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It was already one in the morning when Ye Shaoyang finally returned to the hotel, and he proceeded to sleep in until noon the next day. He washed his face and prepared to head downstairs to get lunch in the cafeteria. As he was going out, he ran into Chi Shuo who came from the room opposite his.

His handsome face was void of any expressions and his hair was still wet, which meant that he should have just showered not long ago. But as soon as he saw Ye Shaoyang, his expression instantly softened, and a trace of tenderness could be seen in his eyes.

"Just woke up?"

Ye Shaoyang nodded, "Mn, I slept too late last night."

"Let's have a meal first," Chi Shuo said.

The two went to the cafeteria side by side and happened to see Xie Weiyu who was sitting by the window, eating his food silently.

"Xiao Yu, is it just you here?" Ye Shaoyang greeted him and asked.

Xie Weiyu shot a smile at Ye Shaoyang and said, "I just woke up. Captain Xu and the rest should still be sleeping."

Ye Shaoyang held the plate while he picked out some of the food and pastries he liked. He then turned around and sat opposite Xie Weiyu.

Chi Shuo also walked over with a plate in his hand.

"Yangyang, what time is your flight?" Xie Weiyu asked softly.

"Three in the afternoon. We'll be packing up a little after finishing lunch before going to the airport. What about you?" Ye Shaoyang replied.

Xie Weiyu: "Our flight is roughly around four in the afternoon."

Ye Shaoyang thought about it a little, then he said, "I think it would be around six or seven before you can reach your base, so you shouldn't have any training scheduled tonight. If you're free, let's rank together."

"Alright, let's contact each other when we're back." Xie Weiyu's smile was gentle.

Displeasure rose in Chi Shuo's heart when he heard them calling each other 'Xiao Yu' and 'Yangyang' so affectionately.

When exactly did their relationship become so good? They even agreed to play ranked together at night.

Although it was said that Xie Weiyu was a Beta and thus, wouldn't be able to feel any pheromone attraction towards Ye Shaoyang and vice versa, they had freedom to choose who they wanted to love and marry in today's era. There are many Betas and Omegas dating each other nowadays.

Chi Shuo suddenly realized something… is what I'm feeling right now jealousy?

Ye Shaoyang was just making friends normally. Both of them had been insulted by water armies before, so Ye Shaoyang felt pity for what Xie Weiyu was currently experiencing. That's why he initiated a conversation with Xie Weiyu and became friends that can play rank together every now and then. What's the big deal about that?

There were many players from different teams who would rank together in the professional league. He doesn't have to think too deep into it.

Chi Shuo suppressed the displeasure he felt in his heart and changed the topic. "Your next opponent is the Xueying team, right?"

He had sat beside Ye Shaoyang with his head down and ate without any expression on his face. Xie Weiyu even thought that Chi Shuo was unwilling to talk. It made Xie Weiyu a little stunned when he suddenly spoke.

"Yes Captain Chi. We'll be playing at the Ya'an esports center next Saturday, the same day as you." Xie Weiyu answered politely.

Chi Shuo continued. "This team is ranked fourth in Group A. Defeating them isn't an issue as long as Yueying maintains their usual condition and plays normally. The best scenario would be to defeat them with a 2-0 as the final group ranking still depends on the number of clean wins."

Xie Weiyu nodded. "Mn, I know."

They had nothing else to say after that which made the atmosphere a little awkward.

Ye Shaoyang glanced at Chi Shuo and continued chatting with Xie Weiyu, "Your team streams on Panda Streaming right? How many hours a month?"

"It's 40 hours for us. I'm still not done with my live broadcasts this month," Xie Weiyu said.

"Then that's good, you can message me at night when you have nothing going on and we can duo queue together. We can also broadcast while we're at it," Ye Shaoyang suggested.

Xie Weiyu gave a small smile and asked, "Are you going to let me lie down and wait to get carried to victory by you?"

