Even so, upon hearing the news that Robert Reed was coming down, he still sneakily slipped into the bushes. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before he saw Robert Reed slowly making his way over.

“Didn’t even buy boots?” Samuel Carter opened the panel to check both sides’ equipment. Robert Reed, who had secured first blood, had decent gold, but after upgrading his jungle knife to level 2, he didn’t prioritize buying the universally acknowledged best-value mobility item, instead going straight for an attack item.

No pressure at all.

Samuel Carter thought to himself. To lure his opponent, he deliberately left one jungle monster alive, just waiting for Robert Reed to approach. Unexpectedly, at that moment, Robert Reed suddenly raised his hand and tossed a second skill, “Warning Mine,” into the bush where Thomas Grant was hiding.

“Warning Mine” deals physical damage and applies a slow and armor reduction to the target, while also granting Robert Reed a shield that absorbs damage. Throwing it directly at Thomas Grant’s feet would of course trigger it immediately. Thomas Grant, hidden in the bush, was instantly revealed.

Isn’t he supposed to be a newbie?

Samuel Carter was quite surprised. This kind of bush-checking awareness isn’t something a newbie should have, and even some veteran players often overlook it.

But even so, the level 4 Thomas Grant wasn’t afraid of Robert Reed at all. He immediately threw out his first skill, “Heaven and Earth Reversal,” aiming it at Robert Reed.

This is a non-targeted skill that requires manual aiming with the compass. The summoned Howling Celestial Dog, after biting the target, deals damage and applies a mark. At this point, Thomas Grant can cast the skill again to dash directly at the target. If he manages to kill the target instantly, the skill’s cooldown is immediately refreshed.

Samuel Carter was planning to use the skill’s second activation to quickly close in on Robert Reed. However, Robert Reed hurriedly used a flash to escape Thomas Grant’s vision. But to Samuel Carter, this was just a dying struggle. Flash? Who can’t do that? Thomas Grant immediately flashed after him, and the second part of “Heaven and Earth Reversal” was cast in a flash, with Thomas Grant charging at Robert Reed like a bolt of lightning.

This sudden dash instantly revealed new vision for Thomas Grant, and Samuel Carter’s heart sank. John Scott, who had been hiding in his vision’s blind spot, suddenly appeared, having also used a flash to position himself directly behind him.

Unstoppable!

It was this very skill that had previously knocked Grace Harris into the wall, stunning her, and now it sent Thomas Grant, who had fought his way to Robert Reed’s side, flying under the first turret on the Lang7 side. Immediately after, John Scott unleashed his first skill, “Blazing March,” landing three consecutive basic attacks on Thomas Grant, with the third hit knocking him up for 0.75 seconds. Although Samuel Carter had Thomas Grant activate his ultimate, “Eye of Origin,” for healing, the turret’s attacks kept raining down harder and harder, and Robert Reed followed up to add more damage, tossing another “Warning Mine” right onto Thomas Grant’s escape path. Thomas Grant struggled desperately to escape the turret, but was still caught by the last shot fired by the turret, falling just outside its range.

Chapter 6: The Battle of Changping (Part 2)

Staring at Thomas Grant’s corpse lying by the turret, Samuel Carter was stunned for quite a while. The team had been pretty relaxed about this match. Ethan Harris and Emily Carter were strong, but with a third teammate who didn’t know how to play, what could a 2v3 really accomplish? Earlier, David Bolton’s Grace Harris had given up first blood to Robert Reed. Rather than worrying about losing tempo, they found it funny: getting first blooded by a noob—something to laugh about for a whole semester.

But now, Samuel Carter realized he’d suffered the exact same fate as David Bolton: trying to target Robert Reed, only to fall into an ambush and give up a kill.

“This Robert Reed isn’t a noob, is he? He even knows how to check bushes!” Samuel Carter, waiting to respawn, couldn’t help but say.

“Ethan Harris probably just gave him a heads-up about that,” David Bolton replied.

Samuel Carter glanced over at the three in the distance, and sure enough, they were huddled together, chatting frequently.

“Nice job!” Ethan Harris was lavishly praising Adam Bennett’s performance.

“Thanks.” Adam Bennett was pretty excited too. Although the last two ambushes had resulted in Robert Reed getting the kills, the real standout was actually John Scott. It was John Scott’s precise crowd control that left the opponents with no chance to fight back. But for Adam Bennett, this was the gaming experience he’d longed for. He didn’t care what role he played—even as bait, as long as he helped the team gain an advantage, he felt satisfied and thrilled. The team’s ultimate victory was what mattered most.

Among the onlookers, Brian Bennett, who had arrived before the match started, saw the excitement and satisfaction on Adam Bennett’s face and felt nothing but bittersweet emotion.

He recalled that every season of his professional career, he would receive a dossier of carefully compiled intel from Adam Bennett. He’d always thought it was just his little brother caring for him, and was sincerely grateful, but he’d never realized that his brother was just as passionate about Honor of Kings as he was. And now, that passion was written all over Adam Bennett’s face—a look he’d never seen before, making him shine with a whole new light.