Chapter 272 – Post-Match Interview

In accordance with the usual practice of competitive gaming, the players on both sides had to shake hands to show their friendship. However, the number of people in the national team was too high and 44 people couldn’t be squeezed into one soundproof room. Li Cangyu had to call Ling Xuefeng, Su Guangmo, Tan Shitian and Lou Wushuang to go to the Australian team and shake hands.

Captain William of the Australian team felt a bit complicated. From the people who came over to shake hands, Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng hadn’t played today. The Chinese team really did seem like a crouching tiger, hidden dragon. They had as many masters as clouds!

William couldn’t help looking at Tan Shitian a bit more while shaking hands. The smiling young man in front of him was very handsome and seemed easy to get along with. Yet on the field, this person was a terrible mobile fort. The kite flow tactics he came up with also opened William’s eyes.

“I’ll remember you,” William spoke in English.

“I will as well.” Tan Shitian replied in fluent English. “Your bard played well. I hope we have a chance to communicate again.”

William thought that this person would’ve ridiculed him with a few words. He didn’t expect Tan Shitian to be so graceful. His heart wasn’t convinced but William’s impression of Tan Shitian was quite good. He asked in a confused manner, “Why isn’t your name in the world’s bard rankings?”

Tan Shitian smiled and replied calmly, “I forgot to sign up.”

William, “…”

William had worked hard to squeeze into the world rankings so now he wanted to cough up blood. Forgot to sign up? Was this okay? Then did the captain of the Chinese team, the elf summoner, and the excellent healer who played just now also forget to register? Couldn’t the players of their country be more reliable?

William looked at the backs of the commanders who were leaving and felt a sense of frustration.

It seemed that the world rankings had no value to the Chinese team. Today’s bard Tenday and the healer White Fox were players who couldn’t be seen on the leaderboard at all. However, their performance was surprising.

Still, William was very clear about the strength of the Australian team. He hadn’t held too much hope and there was nothing unacceptable about losing three games to the Chinese team.

He thought in a gloating manner, ‘Of the four teams in group B, the Chinese team will definitely be the most difficult boss to deal with. Spain and Italy, wait to be abused!’

***

After the match, the Chinese team packed up their equipment and headed backstage. There would be an interview and the national team had a huge lineup. It was impossible for 22 people to attend. Li Cangyu only took the vice-captain Ling Xuefeng, Su Guangmo and Tan Shitian to the interview with media reporters, while the remaining players temporarily waited backstage.

There was a thrilled voice outside the corridor. “Great, three wins!”

It was the little madman of the Canglan team, Gu Siming. Li Xiaojiang and Zhang Jueming were also close behind.

The three of them had sat in the VIP stands and witness the wonderful performance of the Chinese team. Xiao Gu couldn’t help feeling excited. Once the match ended, Old Zhang and Xiaojiang ran backstage to congratulate everyone.

“Congratulations to everyone for winning. 15 points are really handsome!” Xiao Gu ran over and exclaimed excitedly.

Bai Xuan smiled and greeted him. “Did you come to watch?”

“Of course!” Zhang Jueming replied with a smile, “There are two matches in Group B today. I took notes on the match between Italy and Spain.” He looked around at the players and found that many of them looked tired. He spoke lightly, “Will you go back first to rest?”

Bai Xuan told him, “The intensity of the game is too great. Many people are tired so we will go back to rest once the interview is over.”

Zhang Jueming nodded at the clarification. “That’s right, everyone should take a break and relax.”

There were so many great gods here that Li Xiaojiang didn’t dare to speak. He just stood there quietly. Zhuo Hang smiled and placed an arm around his shoulder, whispering to him, “How does it feel watching the game from below the stage?”

Li Xiaojiang stuttered, “It, it, it is very exciting.”

Zhuo Hang asked seriously, “Do you think I was handsome?”

“Very, very, very handsome.”

Zhuo Hang heard this familiar stuttering and couldn’t help smiling slightly. He reached out and gently patted Li Xiaojiang’s head. He felt some regret that Li Xiaojiang couldn’t go to the World Competition with him but it was still worthwhile to have Xiaojiang watch him win.

“In a foreign country, you should stay with Uncle Zhang. Don’t run around.” Zhuo Hang patiently said.

“Yes, I know.” They were the same age but Zhuo Hang always took the attitude of a brother, which made Li Xiaojiang felt a bit awkward. He looked up at Zhuo Hang and saw the concerned eyes. Li Xiaojiang’s heart slightly warmed and he pulled Zhuo Hang’s hand. “Zhuo Hang, continue to refuel. I will cheer for you from the audience.”

“Naturally.” Zhuo Hang smiled with firm eyes. “I won’t disgrace our Canglan team!”

Li Xiaojiang nodded happily. “Yes!”

As a person who grew up in a remote mountain village, he was already very content at becoming an e-sports player, winning the championship, following the team abroad and being able to watch the wonderful performance of his teammates in the World Competition.

***

In the interview room next door, the tactical commanders received a bombardment of camera flashes. The reporters gave everyone warm applause. Then someone stood up and asked, “Cat God, I think many people have a question. Why did you and Captain Ling sit on the side and act as soy sauce?”

Li Cangyu replied honestly, “It is because I didn’t think it was necessary for us to play.”

“Does this mean the Australian team wasn’t strong enough for you to act?”

