Chapter 112: The Cat That Loves Fish—The Sixth Person

With little suspense, the Pepsi Team defeated the Mengnan Team 150–133 and advanced to the second round of the knockout stage.

There was a ten-minute halftime break.

More than two thousand people throughout the venue had been captivated by the first match. During the break, they took the opportunity to speculate about the mysterious outside recruit.

“This guy is insanely good. He kept suppressing them along the main route the entire time. If it had been anyone else, they would have hesitated and changed tactics during those waves of counterattacks from the Mengnan Team.”

“Who says otherwise? I’m impressed by his nerve.”

“What do you people know? As the saying goes, when two brave men meet on a narrow road, the braver one wins. Only those who aren’t afraid to die can have the last laugh.” The speaker delivered his words with such fervor that the people around him burst into cheers, leaving him immensely pleased with himself.

Of course, where there was praise, there was also jealousy and mockery.

“What’s so impressive? It’s only a team match. Just wait until they draw demolition mode. Let’s see how long he can keep acting tough then. Demolition is about teamwork and coordination, not mere courage.”

“I agree. I don’t think he’s all that capable either. Our Mengnan Team was simply caught off guard.”

“So what if he’s really that good? There are four consecutive knockout matches. Even if the gun king ‘Muddy Water’ showed up, he couldn’t guarantee a clean sweep. Pepsi is still a new team. How could they possibly have such a high level of competitive skill?”

The audience instantly split into two camps, arguing enthusiastically. They even brought up several of the strongest professional teams around, analyzing and debating them to support their respective opinions.

In the first row of the VIP section, Jinhua and Duan Rulong were laughing delightedly. As the match was broadcast live, the stock price of the Pepsi Club had climbed once again—a most auspicious sign.

She Shiyu and the others were already considering whether they should invest in some shares themselves.

Ten minutes later, the second match began: HZ Pepsi versus Suhai City’s Cats That Love Fish.

Match: Demolition Mode, Satellite Base.

Compared with the passion and intensity of team mode, demolition placed greater emphasis on tactics and strategy. In that regard, Cats That Love Fish had a much stronger record than Pepsi. They were the champions of Suhai City. Suhai City lay only two hundred kilometers from HZ, and many of their supporters had come to cheer them on.

Among them was Gao Tianhao. His close friend—and mentor—was Chen Xiang, the captain of Cats That Love Fish.

But now, Gao Tianhao hesitated, momentarily at a loss over whom he should support.

The match began. Pepsi once again adopted a formation in which four players moved together while captain Li Gang advanced alone to probe the sites. Right from the start, all four players hurled grenades straight down the middle.

Kairy’s grenade killed Chen Xiang!

The entire venue fell silent. Then thunderous cheers erupted.

The entire Cats That Love Fish team froze. Captain Chen Xiang’s face darkened. He was a seasoned professional—how could he have been blown up by the enemy? It was both infuriating and humiliating.

“Feifei, Oil Pig, rotate quickly through the B passage. Don’t let them hit B.” Chen Xiang issued his orders rapidly. He then observed the center from the sniper’s perspective, but saw no sign of the opponent attacking there.

At that very moment, the audience began to boo.

Pepsi had actually rotated all four players. They launched a powerful assault down the short A route with a wave of utility, eliminating Sendi, the defender at the A site!

“Quickly, quickly! Rotate to the A site. Three of them are grouped together coming out of the B passage.” Chen Xiang directed them at once. As long as they stayed together, there was still a chance.

Yet his mood was uneasy. Sendi, who had died, had not seen how many opponents had entered the A site.

The crowd booed again, while supporters on both sides shouted encouragement for their teams.

The C4 was planted!

Li Gang grinned. He swiftly switched to his knife at the B iron gate, then slipped toward the center with a string of ghost steps.

Three enemies caught from behind. Three headshots!

Mission success. BlackList win!

“Holy shit! That was incredible! They dared to force an attack in an official match!” someone screamed excitedly.

