The Destination International Invitational Tournament started in March. After a long eight-month schedule, it finally arrived at the global finals.

At 7 p.m. local time, one hour before the match, the venue in Madrid was already packed. The crowd was divided by a central aisle: one side adorned in the silver-gray theme of Team Lawman, while the other resembled an ocean of girlish pink, a clear separation.

Everyone in R.H got off the bus and was led by the staff from the dedicated passage to the lounge. They didn’t even have the chance to feel the atmosphere of the finals in advance.

Yu Zhaohan found that not only him but also his teammates seemed to have a much easier time playing against Lawman than last time – except of course Lu Youshan.

Lu Youshan repeated the instructions he had given eight times already, not just to the players, even Coach Old Tan’s ears were getting calloused. At times like this, the veteran players would choose to ignore him, only honest guy Stone still forced himself to listen, but his gaze gradually wandered.

Jiang Di leaned on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest. Qi Xian gently moved his wrist according to the movements taught by the rehabilitation therapist, while listening to Cheese reading comments from fans on Weibo.

Today, the fans were exceptionally gentle and enthusiastic. Even the anti-fans had toned down a lot. At this moment, R.H. was like the ancestors they had to support; whatever grudges and grievances existed could be settled after the match.

The official Weibo accounts of several major domestic teams also sent their best wishes. Cheese couldn’t be bothered to read the usual encouraging words. When he saw a familiar ID, he exclaimed, “Goodness, the blogger I follow finally updated!”

Qi Xian asked: “Who are you talking about?”

“Little Fish Blowing Bubbles!” Cheese exclaimed excitedly, “I haven’t seen him online since the end of the regular season. I thought he had unfollowed us, making me feel uneasy for several days!”

Knowing the answer, Shi Du asked, “Hmm? Why is that?”

Cheese speculated, “Busy with real life in the three-dimensional world?”

“Maybe he’s in a relationship, living the good life,” Shi Du said, looking up at Yu Zhaohan.

Yu Zhaohan, engrossed in studying a map, didn’t pay attention to their conversation. In his mind, his Black Swan had already found the best sniper spot, quietly waiting for prey.

“Little Fish posted six Weibo posts in a row, and the address is still…” Cheese stood up quickly, “It’s Madrid! He’s right there! Xiaoyu came to the scene and blew bubbles to support us! Oh my god!”

Shi Du looked surprised: “Really? I don’t believe it.”

Cheese believed Shi Du’s lies and showed him his phone: “Look! Look!”

[Little Fish Blowing Bubbles: R.H. Cheese, no worries about the match. While others have guns, I have Cheese’s!]

[Little Fish Blowing Bubbles: R.H. Clown plays games with his eyes wide open, Brother Xianxian used his ultimate skill throughout!]

[Little Fish Blowing Bubbles: R.H Jiang macho support wearing the pink team jersey in R.H. is the cutest]

[Little Fish Blowing Bubbles: R.H Boulder has entered the finals in the first year of his career. It’s amazing. The future is promising]

[Little Fish Blowing Bubbles: R.H. Timeless loves you [Red Lips] [Red Lips]]

[Little Fish Blowing Bubbles: Almost forgot about R.H. Shine… I love you too]

When he saw “Brother Xianxian”, Shi Du raised his eyebrows. When he saw the second-to-last Weibo, he smiled. And when he saw the last one, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“I just went to the front desk to take a look. There are so many R.H fans here!” Li Yuexi opened the door excitedly and walked in, with Nan Xu following behind him. “I guess that there are more fans than Lawman!”

It was Li Yuexi’s first time to watch a game in the Western Division. When he watched the live broadcasts before, he only felt that R.H. had high popularity. He didn’t expect it to be so popular. It could even be said to be much higher than Lawman.

“I thought that playing in Europe, there would be more local fans supporting North American teams. No wonder the operations team told me that orders for the team’s merchandise from overseas are increasing—making big money, my brothers.”

Shi Du laughed and said, “Teacher Li’s words are not wrong. European fans are not blind.”

The organizers invited a famous local band to perform the opening act. The dynamic rock ignited the atmosphere in the venue. However, it abruptly stopped at the climax, and the lights went out, plunging the arena into darkness. Only the light boards of the fans were illuminated.

Yu Zhaohan stood with his teammates at the entrance, waiting to go on stage. In the darkness, he felt someone holding his hand. He immediately grasped the familiar palm, entwining his fingers.

In an instant, the lights came on brightly. Yu Zhaohan heard screams and cheers, sounding like they were right beside him and also from a distant place—calls for them to step forward, to walk into the spotlight.

Yu Zhaohan said without any unnecessary nonsense: “Let’s go.”

Yu Zhaohan was the first to walk into the passage. As he was about to sink into darkness, he remembered his first game.

