The King's Avatar

The news was released on Team Wind Howl’s official Weibo, so the pro players who were currently active on Weibo were the first to know.

Fang Rui was really going to transfer?

Everyone was stunned. They were just joking around earlier, who would have thought that the news was actually true?

Transfers were a different kind of departure. Even though it wasn’t a permanent farewell like retirement was, but to be teammates one day and opponents the next wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

Professional spirit, professionalism. It sounded simple, but everyone was human, and what kind of human didn’t have emotions? The so-called professionalism was, at its core, simply the ability to control and control one’s emotions.

Perhaps some people might enjoy leaving their original team and leap towards the future. But Fang Rui, everyone believed, was not that kind of person. Everyone saw and understood the problems between Fang Rui and Wind Howl. He only left out of helplessness. He personally felt wronged, and the team also felt that it was a pity too.

So as soon as the news was revealed to be true, people couldn’t joke any longer.

After seeing that this news was confirmed, Chen Guo suddenly became nervous.

”Can we get him to our team?” Chen Guo asked.

Ye Xiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ”You can’t just toss a good vegetable into our basket as soon as you see it! You have to see if it fits in or not. After all, we’re not a recycling station.”

Recycling station… A recycling station is for trash, okay? This is an All Star we’re talking about here! Chen Guo resisted the urge to complain aloud.

”We don’t need his dirty playing?” But as soon as the words left her mouth, Chen Guo stopped. She looked at Ye Xiu. And then she looked over at Wei Chen, who was casually dangling a slipper from one foot as he sat in front of his computer, smoking a cigarette.

Happy might lack many things, but dirty play certainly wasn’t one of them.

What was the point in getting Fang Rui over here? Compete to see who could be the most shameless? Make a team that had shamelessness as its core playstyle, once and for all?

Just thinking about organizing a team like that, Chen Guo couldn’t help but shiver. Let’s just pass on him, she thought.

But after Ye Xiu finished, he immediately went back to join in on the fun.

Because the news was confirmed, the Weibo war that had entertained countless fans had suddenly quieted down. But in this calm, Ye Xiu, theat man with ten million followers, zero following, and one post, suddenly made his second post.

”So you’re really transferring? Happy is absolutely your best choice. Team of champions, master of kings!”

Fuck!

You just couldn’t resist?

A team that just emerged from the Challenger League was a ”team of champions, master of kings”? Then what did that make everyone else?

”Tiny Herb, winner of two championships.” Wang Jiexi wrote in an entirely neutral tone. Now that Excellent Era was no longer in the Alliance, two-time champion was an extremely impressive accomplishment.

”Samsara, winner of two championships in a row.” Jiang Botao’s follow-up was immediate. Repeating Wang Jiexi’s words but adding ”in a row” immediately made this accomplishment seem that much greater.

”Tiny Herb wasn’t able to defend their title because they lost to the number one team in the universe, Blue Rain!” As expected of the master opportunist Huang Shaotian, he seized the chance to interject with his extraordinary hand speed. Blue Rain’s sole championship, originally seemingly weaker than the others, was suddenly lifted in importance.

”Tyranny has your oldest and most familiar partner.” Zhang Jiale also joined in on the fun, playing the emotion card because of Lin Jingyan’s presence in the team.

”Yup, really quite old…” Then someone below immediately came out of nowhere and made this reply. Zhang Jiale was so mad he wanted to spit blood, but it was just an ordinary player, how could he get into an argument with someone like that?

In an instant, Weibo was suddenly lively again. But it was still unclear as to which, if any, of these teams were serious in their comments.

Because of Fang Rui’s skill and status, if he transferred to another team, there was no way he would just be a substitute. He himself wouldn’t be willing, and it would be a waste for the team.

His arrival would require his new team to undergo a huge readjustment, and this wasn’t something that could be clarified in just a few words. When a team invited a new player, they would first perform thorough analysis and observation of the player. As Ye Xiu said, it wasn’t a matter of tossing all the good vegetables into the basket, you had to see if you could use this vegetable to create a suitable taste.

After Fang Rui’s confirmed transfer, there were immediately people pulling him this way and that, but it was impossible to gauge their sincerity.

Those that were actually interested in Fang Rui were likely gathered in intense discussion among the entire team. This was no small matter.

After people chattered on Weibo for a while longer, it finally quieted down once and for all. To make a deal right here right now was obviously impossible.

Fang Rui was going to transfer, but where he would end up wasn’t something that could be decided in a short amount of time.

However, as Chen Guo watched Ye Xiu rile up the other pros, she suddenly started wondering again. Other teams had managers and bosses and many departments, all of which would need to be consulted for a matter like this. But Happy wasn’t so complex and didn’t have so many workers. She, the boss, was the ”tossing good vegetables into basket” type of person as Ye Xiu put it, and the others like Tang Rou and Steamed Bun were just rookies and didn’t have much to contribute on this end. So for issues like this, Ye Xiu was essentially the sole decision-maker, with Wei Chen occasionally giving his opinions from the side.

The other pro players were just playing around; their words didn’t have any weight. But Ye Xiu wasn’t the same, because in practice, he held the same power in Happy as Lou Guanning did in Heavenly Swords. They were each a pro player, but also the decision-making boss.

