The Sakura team has obviously studied R.H’s recent regular season games, seized on Stone’s weakness of inexperience, and attacked his mentality in the first game.

But they overlooked one thing – experience is often gained through real combat. Stone, like them, wouldn’t fall for the same move twice.

Stone was attacked as soon as he entered the team battle in two consecutive rounds. The firepower of the three people on the opposite side was all on him. Despite his teammates quickly coming to help distribute the damage, his health bar quickly drained, resulting in him giving up the first blood and putting the team at a disadvantage in the team fight.

Kaoru’s Gladiator had the task of focusing on defense against Yu Zhaohan. Yu Zhaohan played a hero known as “Busy Cowboy,” an elegant American cowboy wearing a cowboy hat and cowboy boots. While his revolver shots to the head might not one-shot opponents like a sniper, the cowboy’s fast attack rate and no need for aiming down sights allowed him to fire three shots in one second, all landing headshots, enough to burst down a squishy target.

Kaoru could ignore others, but he had to kill Shine… Well, he admitted that he might not be able to kill Shine, but he mustn’t let Shine have a good space to output.

The Gladiator Tian Ke carried a long spear, so Yu Zhaohan had to frequently run around to evade Kaoru’s assassination. Although he ultimately stunned Kaoru, fired three headshots, survived with a sliver of health, and even got a revenge kill, he spent a significant amount of time on Kaoru, making it challenging to provide fire support for his teammates.

Due to the superposition of various factors, the Sakura team gained an advantage in the battle for target point A and successfully occupied it.

Some of the viewers were only at a bronze-level understanding of the game and gave comments in the bullet comments as if they were among the top 500 in the national servers. These individuals couldn’t see any tactical setups but focused on the top-right corner of the screen, criticizing who died as bad and who killed someone as awesome.

[Stone went to give it away again. Isn’t the boss of R.H rich? How could he buy a piece of trash?]

[These plays, even I could do them]

[@Qi Xian R.H is in danger, come back soon]

[Double C’s four legs combined are not enough for a Stone to hold]

As target point B unlocked, the two sides were about to begin a new struggle.

Yu Zhaohan was well aware that they couldn’t play like they did at point A. Since the Sakura team likes to take advantage of their tanks, they can use their tactics to their advantage.

Yu Zhaohan asked: “Can you keep your composure, Stone?”

Stone swallowed: “Yes, Captain.”

Yu Zhaohan said: “In order for Timeless and me to output more effectively, we might have to temporarily sacrifice you.”

Upon hearing “Timeless and me,” Stone’s heart ignited, and his voice became resolute, “I’m fine with that. Captain, tell me what to do.”

Yu Zhaohan acted decisively, “You go and sacrifice yourself.”

Stone replied, “Understood!”

“Sacrificing the tank” is also a tactical approach that entails the tank charging into the enemy formation at all costs, breaking the enemy’s formation, cutting off the healer’s support, and then having the double C players locate and attack the scattered enemies one by one.

The “selling the tank” tactic carries both rewards and risks. If the double C players can’t deal enough damage and complete the cleanup within a short timeframe, it results in giving away the tank’s life to the enemy.

Yu Zhaohan couldn’t afford to be controlled by Kaoru anymore; he needed to output a large amount of damage.

Yu Zhaohan said, “Timeless.”

“Here.”

“Don’t let Kaoru interfere with me.”

Timeless’s lips curled up slightly. “Sure.”

The first team fight at point B was about to begin. Every member of R.H was diligently executing the captain’s tactics, doing what they were supposed to do.

Seeing Stone looking like he was ready to pounce, there were a few condescending laughs in team Sakura’s voice chat.

“He dares to come again, isn’t he afraid of death?”

“Did Shine let him take the blame on purpose so that he wouldn’t be scolded by his fans if he lost?”

“What nonsense are you talking about at this time? Let’s focus on Stone first!”

Kaoru couldn’t understand the complex Korean chatter and had no idea what his teammates were talking about. It didn’t matter; he just had to focus on Shine.

Stone rushed over with a jet jump. Except for Kaoru, the three Korean players on the Sakura team spread out in all directions, attacking Stone from various angles.

Tanks have two large head hitboxes, and many professional long-range sniper shots that hit the tank’s head rely on this to build up their statistics. Sakura’s long gun was filled with enthusiasm when suddenly his head went cold and a third of his blood bar disappeared. He used his fastest reaction to look for the source of the damage, and before he could find it another two headshots sounded and his screen grayed out.

