# Chapter 39
As the team manager, Zhou Huo's professional abilities were naturally superior to Old Qiao and the others. With Zhou Huo's built-in media department leading the charge with hard evidence, everything was methodical and organized. The preparations instantly became well-coordinated.
Like Old Qiao and the others, Zhou Huo had long been looking for an appropriate opportunity to revisit the matter from back then and set the record straight. This wasn't an unprepared battle. With the surveillance footage in hand, everything became much easier. After the weight lifted from his heart, Zhou Huo glanced at the two people in the hallway. "Uh... what were you two talking about just now? I really don't want to interrupt, but Yu Sui... did you leave your phone in the conference room? Your parents called you twice and you didn't answer. They've already called the company."
Yu Sui turned and went to the conference room.
"Evil." Zhou Huo turned to Shi Luo. "Are you... staying here tonight? Your room is cleaned out, but it's a bit bare. I haven't prepared the basic necessities yet. If you don't mind, how about you crash here tonight?"
Shi Luo said, "My stuff is still at IAC. Originally..."
"Originally you should have come over directly, but now everything's a mess. Our driver has already gone home. How about..." Zhou Huo suggested, "I drive you myself? My car's not small, so there's definitely room for your things."
Shi Luo instinctively glanced toward the conference room. Zhou Huo smiled. "Of course, you can wait for Yu Sui if you want. I'm just afraid his call with his parents won't end quickly. They must have heard some news too, so they're probably worried about their son. Who knows how long they'll talk."
Shi Luo said flatly, "Then I'll trouble you."
"No big deal. Let's go." Zhou Huo said as they walked. "You still haven't found time to get your driver's license after becoming an adult, right? Let's see if we can find time this year to book you a driving instructor..."
Zhou Huo drove his own car, with Shi Luo in the passenger seat. For a while, neither spoke.
After they drove out of the residential area, Zhou Huo turned off the car music. "It's not a short drive. If you're tired, you can sleep for a bit. If not, I can chat with you."
Shi Luo shook his head. "You don't have to entertain me. Make your calls, handle whatever you need to handle."
"You mean Yu Sui's situation? Don't worry about that." Zhou Huo exhaled. "Yu Sui spent so much money hiring me as manager for a reason. I'm here to handle these problems for you guys. I do have that level of professionalism. Besides, I've wanted to take down Ji Yanhun for a long time now. Rest assured."
Shi Luo frowned. "That's good, but what are you trying to chat with me about?"
As a business genius, Zhou Huo naturally wouldn't miss any opportunity to benefit the team. He had already watched the surveillance footage earlier and noticed Ji Yanhun's words. With the previous major issue now showing promise, Zhou Huo wanted to probe Shi Luo's intentions.
"Nothing much. I just worry that the conflict between you and Yu Sui might not get resolved, which would hinder the team's future development." Zhou Huo drove steadily, his tone measured. "You and Yu Sui have been in this awkward position. Won't it affect future competitions?"
Shi Luo's voice was cold. "No."
"That's the best outcome, then." Zhou Huo understood that the two of them hadn't fully made amends, so he didn't push further. He changed the subject. "By the way, I heard you don't have a girlfriend, right?"
Shi Luo glanced at Zhou Huo. "No. Why?"
"No reason. It's good not having one. A girlfriend would just be a distraction." Zhou Huo continued, "Is it because you haven't had time since going pro, or did you never have one even before?"
Shi Luo's thoughts weren't on this at all. "Never had one."
"Never had one, never had one..." Zhou Huo repeated to himself. "Then do you have someone you like?"
Shi Luo looked Zhou Huo up and down, almost saying directly: Are we even that close? Is this really the appropriate time to chat about this kind of stuff?
Zhou Huo smiled. "Just chatting, casual conversation. Just curious."
Shi Luo sat up properly. "I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Zhou Huo said. "Most people start developing these feelings around thirteen or fourteen. No one caught your eye?"
Shi Luo said coldly, "Around thirteen or fourteen, I was整天琢磨着怎么离家出走，整个心思都在想怎么离家出走，哪有那份心思。"
Zhou Huo had heard about some of Shi Luo's family situation. Realizing his misstep, he changed the subject. "What about after you left home? After going pro?"
Shi Luo's eyes narrowed. "You're asking if I like Yu Sui?"
Zhou Huo choked.
Shi Luo guardedly looked at Zhou Huo. "When you had me stream with him, it wasn't just to ease the tension between us and get fans to gradually accept us. You also wanted to capitalize on our relationship for business, like you did with Captain Gu and Vava, right?"
Zhou Huo laughed awkwardly. "Evil, adults don't usually be so direct in conversation. You're a bit too clever."
Shi Luo said coldly, "I'm not Vava. Don't try that trick on me. From now on, say what you mean directly."