At that time, he was standing at Shi Du’s position, the second in the team. Behind him were his teammates, and in front… was his captain.

At this moment, behind him were still his teammates, but in front of him, there was no longer a captain. There was only the highest level of competitive stage in Destination.

Lu Youshan suddenly said, “Shine.”

Yu Zhaohan stopped and looked back, and his side profile lingered on the edge of light and shadow.

Calm and elegant, as always.

The coach cannot appear on stage with the players, so Lu Youshan can only send them here.

Lu Youshan looked at Yu Zhaohan quietly. At this moment, Yu Zhaohan seemed to see Coach Lu from two years ago.

No incessant chatter, no uncontrollable anxiety, no groundless worries—his life was not only about [winning the game]. He could see the sensitivity in the players’ hearts, maintain composure in adverse situations, and console them when they lost, assuring them they could win next time.

However, as soon as Lu Youshan spoke, he brought Yu Zhaohan back to reality: “You remember the tactics I talked about, right? If they pick Virus, do you remember…”

Yu Zhaohan nodded slightly and said, “Lawman has strength, but it’s not enough. We will win, don’t worry.”

Lu Youshan was suddenly stunned.

“We will win, don’t worry” was a phrase he often used to encourage players before matches, including in the last match of his best brother.

It sounded light, but if he failed to live up to it once, it became a joke.

Lu Youshan knew that Shine had never been an arrogant person, even though he had numerous reasons to be arrogant. When he said something arrogant, it didn’t convey a sense of underestimating the opponent, but rather genuine confidence stemming from his own abilities.

Shine’s self-confidence was enough to eliminate all anxiety and miraculously gave Lu Youshan short-term peace of mind.

Habit told him he should emphasize tactics again, but now he actually believed in the phrase “We will win, don’t worry.”

Wan Feng’s most favored junior, told him they would win. What else did he have to worry about?

Come to think of it, when did Yu Zhaohan transform from a crying little kid into the current Shine? He seemed to have no recollection at all. The only thing he could think of was Shine’s increase in accuracy from 60 to 80.

In the past two years, all he could see in his eyes seemed to be the winning or losing of games.

Lu Youshan forced himself to swallow a pile of repetitive advice and said hesitantly, “…okay.”

Yu Zhaohan turned around and continued walking forward.

Through the narrow passage, the cheers grew louder. He was the first to reach the end, and as the sound suddenly increased tenfold, everything before him brightened.

Yu Zhaohan was surrounded by his favorite pink wave.

His ID, his boyfriend’s ID, and the IDs of his teammates overwhelmed the cheers for Team Lawman.

Every time R.H. played a match in Europe, they would gain a wave of fans. In addition to fans from the Western Division, there were also many loyal fans who had followed R.H. all the way to Europe. They held Chinese light boards, shouting their real names hoarsely.

Yu Zhaohan, Shi Du, Xu Lanzhi, Jiang Di, Shi Huairan, and—Qi Xian.

“Brother Xian, oh my god, it’s Brother Xian!”

“Clown—”

“Qi Xian, you scumbag! You still know how to come back? Do you know how worried I am about you! You scumbag—”

Listening to the familiar Chinese, Yu Zhaohan suddenly felt like he was back in China, back at their most familiar home court for a match.

The players from both sides took the stage, arranged in two rows. On the large screens behind them, the basic information of each player appeared in sequence. The camera focused on each individual, whether they were starters or substitutes, and the commentators provided detailed introductions.

After the players’ appearances, the substitutes temporarily left the stage, and the starters took their seats.

Los Angeles Lawman:

Tank: Gunner[USA]

Short-Gun: Umbra[USA]

Short-Gun: Rattler[South Korea]

Support: Paradox[South Korea]

Shanghai R.H:

Tank: Clown[China]

Short-Gun: Timeless[China]

Long-Gun: Shine[China]

Support: Cheese[China]

“They didn’t use Tide?” Qi Xian put on his headphones with a smile, “Doesn’t Lawman have a long-gun brave enough to face the captain?”

Shi Du chuckled lightly, “Then they’re in trouble.”

Cheese couldn’t help but glance at the captain. Just when he thought the captain was going to point out Timeless’s arrogance, the captain really spoke, “It’s time they cool down.”

There were three Chinese commentators for the finals. Adhering to the principle of fairness, they provided an objective analysis of the lineups on both sides.

“They can’t produce a long gun player who can compete with Shine, so they simply went for double short guns. Lawman is directly giving up the firepower on the far end.”

“Double assassins can indeed threaten the performance of a long gun. But did Lawman forget that Shine is a free agent? He and Timeless can also form a combination of double short guns. If that doesn’t work, Shine can also pick a tank and a healer, each position having a level comparable to the upper-middle tier in the league.”

“I’m not worried about Shine at all; what I’m concerned about is Cheese. Last time, Lawman’s tactics against the healer were very effective; there’s no reason not to continue using them in the finals.”

