In the scorching summer, cicadas chirped noisily, and the air on the training ground seemed to twist from the high temperature.
Inside the Megakaryocyte Special Operations Group's lounge, the air conditioning was on full blast.
Several members who had just finished high-intensity training lay sprawled on the sofas.
Only their captain, Lu Mingyu, remained sitting upright in the corner.
His hands, which had been stained with countless gun smoke and blood and could precisely operate any sophisticated weapon, were now steadily holding a mobile phone.
The phone screen displayed the game interface of Peace Elite, with intense battle and continuous gunshots.
"Mingyu, you carried me to victory again!" A sweet and excited female voice, full of admiration, came from the phone.
A faint smile, one he hadn't even noticed himself, appeared at the corner of Lu Mingyu's mouth.
He controlled his game character.
The muzzle of the M416 spat fire, and every precise shot under the holographic sight landed directly on the enemy's head.
The gun in his hand was held as steady as a sea-stabilizing needle; recoil seemed non-existent.
"Wow! That quick scope headshot just now was too cool!" The girl named Naza exclaimed again through the headphones, her voice filled with adoration.
Lu Mingyu didn't speak; he just silently dropped the level 3 armor and level 3 helmet he had looted at her feet.
In this round, his kill count had already jumped to an alarming "30."
In the final circle, he was like a merciless war god, precisely taking out the last enemy with a flick shot.
The words "Great luck, eat chicken tonight" appeared on the screen.
Immediately after, another golden shimmering prompt box popped up.
"Congratulations, you have been promoted to the 'Invincible War God' rank!"
"Yay! We are the Invincible War God!" Naza's sweet laughter was like the freshest, sweetest iced watermelon juice on a summer day, instantly dispelling all of Lu Mingyu's fatigue and heat.
Listening to her laughter, Lu Mingyu's thoughts couldn't help but drift back a few months.
That was also an ordinary day off; he had rare free time, so he started a random squad match to pass the time.
His luck was good in that round; he picked up an AWM from an airdrop at the start.
Just as he found an excellent sniping spot and was about to set up his gun to start a massacre, a panicked female voice with a hint of crying suddenly came from his phone.
"Great God, save me!"
"I'm surrounded by four enemies in Z City!" The voice sounded pitiful, as if she was about to cry from being bullied.
Lu Mingyu glanced at the constantly flashing distress signal on the map, which wasn't very close to him.
He wasn't someone who liked to meddle, but the helplessness in that voice made him, by some strange impulse, put away his AWM and jump onto a motorcycle.
When he arrived at the small building in Z City like a whirlwind, the scene he saw made him want to laugh.
A game character wearing only a level 1 helmet and a little yellow duck outfit was holding a frying pan and trembling in a corner.
At the staircase, four well-equipped enemies were approaching step by step, clearly intending to toy with this poor prey.
Lu Mingyu didn't hesitate for a moment.
A precise quick-detonation grenade was thrown at the staircase, directly knocking down the two who rushed to the front.
A smoke grenade then blocked the vision of the remaining two.
He switched to the 98K on his back, pulled the bolt, aimed, and held his breath.
"Bang!"
"Bang!" After two crisp gunshots, the world was quiet.
The entire process was smooth and seamless, completed in no more than five seconds.
He walked to the little yellow duck still crouching in the corner and dropped a medical kit.
On the screen, the little yellow duck character with the name "Naza" above her head looked up at him blankly.
From then on, this girl stuck to Lu Mingyu like chewing gum.
Every day, she would wait for him to come online at the exact time, asking him in a sweet voice to teach her how to play the game.
A few days later, a CP binding invitation was sent.
Lu Mingyu looked at the pink heart-shaped application, hesitated for a moment, but still clicked to agree.
"Captain, who are you chatting with that makes you smile so happily?" The team member Li Xiaoniu had approached at some point, curiously peeking his head.
Lu Mingyu instantly suppressed his smile, returning to his usual stern demeanor.
"Nothing."
"Still saying nothing? We all heard it, it's a girl's voice!" Another team member, Zhou Chenguang, also squeezed over.
Wu Tianlong and Wang Yanbing also cast gossipy glances.
The entire Megakaryocyte Special Operations Group knew that their captain, Lu Mingyu, was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.
Normally, apart from training and missions, he had no interest in anything, let alone women.
Now, a girl's voice was coming from this block of ice's phone—this was huge news.
Lu Mingyu was surrounded by them, feeling a bit helpless, so he had to show them his phone screen.
"A CP in the game," he explained concisely.
The team members saw the CP symbol with maxed-out intimacy on the screen and the feminine name "Naza," and instantly erupted.
"Wow! Captain, you're in an online relationship!"
"Not bad, Captain, the iron tree has bloomed!" Li Xiaoniu was the boldest, directly snatching Lu Mingyu's phone and shouting into the microphone.
"Hello, hello, is this Sister Naza?"
"Hello, hello, we are the captain's teammates!" Gu Lina Zha on the other end of the phone was clearly startled by this sudden situation.
She paused for several seconds before softly saying, "Ah?"
"Sister Naza, let me tell you, our captain is super handsome."
"With sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, a high nose bridge, he's definitely a god-level male!" Zhou Chenguang also chimed in.
"That's right, and he has a super good physique!"
"Eight-pack abs and a V-line, looks thin in clothes and muscular without!" Wang Yanbing added.
"If you meet him in real life, you'll definitely hit the jackpot!" Wu Tianlong made the final summary.
Listening to the team members' continuous wild remarks, Lu Mingyu's face almost turned black.
He snatched back his phone and scolded in a low voice, "What nonsense are you talking about!"
Gu Lina Zha, through the headphones, after hearing the team members' undisguised praise, her breathing became a bit rapid.
She could imagine the scene on the other end of the phone: a group of tough guys surrounding their captain and egging him on.
The thought that the handsome and well-built man they spoke of was the Great God who had always played games with her made her cheeks burn intensely.
"Tha... that..." Gu Lina Zha's voice became stammering, with obvious embarrassment.
"I... I suddenly remembered I had something to do, so... so I'll go offline first!"
"Mingyu, bye-bye!"