Lord Grim at the Mercy of Other

Gao Yingjie wanted to say something, but Wang Jiexi cut him off with a wave of his hand. In truth, there was no need to say much—everyone knew that Qiao Yifan wasn't suitable for Tiny Herb, and even Qiao Yifan himself knew it. He had no chance of passing Tiny Herb's youth training test this time.

Since Liu Hao wanted Qiao Yifan, and if Qiao Yifan agreed, Tiny Herb had no reason to keep him.

"Let's call it a day," Wang Jiexi sighed. Given the current situation, there was no way they could fight Lord Grim, and continuing to battle Liu Hao and Sun Xiang's Blossoming Bloodshed would be pointless.

Wang Jiexi was smart. He sent a message to Lord Grim, using the cancellation of the chase order from the Herb Garden as bait, and suggested they meet another time, insisting that he bring Soft Mist along.

Ye Qiu was in the middle of an intense fight when he received Wang Jiexi's message. Despite this, he quickly accepted Wang Jiexi's conditions with his lightning-fast hand speed.

...

Seeing that the members of Tiny Herb were leaving, Sun Xiang wanted to stop them, but Liu Hao immediately pulled him back. Liu Hao understood that it was meaningless to drag things out with Tiny Herb. If they insisted on staying, he could cooperate with Sun Xiang to wipe them out, but since Tiny Herb wanted to leave and didn't want to interfere with Lord Grim's business, there was no need to continue the fight.

Liu Hao hadn't forgotten tonight's task: helping Chen Guo retrieve the Orange weapon and weaken the Tyrannical Ambition guild's strength was just a cover. His real goal was to extract Lord Grim's Myriad Manifestations Umbrella to study and analyse its core structure and principles.

"By the way, I haven't asked you yet, who is Qiao Yifan? Why do you care so much about him?" Sun Xiang asked, puzzled.

"Qiao Yifan is the assassin of Grey Moon. He's a youth trainee at Tiny Herb," Liu Hao replied, adding, "He's a bottom-tier trainee, looked down upon and ostracised by his teammates, in a pitiful situation."

"Bottom-tier? If he's that bad, why do you want him?" Sun Xiang frowned. "Has the esports world changed? Is it no longer about strength? Recruiting bottom-tier players? Are you doing charity work?"

"His assassin skills are bad, but that doesn't mean he has no talent in other classes." Liu Hao smiled slightly. "I've investigated him. He has excellent overall game awareness. With proper training, he might become a rising star. So, this isn't charity—it's finding a diamond in the rough."

"Really?" Sun Xiang was sceptical of Liu Hao's ability to recognise talent. "You said you investigated him, but what data do you have to support this? When we fought just now, I didn't see any impressive game awareness from him; he was terrible."

"Just wait and see. Train him well, and he'll surprise you!" Liu Hao laughed.

Sun Xiang remained silent. He and Liu Hao watched the epic battle between Ba Tu and Ye Qiu unfold. Although Ba Tu had all their starters on the field, Ye Qiu had the ace Swordsman and Caster from Blue Rain helping him. Plus, Ye Qiu's unspecialised character was almost a game-breaking existence, and Ba Tu gradually showed signs of losing.

Baozi and Tang Rou weren't new to team battles. They had gained a lot of experience from their previous fight against Sun Xiang's Jia Shi team. In this battle, although they remained composed, they didn't drag Ye Qiu down too much.

Finally, after more than ten minutes, the team battle ended. Except for Han Wenqing, all of Ba Tu's members were killed. On Ye Qiu's side, only Baozi and Tang Rou died, and due to the lack of a healer, the remaining members were left with deficient health.

At this moment, Han Wenqing didn't say much; he just smiled. He understood Ye Qiu's intentions—Ye Qiu planned to return with his unspecialised character and those two rookies in the future.

But Han Wenqing still couldn't understand why Ye Qiu suddenly announced his retirement. Why did he choose to run away? Clearly, this season, with Liu Hao's rise, Jia Shi had the best chance of winning the championship.

"Ye Qiu, you..."

Before Han Wenqing could finish his sentence, a gunshot rang out, and Han Wenqing's Striker was shot in the head. Han Wenqing was stunned, staring at his grayscale screen, swallowing the words he had planned to say.

"Damn, Liu Hao, you really are shameless. Can't you let people finish talking?" Huang Shaotian complained.

Liu Hao rolled his eyes. "This is a battlefield. The fight isn't over yet. You think this is a hot-blooded anime where the hero and villain pause mid-battle for a debate?"

Ye Qiu coldly observed Liu Hao. With his sharp mind, how could he not see through Liu Hao's intentions?

But he looked at his health and then at Huang Shaotian's and Yu Wenzhou's—they were all low on health, while Liu Hao and Sun Xiang were almost at full health.

He couldn't win! Ye Qiu started considering escaping.

Meanwhile, Huang Shaotian was still passionately trash-talking, but Liu Hao ignored him. However, Sun Xiang, easily provoked by Huang Shaotian's words, charged forward to tear Huang Shaotian apart.

Seeing Sun Xiang like this, Liu Hao couldn't help but worry about the upcoming match against Blue Rain in two days. With Sun Xiang in this state, wouldn't he be toyed with by Huang Shaotian on the field?

But since Sun Xiang had already charged in, Liu Hao didn't plan just to stand by. He charged forward to assist Sun Xiang with Blossoming Bloodshed.

In an instant, Huang Shaotian's Swordsman, Flowing Tree, was killed amidst the blood and fireworks, and Yu Wenzhou, with his poor hand speed, couldn't resist the chaotic burst damage and was the next to fall.

Ye Qiu knew he was outmatched and tried to escape, but he seemed to have forgotten that Liu Hao had eyes that could predict the future. As an Ammunition Specialist, Liu Hao's weapon was a semi-automatic pistol—no need to charge, just aim and fire.

With a few silver bullets fired, every shot hit Lord Grim in the back.

Ye Qiu saw that his health was critically low, and his face darkened. He hurriedly opened his umbrella to shield himself.

But after opening the umbrella, Lord Grim's movement speed dropped significantly, allowing Sun Xiang's Berserker to catch up and land a wild slash that instantly broke through his defence.

At this moment, Ye Qiu knew he was doomed. He resigned himself to his fate and stopped his operations, praying that the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella wouldn't drop.

Sun Xiang, of course, didn't stop attacking just because Ye Qiu had stopped his operations. His attacks were fierce, and after a few strikes, Lord Grim's health was down to just 1%.

As Sun Xiang was about to land the final blow and end Lord Grim's life, Liu Hao suddenly shouted, "Wait!" stopping Sun Xiang in his tracks.

"What?" Sun Xiang forcibly swung his mouse, deliberately missing his attack, sparing Lord Grim's life.

Sun Xiang rolled his eyes. "You're not planning to have a debate with Ye Qiu, are you? Let me remind you if we don't finish him now, what if something changes later?"

Sun Xiang was also a bit of a fan of anime and knew that villains often lose because they talk too much. What if a few pro players suddenly showed up to save Ye Qiu? Then, their efforts tonight would be wasted.

Liu Hao chuckled, "I don't intend to chat with him. I just want to say, let me be the one to kill him. I've always had pretty good luck; maybe I can get his Silver weapon to drop."

Ye Qiu's brow furrowed as soon as he heard this. Liu Hao was indeed after his Myriad Manifestations Umbrella. But now, without reinforcements and with nine significant guilds still hunting him, no one could save him. He was like a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.

(End of Chapter)