Chapter 16 – Fourth Member

Li Cangyu was very surprised by this result. He originally prepared many lines to persuade Xie Shurong to join the team while eating tonight. He didn’t expect Xie Shurong’s personality to be so refreshing that he would join when he came to the door.

He took the contract. Although there was a bunch of English words that couldn’t be fully understood, he could infer from some keywords that this was the agreement between Xie Shurong and the ICE Club to terminate their agreement. Now that he had this contract, Xie Shurong was free.

Li Cangyu was in a good mood as he patted Xie Shurong’s shoulder and said, “Let’s talk while we eat!”

The three people sat at the dinner table. Xie Shurong looked at the delicious food in front of him and almost drooled. Steamed fish, sweet and sour ribs, vegetarian fried bamboo shoots, braised eggplant, spicy tofu… he ate so much half-cooked steak every day that he felt like vomiting. Now that he saw Bai Xuan’s authentic home-cooked dishes, he didn’t know what to say.

Li Cangyu handed him chopsticks. “Come taste the craftsmanship of Chef Bai and you won’t regret joining our team.”

Bai Xuan said, “Don’t listen to that old cat bragging. I just casually cooked a few things and don’t know if it will suit your taste.”

Xie Shurong picked up the chopsticks and tasted the food. He was immediately moved as he stared at Bai Xuan. “It is too delicious!”

Vice-Captain Bai’s cooking was well-deserving of praise. It was worth joining the team just for these dishes!

Li Cangyu’s eyes swept over the table. He found the target and quickly put the plate of fish in front of him. He bowed his head and ate like he was afraid someone would steal it. Xie Shurong was more interested in the sweet and sour ribs and couldn’t stop eating them.

Bai Xuan looked at these two men who were like hungry ghosts, burying their heads and desperately eating the meal, and couldn’t help smiling. He sat opposite them and slowly ate.

Bai Xuan’s dishes were too delicious that Xie Shurong was busy eating and didn’t have time to speak.

Li Cangyu was also very hungry after playing the game all day. He quickly finished the steamed fish in front of him then went for the braised eggplant.

Bai Xuan felt that the style of this team would become very strange in the future.

Under Li Cangyu’s leadership, would the Canglan team become a ‘foodie camp?’

***

Once the dishes on the table were cleared away by the three men, Xie Shurong wiped his mouth and looked at Bai Xuan. “I haven’t eaten such delicious food in a long time. Vice-Captain Bai, can I continue to come here tomorrow to eat dinner?”

Li Cangyu replied quickly, “Come, you are welcome!”

Bai Xuan, “…”

The two people came to an agreement and Bai Xuan had no way to refuse these two foodies. He turned away to wash a plate of fruit. Li Cangyu and Xie Shurong reluctantly left the dining room, sitting down on the sofa in the living room and chatting while eating fruit.

“A’Shu, you decided to join my team so quickly. Is there a particular reason?” Li Cangyu asked.

“I thought about it carefully and realized that Cat God is right. I don’t want to go back to the Flying Feathers team. In addition, the other strong teams in China don’t lack swordsmen and many teams have their own tactical style. It will be very difficult for me to join their main lineup so it is better for me to follow Cat God, who is starting from scratch.” Xie Shurong explained seriously.

Li Cangyu patted him on the shoulder and smiled. “This is the truth. It is good that you can figure it out so quickly.”

Xie Shurong asked, “By the way, haven’t you been away from Miracle for almost three years? I thought you had forgotten how to play an elf summoner. I hadn’t expected that while doing the bounty mission with you today, your gameplay would still be so sharp!”

Li Cangyu smiled. “Many things aren’t easy to forget.”

Xie Shurong was startled and several emotions filled his heart.

Cat God was right. Some things were rooted in the heart and wouldn’t be so easy to forget.

Just as he left Flying Feathers and joined a foreign club rather than give up playing his swordsman, Li Cangyu had also been thinking about his elf summoner.

They had a common dream when they were young.

Due to a variety of reasons, these dreams weren’t realized but that didn’t mean they were forgotten.

Three years had passed and many things changed.

Strong teams and masters in the Miracle League were like clouds. It might seem bold to want to beat them all but how would they know if they didn’t try?

Xie Shurong couldn’t help being excited thanks to Li Cangyu’s firm gaze.

Li Cangyu smiled and stretched out a hand. “From today onwards, we are teammates.  We will work side by side to beat Miracle together.”

His words were very calm, as if he was saying, “Today we will eat rice.” This calm tone and eyes with no hesitation showed how determined this man was.

Xie Shurong reached out and shook his hand tightly. “Then Captain, let’s go back together!”

Bai Xuan couldn’t help feeling moved as he watched the scene of the two people shaking hands.

Putting aside Xie Shurong’s past pursuit of him, Bai Xuan acknowledged Xie Shurong’s abilities.

In the third season, the Miracle League expanded the size of the teams and improved the treatment of professional players. This led to a large influx of experts into the league. Many of the rookies who debuted that year were now vice-captains or had strength suitable for the major teams. The evaluation of newcomers was a score that senior judges of Miracle created based on the players’ various data.

It wasn’t easy to win awards at all.

In the third season where so many experts emerged, Xie Shurong managed to win the award for the most potential. He had the halo of the championship team, Flying Feathers, and his own strength wasn’t weak. His kill rate in the arena and group battles was in the top five of the league and his momentum was almost the same as the powerful Ling Xuefeng, Li Cangyu and others.

In addition, he played for the American ICE Club for several years. After this period of tempering, he had become a mature and stable young man. His sharp spirit had been honed and his fingers were more stable, making his swordsmanship frightening!

To be able to recruit such a strong teammate, Bai Xuan was really happy for Li Cangyu and himself.

