117: Chapter 117 The first stage of the e-sports competition has ended, and the Demon King team...

As Chen Yang's voice spread throughout the internet cafe, the entire place suddenly went quiet for a beat.

Then, people from the nearby rows of computers all crowded around.

"What? Dragon Scale? Is that for real?"

"My friend and I both got green steel, how did you pull that?"

"Let me see, let me see."

A crowd of people squeezed behind Chen Yang, staring at his screen.

He immediately switched to the inventory interface, and there the Dragon Scale lay in his storage.

The entire crowd of onlookers erupted.

"Holy crap, it really is a Dragon Scale."

"It looks so cool! If you pull this out in Knife Mode, you'll be the flashiest guy around!"

"Chen Yang, you have to treat us today. What kind of luck is this?"

Old Chu stood to the side, silently switching his green steel a few more times. After looking at his green steel knife and then at that gleaming golden Dragon Scale, he could only feel that this was fate.

Chen Yang immediately started a round of Knife Mode.

He didn't go to fight anyone; he just stayed where he was to look at his Dragon Scale, watching it flash with golden light on the screen.

Meanwhile, in the main hall, as many crossfire players were looking at their own golden melee weapons...

...not far away, in the private room with the "Team Training Room" sign hanging on the door, a sudden burst of violent cheering erupted. The Fat Guy's voice rang out from the room, loud enough for the whole internet cafe to hear.

"We won! We advanced!"

The private room wasn't actually big; it only had three computers.

Besides A-Shui and the Fat Guy, the other three teammates had never met in person; they only teamed up online for the competition.

They would only have the chance to meet in person when the third round of the offline tournament arrived.

A-Shui took off his headphones and let out a long breath.

"Finally won."

The Fat Guy's face was still covered in a layer of sweat from just finishing the match. He picked up his water cup, took a big gulp, and turned to A-Shui.

"That wasn't easy. Towards the end, my palms were sweating so much I could barely hold the mouse."

Liu Yang, standing behind them, also finally relaxed and closed the notebook in his hand.

Of course, this notebook was a real notebook. It was densely packed with things Liu Yang had written, and this was only a part of it; there was more in the notepad on his phone.

"It's been almost two months since the league of legends esports tournament started, and two months is also the duration of the first stage."

"With less than ten days left until the official end of the first stage, we've already secured our advancement spot early."

Liu Yang held up the notebook, letting them see the standings table on it.

"We are currently third in District 2. We have one match left, and even if we lose this last one, we won't fall out of the top ten."

After hearing Liu Yang's words, A-Shui leaned back in his chair and typed a message to the other three teammates, telling them good work.

"Let's just play the last match in a relaxed way. No need to be nervous; we can try some new heroes and new team compositions."

After sending the message, he turned his head to look at Liu Yang.

"It's thanks to you, too. The tactical guidance you've given during this time has been really useful."

"Several times, it was only because we listened to your analysis and used team compositions that countered the opponent's that we were able to secure key points."

Liu Yang waved his hand, saying there was no need to thank him, but he couldn't help but smile.

"I just like analyzing these things. It's your own ability that allowed you to win."

A-Shui stretched his fingers.

"By the way, the teams advancing from other districts should be mostly decided by now. Are there any we need to watch out for, or any very strong teams?"

"Although we are currently only third in District 2, when we played against the top-ranked team in District 2 earlier, we almost won."

"They only won because of luck; they stole our Baron blindly in the final team fight. Otherwise, we would have won."

Listening to A-Shui's inquiry, Liu Yang opened his notebook again, which was densely packed with match data he had been watching during this time.

"Among the current national server players in the first round, the gap in skill isn't actually that big."

He had already gotten used to calling these people "players" instead of "gamers."

"However, there are a few teams from other districts that are definitely worth paying close attention to."

"There is a Mid laner in District 1 called Zuo Shou who is exceptionally fierce in laning. He has solo-killed every Mid laner he has faced. Their team's overall strength is also very strong; they are one of the strongest teams right now."

Liu Yang turned to the next page.

"There is another team whose core is the bottom lane AD. They are the only ones who rely on a 'protect the carry' composition, pouring resources into the bottom lane almost every game, and they took first place in their district."

He looked at the Fat Guy to the side.

"That AD is also a chubby guy, about the same size as you, called Uzi. If we meet them in the second round, A-Shui, you must be careful. His playstyle is extremely aggressive."

A-Shui nodded. "I'll be careful."

He paused and then added, "The rules state that in the second round, every team will have to coordinate with official staff, and the match schedule will be announced a few days in advance."

"When that time comes, help us analyze the tactical characteristics of the teams we have to face."

Liu Yang nodded. "Okay."

The Fat Guy was stretching his fingers on the side while joking.

"If we pass the second round and make it to the offline tournament, we can get prize money."

"When we go to play the offline tournament, I really want to see just how handsome our team's top laner, Zitao, who claims to be the Peng Yuyan of Jincheng, actually is."

A-Shui managed a rare smile. "He almost never goes a few sentences without mentioning his own looks; I'm quite curious too."

"But Fat Guy, set your sights further; don't just stare at the third round."

His expression became a bit more serious. "My goal is the fourth round, the Global Tournament."

Mentioning the Global Tournament changed Liu Yang's expression as well. He lowered his head, flipped through his notebook, and found a few other pages.

"During this time, I've actually been following the matches in other regions as well."

A-Shui looked over. "How are they? Are there any we need to watch out for?"

Liu Yang took a deep breath. "The other regions are all about the same; there hasn't been a team with absolute dominance."

His voice lowered a few notches. "Except for one: the South Korea region."

A-Shui's brows furrowed, and the Fat Guy's expression also became more serious.

Liu Yang continued, "Teams in all other regions, even if they win every series, always have times when they lose individual games."

"But there is one team that, from the first round until now, has not only won every series but hasn't lost a single individual game. They've been crushing everyone from start to finish."

A-Shui was silent for a moment before asking, "What's the team called?"

"Demon King Team."

Liu Yang's voice carried a hint of gravity. After a long silence, A-Shui asked, "Have you seen their match recordings?"

Liu Yang nodded. "Is there any way to counter them?" A-Shui asked again.

Previously, when they faced other strong teams in District 2, Liu Yang could always analyze the opponent's match recordings to find some flaws and habits, allowing them to target the opponents during the pick-and-ban phase and early laning.

But this time, Liu Yang slowly shook his head. His face visibly paled a bit.

"In the face of absolute strength, all strategies are useless. Every player on this team has an incredibly deep hero pool, especially their Mid laner, who can dominate regardless of which hero they pick."

"Currently, I can't think of a way to counter them."

The private room was quiet for several seconds. The Fat Guy opened his mouth but didn't say anything. It seemed that this league of legends Global Tournament really wasn't as simple as they thought; such a dominant team had actually appeared.

Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Liu Yang immediately closed his notebook and smiled as he spoke.

"But it's only the first round right now; it's too early to talk about this."

"It won't be too late to study how to deal with them once we truly make it to the fourth round."

...

Meanwhile, as crossfire had completely stabilized and the league of legends esports tournament was about to enter its second stage, a phase meeting was also being held at Langchao Group.

With his hands free from crossfire, Qin Mo was finally able to turn his attention to the next project. And this time, their opponent was Anli Group.