Full-time master: I have a spirit behind me.

"Did Zhang Xinjie leave early yesterday? You don't seem to be in the last photo we took," Chu Yunxiu asked, looking up as she scrolled through her phone.

“Yes, I left at eleven o’clock.” Zhang Xinjie nodded: “I almost missed my bedtime.”

"He doesn't fit in, he doesn't fit in!" Fang Rui said in anguish, skillfully stirring up trouble, "Let's all ostracize him!"

"Don't speak so soon." Zhang Jiale sipped his breakfast milk: "Let's see who the team commander is for the last team match. If it's not Zhang Xinjie, then we can stir things up."

“…That’s true.” Fang Rui paused for a moment, nodded, and solemnly said to Zhang Xinjie, “Pretend you didn’t hear what I just said.”

Zhang Xinjie nodded: "It's okay. If I were the team commander, I wouldn't have chosen you for the team competition."

……

The scene suddenly fell silent for a moment.

"I...I was just joking," Zhang Xinjie hesitated for a moment before adding.

“We knew, that’s why we remained silent,” Huang Shaotian said quickly. “Zhang Xinjie’s joke… what a niche thing to say…”

Zhang Xinjie sighed helplessly and continued reading from his notebook.

"Speaking of which, Ye Xiu and Xiao Shiqin were so slow today..." Fang Rui slumped onto the table, took out his phone and glanced at the time: "They came back two hours earlier or later than usual. Was there a traffic jam? Or did Ye Xiu get caught smoking at the venue?"

"It is indeed a bit slow." Yu Wenzhou frowned slightly. "They haven't replied to the messages we sent..."

"I haven't received a reply from my end either." Su Mucheng shook her phone, her brows furrowing slightly.

[I have a bad feeling.] This time, Su Muqiu didn't urge Li Wen to beat Ye Xiu up because Ye Xiu hadn't replied to Su Mucheng's message in time. He also had an uneasy feeling: [I feel something's wrong, Xiao Wen.]

"Wait a moment..."

“Crack.”

Before Li Wen could finish speaking, the door was pushed open.

Ye Xiu walked in with a calm expression, while Xiao Shiqin walked in with a gloomy face.

"What... what happened?" Yu Wenzhou asked calmly.

"You say it," Xiao Shiqin took a deep breath. "I'm afraid I won't be able to hold back my swearing."

Ye Xiu nodded and looked at everyone in the conference room: "Lord Grim has been banned."

"what?!"

Let's push the timeline back a little.

"I'm really curious about Captain Li's performance yesterday," Xiao Shiqin said with a smile as he sat in the lounge.

"As you can expect, this will be a very surprising number." Ye Xiu smiled. "This is only the result of two months. If there is more time, he can do even better."

"Tsk, let's not. You guys at Happy wouldn't really sell Lord Grim or Myriad Manifestations to Ember, would you? How are we supposed to compete next season if that happens..." Xiao Shiqin suddenly became a little nervous.

"I'm no longer a member of Team Happy, these are things the boss needs to consider." Ye Xiu smiled and shook his head.

"I heard you're going to take a position in the professional league, and that Happy specially refunded your shares. Is that true?" Xiao Shiqin asked with a hint of gossip.

"That's true... the data should be here." There was a knock on the door, and Ye Xiu stood up and opened it: "Brother Liu, did you come to deliver the data in person this time?"

Liu Xi, assistant to Chairman Feng Xianjun, is also a candidate for the next chairman of the Glory Professional League. This time, he is the representative of the China Professional League for the World Glory Invitational Tournament.

Liu Xi hesitated for a moment, then handed the file bag containing the data files to Ye Xiu: "Xiao Ye, Xiao Xiao, besides the data, there's also a notice/announcement here."

"Announcement?" Ye Xiu took it with some confusion and handed the data file to Xiao Shiqin.

"Let me take a look at Captain Li's average stats from the last game, guess what it is..." Xiao Shiqin smiled as he took the stats, but soon noticed that Ye Xiu's smile was gradually disappearing: "He's just bypassing us?"

"Yes, after yesterday's game, the US team, together with the team leaders of other countries, filed an appeal. This morning, an emergency meeting was held, and after much effort, this is the only result we have achieved."

