Chapter 130: I Missed the Bet—Must I Yield to the Dragon as Well?

Escape successful!

Lin Hao let out a long sigh of relief. In reality, playing a spacing game against Ma Chao in that position carried a high risk of death. His Luna’s health was already dangerously low; if Ma Chao had just held back his spear retrieval for a split second, he could have engaged in direct melee combat, and a single thrust would have finished her off. Even if she had broken her ultimate to flee, it would have been nearly impossible to reach the safety of the defensive tower before Ma Chao caught up again.

It was exactly at that moment that Xiaojin’s Li Bai appeared. His intention had been to swoop in and secure a kill, but Lin Hao’s timing in releasing his skills was impeccable. With a perfect predictive suction from his second skill, followed by an instant dash away with his ultimate, he suddenly found himself right next to Ma Chao. After resetting his ultimate, he performed a second flight, and on the third, he broke the ultimate to soar out of the dragon pit. The entire sequence was fluid and seamless, without a single wasted movement.

In terms of mechanical detail, even the current top-ranked Luna player on the national server could not have executed that sequence so perfectly.

The Ma Chao player lunged toward Luna’s position, intending to pursue, but upon seeing Luna and her nearby teammates, he lost his nerve and turned back. Although his opponents were not in peak condition, their ability cooldowns had refreshed, and he didn't have many spears left to retrieve. Charging in alone would have led only to his own demise.

Meanwhile, in Xiaojin’s livestream, he was feeling completely dazed, as if he had only just processed what had happened. *Did I just save the Luna?*

While farming his ultimate, he had been using the three-finger camera control to watch the mid-lane. He had seen Luna kill Ying Zheng and leave Zhang Fei at critical health while in flight. At that time, his own skills were on cooldown, and he could only watch helplessly from across the wall while farming his blue buff. Then, Ma Chao appeared from the portal. Ma Chao was clearly a professional; he knew Luna had her second skill ready, so he played a spacing game, refusing to commit his second skill and never getting close enough to touch her.

Xiaojin’s entry with Li Bai, however, provided Luna with the perfect opportunity. By using the predictive suction to catch Li Bai with her second skill, she simultaneously applied a moonlight mark. Using him as a springboard, she vaulted over both his Li Bai and Ma Chao, executing three limit-breaking flights to reach her teammates behind the dragon pit and escape.

"That Luna’s micro-management is just too strong, isn't it?" What bothered Xiaojin more was that every time he lunged, Luna always seemed to seize the initiative. The first time, he had chalked it up to luck, but this time, it was clear that his opponent’s predictive reactions were far superior to his own.

"My mechanics are falling apart," he muttered.

The chat feed scrolled by rapidly. Xiaojin, acting rationally, chose not to look at it; he knew that at this moment, only focused play could wash away his shame. His priority now was to stabilize his progression. Although he had let Luna escape, making her look flashy, it was ultimately meaningless; she hadn't secured a kill and was merely running away. His own Li Bai hadn't died, and his progression remained on track. While that was true, being outplayed like that still left him feeling frustrated—frustrated with himself, of course.

...

Back on Lin Hao’s side, his teammates had witnessed the play. Even Yifan, who had been watching the action from the fountain, commented in his own stream: "That was incredible!" For those who specialize in mechanics, top-tier Peak Tournament players always hold such skill in high regard, as it is far more breathtaking than outcomes achieved merely through macro-management or economic suppression.

The game continued, reaching the ten-minute mark—the time for the dragon. At this point, the pace of the game was relatively balanced. In the top lane, Yifan was playing his usual aggressive style, which naturally led to more deaths, but he had already dismantled the opponent's second tower, giving them an advantage in tower count. However, a hero like Ma Chao is inherently a roaming support-style laner; there was no need to obsess over defending a lane even if it was losing. By farming a few waves in the mid-lane, he could quickly recover his economy. A Ma Chao who stubbornly brawls with an Old Master is a bad Ma Chao, and he understood this well.

Lin Hao remained focused on ganking the bottom lane. The reason was simple: the opponent’s bottom-laner, Marco Polo, was played by Weiliang, and naturally, he wanted to push his buttons to collect some "anger points." However, Weiliang’s playstyle was overly cautious. If Marco Polo couldn't win the lane, he would simply minimize trades with Sun Shangxiang, even if it meant farming behind the minion wave.

By the ten-minute dragon spawn, both sides had pushed down the opponent's first-tier side towers, but the economic gap remained narrow. Unexpectedly, right at the dragon spawn, Sun Shangxiang was caught in a two-on-one gank by Xiaojin and Weiliang. A Sun Shangxiang who had been progressing quite well thus donated her life to Li Bai and Marco Polo. Exploiting their temporary numerical advantage, the opponents immediately moved to take the ten-minute dragon.

Lin Hao was in the red jungle, but he was closely monitoring the activity at the dragon pit.

Ma Chao had been missing from the top lane for over ten seconds. In Lin Hao’s estimation, based on Ma Chao’s potential movement, his presence was now focused around the dragon pit.

In the mid-lane, Lin Hao’s Zhou Yu was slowly pushing forward, and Ying Zheng’s position was revealed as the minion waves clashed. Seeing Sun Bin nearby, Ying Zheng activated his ultimate. A dense rain of arrows swept out, shredding the minion wave. At this moment, the weakness in Lin Hao’s team composition became apparent: against such violent wave-clearing, they had no one capable of tanking the damage from Ying Zheng to allow their own minions to enter the tower and dismantle the mid-lane first-tier turret.

Sun Bin was in a difficult spot at this stage; he had to prioritize items that provided blue-buff sustainability, such as the Holy Grail and Frozen Heart, alongside basic support gear, before he could start stacking defensive health. Consequently, he couldn't absorb the damage either.

However, this gave Lin Hao some insight into the opponent’s layout: they were likely taking the dragon.

If he couldn't pressure the mid-lane, would he have to concede the dragon? No. If they gave up this dragon, their current offensive momentum would likely be stifled. Both Li Bai and Luna were late-game scaling heroes; whichever side gained the advantage, the snowballing economic lead from the jungler would cause them to take off instantly.

Therefore, this dragon could not be conceded. They had to force a five-on-five team fight.

Just then, Yifan’s voice came over the team chat: "They’re likely taking the dragon. Engage them!"