LOL: What does it mean to torture players?

"No need. He can't kill me." Su Mo replied calmly, then quietly stopped in the grass. Two seconds later, Teemo's figure gradually faded, entering the stealth state of his passive ability, [Invisible Wings].

At 1 minute and 30 seconds, the entire army launched an attack.

The minion waves met in the center of the top lane. Fudge's Renekton swaggered out from under the turret, ready to finish off the first low-health melee minion with a basic attack. He figured Teemo would likely learn his E skill at level one to harass, and he only needed to last-hit the minion and then use the bushes to draw aggro.

However, just as the crocodile raised that crescent blade!

Suddenly, a crisp sound of a blowgun rang out from the bushes beside him.

"call out!"

Teemo emerged from stealth, gaining a significant attack speed boost. His basic attack, imbued with his E skill [Poison Shot], landed precisely on Renekton!

Immediately afterwards, Su Mo's fingers nimbly tapped on the keyboard. Teemo, like a nimble rabbit, maintained a maximum attack range of 500 yards while completing a flawless kiting attack.

"Crack! Crack!"

The third ring has been triggered! The vulnerable status of the strong attack has been displayed above the crocodile's head!

The potent poison, combined with the extra damage from the powerful attack, caused Fudge's health to drop by over a hundred points instantly.

"Fuck! Why is he in this bush?!" Fudge was startled and quickly used his Q skill [Tyrant's Strike] to scratch a minion to heal, then retreated awkwardly behind his own ranged minions.

"Incredibly subtle and skillful maneuvering!" Guan Zeyuan exclaimed from the commentary booth. "Mozi used Teemo's passive invisibility to gain absolute control of the lane early on. In this level 1 trade, Fudge suffered a huge loss; the Doran's Shield's healing couldn't keep up with the poison's damage!"

Su Mo sat in front of the computer with a calm expression, quietly controlling the minion wave. He would only step forward and fire a basic attack when the crocodile tried to get experience.

The game time has reached 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

The laning phase in the mid and bot lanes was progressing smoothly. Xiaoyue's Azir used his range advantage to keep C9's mid laner Blaber's Sylas pinned behind the minion wave; meanwhile, in the bot lane, Leave's Ezreal and Vamp's Karma were also making life difficult for C9's Xayah and Rakan duo with their frequent poke.

The director cut the camera to the jungle area.

C9's jungler Sejuani successfully reached level three after clearing her own red buff, blue buff, and gromp.

"Fudge, I'm up here. How's your rage?" the Sejuani player asked urgently in the voice chat. He had already reached the edge of the top lane river bush and activated his scanner to check for vision.

"Fifty rage points, just enough for a red-rage W!" Fudge gritted his teeth, staring intently at the bouncing Teemo on the screen. His health was currently around two-thirds thanks to Doran's Shield. "He's pushing too far; we have to kill him this wave!"

3 minutes 05 seconds.

As soon as they set off, danger was brewing.

Fudge, now at level three, had a ruthless glint in his eyes. He watched as Teemo moved slightly forward to finish off a siege minion, and without hesitation, he pressed the keys!

E Skill [Charge]!
The crocodile used an enemy melee minion as a springboard to instantly dash forward 450 yards!
In mid-air, Fudge decisively used Flash, aiming directly at Teemo's face. At the same time, his W skill, Ruthless Hunt, was activated, and his weapon glowed with a blinding red light!

"E-Flash-Red-Rage-W!! Fudge has made his move!!" Wawa roared excitedly, "The distance is too close, Teemo has no space to flash at all! As long as he gets controlled, and with Sejuani rushing out from the river, Teemo is doomed!"

C9's jungler Sejuani also emerged from the river at the same time, using her Q skill [Frostbite] to crash into Teemo's direction.

This was a long-planned decisive victory.

However, Su Mo didn't even blink when faced with this sudden, storm-like attack.

His left hand fingers remained hovering over the Q key the entire time.

Just as the crocodile landed with his E-flash and the red-rage W's stun was about to hit Teemo's head, in that minuscule split second!

Su Mo pressed down gently with his fingers.

"call out!"

A blinding blowgun shot out of Teemo's blowgun in a flash, hitting the crocodile right in the face!

"MISS!"

A white English letter floated above Teemo's head.

The entire audience, including everyone in the commentary booth, clearly witnessed an unbelievable scene: the crocodile's deadly red-rage W bit down hard on Teemo, but Teemo was not hurt at all, nor was he stunned!

League of Legends underlying mechanics: Teemo's blind will completely disable skills that include basic attack effects (such as Renekton's W), not only dealing no damage but also removing the stun effect!

"Blocked it!!! Not blocked it, blinded it!!!" Miller exclaimed, his voice trembling with excitement, "Brother Mozi used his Q skill the instant the crocodile flashed and landed, perfectly stealing the crocodile's red-rage W!"

