Chapter 499: I came, I saw, I conquered (8)

Ah, I'm dead!

Zet hadn't finished a sentence when the game screen before his eyes turned gray‑white; then Zet fell silent.

Teammates were also silent.

On Zhong Lu side, EDG's mid and top laners saw VG's mid jungle support coming to flank Zhong Lu, and could only hastily retreat to avoid being left behind when Kled unleashed his ultimate.

Sima Laozei stayed in the bottom lane to destroy the tower.

On the stands, black‑and‑white team flags waved like dragons, and the cheers of VG fans were deafening.

The casters shouted:

"0 for 3!"

"It exploded......"

"Should say it's 0 for 3 plus a tower!"

More than ten seconds later, EDG's bottom tower was taken down single‑handed by Sima Laozei.

Miller glanced at the total economy of both sides, his brow furrowed:

"EDG is already behind by over four thousand!"

He recalled, hesitating:

"I feel…… it's already…… a bit difficult……"

Rita:

"Emmm."

The silence of EDG fans was equally deafening.

……

After a wave of dragon rhythm, EDG completely fell into a passive situation.

But EDG still refused to surrender, still striving to find a chance to turn the tide.

At 17:30 game time, EDG seized VG's lane‑switch timing, four members grouped and pushed hard in the bottom lane, finally destroying that stubborn outpost—VG's bottom tower.

EDG fans breathed a sigh of relief, silently consoling themselves: even if they were to lose, at least they wouldn't be swept by zero towers……

VG certainly wouldn't give up a tower for free; as EDG grouped and pushed bottom, VG grouped to protect their "big mouth" and pushed top, all the way to EDG's second top tower, where the wine barrel hid behind the tower and unleashed his ultimate to forcibly clear the wave, trying to buy time for the main force to fall back.

VG remained calm, waiting for the second wave of minions, then dove under the tower to kill aggressively.

Mouse ran fast and had some tankiness, narrowly escaping back to high ground.

Meiko, who rushed back to help defend, wasn't so lucky; a fragile support, Lulu, didn't even survive VG's first burst of focus fire before collapsing.

After killing Meiko, VG swiftly destroyed EDG's second top tower, then immediately grouped and switched lanes to attack mid; during the transition they took everything—Stone Armor Beetle, red buff, F6—clearing out all of EDG's upper‑half resources spotless.

The other EDG members who were late to retreat hurriedly finished clearing the minion wave that had pushed to high ground, then came to defend mid; Mouse, who had gone home to heal, teleported directly back to gain those two or three seconds to help guard the tower, finally succeeding in forcing VG's demolition squad to retreat.

However, this middle first tower also had its health bar reduced by more than half by VG.

At this point, with the middle first tower left with less than half health, saying it's teetering on the brink is no exaggeration; should EDG reveal even the slightest opening, VG—whether grouping to push or splitting to ambush—could easily take it.

EDG knew this tower absolutely could not be relinquished; otherwise, the two side jungles already threatened due to losing both outer lanes would suffer even more ruthless plundering by VG.

Therefore, EDG defended extremely resolutely; Mouse also began habitually sacrificing himself, preferring to watch the side lanes' towers burn minions rather than step away from mid for even a moment, to ensure VG could not push the minion wave to the base of the middle first tower.

Both sides, centering on the middle first tower, engaged in a tug‑of‑war of grouped pulls to contest lane control.

Liang Yan, seeing this, did not rush to urge teammates to attack outright, but began assigning detailed tasks, preparing to execute a baiting tactic.

To be honest, hearing Liang Yan's near hand‑on‑mouse, step‑by‑step instruction in his headset, Easyhoon couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

Such a player, even his teammates find frightening.

Easyhoon's mind began to wander with random thoughts. He wondered, if a player like Liang Yan were placed in the Three Kingdoms, whom would he most resemble?

Zhuge Liang?

No, Zhuge Liang is only superb in strategy, his personal combat ability is average. Liang Yan, however, excels both in tactics and execution, being top‑tier.

After thinking it over, Easyhoon felt that in the Three Kingdoms there truly was no one who could fully match Liang Yan; Zhuge Liang's disciple Jiang Wei and Lü Meng, who earned the praise "after three days apart, one must look anew," roughly fit, being both civil and martial, yet still felt lacking, because Jiang Wei and Lü Meng are generals' material, not commander material.

If we set aside the Three Kingdoms……

With a ding, a lightbulb lit up in Easyhoon's head.

Indeed there is.

Charging forward, brave enough to crown the three armies, tactics peerless through the ages, literary talent shining in poetry and prose—among scholars the fiercest fighter, among warriors the best writer—Yue Fei!

Civil and martial excellence, character flawless!

A perfect match!

The best part is that both share a stubborn loyalty.

Regarding why Liang Yan, after winning S6, did not stay in G2 to enjoy riches and instead chose to return alone to China, Easyhoon knows the reason.

"Marquis, why are you acting daft? Take a look at Brother Ma!"

Xiao Duan's words broke Easyhoon's reverie. Coming to his senses, he saw the opponent had already pushed the minion wave to the tower.

Before that, both sides had been tugging in mid lane for two or three minutes; because VG had an economic edge, they consistently held the initiative, each time after grouping and first clearing the mid lane minion wave, VG did not press forward, the group scattered and vanished from EDG's sight.

EDG probed several times, advancing in person to gain vision, discovering that after VG cleared the lane, mid lane basically had only one or two defenders left, whereupon they formed a plan and began setting up.

Game time was around 21 minutes.

VG grouped again, first clearing the mid lane minion wave completely.

EDG likewise grouped, but dared only to wait passively before the tower to receive the line.

At this moment, Mouse was deliberately placed to stand behind the tower to recall.

It was an ambiguous spot, appearing as if Mouse had misjudged his vision distance, inadvertently exposing his backside, thereby giving VG his recall information.

Exactly, this is the trap EDG laid.

The people up front quickly cleared the minion wave.

A Guang hurriedly interrupted the recall scroll that was already at its last second.

Ten-odd seconds later, a new wave of minions arrived at the front line.

At that moment, Easyhoon was awakened by Xiao Duan's shout; he moved forward, shielding Sima Laozei's big mouth, ready to clear the lane.

From EDG's perspective, VG had only the big mouth and Karma come out to clear the lane.

This meant the prey had finally taken the bait.

VG thought Mouse had really returned to base, so they left only two cores to farm the lane in Zhong Lu, while the others either went to kill jungle monsters or went home to buy wards.

Seeing this, the EDG players instantly became excited.

Few! Few! They're few!

Push! Push! Push! A Guang pushes forward—don't let them clear the lane!

Block it, block it, block the skills, brothers!