Chapter 34 (2/2)

‘Oh, poor thing.’ Chen Mu watched Clockwork dance obliviously as he started planning out how he would complete his mission.

The minion waves from both teams met. Chen Mu stepped forward to auto attack the minions. On the other hand, Clockwork did more than just reciprocate with basic attacks targeted toward the minions; she attempted to auto attack Chen Mu too.

Chen Mu retreated. ‘I offered you the chance to take control of the lane, but you didn’t take it. Your loss then. Since it’s god’s will, be prepared to face your punishment.’

As Clockwork approached the minion wave with hopes to harass Chen Mu, Chen Mu prepared to pounce. At the first window of opportunity, Chen Mu cast his E instantly to both clean up the dying minions and inflict some damage to Clockwork. Chen Mu gained three CS.

Meanwhile, Clockwork had expected him to move as such. She reciprocated with her E—shielding herself in exchange for Chen Mu’s blood.

Unfortunately, Chen Mu had brought Red Potions with him from his base as though he was the king of medicine. With his inventory full of Red Potions, there was not much health he could lose from the attack that originated from a passive skill.

Before Merman learned all his skills, Merman could only depend on exchanging his health for CS. It was something that could not be avoided. It was fortunate that Clockwork’s understanding of laning was not that comprehensive as she let the minion wave push forward.

Chen Mu was only three minions short of Clockwork’s CS score.

For Merman, scoring kills was the best way to farm.

This time, Liu Fei’s squad had snatched Blind Monk, while Chen Mu’s squad had picked a jungling Treant. Treant was a very popular pick in the World Championships as it was capable of absorbing a lot of damage for the ADC during the early game stage. It allowed the ADC to get fed for late game without any worries.

This time around, Clockwork took tentative steps. She kept on walking diagonally toward the back. Whenever Little Merman stopped forward, she would step back. Liu Fei would rather die than allow Chen Mu to attack his champion.

Chen Mu was more than happy to see this. Clockwork’s shying away meant that he could easily catch up in CS. He was a melee champion attacking a ranged champion. He would give Clockwork a serious beating whenever he had the chance. Otherwise, Chen Mu would keep getting harassed meaninglessly and would have no opportunity to turn the tide of the battle.

Clockwork had increased speed and armor. She had even brought Barrier as her summoner spell. She was scared sh*tless; she wanted to use her Q and W to harass Chen Mu. However, Chen Mu often stopped right at the edge of Clockwork’s W, misleading Clockwork to think that she was always just a step away from getting Chen Mu.

It was one of the benefits Chen Mu got from memorizing the range of every skill in the game. Despite Clockwork having a QW combo that could take someone by surprise, Chen Mu could easily dodge the attack with his E. Hence, other than her basic attacks, Clockwork had no other way to damage Merman.

Liu Fei started to panic. If he could not land a single hit on Merman while laning or using abilities, did it not mean that his opponent was operating at a much greater standard than him? Could the fellow be a solo queue master with the highest number of ELO points ever?

The player with the highest ELO points in the Chinese server had a peak total of two thousand and nine hundred ELO points. Rumors had it that the player received many invitations from professional teams and was going to play in the professional arena the following year if everything went as planned.

Liu Fei had bumped into that player once when he was trying to climb in rank. The mid laner in that match had used an AD Fox1 and scored twenty-five kills.

Liu Fei was slaughtered like a pig in mid lane at that time and was unable to land a hit with any of his skills.

Liu Fei was truly dumbstruck by that match—an AD Fox chased after three other champions and slaughtered them at will. Liu Fei was scarred by that match and always banned Fox whenever he saw her from then on.

The Little Merman he was facing reminded him slightly of the solo queue master as none of his abilities managed to hit.

While Liu Fei’s thoughts were still running all over the place, Little Merman Q-ed a ranged minion to death and instantly hit Level 6. Having dashed to the minion, a shark suddenly appeared beneath Clockwork’s feet.

It was one of Little Merman’s basic techniques to Q a minion to get close to an enemy before casting his ultimate. Using the technique, as long as Merman cast his abilities in quick succession, it did not matter how good one was at moving. That was because no champion’s movement speed was fast enough to escape the shark’s range. Therefore, nine out of ten QR casts that were targeted at another champion usually hit.

At this time, Treant casually closed in from behind the river. Clockwork hastily surrendered her Flash in response. Nevertheless, to no avail, She ate the fish anyway. The amount of time that passed while she was knocked up was enough for Treant to walk over and cast his W.

Turning back, Merman punched Clockwork into the air. Then, tanking the turret at the same time, Little Merman approached Clockwork and cast E in her face. Additionally, Chen Mu followed up with his Ignite, W, and a few more basic attacks before heading back confidently.

In turn, Treant Flashed out of turret range immediately to prevent receiving turret damage. It was pitiful that Merman managed to reach Level 6 before a ranged champion like Clockwork. Clockwork’s death was in vain. Laning was not something one could just do because they were scared.