TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 101

What kind of statement was that supposed to be? Why did it sound so wrong??

What did it mean fast?! A man can’t casually say he’s fast, okay?!

So in the eyes of this artificial idiot, he was just a damn tool.

Lin Mingfei was stunned. He even looked at Debang with a bit of fear. Sometimes he really felt this “artificial idiot” wasn’t AI at all but some ancient spirit that had possessed a small precision machine.

Fortunately, the “ancient spirit” promptly ran out of power and shut down, returning to the form of a pile of dumb electronic parts. Lin Mingfei let out a small sigh of relief and turned his attention back to Ping Shuai.

Ping Shuai had been beaten pretty badly by those few moves—worse even than the time he’d been beaten near the Sabertooth basketball court before. Cold sweat covered his forehead, and faint whimpers escaped his throat.

“Zero… I accompanied Polaris through its lowest points and its highest peaks. We went through so many storms together. I won three championships with you… Have you forgotten?”

It seemed he had decided to risk everything. No longer afraid of Lin Mingfei dislocating his jaw, he poured everything out at once.

“I haven’t forgotten,” Lin Mingfei said.

“Then all those years of brotherhood between us—”

“They were all eaten by dogs,” Lin Mingfei cut him off calmly. “Fed by you.”

Ping Shuai froze on the spot.

After a pause, he still refused to give up. His expression was both sorrowful and angry, yet pitiful.

“I know I was blinded by money before. But… who doesn’t make mistakes in life? I stayed with Sabertooth for the money… that’s understandable, right? I have to eat. I have to support my family. Not everyone lives comfortably like you and Shi Ya without worrying about money!”

“Yeah. So wasn’t it good for you to stay with Sabertooth?” Lin Mingfei replied.

“But they—”

Ping Shuai almost blurted out they don’t want me anymore, but he caught himself and swallowed the words.

Instead he said, “They’re not the same kind of people as me… we can’t get along. I still miss the atmosphere we had back in Polaris. Every time I hear them speaking badly about Polaris behind our backs, it makes me feel terrible.”

“Have you already terminated your contract?” Lin Mingfei asked. “Or are you just looking for another horse while riding this one?”

“N-no!” Seeing Lin Mingfei actually asking questions, Ping Shuai answered eagerly. “I’ve already terminated the contract! I even paid the penalty!”

“You were the one who initiated the termination?” Lin Mingfei asked again.

“Y-yes!” Ping Shuai hesitated, glancing away with a guilty look. “I… I personally asked Zhao Xin to terminate it.”

Technically that wasn’t wrong. He really had “taken the initiative”—trying to drag Dylan into trouble. It failed, Zhao Xin caught him with evidence, and the contract was terminated.

Lin Mingfei probably… wouldn’t care about such minor details, right?

Lin Mingfei let out a soft snort.
“But what I heard is that you had a huge fight with Dylan, and Zhao Xin kicked you out to protect him.”

Ping Shuai suddenly raised his head. “Who told you that?”

Who told him? Of course it was Fang Haoyang—the lover of He Youjin, that scheming strategist.

Lin Mingfei suddenly felt that He Youjin’s little “friends-with-benefits” relationship was actually pretty damn useful.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Lin Mingfei said. “You just need to know that I don’t have the habit of picking up trash. If Sabertooth doesn’t want you, I won’t take you either.”

Ping Shuai’s face gradually turned pale.

“So… from the beginning you never believed me. And now you’re setting a trap for me,” he muttered. “Zero… I don’t understand. Why can you accept even an omega, but refuse to accept me again?”

Suddenly he flew into a rage, glaring at Xia Tong with bloodshot eyes as if he wanted to burn a hole through him.

“An omega is so weak, yet you guys can still carry him to win so many games! If it were me, my basic skills are stronger than his! Wouldn’t the chances of winning be even higher?? If you took me back, it would only make things easier! Maybe I don’t generate as much buzz as he does, but in full-dive esports, buzz isn’t the most important thing—winning is the ultimate standard!”

Lin Mingfei gave a faint laugh. It was hard to tell whether the expression on his face was pity or simple disdain.

“Have you even seriously watched one of our matches?” he said calmly. “Though I guess you haven’t. In your eyes, the few of us probably aren’t worth anything. But if you had watched even one game, you’d know clearly… most of the time it’s not us carrying Blink to victory. It’s Blink turning the tide and carrying us.”

Ping Shuai’s eyes widened, his pupils shrinking slightly.

“You said, ‘An omega is so weak, yet you can still carry him to win so many games. If it were me, my fundamentals are stronger than his—wouldn’t the odds be better?’ You’re mistaken.” Lin Mingfei spoke word by word. “Every strength you have, Blink also has. And the strengths you don’t have—Blink has those too.”

He smiled slightly.

“And like you said, he generates more buzz than you. He’s basically a natural money tree. So why would we replace him and bring you back?”

