying to defeat another of Happy's members before their sixth player arrived.
It was all that guy's fault!
The match wasn't being live broadcasted on TV, so the fans were mostly watching on TV. Previously, in the 1v1s, Happy had lost a point in the individual matches, taking a lead of 4 to 1. However, from the start of the team competition, they hadn't been able to grasp the initiative. Parade was very accurately aiming for Happy's weakness: Little Cold Hands.
Strategy, class, map choice, all of it was precisely planned. In the end, Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash had fallen to Parade, desperately trying to cover for Little Cold Hands. When they saw this scene, Happy's supporters felt a ball of rage burn in their hearts.
If it wasn't for him, the team wouldn't have had to retreat and fall to a disadvantage.
If it wasn't for him, Qiao Yifan would've been better able to set up his Ghost Boundaries!
If it wasn't for him, Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash wouldn't have lost so much health.
It was him, it was all him!
"Even I can do better than him!!" Many fans slammed their keyboard in rage. And now, after killing One Inch Ash, Parade was targeting Fang Rui's Boundless Sea.
"Fuck! They might as well not have a Cleric!" In the online stream, the comment section was filled with such jeers.
This was something none of Happy's members could see. All they knew was that the situation wasn't looking good for them at all. They also knew that if they lost this round, the last barrier protecting An Wenyi from criticism would fall. Though the team could have faith in him as usual, what about himself? After defeat after defeat, each a blow to his self confidence. If this time, they lost to Parade because of his mistakes, then it would probably be a critical strike. Could he still hold on after something like that?
"Hey, great healer An! We're attacking your Boundless Sea, you know? Can you still manage to keep him alive?" The captain of Team Parade continued to trash talk in the chat, unafraid of revealing their intentions. They had planned it this way anyways.
"Don't panic, it's not as bad as he says," Ye Xiu sent into the team chat.
"Understood." Surprisingly, he gained such a reply.
Ye Xiu was stunned.
This was a simple reply, but if An Wenyi could still type, then that means he hadn't panicked at all. He had kept his calm, observing the battlefield and waiting for the time when he would be needed. Meanwhile, he could easy find time to respond to Ye Xiu when he wasn't needed.
"Very good!" Ye Xiu, based on this conjecture, had given a response to An Wenyi's reply.
The audience all thought that it was An Wenyi who had dragged the entire team down. However, in Ye Xiu's eyes, An Wenyi hadn't made any serious mistakes this match. The one who had performed poorly was Qiao Yifan. He was too nervous, too set on covering Little Cold Hands that he had worked himself into a mess, desynchronizing with the pacing of the team.
"Is there any need to heal Boundless Sea?" Ye Xiu mocked back in the public chat as he charged forward.