Chapter Ninety-Five: The Ship That Turned One Hundred Eighty Degrees

This was something Bai Qi had never expected at all.

What kind of maneuver was that?

A fear tactic from Sun Ce?

Watching Sun Ce’s ship drift farther and farther away, even sending him a quick message that said sorry, Bai Qi fell into deep thought.

Never mind. Clearing the wave came first.

He had already fallen behind on a wave, and even if he took every minion in this one, he still would not reach level four.

Meanwhile, in a place Bai Qi could not see, namely the area around his own red buff, Lin Hao took a wide detour.

Then he emerged from the exit between the red camp and the river, sailing straight toward Bai Qi.

By then Bai Qi had only just cleared the wave and was about to head for the river crab, hoping to snatch a bit of economy while he could, because from his point of view, Sun Ce had slipped away on his ship and was very likely heading to support another lane.

But the moment he stepped out from under his tower, what met him head-on was Sun Ce’s ship, moving at terrifying speed.

After taking a full loop, the ship had gained tremendous momentum.

Bang!

Sun Ce’s ship sent Bai Qi flying. Lin Hao did not even need to layer on a stun; he simply followed with his first skill, then a basic attack into the second skill, and the kill was secured in one smooth sequence.

The faster Sun Ce’s ship moved, the higher the knock-up. In other words, the crowd control lasted longer.

Not to mention Bai Qi was a side-lane Bai Qi with no dash and a retaliation spell.

"Rage from Bai Qi: plus six hundred."

In Lin Hao’s livestream, the viewers who saw this play were equally stunned.

"So you can drive the ship like that?"

"All I can say is, insane."

"Bai Qi: that’s how you play me?"

Lin Hao smiled. "I didn’t ram straight in at first mainly because Bai Qi had already used his second skill. If I forced it at that angle, I risked getting pulled under the tower and traded down with him."

"So I just took a loop instead. And clearly, Bai Qi got careless too. Instead of staying safely under the tower, he actually wanted to come out and take the river crab?"

At that moment, Lin Hao noticed a message in the chat.

"Why can your Sun Ce turn so fast, Hao? You can do a one-eighty in such a narrow corridor?"

Lin Hao said, "That’s a small Sun Ce trick. When you’re sailing, the smaller the arc of your left-hand steering input, the faster the ship turns. But of course, it also gets harder to control."

No sooner had Lin Hao killed Bai Qi than the enemy jungler, Mi Yue, arrived. Lin Hao hurried to the junction between the enemy tower and the entrance to their blue area, using the ridge beside him to circle with Mi Yue.

When Mi Yue used her first skill to phase-dash in, Lin Hao immediately fired his first skill through the wall and slipped away in style.

At the same time, Pei Qinhu also came over from the other end of the river and helped land a few hits on Mi Yue.

Neither side managed to spark anything major.

"From here on, I need to start rotating and playing for tempo. Once Bai Qi reaches level four and has his ultimate, his self-protection gets a huge boost, and he’ll definitely start building tankier. The later it goes, the less I’ll be able to deal with him," Lin Hao said.

By the three-minute mark, Lin Hao had taken another wave in the bottom lane.

By then, Bai Qi was obviously much more cautious and no longer dared to come out and contest the wave. After clearing it, Lin Hao headed straight up the river toward top lane.

The skirmish there had already reached its conclusion.

Sun Bin and Luban No. 7 had just been killed by Sun Shangxiang.

Zhou Yu escaped with a sliver of health.

Both mid laners had rotated to the side in this fight, which meant that although it looked like a marksman lane matchup on the surface, it had actually turned into a three-on-three.

Only, the enemy trio had completely crushed Lin Hao’s side.

Normally, Zhou Yu, Sun Bin, and Luban No. 7 should have been able to hold down their opponents, Xishi, Luban Master, and Sun Shangxiang in the early game.

That could only mean the difference lay in individual skill.

That Bag’s Sun Shangxiang really was strong.

Even without the rage bonus, Lin Hao felt she absolutely needed to be pressured. Otherwise, if Sun Shangxiang ran wild, racking up kill after kill and snowballing her economy and level, his own team composition would become very hard to play.

Arriving at the red buff area, Lin Hao took a quick look. Luban Master and Sun Shangxiang were both at around half health, huddled under the tower.

So Lin Hao decisively set sail.

Off we go!

Sun Ce’s ship cut straight through the gap between the enemy’s outer and inner top towers, swung around from behind, and crashed toward Sun Shangxiang’s position.

Bag had just come out of a fierce fight, and his Purify had already been used. If Sun Ce committed to a single-target dive, Bag could very well be traded out.

But Bag still had teammates.

Luban Master bravely charged toward Sun Ce’s ship.

And although Xishi had only a sliver of health left, she was standing to the side with her freshly recovered first skill ready in hand.

Lin Hao frowned. At this position, Luban Master was still closing the distance to him. If he wanted to force Sun Shangxiang down, he would have to release the ship, but if he did, Luban Master would block it. In terms of distance, he probably would not be able to hit Sun Shangxiang at all.

Then he would have to angle it.

Lin Hao made a slight read on Luban Master’s first skill and nudged the steering ever so slightly. Sun Ce’s ship veered a touch.

The next instant, Luban Master dashed in with his first skill, landing exactly in front of the ship.

But Sun Ce slipped around him at a bizarre angle.

Luban Master broke into a cold sweat at once.

It was like the final, decisive moment of a World Cup final, when the opposing striker, full of momentum, slipped past the defender and charged straight toward the keeper.

And Sun Ce’s ship was only getting faster and faster.

Just as Lin Hao, by means of that strange pathing, bypassed Luban Master and came barreling straight at Sun Shangxiang, nearly within arm’s reach, Xishi’s first skill came crashing down from above, and its landing point was precisely Sun Shangxiang’s position.

In other words, even if Lin Hao managed to collide with Sun Shangxiang, if he tried to follow through with his full combo, Xishi would catch him and forcibly interrupt it.

And yet at that very moment, both Bag and Lin Hao made their moves.

Lin Hao actually turned again, driving the ship to crash upward toward Sun Shangxiang.

While Sun Shangxiang rolled downward.

Seeing this, even Lin Hao froze for a split second.

He had not predicted that.

Lin Hao knew Sun Shangxiang had her first skill available. There was no way she would simply surrender, so he had to ram her with the ship rather than throw it. Otherwise, if the collision missed and he ended up under the tower, he would be the one dying.

But hitting Sun Shangxiang still required a little prediction.

Only this time, his read and Bag’s movement were going in completely opposite directions. Lin Hao had predicted upward, while Bag rolled downward.

No matter. Another loop would do.

Sun Ce sailed past Sun Shangxiang without making contact, ignored Xishi off to the side, and raced to the front of the outer tower. At the point where both minion waves met, he suddenly turned one hundred and eighty degrees.

He came charging back again.

"Rage from Bag: plus three hundred."

Bag finally panicked.

Because now both Bag and his teammates had no skills left.

And Sun Ce’s ship was coming back once more, even faster than before.

For a moment, the pace of the fight seemed to freeze.

Then Lin Hao and Bag both made their next adjustments.

The ship thundered in once more, with terrifying speed.