The God-Tier Support is Carrying the Game - Chapter 2

At the Boteng City railway station, a suitcase dragged along the uneven ground. Occasionally hitting a pothole, the entire bag wobbled and swayed, emitting a rhythmic clatter-clatter as if protesting its owner’s lack of care.

The owner of the suitcase, Xu Qing, rubbed his eyes, feeling aches in his arms and legs. Traveling from Huashui City in the far south to Boteng City in the far north had taken over five hours by plane, followed by another hour and a half on the high-speed rail. Xu Qing felt like he needed to take his limbs apart and reassemble them.

Just outside the station, Xu Qing held a phone in one hand and dragged his luggage with the other. Finally, in a secluded alley, he found the private vehicle his dear young uncle had sent to pick him up.

His uncle, Lu Xinyu, was dressed in a sleek black biker suit and a black helmet. Seeing Xu Qing arrive, he took off his helmet with a cool, dashing flourish, swung a long leg over, and dismounted from a pink-and-white Aima ladies’ electric scooter.

Lu Xinyu approached enthusiastically and patted Xu Qing, giving him a powerful hug. “Long time no see, Xiao Qing!”

Xu Qing struggled to break free from the embrace. “If you keep hugging me, we may never see each other again.”

Lu Xinyu patted Xu Qing’s shoulder again, his face full of envy. “Xiao Qing, you must be 180 cm by now, right?”

Xu Qing replied, “187.”

Lu Xinyu sighed. “Must be nice.” Being stuck at 179 cm had always been a sore spot for him.

Xu Qing retorted, “Tell me how much you are missing, and I will saw it off for you right now.”

Lu Xinyu remarked, “That mouth of yours has absolutely zero relationship with your innocent looks.”

“And what does your little pink scooter have to do with a 179 cm tough guy like you?” Xu Qing shot back.

Knowing he could not out-talk Xu Qing, Lu Xinyu withdrew his gaze. The two of them spent a long time huddled around the pink ladies’ scooter, trying to figure out how it could successfully carry two men and a 20-inch suitcase.

The pair eventually wobbled their way to a rather remote restaurant.

Xu Qing looked at the establishment. “What, is Grandma planning a career change at 70 and opened a bistro?”

Lu Xinyu swatted at him. “If your mouth were half as sweet as your face, life would be easier.”

Xu Qing curled his lip, non-committal.

Lu Xinyu parked the scooter to one side. “The stir-fry here is great. I will buy a few dishes to take home; wait for me here.” He walked inside as he spoke.

Despite the fact they could have gone in together, Lu Xinyu insisted Xu Qing wait outside. Fortunately, Boteng City was much cooler than Huaihai City this month. Coupled with the evening breeze, it felt quite refreshing on his travel-weary brain.

Lu Xinyu had parked the little pink scooter next to a modified, incredibly cool black motorcycle. Xu Qing did not know much about specific motorcycle models, but comparing the two, the pink scooter looked like a little girl in kindergarten wearing pink plastic hair clips.

The motorcycle, including the helmet, was very stylish. It seemed to have a custom paint job; it was exquisite and sharp.

For a brief moment, Xu Qing raised his hand, tempted to touch it. Just as the thought arose, a voice rang out.

“You still dare move? Are you looking for a death wish?”

Xu Qing flinched at the sudden shout and reflexively looked toward the source of the sound.

In a dark alleyway beside the restaurant, several large green trash cans were visible where local eateries dumped their kitchen waste. A group of men holding clubs and sticks were surrounding a lone figure.

Against the fading glow of the summer sunset, Xu Qing could not clearly see the person’s face, only their silhouette.

The shout likely came from one of the thugs, as Xu Qing then heard the person in the middle, whose outline was well-proportioned, speak. The voice was cold and clear, showing no hint of panic despite being cornered.

“Move. Do not force my hand.”

Cool.

However, those words were as provocative as they were stylish.

Xu Qing tilted his head and settled into a spectating pose, leaning slightly back against the seat of the vehicle behind him.

The thugs were predictably enraged by the remark and charged forward with their weapons.

The cool guy in the middle raised a long leg, swinging it like a blade. With one swift motion, he knocked the weapon out of the hands of the leader, a portly fellow, and followed through by planting a foot squarely in the chest of a shorter man.

The kick was so beautiful that Xu Qing actually glanced around to see if there were cameras nearby, wondering if this was a scripted video for an influencer.

There were none.

This guy was purely, genuinely cool; even his shadow cast against the wall looked sharp.

Xu Qing did not get much more time to admire the scene. The wail of a police siren pierced through the narrow alley.

The thugs, already losing the fight, grew even more frantic at the sound.

“I am telling you, wait until you pay back the money!” They shouted a hollow threat, preparing to flee.

As they tried to scramble out of the alley, the cool guy blocked their path.

“I will say it one more time: go find whoever actually owes you money. If you come looking for me again, I will not mind beating you up again.”

His voice carried a lethal edge. The four thugs combined could not muster even a half-hearted retort. Once the cool guy stepped aside, they shoved past each other and scrambled away.

The man turned and walked out from the shadows of the alley into the light. Only then did Xu Qing see his face.

No, he was not just a cool guy; he was a top-tier cool guy.

He possessed the kind of handsomeness that was impossible to ignore even in a crowd. Fresh from the fight, his eyes still held a lingering ferocity. Scrapes on his forearms and forehead added a touch of wildness to his appearance.

The man walked toward Xu Qing and locked eyes with him.

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow. What? Was he being penalized just for watching?

Despite the thought, Xu Qing did not move an inch, remaining lazily leaned back.