[R.H. Shine killed Sakura.Pan]

Pan only saw a figure in the corner of the second floor as he called out, “It’s Shine! Shine is on the second floor!”

The moment Pan reported this, Sakura’s tank also received “care” from the Busy Cowboys. Fortunately, he had thick health and managed to survive with half of his health left after taking three shots.

Sakura Tank said angrily: “Where’s Kaoru? Didn’t I tell you to keep an eye on Shine!”

Kaoru barely understood this sentence and shouted: “Timeless is protecting him! I am fighting Timeless in a duel!”

Before the team fight began, Kaoru had circled around behind R.H and found Shine’s location. He was somewhat surprised by Shine’s positioning; it seemed too audacious, making it easy for him to locate.

But he didn’t have time to think about it. The appeal of Shine’s headshot was too intense to resist, and it was worth the risk he was about to take.

He found the right moment and entered from the side. Shine should have heard his footsteps, and he should have engaged in a drawn-out fight with him as they did at point A.

But Shine didn’t. The Busy Cowboy was minding his own frontal output as if he was nothing but air.

A ball of anger arose in Kaoru’s heart—Did Shine look down on him so much that he really thought he couldn’t kill him?

Just as he was about to make a move, a slim female assassin appeared out of nowhere. With a cheerful hero line, “Hello, friend,” the female assassin fired half a magazine directly into his head.

Kaoru’s reaction was quick enough to dodge the remaining half of the bullets. While his health wasn’t looking good, he hadn’t used any of his abilities yet and found a health pack to replenish himself. He still had a fight left in him.

Timeless played a female assassin with three teleportation skills and a flash-back skill. With a flash-back, he could return to his position and status from five seconds ago. This teleportation mechanic made this hero one of the most elusive squishies in the game. If you want to solo with the female assassin, you must learn to predict her position.

Kaoru played a lot with the female assassin. He remembered the moment and location where Timeless used his abilities and remained in that position, waiting for Timeless to return in a flashback and plunge himself into the trap.

Until the female assassin’s lively voice rang in his ears again: “We meet again, friend.”

Kaoru’s pupils shrank – Timeless hadn’t used flash-back. It was a trap he’d set up with a feigned action!

[R.H.Timeless kills Sakura.Mist]

At that moment, the observer’s camera happened to focus on Kaoru.

The fiery young man clenched his teeth, his cheeks bulging, with a defiant look on his face, like a protagonist in a comic being toyed with by the antagonist.

Timeless had avoided soloing against Kaoru for the sake of the team, and he finally got his payback. “Hilarious, this idiot really thought I wouldn’t dare to 1v1 him.”

Cheese screamed, “Captain is so cool, little brother is so cool, ahhh!”

R.H’s temporary tactic of sacrificing Stone had a significant impact. They consecutively secured points B and C, winning the first small round of the match. Shine single-handedly contributed 45% of the team’s damage output.

In the following two rounds, Stone maintained his composure and played even better. The double-C combination continued to excel, and R.H took the first three rounds, leading 3-0, holding four match points.

In the regular season, R.H once kept a clean sheet against the Sakura team. If Sakura scores a point today, it will be a step back for them.

Why should a game that can be finished in four rounds be postponed to the fifth round? They didn’t want to work overtime at all.

In the final wave of the match on the big stage, R.H delivered a perfect team fight to the audience:

Stone and Cheese teamed up to kill Sakura’s support.

Kaoru imitated Timeless and used the female assassin, dodging back and forth at the target point. Shine’s sniper discovered his head during his flashback and sent him to the resurrection site point to reunite with his support.

In the end, Timeless held the blade and cleanly finished the battle.

Team Sakura was destroyed.

Following the regular season, Shanghai R.H once again kept a clean sheet against Tokyo Sakura in London.

The foreign presenters enthusiastically shouted, “Unbelievable” and “Perfect.”

The entire crowd cheered.

Shi Du took off his headphones, subconsciously searching for Yu Zhaohan’s gaze.

Yu Zhaohan was also looking at him with a slight smile on his face, and his cold expression had even thawed: “Did you enjoy the fight? Boyfriend.”

The American referee standing behind them couldn’t understand Chinese, so he had no idea what Shine said. Still, he could see Timeless’ pupils being illuminated by the arena lights, being lit up bit by bit by his team captain.

Youth is brilliant and dazzling like a star.

Fans from different countries, different skin colors, and different beliefs shouted loudly for the same two IDs at this moment.