”This Fang Rui, do we want him or not?” Chen Guo asked.

”We don’t,” Ye Xiu said, smiling as he shook his head.

”Wouldn’t he raise the ability of our team?” Chen Guo asked. All this time, she was trying to learn more. Although her ability at playing Glory probably wouldn’t improve, she wanted to increase her knowledge and analytic ability to be a competent leader of Team Happy.

”He would,” Ye Xiu said. ”For a player with his skill, as long as you give him enough freedom, he would raise the ability of any team. But for us, his relative value is too low. An All Star player, and we’d have to get him an All Star account, how much investment would that take? And there’s the price of his contract, too. If we did this, we’d be putting all of our eggs in one basket. There’s no need for us to be stuck on this one tree for so long.”

After hearing this, Chen Guo understood. In the end, it came down to the fact that Happy didn’t have enough funds. The 5 million award from winning the Challenger League was already split among all the players, and as for the other funds from broadcasting and sponsorship deals and such, Happy currently had around 12 million in usable funds. Wei Chen also had 18 million himself, and he had said that this was his investment in the team and available to use. But neither Chen Guo nor Ye Xiu wanted to use Wei Chen’s personal money.

12 million...

Since Fang Rui was already confirmed to be leaving Wind Howl, then even though he was an All Star, the price wouldn’t be too high. But if Fang Rui were to come, he would have to have a suitable account. If they also wanted to get the All Star character Doubtful Demon, then 12 million might be barely enough, if that. And there was no way that Fang Rui would be like Ye Xiu and the others, who played without caring about income. He would definitely want a competitive contract. Fang Rui currently had an annual salary of 650,000 with Wind Howl, since he was still in his prime. He wasn’t being transferred because of declining skill, so there was no reason for him to shrink his contract. With all of that, even if Happy were to tap into Wei Chen’s 18 million, getting Fang Rui over would really put Happy into a predicament. Happy also had daily expenses, and all of its existing members still had to sign competitive contracts. Wu Chen needed a salary for managing the guild too. And there was still the issue of a lack of a stadium, which Happy had yet to resolve.

”Then what are you still causing this ruckus here for?” After thinking over all of that, Chen Guo knew they wouldn’t be able to get Fang Rui. But she also didn’t believe that Ye Xiu was just doing this all for fun - this guy always did things with a purpose.

”Haha. Let everyone have some fun together!” Ye Xiu said.

”And then?” Chen Guo wasn’t discouraged. Ye Xiu definitely had an ulterior motive.

Indeed, on Ye Xiu’s screen was a page displaying news of Zhao Yang’s retirement. ”We can think about getting the character Boundless Sea.”

”Boundless Sea, Qi Master? Do we need it?” Chen Guo was surprised.

”It’s at least more reliable than trying to get Fang Rui,” said Ye Xiu.

”Would Seaside let the account go just like that?” Chen Guo asked. Boundless Sea had special significance to Seaside. It was like One Autumn Leaf and Excellent Era, or Vaccaria and Tiny Herb. The value of such a character wasn’t just in the power of the character or its equipment - this was a team’s soul and core. One would have to buy the other party’s feelings and memories with this account as well, and the price for that would only ever be high, never low.

”I think there should be a chance,” Ye Xiu said.

”Why?”

”If Seaside still had strong aspirations, I think that they wouldn’t have had Zhao Yang retire just like this,” said Ye Xiu.

After all, Wang Jiexi and Yang Cong, who had debuted the same year as Zhao Yang, were both still fighting. But a team without aspiration would let their core player retire; a team without aspiration, similarly, wouldn’t needlessly cling to their core character.

Ye Xiu understood this. While others were still discussing as to which Qi Master player Seaside would recruit to replace Zhao Yang, he was pondering as to how to obtain Seaside’s core character for Happy.

”Mm… what if other teams think the same thing and try to compete for it?” Chen Guo asked. Transferring accounts wasn’t as complex a process as transferring players, since there were no personal preferences involved. Accounts weren’t alive, the clubs could sell them wherever they wanted. So if there was competition, the price would just go up. This was therefore a difficult issue for Happy.

”Haha, think about it,” Ye Xiu laughed. ”Among the current powerhouse teams, which ones have Qi Masters on their main roster?”

Chen Guo blinked. With this question, the first team that popped into her mind was actually Excellent Era.

Player Guo Yang, character Qi Breaker, a first-string member of Excellent Era. Chen Guo had been a fan of Excellent Era, so she was of course familiar with him. But then...

”Wind Howl and Blue Rain.” Ye Xiu answered for Chen Guo. ”Last season, of the eight playoff teams, only these two teams had Qi Masters in their rosters. Wind Howl’s Qi Master was from Excellent Era, this wasn’t a class they originally had. He didn’t integrate well over the past season, he often couldn’t contribute much, so it’s more likely that Wind Howl would give up on their Qi Master. As for Blue Rain, their Qi Master Receding Tides is fairly strong, so they might want to buy some equipment that they don’t already have off Boundless Sea. But they probably wouldn’t directly incorporate Boundless Sea into their team, that sort of base level change isn’t their style.”

”So that’s to say, we don’t have any big competitors when it comes to Boundless Sea?” Chen Guo said.