Chapter 342: You Call Yourself the God-King, Whose God Are You, and King of Where?

Xun’s expression revealed a hint of astonishment: "He could react to that?"

In all fairness.

Although Zeus had received a warning from his teammate in advance and was on guard—this warning only came a second or two early, and he had no idea of the Sejuani’s exact position.

To be able to flash instantly to evade in a blind spot could already be considered the pinnacle of reaction speed.

Never did he expect that he could even follow up with a forward-moving Flash to counter-attack!

This clearly went beyond the scope of "fast reactions."

"He really is quite formidable." Ye Bo, who was laning against him, also praised him sincerely, truly feeling that the opponent had undergone significant changes in every aspect.

Jayce could indeed be said to have gained a lot.

He had intended to recall anyway, and his early-game respawn time was even faster than a recall, plus he had more gold from the kill than Yone;

More importantly, although Sejuani secured First Blood, she had died and now needed to respawn and head back out.

The dilemma for the KR team was clear: the jungle swap between Sejuani and Poppy was a foregone conclusion; Poppy could only take Sejuani’s bottom-side red buff and subsequently build tempo around the bottom lane.

Under normal circumstances, there was no reason for the CN representative team to do this.

After all, even if they targeted the top-lane Jayce and chose to trade top and bottom, not to mention that the KR mid-lane Galio could support at any time, the mere fact that the bottom-lane double-marksmen could quickly push down the first tower and end the laning phase while being super-fed was unacceptable.

Yet at the start, they hadn't discovered that the CN bottom lane was playing like this!

This meant that if they had played a normal opening, Poppy would likely have returned empty-handed while trying to build tempo around the bottom lane, whereas the opponent could have infinitely targeted the top-lane Jayce to break through the single lane, completely tearing apart their point of strength!

This was the core value of the "Wheelchair Combo."

The true purpose of this combo was that it could almost completely "free-range" the bottom lane!

It was free-ranging, not abandoning!

As long as there was no shortage of personnel during a skill cooldown window, facing two "poke-monsters" who avoided combat the entire time, even a 3-man dive against 2 from KR would struggle to pose a threat!

Not to mention, once the double-marksmen failed to gain an advantage, that in itself was already the biggest disadvantage.

That is why it is said that while Zeus’s counter-kill looked like a 1-for-1 trade, its strategic significance was crucial—it both gave Kanavi room to make a new decision and saved himself.

Based on the blue buff Sejuani had just had, Poppy decisively abandoned the opponent's bottom-side red buff and turned to head toward his own top-side jungle.

Xun could naturally guess his intentions, but could only accept that this lane-split pattern had been reset.

However, because Poppy was clearly leaning top, the KR bottom-lane double-marksmen dared not push too far forward; without the minion wave advantage, the two ADCs could only start practicing their positioning.

Time neared four and a half minutes.

Both junglers had similar progress in the jungle and were once again at a critical crossroads, their eyes locked on the map, lost in thought.

If one had to name the biggest "drawback" of Ye Bo moving to the top lane, it might be that Xun could no longer follow the mid-lane tempo as mindlessly as before.

After all, since Ye Bo had moved to the top lane, it was highly likely that the opponent's top laner had extremely strong laning ability, and he had to be fully focused and could not spare the energy to pay attention to anything else.

Relying on his competitive experience from playing against Kanavi over a dozen times this year, Xun judged the opponent's movements: "Kanavi should be recalling now, then coming to the bottom side... I won't recall, I'll gank the bottom lane first!"

Xun’s judgment was not a baseless guess.

Although it was clear that both sides had started in the blue buff area and both of their blue buffs were about to reset, there was actually a game of wits regarding the two jungle areas.

But don't forget, Sejuani had already recalled once after the three-minute top-lane gank and had used the First Blood gold to buy items, so even if she didn't recall this time, she wouldn't be at a major equipment disadvantage.

But Poppy had gone top in the middle of clearing his jungle!

If he didn't recall, Poppy would still have his starting items and would be dead if he ran into Sejuani; if he recalled and then went to counter Sejuani’s blue buff, compared to going to his own blue buff, his jungle-clearing tempo would be significantly disrupted—and Kanavi, who always valued farming, would likely accept neither situation!

