Chapter 62

No rage built up? No coordination?

That’s exactly what they wanted—after all, it’s the Desert Butcher who has the rage, the little crocodile who has moderate rage, and with red rage stacked on his body, Kai Nan would instinctively be a bit more cautious.

“Besides, we never said we were going to kill him outright.”

Shi Zhenyu stepped out from the river, instantly moved in with a ward to approach Kai Nan in the minion line, slammed his Muscle-Shattering Bone-Breaking skill onto the ground, dealing damage while quickly applying a second slow.

“Hehehe—everyone’s gonna die!”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Song Yuan, still level two, instantly learned his E skill, slammed both segments of Charge—Crash in quick succession; just as the second segment of E grazed Kai Nan’s robe and the great axe swung in, the red rage dropped by half.

Splash!

【Tyrant’s Smash】

As a skill with a high 1.0 AD ratio, the Desert Butcher now radiates a beauty called numerical value.

Kai Nan’s health bar plummeted, his body sprayed with streaks of blood.

“Holy shit, I’m gonna die!”

BLQG’s top laner, who had just been smug about his diamond-rank ability to outplay a master-tier opponent and slowly grind down the crocodile, was now terrified.

Fortunately, facing the combined focus of NXG’s top and jungle, he didn’t lose his wits entirely—he kept using E to pull back while staring intently at the Blind Monk’s movements.

“Here it comes—I see it! Heavenly Sound Wave!”

Kai Nan felt his reaction speed had reached its peak in life.

“Hah!”

Boom!

Two white flashes lit up—due to the extreme length of the top lane, Kai Nan’s E speed boost couldn’t get him to the tower in time; BladeCrusher had no choice but to use Flash to survive.

“OK, Flash used, his health significantly lowered—now it’s up to you.”

Seeing the opponent decisively use Flash, Shi Zhenyu immediately turned and walked away without hesitation.

Song Yuan gave a thumbs-up from the channel: “Just watch my performance.”

On the broadcast booth, WaWa and Joker were puzzled by the Blind Monk’s aggressive gank.

“Seems unnecessary—the Blind Monk forced out Kai Nan’s Flash, but didn’t secure a kill; instead, because he was clearing waves, the crocodile, already low on health from earlier pressure, is now even worse off.”

“True—BLQG’s Kai Nan can still slowly regain health using Doran’s Blade and his ranged auto-attacks…”

“Too impulsive—the Blind Monk exposed himself in the upper half of the map; now the ADC without double summoner spells no longer fears the jungler and can freely pressure NXG’s bottom lane duo…”

NXG-norsha killed BLQG-BladeCrusher!

Yet, just as the two were confidently offering their analysis, the system’s female voice suddenly announced the kill.

Their next words got stuck in their throats.

“Huh?”

“How the hell did he suddenly get a solo kill?!”

The sudden top lane kill, paired with the commentators’ shock, flooded the live stream chat with messages.

【Pfft, killed me—revenge came faster than a tornado.】

【One second: NXG’s top and jungle were impulsive, ganking top was pointless.】

【Next second: kill exploded!】

【Desert Butcher: Hey, what level are you on to question our strategy?】

【Replay, is there a replay? I want to know how the top lane solo kill happened—Kai Nan was under the tower!】

【Same here—I’m a crocodile main, I need to know how NXG’s pro pulled this off.】

“Ahem, alright, let’s watch the top lane kill replay together.”

WaWa and Joker stood awkwardly for several seconds until the producer’s voice in their earpiece reminded them they could pull up the replay—saving them.

On the big screen, the logo of the inaugural LPL league flashed as a transition animation.

The camera locked back onto the top lane.

The next moment, a half-health Kai Nan stood slightly outside the tower, doing exactly what viewers had seen before—auto-attacking minions to regain health.

The Blind Monk’s decisive retreat gave Kai Nan great psychological comfort.

They must’ve given up…

Yet NXG’s top laner, who had earlier seemed clueless about playing the crocodile, was now aggressively last-hitting minions, giving the impression he wanted to clear the wave fast and return to base to upgrade.

At this moment, the OB feed’s time jumped forward—3:09!

The crocodile last-hit the final ranged minion, and a level-up glow suddenly appeared on his body.

Level three!

Boom!

The familiar white flash appeared again.

The Desert Butcher, carrying two-thirds of his rage, suddenly appeared under the tower, accompanied by the disappearance of his Toughness Potion from his inventory.

Whoosh!

The hero’s health bar surged upward—not just that, but under the potion’s effect, the Bloodthirsty Beast also gained increased attack power.

Auto-attack.

Swish!

In red rage state, 【Cold-Blooded Hunt】 fired three times in rapid succession—Kai Nan’s health plummeted, and he entered a 1.5-second stun.

Ignite applied, EA combo added extra damage; with the seamless link between auto-attacks and skills, another fifty rage points were finally accumulated.

“White meat, black meat—all good meat.”

The Desert Butcher spun his great axe in place, finished his damage, ignored the barely alive electric mouse behind him, and used the second segment of E to gracefully exit the tower.

Finally, white true damage continuously flashed above the hero’s head, draining Kai Nan’s last sliver of health.

【666!】

【Holy shit, that top laner’s finger speed is insane.】

【Flash, potion, red rage, W—all those actions were executed in an instant.】

【Is the crocodile this strong? Half-health Kai Nan with Ignite got one-shot!】

【NXG’s top laner is so detailed—he didn’t wait to max out rage, he struck at just over two-thirds, used W, then relied on auto-attacks and E to barely scrape together enough rage for the red rage Q damage.】

【So the jungler’s earlier gank on top, making the crocodile look pressured, was all planned? Otherwise, with full-health Kai Nan and his range, the crocodile would’ve been crushed unless he was insanely skilled.】

Yes, Shi Tou and Song Yuan had discussed their coordination in advance.

In Jiang Ming’s philosophy for the players, one rule was clear—helping your teammate gain advantage doesn’t always mean getting a kill.

Pressuring health, forcing summoner spells—these can also yield excellent results.

Just like the Blind Monk’s seemingly reckless gank, it laid the absolute foundation for the crocodile’s dominance afterward.

Kai Nan lost Flash and was killed under tower again—falling behind in both level and gold. In S3, top laners rarely took Teleport, so his situation was even worse than the ADC on bottom.

The Desert Butcher and Blind Monk combo might not be as effortless as Desert Spider under tower, but it was only slightly less effective.

From now on, if BLQG’s Prince so much as glanced away from top, Kai Nan would die peacefully—without a single moment of pain.

With top lane advantage secured, the Blind Monk’s mobility expanded dramatically; Shi Zhenyu cleared his own upper jungle, upgraded his gear, then moved toward the Prince’s jungle.

Gank the ADC?

No—easier to mess with the jungler.