"Alright." Zhou Huo said as he drove. "I don't really understand. What's there to resist? Look at Captain Gu, that old-fashioned straight guy. He was very cooperative. Under my arrangement, whenever they streamed, they duo-queued together. The effect was great. Vava's commercial value instantly multiplied several times over. It made my work much easier, and he was accepted by NSN fans. He's happy every day, his mindset improved, and his competitive performance became more confident and stable."
"Then rest assured, I'm not like Vava. Even if I'm on the worst terms with my teammates, I can still be very confident and stable during competitions." Shi Luo said with a dark expression. "Yu Sui even more so."
Shi Luo looked out the window. "Once this is clarified, the trolls will naturally decrease. As for the rest... once we have results, they'll all shut up naturally."
"That's the right attitude. But since you guys aren't easily affected, why not just follow my arrangement and cooperate a little?" Zhou Huo didn't want to let this cooked duck slip away. "After all, neither of you cares what others say anyway."
Shi Luo took off his baseball cap, smoothed his hair, and put it back on. "Other people can't affect me. But I can affect myself."
Zhou Huo frowned. "I... didn't quite understand."
Shi Luo stared out the window, refusing to explain.
Shi Luo was just a player, not a streamer, much less an actor. Some things, once performed too much, you can't come back from.
Zhou Huo thought about it for a long while, slowly piecing together some meaning. He said carefully, "So... you did have some feelings for Yu Sui from the beginning? Back when you two hadn't fallen out yet, two years ago."
Shi Luo didn't answer.
Zhou Huo sighed. Shi Luo was too tough a nut to crack. No wonder Yu Sui couldn't win him over two years ago.
It was late at night with few cars on the road. Everything was quiet. After a long while, long enough that Zhou Huo thought Shi Luo had fallen asleep, Shi Luo opened his bag and took out earphones. "Regarding Yu Sui... I don't know."
Zhou Huo was stunned. "How can you not know?!"
"I didn't understand at the time." Shi Luo put on his earphones and said hoarsely. "I didn't know what that feeling was. Later... I didn't want to think about it anymore."
"So you don't know."
Shi Luo closed his eyes and stopped talking.
Zhou Huo was astonished. He quickly recalled—Shi Luo hadn't stayed at FS for long.
It was during FS's playoff preparations. The time he'd spent in contact with Yu Sui was probably minimal.
And he was only seventeen at that most crucial, muddled age.
Too young, and the time given to him was too short.
Zhou Huo's intention to create publicity diminished. For the first time that night, he genuinely hated Ji Yanhun from the bottom of his heart.
If that bastard hadn't caused trouble back then, the esports scene might have truly produced a pair of heaven-made twin stars.
The kind that grew up together like childhood sweethearts.
Zhou Huo gritted his teeth. "What a damn shame..."
Half an hour later, they finally arrived at the IAC base. Esports has no sleep schedule. The IAC base was brightly lit.
Zhou Huo said, "If your things aren't many, can you go get them yourself? I'm... sorry. I had a conflict with Zhao Feng in the past. I'd rather not see him."
Shi Luo took off his earphones and got out of the car. "Not many."
Zhou Huo watched Shi Luo enter the IAC base, then quickly picked up his phone.
Zhou Huo and Zhao Feng had indeed had conflicts before, but both were old foxes who could talk the talk with anyone. They could chat and laugh perfectly well if they met. There was nothing preventing them from seeing each other.
Zhou Huo quickly called Yu Sui. The line was busy at first. Zhou Huo got anxious and called several more times. After about five minutes, the call finally connected.
"Yu Sui, this time I'm doing this purely for you." Zhou Huo looked toward the IAC base through the car window and said quickly. "I just talked with Shi Luo for a bit. He must have been too stimulated today and was feeling sentimental from the memories. He told me a few more things."
Zhou Huo said, "I asked him if he liked you."
On the other end, Yu Sui was silent for a moment. "What did he say..."
"He said he doesn't know."
Zhou Huo tried his best to recall, afraid he'd miss a single word. "He said he didn't understand at the time, didn't know what it was. Later, he didn't want to think about it anymore."
It was even quieter on the other end of the line.
Zhou Huo quickly said, "Although he said he doesn't know, that's not bad news! He was too young at the time, never liked anyone before, and came from that kind of family environment. That's completely normal. But this means, back then it might have just been one step short!"
Zhou Huo couldn't help but curse again. "Ji Yanhun is such a废物. If you two had been under my management back then, you might have already gotten your marriage certificate by now, damn it."
"Don't let it affect your emotions. I'm not intentionally rubbing salt in old wounds." Zhou Huo ground his teeth. "Two years wasted. I wonder if Shi Luo can truly let go. What do you mean? Do you want to leave it as a youthful memory, never to be mentioned again? Or... try again?"
