Chapter 14 Teammates

Xu Jingming ate his late-night snack with gusto, devouring rice, beef, and pork ribs. Li Miaomiao murmured beside him, "Five thousand combat power... I'm only over four hundred, not even a tenth of yours. It's so discouraging!"

"You're a genius singer." Xu Jingming glanced at Li Miaomiao and smiled. "I've been practicing martial arts since I was a kid. As the saying goes, *shù yè yǒu zhuān gōng* (every profession requires specialized knowledge)!"

"Stop being so smug. Hurry up and eat. After dinner, I'll take you to meet a great beauty," Li Miaomiao said.

"Who is it?" Xu Jingming asked as he ate.

"Xia country's number one goddess archer, Wang Yi!" Li Miaomiao said. "I've already contacted her for you. As long as you show her your combat power panel and invite her to join the team, it's almost a certainty."

"You've already contacted her?" Xu Jingming looked at his girlfriend with admiration. She was so quick.

Li Miaomiao urged, "Hurry up and eat."

"Okay." Xu Jingming ate quickly.

...

In the virtual world, Wang Yi's personal space.

"Wang Yi, hello." Xu Jingming stepped forward and shook hands.

"Gun Demon, you're too polite." Wang Yi shook his hand and smiled at Li Miaomiao. "Maomao, you said you'd find a team that would satisfy me."

Li Maomao sat there and pointed at Xu Jingming. "I've brought the captain of this team!"

"Oh?" Wang Yi looked at Xu Jingming curiously. "Gun Demon, are you so confident that you can invite me?"

"I've heard it all from Miaomiao. I know you want to find strong enough teammates to compete with teams from all over the world in the future." Xu Jingming directly displayed his personal combat power panel. "Do you think my strength is enough?"

Wang Yi looked at the personal combat power panel displayed by Xu Jingming. She was a little stunned at this sight.

"Advanced evolutionary method? Third-realm spear techniques? Five thousand combat power?" Wang Yi was a little dazed. The way she looked at Xu Jingming became fervent. "Xu Jingming, with your strength, as long as you make it public! A large group of experts will actively request to join your team."

"I like like-minded teammates." Xu Jingming said. "My other three teammates are all my best friends of many years! And I also know Wang Yi's character very well. You don't care about the huge signing bonuses offered by those large corporations, and you're famous for honoring your promises. I also need such teammates. I wonder if you're willing to join my team?"

"Gun Demon's invitation is my pleasure." Wang Yi smiled happily. "By the way, why didn't you invite Zhuang Ziyu? His archery skills are no less than mine."

"He already has a fixed team. There's no need to break up his team," Xu Jingming said. "Besides, you're Miaomiao's friend, and I believe in Miaomiao's judgment of people."

"Maomao." Wang Yi hugged Li Miaomiao. "You're really my lucky star."

"Hey, hey, hey, it's too early to be happy now," Li Miaomiao said. "You still have to meet the other three teammates, and some team matters have to be confirmed."

"Confirm them quickly," Wang Yi said immediately.

A moment later...

Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, and Liu Chongyuan also arrived at Wang Yi's personal space.

"Let me introduce you. This is our team's sharpshooter, Wang Yi." Xu Jingming said with a smile. The three of them were a little surprised.

"Lao Xu, are you serious?" Heng Fang looked at Xu Jingming and then at Wang Yi.

Wang Yi smiled at the three of them. "In the future, I'll have to rely on the three of you to take care of me, protecting this squishy archer."

"Awesome, so awesome." Liu Chongyuan looked at this scene in surprise and gave a thumbs up. "Lao Xu, you're too awesome. You were actually able to invite the strongest goddess archer. Our team is going to be successful."

"It should be my honor to join the team." Wang Yi said, "With the captain's strength, you can choose four ordinary players and still be successful."

"Hmm?"

Yang Qingshuo, Heng Fang, and Liu Chongyuan all looked at Xu Jingming.

"The Firestarter Cup competition is about to start. Let's first understand everyone's current strength." Xu Jingming said calmly. "As the captain, I'll be the first to reveal mine. But everyone remember... this is a team secret. Don't spread it."

With that, Xu Jingming displayed his personal combat power panel.

"Third-realm spear techniques? Advanced evolutionary method?" Yang Qingshuo blinked. "Brother Xu... a thick thigh, a really thick thigh."

"Too awesome." Liu Chongyuan was also a little shocked.

"Five thousand combat power? I'm only over two thousand." Heng Fang was a little dazed. "Lao Xu, you're too ferocious."

"My strength is not considered strong yet. I'm still far from Master Liu Hai and Senior Lei Yunfang." Xu Jingming said, "But my teammates are stronger than their teammates! I believe that the five of us working together have a chance to win the Firestarter Cup competition."

"Champion!" The eyes of Wang Yi, Yang Qingshuo, Heng Fang, and Liu Chongyuan all changed.

"I thought it would be good to be in the top ten before." Liu Chongyuan couldn't help but mutter, "Now I feel like we have a chance to aim for first place."

"It's just a chance." Xu Jingming said, "Everyone, don't be too complacent. After all, on the surface, only Master Liu Hai, Lei Yunfang, and Zhou Yi have reached the third realm in combat techniques. But I was able to break through, so maybe others can break through as well. We must be careful and cautious to go further."

