The announcement of the WEL was without a doubt an explosive news. Ever since the last WSL ended in Spirit of Grief, Eternal Moon Corporation hadn't announced any global-scale compet.i.tion for any of their flags.h.i.+p games until now. The WEL was sure to chuck a huge rock into the lake of war that was calming down recently and restart the flames of conflict!

"Is there any other news you would like to share, Rose?" I asked.

Rose said with a smile, "The devs will be posting an announcement regarding the WEL in an hour or less, so I'm just letting you know the details slightly ahead of time. The WEL will be employing an online plus offline format. The tournaments to decide the Top 4 teams to partic.i.p.ate in the international matches will be held first. The match format will be the same as it was in the WSL: BO5 of four 1v1s and one 2v2!"

"So that's why you decided to sign Lian Xin," I teased.

Rose replied in an embarra.s.sed tone, "Why are you pointing it out if you already know about it? Anyway, we know Lian Xin is a core player of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, and that she was appointed the vice leader and the leader of your ranged troops. She possesses super-tier individual strength and skills, so why would we ever let her slip through our grasp? On that note, please help us to persuade Lian Xin to join Lenovo, Lu Chen. It will be good for you anyway since that means the main roster is completely made up of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls players."

I gave it some thought before replying, "I can speak with Lian Xin, but I have one condition."

"Tell me. I'll do my best to fulfill it if I can."

"For compet.i.tions like this, players usually put a prefix in front of their IDs to show their team affiliation, right? This time though, I want to put our guild in the prefix as well. I won't persuade Lian Xin to join Lenovo if you don't accept this…"

Rose sounded surprised. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I follow you correctly, you want your registered ID to read something like, 'Lenovo.AS.Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand', right?"

"Correct. You pick up on my meaning right away!"

"Hehe. I don't think it will be a problem. If all goes well, our main roster will be completely made up of players from Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls anyway. I'll discuss this with the club's manager and come back to you," Rose replied confidently.

"Very well! I'll speak with Lian Xin about your offer then."

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome!"

……

I logged off after sending all the girls a message.

The clock showed 8 pm when the five of us sat in the living room and enjoyed a nice cup of tea. He Yi was holding her pink notebook and looking at the official Heavenblessed home page when she said, "This is no normal compet.i.tion. I foresee a ton of hidden experts popping up like whack-moles when the WEL begins."

Murong Mingyue asked, "What do you mean?"

He Yi put down her notebook and turned the screen toward us. "Here, check this out!"

……

Hanging on top of the home page was the headline: "Heavenblessed Global Champions.h.i.+p WEL is about to begin! Registration will open in three days, and the first online single elimination matches will start on New Year's Day of the lunar calendar!

A small pa.s.sage of text was written below it: "The largest main city of the nation who wins the champions.h.i.+p will obtain the t.i.tle “King of Cities”. They will enjoy the following buffs: City Defense +50%, City NPC Attack +50%, Attack and Defense of players inside the city +15%, and all fees and prices lowered by 50%. The t.i.tle will last until the next WEL champions.h.i.+p next year!

……

"Holy s.h.i.+t…"

I clenched my fists in excitement. "This is great! King of Cities, huh? Tsk tsk, if we take this for Sky City, its status in the Center will be unshakeable."

"Not that that will stop the main cities of other countries from coveting it. On the contrary, our enemies will fight harder than ever before…" He Yi pointed out the harsh truth hidden beneath the glamorous t.i.tle immediately.

But I smiled confidently and said, "What did you expect? We are in the era of war after all. The idealists and the useless should just f.u.c.k off elsewhere. Now is the time to show our fighting spirit, take the t.i.tle to strengthen Sky City's Attack and Defense, and beat every other city in the world into submission!"

Beiming Xue stared wide-eyed at me for a moment before giggling. "Oh my G.o.d, big bro looks so cool when he talks like this. I can't help but fall for him. What should I do?"

Lian Xin hugged Beiming Xue's shoulders sympathetically. "I feel the same, but there's nothing to do but endure it. He doesn't belong to us after all…"

Even He Yi and Murong Mingyue facepalmed and let out a sigh.

The corner of my mouth twitched at their antics, but I ignored them and changed the subject. "Beiming, have you completed your seventh promotion quest already? Did you get something good out of it?"

Beiming Xue nodded. "Yep, I got 5 Luck for being the first to complete it. I also got a big AoE skill called Skypiercer. It doubles my attack range and hits all enemy targets within a 20-yard radius. It's perfect for large-scale battles!"

I asked excitedly, "Ohh! How does it work exactly?"

However, Beiming Xue couldn't think of an answer. "Er…"

Luckily, Lian Xin came to her rescue. She made a fist, lifted it into the air, and opened it abruptly. "Like this. It explodes into a hail of arrows in midair before falling toward the ground. It's an absolute menace especially with Beiming Xue's Attack. I can already see her skewering her enemies with so many arrows that their mothers won't recognize them…"

My lips curled into a smile. "Sounds great…"

At the same time, I recalled my conversation with Rose earlier and asked her, "Lian Xin, Rose of the Lenovo club contacted you already, right? They're offering you 11 million RMB per year, which is a h.e.l.l of a salary even when compared to the best paid players in town. You should just accept it."