Not to mention, the dragon was about to respawn.

The CN representative team's bottom-lane combo was positioned for "free-ranging," and their early-game combat ability was far less stable than the double-marksmen; normally, the first dragon would be hard to contest and should have been in Poppy's pocket.

And what Xun wanted to catch was precisely the time difference of Poppy’s recall to launch a surprise attack on the KR bottom lane!

"Xun is going to gank the bottom lane!" the Roaring Emperor shouted, unable to contain his urgency.

"Deft’s warding seems to have a gap! It looks like he’s about to be caught in a window of vulnerability by the opponent!"

Deft, of course, had practiced some ward placement and timing.

But warding was never a simple "plug-and-play formula" where you could memorize at what minute and second to run to a spot to place a ward to prevent a gank; if that were the case, junglers wouldn't be able to play the game.

The essence of vision control is a "game of prediction."

The core is: you must first guess that "someone from the opponent might pass by here in a while," and only then does placing a ward have a higher probability of being valuable.

Otherwise, most wards placed are just "self-comfort wards."

This is actually the true ability of a support player with "strong vision control"—it was clearly difficult for Deft, who had switched roles halfway and was an AD player who usually needed to care the least about warding and vision, to grasp.

The KR bottom-lane duo had been worn down by the CN team’s turtle-style play and had lowered their guard; seeing the CN duo feign a retreat again, they subconsciously assumed the opponent would continue to avoid combat.

But Sejuani had already circled out from behind!

Wang Duo shouted, unable to hide his excitement: "Players Park Jae-hyuk and Kim Hyuk-kyu are too relaxed! It feels like the CN bottom lane can at least pick up a kill here! This way, the Cloud Drake can also be taken along the way!"

"The Ziggs uses his minefield to slow them down first! The Seraphine follows up with a Beat Drop based on the slow effect!"

"But they aren't using Flash! They are both confidently relying on their positioning!"

The two immobile ADCs, bearing the slow from the Ziggs' minefield, actually relied on the Varus's Heal for speed and used their own small movements to "dodge skills with their feet"!

If Seraphine could force out their Flash, and with Sejuani surrounding them from behind, they would definitely be able to secure a kill.

But now, as long as the bottom-lane duo was willing to use both Flashes, they could even preserve their health and continue to contest the dragon!

However, the KR bottom-lane duo also chose not to use Flash.

The two endured Sejuani’s pursuit and crowd control, letting the Ziggs behind them chase with speed, and after both were beaten to very low health, they escaped into the tower to recall.

This was undoubtedly equivalent to handing over the dragon!

The reason was soon revealed.

"Although the bottom lane was both forced back, no kill was secured."

The Roaring Emperor’s tense expression instantly relaxed, his tone full of surprise: "Kanavi has canceled his recall and is also launching an unexpected major assault on the top lane!"

"Yone is now isolated and helpless! If they can kill Yone, this wave is a huge profit—Yone is the core of CN!"

If it were the Kanavi of the past, he certainly wouldn't have chosen to gank top here.

But Kanavi had been "trained" differently.

With the Bullying Patriarch suppressing him, the unruly Kanavi’s jungle-carry style, which insisted on putting himself first, could now be "switched."

The KR representative team had later deliberately avoided the CN representative team, used different accounts, and some even had accounts filled with {Arena} match records, all to avoid exposing everything they had changed!

Sejuani had calculated the time difference of "Poppy’s recall."

But if Poppy hadn't recalled and, while already clearing the top-side jungle, headed directly to the top lane, his speed would definitely be faster than Sejuani walking to the top lane from the bottom side or from home!

Kanavi was also playing the time-difference game!

His logic was also simple: the bottom lane was hard to gank, and the first dragon wasn't necessarily a must-contest.

But if he could kill the top laner, it would still fulfill the tactical significance of breaking through one lane, and he could also gain the initiative in the eight-minute Rift Herald team fight; once he secured the Rift Herald, he could naturally break the deadlock!

And most importantly, it was everyone’s consensus... that ID in the top lane was the core of the CN team!