Unaffected by the stun, Su Mo immediately activated his W skill, [Small Step Quick Run]. Teemo moved with lightning speed, executing a nimble right-angle move that caused Sejuani's Q skill, which was charging at him from the side, to miss its fluffy tail!

"Fuck?! How is this possible?!" Fudge's eyes widened as he looked at his wasted skills and Teemo rapidly creating distance, a crack appearing in his composure.

After averting a deadly crisis, Su Mo did not choose to flee back to the tower.

"Want to kill me?" A cold smile appeared on Su Mo's stern face as he rapidly clicked the mouse on the keyboard.

Counterattack!

Teemo turned around and landed a basic attack on the Renekton, who was now incredibly clumsy after using all his abilities, while simultaneously applying Ignite!
Intense true damage and venom raged wildly on the crocodile. Fudge was terrified; he had no mobility skills, no Flash, and could only sprint towards his own turret on his short legs.

Sejuani tried to use her W skill, Winter's Wrath, to slow Teemo and cover her teammates, but Su Mo's positioning was as precise as if he had a script, moving freely between the two whips and continuing to output crazy damage to Renekton.

"Stop chasing him, his damage is too high!" C9's jungler shouted in despair.

Fudge barely escaped back into the turret's attack range after losing most of his health. Meanwhile, the top and jungle duo, who were trying to gank, were relentlessly chased down and attacked by Teemo, who took down half the screen of their targets.

"One against two!! Without any counter-gank from the jungler, Mozi used his incredible reaction speed to blind the crocodile and forcefully pushed back C9's Ueno Zoo team!!" Guan Zeyuan gasped, "That reaction speed is inhuman!"

3 minutes 30 seconds.

The river crabs in the upper reaches of the river are refreshed on time.

Because C9's Ueno had just suffered a major loss up there, Sejuani's health was too low and she had to return to base. Chen's Maokai (the Great Treant) easily controlled this strategically valuable Rift Scuttler.

"Brother Mo, that last play was so cool! I was so stunned looking at the minimap while farming in the bottom lane." Ah Chen exclaimed sincerely in the voice chat. Su Mo picked up his cup and took a sip of water, his voice as gentle as ever: "It's just a standard counter mechanism. As long as you're focused enough, his E-flash animation will be full of openings."

The game time has reached 4 minutes and 20 seconds.

The pace of the game slowed down slightly. Xiao Yue's Azir steadily out-farmed Sylas by nearly ten CS in the mid lane and pushed the minion wave to the turret. In the bot lane, both sides traded blows before recalling to base to replenish their supplies.

For Fudge, the laning phase in the top lane has become a psychological torture.

Su Mo firmly controlled the minion wave on the side of the river closest to EDG's turret. This was a classic "frozen minion wave".

Fudge's crocodile had no Flash available and only half its health remained. If it dared to take even one step closer to the minion wave, Teemo, hiding at the edge of the bush, would immediately pop out and poke it twice with his teeth-grinding blow dart.

"How can he control the minion wave so perfectly..." Fudge bit his lip, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. He could barely gain experience now, his experience bar stuck on the edge of level four, while the enemy Teemo was about to reach level five.

4 minutes 45 seconds.

Fudge finally couldn't contain his anxiety. He glanced at his experience bar, which was only two minions away from leveling up to level five. Taking advantage of the fact that his Q skill was off cooldown, he tentatively took a step forward.

In that very instant.

A cold, sharp glint flashed in Su Mo's eyes.

Teemo activated his W skill for a speed boost, instantly bursting out of the bush. Without any unnecessary movements, he landed a basic attack, followed immediately by his Q skill, Blinding Dart, aimed straight at Renekton's face!

Fudge attempted to retreat using his E skill, but while blinded, his Q skill, which he used to whittle down Teemo's health, dealt negligible damage due to the level disadvantage.

Su Mo, like an extremely cold-blooded hunter, followed behind the crocodile, unleashing a basic attack with each step, perfectly staying outside the crocodile's attack range. The powerful attack was triggered again, and the crocodile's health bar instantly plummeted.

"Help me! I can't eat the line!" Fudge cried out in despair over the voice chat.

5 minutes and 00 seconds.

The first small dragon of the entire event—the Alchemy Technology Dragon—let out a deafening roar in the dragon pit in the lower river.

Meanwhile, Fudge, on the top lane, could only retreat to his own second tower with a humiliated expression and press the B key to recall.

He watched Teemo leisurely last-hitting minions in the lane, a thumbs-up emoticon even appearing above his head, and his pride was shattered.

