Chapter Forty-Three: One, Two, Three Return to the City with Mockery!

The final outcome of this skirmish was Lin Hao’s Jin Chan claiming Zhou Yu’s head. Meanwhile, Marco and Liu Chan both barely escaped with a sliver of health. Zhang Fei, who hadn’t reached level four yet, and the short-legged Luban, naturally had no means to keep anyone in place.

To be fair, Lin Hao’s appearance in this wave was originally just to ease some of the pressure on the bottom lane. He hadn’t expected his own Liu Chan to play so aggressively, instantly following up with a flash and second ability combo, successfully controlling Zhou Yu. Marco Polo followed up even more fiercely, sweeping with his first skill and then diving in with his ultimate, their coordination was impeccable.

“Did everyone catch that Jin Chan combo just now?” Lin Hao said as he rotated into the red jungle after setting the tempo in the river. “I highly recommend you all learn this combo. The steps are: cast first, second, and third skills in quick succession, then start spamming recall. Wait until all ten small orbs above your head light up, and then activate the second phase of your ultimate—Buddha’s Palm!”

The audience burst into laughter.

“Hao explains it so seriously, I almost believed this was the proper way to play Jin Chan.”

“I have a serious question—the order of the skills is fine, but what’s with the recall in between?”

“To answer seriously, after Jin Chan uses his skills, he needs to wait for the Staff of Nine Rings to stack fully before releasing the maxed-out ultimate. So recalling is just to kill time.”

“But is it possible,” someone else chimed in, “that the recall is purely to taunt the enemy?”

“To be fair, there’s nothing more satisfying than trapping the enemy in the curse, watching them helplessly as you recall and stack up, and then delivering the final blow!”

As Lin Hao chatted with his viewers, he made a wide loop, taking advantage before the next minion wave clashed, and slipped into the inner bush. The only ones who could be there were Luban and Zhang Fei—neither could possibly burst him down instantly.

Jin Chan crept into the bush, finding it empty. It seemed the enemy had retreated under their tower, imprisoned. He didn’t believe they’d stay hidden once the minion waves met. Even with Zhou Yu down, with Zhang Fei protecting Luban, Lin Hao was sure they wouldn’t just let Marco and Liu Chan push the wave unchallenged.

Sure enough, as the minions left both towers, Luban swaggered out, his “bodyguard” Zhang Fei with spear in hand close behind. Lin Hao smiled, calmly stepped out of the bush, slid his first skill to ensure the curse snared Luban, casually tapped his second skill, and then started his signature walk—recalling with each step.

Thump, thump, thump… Utterly brazen!

Naturally, Luban Seven wasn’t about to tolerate this bald-headed pest. He sat down on the spot, tossed a grenade at Lin Hao, and then fired a burst of bullets his way.

Lin Hao wasn’t fazed in the slightest. He hadn’t lost much health, and confident that Luban couldn’t burst him down, he maintained his nonchalant, step-by-step recall. At the same time, Marco Polo arrived to support, seizing the chance to whittle Luban down. With a quick reposition using his second skill, he swept Luban with his first.

Caught in the curse, Luban took the full brunt of the combo. Marco Polo played well, finding an angle to attack from the side, momentarily avoiding Zhang Fei’s protection.

Luban tried to continue shooting at the arrogant Jin Chan, but by then Liu Chan had already closed in, his mechanical claws raised menacingly. Luban had no choice but to retreat.

This exchange left Luban’s health at a mere third. Lin Hao himself was down to a quarter.

“Anger points from Luban Seven: +500!”

Lin Hao nodded in satisfaction.

The chat exploded with question marks.

“???”

“Why bother showing off? If you’d just backed off after using your skills, you wouldn’t have taken so much damage.”

“Right, you could’ve pressured the tower more afterward.”

Lin Hao began making excuses.

“Everyone, to play Jin Chan well, you need to immerse yourself in the role, to have compassion. I dealt massive damage to Luban and troubled him deeply, so I had to express my apologies with a recall. Only by broadening your perspective can you master Jin Chan!”

“Alright, in all seriousness, I was planning to recall and heal anyway. After harassing Luban, I drew his attention so he’d attack me, allowing Marco Polo to output damage from the side.”

“Jin Chan’s skills don’t root the enemy in place—the circle moves forward slowly. If Luban didn’t sit down and shoot me, Marco Polo might not have been able to hit him properly, and we wouldn’t have been able to whittle him down.”

As he spoke, a flash of light, and Lin Hao was back at base. He started heading back to mid, switching his camera to check the bottom lane.

On the bottom lane, Liu Chan and Marco Polo had already begun to push forward.

This was Zhang Fei’s level four wave, but he hadn’t reached level four yet. As the minions hit the tower, Liu Chan and Marco started boldly chipping away at it. Marco Polo was even eager to poke at Luban hiding in the back.

Luban Seven was in a tough spot—he should counter Marco Polo easily, but Marco kept bringing friends! With his health low from the last fight, he had to be on guard for a possible dive at any moment. Liu Chan might charge in, pin him down, and Marco could finish him off with a burst of bullets.

Nervously, Luban managed to clear the wave, while Zhang Fei finally hit level four. But the tower had already lost a third of its health.

While Lin Hao and his team set the pace on the bottom lane, things weren’t looking good top side. The enemy Han Xin and Ma Chao finally engaged their top lane, where Old Master and Mirror were waiting.

Mirror initiated with a combo on Ma Chao, but Ma Chao dodged most of it. Han Xin then dashed in from the side with a swift combo, and together with Ma Chao, managed to take Mirror down on the spot.

Ji Ran’s ability to seize opportunities was undeniable.

The game continued. When it came to laning and tower pressure, Zhou Yu still had the upper hand. Even with Lin Hao’s occasional rotations, there was only so much he could do.

Combined with Luban’s overwhelming firepower, a fierce team fight broke out in bot lane. In the end, it was Zhang Fei who initiated with his ultimate, trading himself for Liu Chan and leaving Jin Chan to finish off the fight.

“Looks like I can’t just rely on side rotations to set the tempo this game,” Lin Hao remarked, staring at the death screen as the system announced his gain—a wave of pleasure points, meaning his previous anger points had just been offset.

After all, Jin Chan couldn’t match Zhou Yu in tower pressure, no matter how skilled Lin Hao was. This meant he had to change tactics—he needed to disrupt Han Xin’s rhythm!

Lin Hao quickly devised a new strategy.