On the other end of the line, Yu Sui said quietly, "...How could I not try."
Zhou Huo felt a pang in his chest. "Damn it. What a mess."
"But it's also good news. Maybe there's still time." Shi Luo emerged from the base entrance. Zhou Huo said hastily, "I'll hang up. He's coming down."
Zhou Huo composed himself and got out of the car to help Shi Luo with his suitcase.
On the way back to the Free base, Shi Luo actually fell asleep. Zhou Huo, on the other hand, was on the phone with the operations department for the entire drive.
After Ji Yanhun self-deleted several posts, his Weibo account was bombed by countless people. Ji Yanhun didn't respond to any of it. Those who had trolled Yu Sui for years, demanding Ji Yanhun come out and expose him, started to panic.
Consequently, the former FS management also stopped responding to any questions positively. When pressed, they all said they didn't know or it wasn't convenient to say. The trolls were losing their footing more and more. Free's operations department officially stepped onto the field. With thorough preparation, they began debunking every accusation against Yu Sui one by one.
The most critical issue—and the one that had been hardest to clarify over the years—was where the sky-high transfer fees for the five FS players had actually gone.
Free's operations department directly posted data exported from Tianyan along with other verifiable information available online. Before the five players were transferred, there were many assets under the name of Ji Yanhun's current father-in-law that were experiencing operational difficulties. The data showed clearly—it was a huge financial hole.
And after the transfer of the five players, the last company under Ji Yanhun's father-in-law was miraculously preserved.
This alone couldn't definitively pin the blame on Ji Yanhun, but it coincidentally matched perfectly with Ji Yanhun's Weibo post that evening and his claim about FS management's financial problems.
The images Ji Yanhun had already deleted were preserved by Free and notarized. They were indeed the contracts from back then, with clearly stated contract terms. The five players had signed for different lengths of time, but now they had all regained their freedom at the same time. The only possibility was that the players had bought out their own contracts—which directly contradicted the earlier rumor that Yu Sui had sold the team.
Yu Sui wasn't FS management at all. He still had two years on his contract held by Ji Yanhun. How could he possibly have sold anyone else's contract?
Countless more details were dug out by players below. For instance, the full story behind Yu Sui's stomach bleeding incident. Like how Shi Luo had clearly been bound by a five-year contract just before, yet somehow became a free agent. Or how Puppy's contract had been expired for two years now—if he had really been coerced by Yu Sui, why did he come to Yu Sui's newly formed Free team after his contract ended?
Naturally, this still couldn't completely clear everything up. Free's operations department finally released the surveillance video—a decisive finishing blow.
In the surveillance video, right and wrong were laid out as clearly as possible.
After the video was uploaded, those who had trolled Yu Sui gradually fell silent. Less than an hour later, Ji Yanhun cleared his entire Weibo account, not a single post remaining.
After an entire night of twists and turns, it was finally concluded. There was nothing more to argue about.
Just as dawn was breaking, Zhou Huo and Shi Luo finally returned to the Free base. The remaining members, none of whom had slept, were still in the conference room.
Fan Huo stared at his phone, sighing in admiration. He gave Zhou Huo a thumbs up. "Professional. Just professional."
Puppy shook his head and sighed. "Putting the surveillance video out last was definitely the most powerful move. It completely destroyed Ji Yanhun. He even cleared his Moments."
Zhou Huo had been exhausted all night and didn't have time to claim credit. "As long as it's clarified, that's all that matters. Which forums still have the most doubt? I'll contact the moderators to handle it. We can issue warnings for defamation."
"There's nothing left." Old Qiao couldn't bear to look and closed the surveillance video. "Did I really yell that much? Watching that video myself is so embarrassing, but everyone's praising me. My Weibo followers increased by over a million overnight. Eh, whatever. It was worth it."
"That's good." Zhou Huo looked at Yu Sui. "What are you busy with? I saw your phone screen earlier—wasn't it to contact headquarters?"
"Recovering my old FS account. Nothing major." Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo. "Did everyone... move back?"
Shi Luo's gaze avoided Yu Sui's. "Yeah."
Zhou Huo slumped into a chair. "Really no hot posts left that need clarification?"
"None. Almost everything has flipped." Yu Sui casually scrolled through posts on Zhou Huo's laptop. "Including yesterday's hottest thread. It's now the top trending post, and it's... about someone else now."
Yu Sui reopened the thread he had pulled up on the projector last night:
Last night's top-trending post on a certain forum: [Whisper, the "Three-Timing Sellout," assembled his own team which qualified today. In the final match he personally eliminated his former team FS. What do you think?]
Top comment:
As an old fan of Whisper, I have a few things to say.
