Chapter 629
Effortlessly
Faker was sitting on the sofa in the lobby reading a book when he saw Su Mo come in. Old Li pushed up his glasses, his gaze lingered for a second on the five beautiful women with different styles and top-notch looks behind Su Mo, and then he showed a complicated expression.
"Hi, Faker," Su Mo greeted him warmly.
Faker nodded and replied in English, "Long time no see."
Keria and Gumayusi, standing nearby, were completely mesmerized.
"Is this the LPL FMVP...?" Gumayusi whispered to Keria, "With this kind of spectacle, you'd think it was a K-POP boy band holding a concert."
“And they’re all beautiful women…” Keria’s eyes revealed a hint of envy. “I also want to go to the LPL to play top lane.”
……
The MSI tournament format consists of a qualifying round and a best-of-three group stage.
As the LPL's number one seed, EDG directly entered the best-of-eight group stage (a double-elimination format), which means they have a few days to rest and adapt.
During the first two days after arriving in London, the training intensity was not yet at its maximum.
Since we're here, we should experience the local culture.
On the first night, Su Mo was dragged by several girls to the famous London Eye.
The giant Ferris wheel slowly rose, offering a panoramic view of the nightscape along both banks of the Thames.
In the cramped private room, there was only Su Mo and his five female companions.
As the altitude increased, the atmosphere gradually became somewhat enchanting.
Rita wore a black turtleneck sweater under a leather jacket, paired with a short skirt and over-the-knee boots, exuding a sophisticated and mature vibe. While everyone was admiring the night view, she quietly squeezed next to Su Mo, her hand sneaking into his coat pocket and intertwining with his fingers.
"Are you cold?" Rita whispered in his ear, her breath sweet as orchids.
"It's alright." Su Mo gently stroked the back of her hand with his fingers. "Your hand is quite warm."
"That's because you warmed me up." Rita's eyes were alluring, and she gently pinched Su Mo's waist with her other hand. "Now that we're in London, shouldn't we make some 'special' arrangements?"
Before he could finish speaking, Luo Xin and Xiao Yu excitedly came over with their phones.
"Brother Mozi! Come take a picture! The background is Big Ben!"
Su Mo was pulled over to be the background, surrounded by five girls in the middle.
The flash went off.
In the photo, Su Mo makes a helpless peace sign against the backdrop of a dazzling London night view.
……
It was already late at night when I got back to the hotel.
Su Mo had just finished showering and was preparing to study his upcoming opponent.
Doorbell rang.
Upon opening the door, one sees Xiran wearing a light purple silk robe, holding a plate of sliced fruit and a cup of hot milk.
"Abu said the food here is too oily and he's worried about your stomach, so he asked me to bring you some fruit." hope Ran stood awkwardly at the door, her eyes darting away, not daring to look at Su Mo's still-dripping abs.
"Come in." Su Mo stepped aside.
hope Ran entered the room, put her things down, but showed no intention of leaving.
“Um…” hope Ran bit her lip, “I looked at the schedule, and our first match is against North America’s number one seed, C9. Do you need any pre-match coaching?”
Su Mo closed the door, and the click of the lock clicking shut was particularly clear in the quiet room.
He walked behind Xiran and gently wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Of course I need to.” Su Mo lowered his head, his nose brushing against Xi Ran’s earlobe. “But tonight, I want to learn a different word. The people!”
hope Ran's body went limp, and she almost dropped the tray in her hands.
"You...you just bully people."
"How is this bullying?" Su Mo picked her up and carried her to the soft bed. "This is called... pre-competition training."
That night, the Thames flowed quietly outside the window, while the "special training" in the room continued until the early hours of the morning.
Of course, besides hope Ran, it is said that Yu Shuang and Rita also sneaked in under the pretext of "delivering a charger" and "discussing nail art". As for what exactly happened, only the messy bedding probably knows.
……
On May 9th, the MSI group stage officially kicked off.
EDG's debut match will be against Cloud9 (C9), the LCS champions.
This team is a dominant force in North America, especially their top laner Fudge, who was incredibly arrogant in pre-match interviews.
“Mo is strong, but I’ve studied his replays.” Fudge said confidently to the camera, “His aggression is strong, but that’s also his weakness. I’ll teach him a lesson with my Fiora.”
In the break room, everyone in EDG laughed when they saw the interview.
"Teach me a lesson?" Su Mo straightened his cuffs. "Fine, since he's an international friend, I'll teach him a lesson using the hero he's best at."
Game start.
first round.
Su Mo instantly locked onto Fiora, the Peerless Swordswoman.
The crowd cheered!
"Teaching Bureau!!" Guan Zeyuan shouted, "Fudge just said he was going to use Fiora, and Mozi immediately locked it in! That's confidence! That's the true value of being the LPL's number one top laner!"
