40: Chapter 40 Silence: I really want to bring Old Man Li over to broaden his horizons!

"What a small world..."

Shen Mo narrowed his eyes, watching the shoeless woman appear on the high platform.

Sakura Country, Hoshimi Sakura!

Sure enough, the next second, Hoshimi Sakura's soft and charming voice rang out in the communication channel: "Little brother, we meet again. Big sister won't go easy on you this time~"

Shen Mo smiled: "Big sister, little brother is aiming for the top ten today. You have so many points, shall we play a small game?"

He didn't take Hoshimi Sakura's words to heart at all.

But with such a fat sheep holding a thousand points delivering herself to his door, wouldn't it be a shame not to slaughter her?

Hoshimi Sakura covered her mouth and giggled: "Little brother is so confident in winning against me~"

Shen Mo spread his hands: "No confidence, but this is just for fun with you, big sister. Let's not play for much, just 50 points. If I lose, I'll just give them to you. What do you say?"

Hoshimi Sakura's eyes rolled: "...Then I would have to thank you, little brother, but unfortunately... I refuse!"

Nonsense!

Hoshimi Sakura wasn't a fool.

Although she was a bit special, Shen Mo was clearly not simple. To be able to propose such a bet, he must have been confident in beating her. Not knowing the depth of Shen Mo's skills, Hoshimi Sakura would not rashly agree.

What a pity.

Shen Mo sighed inwardly; the other party actually didn't fall for it!

Didn't they say big breasts mean no brains?

Rumors cannot be trusted!

Without a bet, Shen Mo felt uninterested. Forget it, just casually taking first place would be fine.

[ Oil Country, Hakin, requesting a call! ]

Hmm?

Shen Mo was stunned.

Oil Country?

He didn't seem to have any interactions with this country, did he?

However... he remembered Old Man Li mentioning the current situation, and this Oil Country seemed to be very wealthy?

Thinking of this, Shen Mo perked up. He didn't care about that woman Hoshimi Sakura anymore and hung up the communication directly.

On the other side, Hoshimi Sakura was smiling, waiting for Shen Mo to speak. She didn't expect Shen Mo to suddenly hang up with a snap, not even bothering to say goodbye.

Hoshimi Sakura's smile stiffened.

No way.

Are you even a man?!

In Sakura Country, I'm at least a stunning beauty. Others can't bear to leave when talking to me, so why is it so hard for you to even say goodbye?

Hmph!

Men from the Dragon Country are indeed all heartless jerks!

I won't go easy on you this round!

Hoshimi Sakura thought resentfully.

...

"Hakin, right? Hello, hello, what's up?" Shen Mo answered the call with a beaming smile.

Hakin wasn't old, but his beard was quite thick, giving him a look of premature maturity. However, upon seeing Shen Mo, he seemed to turn into a little fan, his expression very excited: "Hello! Mr. Shen Mo, I really admire you."

Shen Mo laughed out loud: "Hmm, you're too kind, I am very handsome."

Hakin: ???

I said I admire you, I didn't say you were handsome?

Hakin gave two dry coughs: "Um, Mr. Shen Mo, can you help me win the game... just like you did for Persia? Of course, our country is willing to double the reward given by Persia!"

"This... is a bit difficult!" Shen Mo feigned hesitation.

Hakin quickly said: "Mr. Shen Mo, I heard you used a gold item card before. As long as you can help our Oil Country, we are willing to give you another one!"

A Gold item card!

Shen Mo's body jolted!

Damn!

This Oil Country has some real power; they're giving away a Gold item card just to win the game. Are they really that lavish!

Seeing that Shen Mo didn't speak.

Hakin quickly continued: "If Mr. Shen Mo is willing to help us climb the ranks, we will reward you with the utmost sincerity. If Mr. Shen Mo can help us enter the top 10, we have even higher-tier items above Gold that we can give you!"

Is that for real!

Shen Mo couldn't quite believe it and sized up Hakin with a suspicious gaze.

