Chapter 197.1: His trust wasn’t blind trust but something that stemmed from confidence.

Dying once in the early stages wasn’t a big problem. Ning Zhehan was back in the game soon after his resurrection and didn’t lose too many little soldiers.

In the farm panel, FTW and 3U were basically even. There wasn’t much difference between them.

The only difference was that the person with the most farm in 3U was Asleep, while FTW’s number one was Close.

In fact, there was a hidden danger here. The top-laner was relatively more fixed in place. Having a higher farm meant that he could suppress Xuan Long, but Close didn’t need a farm advantage to suppress Xuan Long at all. Therefore, the extra gold coins were a little wasted, and it would be more meaningful if he could give them to Wei Xiao.

However, the mechanics of the game were set up like this, and there was no way to give gold to one’s teammates.

The hidden danger in FTW was an opportunity for 3U. Asleep would never let go of this chance to gain an advantage.

He relied on the way his farm was higher than Wei Xiao’s to finish clearing out his jungle faster, allowing him to focus on ganking and arrive at the bottom lane before Wei Xiao could.

Not to mention, Brother Cai had provided vision. Even if he hadn’t, Wei Xiao would also be able to figure out what Asleep was thinking, and he’d ordered Bai Cai to go with Yue Wenle in order to maintain his temporary advantage in the bottom lane.

Asleep came even faster than Yue Wenle had imagined, and he didn’t even pause at all. He didn’t hide himself in the bushes and instead, went out directly, waving his scythe and latching onto Yue Wenle.

The berserker thief’s scythe absolutely didn’t miss.

Asleep caught Yue Wenle!

Brother Cai quickly switched to the Book of Revelations, switching from Introspection to Advice and barely managing to give Yue Wenle a boost to his defense.

The apocalypse priest was a special type of support. It was very commonly seen in casual games, and was especially popular among girls.

The main reason for it was that its skills were simple, and it wasn’t difficult to operate. Also, the hero looked handsome.

The apocalypse priest held the Book of Revelations, and the book had two forms. One was ‘Introspection’, which greatly improved the DPS ability of a teammate if attached to a friendly troop, increasing it by a certain percentage. The later in the game it was, the more terrifying this increase became. The other form was ‘Advice’, and the effect was to improve their teammates’ defense. It would also add a tiny shield that would gradually improve as the hero levelled up and increased their skill level.

At first, Bai Cai had given Yue Wenle the Introspection buff. Now, he’d switched to Advice, planning to protect him, but…

Yue Wenle: “Introspection!”

Bai Cai was stunned.

Yue Wenle didn’t say anything else and began to shoot at the berserker thief like crazy.

“F*ck!” Brother Cai finally reacted.

He and Yue Wenle really lacked a certain level of tacit understanding. He still didn’t know him well enough.

Yue Wenle had been locked in by Asleep. What was the use of ‘Advice’? A small defense bonus and a tiny shield in the early stages wasn’t enough against a scythe. It was better to keep up Introspection, stack up the DPS, and trade his life for Asleep’s.

Since he was set to die anyway, then any life he could harvest was better than nothing.

Bai Cai switched back to Introspection, but it was already too late.

What made the situation even more deadly was that Cong Yi’s puppet warlock had actually used two puppets at the same time!

When the cute little doll settled over his shoulders, Bai Cai felt his shoulders sink down in reality as well.

Wei Xiao: “I’ll be right there.”

Bai Cai: “Be careful of Old Yue!”

It wasn’t ‘Be careful, Old Yue,’ but ‘Be careful of Old Yue.’ It sounded strange, but anyone who was familiar with the puppet warlock would understand it.

Being manipulated by the puppet for two seconds wasn’t limited to just movement. He could even control the target of Yue Wenle’s attacks!

Brother Cai watched as his own character went to sleep against his control, and Yue Wenle’s attacks landed on his body. The longbow druid with Introspection really dealt a lot of damage that shot straight at the heart!

The scythe dance killed Yue Wenle, and Yue Wenle’s damage left Brother Cai at critical health.

Asleep took down a double kill.

Meanwhile, Wei Xiao and Close arrived at the same time.

The phantom thief opened up its mirror image, while the tide warrior’s Demon Song dazed the berserker thief. The puppet warlock turned and walked away without looking back.

The scrolling comments were laughing like crazy. “What’s going on, God Yi, are you ditching your captain!”

“Holy shit, how heartless, my Brother Sleep was sold off by his own support just like that.”

“There’s no helping it. Asleep’s been dazed by the great demon king, and the puppet warlock doesn’t have any skills left. If he stays, he’ll just be giving them two kills, so it’s better to leave as soon as possible.”

“Even if, even though, isn’t it good to die for love?”

“Don’t flame me, it’s just a joke!”

Asleep, who’d just taken two kills, died under the phantom thief’s mirror image. Wei Xiao gained a lot from this one round, but unfortunately, he was unable to catch Cong Yi.

Fortunately, there wasn’t a chat system in the competitive arena. Otherwise, Wei Xiao might actually have typed something to ridicule God Yi’s actions of selling out his friends for the sake of survival.

The commentators: “FTW still lost more. Close finished clearing his lane soldiers before coming down, but even if he rushes up now, he’s bound to waste a round of resources.”

“It’s a pity that Quiet was unable to kill Cong Yi. Although he interrupted Asleep’s killing spree, he’s still 800 gold behind in farm.”

“The phantom thief can still compare to the berserker thief in the early stages, but it’ll become difficult in the late stages.”

The phantom thief was similar to the hidden thief in that they were both early stage talents. and they were of little use in the later stages of the game. Wei Xiao hadn’t played very smoothly in the early stages, so it was hard to expect him to play out anything shocking later in the game.

