Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
So absurd, so very absurd.
Because of a ridiculous contract that they had signed in the past, it was still biting them in the a*s after all this time.
Xu Pingyang had already taken so much from Luocheng’s hands, and it wasn’t just money that was involved…
Yet now, he still bared his fangs to bite them, intending to completely destroy them!
Luocheng sat on the sofa, his mind replaying all the images from the few years ago. After a long time, he finally calmed down.
Whether it was about accusing Pingyang’s sly and cunning behavior, or whether it was about him using this strange contract to destroy them, the most important thing right now was whether or not it would affect their game this Saturday!
***
In the afternoon the next day, Luocheng, Zhou Yan, Lin Dong, and Da Luo, had no choice but to head to the court.
There was a judge in charge of the proceedings, and when they entered the courtroom, they saw a young female judge.
At the same time, they also saw Xu Pingyang and his assistant, Sun Liang.
Sun Liang sat at the side whilst Pingyang grinned widely, revealing an unsightly row of yellow teeth that was due to long-term smoking.
His teeth were like an old person’s, the gap in between each tooth was obvious, and when he grinned, you couldn’t tell whether he was trying to imitate a ghost or not, and whether he had any disgusting motive behind it.
His hair was also a lost cause, probably due to that hard-working brain of his trying to figure out how to extort people for more money, he was practically bald.
“Long time no see, long time no see!” Pingyang greeted them with a face full of smiles.
“F*ck…” Da Luo glared fiercely, but before he could do anything, Luocheng was glaring at him instead.
This rash personality of Da Luo needed to be reigned in, this was a courtroom, any trouble they made here wouldn’t make any favourable impressions.
Before they had come, Da Luo had already exploded and blew off some steam. Seeing Pingyang’s face and his wide ugly smile just added oil to the fire, and he dearly wanted to just use his bare hands to strangle that thin neck of his!
Luocheng’s face was void of any expression, taking a seat where the judge had designated them.
The judge, seeing that both plaintiff and defendants had arrived, went ahead with the beginning of the proceedings.
The content of the charges weren’t that complicated, the judge outlined the main points of the contract, the most important one being the timing.
Xu Pingyang held the original contract and a copy in his hands, passing it to the judge and stating the facts of the case presented.
Pingyang seemed to have prepared everything for the case, and clearing his throat, he said, “Four years ago, our club signed a contract with the four of them. The contract stated that the club would pay them a salary of 1,500 RMB a month…”
“The subsidiary conditions were that once a player leaves the club, he will not join any other clubs or teams nor form a competitive relationship with the club, failing which the club has the right to have the player withdraw from the competition.”
“The term is five years!”
As soon as Pingyang finished his statement, Da Luo couldn’t stand it, standing up and pointing his finger at him, “What nonsense! When we signed, it clearly stated two years, not five! You changed the contract!”
“Order!” The judge said sharply, clearly annoyed.
Da Luo took a deep breath.
The judge projected the contract onto the screen, circling the important point before saying, “Now, the defendant has stated that the contract was modified. The timeline was supposed to be for two years, please show your evidence to support this claim or any other witnesses.”
The moment the contract was raised, Luocheng and the others went silent.
Pingyang saw this and his face split into a wider grin.
A few years ago, Team Wings had been utterly played by Pingyang. After a few years, it looked like they hadn’t grown or learned anything at all, still all bark and no bite.
The problem was that in court, the more you yelled or caused trouble, it wouldn’t solve anything at all. Only if you were calm would you be able to solve anything.
Well, the contracts in their hands had also been taken by Pingyang already, they didn’t have a copy at all. Instead, the contracts he held had their signatures and fingerprints, this was obviously in his favor.
This case was in the bag and he would definitely win. Their Team Skycrown would not be able to survive, at least not before August 13th, and their team wouldn’t be able to take part in the LPL.
August 13th, hehe, the name going down to the S International League was already set, what more could they do!
And if next year they wanted to participate in the LPL again, he would find other ways to do something!
“The time period was changed, when we signed the contract, the contract clearly stated two years. Judge, would you please check to see if there are any traces of it being tampered with by computer editing.” Luocheng stated his view as he let the others calm down.
The judge nodded her head and asked for her staff to do so.
The results came back quickly, and the results that the judge relayed back to them put them in quite a spot once again.
“There is no trace of the contract being edited in terms of the timing, and the appraisal team has stated that the contract printed indicates that it was printed more than three years ago,” The judge said.
Luocheng stared coldly at Pingyang.
What had Pingyang done to make it seem as though the contract had been completely untampered with!
Pingyang sat there and smiled with that sense of superiority that lorded over everyone else.
Luocheng had sat down for a long time yesterday, recalling the moment when he, Lin Dong, Da Luo, Zhou Yan, and Zhao Tinghua had signed the contract. It was definitely two years, but after signing it, it had suddenly become two years.
He didn’t know whether the contract had been tampered with before or after they had signed it.