"What's wrong? What is it?" Xiao Shiqin leaned over and quickly looked at the text of the announcement. When he saw that one sentence, his eyes widened: "Damn it, why?!"

"Fundamentally speaking, although it wasn't explicitly stated, our actions were not in compliance with regulations. After Xiao Ye's retirement, the ownership of the Lord Grim account remained vacant and did not belong to Li Wen."

Furthermore, judging from the example text of the professional requirements, the scope of the specified professions includes existing professions and does not include unemployed accounts like "casual players." Liu Xi was somewhat troubled: "These are all things that are not explicitly restricted in the text; they are bugs in the regulations. If the other party insists on this clause, there's nothing we can do."

"You've done the best you could." Ye Xiu smiled, took out his cigarette case that he hadn't taken out in a long time, lit a cigarette, and took a long drag: "At least, you've secured your results from the last round."

"The American team leader strongly demanded at the previous meeting that the referee cancel the previous round's results and suspend Li, but Chairman Feng scolded him back. However, the other party stuck to the previous two points and refused to budge, so this was the final decision." Liu Xi shook his head with a wry smile.

"That's good enough." Ye Xiu smiled. "Don't worry, even so, we will definitely win."

……

The Chinese team's meeting room fell silent. They hadn't expected the other side to start from this point and directly ban a random player account that shouldn't have appeared, based on the rules.

"Damn it, are you trying to punish someone without warning?" Sun Xiang slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "The rules don't say it's allowed, but they don't say it's not allowed either, right? What gives them the right to do this!"

“There’s no point in arguing about this now.” Sun Zheping glanced at the announcement: “Is this the announcement that’s confirmed to be sent out tomorrow?”

"Yes, we've already started drafting the proposal." Ye Xiu nodded. "The situation is beyond change. Now, all we need to do is figure out how to fight the next match."

Silence fell again in the meeting room, a sense of frustration filling the entire space. Sun Xiang grumbled as he sat down, muttering things like "What a coward, I'm just scared," which was ultimately just a way to vent his frustration.

Although the other party's behavior was somewhat despicable, it was beyond reproach in terms of the rules, because it was indeed a loophole.

"Ye Xiu is right," Xiao Shiqin said with a smile. "What, without Lord Grim, you've lost all your confidence?"

“This clumsy attempt at provocation won’t work,” Sun Zheping sneered. “They’ve only escaped the most humiliating way to die.”

"Your attempt to provoke Sun Xiang won't fool him, okay?" Fang Rui muttered. "So, what's the plan for the next round?" "It's not necessarily all bad," Li Wen said with a smile, looking away from the draft announcement.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Wang Jiexi looked at Li Wen.

"First, judging from the timing, the earliest they did this was after yesterday's match, during the post-match handshake," Li Wen said. "And judging from the handshake itself, at the very least, Dominic is extremely looking forward to facing Lord Grim again. As the team leader of the US team, and also the manager of Dominic Harrison's team, the US team leader couldn't possibly be unaware of Dominic's personality. Besides, they are purely managers..."

"So...their actions were done behind the backs of the American team, or at least Dominic?" Chu Yunxiu frowned. "But this..."

“To counter Lord Grim’s targeting, we need to concentrate a significant amount of resources. If the American team leader tries to keep it from Dominic and the others…” Yu Wenzhou’s lips curled up.

"Furthermore, since they don't understand Glory, their actions against Lord Grim will continue, right?" Zhang Jiale couldn't help but laugh.

"Although they caught the chicken, they've lost all the rice bags." Huang Shaotian sneered, "That's really good news. Their plans have already collapsed a large part before the fighting even started."

“Xiao Wen’s idea is good and makes a lot of sense, but it’s not something that can be used as a ceremonial procession. At most, it can be considered a pleasant surprise.” Zhang Xinjie pushed up his glasses.

“That’s right… So, let’s talk about how we’re going to teach them a lesson in the next match.” Sun Xiang took a deep breath and grinned. “I’ve already figured out how to slap them in the face after the game.”

"Very well, then, let's begin..."

……

"Where's the data?" For once, Dominic asked as soon as the team leader returned, sitting in the hotel lobby.

The hairs on the back of the team leader's neck stood on end, then slowly subsided, and he said with a smile, "Ah, here it is!"

"Yeah, thanks for your hard work," Dominic said casually, took the documents, and started reading them.