"Listen to Lao Xu." Heng Fang nodded immediately.

"Brother Xu is always right." Yang Qingshuo complimented.

"A'Shuo, when did you become so good at flattering?" Liu Chongyuan muttered.

"If you reach the third realm, I'll flatter you too." Yang Qingshuo curled his lips.

Li Miaomiao, who was watching the harmonious atmosphere of the five-person team, smiled and said, "According to the Firestarter Cup competition rules, the bonus distribution ratio needs to be submitted during registration."

"Anything is fine with me," Wang Yi said. She didn't care about the bonus.

Before the virtual world was opened, she was already a national idol, and she had already earned a lot of money. After the virtual world was opened, she was one of the top three streamers in popularity on the viewing platform, and the rewards were even more numerous. She didn't care about the competition bonus. She only cared about being able to compete with increasingly stronger opponents.

"Listen to Lao Xu."

"Listen to Brother Xu."

Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, and Liu Chongyuan were all very straightforward.

"Then let's split it evenly," Xu Jingming said.

"No way." Wang Yi and the other four spoke almost at the same time.

Heng Fang stared at Xu Jingming. "Lao Xu, your strength is much higher than ours. You're worth more than the sum of the four of us. If we split it evenly... you're insulting us. We won't feel at ease taking it."

"Let us feel more at ease," Yang Qingshuo and Liu Chongyuan also looked at Xu Jingming.

Xu Jingming hesitated.

Among the five members of the team, the richest was naturally Wang Yi. He and Heng Fang had also achieved some results in the past and were not short of money. Liu Chongyuan and A'Shuo were much worse off. Xu Jingming still wanted to help his old friends.

"How about this? Let's divide it according to strength." Li Miaomiao said from the side. "Everyone else gets 16%, and the rest goes to Jingming."

Xu Jingming glanced at his friends. The difference between 16% and 20% was not too much, and he also had to consider his friends' self-esteem.

"We also need a substitute player," Xu Jingming said. "Let's split a little more from me for the substitute player."

"With the captain's strength, our team's substitute player is not important." Wang Yi said, "You can carry us all by yourself. We don't need a substitute."

Li Miaomiao raised her hand expectantly from the side. "Then can I be listed as a substitute player?"

Xu Jingming, Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, Liu Chongyuan, and Wang Yi all looked at Li Miaomiao and agreed.

"It's also very prestigious for a genius singer to be a substitute player," Heng Fang said.

"It's our honor for Sister-in-law to be a substitute," Yang Qingshuo said with a smile. Since he had earned money in the virtual world, he had no financial pressure, and his mother's illness had improved, Yang Qingshuo had become much more cheerful.

"Then that's it. Miaomiao is the substitute player and gets 6%. You four get 16%, and I'll get 30%," Xu Jingming said.

"We don't mind how much you give Maomao," Wang Yi said with a smile.

Xu Jingming didn't care.

In this era, strength is fundamental. The stronger you are, the more opportunities you have to make money!

"If no one has any objections, then it's settled," Xu Jingming nodded.

"Then next, we need to submit a team name during registration," Li Miaomiao said. "What should we call our team?"

"Team name?" The five of them began to think.

"Actually, we can accept group naming rights from a corporation," Li Miaomiao said. "I can arrange for a team to contact them, and we should be able to earn a naming fee. Everyone can share it then."

"Is that necessary?" Heng Fang looked at his teammates and shook his head. "I don't really want to use the names of those corporate groups."

"Let's forget it." Xu Jingming also rejected it. "Playing well in the competition and advancing one more place will increase the bonus by a lot. The champion's bonus even reaches 500 million."

Li Miaomiao nodded and said, "Then what name should we use for our team?"

"Team name..." The five of them hesitated.

"Coming up with a name is the most troublesome thing. I couldn't even come up with a name for my daughter after thinking about it for several months," Wang Yi shook her head. "You guys think about it."

"Why don't we use my song name?" Li Miaomiao blinked. "Like my most popular song—Lí Mù (Pear Wood), how about that?"

"Pear Wood Team?" Wang Yi immediately said happily, "I like this name. I've listened to Pear Wood on repeat countless times."

"Sister-in-law's song name has a lot of style. I agree," Yang Qingshuo said immediately.

"Me too," Liu Chongyuan said deliberately.

"Agreed." Heng Fang said immediately, "Sister-in-law is really amazing. She helped us solve another problem."

Li Miaomiao smiled. "I'm taking advantage of it. When our team becomes famous, everyone in the country will know about it. Even the whole world will know about it in the future... Wouldn't my songs become even more popular?"

Xu Jingming nodded. "The most basic registration matters have been confirmed. Is there anything else?"

"We need a team manager to be responsible for contacting the virtual officials. I can take on that role," Li Miaomiao said. "I can handle other minor matters. You guys can focus on playing the competition."

"That's right." Wang Yi said, "I promised all my fans that I would reveal my team at 8 p.m. tonight. Can our team make a public appearance then?"

Xu Jingming and the others looked at each other.

"Okay, after all, the Firestarter Cup competition is coming up soon. This will be the team's first appearance before the competition," Xu Jingming nodded.