Timeless, Timeless, Timeless.

Shine, Shine, Shine.

—It’s him and the person he likes.

Shi Du chuckled and said lazily: “It’s cool.”

When shaking hands with Team Sakura, Kaoru shifted his target back to Shi Du. He held Shi Du’s hand and said, “Just you wait – wait for me at the peak, we’ll surpass you!”

Shi Du: “Okay.”

R.H.’s four starting players all made outstanding plays. Stone established a new league record for damage received per death. Apart from “Shine is amazing” and “Timeless, my Superman,” the most prevalent remarks in the live chat were “Stone, we’re sorry” and “Those who just bashed Stone, come out and apologize.”

In the end, the MVP of the game was awarded to Shine for his overwhelming damage.

After the match, the officials wanted to interview Shine and Old Tan agreed. Since Qi Xian wasn’t around, it didn’t matter who they sent – as long as it wasn’t Timeless.

Then he heard Timeless ask one of the staff, “Who’s coming to interview?”

The staff member replied, “It’s Alva.”

Shi Du chuckled and said, “Then I’ll go; our team captain doesn’t like to talk nonsense.”

Yu Zhaohan “Hmm” in agreement.

“No!” Old Tan sternly refused. “Whoever goes, it can’t be you!”

Even Cheese could tell that Alva had some particular interest in Shine. So, letting Timeless do the interview at this moment would be like making millions of viewers jealous.

Shi Du reassured him with a smile, “Don’t worry, I’ll just answer whatever he asks, no trouble.”

Given Timeless’ popularity, the official team was more willing to let Timeless do the interview when they couldn’t get Shine.

Old Tan was forced to give in and followed Timeless to the front desk, thinking that if Timeless talked nonsense, he would rush to grab the microphone.

Alva was previously informed that he would be interviewing Shine, so he was disappointed when Timeless showed up. However, his professionalism kept him politely smiling as he asked the prepared questions.

Alva: “Welcome, Timeless, to our interview booth. This is R.H’s first playoff game of the season. How do you feel?”

Timeless: “I feel fine.”

Alva: “Many fans have noticed that Clown hasn’t played for some time. Can you shed light on this?”

Old Tan expected Timeless to throw out an “I can’t answer that” to stun the audience, but surprisingly, Timeless answered properly.

“I’m sorry, I can’t reveal that at the moment,” Timeless said. “But I can tell our fans that Clown will definitely return.”

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and Old Tan breathed a sigh of relief.

Alva smiled and said, “Alright, one last question – is there anything Timeless would like to say to the R.H supporters?”

“Thank you for your support and I will continue to work hard,” Timeless said, looking straight into the camera. “And one more thing, my captain is quite busy and doesn’t have time for dates with others. I hope certain people will bother him less. I won’t name who exactly. Alva.”

Alva?“…”

Old Tan felt like he was about to pass out. He tremblingly opened the live stream, and the barrage was just as he expected.

[Huh? I think I’ve faintly sensed the smell of a battlefield]

[Thank you Timeless, for helping me drive away those who were pestering my wife, thank you, thank you [bows]]

[Hahahahaha, “I won’t name who exactly” is perfect]

[Emphasis: He doesn’t have time for dates with ‘others’, does that mean he has time for a date with you?]

Shi Du returned to the lounge. Before Old Tan could scold him, he was interrupted by Yu Zhaohan.

“Great job, everyone,” Yu Zhaohan said. “No review tonight; let’s all go and relax.”

Cheese was delighted. “Great! Xiao Jiang, let’s go to the swimming pool! Will Stone come along?”

Jiang Di nodded. “Sure.”

Stone smiled shyly and said, “Don’t laugh at me when I tell you, but I didn’t sleep all night last night. I was quite awake during the match, but now I’m feeling a bit dazed. I think I want to go back to the room and catch up on sleep.”

“Oh, then you should have a good rest.” Cheese asked Yu Zhaohan again: “Captain, are you coming?”

Yu Zhaohan said, “I have plans.”

Shi Du looked at Yu Zhaohan.

His wife had plans? He didn’t know about this.

On the way back to the hotel, Shi Du asked Yu Zhaohan about his so-called plans. Yu Zhaohan said, “I remember your university application in the UK. Do you want to take this opportunity to check it out?”

“No.” Shi Du raised his eyebrows without any special reaction, “Why do you ask this?”

Perhaps it was because of their great victory that Shi Du seemed to be in a good mood and seemed to no longer take his previous troubles seriously.