Peak APM: 649...

Dominic's expression was filled with excitement; perhaps he had found something truly interesting. If the other person could use it, so could he, and Dominic was even confident he could do it better.

But now, what's even more interesting is how to completely defeat him.

Having seen the data he wanted, Dominic nodded in satisfaction. He looked up and saw the US team leader still standing there, and frowned: "What's wrong? Is there something else?"

"No, that's all." The team leader hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. He couldn't say that now; if he did, Dominic would definitely go directly to the event organizers and demand that the existing announcement be canceled.

"Hmm." Dominic nodded and left the hall. Now, the focus should be on how to counter Lord Grim and develop tactics. Once they get rid of that troublesome Lord Grim, the Chinese team will be utterly vulnerable...

……

"If we're talking about the first place in the arena, we'll probably run straight into Dominic. With the map unclear, we should probably retreat for now. As for the others... Sun Xiang and Wang Jiexi, which of you two wants to go up?" Ye Xiu pondered for a moment before asking.

"For the first match..." Wang Jiexi frowned, "Let Sun Xiang handle it, and I'll take both of you."

"A battle mage duel, Sun Xiang, are you confident?" Ye Xiu nodded and turned to ask.

"Are you kidding me? Are you sure you can handle this?" Sun Xiang sneered. "Do you know that I, Sun Xiang, have never been inferior to anyone in my life?"

"You were blown up by Han Wenqing's Desert Lone Smoke," Fang Rui said in a low voice.

Sun Xiang blushed: "I hadn't grown up yet back then, so it doesn't count..."

"You were once crushed by Ye Xiu's Lord Grim," Zhang Jiale reminded him.

"That's a bug, you know? Bugs don't count, Lord Grim, who among you hasn't been wrecked!" Sun Xiang said angrily.

"You've been beaten by Xiao Wen's 'Knowing White and Guarding Black,' oh, and by 'Harmony with Light and Dust,' and Qiu Musu also beat you to a pulp," Huang Shaotian kindly reminded him.

“And Sun Zheping’s ‘Sleep Again This Summer’…” Chu Yunxiu said, resting her chin on her hand.

Everyone reminisced with great interest.

"Damn, we're teammates now, right? Teammates, okay?!" Sun Xiang blushed completely.

"Ahem, alright, alright," Ye Xiu said with a smile, then turned serious and asked, "At least two-thirds of your health, can you do that?"

“I will kill him!” Sun Xiang emphasized, then hesitated for a moment: “At least two-thirds…”

“Very good. So, next, Wang Jiexi, I need to take down Dominic completely from your position. You don’t need to worry about the team match. Focus on the arena match, defend the second match, and if possible, take down the second one and wear down the third one.” Ye Xiu looked at Wang Jiexi decisively.

"You've rested for so long, you're fine." Wang Jiexi didn't say anything else, just smiled and nodded.

"As for the finishing touches..." Ye Xiu looked at the other players who were looking at him expectantly, and finally looked at Zhou Zekai: "Little Zhou, it's up to you, okay?"

"Hmm." Zhou Zekai smiled. Unlike his usual calm demeanor, Zhou Zekai appeared highly motivated and even more aggressive today.

"Very good." Ye Xiu smiled.

The banning of Lord Grim did not cause anyone to feel down or lose their fighting spirit; on the contrary, it made them even stronger.

This was expected, wasn't it?
"The duo competition, 'Blossoming Flowers and Bloodstained Scenery,' is now in your hands," Ye Xiu said directly. "If anyone has any objections, please raise them as soon as possible."

"We won't compete with them this time." Yu Wenzhou smiled. "What about the others?"

"I'll pass on my part; their teamwork is much better," Tang Hao said calmly. "I have no objection to handing it over to them, but if you're handing it over to Fang Rui, you'll need to give me a reasonable explanation."

"Hey, you son of a bitch, are you never going to stop?" Fang Rui asked angrily, "Shouldn't we be united against a common enemy now?"

"Heh." Tang Hao sneered, "Aren't I just making this public?"

"Their relationship has gotten really good lately. I think it would be good to have Fang Rui play the Thief and Tang Hao play the Rogue," Yu Wenzhou said with a smile. "So, now for the final... team match, everyone, what are your thoughts?"

(End of this chapter)