Chapter Sixty-Seven: Racing Against a Long-Distance Champion?

Lin Hao’s grasp of the unfolding situation was equally precise. Normally, when Ma Chao was fighting in a team battle, he had to keep his spear at the ready to maintain his blistering movement speed, which allowed for agile maneuvering. Only with a spear in hand could Ma Chao sustain his proper rhythm of attacks. Yet Lin Hao still used his last spear strike. After a rapid calculation, he judged that taking out Yuange’s puppet was the more valuable move!

In his field of vision, Fire Dancer, still ensnared by Xi Shi’s pull, was just about to break free from her chain of control. Yuange had just used his second skill and was in a brief period of vulnerability. There was no time to lose!

Bang! The final spear shot struck Yuange’s swiftly retreating puppet, but this time, there was no takedown! Yuange went into a stunned state!

Shang Jie couldn’t help but cry out, “Damn!”

He was falling apart! During a team clash, if Yuange’s puppet was destroyed instantly, Yuange would be left standing helplessly in place for two seconds. Previously, he could have used his ultimate to escape this penalty, but because the streamer Shark’s aggressive acceleration playstyle had dominated the S22 season, with Yuange rising to the top of the leaderboard and holding the number one spot for a month, his ability to weave his puppet in and out of towers for effortless kills and costless harassment made him seem practically unstoppable. The developers, upon observing this, decided Yuange needed a nerf and imposed this penalty on his fourth skill. But that’s a side note.

Now, with Shang Jie having lost his puppet, Lin Hao’s side—initially only Meng Ya firing at Fire Dancer—saw Liu Chan immediately flash forward to join the attack, locking Yuange in a pincer with a double dash!

Without his puppet, Yuange was paper-thin—he would die at the slightest touch! At this moment, after Yuange’s brief control of Xi Shi, Fire Dancer managed to break free from Xi Shi’s chain as well. She instantly burned her flash, charging straight ahead, her objective clear: Xi Shi, in the upper left corner!

It must be said, Fire Dancer still had a layer of Xi Shi’s control on her and had already lost most of her health to Meng Ya’s barrage. If Xi Shi pulled her in again, it would be an instant defeat.

With a searing wind, Fire Dancer roared past, targeting Xi Shi. Lin Hao’s Ma Chao was already moving backward, having just destroyed Yuange’s puppet with two swift strikes but now left without a spear, so he retreated to wait for his cooldown.

Fire Dancer lunged, aiming for Xi Shi, but Lin Hao’s second skill, Lone Spear at Sunset, struck Fire Dancer right as she arrived. Lin Hao frantically tapped his ultimate, quickly retrieving his spear, all while repositioning to dodge Fire Dancer’s next round of attacks.

“I’ll pull her in!” Xi Shi declared.

Because the enemy team had both Yuange and Fire Dancer, Xinran’s Xi Shi had chosen resistance boots. Seizing the gap in Fire Dancer’s combo, she desperately tapped the second part of her first skill and successfully interrupted Fire Dancer’s control!

Lin Hao reclaimed his spear and delivered a swift thrust—securing the kill on Fire Dancer!

Below, Yuange was still taking a beating, while Ju Youjing, nearby, had already charged in without hesitation. This was likely their only shot!

Ju Youjing swung his blade, executing a lightning-fast iai slash and instantly felling Meng Ya!

Meng Ya could only suffer in silence. He had just unloaded his burst on Fire Dancer after Xi Shi’s pull, then, when Yuange’s puppet exploded, shifted his focus to Yuange. But as soon as his first skill’s barrage ended, his damage collapsed.

Yuange was left with a sliver of health. Meng Ya hastily used his second skill, but was blocked by Ju Youjing’s imposing figure and then stunned by his iai slash. Seizing the moment, Yuange used his fourth skill to escape!

“Trying to outrun a marathon champion?” Lin Hao shouted, leaping over the high ground wall with unstoppable momentum, charging straight for Yuange.

As Ma Chao, you always flank when possible, and when it’s time to clean up, you go for the cleanup. The enemy Ju Youjing could be handled by his team’s marksman and support; Lin Hao’s target was the panicked, fleeing Yuange.

“Brother Chao, have mercy!” Shang Jie cried out, panicking as he burned his flash and quickly sent a “Sorry” message.

For him, apologizing wasn’t sarcasm—it was a habit. His right hand always hovered over the quick-chat button while gaming.

Lin Hao wasn’t much different; he also sent a “Sorry,” but his was purely to farm Shang Jie’s rage.

A skill-less, near-dead Yuange was inevitably run down by the rampaging Ma Chao. Shang Jie tried to dodge at the last moment, but Lin Hao’s spear struck true—another kill!

Meanwhile, on the top lane, Marco Polo and his support were desperately rushing toward the bottom. They had expected the enemy’s double side lanes to merely pressure the towers, so splitting up to defend should have sufficed. Instead, the enemy had forced a brutal team fight. Marco Polo saw the brawl already raging near his crystal and hurried over with his support.

For Lin Hao’s team, Nakoruru was in a tough spot. She had just used her ultimate to pressure Marco Polo’s health, but was herself in poor condition. Seeing both the support and Marco Polo heading down, and with her ultimate on cooldown, she decided to simply push the top lane.

Lin Hao was now near the enemy crystal and ran smack into the oncoming Marco Polo. Marco Polo immediately took aim, unleashing a hail of bullets!

But Lin Hao, with a deft feint, dodged every one of Marco Polo’s first skill shots—only one bullet landed! Even so, Marco Polo had a backup plan. Before finishing his first skill, he unleashed his ultimate—an area attack! Let’s see you dodge this!

He cast his ultimate at a tricky angle, targeting the junction between their crystal and bottom outer turret, cutting off Ma Chao’s retreat!

Without hesitation, Lin Hao thrust his spear, Ma Chao feinting again, and bolted in the opposite direction! Marco Polo and his support could only watch as Ma Chao sprinted in a wide arc around their crystal, slipping through the passageway between crystal and fountain, and darted right out the top lane!

Was this even possible?

Marco Polo was dumbfounded. Checking Ma Chao, he saw Marco Polo’s true damage mark—he hadn’t even stacked to ten! Meaning Ma Chao had dodged nearly all of Marco Polo’s damage!

At that moment, Nakoruru took down the top high ground turret, and Ma Chao, with another thrust, escaped the fountain’s barrage, left with only a sliver of health—but still alive!

“If I told you I predicted Nakoruru would take the top high ground, so I wouldn’t take tower damage and wouldn’t die, would you believe me?” Lin Hao smiled.

The chat exploded.

“What kind of slippery movement is that?”

“Marco Polo got so tricked he’s got nothing left!”

“Incredible—he just looped around and escaped!”

Meanwhile, the battle at the frontlines had already been decided. Ju Youjing’s damage wasn’t enough to finish off Meng Ya—or perhaps he’d underestimated Liu Chan. Seizing his chance, Liu Chan clamped Ju Youjing’s head, and Meng Ya’s ultimate rained missiles from above—direct hits, perfect timing!