FOG
Chapter 72

It was Saints home stadium but Free still had a lot of fans. In the huge stadium, the number of fans on both sides was evenly matched. When Free arrived at the venue, they headed for the lounge.

On the way there, passing through the corridor that had access to the main stadium, Chen Huo pushed open the fire door and looked out. Arent the fans being too enthusiastic for just a regular season game? The number of lights today is a lot more than usual.

Puppy followed and also took a look around. He said sourly, Damn, were already this far and that sign for Yu Suis still so big. Did his fans rent a truck to bring it in? For a regular season game?

Calm down. Yu Shens fans are just doing whats normal. Zhou Huo basked in secondhand glory. He explained in a very understanding manner, Theyre not doing it because its a regular season game. But Yu Suis fans must have been worried about Angel Swords popularity and their home court advantage.

They must have been afraid that the number and scale of the opposing teams banners would overwhelm Yu Sui, so they came prepared.

Zhou Huo took a glance and was very satisfied, Very good. Yu Sui has the most fans, Shi Luo and Angel Sword have about the same. As for the rest... if you look in the corners and squint real hard, youll be able to see fans for the other players.

Pretty good.

Puppy felt it wasnt good at all. He headed to the lounge with a sigh.

As usual, Zhou Huo went to sign in, and Frees players, trying to fish in troubled waters were socializing with the make-up artists, trying to avoid having to go through make-up.

After make-up, pre-game confirmations, after all the preparatory work was complete, everyone took their peripherals and went to wait at the backstage corridor.

When the host called them up, they went on stage, bowed to the fans amidst their cheers and headed to their own glass room to test their peripherals.

Angel Sword is very popular... Puppy said enviously while plugging in his peripherals, And almost all of them are female fans. Just listen to their cheer... Tsk tsk, so gentle.

Chen Huo, the striker with a lot of tough guy fans, was also a little envious. It cant be helped. Most fans who play medic are female fans.

Really? Yu Sui tapped the keyboard and said uncertainly, My fan base is so big, I havent really counted. Maybe.

Shi Luo was already used to his team mutually attacking each others mentality before each game and was no longer surprised by it. He put on his headphones and said, Just as we agreed in the lounge just now, were going to play this how we usually play against Saint?

In the shared voice channel, Yu Sui gave an en.

It was the only thing they could do. When the team was first established, they had a few practice matches with Saint, but it wasnt long before Saints manager made it clear that they wouldnt be playing against Free anymore.

They havent played against Saint for a long time. They didnt know what the Angel Sword was hiding. They didnt know if they were going to go all out now, or whether they were going to be conservative and wait for the playoffs before hitting Free with their unique skills.

Right now, they could only rely on Saints latest games as basis for their analysis.

Saints recent games were really lackluster. They still played conservatively. They didnt rush to the front in the early stages. Oftentimes, when they met three-on-three with the other team, they withdrew quickly, simply choosing not to fight.

They didnt play three-on-three, but their three front line players liked to catch the lone wolf who was off to one side, clearing the fog. Theyd play three-on-one, and kill off that lone player.

Because they had a god-level nurse, Angel Sword, no matter how extreme that lone wolf fought, it was absolutely impossible for him to make off with any of their heads. After a few such fights, Saints front row players would have enough heads to upgraded their equipment.

And the team they played guerilla warfare with, even if that team had cleared away more fog in the initial stages, still wouldnt have any kills.

The way that game was set up, players who couldnt get any kills couldnt upgrade their equipment. They would have no choice but to carry on using their primary equipment. No matter how much economy was left, it was useless, there was nowhere to spend it on.

Their overall equipment would lag behind Saints.

Saint even relied on this gameplay of theirs when they played against IAC a few days ago. They didnt give a single head to IAC the entire game.

The IACs four players struggled with their primary equipment in the middle and late stages of the game and were completely crushed by Saints advanced equipment. Even in the later stages, their front line was cut apart without them getting even a single kill. The game ended early.

Both teams have entered the game map. While the countdown was counting down, the two commentators of this regular season match were still predicting whether Saint would chose guerilla warfare for this match.

I think its very likely that they will still use guerrilla tactics. Commentator A said, They fought against other teams by overcoming hardness with softness. To fight against Free, theyll need to avoid the edge. As we all know, Frees front row probably has the strongest output.

After all, they have Whisper, the assassin-type medic.

It should be like this. Commentator B smiled, Then we might as well guess who Free will use as bait. Now there are two paths in front of Free. The first is for their front row players, their medic and two strikers, to work as a group.

They wont let one of their strikers go to clear the fog so as to prevent their lone striker from being caught by Angel Sword, but then here comes the problem...