Ye Shaoyang: "Do you even need me to do that? May as well you be the one to carry me."

This meal was the most unpleasant meal Chi Shuo had ever experienced. He had even forgotten how food was supposed to taste like.

Logically speaking, he knew that Ye Shaoyang should have his own friends. But emotionally speaking, the strong feelings of possessiveness clouded his mind and constantly hovered in his brain. He badly wanted to mark a territory around Ye Shaoyang, confine him, and shout to the world around: 'He is mine!'

An Alpha's possessiveness is indeed scary.

He has to tone it down a little and control it, so that Yangyang won't be aware and feel disgusted.

Chi Shuo suppressed the discomfort he felt and when they returned to their rooms after finishing lunch, he suddenly stopped at the door.

"You want to duo queue and do a live broadcast with Xie Weiyu tonight?" He asked, pretending to be calm.

"Mn. Xiao Yu has always broadcasted alone, and he doesn't have many friends in the League who he can talk to, but we hit it off pretty well. We have to make up for the hours anyway, so it's not really anything if we rank together." Ye Shaoyang said.

Ye Shaoyang really liked Xie Weiyu. This player had left his old team and transferred to a new one, and in his new team, he got demoted to Group A from Group S. After experiencing so many setbacks and getting insulted by the water army every day, the mentality of any other player in his position would have collapsed long ago.

But Xie Weiyu still maintained his calm when playing and didn't make any obvious mistakes.

Such opponents are worthy of respect.

Ye Shaoyang didn't have many friends in this world. Excluding his teammates from Tianhuan, he wasn't familiar with players from other teams. Xie Weiyu was the first person he wanted to initiate a friendship with. Xiao Yu's personality was more introverted, and he didn't bother about the disputes outside, preferring to play his games silently. He also gave others a comfortable feeling when they interacted with him

He often duo queued with Chi Shuo whenever they do team training and Ye Shaoyang was already very much in sync with Chi Shuo now. He could use a change of air when playing in his spare time and try to pair up and cooperate with a marksman like Xie Wieyu to see how it feels like.

"Inform me when you start tonight," Chi Shuo said.

Ye Shaoyang looked up at him. "Captain Chi, you also want to go live?"

Chi Shuo: "I haven't completed my hours too, so I'll go with you guys."

Ye Shaoyang: "...Alright then."

It's just that when all the cores of a team, namely the mid laner, jungler, and marksman queued together to play rank, it would be very easy for the trio to run into a professional team. The thought of being matched with people like Fang Zhengqing and Zhao Xin'an gave him a headache. The best scenario is to just avoid getting matched with them.

"Why don't we play in the international server?" Ye Shaoyang asked.

Chi Shuo: "That's fine. Let's get name changing cards when we return and change the names of our alt accounts."

After the two had discussed, Ye Shaoyang sent a message to Xie Weiyu the moment he was back in his room.

[Xiao Yu, how do you feel about playing in the international server tonight? Do you have an account there?]

[Yes.]

[Captain Chi says he's coming too, let's rank together then.]

[Alright.]

The plane took off right on the dot at three in the afternoon and the Tianhuan players all took a nap to catch up their sleep on the plane. When they returned to their base, everyone was energized.

Coach Lin let everyone have their dinners first before gathering them over for a meeting. He replayed yesterday's match.

The mid/jungle duo in the first game and the jungler core in the third game were all executed very well. They then analyzed the key points in the second game which was the game they lost. It was already ten at night by the time they finished replaying everything.

"Our next opponent is CYC. We've crossed paths with them before in Group B and although their strength is mediocre, we can't be careless. Best is for us to win 2-0," Coach Lin said.

When the competition has reached the late stage, the group ranking will depend on the number of clean wins. 2-0 will give the team two clean wins, while 2-1 will only give a point. There are still strong opponent teams like Luo Shendian and Yueying, so they can't afford to be careless in every match.