They were still young at that time, and after reading the contract, they didn’t expect it to change after they signed it. They didn’t check it after that either as there were just too many words on it. They were more concerned about playing the game.
He couldn’t help but feel sad for himself and the others, living such a sheltered life all the while had made them lack the necessary skepticism, cautious attitude, and legal knowledge that they needed. After being cheated by people, there was still endless pain and troubles.
On the other hand, it seemed as though Pingyang had everything planned out. It was just a matter of when to use which cards he had in his hands!
They had nothing at all! No evidence nor witness.
The seventh copy of the contract that they had thought of last week still wasn’t in their hands yet.
The seventh copy of the contract was in ACE records and Jian Feng was already working on ways to extract Team Sky’s files from that year. As long as the copy of the contract was with them, they would be able to break through Pingyang’s lies and fight back fiercely!
However, the person in charge of the e-sports contracts four years ago was in Guangzhou. Jian Feng had only managed to get the address of that person, but there had been no telephone number.
Jian Feng was forced to take a flight on the same day to Guangzhou to find that person to ask him where the contract for Team Wings was placed.
***
A confrontation with Pingyang was always about fighting, and Lin Dong and Da Luo couldn’t control their emotions while debating in the court.
The judge was forced to intervene, proposing a mediation between the two parties.
A mediation, it was near impossible for Pingyang to agree to it. Team Skycrown wouldn’t agree to the ridiculous conditions either, and so, it was naturally up to the judge to decide.
She adjusted her glasses, her eyes on both parties on both sides of the room.
From her experience in court, it was obvious where the problem stemmed from. Pingyang had tricked these easily impulsive and young children all those years ago, but the evidence in her hands was there, and her decision couldn’t be made based on her own personal judgement.
“Verdict: The contract is effective from August 13th, in other words, there are still four months before the five-year term expires. According to the information provided by the plaintiff, the defendants have formed a team last year and participated in the same competition as the plaintiff, forming a competitive relationship. This violates the addendums to the contract, and the defendants have no further evidence to provide. The court requests that the defendants disband their team and withdraw from the competition to eliminate the competitive relationship. In terms of compensation, the court finds it unreasonable, and the plaintiff has no grounds to claim any compensation from the defendants. To the defendants, Yu Luocheng, Lin Dong, Luo Haohui, do you agree to the sentence?”
“No issues on that as long as their participation is halted, not bringing further losses to our club.” Pingyang said, a look of glee on his face as he looked to the judge.
The judgement passed made Luocheng and the rest feel as if thunder had just struck them. They had sacrificed so much for this team, how could they just disband like this? For the sake of the championship in the LPL, for the sake of getting into Worlds, how could they just quit when they were asked to quit!
Da Luo was so angry that his entire face was red and steaming, it wasn’t that he wanted to defy the judgement and the law, but when justice was needed, the law was always on the other side. Da Luo wanted to bash in the idiotic judge!
“Da Luo, control your temper. We’ll go back and gather our emotions. We still have practice tonight, tomorrow, we still have a match!!” Luocheng grabbed Da Luo’s shoulder tightly, saying coldly.
“Don’t forget to carry out your obligations!” Pingyang said, his eyes narrowing as he passed them while Sun Liang smiled gleefully.
“Obligations your head, mother f*cker!!” Da Luo roared in anger.
Zhou Yan hurriedly grabbed Da Luo who was going nuts, but his eyes were on Luocheng.
Zhou Yan’s eyes were showing how helpless he was feeling as well as how devastated he was.
This verdict, what was the difference in sentencing them to death?
***
The four of them didn’t know how they made it out of the courtroom, being in such a daze.
Da Luo kicked the iron railing beside him hard and the entire metal structure vibrated from it.
Lin Dong sank to the ground, looking defeated.
Zhou Yan sat at the side, not uttering a single word.
The afterglow of the evening fell on the dusty street. A car drove past and the dust kicked up from the speed, covering the four of them, young people who had just lost their direction in life…
How many more bumps would they experience on this road?
Tomorrow was the game, but what they had just gotten was a death sentence.
How could anybody not be disappointed?
Luocheng was leaning against the wall, his chest feeling constricted.
A sound came from his pocket and Luocheng pulled out his phone slowly, answering it.
Da Luo, Zhou Yan, and Lin Dong turned at the same time, watching Luocheng on the phone. They hoped it wasn’t anymore bad news.
“Yeah, alright. I know.” Luocheng nodded his head, hanging up the call.
“What happened?” Zhou Yan asked hurriedly.
“It was Meiqi.”
“What did she say!?”
“She said to play the game tomorrow properly. Don’t even think about losing this important match after we win the appeal in court.”
“Appeal?”
“That’s right, appeal!”
“We can win!?”
“Yes! I don’t care how messed up you are today, or how angry and filled with resentment you are. You guys had better bet everything on the match tomorrow. If we lose the match tomorrow, we lose everything, remember that!”
