Offside game

Since they couldn't go to ZTE anymore, Su Yi had no choice but to take Ji Feng to another relatively large internet cafe nearby—Boiling Point Internet Cafe.

Because Boiling Point Internet Cafe is farther from No. 3 Middle School and is located near No. 4 Middle School, Su Yi usually stays at Zhongxing and rarely comes here.

Boiling Point doesn't have a server map like Fengyun, probably because CS is only relatively popular here, not a scene where almost everyone plays. StarCraft remains a classic for many. Diablo II also has quite a few players. And some are playing the recently popular online game, Stone Age.

"Su Yi!"

Su Yi was surprised that someone called his name as soon as he arrived. Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw it was Lu Yang, the one he had previously humiliated. He remembered that Boiling Point was close to No. 4 Middle School, which was practically Lu Yang's territory. He had suffered a crushing defeat at Lu Yang's hands last time, and he wondered what Lu Yang was up to today.

“You’ve come here to have fun, huh? You’re not here to pick on our people, are you?” Lu Yang said as he walked up to Su Yi.

"Just came over to have some fun today. What's up? Is something wrong?" Su Yi raised his eyebrows and said somewhat impatiently, but in his heart he was thinking: Do you think everyone is as bored as you?

Seeing Su Yi's attitude, Lu Yang was also displeased and said, "Do you dare to compete with me again?"

I didn't expect him to be such an indomitable cockroach, always trying despite repeated defeats. Does he really think he's Saint Seiya? Su Yi smiled and asked, "How do you want to compete? The same three things as before?"

"No, this time I want to play CS with you." Lu Yang said to Su Yi, but he didn't see the panic he expected on Su Yi's face, so he continued, "I want to have a one-on-one match with you, best two out of three, I'll bet five hundred, are you in?"

Before Su Yi could answer, Ji Feng couldn't hold back any longer: "Hey, buddy, if you say he'll compare himself to my master, then he'll compare himself to you. Wouldn't all those Tom, Dick, and Harry be bothering my master?"

"Your master?" Lu Yang didn't react for a moment.

“Yes, he is my master.” Ji Feng pointed at Su Yi and said in a matter-of-fact manner, “How about this, you don’t have to compete with my master. I’ll compete with you first, best two out of three, five hundred yuan. If you beat me, then you have the right to compete with my master.”

Hearing Ji Feng say this, Su Yi found it quite interesting and watched from the side.

After processing Ji Feng's words, Lu Yang realized that it wasn't uncommon for people to seek out skilled gamers to teach them, addressing each other as master and apprentice. Therefore, Lu Yang wasn't particularly surprised. Hearing Ji Feng's words and considering that this person had proactively called Su Yi "master," he understood the skill gap between them was significant. Although he had lost to Su Yi in other games, CS was a relatively new game, and he hadn't heard of Su Yi being particularly good at it. He had practiced diligently for a long time, so he felt quite confident. Therefore, he readily agreed, saying, "Okay, then I'll play against you first. But do you have any money? Don't try to cheat if I win."

His estimate wasn't wrong. There was indeed a big gap between Ji Feng and Su Yi in CS. However, Lu Yang was making his prediction based on Su Yi's previous level. He never expected that Su Yi's level would make such an amazing leap in such a short time due to the physical modification. Therefore, he was quite confident.

"What a joke, I can't even come up with five hundred yuan." Ji Feng took out a wallet from his pocket, pulled out five or six hundred-yuan bills, waved them in front of Lu Yang, and said, "Now you can rest assured."

Lu Yang looked at the banknotes as if they were already his, and said with satisfaction, "Alright, let's have a competition. What kind of map do you want?"

"In a one-on-one fight, Ice_world is the obvious choice," Ji Feng said dismissively.

"Okay, who will build the map?"

"Of course you built it." Ji Feng's words were quite ambiguous to others; judging from his mischievous expression, it seemed like he was doing it on purpose.

Lu Yang, lost in his fantasy of winning money, paid no attention to any of this. He sat down at his computer and started building a map.

Ji Feng also found a computer and sat down. To avoid suspicion, Su Yi simply stood behind him without saying a word. After playing a few games, he was quite confident in Ji Feng's skills. Besides, even if Ji Feng lost money, he believed he could win it back, so he wasn't worried.

Ice_world is a small and simple map, a close-quarters combat map. Bandits and police spawn on opposite sides of the map, and players can pick up various guns from the ground to engage in combat; the pace of the battle is very fast.

Su Yi was quite satisfied with Ji Feng's performance; he was skilled with long guns like the M4 and AK47, and his burst fire was very accurate. Lu Yang, on the other hand, clearly had extensive experience with the AK47, practically exclusively using it, and his chances of a headshot were also high. The two traded blows, showing a fairly even match.