Coach Lin continued, "All of you must be tired from catching the plane today. We'll begin training tomorrow, one week should be enough."

CYC was someone whom they had defeated in Group B and it's impossible for their strengths to increase by a lot in such a short period. As long as they play normally, winning the next match wouldn't be a problem.

Hence, Coach Lin wasn't in a rush to let everyone train overnight and told everyone to have a rest after they concluded the meeting.

Ye Shaoyang returned to the dorm. He sent Xie Weiyu a private message and started the broadcast.

Xiao Bai's icon in Whale Streaming lit up. Ye Shaoyang had announced that he was broadcasting live at 10 p.m. in advance on Weibo and many people were waiting patiently for him. The moment he appeared, bullet comments filled the live broadcast, many of whom were here to see his old friend.

Xie Weiyu wasn't very popular in Panda Streaming. On the contrary, there were always a lot of black fans. Previously, he had always closed off commenting when he broadcasted but today, he finally mustered up the courage to open it.

"I'll be ranking with Yangyang in the international server tonight." Xie Weiyu said.

A row of question marks instantly appeared in the bullet comments' area.

[Yangyang? Tianhuan's Lieyang?]

[Does Xiao Yu and Yangyang know each other well?]

[If I remember correctly, Lieyang insisted on flashing over to immobilize you even just before his death. Not only did you not fight back, but you're also even ranking together. Don't tell me it was all an act in the previous match!]

[Yueying immediately dropped from Group S to Group A after you joined. Do you still not know the reason why?]

[So he's an actor, I understand it now.]

Ye Shaoyang and Xie Weiyu are already in the game room.

TL/n: An online room that must be set up for people to game with each other.

He used the tablet mode on his new phone and opened Panda Streaming's platform. He coincidentally saw the bullet comments.

TL/n: Not exactly sure how to tl it but if I'm not wrong, it's something similar to how you can switch from mobile to pc version on some websites.

Ye Shaoyang was someone who is direct and straightforward, never hiding who he is. When he saw those comments, he got annoyed at all the taunting and jeers and just said directly, "Competition is competition and friends are friends. If opponents have a good relationship privately, then they have to be actors during the competition and send some heads to the opposite side? Do you think the people in the Discipline Committee in the League are blind? Don't you know that faking would get us disqualified?"

Ye Shaoyang: "All of you are trying to come up with conspiracy theories every day, do you guys find yourself too free? The esports circle isn't the entertainment circle, we don't give out best acting awards at the end of the year."

The water army in Xie Weiyu's stream: "..."

This Omega is so fierce!

He scolded people without swearing, and the broadcast room won't be banned!

Xie Weiyu heard what Ye Shaoyang said to the black fans and smiled lightly. "It's alright, you don't have to pay any attention to them," he said.

Ye Shaoyang agreed, "Mn. I'll pull Captain Chi in, hold on a minute."

The broadcast became even more lively.

[Heck, the trio of mid, jungler, and marksman! Are you going to the international server to abuse noobs?]

[A trio like this will definitely match with another trio. I have a feeling we'll run into a professional team in this game and besides, aren't the European and North American players almost awake at this time?]

[There are also many Japanese and Korean players at this time in the international server!]

[However, your trio are all considered cores so how do you plan on distributing the economy?]

There's a limit to the team economy and it can't be distributed evenly. Usually, a team will only have two designated cores and development would still be okay, but if there are three, it would be quite difficult to make a comeback in the early game.

"I'll be the support," Ye Shaoyang said.

Almost at the same time, Chi Shuo also said, "I'll be the support."

The synchronization of the two people's hearts came into effect once again and they spoke the same words at the same time.

The netizens in the broadcast almost died from laughter.

[Yangyang and Captain Chi are fighting to be the support!]

['Xiao Yu: Why don't the two of you stop fighting and I'll be the support instead?']

[Hahaha, a marksman support is a first for me!]