By the time Sejuani made a move in the bottom lane, Poppy had already stepped out from behind.

Because Jayce had received kill gold, he was not suppressed but rather more aggressive; after the two traded health, neither was in a healthy state.

"Master Ye, behind you! I can TP!" Saint-Gun-Ge caught a glimpse of the top-lane movement and immediately wanted to retreat to support.

"Don't TP yet!"

Ye Bo saw Galio’s position clearly and hurriedly called for a stop.

Although it was nearing five minutes and the solo lanes hadn't reached level six, Saint-Gun-Ge had already been successful in the mid-lane matchup this game—relying on the absurd performance of his champion, he had even counter-suppressed Galio, making it hard for Galio to take the initiative.

Although the KR team hadn't expected Galio to be able to move anyway.

But for K'Sante, in a situation where support capability was already limited, holding onto TP was extremely important!

If TP were used like this.

In the next wave, Galio would have an ultimate + a TP lead and could completely go to the bottom lane to force a 4-man dive on 2, or force a 3-man dive on 1 in the top lane.

At that time, the CN representative team would have no ability to fight back!

In other words, even if K'Sante’s TP forced the opponent to retreat, Poppy’s gank would already be considered a success, at most just a "delayed delivery"!

And Ye Bo immediately pressed the Tab key to see Poppy’s item bar, confirming he hadn't recalled.

If Poppy had been at full combat power with updated items, combined with Jayce’s burst, there would be a possibility of being killed by raw damage even without a wall-stun—but now, perhaps he still had a chance to outplay.

Seeing K'Sante retreat and then step forward, the KR group realized the opponent didn't intend to TP, and their killing intent completely broke through.

"I'll tank first, I need to go home anyway!" Kanavi spoke up proactively: "Once I get close, if I wall-stun him, we can burst him!"

"Watch out for crowd control negation, don't get counter-killed." Zeus didn't forget to remind him.

Kanavi was experienced and naturally knew that Yone had numerous "crowd control negation" abilities.

But whether it was the negation from Q or E, it required reaction time.

Therefore, as long as Poppy walked into the tower first, stood face-to-face with Yone to E, or waited for the opponent to proactively use either of his dashes to open W and block the {Grounding}, he could prevent him from performing crowd control negation!

Yet Ye Bo’s actions revealed an abnormal strangeness.

It was seen that Yone had actually used his E skill first while Poppy hadn't even gotten close!

It looked like he was simply seeking his own death!

His movement was also very clear; knowing Jayce had no Flash and Poppy must be the main tower-tank, he rushed directly toward Poppy, putting on a stance to trade lives.

"Don't rush, don't rush! Don't make a move yet!"

Kanavi wanted to ignore Yone and walk into the tower to camp the body.

But the spirit form could last for a full five seconds.

Yone’s Lethal Tempo with AQAAQ was already fully stacked; it was fortunate that he also had quite a bit of unspent gold, and combined with the fact that Poppy had come over at nearly full health, he could still hold on for now.

Seeing the spirit form time was about to end, Yone had also gathered his wind-Q and came face-to-face.

Kanavi, with great detail, activated W [Steadfast Presence] in advance to prevent being unable to react to the face-to-face Q, his mouse cursor already locked onto the position of the spirit form.

Yet, it was at the very moment Ye Bo saw the opponent activate W.

Yone sheathed his blade and returned to his original body, his figure passing through the golden ring as an illusory, unstoppable shadow, making the ring seem to dim slightly. At the same time, Poppy had already begun tanking the turret!

However, Kanavi, who had been poised and ready for a long time, had already charged forward!

Yet Poppy could not use E early; otherwise, once she collided with the {Unstoppable} effect during the entire return journey of [Soul Unbound], it would immediately fail, so she could only rely on the naked eye to time the wake-up—and the whirlwind of Fate Sealed, relying on "pre-input," would inevitably be able to strike first.

This was also what Kanavi had anticipated, which is why he activated W in advance.

According to his expectations, Yone’s Q would be interrupted by Steadfast Presence just as it started; not only would he take an extra instance of W damage and be grounded, unable to use Flash, but he would also still be forcibly slammed into the wall!