Their best-of-three format meant that in each of the three rounds, the player would act as both a cop and a criminal 10 times, and the winner would be the one who killed the other player the most in each of the 20 battles in a round.

Ji Feng won the first game. In his complacency, Lu Yang, who unleashed his full potential, won the second game.

In the third and final game, Ji Feng changed his tactics, constantly circling around Lu Yang and rarely engaging him in close combat. As a result, his sneaky style of play finally won the game. This left Lu Yang extremely frustrated, forcing him to pull out five hundred yuan, muttering, "If you're so capable, don't hide."

Ji Feng smugly pocketed the money, saying, "A win is a win, don't be unconvinced. You couldn't even beat me, and you wanted to challenge my master? You wouldn't even know how you died." He was telling the truth, but Lu Yang didn't see it that way. He looked at Su Yi, wanting to challenge him again, but after checking his pockets, he realized he didn't have enough money. Finally, he stormed out of Boiling Point. This poor kid had another place to be heartbroken.

"Master, you taught those scoundrels a lesson today, and I also taught that arrogant brat a lesson. I haven't tarnished your reputation, have I?" Ji Feng said to Su Yi as if showing off a treasure.

When the two left ZTE, Ji Feng, who had just earned some money, wanted to treat Su Yi to a big meal. Su Yi declined, as he had many things to do.

But Ji Feng still didn't forget to ask Su Yi to teach him kung fu: "Master, you were amazing today, you're practically Bruce Lee reincarnated! Can you teach me kung fu too?" Seeing Su Yi's slightly thoughtful expression, he quickly added, "Don't worry, Master, I can endure hardship, I'll definitely learn it well."

"Okay, I'll go back and think about it carefully, and I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

Although Su Yi didn't agree immediately, this was still a good answer. Ji Feng figured he could use his persistent and manipulative skills to make his master agree even if he didn't agree tomorrow. So he didn't say anything more, and the two parted ways.

The next morning, Su Yi had fifteen seeds in his hand. These seeds were only the size of soybeans, dark green in color, with an uneven surface, and were not particularly noticeable.

Su Yi held a seed in his hand and, following the instructions in the Mother Nest's data, activated the manipulation technique, channeling energy into the seed. He felt his consciousness instantly connect with the seed as the energy circulated. A two-meter-long thorny whip appeared in his hand, moving at his will. He wielded the whip, and it seemed to be an extension of his body, moving at his will. He withdrew his consciousness; the energy had returned to his body. Looking at the whip again, it had shrunk to nothing.

As expected, the tools generated by the seed were the most convenient. Depending on one's consciousness, they could transform into various shapes, even living beings, but to reach that level, one needed a more advanced level of manipulation technique, which was beyond one's current capabilities.

That day, Ji Feng arrived at Su Yi's house wearing leather pants. Excitedly, he pulled Su Yi to the door to show him his motorcycle, a birthday present from his father this year. His father hadn't given him the keys yet, fearing it would interfere with his college entrance exams. Now that the exams were over, he could finally free his beloved motorcycle. As for wearing leather pants in the sweltering heat, his reason was: "Of course you have to wear leather pants to ride a motorcycle, that's cool!" He had specially asked his cousin in Beijing to send him these leather pants after receiving his birthday present.

"Master, can you teach me kung fu now?" Ji Feng suddenly remembered his business and looked at Su Yi expectantly.

Although he had already made up his mind, Su Yi still had to put on a serious face and say to him, "Ah Feng, you should know that my kung fu belongs to a very ancient school. Of course, I am also the only successor now. The old man who passed on the kung fu to me said that this kung fu cannot be passed on to just anyone." Sigh, in the end, he still had to use this rather clichéd explanation to coax the child. Su Yi felt a little guilty. He had forgotten that he was actually a few months younger than Ji Feng.

The mother nest must be kept absolutely secret, and after the transformation, one also possesses extraordinary abilities. These abilities cannot be kept hidden indefinitely, so a believable reason is needed. China has no shortage of extraordinary people and numerous seemingly plausible legends. Using such a reason is the most convincing way to gain trust and also maximizes secrecy.

"Don't worry, Master, I promise I won't tell anyone." Ji Feng was afraid that Su Yi would use this as an excuse not to teach him, so he quickly made a promise.

"I can agree to teach you, but you have to agree to a few conditions." Although he found it funny, Su Yi still had to continue playing the role of a master, and he also needed to give Ji Feng some constraints, after all, all powerful abilities are a double-edged sword.

“Great, Master. Don’t worry, as long as you teach me, I’ll agree to any request, let alone a few, even dozens.”