Commentator A laughed, Thats tantamount to surrendering the side of their map on a silver platter, and serving up Puppy to be surrounded by the other party as well. Compared to a striker, a sniper is actually more afraid of being trapped by a team of three.

A striker could still let out a round of gunfire, but a sniper wouldnt even have time to change bullets.

Then this will be a test of Puppys investigative ability. He needs to immediately locate Saints front row team and get their team to come to the rescue as soon as possible. Commentary B said, I think this is still feasible.

When it comes to spying enemies, our Puppy Shen can definitely be ranked in the top ten in the league, right? He can hide himself and report to his teammates so that they can cooperate as soon as possible.

Commentator A nodded, This is also one way to break Saints guerrilla style. The game has started. Now, lets see what Free decided to do.

The countdown was over.

Free had discussed how to play against Saints guerrilla warfare a few days ago: They were going to sell out Puppy.

Since Yu Sui and Chen Huo have been teaming up the longest, most of the time when the game just started, Yu Sui would go to the front with Chen Huo, and Shi Luo would go around to clear the fog. They tried with the training team earlier. Neither Shi Luo nor Chen Huo could handle single-line combat.

Free also wasnt greedy. They werent asking a lone striker to go out there and come out with a kill; they just wanted the striker to escape the one-on-three situation without giving away his own head. But multiple experiments later, they still werent sure.

Saint had been training in this guerrilla warfare method for a long time. If they run across it, it would be a fatal blow.

Puppy reluctantly agreed to let them use him as a bait. They would use his commands to control the map. Frees three man front line team would act as a group and launch a surprise attack on Angel Swords group.

This countermeasure Free has tested with NSN, and the success rate was quite high.

But less than a minute after the game started, Free felt that something was faintly wrong.

Saint seemed to have forgotten what the words guerrilla warfare meant. They came straight to the center of the boundary between the two maps.

Puppy was no longer needed to monitor the rear. Saints movements were so loud, Shi Luo could hear their footsteps in the front row.

Frees front line players didnt need to say much. They met them directly head on. The firepower of these three against another teams two strikers and one medic was nothing to scoff at. Saint rushed in too fast.

Neither of the two sides could even clear out any fog. The two teams stuck to the edge of the map and fought there.

A straight demarcation line lay across the very center. In your own eyes, the opponents map was full of dense fog. A single touch and you would die. Both sides were very careful when moving.

They both relied on sound to judge the opponents position. Among the sparks of gunfire, a horizontal slash from Yu Suis dagger scratched Saints two strikers. At the same, he took damage from two bullets. Yu Suis photon shield shattered.

At the same time, Shi Luo and Chen Huo shot down one of Saints strikers.

The advantage fell to Free, but before they could take advantage of it and give chase, matters took on a sudden unfavorable turn. Yu Sui was hit by a sniper on his right shoulder and his blood bar instantly bottomed out.

The sound of the sniper rifle was loud in his ears. Yu Sui quickly used Shi Luo as a shield to retreat two steps and use the rock as a cover. He frowned, Did their sniper already make his way here?

Puppy, who had been honestly performing his roles as bait, was also taken aback, Their sniper came over? You havent cleared out the fog and I cant see anything. Firing back would be a waste of bullets, Lets withdraw?

No one waited for Puppy to finish speaking. Yu Suis blood volume had dropped. Chen Huo had already retreated instinctively. Shi Luo, who had blocked the snipers aim for Yu Sui, automatically brought up the rear.

He took Chen Huos role to pressure their opponents and ensure the other twos retreat. After they two had withdrawn, Shi Luo also retreated behind the rock. By then, his blood has also reached bottom.

Four people. Shi Luo quickly changed magazine, ...They do have new tactics.

Both sides really had been playing too closely. Now, it was impossible to retreat. The other team had already locked on to their position. If they exposed their heads, they were going to die.

Yu Sui immediately replenished Shi Luos shield, and then replenishes the blood for the three of them. However, he had just healed Shi Luo, when Saints first purification dish had been placed. Saint showed them no mercy and rushed up once again to the cleared area.

Aiya, f*ck me?! Chen Huo couldnt believe it, Whys Angel Sword being so fierce all of a sudden? He doesnt have that kind of temper!

Shi Luo furrowed his brows, ...Are you really that scared of a three on three?

After his blood had been replenished, Shi Luo didnt delay for even half a second. He took up his gun and immediately sent over a sweep of bullets. He tilted his head and fired. He was instantly shot on his left shoulder.

His photon shield was broken again. At the same time, Chen Huo opened fire. However, the two of them still werent able to take down Saints sniper who had made his way over. Saints striker that theyd killed off had been resurrected and had also rejoined his team.

