Chapter 31: The Eagle Strikes the Vast Sky—Activate!
Chapter 31: Hawkshot, Activate!
The two commentators, having witnessed the entire sequence, were left dumbfounded for a long moment before they could collect their thoughts. They had mentally prepared for ten thousand possibilities of how this gank might unfold, but they had never anticipated that Blitzcrank and Jarvan IV could coordinate with such seamless, unspoken synergy.
"I never imagined that Jarvan's E ability was merely a feint, and that Blitzcrank's Q was the real killing blow. Once Cho'Gath was hooked in, Jarvan followed up with a point-blank EQ knock-up, and the two worked together to secure the kill! This strategy is truly impossible to guard against! Shaqima has not stopped surprising us yet!" Guan Zeyuan praised incessantly.
Tong Xi nodded in agreement. "Exactly. This play required an incredibly high level of individual mechanical precision. Xun and Shaqima must have practiced this combo extensively in private to pull it off so perfectly."
Of course, had Xun heard this, he would have been completely bewildered. Before this, he and Cheng Xian had barely played a handful of practice games together; there had been no "private training" to speak of. Furthermore, Nofe had always given Cheng Xian free rein to practice his signature tricks in secret, and in this instance, Xun had simply trusted Cheng Xian’s call—had he hesitated for even a split second, they likely wouldn't have managed to execute the combo.
"Brother Xian, you're fierce! That prediction on the movement was insane!" Xun couldn't help but praise.
The top lane Cho'Gath had been killed twice, yet he was still finding ways to scrounge for farm. Cheng Xian, however, was not one to be outdone. He knew that if he didn't exert his influence on the map, the situation would become precarious.
He had over 1,300 gold in his pocket. He didn't hesitate; he navigated the Blitzcrank into a brush and recalled.
"Five-speed boots? This... is Shaqima already giving up on the laning phase?"
The commentators were stunned by his item choice. Buying these boots was a massive gamble. If the gank hadn't succeeded, it would have been a disguised weakening of his own laning advantage. But Shaqima had bought the boots, a Dark Seal, and two control wards, leaving not a single coin remaining.
"To be fair, I'm struggling to understand this play. Why would he risk so much? The power spike for 1,300 gold is too low. If this roam fails, isn't he just sabotaging himself?"
As the commentators debated, Cheng Xian was already focused on his next move. He knew that playing a Blitzcrank in a solo lane was a high-stakes bet—if you rolled the snowball, you could dominate, but if you failed, you were left with no room to retaliate.
He needed to do more. He had the boots, so he was here to make things happen.
"Hawkshot, activate!"
He mentally shouted the command. Within the system’s card slot, the skill card he had been hoarding slowly turned into dust. The fragmented skill card particles then rapidly condensed, forming the ethereal silhouette of the Frost Archer before him.
Ashe, clad in elegant, delicate azure magical robes, gripped her crystalline bow. Her exquisite, beautiful face was set with a slight furrow of her brows, eyes locked onto the distance. Her silver teeth clenched as she pulled the bowstring to a full moon.
Whoosh!
The bowstring vibrated with a hum as the arrow tore through the wind.
"Screech!" The silvery-white arrow transformed into a massive crystalline hawk, flapping its wings as it raced forward at high speed. The pure white feathers shedding from the hawk turned into shimmering motes of light, illuminating everything in its path.
At the same time, in the bottom lane, TheShy was happily poking the opponents. Suddenly, he was tagged by Rookie, and he immediately retorted, "Rookie is already trying his best to eat."
"You guys don't get it. Brother Xian buying five-speed boots is just to move into my heart faster," Wink, who had been silent in the bottom lane for a long time, finally spoke up.
"Brother Xian, you take the farm, you take it," Xun said as they pushed the lane together.
"It's fine, it's fine, we'll eat together. We're all good brothers," Cheng Xian replied.
"You can 'dirty' the lane, just push it through quickly," Cheng Xian said, though Xun still meticulously chipped each minion down to low health, a wide grin on his face.
+160 Gold!
The first turret plating was secured.
The sturdy stone mantle crumbled into a heap of debris, stripping away from the turret's hull. Cheng Xian didn't hold back, maneuvering his Blitzcrank to auto-attack and E, slamming his mechanical fists into the structure.
"That's for sure. You don't even look at who's piloting the Blitzcrank!" Cheng Xian didn't bother with false modesty.
The game continued, and the commentators remained baffled by his unconventional pathing. Yet, for the player known as Shaqima, one could never use the logic of an ordinary person to fathom his next move.