"The gap in skill level is too big." Miller couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the data panel and saw that Teemo had almost double the CS of Renekton. "In the first five minutes of the laning phase, Mozi easily crushed C9's top laner's defenses both psychologically and physically. Next, with the first dragon spawning, C9 will be facing a top lane demon that is completely unmanageable."

5 minutes 00 seconds.

Accompanied by the deep roar of the alchemical dragon, the atmosphere in the lower half of the arena instantly became tense.

As a veteran powerhouse in North America, C9 immediately demonstrated their formidable tactical prowess. After a failed gank on top lane, their jungler Sejuani decisively abandoned the top side of the map and headed straight to the bottom lane. Combined with the early-game pushing power of the Xayah and Rakan duo, the three of them forcefully pushed the minion wave into EDG's bottom lane turret before immediately turning and heading towards the dragon pit.

"C9 made a very decisive move. They knew that the top laner had lost lane control and they had to get back in the bottom half of the map." Miller stared at the minimap, speaking rapidly. "Blaber's Sylas has also finished pushing the mid lane minion wave and is roaming towards the bottom river. C9 has gathered four players; they're determined to take this dragon!"

On the EDG team's stage, Chen's Maokai was crouching near his own blue buff, looking at the dark river with a furrowed brow: "Brother Mo, the bottom lane priority has been taken. Four of them are fighting the dragon, so it's not easy for me to take it."

Su Mo shifted his perspective to the lower river channel, his gaze calm as still water, and instantly calculated the difference in combat strength between the two sides in his mind.

"Let it go. Go farm the top half of the map and prepare to control the Herald for eight minutes." Su Mo's voice was gentle and calm, without any emotional fluctuation. "Xiao Yue, watch out for Sylas's flanking maneuver."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than C9 secured the first Alchemy Dragon. The North American fans in the arena erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

"Great! C9 didn't panic because of their disadvantage in the top lane. They successfully mitigated their losses by taking advantage of their mid and bot lanes!" Wawa shouted. "That's the resilience of a World Championship team. This match is definitely not a one-sided stomp!"

5 minutes 30 seconds.

As a wave of cannon minions on the top lane died, Su Mo's Teemo received a glow indicating he had leveled up.

Level 6!

At this moment, all players familiar with League of Legends know that Teemo has ushered in his true transformation - his ultimate ability [Plant Mushrooms] (planting invisible traps).

Fudge's Renekton had just respawned in the fountain and returned to lane. He bought Mercury's Treads and a Ruby Crystal, hoping to maximize his magic resistance and health. However, when he reached the lane, he discovered that Teemo, who had been pushing deep into the lane, was nowhere to be seen.

Not only were they gone, but the entire top lane minion wave was completely empty, with only a few minions attacking each other.

"He went back to the city?" Fudge asked doubtfully over the voice chat.

"I didn't see him recall. Be careful, he's reached level six," C9's jungler warned.

At this moment, Su Mo was controlling the furry Yordle, busy in a blind spot beyond God's perspective.

He didn't plant the mushrooms in the middle of the usual bushes or at the river entrance. For professional players, using a scanner to clear mushrooms from those common locations is practically standard practice.

Su Mo's mouse clicked with extreme precision on the blind spot of the wall where the minion waves met, the tiny gap at the edge of the turret's attack range, and the inevitable path of the pushback lane.

"Teemo's mushrooms aren't for blowing people up," Su Mo said with a faint smile. "They're for breaking down the opponent's psychological defenses."

6 minutes 30 seconds.

A sudden change has occurred in the mid lane!

Blaber's Sylas experienced a terrifying surge in combat power after reaching level six. He astutely spotted a tiny opening in Xiao Yue's Tsar's positioning.

"Watch my position!" Blaber shouted, and Sylas immediately used his ultimate ability, "The Way of the Man," to steal the Azir's ultimate!

Immediately afterwards, Sylas used the first part of his E skill [Stealth/Abduction] to close the distance, and the second part of his chain accurately hit Azir!
"C9's mid laner has made a move! Sylas is diving in!" Guan Zeyuan exclaimed.

Xiao Yue reacted extremely quickly, immediately using WEQ to drift back to the tower. But Blaber's hand speed was even faster; just before Azir took off, he decisively used Flash to follow up, and then unleashed the ultimate ability he had just stolen, [Imperial Wall]!
The golden sand soldiers lined up in a row, forcefully pushing the Tsar back towards the river!

Meanwhile, C9's jungler Sejuani had been waiting there for a long time. She used her Q skill [Arctic Assault] followed by her ultimate [Arctic Prison], and a huge block of ice accurately hit the pushed-back Azir, freezing him in place.

Under the combined control and burst damage from Sylas and Sejuani, Xiaoyue didn't even have time to use Flash before his health was instantly wiped out.

"First Blood!" (End of Chapter)