"I agree!" Right at that moment, one of the investors raised his hand to show his support.

"I agree as well!" said another. "We'll take the risky measure. We might even be able to use this chance to gain some traction for the platform!"

"We have no other choice."

Seeing everyone agreeing, Wang Yuan's expression turned even more sinister as he announced with a sneer, "Alright, we'll start preparing to catch Panda Streaming off guard!"

…

7pm, Ye Lingchen prepared for his usual livestream. However, right at that moment, his phone rang.

"Y-God, bad news!"

The moment he answered the phone, Song Qian's voice could be heard coming from the other side, sounding anxious.

"What's the matter? Tell me slowly." Ye Lingchen frowned lightly. It was rare to see Song Qian so flustered.

"It's Huyu Streaming. Those people are shameless. They're collaborating with Sun Nation to stir up trouble!" Song Qian said through gritted teeth, feeling indignant.

"Collaborating with the Sun Nation? Are they giving up?" Ye Lingchen could not help but laugh. That was the typical example of courting with death. Everybody knew that China had a strong sense of nationalism.

"The Sun Nation's people are using Huyu's platform to challenge our Panda Streaming!" Song Qian said worryingly. "They're trying to take us down with their final struggle!"

"Challenge? On what?"

"On gaming. DOTA!" Song Qian was obviously terribly busy. "I've already contacted all the gaming hosts on our platform. The opponents are professional gamers from the Sun Nation. They claim that they're here to reclaim their honor for their last defeat in your hands."

"Oh?" Ye Lingchen chuckled. "It's just a game, right? No worries. I'll go have a look first."

"Y-God, these people—"

Doo, doo, doo…

Before Song Qian could finish, Ye Lingchen had ended the call. He did not start a livestream but instead went to Panda Streaming's mainpage. As expected, he saw a huge challenge banner from Huyu Streaming. In it were people flooding the comments.

At the same time, Huyu Streaming's mainpage was already pasted with a huge challenge banner stating, [Tonight is the final battle with Y-God. Do not cower if you are a man!]

That was as good as forcing his hands. Making a public challenge without any prior agreement. That was a low blow.

It was obvious Huyu made ample preparations for that day. This sort of news spread at a scary speed, with various media covering it. In an instant, the entire gaming community knew of it. Apart from that, the majority of the users in Huyu Streaming and Panda Streaming were following this incident. Needless to say, Y-God's fans were also on it.

Of course, there was also a big group of patriotic netizens. They first went over to Huyu Streaming to spew vitriol for collaborating with foreigners, then came over to Panda Streaming to cheer, hoping to fight for the glory of the country.

Weibo and the streaming platforms finally coalesced into one sentence. [Y-God, do you dare to fight?!]

That was purely a suicide attack!

If Ye Lingchen lost to the Sun Nation, then Y-God's undefeatable legend would be destroyed, greatly damaging his popularity.

After roughly understanding the story, Ye Lingchen remained calm and started his livestream as usual. As he expected, the entire stream went into a frenzy.

[Y-God, you're finally online. Have you seen the challenge? Are you answering the challenge tonight?]

[Y-God, you can do it. Go kick their *ss!]

[Seems we won't be listening to Study of the Three Kingdoms tonight. Y-God, I'll still support you!]

[Y-God, please listen to my advice and reject it this time. I heard that the Sun Nation sent over professional gamers specifically to pick on you!]

…

Ye Lingchen looked at the comments, then smiled calmly. "Worry not. Since they're coming for me, then I have only one message for them. If you want a fight, bring it on!"

[Domineering. 666666…]

[Hahaha, I can see Y-God play DOTA once again. I'm so excited!]

[Y-God, all the best. You're so cool. Ahhh, I want to have your babies…]

Of course, apart from those, several people were disappointed, thinking that Y-God jumped straight into a trap.

At Huyu Streaming's headquarters, a group of people was similarly swamped with work.

Right then, one of the workers hurried in and excitedly announced, "CEO Wang, Y-God accepted the challenge!"

"Wahaha, I knew he would take the challenge! This guy is just too prideful. This time, I must have him lose everything!" Wang Yuan's face turned scarlet. Just the thought of Y-God losing made his entire body shiver with excitement.

After that, he turned around to look at the five people standing beside him and announced, "Sirs, I'll leave the rest to you guys."

The five of them looked similar to Chinese people, but their stature was slightly smaller and their dressing was a little weird. They replied with a slightly off-standard Chinese accent, "Getting rid of him is like killing a chicken with a butcher knife."

"This is that Y-God that defeated our people from the Sun Nation? We'll have him lose a lot more thoroughly this time!"

"Sigh, to play DOTA with this type of people is a waste of my time and effort. There's almost no challenge. It's soiling my hands."

They were all extremely condescending and filled with confidence.

Meanwhile, Ye Lingchen was already shouting out in the host group chat. [Coold, Wu'er, 09, Love Letter. It's still the four of you. Team up with me.]

[Sure!]

Although the four of them had no confidence, they would not reject now that Ye Lingchen had called on them.

The five of them connected their microphones. Ye Lingchen could even hear the four of them breathing heavily due to anxiety.

[Alright, let's relax. Don't be so tense.] Ye Lingchen comforted them with a smile.

[Boss, this time our opponents are the professional gamers from Sun Nation. How can we not be nervous?] Love Letter laughed bitterly.

[Boss, I'm really scared. We're only considered professional gamers in our prime. Now we're just old retired players. The difference is huge,] 09 chimed in.

Whatever it was, once they reach the level of a professional athlete, then they must be at the top of their field. That was the recognition they had with their country!

As a professional gamer1, their overall attributes were much higher than any regular candidate. It was like an adult watching a kid, able to see through everything.

[Brother Y-God, I'm scared. I've never been a professional athlete. Why don't you swap me out? I'll only be holding you back,] Wu'er said weakly.

[Y-God, this time it's really serious. For Huyu Streaming to issue a challenge so brazenly while collaborating with the Sun Nation, I believe it's not as simple as it looks,] Coold added; her voice filled with fear.

[It's fine. Everyone just play as you normally would,] Ye Lingchen said calmly.

'Oh no. Why did Y-God accept this challenge so hastily?'

Song Qian almost broke down in tears. Even if he wanted to accept the challenge, he could have waited for another day or two and have someone investigate Huyu Streaming. It was better safe than sorry.

Rushing into a challenge like that—that was putting himself in an unfavorable situation!

However, he knew that he could not change anything at that point. He could only pray within his heart and hope that Y-God could create another miracle.

Under the eyes of countless viewers, the challenge platform was completed and they entered the game together…

—

職業選手 (Zhi Ye Xuan Shou) - Literally translated as "professional candidate", or commonly known as professional athletes. This term is used in all sports (including e-sports), hence the use of the term when referring to professional gamers. 選手 (Xuan Shou/candidate/participant) is a vague term that can be used in various contexts. In this case, the candidates are gamers instead of regular athletes.