The number of viewers in the livestream had already risen to 8 million.
The atmosphere of the first day of the Prisoner Opera Five Stage Finals, with Shen Kuangye participating, reached a climax.
Before Lu Xiangyang went on stage, the taste of peppermint still lingered in his mouth. His gaze was clear, and after neatly putting on his team uniform, he walked onto the stage.
Fans in the stands waved SUN support flags when they saw Lu Xiangyang coming out from backstage in his uniform.
Lu Xiangyang lowered his eyes, focusing on adjusting his equipment. Yishui patted him on the shoulder: "Don't be nervous."
Lu Xiangyang closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, he said calmly: "Not nervous."
Shen Kuangye and the others had already secured a major advantage, so his pressure wasn't high.
But the Abyss didn't lack last-minute comeback matches, so Lu Xiangyang couldn't be careless.
The human players on the opposing Echo team also looked serious, frowning as they consulted their coach about BP.
As a powerful regulator who excels at pulling points, Lu Xiangyang could not afford to lose at the Opera.
Moreover… recalling Cheng Rang and Pei Xunan's current physical condition, he needed a quick and decisive fight, reserving most of his energy for the final day of the finals.
Aurora said: "Now, looking at our regulator SUN, average points per game 11,687.3, average downs per game 9—this personal statistic is extremely outstanding in the entire China Mainland league. And SUN has officially joined our professional league for only half a year. Truly impressive for someone so young."
The camera shifted to Lu Xiangyang, his youthful, innocent face appearing to the public.
In the livestream chat:
[He looks so small. Is he really an adult?]
[Definitely an adult, I think his birthday is in May? Not too sure.]
[He only looks small; I've actually been to an offline regular-season match, he's 1.8 meters tall in real life.]
[That stats panel is insane… nearly full marks per game.]
[You think the league's top regulator is messing around with you?]
[Still, watching EAR's match is better; no need for emergency meds. With a WILD and a SUN, I already know it's stable.]
[I thought they were crazy to reject Ella before, now I realize I was totally wrong.]
…
In the first round, Lu Xiangyang still used the standard Opera strategy. The human side tried to play optimally, but ultimately couldn't escape being downed three times.
Xing Xing, watching from the preparation room, was barely containing his laughter: "Stay calm, stay calm."
Cheng Rang coughed as he took medicine, Pei Xunan slightly opened his eyes, continuing to watch the match.
Shen Kuangye, watching Lu Xiangyang's play offline, immediately understood—it seemed they were thinking the same way.
In BO2, Lu Xiangyang went first as the lead.
The map was Eternal Sleep Town. Upon entering, he banned the Prophet Priest. The commentator exclaimed excitedly: "Could SUN be targeting that?"
Zui Ying continued: "This ban spot looks a lot like Deer Head. Now let's see if Echo's survivors can defend it."
Echo guessed Lu Xiangyang's plan, they first picked the Forward and the Insectist, followed by Mercenary and Acrobat.
Lu Xiangyang chose Deer Head.
He selected the fake gate for the map, with Mercenary at mid, Forward at the main gate, Insectist at the cemetery, and Acrobat at the secondary two-boards-one-window.
He decided to chase Forward first; Forward immediately issued a duel invitation.
Now Echo needed a hero to stand up and withstand SUN's pressure.
Deer Head swung his hook toward the main gate standalone. Forward reached the standalone early to restrain him.
Lu Xiangyang set a trap on the two boards and then went upstairs.
Forward jumped down from the doorway, knocking down the main gate board, forcing Deer Head to step onto it.
Taking advantage of Deer Head stepping on the board, Forward sneaked back upstairs. He didn't jump immediately, but observed Deer Head's position before jumping again toward the board-window ruins.
Deer Head followed closely but was suddenly stunned by a tram as he swung his hook.
Commentator: "Ah???"
The crowd erupted.
Forward used the opportunity to rotate away while Deer Head was stunned.
"SUN is losing here, they need to down Forward quickly, or the survivors will have too much time," Zui Ying said.
After recovering, Deer Head sped up the chase. Forward rotated to the secondary two-boards-one-window to restrain.
He tried to circle the building but was pulled in by Deer Head at an extremely tricky angle, getting a hit.
Forward then moved to the cemetery. Deer Head's rhythm was relentless.
While Deer Head vaulted the window, the Insectist's bugs blocked him for a few seconds.
At this moment, Forward had already sneaked to the small gate two-boards-one-window.
Commentator sounded regretful: "If he hadn't been stunned by the tram, Deer Head could have downed Forward."
Lu Xiangyang furrowed his brows, forcing himself to stay calm; at times like this, panicking would be disastrous.
