Ye Qiu's Compromise

"No way!" Ye Qiu immediately opposed, "The margin for error in taking out the priest is too low. If we fail, we'll be at a significant disadvantage with one less player."

"But taking out Zhang Xinjie would make the match exciting, wouldn't it? And if we succeed, victory is guaranteed," Liu Hao argued.

"No!" Ye Qiu still disagreed, "Your strategy is too risky. Our hopes of winning would rest entirely on you. If you fail, winning would be nearly impossible for us."

"Wouldn't executing your plan also place all our hopes on you?" Liu Hao countered. "If One Autumn Leaf dies, no one on our team can hold back Desert Dust. Are you going to rely on that shaky newcomer?"

"Hao... Hao Ge," Zhang Jiaxing suddenly said timidly, "Even if Ye Qiu gets killed, wouldn't you still be there? Can't you hold back Desert Dust?"

"Oh? So I only get to step up if One Autumn Leaf falls?" Liu Hao asked menacingly.

Zhang Jiaxing immediately fell silent.

"Liu Hao, come to the frontlines and support us. With your predictive abilities, we can win easily!" Ye Qiu urged.

"But the MVP will be yours!" Liu Hao protested.

Ye Qiu fell silent. He finally understood that Liu Hao was greedy; he wanted to win the MVP for the team battle. He wasn't willing to be a mere supporting player. To Liu Hao, the process mattered more than the outcome.

"Ye Qiu, you know what I want to do. I won't stop your plan, so don't stop mine," Liu Hao said calmly.

"Liu Hao, you're too arrogant now! Your arrogance will destroy you!" Ye Qiu raised his voice.

"Save your concern. If I don't walk the edge, I'll always be someone else's puppet!" Liu Hao replied softly.

With Tao Xuan watching, Liu Hao couldn't follow Ye Qiu's orders. Moreover, he didn't want to. He needed to boost his fame quickly, not excessively, but enough to avoid Tao Xuan's manipulation.

...

Ye Qiu remained silent. Others might not understand what Liu Hao meant by being a puppet, but he did. When Liu Hao first joined the Excellent Era, Ye Qiu opposed it, but Tao Xuan signed Liu Hao anyway. Grateful for Tao Xuan's "kindness," Liu Hao signed a five-year contract, binding him to Tao Xuan.

Ye Qiu sighed and asked, "How confident are you?"

Was this a sign of retreat? Liu Hao smiled, "To me, every gamble is fifty-fifty. Either it works, or it doesn't. Taking out Zhang Xinjie is the same—either we succeed, or we don't."

"So, your success rate isn't even fifty percent," Ye Qiu frowned.

Su Mucheng immediately protested, "Liu Hao, you're too arrogant! With less than fifty percent success, you still dare to go after Zhang Xinjie alone? He's the top priest in Glory, and a knight is guarding him. Your success rate isn't even ten percent!"

"The knight won't play. He'll be Tyrann7ys's substitute, the sixth player," Liu Hao said confidently.

"How is that possible? Zheng Chengfeng isn't Tyranny's top player, but he's good enough to be a starter. How could he be the sixth player?" Su Mucheng questioned.

"It's possible," Ye Qiu said suddenly, "Liu Hao broke Zheng Chengfeng's spirit in the arena. Old Han likely won't let him start again. The team battle roster was submitted in advance and can't be changed, so Zheng Chengfeng might indeed be the sixth player."

"If no knight is guarding him, the success rate of taking out Zhang Xinjie increases significantly. Zhang Xinjie wouldn't expect a lone magic swordsman to come after him," Liu Hao said.

"Liu Hao, I can agree with your strategy, but we need a bet!" Ye Qiu said. "If you successfully take out Zhang Xinjie, I won't interfere with your actions in the future. But if you fail, you'll follow all my commands from now on!"

"I refuse," Liu Hao declined.

Ye Qiu was stunned, "Why?"

"I already don't have to follow your commands, and you can't stop me. Why should I bet with you?" Liu Hao smiled.

Ye Qiu couldn't help but facepalm. He hadn't expected Liu Hao to be so shameless, completely ignoring his trap.

"Fine, forget about it. We won't interfere with him," Ye Qiu finally gave up. "We'll use the screen artillery strategy combined with the shadow tactic. Liu Hao will be on box-1 duty."

The box-1 strategy, originally from basketball, involves having one player tightly mark a key opponent while the other four play zone defence. Ye Qiu adapted this strategy for Glory team battles, using one player to limit a core opponent, creating an advantage for the team.

Although Ye Qiu developed this strategy, Huang Shaotian from Team Blue Rain popularised it.

...

Meanwhile, at Tyranny:

"Captain, I suspect Ye Qiu will use the traditional screen artillery plus shadow strategy," Zhang Xinjie said. "So, seizing the high ground will be Excellent Era's priority."

"No problem!" Han Wenqing said firmly. "If the shadow strategy isn't executed with perfect coordination, one plus one won't equal two; it might even be less."

Zhang Xinjie nodded, "Exactly. That newcomer Qiu Fei has talent but lacks battle-hardened experience. He might be our breakthrough point. Captain, you could avoid directly clashing with Ye Qiu and focus on pressuring Qiu Fei."

"I know the difference between beating Ye Qiu and winning the match. You don't need to remind me," Han Wenqing frowned.

"I was just worried you'd get too caught up in fighting Ye Qiu," Zhang Xinjie smiled, then fell into thought. "My strategy can counter the shadow and screen artillery tactics perfectly. But the wildcard is Liu Hao. If he plays conservatively, dealing with him will be much easier..."

...

"Alright, both sides have spent over two minutes on tactical positioning and have reached the centre of the map. It looks like they're aiming to seize the central high ground," Pan Lin said.

"The battle is about to begin, but Liu Hao is still manoeuvring tactically, taking a wide detour to avoid detection by Tyranny's players. If the fight starts now, Excellent Era will be at a disadvantage with one less player."

...

"Damn, why are these boots so slow? I need to talk to the designers about this. Running this slowly is really a problem," Liu Hao muttered.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter 76 is up on my Patreon.

Chapter 56 is free on my Patreon.

Also, I am planning to be Patreon-only on only fic, a translated fic with limited free chapters on my Patreon. With time, I shall make it paid(advanced chapters) as I do for this fic. I am open to suggestions regarding this.

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