Li Cangyu glanced at Ling Xuefeng and the latter replied lightly, “It is due to the tactical arrangements. The economic war used the kite flow method and Captain Su had command of death racing. It is enough for me to watch with Cat God.”

This was a modest statement. In fact, everyone understood that they were holding back some tactics and mysterious cards for future matches. They couldn’t let the other teams fully understand the Chinese team.

The reporter turned to Tan Shitian. “Captain Tan, William is ranked fifth among the world’s bards. Today you cooperated with Cheng Wei to kill him. How do you feel?”

Tan Shitian was puzzled. “I don’t care about the world rankings. William is ranked fifth?”

The reporters, “…”

Don’t you remember to pay cats and dogs all day? Can’t you give us a snack?

As the reporters stared at him, Tan Shitian touched his nose and smiled. “Sorry, I’m a homebody and rarely go to the Miracle world forums. For me, it doesn’t matter if he is number one in the world or not. As long as they stand on the field and become my opponent, I will go all-out. This is respect to my fellow e-sports players.”

The reporters, “…”

That’s why he killed William with all his strength? William was likely to cry even more if he heard this interview.

A reporter changed the topic. “Captain Tan perfectly displayed your kite flow tactics today. It is your first time in the World Competition and there are so many great gods on the team. Were you nervous?”

Tan Shitian answered honestly, “To tell the truth, I was a bit nervous when Cat God assigned me to be the commander. I was afraid I might make a mistake in the game. However, Xiao Wei and Lu Xiao are members of the Time team. I am familiar with Liu Xiang, Yang Muzi and Meng Jie. We cooperated well and I didn’t feel nervous when entering the game.

“I heard that the relationship between the Red Fox team and the Time team is quite good?”

“Yes. Liu Xiang and I debuted at the same time and the time when we took over as captain was also similar. We are both captains with relatively junior qualifications and there was no pressure when chatting.” Tan Shitian kept answering the question. “I appreciate female players like Meng Jie and Yang Muzi. Xiao Wei and Yang Muzi are both white magicians and their relationship is good. We usually play some friendly games in private.”

There had long been rumours that Red Fox and Time had a good relationship and Tan Shitian finally admitted it to the public.

There was a gossip reporter. “You have a excellent friendship with Red Fox. Captain Tan, have you ever thought of further private development with Captain Liu?”

Tan Shitian glanced at the reporter. “Liu Xiang was one said to be Cat God’s girlfriend. At the time, Cat God stood up and clarified. Now it is my turn. She will soon become a person unjustly implicated in the Miracle circle. We should let her go.”

The reporters burst out laughing. Tan Shitian’s response was so calm that everyone was embarrassed to speculate on their relationship.

Liu Xiang watched the live broadcast backstage and smiled helplessly. As the person who was always implicated in the Miracle circle, it wasn’t easy for her. Every day, she was fed dog food by this group of people and was also regarded as cannon fodder by the reporters…

After asking Tan Shitian questions, the microphone was handed to Su Guangmo. “Captain Su was the commander for death racing. What do you think about joining forces with your younger brother and Xie Shurong again?”

“In the past, Xiao Yu played a swordsman and now he is a berserker. Ah Shu’s style has become more mature and the damage from his combo attacks is quite high. The power of our joint efforts is much stronger than it was in the past.” Su Guangmo said with a smile, “Fortunately, the tacit understanding between the three of us is still good.”

The reporter asked, “We noticed that when Vice-Captain Yan was besieged, you gave up on rescuing him. Are you afraid Vice-Captain Yan will have opinions on this?”

Su Guangmo replied simply, “Vice-Captain Yan is also a first-rate player. I believe that he won’t be so stingy. Besides, since the command has been handed over to me, no matter who it is, they must listen to my command.”

Captain Su had always been bold and he disliked worrying about small things like this the most. He had the nickname of ‘emperor’ for a reason. His command style was decisive and domineering.

There was another round of applause.

This was followed by another person asking, “The Chinese team beat Australia in three games. This can be called a perfect victory! The next match is against the Spanish team. Cat God, do you still think you can get a score of 3:0?”

Li Cangyu and Ling Xuefeng exchanged looks before replying modestly, “The actual strength of the Spanish team isn’t weak. After our match with Australia, they will certainly study us to target the players and make the appropriate deployment. The next match will be harder than this one and I can’t guarantee a 3:0 victory.”

The reporters thought he would say that they wouldn’t necessarily win. As a result, Li Cangyu smiled at them. “At the very least, we can win two games.”

“…” Winning two games was winning the match! It looked like Cat God was still confident.

The reporters were relieved while some people were curious, “Will Cat God and Captain Ling play next time?”

Ling Xuefeng spoke without any expression. “It is temporarily inconvenient to reveal tactics. Everyone will know it at the time.”

***

On the way backstage, Ling Xuefeng gently pulled Li Cangyu’s arm and asked quietly, “What is your plan for the next game?”

Li Cangyu glanced over at him. “Do you want to go?”

Ling Xuefeng replied decisively, “You are the captain and have the final say.”

Li Cangyu smiled slightly and patted him on the shoulder. “I think your hands must be itching. I will give you the chance. For the next match, you will be in charge of death racing.”

“No problem.”

After a break, it was time for him to act. Otherwise, the domestic audience would definitely have opinions about him and Li Cangyu going to another country only to act as a soy sauce!