Saints two strikers took Shi Luos head together. They were completely being suppressed. Saint was now playing four-on-two against Free.

Shi Luo was waiting to be resurrected. Puppy hurriedly said, Ill go up.

No need. Yu Sui said without even thinking, Itd be useless.

Yu Sui no longer wasted any resources and didnt even give himself and Chen Huo a shield. Before he could even finish speaking, Saints second purification dish has already been placed successfully. The four of them directly surrounded Yu Sui and Chen Huo.

Yu Sui and Chen Huo pushed their skills to the extreme and took out one of Saints strikers. Afterwards, they were both killed.

Puppy was still in the back row. The other three had reemerged in the resurrection stone. Saint took advantage of this opportunity to instantly clear up a large portion of the map.

Saints positioning when they placed down the purification dishes was also very tricky. Puppy wanted to take this opportunity to attack but he couldnt get a good angle.

Chen Huo hadnt had time to completely process it yet. He was too surprised to utter a word. This is...this...

Shi Luo said lightly, Its also guerrilla warfare.

Guerrilla warfare specifically targeted for us . Yu Sui said softly, Four-on-three. In the first place, weve always favored a bold approach. But we cant beat Angel Swords healing. Theyre also not afraid of getting killed.

If they die, theyll mend. With Angel Sword providing milk, our overall blood volume cant compare to them and it will be slowly used up.

Saint was said before to be the ultimate team, an expert at overcoming hardness with softness. Shi Luo had been resurrected. He had just gotten a kill and was now rapidly upgrading his gun accessories. Now, theyre relying on Angel Swords unmatched skills as a milktank to keep fighting against us.

They wont withdraw even if theyre beaten. When they have the advantage, they wont quit while theyre ahead. They just deal with it and continue to consume us. It is useless for us to just output when its three to four.

With this amount of blood, sooner or later, it will bottom out.

Under normal circumstances, the front-row collision of other teams was basically a charge then a fight. Saint has now developed this new gameplay for Free. They werent afraid of being beaten. Anyway, they had a natural blood bank in the form of of Angel Sword.

.

This really isnt easy to play against. Puppy wasnt provoked. Even now, he still hadnt revealed his position. This lineup is really set against us, who came up with it...

Shi Luo frowned slightly, The next time we clash, Im gonna hit the Angel Sword first. Hes too annoying.

Yu Sui said nothing.

Just now, Saint had been very careful about their positioning. They always kept Angel Sword at the back. It was too difficult to target him. Not to mention, during that wave of fighting, Angel Sword had managed to get auxiliary points.

He had already upgraded his photon shield and there was now an added layer to his blood.

Yu Sui knew that there was no longer any hope of winning this match. But this round was always going to be broken, they should just make use of the rest of the game to figure out different way to dismantle this move of Saints. Yu Sui nodded, OK.

The three front row players were much more conservative this time and they tried to beat Saints defensive position. But their early disadvantage was too great. After several unsuccessful attempts, Saint pushed forward step by step.

After Saint wiped them all out, Saint quickly destroyed Frees resurrection stone and made off with the game.

Puppy had almost no room to play in this game. When defeated was displayed on the monitor, Puppy frowned severely and said in a low voice, F*ck.

Chen Huos expression also wasnt very nice to look at. He shook his head.

Expression as per usual, Yu Sui got up and picked up his jacket that had fallen on the gaming chair and headed backstage.

Shi Luo had long thought that Saint would have cooked up a scheme to fight against his team and he been mentally prepared. Being suppressed that badly, although his heart was sinking, but it wasnt that bad. Shi Luo took off his head earphones.

As soon as the soundproof headphones were taken off, the voice of the stadium commentators and the noisy cheering of the fans rushed to his ears. By coincidence, the two commentators were comparing the two medics, Yu Sui and Angel Sword.

Commentator A was speechless, I had guessed that Saint would have some wonderful moves for this match, but I didnt expect it to be so targeted. Really, this set of play was definitely tailored for Free.

Not only was it tailor-made for Free, but it was also tailor-made for Saint. Commentator B laughed, Look around. Where else could you replace such a capable medic? Only Angel Sword could have resisted this kind of endless fighting.

What bad luck for Free. We were worried before that other teams, especially teams from other divisions, would also learned how to use this to play against Free, but now, we see that our fears were groundless. Where else can you replace a medic whos so good at adding blood? Commentator A praised.

Really, after watching this game, I suddenly have a little more hope for the World Championships. In our division, not only do we have the leagues no. 1 medic Whisper, but we also have the leagues best milktank medic, Angel Sword!

Commentator B smiled and nodded, Indeed, putting it that way, Im really not so anxious anymore. Frees fans also have nothing to be terribly worried about. Think about it this way, we have in our region, medic twin stars!