"Mn!" Lian Xin nodded strongly. "I trust you! Heehee, I don't even know how to spend so much money. I guess I can start by buying some new clothes for my mom…"

Me: "..."

He Yi called Rose, and Rose promised that she would bring over the relevant doc.u.ments tomorrow morning herself. Clearly, Lenovo saw great value in Lian Xin, or they wouldn't be in such a hurry to sign her. After all, there would always be more teams than super mages who were available.

……

I spent the night grinding my level. I was now Level 178, and I wanted to hit Level 180 and complete my seventh promotion quest to strengthen myself even more before the WEL began. I might have G.o.dlike equipment like the Purple Ying Sword and the Dragon G.o.d s.h.i.+eld, but that was no reason to underestimate the enemy. China was full of talented people, and not every expert liked to challenge the arena. It was entirely possible to be caught by surprise and lose if I was careless.

It was a peaceful night all in all. I went to bed early.

……

The next morning, I heard Beiming Xue cheering from the living room while I was still asleep. "It's snowing, it's snowing! It's snowing on the 24th!"

I checked the calendar for a bit. There were only 6 days left before New Year's Eve, and according to our cultural tradition, today was the day we offer sacrifices to the Zaoshen and send him to the heavens in return for good luck and smooth journeys in all things. When I was younger, my mother would cook a lot of delicious food on this day...

I nearly teared up when I thought about this. It was only after she pa.s.sed away did I recall the reluctant look in her eyes every time she left a younger me to perform her responsibilities, and truly understand how precious that love was. It was a love that I would never be able to feel again.

I rubbed my eyes and ignored the tingly feeling in my nose. I pulled open the curtains and stared at the heavy snow falling down on the city. It felt like each snow of the year was even greater than the last.

……

As promised, Rose arrived in the morning with a Lenovo executive in tow. After the signing was complete, we went to a nearby restaurant and celebrated it around noon.

After lunch, I logged back into the game and grinded until I was Level 179. Now, I was only one step away from hitting Level 180.

Right before I was about to log out for dinner, He Yi sent me a message: "Lu Chen, it's the 24th today. You should give your father a call."

"Yeah. I'll do that right away!"

It was almost dark outside when I called his number. After staring at the snow outside the window for almost ten seconds, the call finally connected.

"Lu Chen!"

"Dad." When I heard the sound of car horns from the other side of the call, I couldn't help but ask him, "Are you outside?"

He replied in a relaxed tone, "Yes. It's the 24th today, so your third uncle and I decided to visit Suzhou for a bit. He has never seen the city before, so I thought that I might as well show him around, you see."

"What? But you've never visited Suzhou yourself, dad! Where are you right now? I'm coming over to fetch you two!" I was worried. It was snowing really hard outside, and both my father and my third uncle were in their fifties. They couldn't possibly stand this weather for long.

He said, "We just got off a bus, and I don't really know where we are right now. Hmm… I think I see a supermarket called Tai Hua Shang Cheng…"

"Got it. It's snowing really hard, so just stay at Tai Hua Shang Cheng while I come to get you, okay? I'll be there in 20 minutes!"

"Mn."

……

I hung up. He Yi had come to me in the middle of the call, so she heard everything. She shot me a small smile and said, "I'll come with you!"

"Mn."

We rushed down stairs and started the X12's engine. Then, we rushed out into the snow.

Tai Hua wasn't really far away, so we reached there in less than 20 minutes. The problem was that visibility was poor, and we could barely see anyone who was more than three meters away.

He Yi said, "You go look for uncle first. I'll come look for you after I find a parking spot!"

"Mn, okay!"

I got out and instinctively pulled the collar of my down jacket closer. It was way too cold right now. I wondered how my father and third uncle were faring.

I searched around the entrance for several minutes but couldn't find them. So, I walked along the display windows and hoped that they were somewhere along the path. Some of the display windows were showcasing brand products such as LV and Gucci, some were new high-end VR equipment.

The wind was cold and chilly. It felt like knives cutting into my skin.

Finally, I found two old men standing in front of a display window and staring blankly at a certain item for some reason. It was the latest helmet developed by Eternal Moon Corporation, and it was said that it had a feature that could reduce stress and fatigue. It was priced at 170k RMB. Besides that, a couple of projection keyboards and original CDs were on display as well.

Father was staring at a promotional poster for Starcraft 4. His eyebrows were white from acc.u.mulating snowflakes, and his shoulders were covered in a thick layer of snow. His leg was bad, so he had to walk with a limp while third uncle supported him.

"How much longer are we going to stare at this thing?" third uncle asked.

Father rubbed his eyes clean and said, "Lu Chen loved games since he was young, but I always chastised him for it. Now, I realize that I was being too hard on him."

He checked his pockets before continuing, "How much money did you carry, third? I have five thousand with me right now, so I just need another three thousand. I want to buy that PC, the best one for my son. I know you earned around four thousand selling cotton during the autumn, and you carried watermelons into the city on your tricycle every day. Lend me some of it, will you?"

Third uncle grumbled as he checked his pockets, "As if I would bring that much money while travelling this far out. You dote on your son too much, you know that? How much furniture do you have to build or repair to earn so much money?"

He smiled. "He's my son."

……

"Dad…"

I called out quietly to him. Tears slid down my cheeks as I looked at his cold-bitten face and white hair.