“Fuck off with your yelling! You scared the hell out of me. What’s there to celebrate? It’s only the first round. Don’t you know our Fish Team is best at coming from behind?” The man beside him cursed viciously, frightening the excited fan badly.

“It’s just some damn Pepsi team that hasn’t even been formed for a year. How strong could they possibly be? Do you really think they became invincible just because they brought in an outside recruit? Maybe Pepsi simply threw enough money at some top-tier team to hire a star player as an emergency substitute.”

“I’ll say nothing. I’ll just sit back and watch Pepsi embarrass themselves.”

Listening to the disdainful abuse from the Suhai cheer squad around him, Gao Tianhao could only shake his head with a helpless smile. Others might not know how strong Yiran was, but how could he not? Yiran had managed to carry even a trash pickup team to victory, let alone a professional squad.

Gao Tianhao was an experienced gamer himself. After carefully comparing Yiran with every top player currently active, he was astonished to discover that Yiran’s individual ability and command skills absolutely ranked among the top five.

In other words, if Yiran were willing to enter the professional competitive scene, every major team would scramble to recruit him, offering him a huge salary.

Inside the Pepsi gaming room, Li Xin smiled as the players respawned.

“We’ll force A again in the second round. All five of us will move together.”

“What? A again? They’ll definitely stack their defenses there.”

“Exactly. If all five of us go, won’t we just be walking into a trap?”

Li Gang, however, said in a low voice, “We hit A. After what happened last round, they’ll definitely be guarding the rear. When they rotate back to defend the A site, they’ll hesitate.”

“Stop wasting time and throw your utility!” Li Xin suddenly barked helplessly.

Only then did the players snap back to reality, sealing off the center with their utility.

“Holy shit, they’re hitting A again? Are they brain-dead?”

The audience, watching through the all-seeing observer view, immediately cried out in astonishment and confusion.

“An idiot is still an idiot. He really thinks he’s ascended to heaven!”

“Lose, lose, lose! Go ahead and lose!”

Even the young rich men in the first row of the VIP section were commenting.

“This strategy doesn’t seem right, does it?”

“It’s perfectly fine,” Duan Rulong replied with a chuckle. “The whole point is to fight with passion—to cast yourself into a desperate situation and fight your way back to life!”

Indeed, that was exactly the case. After all, Yiran had already agreed to his request.

Facts proved that Yiran’s strategy was correct.

The Infiltrators took the round, making the score 2–0.

He had correctly judged that Chen Xiang, the opposing captain, lacked decisiveness and courage. Yiran had thrown him into a state of suspicion and made him overly cautious, constantly worrying about what might come next.

“I’m in awe. So that’s how you use tactics?”

“Damn, what incredible command ability. I’m convinced.”

“Maybe the Pepsi Team really can make it to the finals.”

As the spectators discussed the match, the VIP passageway on one side suddenly opened again. A young man wearing a baseball cap and casual clothes entered, surrounded by security guards. He immediately attracted the attention of the crowd.

“Whoa, isn’t that Zhou Yang, the new world champion from the Tigers?”

“Hey, it really is him. What’s he doing here?”

“Hmph! What do you think he’s here for?” a spectator from Suhai City snorted, his expression full of smug pride.

After everyone pressed him for an explanation, he finally shook his head and said with a snort, “Zhou Yang came up through the Fish Team. As soon as he finished dealing with his work, he flew all the way back from Huangpu City.”

“I heard that too. Zhou Yang is going to appear as the sixth player, coming in as a substitute.”

“Hahaha! With Big Brother Zhou Yang back, our Fish Team is going to break through in style and win the provincial championship!”

The fans from Suhai City immediately began waving their banners and cheering excitedly.

Zhou Yang, age twenty-three.

Occupation: Rifler for the Tigers.

Career record:

1. Led Cats That Love Fish to three consecutive South China regional championships.
2. National runner-up in the TGA League.
3. Silver Gun King in the 2030 individual championship.
4. 2031 WCG World Champion.