As Su Mo said, this was an inhumane teaching method.
Within 3 minutes, Su Mo started pushing the minion wave from level 1.
Five minutes in, Fudge's Kennen was stunned by Su Mo's W [Laurent's Eye] under the tower, which blocked his ultimate. Su Mo then exploited four openings and secured a solo kill!
"Four breakthroughs in one second!" Miller exclaimed. "That speed! That reaction! Fudge was stunned!"
In 15 minutes, Su Mo had already cleared the level and was dancing in front of C9's high ground tower.
Three C9 members came to arrest him.
Instead of retreating, Su Mo advanced, using his Q skill to weave through the crowd like a dancer on a knife's edge.
Double Kill!
Triple Kill!
They turned the tables and killed three of them!
The first game ended in 18 minutes.
The so-called "Light of North America" is as fragile as a piece of paper in front of Su Mo.
Back in the lounge, Su Mo tossed the keyboard, which he hadn't even warmed up yet, onto the table, slumped into his gaming chair, and even yawned.
"It's boring, really boring."
Su Mo shook his head, picked up the thermos that hope Ran had specially prepared for him, and took a sip of warm water: "This C9 top laner is too squishy. My Fiora was just warmed up when he was destroyed. This level of confrontation is simply a waste of my skills."
Saint Gun Bro, who was reading a novel on his phone, suddenly felt a sense of foreboding upon hearing this.
Sure enough, the next second, Su Mo's gaze fell on him with such "kindness".
"Stop reading novels, it's bad for your eyes," Su Mo said with a smile. "How about some exercise? This kind of opportunity for sparring... oh no, this kind of opportunity for friendly competition, as your good brother, I have to give it to you."
With a knowing look on his face, Flandre put down his phone and sighed, "I knew it, I'd be doing all the dirty work again. You finished the first exciting game, and now you want me to work overtime during this garbage time?"
"How can you call it garbage time?" Su Mo said with a straight face, "This is called tactical rotation, keeping everyone in good form. Besides, you go up and play a couple of rounds, win steadily, and we can go get some late-night snacks early. Shuangjie just messaged me saying she booked a Michelin three-star restaurant, and if we go too late, it'll be sold out."
Abu and the factory manager, who were standing nearby, were already used to this.
In the current EDG, once Su Mo crushes the opponent or establishes an absolute advantage in the first game, they basically enter a "slacking off mode" afterwards. On the one hand, this is to hide Su Mo's tactical reserves, and on the other hand, it is to keep Flandre, a player who is nominally a substitute but actually a starter, in competitive form.
"Alright, then Flandre will go for the second round." Abu closed his laptop. "Let's finish this quickly."
……
In the second game, there was a player rotation. When the player substitution information appeared on the big screen, the European and American audience in the venue and the online chat fell into an eerie silence, followed by a frenzy of complaints.
[Classic! Mozi is off work again!]
[A top laner who only plays one game and then runs away!]
[Fudge: Even though I don't have to face that monster anymore, this feeling of being looked down upon is even worse!]
[Holy Gun Guy: I'm like a brick; I'll be moved wherever I'm needed.]
Although Su Mo was removed from the field, EDG's dominance did not diminish in the slightest.
Su Mo sat on the sofa in the lounge, peeling a banana while watching the game on the big screen, his perspective completely that of a "cloud player".
"Oh dear, Fudge is getting impatient."
On the screen, Fudge picked Renekton this game, hoping to exert pressure in lane and get back at the top.
Meanwhile, Flandre pulled out his signature move – the Gragas.
"Gunner's Gragas is still as greasy as ever," Su Mo commented. "Look at his positioning, how he pushes his belly away. The Renekton's E comes in and he gets pushed away. He can't even use his Red Fury W. Fudge is so frustrated he's about to bite his keyboard."
EDG completely controlled the pace of this game.
Although there weren't as many bloody solo kills in the top lane as in the first game, Flandre played a "rock-solid" style. No matter how much C9's jungler targeted him, he would just camp under the tower, clearing waves and healing. Even if he only had one item left in a team fight, he could still throw out a good ultimate.
With the pressure off the top lane gone, Viper and Scout unleashed their full power.
At 25 minutes, Flandre made a brilliant flanking maneuver, using his E-flash to knock back C9's two carries.
"Great!" Su Mo clapped his hands in the lounge. "This geometric bucket, it really has to be Gun Bro. We've got it this time, let's get ready to pack up."
As expected, EDG took a 2-0 lead and secured match point.
……
The third round.
C9's mentality completely collapsed.
They initially thought Su Mo's departure would be an opportunity, but they discovered that they couldn't even beat the substitute top laner, which was devastating to their confidence.
In this game, Flandre even pulled off a surprise by picking Sion.