Fortunately, he still had Flash. Forward tried to predict, but was too late.
After hanging Forward on the chair in the wall ruins, he needed a double down to regain rhythm.
He pressured the Mercenary to rescue, but Mercenary stayed calm, giving no opportunity. Lu Xiangyang tricked him into hooking the chair, took a hit, then pulled.
After the rescue, Mercenary smartly used a wrist spring to move away, leaving no chance for Deer Head to double down.
Forward rotated to mid; Deer Head followed.
After downing Forward again, only one survivor machine remained.
Mercenary and Acrobat switched to rescue.
Acrobat took a hit normally to save the survivor. Deer Head hooked the survivor back and downed him again; this time the machine was not quite ready, Forward hung.
Knowing he was next, Acrobat rotated to the standalone.
Ultimately, Lu Xiangyang could only accept a tie.
He pressed his lips, removed his headset.
"SUN, it's okay! Keep it up!!"
Fans in the stands cupped their hands to their mouths, shouting at him.
Back in the preparation room, Shen Kuangye pinched Lu Xiangyang's shoulder, quietly asking: "Why aren't you happy?"
Lu Xiangyang's aura remained low: "I shouldn't have been stunned by the tram that round."
If it weren't for that mistake, he probably could have gotten one more down in this round.
"I see," Shen Kuangye seemed to finally understand, quietly telling Lu Xiangyang: "Then I'll win it back for you next round."
"Xiangyang, why is your face so red?" Li Shu asked curiously before going on stage. "Is the air conditioning too hot?"
Lu Xiangyang shook his head, blushing.
Shen Kuangye slowly rolled up his sleeves and walked onto the stage.
Echo's regulator originally didn't want to check IDs, but Shen Kuangye's psychologist was too tempting—he couldn't resist and went for it.
This time Shen Kuangye nearly made it to the basement but was pulled back.
Another three-down round.
Zui Ying: "Let's congratulate EAR for securing victory 2:0 ahead of schedule!!"
Livestream chat:
[Reasonable? Another 2:0.]
[Are there any teams EAR should fear?]
[They haven't lost a single match since the group stage.]
[God, WILD is simply a god.]
[SUN looked unhappy last round, but WILD went full-on three-down. Incredible.]
In the preparation room, Xing Xing wanted to hug everyone, but Cheng Rang shook his head, avoiding him.
He croaked: "Don't pass it on to you guys."
Xing Xing said: "Rest well, we still have the quarterfinals tomorrow."
Cheng Rang and Pei Xunan went to the hospital for IV drips; Lu Xiangyang and Shen Kuangye stayed in the prep room to watch the remaining matches.
During this time, Lu Xiangyang received a phone call. Shen Kuangye noticed him glance at him first, then turn away to take the call.
Tsk.
Shen Kuangye suddenly felt a bit annoyed.
Even taking a call had to avoid him?
He put a peppermint in his mouth, chewing expressionlessly.
When Lu Xiangyang returned, Shen Kuangye casually asked: "Whose call was that?"
Lu Xiangyang hesitated, mumbling: "No one."
Shen Kuangye chewed the candy more.
After a moment of silence, he finally composed himself and asked: "What gift do you want for Abyss day?"
Few knew, but Abyss finals day was actually Lu Xiangyang's birthday.
Previously, except for Lu Ning, no one celebrated it with him; after Lu Ning's incident, he had completely forgotten about the day.
Mentioning it, Lu Xiangyang's eyes shifted. He asked: "Brother, do you want a gift?"
Shen Kuangye didn't expect the question, replying stiffly: "I don't need one."
He had never been enthusiastic about birthdays.
Lu Xiangyang wasn't satisfied with that answer: "Then I'll pick one for you myself."
On the first day, Aurora and Circe, two teams posing real threats to EAR, won as expected.
The further the competition progressed, the more it tested the players' endurance and resilience. On the third day, only four teams remained:
EAR, Aurora, Ciece, and the Korean team Pulse, who had stormed into the finals on the second day.
From today onward, the BO5 system was in effect.
Online, there was much discussion about the four finalists:
[How are there two foreign teams? IVL is declining.]
[They're not really going to let another region take the championship, right?]
[No… Circe, EAR, go!!]
[Though usually criticized harshly, the championship must not be given to foreign teams.]
The first match was Circe versus Aurora. If Circe lost, the chance for a China Mainland team to win would be halved.
Before going on stage, Li Shu and the others visited Circe's prep room, surprised to see Xu Shuang's wrist bandaged.
Seeing Shen Kuangye and the others, she smiled nonchalantly: "Why come in without knocking?"
Li Shu asked, looking at her hand: "What's that?"
