Chapter Ninety-Six: Can It Really Turn Around Like That?

Bag desperately tried to turn and dodge, but unfortunately Sun Ce’s ship was moving far too quickly at this point.

Bang!

Sun Ce’s ship slammed into Bag’s Sun Shangxiang.

Sun Shangxiang was instantly knocked into the air.

It wasn’t that Bag didn’t want to use her first skill to evade. It was just that her first skill still had one second left on cooldown.

Sun Shangxiang’s basic attacks could reduce the cooldown of her first skill, but when Lin Hao had just brushed past her earlier, she had been preoccupied with sidestepping the ship and had never landed a basic attack on Sun Ce.

Lin Hao kept pressing his second skill. With just the second skill followed by a basic attack, two hits were enough to instantly finish off the Sun Shangxiang whose health was already low.

Then he left at his leisure with his first skill.

"Bag’s rage value increased by 500."

Xi Shi and Master Luban were both without skills, and their own health and condition were not good either. Seeing this, they did not dare to step forward and hold Sun Ce back, and could only let him leave.

Lin Hao found a spot and recalled to base, saying to the viewers in his stream, "Why did I first pull away, then crash in on the second wave? Actually, it’s the same as when I killed Bai Qi last time. Sun Ce’s ship isn’t very fast when it first starts. If you just charge straight in, anyone with even a little mobility can dodge it pretty easily."

"Also, if the enemy hero still has skills available, forcing the engage head-on can get you counterattacked."

"For example, on this wave Sun Shangxiang still had her first skill. If the ship missed and I got kited under the tower, the one who might have died would have been me."

Lin Hao continued, "So it’s the same as before. I pretended I was going to hit her first, baited out a skill, then turned and came back with a reverse strike. With the opponent out of skills, killing Sun Shangxiang is as easy as reaching into my pocket."

The viewers in the stream were left speechless.

"I understand the logic, but the problem is... I don’t have that kind of hand speed!"

"I really cannot pull off that kind of sweeping turn. That was insane."

"Haozi, you must have amazed every examiner when you took your driver’s test, right?"

"You can sail a ship, dodge the enemy’s skills, and even turn back around? City people really know how to play. I can’t learn this, no matter what."

Unlike the cheerful atmosphere in Lin Hao’s stream, Bag’s stream had fallen silent. Both the fans and Bag were stunned.

"???"

"Is this Sun Ce cheating? How can he turn around like that?"

"Even Ye Emperor doesn’t have driving skills this good, right?"

"Damn, that wave completely left me confused."

Bag let out a long, weary sigh. "This Sun Ce really is something. Is it Ye Emperor?"

In his mind, there were only a handful of top-tier Sun Ce players in high-rank matches, and the only one who ought to have climbed up with Sun Ce was Ye Emperor.

As for everyone else, even if they were national-ranking Sun Ce players, they would more or less leave some opening.

"No."

"I just checked. It’s not Ye Emperor."

"Ye Emperor is playing Genshin Impact. How could it be him?"

Bag nodded. "This guy’s ship control with Sun Ce is really strong. That last wave, when he charged straight at me, he had actually predicted where my first skill would land."

"He knew I was definitely going to use my first skill to dodge. But prediction always needs a bit of luck. I wasn’t thinking that much at the time—I just instinctively rolled downward, while he charged upward."

"If he hadn’t hit me, that wave would have ended there. I never expected him to be able to turn so quickly in such a short time and come back for another kill."

"That ship control is truly incredible."

"My teammates were already doing their best to help me, and the placement of their skills was fine too... I can only say this Sun Ce is just too fierce."

There was anger in him for being handled so cleanly, but it was only for a moment. After calming down, Bag still said with complete conviction, "As an operation player, I’ll admit it when someone is better than me."

If he wanted to dodge that wave, he would still need Purify. But he had already used Purify in the previous team fight.

The game went on.

After Lin Hao respawned, he went down to the bottom lane to clear a wave, then signaled his jungler from the bottom lane and made a wide loop through the jungle toward the top lane.

What was this for?

The viewers were puzzled.

Lin Hao said, "Let’s release the wave and catch this Sun Shangxiang again. In this version, as long as the marksman isn’t being kept in prison, the early-game advantage can be built up. Of course, the main reason is that laning against Bai Qi in this match is just a waste of time."

When Lin Hao reached the defensive tower on the farm lane, he did not choose to move onto the lane. Instead, he stood in an area outside the enemy’s vision.

"Watch this. This wave the enemy should start pressuring the tower, because our Zhou Yu has shown himself in mid, while the enemy Xi Shi hasn’t appeared at all. She must have given up the wave and gone to roam."

Sure enough, the Luban No. 7 on Lin Hao’s side stayed very sensibly under the tower and waited for the minion wave, while the enemy had already begun clearing the lane.

Their positioning was also subtly pushing forward.

"The way they’re moving is obviously the behavior of people who aren’t afraid of being poked, so Xi Shi should already be in that bush next to the tower."

"Keep the vision locked down. Wait for them to make the first move, then hit them with a surprise."

The minion wave was cleared, and the enemy minions slowly approached the tower.

Luban No. 7 stood a little back under the tower and sprayed bullets.

Standing there showed that his awareness of Xi Shi lurking on the side was quite solid. His spacing was excellent, precisely at a distance Xi Shi’s first skill could not reach.

However, the instant Luban No. 7 threw out his first skill and began spraying bullets...

Ding!

The sound of Flash rang out.

Xi Shi actually flashed straight out from the bush and released her first skill!

She pulled Luban No. 7 in!

And her father, the enemy Master Luban, immediately jumped forward at the sight of this, opening his mechanical arms and beginning to latch onto Luban No. 7!

Lin Hao raised an eyebrow. This Xi Shi was decisive.

Sun Shangxiang also rolled in at this moment, unleashing her second and first skill combo onto Luban No. 7.

As for Lin Hao’s Sun Bin, he clearly had not anticipated this scene. His ultimate arrived only belatedly, but by the time the field formed and the silence took effect, Sun Shangxiang’s burst had already been delivered.

Just then, a ship suddenly appeared, charging straight at Sun Shangxiang!

From the blind spot, Sun Ce leaped down from the ship!

"Shit!"

The moment Bag saw Sun Ce’s ship rushing in just as his second and first skill combo was going off, his mentality exploded.

This Sun Ce had been hiding his angle the whole time!

He had been on the top lane all along, simply sitting in a blind spot they could not see.

If he had opened his ultimate from some other place and come to support, they would have definitely heard the sound of the ship.

And with that leap from the ship, Sun Ce had closed the distance to him even further!

The timing was brutally awkward.

Bag looked at his Purify. It still had ten seconds left on cooldown.

In an instant, he felt utterly hopeless.

Bag frantically tapped his ultimate, trying to squeeze out the final bit of damage onto Luban No. 7 and see whether he could trade kills with him, but Sun Ce’s ship had already knocked him airborne.