Xie Weiyu also didn't expect that they would say the same thing at the same time, and he decided to just watch the show silently while eating melons.

TL/n: Slang for onlookers.

Then Ye Shaoyang could be heard saying, "Then you do it."

And Chi Shuo also said at the same time, "Then you do it."

Xie Weiyu: "..."

Guys, are we still playing?

The fans in the broadcast laughed until they felt like they were going to get chest pain.

[Now, on the topic of tacit understanding.]

[Hahaha, no one else can reach this level of brain synchronization.]

[Why don't Captain Chi and Yangyang play rock paper scissors, and the one who lost will be the support?]

[The two of you should go fight it out first. Only pull in Xiao Yu to form a team when you've come to a decision, stop displaying affection here.]

Ye Shaoyang rubbed his forehead gently, "Captain Chi, you'll run the jungler core and I'll be the support and protect you. I can also assist the marksman."

Chi Shuo also stopped expressing any more opinions. "Alright."

They finally managed to come to a mutual decision. Ye Shaoyang clicked on his rank.

A moment later, the trio entered the in-game preparation room for ranked.

Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang's account names in the international server often change, so no one knows them. Today, Chi Shuo changed it to CC7673 while Ye Shaoyang changed it to YY8998. Xie Weiyu's account name was easier to recognize, it being Rain001.

The two IDs that appeared in the team channel were also very strange.

One was ZJZ555 while the other was SN333.

A messy combination of English characters and numbers made it very difficult to recognize the people behind the accounts.

However, an English sentence suddenly popped up in the team channel——

[ZJZ555]: 4F, Are you Xie Weiyu?

The fourth player in line, are you Xie Weiyu?

Xie Weiyu was taken aback for a moment. He had always been solo queueing in the international server and didn't have much of a reputation. Those who can recognize him are most likely Chinese players. Looking at ZJZ555, Xie Weiyu directly turned on his mic and asked, "Reporter Zhao?"

A loud yell sounded in his ears, "Shit, hahaha it's really you!"

Xie Weiyu: "..."

SN333 directly sent an expression: [Crack.jpg]

The person who greeted them with a cracked expression must be Sean, the international player from Beimu. It seems like Zhao Xin'an and Sean had coincidentally ran into Ye Shaoyang's trio when they were duo-queueing and the five of them got sorted into a team together.

Xie Weiyu spoke into the mic again, "Shuoyue and Lieyang are also here."

Zhao Xin'an had just poured a cup of coffee and was planning on taking two sips, but as soon as he heard what Xie Weiyu had said, he spat all over the screen.

Fuck! Chi Shuo and Ye Shaoyang are here too.

He would like to ask if it's possible to kill a teammate in ranked? He really wants to kill Chi Shuo and steal Xiao Bai over.

Ye Shaoyang smiled and turned on his mic, "Hello everyone."

"Hello Xiao Bai," Zhao Xin'an said with complicated feelings.

Although the five of them seem to make a strong team when ranking together, the economic competition resulting from having five cores together will be the most troublesome problem and will cause the situation to be a little chaotic.

Ye Shaoyang spoke out, "Sean, you can take the mid lane. I'll support Xiao Yu."

Chi Shuo also changed his mind and said in a low voice, "I'll take the support and protect the double-C."

Originally, Ye Shaoyang wanted to let Chi Shuo run a jungler core.

But if Chi Shuo runs the jungler core, it would mean that Zhao Xin'an and Sean will have to give him resources and Beimu's top lane and mid lane are all very strong. Besides, Sean was a player from the European division, so he should let Sean have the carry out of courtesy.

More importantly…

Both Ye Shaoyang and Chi Shuo's thoughts were in line with each other's in wanting to see the strength of this mid laner called Sean.

Zhao Xin'an wiped off the coffee on his computer screen and simply said, "Alright, Captain Chi will command in this game. Come on, let's quickly pick our heroes."