Chapter 4 The Calm Fourth Week

The fourth week passed relatively peacefully. After Deng Fusheng's retirement sparked some transfer rumors, Team Tiny Herb remained quiet. Of course, this was only how it appeared to outsiders; what kind of communication took place in private was unknown. The previous waves of transfers had all occurred without any prior leaks, catching the media off guard every time.

This time, however, there were some early signs. Immediately, all the great Paladin players were closely watched, and any slight movement was reported. This forced many players from various teams to repeatedly deny the rumors. This was the downside of leaking information beforehand: multiple parties interfered, and unforeseen events could ruin the deal.

"Who do you think Tiny Herb will get to replace Deng Fusheng?"

The regulars at Happy Internet Cafe were, of course, paying attention to these rumors. Wei Chen, who was playing the game while browsing various sources of gossip, casually asked Ye Xiu's opinion.

"Xu Bin!" Ye Xiu replied without hesitation. "He's also a very grounded and patient player, much like Deng Fusheng, so he should easily adapt to Deng Fusheng's position on Tiny Herb. Signing him would be perfect for Tiny Herb."

"Since even you can see it, this transfer won't be easy," Wei Chen said with a hint of sarcasm.

"A successor like that is always the hardest to find. So many people are watching, wouldn't they take the opportunity to take advantage?" Ye Xiu said.

As if to prove that Ye Xiu was never wrong, the transfer rumors that had been circulating finally materialized that weekend. Team 301's Paladin player, Xu Bin, announced that he was joining Team Tiny Herb. However, this transfer was an exchange. To get Xu Bin, Team Tiny Herb gave up one of their own all-star players: Li Yihui, the operator of the Grappler character, Zhandong Luanfei.

Tiny Herb and Blue Rain were the only two teams in the league in the past two years to have three all-star players. But all that was disrupted this summer.

Blue Rain lost Yu Feng, Tiny Herb had Deng Fusheng retire, and now they released Li Yihui. Although the newcomer Xu Bin was likely to become a new Paladin all-star after integrating into Tiny Herb in the new season, Tiny Herb's all-star players decreased from three to two.

During the summer transfer window, when all the major teams were seeking to strengthen their ranks and find breakthroughs, the two giants initially made no moves. But when they did, it was to weaken their own strength. No one believed that these two giants would passively accept this. They were likely to make strong moves in the upcoming transfer market. Immediately, the gossip strategists were on the move, creating future plans for both teams, ignoring the needs of other teams and focusing solely on their own teams' needs. Numerous transfer plans were circulated, with each team freely picking and choosing players as if they were the only ones that mattered.

However, the first formal transfer offer that appeared in the fifth week surprised everyone again. The team making the acquisition wasn't Blue Rain or Tiny Herb, but last season's champion, Team Samsara.

Champion teams usually don't make big changes, only seeking to strengthen their roster. Samsara's acquisition plan was aimed at strengthening their team. They offered 8 million for the Grappler character, Zhandong Luanfei, which was temporarily unused by Tiny Herb after they traded Li Yihui for Xu Bin.

Tiny Herb hadn't found their planned reinforcement yet, but someone else was already reaching into their pot. How could Tiny Herb's fans tolerate this? They immediately started cursing at the other team. But this was a legitimate acquisition request, and there was nothing wrong with it. In the end, Tiny Herb's fans could only look down on Team Samsara as nouveau riche and delusional.

While the fans of both sides were exchanging insults, the two teams were also engaging in related negotiations. In the end, Samsara successfully acquired Zhandong Luanfei for 9.5 million.

Tiny Herb's fans were speechless in surprise, which naturally drew laughter from Samsara's fans. But there was nothing they could do. It wasn't unusual for fans to misunderstand the club's intentions and make mistakes that were later disproven. After all, the club couldn't reveal its plans to the fans. Even if they wanted to sell Zhandong Luanfei from the start, they couldn't announce it publicly. Otherwise, how could they have negotiated the initial offer of 8 million up to 9.5 million? If people knew that they intended to sell the character, Team Samsara probably wouldn't have even offered 8 million in the first place.

Zhandong Luanfei was an all-star level Grappler character, and Samsara's Grappler player, Lu Boyuan, had performed exceptionally well in last season's playoffs. The addition of this all-star character was a perfect reinforcement.

As for Tiny Herb's intentions in completely dismantling the original all-star combination of Li Yihui and Zhandong Luanfei, no one could figure it out for the time being. What Tiny Herb would do next, like what Blue Rain was planning, became a question that players and fans were looking forward to.

The fifth week passed halfway, and July ended, ushering in the hotter month of August.

Happy Internet Cafe was doing good business during this time. The group was also doing well in their Boss raids in the Heavenly Domain. They also enjoyed reading various transfer rumors and living with their idol every day. Chen Guo was having a great time. She was about to enter August without realizing it and continued her daily routine. However, when she woke up this day, she found that she was the latest to arrive. Everyone in the training room looked serious.

"What news is it this time?" Chen Guo's first reaction was to rush to the computer to check.