But when Poppy and Yone collided physically.

Yone, riding the wind, charged forward as if nothing were there, brushing past Poppy and instead knocking Poppy airborne!

And Yone himself was not only not slammed into the wall.

He didn't even have the grounded effect on him!

It was as if he had activated "Chain Unstoppable"!

"What happened!?"

"Poppy’s wall slam seems to have been negated by Yone! No crowd control was applied!!"

"How did this dive fail!"

Kanavi’s heart was severely shaken, and he could only hurriedly Flash out of the turret range in a sorry state.

Zeus, stealing two shots of damage from the side, had a moment of equal confusion on his face, but quickly figured out the key.

"Did he use E to break your W?"

Although Zeus didn't know Poppy very well, he could infer it from the screen.

Yone’s E2 maintains the {Unstoppable} effect throughout the entire return journey.

And although it isn't written in the text of Poppy’s W skill, in fact, it can only block the "same person" once.

————It isn't written because Poppy’s W aura can only last for 2 seconds, and the grounded effect also lasts for 2 seconds; under normal circumstances, there would never be a situation where someone breaks the grounding and then triggers it a second time.

Yone used the E2 return displacement to break it, but because he was unstoppable, he also immunized the crowd control!

As for Poppy, because Yone triggered the W early to tank the turret, she took three full turret shots and her health was already critically low!

But Kanavi, looking at the plating pushed down in the bottom lane and the dragon the opponent was about to take, felt incomparably anxious.

He had changed; he could sacrifice a little.

But he really didn't want to accept such a pure loss!

"Can we still dive?" Kanavi asked, unwilling to give up, though he was actually hoping the other would persuade him otherwise.

Unexpectedly, Zeus began to think seriously.

"Jin Hekui, how many seconds left on your E?"

"Seven or eight seconds."

"Then! We can still dive! Yone’s E still has at least sixteen seconds left!"

"I’ll tank this wave!"

Of course, Zeus didn't want to let this opportunity go just like that.

Knowing Yone incomparably well, he realized that Yone’s E skill has a full 22-second cooldown at level one, while Poppy’s E only has a 14-second cooldown.

The two had a sufficient time difference!

The commentary desk also noticed that the KR top and jungle were about to make a return strike.

"They seem to be making a move again!?" The Roaring Emperor, who had just been thinking about how to explain for the players, suddenly raised his tone: "There is still no intention of TP support from the mid lane!"

"As long as they can kill Yone, even a one-for-one trade with the jungler is actually very profitable!"

"Yone has no TP, and the opposing jungler is clearly marked on the map; Jayce can happily eat the plating and minion experience, which is enough to help Zeus establish a huge solo lane advantage!"

"Jayce is starting by tanking the turret directly; there’s no way Poppy’s wall slam can be blocked by something again, right!?"

"It’s! A Flash-through!"

A somewhat familiar scene appeared.

The Flash-through that Zeus had used a few minutes ago was performed again.

It was even the much more difficult "Flash-through Poppy E"!

The scene looked almost like the two people had swapped positions!

Poppy’s E skill is actually divided into two parts; the first half will forcibly lock onto the target, and only by flashing during the second half of the E can one escape the lock—if one is even half a second slow, they will end up flashing out only to be pushed back in!

Sejuani’s Q charge speed is very slow; Zeus’s play was difficult because of the reaction in complete blind vision.

And Ye Bo’s use this time was difficult because of the extreme control over the timing!

Poppy failed to land the wall slam; not only did she lose the two parts of the E skill, but more importantly, the two parts of the Q skill could not land stably either!

"Trade with him, Jin Hekui!"

Zeus used his hammer form QWE followed by a triple lightning hammer to deal full damage, then immediately transformed and accelerated to retreat.

This was, of course, not selling out a teammate, but exiting the turret first to avoid being traded back.

Poppy was stabbed to death by Yone’s sword, but Ye Bo did not use the whirlwind in his hand to dodge, and thus was hit by Poppy’s full Q, his health already critically low.

Yone and Jayce — the eyes of the two seemed to gaze at each other from afar.