Ping Shuai’s face turned white as paper. His lips trembled violently. After a long time, he forced out another sentence with difficulty.

“Then… I can be his substitute!”

Lin Mingfei’s eyes flickered slightly.

Clearly, this was already an enormous concession for Ping Shuai. His voice was hoarse, and his gaze hollow.

“I can be his substitute, right…? With the size of your team right now… you don’t even have a single substitute player. What if something happens during an official match? Someone has to replace a player on stage… you can’t just stop competing entirely…”

He sniffed hard, pleading miserably.

“I don’t want any high signing bonus anymore. Just give me whatever you think is fair and sign me. I’ll stay in Polaris as a substitute and behave myself… just think of it as me giving the team my last bit of contribution—”

“We don’t need it.” Lin Mingfei refused calmly. “Ping Shuai, stop trying to get back into Polaris. Once the opportunity is gone, it’s gone.”

“Zero! Don’t do this! I’m serious!” Ping Shuai shouted. “I swear that if I come back, I won’t conflict with Blink! I’ll get along with him properly. I won’t interfere with him or hurt him! And if you agree to let me stay, I… I’ll tell you a secret about Sabertooth! A huge secret about Dylan!”

“Oh?” Lin Mingfei raised an eyebrow, his tone slightly interested. “Go ahead and say it first. Let me see if I’m interested.”

Ping Shuai felt as if he had grabbed the last straw that could save his life. He no longer tried to hide anything and blurted it out eagerly:

“Dylan doesn’t actually know how to do the ‘point-blank triple snipe’ at all! The three shots he used to win the championship last year were all pure luck! He doesn’t even have the strength to be a champion! He’s a coward! A fake!”

Lin Mingfei drew out a long, quiet “Oh,” then said, “That’s it?”

Ping Shuai froze.

“I saw it with my own eyes!” he insisted desperately. “I even recorded a video! Believe me! If you want to take Dylan down, I can testify for you!”

Lin Mingfei clicked his tongue, then turned to Xia Tong.

“What do you think?”

Xia Tong wrinkled his little nose. “Didn’t we already guess that? It’s not even big news.”

Ping Shuai went completely blank.

Xia Tong seemed not to notice his expression and casually stabbed him with another remark.

“Besides, why would we take Dylan down that way? Wouldn’t it be easier to just beat him into the ground on the competition stage?”

Ping Shuai: “……”

The smile on Lin Mingfei’s face deepened.

“Did you hear that?” he said, looking back at Ping Shuai calmly. “That’s our answer.”

Ping Shuai lowered his head in despair.

“You just refuse to forgive me…” he said hoarsely. “Who in life has never made a mistake? I just acted on impulse once and said a lot of hurtful things… I didn’t mean it. Why do you insist on holding onto it, Zero?”

Lin Mingfei narrowed his eyes slightly. He loosened his grip and let go of Ping Shuai, stepping back and lowering his head.

“Since you’ve said this much, I might as well make things clear,” he said, his voice growing colder by the second. “It’s not that I refuse to forgive you. And it’s not that I think you’re bad at the game. The problem is that your mind isn’t on competing at all. Polaris will never accept someone who’s full of schemes and spends every day stirring up trouble.”

Ping Shuai opened his mouth to speak, but Lin Mingfei cut him off sharply.

“Don’t bother arguing. You know better than anyone what kind of person you are. Breaking into private property and assaulting an omega would already be enough to land you in jail for a few days. The reason I didn’t call the police today is the last bit of mercy I’m giving you—and also my way of ending the ‘years of brotherhood’ you mentioned.”

He continued coldly:

“But Blink has no obligation to forgive you. For the harm you caused him, our team manager will organize a list of compensation terms tomorrow and send it to you. You can either pay the damages or receive a lawyer’s letter and then get exposed publicly.”

Then he added meaningfully:

“Of course, we’re all respectable people who follow proper procedures. We never threaten anyone privately.”

Ping Shuai had humbled himself into the dust. He had nothing left to say. He already looked like a walking corpse as he drifted toward the door.

He looked pitiful—turning back again and again to glance at the brightly lit Polaris base—but Lin Mingfei showed not even the slightest trace of sympathy or an attempt to stop him.

Just then, a crisp voice suddenly rang out from inside the house:

“Wait a second!!!”

Ping Shuai’s eyes lit up.

He thought, Could it be that weak-willed, silly-looking little omega suddenly had a burst of kindness?!

Thinking the situation had turned around, he spun around excitedly—only to be hit in the face by a pile of hard objects that burst into sparks before his eyes.

At some point Xia Tong had already gathered up all the things Ping Shuai had left in the room: the charger, the cushion, the posters, the blanket, and so on.

“Take all your stuff back!!”

After completing his “aerial projectile attack,” the little omega stomped his feet angrily on the spot and shouted,

“I don’t want your stupid junk anyway!! It was getting in my way!! That room is mine now!! Mine!!”

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