The next morning, Lu Lian arrived at the villa with breakfast. As he opened the door, he saw Lin Ao yawning lazily coming out of the bathroom.

 

Lin Ao's eyes were slightly red, showing signs of fatigue, and his hair was messy, as if he had just woken up. When he stretched lazily, a glimpse of his slim waist was revealed.

 

Lu Lian's gaze lingered on that fair strip for about half a second before he slowly raised his eyes and placed the breakfast on the table. He asked, "Why are you up so early?"

 

He always thought Lin Ao was a night owl.

 

Lin Ao was taken aback and hesitated before raising the two hands he had raised halfway in the air, "No, I was about to go to sleep."

 

Lu Lian: "..." So, Lin Ao's red eyes were due to staying up late, not waking up early.

 

Lin Ao's eyes fell on the breakfast, steaming pancakes and soy milk. He felt a little awkward, "Did you... specially come to bring me something to eat..."

 

Lu Lian noticed that Lin Ao seemed not very good at accepting others' kindness. Rather than being happy or grateful, he seemed more nervous.

 

However, this contrast to his usual self was quite interesting.

 

Lu Lian replied casually, "Afraid that you just arrived and don't know where to find good food. After your morning exercise, I brought some for you."

 

"Morning exercise?" Lin Ao looked at Lu Lian in shock, as if he was looking at someone from another world. "There are actually esports players in this world who get up early and exercise?!"

 

These two things, no matter which one, are incredible, let alone combined.

 

The fragrance of the pancakes filled Lin Ao's nostrils, making his stomach growl unconsciously.

 

Lin Ao's ears immediately turned red.

 

Lu Lian patted Lin Ao's shoulder comfortingly, "Eat while it's hot."

 

Lin Ao quickly turned away and reached for the breakfast. After taking a bite, he suddenly remembered to say, "Thank you."

 

After hesitating for a moment, he asked in a low voice, "Are you specifically here to bring me breakfast? Is there something else?"

 

"You're the captain; I wanted you to come with me to meet the new team members. But if you need to rest, we can do that later," Lu Lian said, looking at Lin Ao's red eyes, thinking that he should correct his sleep habits in the future.

 

Lin Ao played games all night, and his mind was a bit groggy. So when he heard Lu Lian's words, he took a few seconds to react, then stood up straight and opened his eyes wide.

 

He quickly turned around and saw that Lu Lian had already left the door. He hurriedly followed.

 

"Lu Lian!" Lin Ao caught up to him, panting.

 

"Hmm?" Lu Lian turned back, looking at Lin Ao bathed in the morning light. His eyes seemed to sparkle, making him look exceptionally attractive.

 

The golden sunlight danced on Lin Ao's fair face like an elf.

 

Lin Ao stared at Lu Lian, finding it hard to believe, "I'm the captain? When was this decided?"

 

Lu Lian said calmly, "From the beginning, as long as you agreed to join the team, you were the captain."

 

Hearing this, Lin Ao pursed his lips. Normally, he was very casual about everything, but now he suddenly turned serious, "Then I must go with you."

 

Lu Lian looked at Lin Ao's eager appearance and thought that the word "captain" had motivated him. It seemed that calling him captain was an effective way to make him more active.

 

Lu Lian looked at Lin Ao in surprise, and said hesitantly, "You fought all night..."

 

"It's okay, let's go." Seeing that Lu Lian was not moving, Lin Ao urged, "What if the new team member you choose is too good?"

 

He said this, but he was actually thinking in his heart that since he became the captain, he had to take responsibility.

 

Lu Lian looked at Lin Ao's anxious yelling, obviously he was concerned about this matter, obviously the word "Captain" was a booster, making him more active.

 

It seemed he didn't misjudge the person.

 

In fact, when it came to choosing the captain, Lu Lian and Hua Zhiheng had debated about it.

 

Hua Zhiheng believed that they should wait until the team was complete and then choose someone stable as the captain. Anyone would be better than Lin Ao.

 

Lu Lian, on the other hand, thought Lin Ao was the best choice.

 

The position of captain was like a whetstone. Whether Lin Ao would be sharpened into a sharper, more unstoppable knife or be worn down depended on his tenacity.

 

Now it seemed that Lin Ao was getting sharper and sharper.

 

"Get in the car," Lu Lian opened the car door with a smile.

 

On the way, Lin Ao kept staring at Lu Lian, looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated.

 

Lu Lian said, "If you have something to ask, just ask directly."

 

Lin Ao asked, "Why did you choose me as the captain?"

 

Lu Lian replied, "What do you think?"

 

Lin Ao didn't think much and said, "Because I'm super strong, so I'm the..."

 

He paused for a moment, looking at Lu Lian with a probing gaze, and then continued, "...so I'm the captain?"

 

Lu Lian smiled and didn't refute, but instead nodded along with Lin Ao's intention.

 

"Yes, you are super strong."

 

Lin Ao's expression immediately became like that of someone who had just won a big award at an annual meeting, extremely pleased with himself.

 

Lin Ao followed Lu Lian to ML's base. Because their abbreviation was the same as milliliter (ml), they were jokingly called the Milliliter team.

 

Although Lin Ao was only famous on Weibo, his Glasses allowed him to know quite a bit about the professional esports world. Therefore, when he saw Lu Lian going to the ML base, he guessed the purpose.

 

"Do you want to buy players from ML?" Lin Ao asked.

 

"Yes, but not as official members, only their reserve players," Lu Lian explained. "Now esports is a business, and some teams have resources to recruit good reserve players. However, the number of players who can participate in official matches is limited. Therefore, they adjust their lineup based on their team's situation and sell surplus reserve players or official players to other teams."

 

This was to ensure players had opportunities and didn't get stuck on the bench for their entire careers.

 

"Later, we'll play a game with them," Lu Lian said.

 

When Lin Ao heard that a battle was about to take place, he immediately regained his energy.

 

He can't wait to beat up his future new teammates.