“The first map is crucial. Will Umbra be praying to Goddess of Luck to give Lawman good luck, randomly getting a map that doesn’t suit the long gun’s performance?”

The first map of the finals was still randomly selected. The map pool started scrolling on the big screen, gradually accelerating and then decelerating, finally stopping at the Mars Base.

The camera focused on Umbra.

Umbra’s hand holding the mouse visibly relaxed, and his expression was visibly relieved.

Commentator A: “Hmm… It seems like the mysterious force from the West has come into play? This map should be what Lawman was hoping for the most.”

Commentator C: “That’s right, Paradox doesn’t have a stomachache today.”

The Mars base was easy to defend and difficult to attack, with limited hiding spots. Supports were easily targeted, and it used to be Cheese’s least favorite map. Every time they had to play this map, he couldn’t help but complain a few times.

Yu Zhaohan waited to hear Cheese complain, but after waiting for a long time, Cheese didn’t say a word. He glanced at Cheese’s screen with the corner of his eye.

With a little preparation time before the start of the match, Cheese used these last few minutes to practice his sleep guns. If enemies tried to flank him, sleep gun were his most efficient counterattack.

In Destination, the supply of the healing line was crucial; without heals, they’d lose half of the team fights. As a qualified healer, Xu Lanzhi absolutely could not be the first to die.

Did Lawman still want to lock him up like last time? Dream on!

After hitting another training ground robot with his sleep gun, Cheese was forced out of the shooting range. The screen transitioned, and the headphones played futuristic background music.

They arrived at Mars Base, and the match officially began.

Using the long gun to suppress from a distance, Yu Zhaohan successfully led his teammates to occupy the high platform on the second floor. They had a commanding view, surrounding the four Lawman players.

As expected, Gunner’s tank, who had tasted the sweetness before, jumped onto the second floor, finding Cheese’s location at the cost of two-thirds of his health. Cheese was hiding in a small room on the second floor, continuously healing his teammates. Clown, not far from him, covered him from the attack.

Gunner used his movements and positioning to escape with low health while commanding the team, “Heal me, Support! I’ll go distract Clown!”

Gunner jumped onto the second-floor platform again, forcing Qi Xian to focus on him. At the same moment, Rattler, a gladiator with full skills, unexpectedly emerged from the stairs, unleashing a charged punch towards Cheese.

Cheese successfully hit him with the sleep gun, saying, “Behave, who were you planning to punch?”

The gladiator lay on the ground and slept soundly. Yu Zhaohan, who was hanging far away, turned his rifle at the gladiator’s head after shooting Paradox’s head with Shi Du.

[R.H.Shine killed Paradox]

Yu Zhaohan said: “Sleep beautifully.”

Cheese said disdainfully: “I am a support who was severely beaten by Timeless. Rattler’s skills are incomparable to Timeless’s.”

Shi Du: “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Cheese: “Oh my god, no way!”

Lawman’s Ninja rushed towards Cheese recklessly, even risking their own lives to exchange for Cheese’s. Lawman had lost two members already, making this team fight undoubtedly a loss for them. However, if they could create a time gap for the resurrection of the support, their chances of winning the next team fight would increase.

It took time for Shi Du to arrive, Yu Zhaohan’s gun line could not pass through the wall, and Qi Xian was entangled with Gunner. Cheese glanced at the cooldown time of the sleep gun. He couldn’t escape, so he could only delay it as long as possible.

He can survive at most five seconds under Timeless’s ninjas, but what about Umbra?

Three seconds, four seconds, five seconds…seven seconds, eight seconds.

His health bar was down to the last strand, and Umbra still had half health.

Cheese shouted, “I’m sorry, I did my best!”

A tall figure stood in front of the trembling little healer, using its massive body to absorb the burst damage from the Ninja. Then, with a swift turn, it accurately knocked Umbra out of the small room.

Cheese was pleasantly surprised: “Xianxian!”

[R.H.Clown killed Umbra]

Shi Du’s Huntsman arrived just in time, looking at Umra’s corpse and casually saying, “Ah, a bit late.”

Qi Xian killed Gunner alone and then took Umbra’s head and scored a double kill earlier than double C. His palms were sweaty from the fight, and he took advantage of the opposing team’s wipeout to unceremoniously roll up his sleeves, slowly opening his eyes and typing on the public screen.

[[All] R.H.Clown: I heard that you like targeting my support?]

The camera keenly captured something. The image zoomed in, and the scars left on Qi Xian’s hand were vividly displayed in front of millions of viewers.

The entire venue fell silent for two seconds, followed by a tsunami-like roar.

The fan who had shouted “scumbag” when Qi Xian entered the stage was now shouting and cheering like crazy. They held up Qi Xian’s banner, not even bothering to wipe away the tears covering their face.