Xu Shuang didn't seem to care: "Old problem, it's fine."
No one in the room knew her injury better than Shen Kuangye.
Before going on stage, all Circe members, eyes red, said: "Captain, good luck."
Xu Shuang waved: "Don't worry, we won't let the Japanese win."
Rage's momentum was too strong; Xu Shuang could hold on for the first two rounds, but by BO3, her hand began to tremble.
By the final match, she was in such pain she had to let go, but she persisted to finish the game.
It was too late—Aurora took the victory.
The commentators were stunned, taking several seconds to say: "Congratulations to Aurora for winning this match!"
The livestream viewers surged to 10 million.
[What?? Only EAR remains??]
[Nooo.]
[Xu Shuang just let go, my heart hurts… I heard she's had tendinitis for a long time, must've hurt too much this time…]
[I heard she's retiring after this season.]
[I thought she could win… my Xu Shen.]
[If EAR loses, tomorrow will be a match between two foreign teams??]
[I'm not watching then.]
[It's about time to feel some urgency; IVL's usual drama aside, their skills are still lacking.]
[Stop talking, wait for EAR.]
[I shouldn't have criticized you before. This time you must win; I don't want the championship taken by other regions.]
All eyes were now on EAR.
The commentators' tone and expressions became serious.
Pulse's team was confident, declaring before the match: "We'll win today."
Lu Xiangyang appeared, smiling faintly: "Then let's see."
Livestream chat:
[The kid's smile is dangerous.]
[Has EAR only just started to show their strength?]
[SUN feels like he's going to sweep everything.]
[So nervous… I don't even want to rank.]
[Me too… my friend heard and joined to watch.]
[Please, EAR, win! I predicted you as champions!!]
The director cut to the crowd again; all of EAR's fans in the support section raised their hands, repeating what Shen Kuangye had said when they won the Autumn Finals:
Believe in EAR, and believe even more.
At that time, many thought WILD's performance was too calm; only now did they realize it was WILD's promise to their future selves.
Words light as feathers were now as heavy as mountains.
In the first round, Pulse's regulator went first, eager to face the long-renowned Chinese genius survivor.
He smiled, consulting with his coach on BP, watching the survivor pick a character.
At first, he easily found Shen Kuangye's prisoner, but soon the smile faded.
Previously, their team had studied WILD's restraining strategies overnight.
But Shen Kuangye didn't follow conventional play at all; their research proved useless.
The opposing regulator wasn't naive either; even though EAR gave no opportunities, the round still ended in a tie.
But EAR wasn't discouraged, there were still chances ahead.
"Let me face that regulator," Pulse's team said.
Soon, Lu Xiangyang's Opera taught them how to quickly fall in under 40 seconds.
Pulse's team couldn't fight back.
For a long time, Pulse's entire team remembered the fear of being dominated by these two 18-year-olds from the Chinese league.
EAR only let them enjoy the first two rounds, then truly took over their home ground.
Even in BO5, at Lakeview Village, they brought a combination of Toy Merchant, Enchantress, Explorer, and Forward.
This combo was fragile no matter who they chased.
Aurora gasped, saying to Zui Ying: "Don't you feel this script looks familiar?"
Zui Ying nodded thoughtfully: "A little."
In this round, whoever got three downs first would secure the match.
The opposing regulator was Night Watch.
The breakthrough again depended on the Explorer, everyone understood WILD was issuing a duel invitation to Night Watch.
It was a show of confidence and protection for his teammates.
After a few rounds, Night Watch had been cautious, but seeing the Explorer, greed resurfaced—he wanted to try again.
Players from Rage in the stands quietly shook their heads.
At the start, he couldn't find the Explorer, and eventually went to the seaside restroom to look for Toy Merchant, but Toy Merchant vaulted a board to the big ship basement.
Night Watch quickly relocated; Toy Merchant was downed at the big ship, and Mercenary didn't go for the elimination, instead going straight to rescue.
In this scenario, the Explorer's advantage was clear: seemingly four machines, but in reality only two.
After Mercenary rescued, Cheng Rang hoarsely shouted: "I'm OBS, you decode—cough, cough."
His Enchantress coordinated flawlessly with Li Shu, while the decoding acceleration kicked in, and the Explorer and Mercenary outside were decoding.
As soon as Toy Merchant was hung, the half-health Enchantress still had three stacks of her curse, and the Explorer had Tide Turner.
Pulse lost.
When EAR's survivor team pulled off the clutch three-man escape, the entire crowd stood up. The commentator, nearly slamming the desk in excitement, shouted:
"Let us congratulate EAR for winning this match and successfully advancing to the GRAND FINALS!!!"