Yu Zhaohan was not very good at lying in front of Shi Du, so he looked away: “I just asked casually.”

Shi Du laughed: “That’s a good question. Just don’t ask again next time.”

Yu Zhaohan responded with an “Oh” and silently contemplated other strategies.

Shi Du asked him: “Are you hungry, babe? Want to go for a late-night snack when we get back?”

Yu Zhaohan shook his head. “No, I’m not hungry.”

Shi Du was a little hungry. But since Yu Zhaohan wasn’t, he didn’t feel like going out for a late-night snack by himself and decided to just grab a couple of slices of bread back in the room.

The two returned to the room. Yu Zhaohan touched his stomach and said, “Shi Du, I seem to be hungry again.”

Shi Du said amusedly: “Ten minutes ago, you said you weren’t hungry?”

Yu Zhaohan concealed his guilt with an expressionless face: “My previous feeling was wrong.”

Shi Du didn’t think much of it. “Alright, let’s go then. I’ll get you some late-night snacks.”

“But Shi Du, I don’t want to walk anymore.” Yu Zhaohan said, “Could you please do me a favor and bring back some late-night snacks? Thank you.”

Shi Du said, “No need to thank me.”

There was a 24-hour fast-food restaurant near the hotel, and when Shi Du went there, he ran into Bi Aan eating late-night snacks by himself.

The fast-food restaurant’s specialty roast chicken was sold out, and the next batch had to wait ten minutes. Shi Du sat down across from Bi An, chatting with the former captain while waiting for the chicken.

“You played well today and attracted a lot of foreign fans.” Bi’an said, “Um, is Alva really pursuing Captain Yu?”

Shi Du glanced at him and replied coldly: “Drink your Coke.”

“Don’t attack me, I don’t agree with this engagement. Our mighty Captain Yu isn’t something ordinary people can meddle with.” Bi An casually asked, “By the way, who are you playing against next?”

Shi Du was looking up information on his mobile phone and casually answered: “Lawman.”

“Ahem -” Bian An almost choked on his coke: “You’re so calm about it?”

“Yes,” Shi Du smiled, “Are you envious?”

“Are you that confident?”

“Otherwise? Without confidence, you’ll lose half the battle.”

At this time, several messages popped up continuously on the phone, Shi Du clicked on them and saw that they were all from Yu Zhaohan.

[Shine: When will you come back?]

[Shine: I want to take off your clothes right now and let you wear me out until I cry]

[Shine: Does it feel good like this?]

[Shine: Please, husband, stay inside me forever.]

There was also a picture: a pair of fair and slender legs on a bed, with pure white sheets tucked between them, creating an image that was both pure and alluring.

Shi Du’s mind exploded.

His heart was racing, his breath was quickening, and sweat was gathering on his forehead.

Where did Yu Zhaohan learn Dirtytalk?!

Bi An noticed that something was off with Shi Du’s expression. He also stood up, asking, “What’s wrong with you?”

Shi Du decisively locked the screen and drank another large mouthful of ice-cold Sprite, his Adam’s apple rolling up and down.

Bi An was alarmed by Shi Du’s reaction, patted him on the back, and asked, “Dude, are you okay?”

Unable to separate himself from the rooster, Shi Du shook off Bi An’s hand and turned around.

Bi An shouted behind him: “Timeless? You don’t want your chicken anymore?!”

In his hotel room, Yu Zhaohan stared at the phone, wondering what he should do. What he sent to Shi Du was only supposed to be a few lines of conversation, but it had escalated into something unexpected.

This is the power of words. Yu Zhaohan hoped that Shi Du would understand his intentions.

Yu Zhaohan waited for a while without receiving a reply from Shi Du. He had just taken off his clothes, preparing to take a shower when Shi Du’s message came in.

[Timeless: Open the door]

Yu Zhaohan hurriedly put on the hotel bathrobe and opened the door, but not completely. There was a chain lock in the middle.

The two looked at each other through a crack in the door.

Yu Zhaohan saw the boy’s slightly red eyes.

“Why are you back?”

Shi Du gasped slightly: “If I don’t come back, who else do you want to come back?”

Yu Zhaohan hesitated and said, “Shi Du, can’t you see? I’m practicing a long-distance relationship with you.”

He had finally found a bit of time and gone to great lengths to trick Shi Du into leaving, and he had only just started practicing.

“Long-distance relationship? What nonsense.” The boy’s hand was blocking the door, almost as if he wanted to tear the door down. “Open the door.”