The man stopped directly in front of Xu Qing. Because Xu Qing was currently leaning back, he appeared slightly shorter than the stranger.

A hint of impatience flickered in the man’s eyes. “Leaned on it long enough?”

Xu Qing blinked, momentarily failing to grasp the meaning behind the words. He did not move.

The man added, his words as sparse as gold. “My bike.”

Xu Qing reflexively looked back. He realized he was not leaning on Lu Xinyu’s kindergarten pink scooter, but rather the black motorcycle.

Xu Qing was speechless.

He had been so engrossed in the show that he had completely forgotten.

Xu Qing moved aside without a word. In his nearly two decades of life, he rarely felt this awkward.

The man did not waste any more words. He grabbed the helmet from the handlebars, snapped it onto his head, swung a long leg over the seat, and twisted the throttle.

With a roar, the stylish motorcycle sped away, carrying the man with it.

Ten minutes later, Lu Xinyu finally emerged sluggishly, carrying takeout containers and skewers wrapped in tinfoil.

Xu Qing stared at Lu Xinyu’s legs.

Under Xu Qing’s gaze, Lu Xinyu began to walk awkwardly, as if his legs were failing him. “What are you looking at?” he asked self-consciously.

Xu Qing smiled and nodded solemnly. “You really are short.”

A cry of indignant rage echoed through the alley. “Damn you, Xu Qing!”

Pei Shiyu rode his motorcycle, the familiar streetscapes of Boteng City blurring past him like the wind.

His phone rang. He answered via his Bluetooth headset, and an anxious female voice crackled through the line.

“Shiyu, are you okay? They said they went to find you. How are you? Are you hurt?”

Pei Shiyu’s expression, hidden beneath his helmet, remained unchanged. Approaching a red light, he braked sharply. The lingering roar of the motorcycle’s inertia hummed in the air.

His tone was flat. “Next time, do not put my name down as a guarantor.”

Without waiting for an explanation, he hung up.

When Pei Shiyu returned to the e-sports hotel, Wan Yi and Wan Li were already seated in their gaming chairs, waiting for him. They were stunned to see the injuries on his face. Wan Yi immediately blurted out, “Captain, is your identity as a mob boss finally impossible to hide? Which territory did you go to seize this time?”

Without even turning his head, Wan Li accurately slapped the back of Wan Yi’s head.

Wan Yi shielded his head. “Why did you hit me?”

Wan Li replied, “Can you try having more than one thought in that brain of yours?”

The ferocity on Pei Shiyu’s face dissipated significantly. He set his helmet down and sat in the chair next to Wan Yi.

“Is everyone here?” Pei Shiyu asked.

Wan Yi replied, “Qian Duoduo is here. Yu Shuai is not yet.”

Pei Shiyu checked the time. There were fifteen minutes left before their team’s first city round-robin match was set to begin.

Pei Shiyu said, “Hurry Yu Shuai up.”

Their team, “Team Dawn,” currently had five members:

• Jungler: Pei Shiyu
• Marksman: Wan Yi
• Mid Lane: Wan Li
• Top Lane: Qi Dongqiang
• Support: Yu Shuai

Though they were a team, only Pei Shiyu, Wan Yi, and Wan Li were currently offline at the team base; the other two trained remotely. They had no coach and no manager. Even their current club base was just Pei Shiyu’s renovated home. It was a small, broken team in the purest sense.

Team Dawn was a brand-new squad. On the Eternal team rankings, they were a name you would have to scroll through several pages to find, considering they had only been formed a few days ago. At best, they were a makeshift grassroots group of amateurs.

As for when they might actually play in the professional leagues, that seemed like a distant dream.

Today, Pei Shiyu and his team were set to play in the group round-robin of the city tournament. Only by qualifying in the city tournament could they advance to the national competition and eventually secure a spot in the professional league.

With three minutes left until the match, Wan Yi finally got through to Yu Shuai on the phone. “Yu Shuai, where are you? Are you not here yet?”

“I am here, I am here! Finally made it!”

After buying the stir-fry and skewers, Lu Xinyu and Xu Qing had gone to the market to buy some vegetables for Grandma. The little pink scooter, burdened by two grown men and a pile of groceries, had given up the ghost halfway.

Xu Qing and Lu Xinyu had taken turns pushing the scooter to the bottom of Grandma’s apartment building. They had then hauled the heavy bags up, their palms turning bright red from the strain of the handles.

Grandma had not seen Xu Qing in years. Seeing him, the wrinkles on her face blossomed into a smile of pure joy.

“You must be exhausted from the trip. Come in, wash your hands, and eat!”

Xu Qing looked around the modest apartment. It was clean and bright, and the furniture was arranged almost exactly as he remembered. The only difference was that his mother, who had once held his hand and brought him here, was no longer there.

Grandma looked at Lu Xinyu, who was rushing toward his room. “Lu Xinyu! Where are you going? Come eat!”

Lu Xinyu shouted back frantically as he ran, “Grandma, you and Xiao Qing eat first! I have something urgent to deal with.”

Grandma grumbled dissatisfiedly, “What big thing could he have? He is nearly 30, does not date, and spends all day clutching that phone playing games. Xiao Qing finally comes home, and he goes off to play games. Honestly, he is no role model for a younger relative!”

Seeing Grandma about to lose her temper, Xu Qing quickly coaxed her to start eating.

As Xu Qing nudged Grandma toward the table, he heard the familiar sound of a game starting from Lu Xinyu’s room: “Eternal Boundless,” followed immediately by Lu Xinyu’s shout: “Babies, your Yu Shuai has arrived!”

Looking at the avatar that appeared in the team list just in the nick of time, Pei Shiyu said calmly, “Let us begin.”

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