"Boss, it's time to register," Ye Xiu said.

"Register?" Chen Guo was puzzled.

"For the Challenger League!" Ye Xiu said.

"Oh!" Chen Guo suddenly realized. The registration for the new season of the Challenger League began in August. During this month, any team with at least six members was eligible to register for the Challenger League organized by the Glory Professional Alliance. The winner of this season's Challenger League would receive the support of the Alliance and become a formal professional team with registration qualifications.

After eight months of hard work, this day had finally arrived. She had actually forgotten about it. Chen Guo secretly felt ashamed.

"So, we're just registering like this?" Chen Guo asked, looking at the people in the room. "Just the people here now?"

"And Little Hand and Ice Cold, oh no, Little Cold Hands and Mo Guang," Baozi reminded the boss.

Chen Guo thought for a moment and finally nodded, not explaining to Baozi the difference between "the people here now" and "the people in front of us." But after nodding, she asked another question: "What about Deception?"

"That guy still needs to be taught a lesson!" Ye Xiu sighed.

"Whenever you teach him a lesson, do you tell him who you are?" Chen Guo asked.

"Sometimes I do," Ye Xiu said.

"Sometimes..." Chen Guo was in tears. So Deception had often died without even knowing why!

"But after repeating it so many times, anyone with a brain should understand that I'm the one behind it all," Ye Xiu said.

"What are you trying to tell him by killing him so many times?" Chen Guo asked.

"Being a scavenger is a dead end. Come play in the professional league!" Ye Xiu waved his hand.

"What kind of logic is that?" Chen Guo rubbed her forehead.

"When he realizes that he can't do this thing he's so interested in, he should try to consider my suggestion, right?" Ye Xiu said.

"You're not sure either, are you?" Chen Guo said.

"Yeah, I'm not very familiar with him," Ye Xiu said.

"..."

"Now it looks like this kid can really hold on!" Ye Xiu sighed, looking at his computer screen.

Then Tang Rou poked her head out and said, "According to Little An's recent statistics, that guy is showing up less and less."

"Could it be that he's been killed too much and become discouraged, wanting to delete his account?" Ye Xiu said.

"You've ruined a good seed," Chen Guo said with grief.

"It's also possible that he's figured out your patterns and is avoiding you like you guys avoid Zhang Xinjie, adjusting his schedule to avoid you," Wei Chen said.

"Us, you've killed him a lot too." Ye Xiu first corrected Wei Chen's statement, then nodded, "That's very possible. It seems we need to find someone to help!"

"Who are you going to ask for help?" Chen Guo asked.

Then Ye Xiu opened QQ, clicked on the professional players' group, sent a large trumpet emoji, and shouted, "Zhang Xinjie, Zhang Xinjie, Old Lin, Old Lin, answer if you hear me."

A group of professional players stared in amazement. Zhang Xinjie and Lin Jingyan wiped their sweat and popped up.

Chen Guo was excited watching from the side! Seeing all those famous names queuing up with question marks and sweating emojis like ordinary people was especially amusing.

"Private chat," Ye Xiu said.

"Gossip, there's gossip!!" Someone shouted hoarsely. Chen Guo looked and saw that it was Li Xun from Team Void, a rather cold-blooded Assassin player. So he was a gossip lover?

Ye Xiu and the others ignored the gossip lover's shouting. Zhang Xinjie had already opened a private chat with Ye Xiu and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Where's Old Lin?" Ye Xiu asked.

"We're together, what's up?"

"Help me with something," Ye Xiu said.

"What is it?"

"Kill someone," Ye Xiu said.

Then he quickly added, "It's in the game, don't do anything crazy!"

Chen Guo wiped her sweat. Was it necessary? Zhang Xinjie was meticulous, but would he really take your "kill someone" as actually killing someone?

"Who?" Zhang Xinjie ignored Ye Xiu's interruption and continued to ask.

"Sometimes he's called Deception, sometimes Mo Bai, sometimes Bai Mo, he's a scavenger," Ye Xiu said.

"How did he offend you?" Zhang Xinjie asked.

"He's a scavenger, he stole my stuff, he offended me badly!" Ye Xiu said.

"Is it worth it? You've figured out his alts, and you've killed him quite a few times, right?" Zhang Xinjie said.

"I always hold grudges. You guys conspired to win the championship while I was away, you've offended me badly too. I'll destroy you when I get back!" Ye Xiu said.

"Wait until you can pass the Challenger League!" Zhang Xinjie had already closed the private chat window.

"Help me kill him!" Ye Xiu popped up again.

"If I see him," Zhang Xinjie continued to be meticulous. He would kill him if he saw him, but of course, he wouldn't go looking for him if he didn't see him.

"What's up with Ye Qiu?" Lin Jingyan asked.

"He said there's a scavenger who stole his stuff, help him kill him if you see him," Zhang Xinjie said.

"Oh, then I'll just kill him if I see him!" Lin Jingyan casually agreed. This was just a small matter for the two great Gods. What was there to refuse when someone asked you to lend a hand?