Shi Luo had already walked to the backstage corridor entrance. Hearing the phrase Medic twin stars, Shi Luo stopped in his tracks, and a touch of hostility flashed in his previously indifferent eyes.

U//ppTodatd fr//m n/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)\\/m

Yu Sui, who was walking in front of Shi Luo, was startled when he heard the commentary. He subconsciously turned his head to look at Shi Luo. Their eyes met. Yu Sui pursed his lips and he cursed in his heart.

Frees players returned to the backstage lounge. Zhou Huo hurriedly to comfort them, What bad luck. There was no way. There was no problem with your performance.

Old Qiao nodded, There was nothing wrong with your play just now. We already knew that Saint was targeting us. It would be advantageous for us to understand this now instead of later. But, Puppy.

Old Qiao looked at Puppy. Did you hesitate in the early stages? If you had approached immediately, you might have been able to show your abilities.

Puppy was unhappy because he knew he hadnt played well. Zhou Huo was worried that Puppy would bring his emotions to the next round. He interrupted and said, We shouldnt be blaming Puppy for this, should we? Who could have guessed what kind of tactics Saint had in store?

If I dont say it now, he might still hesitate in the next game. You know this yourself. Even half a second hesitation might be enough to cost us a game. Old Qiaos face remained unchanged. He turned to Zhou Huo, Moreover, dont worry about him.

Hes World Championship player. He can digest this much.

Zhou Huo looked at Puppy anxiously, but saw that Puppys face was as usual; completely different from how he looked like when the match had just finished.

Puppy sat lazily on the sofa in the lounge, I did hesitate in the early stage of this game. Its okay to scold me. Dont worry...What storms have I not weathered through before that I would be affected by a regular season game?

Angel Sword is not friendly at all. He was all nice and gentle when we were teaming up. He was all nice in front of me but he was hiding something like this behind my back. Chen Huo, whod looked completely irritated just now, has already assumed his usual expression.

Puppy lay paralyzed on the sofa next to Puppy but he didnt forget to scold Angel Sword, Damn. You really cant trust the nice ones.

For World Championship-level players, even their sulks would only last a few seconds. Given their rich competition experience, theyre able adjust their mood immediately so that it wouldnt negatively affect their next game.

Zhou Huo felt relieved.

However, Yu Sui, who was drinking some water off to one side, couldnt rest assured.

While he drank his water, Yu Sui took note of Shi Luo, who had just entered the lounge. He took notice of his expressionless face as he chewed gum, Yu Suis heart felt a little heavy.

The commentary may have just been to appease Frees fans, or it may have been the commentators sincere appreciation at seeing their region so strong. In any case, they definitely hadnt meant anything by it.

But while the speaker certainly meant nothing by it, the listener definitely drew meaning from it.

Yu Sui had always been able to capture Shi Luos emotions very accurately, so Yu Sui knew that something was wrong before the commentator had even finished speaking.

Moreover, Yu Sui knew very well that Shi Luo wasnt feeling jealous.

It was true that Shi Luo was a big bag of vinegar even when he was still a minor, but Yu Sui clearly understood that the disturbance in Shi Luos mood at the moment definitely wasnt because of jealousy.

This would be easier if it were jealousy.

Yu Sui knew exactly why Shi Luos mood had changed.

Yu Sui put down the mineral water bottle and let out a sigh.

This industry was too quick to replace the old with the new. This was true for the commentators and this was also true for the fans.

Many people have forgotten that the first pair of medic twin stars, were someone else.

One was the leagues no. 1 medic and the other was the leagues no. 1 medic substitute.

Yu Sui took a deep breath and controlled himself to stop thinking about the past. If he dwelled on it too much, Yu Suis own emotions were going to pose problems in the next game.

The people in the lounge were discussing ways to deal with Saint. After a while, their break time was over. The staff came to knock on their door, signaling for Free to get ready. Yu Sui put on his uniform, You go guys first, Ill have a word with Shi Luo.

Yu Sui had resignedly accepted that he would need to adjust the little boys emotions. But Shi Luo has never liked showing weakness. If he tried to console him in front of everyone, it was easy to add fuel to the fire.

Yu Sui has already thought about it, about what he should say once these people leave? In the end, he could even give Shi Luo a kiss and it would almost...

Shi Luo, who had already got up, said instantly, No need.

Yu Sui looked up at Shi Luo, surprised.

I, Shi Luo paused and said in a low voice, I might not be a world-class player, but I should learn to adjust my emotions without your help.

Shi Luo turned his head to look at Yu Sui. His expression had returned to normal. He looked at Yu Sui and blew a big chewing gum bubble.