Soon the commentator’s eyes lit up again. “FTW directly switched lanes! Close is staying in the bottom lane!”

“It’s a very clever move. Yue Wenle will revive soon and can rush up to the top lane with a teleport. FTW won’t lose the slightest bit of resources.”

“And Xuan Long’s equipment isn’t very good. Yue Wenle and Bai Cai will be able to develop safely and steadily in a two against one situation.”

“If Close is on the bottom lane, then Wen Wei…”

While they were talking, 3U switched lanes as well!

If FTW could teleport, then 3U could, too.

The great demon king wanted to bully Wen Wei?

No way.

In any case, Xuan Long was a divine warrior and could be used like a support position even if his farm was at the very bottom of the list.

But if Wen Wei was handicapped, then Asleep would be unable to save 3U no matter how much he burned and slaughtered away.

The rhythm of the game picked up all of a sudden.

Although it was a match point game and a game that was likely to determine the outcome of the semi-finals, both sides still fought more and more fiercely.

Asleep played without reservations, his entire person like a taut bow that was ready to be released.

Mid-lane, bottom lane, jungle zone.

Asleep was always one step ahead of Wei Xiao, and he was always able to find the right opportunity to gank someone.

Wei Xiao suffered from not having a support with him. Asleep, who had Cong Yi with him, had help for everything. This varied from clearing out the jungle, providing vision, and even enhancing his moving speed. Wei Xiao was unable to compare with them on his own.

Of course, ganking could be done separately. For example, Asleep could mess with the bottom lane while Wei Xiao went to mess with 3U’s mid-lane, trading in an ADC for the mid-laner and making it so that neither side gained any benefits.

But Wei Xiao didn’t do that.

The reason?

It would become an ongoing source of additional trouble.

Regardless of whether it was 3U or FTW, both teams focused on the bottom lane as a place of strategic importance.

Li Chun had taken the ice mage. Even if Wen Wei killed him ten times, he would still be able to play out his value in the later stages––as long as he could control people, it wouldn’t matter if his DPS was a bit lower because the core DPS positions were Asleep and Wen Wei.

FTW followed almost the same reasoning. The cat engineer had a strong support ability, and after clearing the lane soldiers, it could go to the bottom lane to provide support. Unfortunately, the vision Cong Yi provided was too good. Once they saw Ning Zhehan heading down, they would head straight to the mid-lane and try to take down the middle tower there like crazy.

25 minutes into the game.

Chen Feng bit his thumb nervously beneath the stage.

Tang Chen: “It’s alright, this is only the fourth match.”

Chen Feng shook his head. “We can’t enter the decisive game.”

The last game of a BO5 was also called the decisive game. This so-called decisive game literally meant that the entire game’s win or loss was determined with this one match; losing this match would signal the end of the season.

There was too much pressure involved in playing in the decisive game.

Chen Feng understood Wei Xiao and knew that he was able to pump up the team’s outlook.

But to be honest, emotions that could be rallied so easily were the most unstable.

Wei Xiao had inspired them for a while, but he couldn’t keep it up for the duration of the whole game. The three little ones all had various shortcomings when it came to their ability to deal with pressure. If they really had to play the decisive game, then their ability to play out their potential would be greatly reduced.

On the other hand, for 3U, they’d have travelled a bumpy road in order to catch up to a 2:2 score. At that time, their morale would increase greatly, and they might be able to win the decisive game all in one go.

So, Chen Feng was a little flustered. What he didn’t want to see the most was FTW having to enter the decisive game.

Hold steady.

Chen Feng stared at the scene in front of him and focused on the five players who were active on the field.

This was FTW’s most promising year. Don’t let it all come to an end in the semi-finals!

30 minutes into the game. The game had completely entered the later stages.

The defense towers on both sides had been pushed all the way up to the base, and the three isolated base towers on both the red and blue sides guarded their final glory.

The audience’s nerves were strained to the extreme. They watched the holographic projection without blinking.

Perhaps it would only take a group fight to determine the outcome.

Maybe, there was only one big fight left!

So far, the farm panel was about even on both sides.

Wei Xiao’s farm wasn’t much worse than Asleep’s, and Yue Wenle had finally caught up. Even the cat engineer had sufficient pieces of finished equipment.

There was friction, skirmishes, and everything was hanging by a hair trigger!

No one knew when the fight would start, but once the smoke of gunfire rose up, the winner would definitely be determined.

On FTW’s side.

Wei Xiao’s voice was light. “Don’t panic. We have the apocalypse priest and the longbow druid. We’ll definitely win.”

Brother Cai felt uneasy. “But you’re now a waste!”

At this stage, Wei Xiao’s phantom thief was really nothing but a big waste. He died easily in a fight, it was difficult for him to launch sneak attacks, and it was easy for him to be caught if he tried to lead in the lanes. He’d already fallen into his weak stage.

Wei Xiao: “I’m a bit of a waste, but I’m handsome.”

Brother Cai: “……”

Wei Xiao called out to Yue Wenle in the middle of their conversation, “Come and take the jungle creeps.”

Basically from seven or eight minutes ago, Wei Xiao had already started giving out his resources.

The jungle creeps were a farm resource that belonged to the jungler. Giving it up to his teammates meant that his own development would fall behind.

However, at this stage, the phantom thief wouldn’t be able to kill Wen Wei even if he had all of his equipment maxed out. It was better to give it to Yue Wenle and let him DPS from the back.

The longbow druid that was tied together with an apocalypse priest had already developed into a DPS machine for group fights. Even basic attacks alone were enough to make his opponents miserable.

Wei Xiao was very aware of this point, and he believed in Yue Wenle’s ability.

His trust wasn’t blind trust but something that stemmed from confidence.