Chapter 18 – Small Talk
Xiao Pai closed WeChat and returned to the game just in time to see the victory message: [Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!]
“Nice one, Song!” Hu Fu laughed. “You carried the three of us through that round.”
It was clear that Sang Ye was the quiet and ruthless type, as he didn’t respond.
Xiao Pai, reluctant to give praise, muttered, “Ready up…” But he couldn’t resist his curiosity, so he blurted out, “How come you don’t play this well when your ‘husband’ is around?”
The moment Sang Ye pressed the [Ready] button, he instantly canceled it.
“No, no!” Xiao Pai immediately put on his people-pleasing face. “Can’t even take a joke? I’ll shut up, okay? Please don’t leave again!”
Sang Ye’s face flushed awkwardly.
He had just misclicked because Xiao Pai’s comment made him feel embarrassed.
Since Xiao Pai hadn’t noticed, Sang Ye didn’t explain and quietly rejoined the queue.
Xiao Pai, seemingly afraid that Sang Ye might change his mind, quickly hit the [play] button in the top-left corner.
In the WLG team meeting room, the coach sipped his goji berry tea, unable to suppress a smile. “Interesting… he’s like a completely different person from yesterday.”
Yu Haotian was pleased. “So, who do you think is stronger, this kid or Elan?”
The coach thought for a moment before shaking his head. “Hard to say. They each have their strengths. But when it comes to Elan’s abilities, there are hardly any current professional players who can match him.”
Yu Haotian knew the coach still favored Elan, so he just nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, the next game had begun.
The flight path stretched from the Military Base to St. Mountain.
Shine weighed his options on the map for a moment and said, “Nursing Home.”
Sang Ye frowned. He noticed that Shine liked to play near the edge of the zone, which, while safe, slowed down the pace and relied heavily on vehicles for rotation. Against stronger teams, they could easily fall into a passive position.
Sang Ye glanced at the flight path and thought, If this were Talk, what would he pick?
“Jump to P City.” he said.
The other three were stunned for a moment.
They hadn’t expected someone to challenge the commander’s call.
Xiao Pai: “Uh… what?”
“With our skill level, jumping to the Nursing Home on this flight path is too conservative,” Sang Ye calmly marked a spot on the map, his voice steady and commanding. “Everyone, follow my lead. We’re jumping to P City.”
The decisiveness in his tone made Shine swallow back the words he was about to say.
Hu Fu and Xiao Pai exchanged glances, unsure of how to respond.
As they approached the skies over P City, all four of them parachuted down.
Xiao Pai floated in the air, still a bit dazed, and suddenly it hit him ‘We’re three world champions. Why are we listening to a small-time streamer?’
He had to admit that Bai Mao had some talent in gaming, but openly taking over Shine’s role as shot-caller? Where did he get that kind of confidence? Can he even handle it, Bai Mao?
“Pai, report the numbers.”
The boy’s voice sounded through the headset.
Xiao Pai jolted in surprise. For a split second, he thought it was Tan Mo speaking, and instinctively, he responded quickly:
“One squad south, another across the road, and people dropped at the west warehouse and Widow’s Village.”
Sang Ye scanned the area. “Hu Fu, take the church for high ground. Shine and Pai, secure the twin four-story buildings and keep an eye on the squad across the road. I’ll take the seaside house. Regroup at the church in three minutes.”
Xiao Pai, feeling frustrated with himself for switching sides so easily, grumbled internally. He was following Bai Mao’s orders without question. But as he listened to Bai Mao’s clear and organized plan, his doubts began to fade.
Sang Ye entered the seaside house, quickly grabbed the basic gear, and engaged in a firefight, taking less time than expected to fill his level 3 backpack.
A little over a minute later, the first safe zone appeared.
P City was at the center of the safe zone, making it a secure location.
The Nursing Home, however, was on the outskirts. If they had jumped there, they’d likely be huffing and puffing their way back to the circle by now.
Sang Ye left the seaside house, but instead of heading straight to the church, he made a detour to support Xiao Pai and Shine at the four-story building.
Xiao Pai stirred up trouble across the road, and with Sang Ye and Shine working together, they managed to take down an entire enemy squad.
The four of them regrouped at the church within the allotted time, split the loot, and comfortably settled in at the highest vantage point, picking off any passing teams.
After two intense team fights, they became the undisputed kings of P City.
When the second safe zone appeared, Sang Ye glanced at the circle and holstered his gun. “Pai, head to the garage spawn point and get a vehicle. We’ll cross the bridge to the west. The rest of you, ride with me in another car.”
“Got it!” Xiao Pai, in high spirits after such a smooth start, eagerly went off to handle the task.
In the meeting room.
The coach couldn’t help but clap his hands. “I knew this playstyle felt familiar!”
Yu Haotian was puzzled. “What’s up?”
“This is the exact strategy Talk used to take over P City at last year’s Asian Invitational,” the coach laughed. “Look at his command style too—he’s clearly modeling himself after Talk. Though he’s a bit more forceful, which makes sense since he’s younger. He needs to assert himself more to keep control.”
Yu Haotian laughed as well. “When you put it that way, he really is a little version of Talk, isn’t he?”
The coach watched for a moment longer, his smile deepening as he nodded. “Compared to Elan, he has something extra.”
Yu Haotian asked, “What’s that?”
The coach glanced at the stream window, where the young boy with creamy-white hair was pressing his lips together slightly, eyes fixed on the screen. His face still looked youthful, but as the glow from the screen flickered in his eyes, they were filled with focus and determination.
The coach had previously been skeptical of Tan Mo’s recommended candidate, but now he felt reassured. He only said two words:
“Team spirit.”
A powerful and steadfast mental strength.
…
Sang Ye had some luck with the circle this game, and with a clear strategy, it was no surprise that he led the team to victory.
“Awesome, awesome!” Xiao Pai, having played through the match, had long since let go of any grudges. “My brother’s got an eye for talent! No wonder he spotted you right away!”
Sang Ye stretched his fingers, not really paying attention to whatever Xiao Pai was jabbering about, automatically filtering it out as background noise.
He stared at the four characters in the game, blinking as a sudden wave of longing washed over him.
If only Talk were here.
If he could see how well he performed tonight, Talk certainly wouldn’t be disappointed.
At that moment, the sound of gift notifications started ringing out repeatedly in the stream.
—Only when viewers send a Super Battleship does the platform display such a grand effect.
Sang Ye opened the chat assistant to take a look.
System notification:[ [myaimissteady] sent a Super Battleship x50]
Sang Ye remembered!
It was the same person who had sent him 5 million in gifts last time, the number one on his leaderboard. He had tried to message this person before but couldn’t reach them. Who would’ve thought that the number one fan would suddenly reappear and drop another 500,000 in one go?
Sang Ye quickly pulled out his phone, opened the private messages on the Maoya platform, and typed out a message:
[Song]: Stop sending me gifts! Who are you, really?
Tan Mo glanced casually at the notification, intending to ignore the little streamer and exit the private chat when—
[Song]: Don’t pretend you didn’t see this.
[Song]: I know you’re looking at it. [Annoyed]
Tan Mo froze for a moment, suddenly remembering that as soon as he opened the chat, the status under the message would change from [Unread] to [Read].
Leaning back in the car seat, Tan Mo tilted his head up and rubbed his temples.
After a while, he picked up his phone again. Without explaining anything, he simply sent the streamer a WeChat ID.
hahaha husband caught in 4K