The Canglan team once lacked strong teammates so this felt really good!

***

“Do the two of you want to shake hands as well?” Li Cangyu suggested to Xie Shurong. “In the field, you used to always chase our vice-captain but now the task of protecting him will be given to you. Is this okay?”

“There is no problem.” Xie Shurong looked up and smiled at Bai Xuan. “Is the vice-captain still angry with me?”

“…I’m not that stingy.” Bai Xuan smiled back. “I just think that you have grown very quickly. You previously only reached my shoulder and now you are half a head taller than me.”

It felt like the small sapling in his memories had instantly grown into a towering tree.

Xie Shurong looked at Bai Xuan’s confused expression and suddenly felt that this Vice-Captain Bai was somewhat cute.

When they weren’t on the same team, Xie Shurong only knew that Bai Xuan was a healer with a mild temperament, steady techniques and good looks. Now that they had closer contact, he found that the vague player in his memories was becoming flesh and blood.

Bai Xuan would smile, become angry, be confused..

There were many vivid expressions on his face.

The key thing was that all his dishes were super delicious. Bai Xuan was the team’s most excellent milk dad!

At the very least, his stomach would be blessed.

Xie Shurong was in a very good mood as he thought this.

“By the way A’Shu, you accompanied us all afternoon in the game. Wasn’t there team training?” Li Cangyu realized the key problem and couldn’t help feeling curious. “Shouldn’t it be the regular season for the US side of the Miracle Professional League?”

“I have two days off.” Xie Shurong explained. “The first round just finished and we will start the second round of regular games in a week.”

“It was like this.” Li Cangyu paused. “How do you think the level of the teams here are compared to domestically?”

“The overall strength is similar to domestic first-tier teams but the tactical thinking is far worse.” Xie Shurong paused and said, “Oh yes, the vice-captain of the ICE Club is the blood kin summoner Jack Josh. Have you heard of this person?”

Li Cangyu had naturally heard this person’s name. This person was said to be the world’s strongest blood kin summoner but Li Cangyu was unsure of his strength since they hadn’t personally fought.

In the summoner class, in addition to the American blood skin summoner, there was also a Chinese player who boarded the world’s leaderboard. It was the demon summoner and captain of the Wind Colour team, Ling Xuefeng.

Li Cangyu thought this and couldn’t help asking, “You have also fought with Ling Xuefeng. How would you compare their strengths?”

“Compare him to Captain Ling?” Xie Shurong touched his chin as he thought about it before making a seriously evaluation. “They are both dark type summoners but Captain Ling’s gameplay is very calm and he will give opponents a strong sense of oppression. Jack’s style is more violent and bloody. The two people’s styles are completely different.” Xie Shurong smiled and said, “If you come back, the elf summoner’s agile movements and quick change of pets will definitely shine in front of them.”

“Of course.” Li Cangyu replied very honestly.

He believed that his level wasn’t any worse than these famous summoners and was looking forward to the day he faced them. But it was too early to go straight to the World Competition… he hadn’t even formed a team yet!

Bai Xuan heard this and couldn’t help asking, “Are foreign healers different from domestic ones?”

“Their healing styles are similar but many people in the United States play a human priest. Isn’t it relatively rare in China?”

“Yes, domestic healers tend to play the angel race.” Bai Xuan sat opposite him and analyzed it carefully. “The angel priest has the highest healing volume but weak defense. A terran healer has medium healing and stronger defense, making it more suitable for a protracted war. However, in a situation where the combat pressure on the field is very high, I think the output of a healer is more useful. It would be useless if the healer’s teammates died.”

Xie Shurong saw his serious expression and couldn’t help agreeing. “Vice-Captain Bai is right.”

The recognized Bai Xuan smiled with satisfaction.

Xie Shurong suddenly found that when this man smiled, his eyes curved and his gentle appearance was very good. He almost looked like…

Bai Xuan was called a first-class healer in Miracle. Xie Shurong still remembered that when chasing Bai Xuan in the game, Bai Xuan might’ve lost blood but he could hide from Xie Shurong’s sword for a long time, like a cockroach. Bai Xuan’s movements were very flexible.

He didn’t expect that they would one day become teammates.

Cat God and Bai Xuan, a powerful remote output and a powerful healer. In addition, there was the melee swordsman with a fast attack. Xie Shurong knew very well that this team wouldn’t be easily trampled on like the previous FTD team.

In the future, everyone would fight side by side to kill their opponents!

‘Therefore, Vice-Captain Bai, we should change roles. When I come to protect you, don’t reflexively avoid me. It is embarrassing!’

Bai Xuan found that Xie Shurong was staring at him and couldn’t help asking, “What are you looking at? Do you want a real life PK?”

Xie Shurong smiled. “I don’t dare do that. You are the vice-captain, I will listen to you.”

Bai Xuan looked satisfied and pointed to the plate of fruit on the table. “Go to the refrigerator and cut me an orange.”

“Yes!” Xie Shurong immediately took the plate and started cutting the fruit.

Li Cangyu couldn’t help smiling when he saw this scene. “A’Shu often bullied you in the arena and now you can finally bully him back.”

Bai Xuan looked at Xie Shurong’s busy figure and couldn’t help laughing. “It feels really good!”

The author has something to say:

[Small Theater]

Xie Shurong: Vice-Captain Bai who I chased in those years is trying to bully me? How are things so broken?

Crowd: Throw him down and eat him.

A’Shu who has been waiting for a long time and finally got a chance to pounce on Vice-Captain Bai. Just as he bent down to kiss, Bai Xuan suddenly flexibly escaped.

Xie Shurong: …What are you hiding from?

Bai Xuan: It is a reflex ^_^

Gong Ling continues to play countdown to his appearance…