This kid has thick eyebrows and big eyes, but he's really good at painting a big picture.

Items above Gold-tier?

Didn't Old Man Li say that Gold cards are extremely rare items? Why does this kid's tone make it sound like it's no big deal? What's going on, is he trying to feed me empty promises?

Trying to get something for nothing, right!

Shen Mo asked suspiciously: "Hakin, right? Send me 50, let me see your strength."

Hakin was confused: "...Uh, what... what do you mean, Mr. Shen Mo."

"It means, why should I trust you!"

Shen Mo crossed his arms over his chest, looking arrogant: "The Gods Arena matchmaking rules have been updated. A 'match locking card' is worth 8 points. You say you want me to help you climb the ranks, I can't just take second place and let you win, right?"

Hakin suddenly realized!

So that's what Mr. Shen Mo was worried about!

Hakin felt relieved, and his face lit up with a smile: "Mr. Shen Mo, you don't need to worry about that. We have collected some match cards before, take a look..."

Saying that.

Hakin opened his portable backpack directly, and a light blue light screen appeared.

Shen Mo took a casual look, but the next second, his eyes widened suddenly!

He saw inside Hakin's arena backpack...

[ Bronze-tier · match locking card × 2999! ]

[ Silver-tier · lineup shielding card × 264! ]

[ Silver-tier · point bonus card × 1205! ]

[ Gold-tier Point Doubling Card × 88! ]

[ Gold-tier... ]

Shen Mo: (Ω Д Ω)!!!

Good, good, good!

This is the power of Oil Country. Old Man Li, you dog, I really should have dragged you here to see the world!!!

Tears of envy flowed from the corners of his mouth.

Shen Mo immediately performed a face-change, his attitude becoming ridiculously enthusiastic: "Hakin, right! Hahahaha! You really are a talent. Hey, we're all brothers, why talk about helping you climb the ranks? You're making it awkward, so awkward!"

"Mr. Shen Mo, does this mean you agree?" Hakin was overjoyed.

Shen Mo slapped his thigh: "I agree! From now on, you are my good brother from a different mother! Brother Hakin, set your heart at ease for this round. I'll give you a lineup, you'll definitely climb the ranks!"

"Really?"

"Definitely! I'm not joking about this lineup, it's worth at least 3... no, 5 Gold cards!"

Shen Mo quickly corrected himself. Hakin didn't doubt it, just felt even more excited.

A lineup worth 5 Gold cards!

How strong must that be!?

Hakin said excitedly: "Mr. Shen Mo... what is the name of the lineup you're going to give me?"

Shen Mo narrowed his eyes and chuckled: "Cancer... Syndra."

That's right!

This lineup is none other than Syndra, known in S12 as the king of TFT cancers!

Actually, Shen Mo had this idea the moment he saw those hundreds of 'lineup shielding cards' in Hakin's backpack!

After Kassadin was nerfed.

Shen Mo had been hesitating about one thing, and that was whether or not to bring out the Syndra lineup!

If he brought it out... it would soon be learned by other countries.

Then Syndra would have to be nerfed.

That way, he would lose a trump card at a critical moment, which wouldn't be worth it.

But now he wasn't worried at all.

Damn!

Hundreds of lineup shielding cards; if he gave this lineup to Hakin to play, wouldn't that be awesome?

They couldn't see the formation, they'd be locked in a dark room during the battle, and they wouldn't even know how to counter it afterwards!

They would never guess that the core carry card they needed to counter was actually an inconspicuous two-cost card!

"Good! Then I'll listen to everything Mr. Shen Mo says!"

Hakin was very excited, feeling that this round was already in the bag, but he still asked: "Then... Mr. Shen Mo, you gave me your trump card lineup, what will you play yourself?"

"Me? Anything will do." Shen Mo waved his hand casually, muttering to himself in words Hakin couldn't understand: "Maybe 10 Dimension, or 10 Eldritch, whatever. If nothing else, a Golden Monkey run would work too..."