Chapter 70: There’s No Need for a Combination at All

Another frustrating defensive combo—Bastion and Reinhardt—was squatting in the brush, and Bastion had already switched to sentry mode.

A torrential downpour of metallic bullets swept across the field.

Just like last time, in less than half a second, Widowmaker was dead before she could even react.

Ximen Qiong was so angry he wanted to smash his keyboard, but there was no keyboard for him to smash...

The next second, the Monkey King also fell.

There was nothing to be done; he’d chosen a poor hiding spot, closest to Widowmaker and therefore the most threatening.

"Multi-Kill!"

"Tick-tick-tick-ka-ka..."

No, this couldn’t go on. After suffering two quick losses, Jiangcheng’s team responded a bit faster this time. In less than a second, two teammates had died, and the remaining three leapt out of the brush, charging straight for the nearby Bastion.

Suddenly, Reinhardt stepped forward, shield raised, lowering his head and drawing back his hammer. With a roar and jets of steam blasting from his back, his arms swung wide as he let out a monstrous howl—an iron wall bearing down upon them.

The startled trio reacted swiftly.

Damo jumped to evade.

Yang Jian hurled his dog-head skill in anger, dodging aside.

Guan Yu... Guan Yu wanted to dodge too, but Red Hare didn’t leap high enough. In the end, Reinhardt struck him, pushing both horse and rider all the way across the river, stunning them against the wall on the other side.

Even Damo, who managed to dodge, was in bad shape—he’d jumped too high, sailing over the low wall by the river.

Torbjörn took the opportunity to unleash a volley, knocking him out of the air. Though it wasn’t fatal, it left him barely clinging to life.

The only one who successfully closed in on Bastion was Yang Jian.

But...this Yang Jian had no experience dealing with Bastion up close—he didn’t even understand how to jump and headshot. Even if he had, facing a cheat-level player like Alpha Girl, it might not have made a difference.

If he’d activated his ultimate to lifesteal, maybe he could have lasted half a second longer. Unfortunately, he went for a second dog-head strike, normal attack, and a futile finishing blow—then nothing more.

His second skill stunned Bastion, but at the same time, with Ye Chao’s minigun support, Bastion finished him off.

"Double Kill!"

"Tick-tick-ka-ka-ka..."

"Jiong Xiao Yi is on a rampage!"

Taking advantage of Bastion’s stun, Guan Junyuan controlled Damo to lunge forward at just the right moment.

However, across the river, Reinhardt let out a wild howl, spun around with a flaming strike, and with Ye Chao’s minigun added in...

Damo was knocked out before he could even reach Bastion.

The last surviving Guan Yu finally recovered, decisively activated his ultimate, and tried to spin in place to knock out Reinhardt. But the newly awakened Bastion turned its guns, and with a storm of bullets, finished off the already weakened Guan Yu.

"Groin Shot Kill!"

"Dead!"

"Jiong Xiao Yi is unstoppable!"

Another team wipe, all within ten seconds. The rocket from their Pharah, rushing in from the other side of the road, hadn’t even landed before the fight was over.

A familiar scene, but with completely different characters...

After two team fights, Bastion had four kills and Pharah five—both were outrageously fed.

Both reached level four. Pharah had bought a Rapid-Fire Rifle and Swift Boots—55% attack speed, 60 attack, 60 movement speed—a deadlier, faster, more mobile Pharah.

Bastion didn’t need speed—speed was useless anyway, as he was already at max. Instead, he bought a Corona and Shadow Ninja—more attack, more health, more movement, physical defense, and damage reduction, plus a 30% chance to cripple, which with his rate of fire meant a 100% chance to cripple.

At this point, never mind combos—even without coordination, as long as Bastion and Pharah weren’t instantly surrounded and killed, they could easily take on all five enemies.

“There’s a shop on the left side of the map where you can buy items...”

At 2:10, after two team wipes, Alpha Girl was forced to give a direct hint.

If this went on, it wouldn’t just be a slaughter—it would be a massacre.

There’s hope if you get beaten to a pulp, but if you’re turned into a corpse, there’s nothing left to play.

So there were tricks like this! Reluctantly, following Alpha Girl’s suggestion, they opened the system shop. All five, including Ye Chao, saw a whole new world!

But on closer inspection, that world had little to do with them—their pitiful gold wasn’t enough to buy even a starter item.

Whether in the real world or in the game, money ruled everything...

In short, this group didn’t know how to jungle, didn’t know how to push towers, didn’t know how to split lanes, didn’t know how to buy items... This was the first time Alpha Girl realized that someone playing a MOBA for the first time could be this hopelessly bad!

They were outstandingly, exceptionally terrible.

Let’s put it this way: when her Bastion and a gleeful Reinhardt pushed through turret fire all the way to the enemy base, their opponents had no idea about defending or recalling—some didn’t even realize why the game ended when their base was destroyed...

Alpha Girl had no choice; she genuinely feared these people would get turned into corpses.

But she had underestimated the resilience—or rather, the thickness of the skin—of the new generation of the Scourge.

“That last round doesn’t count.”

“Yeah, we didn’t even know the map.”

“Let’s at least play on a map we’re familiar with.”

So, it was the snow map.

Jiangcheng’s team believed that their humiliating, inexplicable defeat was due to unfamiliarity with the map and the mechanics. If they played on the snow map they’d studied, that wouldn't happen.

This was half true—the first half.

What they didn’t know was that, whether it was the map or the heroes, they were nowhere near familiar enough.

The second round: snow map.

The map changed, but both teams kept their heroes.

This instantly filled Jiangcheng’s team with confidence—this was a lineup proven strong in actual combat!

As soon as the match began, they grabbed their guns and rushed out—climbing onto roofs, scaling walls, dashing across the ground.

But just as they got into position, the opposing Pharah soared into the sky and unleashed a concussive blast, blowing two or three of them away.

But... this wasn’t the last map! Even though they were melee characters, they had guns and could shoot from a distance—dealing decent damage, too.

Several guns were raised at once—tat-tat-tat! Rat-tat-tat...

With their superhuman physique and combat instincts, these wasteland survivors could handle AKs like they were MP5s.

Pharah’s slender form shuddered under their hail of bullets—but it was useless, because this wasn’t an ordinary Pharah, this was a pocketed Pharah. Mercy was calmly tethered behind, her health bar shooting up.

When Pharah’s health got low or Widowmaker aimed in for the kill, Pharah would simply land, wait it out, and then take off again with full health.

As for Widowmaker, the map was small enough for her to dart everywhere, but Pharah’s concussive blasts knocked her back every time, preventing her from charging up for more than two seconds—never managing a clean kill...

Widowmaker was fragile, and with no healer, she soon got taken out by splash damage.

Jiangcheng’s team wasn’t about to give up, though. After suppressive fire, they tried to close in for melee, but...

"Wu-wu-wu..." "Tong-tong-tong..." "Tikka-tikka-di..." Bastion and Ye Chao’s miniguns set up in a corner of the map, firing automatically at anyone who appeared, a deadly metallic storm whittling them down to critical health—it was suicide to charge in head-on.

Even if they managed to break through...

There was Reinhardt’s howling, spinning sweep, and Pharah’s endless barrage of rockets waiting.

This wasn’t a battle; it was a slaughter.

Try to stand at range and return fire? Even worse—Reinhardt’s massive shield protected them from the front, and reinforced system walls protected from the back; the enemy was untouchable.

On the last map, Jiangcheng’s team never truly felt the terror of the rookie-repelling combo. Only now, on this “familiar” map, did they experience it in full.