"Go ahead and fight. If you can even break through, I'll admit defeat."
Su Mo couldn't help but laugh as he watched Sion standing at the very front of the screen, enduring a brutal beating from five opponents.
"Holy Gun is doing 'resilience training', huh? Tsk tsk, C9's hands must be sore from all that hitting, right?"
Su Mo took out his phone and sent a message to the WeChat group called "London Food, Drink and Fun Squad".
Su Mo: [All done. Five minutes left. You guys wait in the audience seats, I'll come pick you up from the back door in a bit.]
Rita: [So fast? I haven't even finished touching up my makeup yet!]
Luo Xin: [Brother Mozi is awesome! I'm starving!]
Yu Shuang: [Fudge was almost in tears. The director just showed a shot of the child's face turning red.]
hope Ran: [That was because I was angry...]
Just as Su Mo had predicted.
At 22 minutes, EDG pushed into the high ground with the Baron buff.
Saint Gun's Sion drove straight into the tower, ignoring the tower and the damage output of the C9 team, and destroyed the crystal.
3 is better than 0!
A sweeping victory with no suspense whatsoever.
When Flandre took off his headphones and walked back to the lounge with a憨厚 (honest and simple) look, Su Mo had already slung his peripheral bag over his shoulder and was standing at the door to greet him.
"You've worked hard, veteran." Su Mo handed over a bottle of water. "Come on, let me take you out for a good meal to replenish your energy."
Saint Gun rolled his eyes: "Come on, you just want to go hang out with your female confidantes and bring me along as a third wheel, right?"
"Let's not say anything even if we see through it." Su Mo hooked his arm around his shoulder. "Besides, Viper and Meiko are going too, so everyone can have fun together."
……
Post-match interview.
The organizers originally wanted to invite Su Mo, given his amazing performance with Fiora in the first game. However, Su Mo declined, citing "illness," and gave the opportunity to Jiejie to shine.
By this time, London was already deep into the night.
Wearing a mask and a baseball cap, Su Mo quietly slipped out through the staff entrance of the venue.
Under the streetlights not far away, five graceful figures had been waiting for a long time.
The London evening breeze carried a slight chill, and the girls had all put on coats, but this still couldn't hide their outstanding temperament.
"Over here!"
Su Mo waved his hand.
Rita was the first to rush over, not caring whether they were outside or not, and immediately grabbed Su Mo's arm: "How was it? Did that Fudge challenge you to a real-life PK after the match?"
“I can fight much better than him,” Su Mo smiled.
"Let's go, let's go, I'm starving!" Luo Xin exclaimed from the side. "I heard the fish and chips here are awful, what are we going to eat tonight?"
"Don't worry, not eating this is just being a stargazer." Su Mo led everyone to the van that was already parked. "I'll take you to eat authentic Wellington steak, and then we'll go to a bar by the Thames."
"Great!"
The group boarded the car, and laughter instantly filled the carriage.
For Su Mo, the C9 was merely an appetizer on this trip to London.
The real challenge is yet to come.
Outside the car window, the lights of Tower Bridge shimmered in the night. Su Mo looked at the reflection outside the window, his gaze slightly narrowed.
The next match, barring any unforeseen circumstances, should be against Gen.G, the second seed from LCK.
That was a team with Chovy and Peanut, a formidable opponent he had never faced in S12.
"Chovy, huh..."
Su Mo tapped his fingers lightly on his knees in a rhythmic pattern.
"Hopefully it can withstand more damage than the C9, otherwise this trip to London will be too boring."
At that moment, a warm hand gently covered the back of his hand.
Su Mo turned his head and saw hope Ran sitting next to him, looking at him tenderly.
"Thinking about the next match?" hope Ran asked softly.
Su Mo took her hand in return, a confident smile curving his lips.
"No, I'm thinking about how well-done I want my steak."
hope Ran chuckled and leaned gently against his shoulder.
"Virtue."
On this night in a foreign land, there is the glory of a champion, the company of a beautiful woman, and the anticipation of future opponents.
This is probably the best era for Su Mo.
"Brother Mozi, I heard that the next opponent, Gen.G, is going to be tough?" hope Ran asked, cutting a small piece of steak. "I've seen people on foreign websites praising Chovy, saying he's the current 'Chovy the best,' a last-hitting machine who can out-farm the opponent by twenty CS in ten minutes."
Su Mo elegantly swirled his wine glass, a smile playing on his lips: "A finishing blow machine? That only proves he's a competent farmer, not a competent assassin."
"League of Legends is a tower-pushing game, and also a killing game, but it's definitely not a farming game." Su Mo put down his wine glass. "No matter how good he is, he still couldn't beat our EDG. So everyone knows who's better, right?"
"So cool!" Rita raised her glass. "Cheers to the upcoming victory!" (End of Chapter)