I'm not a championship fan, nor a fangirl. I'm male, a pure-blooded otaku. I've been playing FOG since the open beta. I love this game. And when I first got into loving this game, I simply knew there was a player who played Medic very well.
The Whisper back then wasn't yet "God Yu," wasn't yet the champion Medic, hadn't gone pro yet. But many players already knew him, because he was the first player to reach Rank 1 in the country playing the Medic class after the game's open beta. I learned my Medic by watching Whisper's videos back then.
I'm one of the earlier fans. I watched Whisper make a stunning debut at 15. Watched him dominate Rank 1 consecutively. Watched him be brought into Blade Club by God Ji. Watched him get scammed by his former team because he was too naive. Watched him leave with God Ji to build a new club. Watched him become captain at 16. Watched him get better and better year by year. Watched his teammates join FS one by one. Watched him lead the team to the World Championship. Watched him stand at the pinnacle of the league.
Then watched him fall from the highest point.
When the scandal broke, we old fans were mocked and cursed at, caught off guard. We didn't know how to fight back.
It was too sudden.
The one who really went to the European league was him. The one who really broke the team was him. The one who really sold God Shi was him.
Many fans switched to hating him. The remaining fans didn't know what to say.
But I always felt like the captain I'd watched grow up from 15 shouldn't be this kind of person.
The facts prove he really isn't.
Whisper's individual skill is genuinely strong—undeniable. He just had terrible luck with teams. Both owners he encountered were garbage.
He does have some faults. For instance, his choice of club when entering the pro league wasn't careful enough. For instance, he trusted too much in the captain who brought him into the league. But is this kind of mistake really that monstrous?
After being sabotaged from top to bottom by his former captain, he still managed to smoothly send Little God Shi to NSN, keep God Qiao—who already had hand injuries—in the country, and ensure Fan Huo and Puppy could return to China smoothly two years later. After doing all that, isn't that enough?
I don't know if anyone still remembers that when arranging all of this, Whisper had just turned 19.
He wasn't a child anymore, of course. But he was only nineteen.
I know all of you at nineteen were probably killing it in life,指点江山, never making a single mistake. Sorry, but looking back at myself at nineteen, I was still a stupid kid. So I can't imagine how he got through that back then.
I started playing this game when it went into open beta, playing with my college roommates every day. Later, we graduated, went our separate ways, started families and careers. We played less. Sometimes on Sundays when I wasn't加班, I'd relax and play a couple rounds.
I偶然知道了这个消息，偶然触动往事，偶然有点唏嘘而已。
I've known Whisper since he was 15, when I just started my sophomore year and he just joined Blade.
Later, God Yu went to Germany, his reputation destroyed. I graduated, went to work, uninstalled the game. Over the years I paid less attention to the game. I never expected that the youngest captain in the entire league at 16 would have gone through so much.
When I saw this topic, suddenly saw this name, not coming in to write something felt like I'd be letting my youth down.
——————————————————
I seem to have gotten a bit off-topic. Thanks for the invite. The answer is at the end. Whisper has formed his own team. What do you think?
My formal answer: What do I think? I use my damn eyes to think.
As long as he plays one more day, I'll watch one more day.
——————————————————
While writing this section, I re-downloaded the game in the background. Just logged into my account from two years ago. Assassin-stream Medic. Using the same skin, the same gear as Whisper back then.
Two years apart, but the blade in the Medic's hand is still as sharp as ever. Still shining bright.
——————————————————
The others saw the post too. For a moment, no one spoke.
Fan Huo gritted his teeth. "Damn it. We finally got this day."
"Timing is perfect. Should we officially announce Shi Luo's transfer?" Zhou Huo looked at Shi Luo. "Can we do it now?"
Shi Luo nodded. Zhou Huo looked at Yu Sui again. Yu Sui said, "Sure. Headquarters just sent me back the accounts that were previously reclaimed by the league officials from you guys. They've already updated the team names for you. I sent them to you. Remember to change your passwords."
Everyone received their old accounts.
Shi Luo picked up his phone and looked at his old account number. His eyes flickered slightly.
Old Qiao's eyes were red. He stood up and said, "Since we're already awake anyway, let's boot up! Change passwords."
In the early dawn light, on the Chinese FOG server, an endless stream of system notifications appeared on the interfaces of old players who had once followed the FS team.
The system notifications were so old that many veteran players even thought they were hallucinating from staying up all night playing.
System notification: Your specially followed player Free-Qiao has come online. It has been 673 days since this player's last login.
System notification: Your specially followed player Free-Puppy has come online. It has been 689 days since this player's last login.
System notification: Your specially followed player Free-Fire has come online. It has been 645 days since this player's last login.
System notification: Your specially followed player Free-Luo has come online. It has been 757 days since this player's last login.
System notification: Your specially followed player Free-Whisper has come online. It has been 757 days since this player's last login.