OFR – Chapter 339 Look at this person who is obsessed with paper and money, who is the romantic one (Part 1)!

In just over ten minutes, after congratulations from the top tycoons across various platforms had been completed, Zhang Yuyan and the others still could not spot Leng Hao among the countless flying bullet comments.

It seemed Leng Hao hadn’t shown up.

This left Zhang Yuyan, Warm Baby, and Wen Tian feeling a faint sense of loss.

But it was only loss, not disappointment. Yes—just because he didn’t attend a mere “prelude” congratulatory session, would anyone dare to look down on Leng Hao?

Whether other teams or alliances would think that way, Zhang Yuyan and her group didn’t know. But at the very least, every member of the “Worldly Splendor” team, and all those who had once looked up to Leng Hao’s blazing presence, certainly would not look down on him!

After all, without anyone realizing it, Leng Hao had already become a kind of faith in their hearts—a spiritual pillar they could wholly rely upon.

And who would look down on their own faith and spiritual pillar?

But just because they thought so didn’t mean others—especially the God-Tycoon Alliance led by Guan Zong and Yuan Yangjun—thought the same way.

In fact, it wasn’t just the “Worldly Splendor” team who had been keeping a close eye on Leng Hao; Guan Zong and his group were no less watchful than Zhang Yuyan’s people.

How could they possibly underestimate—or even dare to underestimate—a rival who could still act so boldly and draw everyone’s attention even when cornered?

Especially with that “A Little Cold” reply from the morning, which still echoed in their minds.

It’s true that opponents are often paid more attention than friends; Guan Zong’s camp proved this point well.

They considered their God-Tycoon Alliance, even in an event drawing over a hundred million viewers, capable of defeating “A Little Cold” without much difficulty.

But they still had to weigh the costs.

After all, “A Little Cold” wasn’t their only opponent—there were also God-Tycoon Alliances from YY, Huajiao, Quanmin TV, Huya TV, and others who were just as formidable.

So they were calculating: how great would the cost be to defeat “A Little Cold”?

But regardless of the cost, the Noda God-Tycoon Alliance could not lose—not in this grand event before hundreds of millions. They could not retreat; they could only win, only move forward!

Even if that victory came at a brutal price.

Even if that price made their hearts bleed.

Why?

For no other reason than that this was a battle over the future balance of power and influence across the entire Douyu platform.

These top tycoons and teams, who had once ruled Douyu with ease, simply could not afford to lose.

So, with that in mind, Guan Zong—who had long held deep grudges against “A Little Cold” and had already torn all pretense away—was the first to order Xiaoyuan from his team to directly accept Warm Baby’s challenge in the “Storm Throne” contest.

Without even waiting for the prelude broadcast or the two main-page hosts’ introductions, the two immensely popular female streamers—both top-tier in the beauty category—were suddenly thrown together in front of countless viewers, and the words “Storm Showdown” instantly appeared at the top of the merged livestream page.

Normally, any streamer who made it into the Top 100 of the “Storm Throne” contest was among the most powerful in their platform or team—each one holding all of their team’s hopes for winning the throne.

Usually, such top-level streamers would go through opponent screening, a careful evaluation, and then be matched against someone they had a high chance of beating before a Storm Showdown.

But now, seeing Xiaoyuan from Guan Zong’s camp and Warm Baby from the “Worldly Splendor” team jump straight into a Storm Showdown without any screening, without any evaluation, and in such an all-or-nothing manner—it felt like an illusion to many viewers, especially those from outside Douyu.

It was reckless—borderline insane!

No assessment, no selection—just straight into a no-retreat, burn-the-ships battle!

It was beyond what most could imagine.

While the audience reeled in shock, the behind-the-scenes staff didn’t forget their jobs. Less than a minute after the two streams merged, a glaring red system banner popped up on the livestream page:

Shock! Right before hundreds of millions of eyes, Xiaoyuan and Warm Baby—both Top 100 “Storm Throne” contenders—have, without screening, without evaluation, without matchmaking, decided of their own accord to leap into the very first heart-pounding Storm Showdown of the year! And both are women! This humble captioner can only sigh: Red beauty is no less than any son of man!

After that announcement, the viewers knew for sure—what they had just witnessed wasn’t a dream.

The first truly fierce Storm Showdown of this year’s livestreaming industry’s grandest event had begun—without a hint of hesitation.

Two top female streamers from the beauty and anime categories were officially kicking off the spectacle millions had been waiting for.

But the two were not equal in all respects.

One had been famous for years, with a massive base of loyal fans and powerful, wealthy patrons.

The other was a newcomer who had risen to fame in recent years thanks to Leng Hao, and apart from a few loyal fans, had no large base of supporters or big-spending patrons.

Although they stood on the same stage now, the gap quickly became apparent. As soon as the match began, fans poured in—and the difference between a veteran and a newcomer was like a chasm.

Xiaoyuan’s side shot up to nearly a million viewers almost immediately—a level of popularity that could crush any newcomer.

Warm Baby, on the other hand, due to sharing the same platform and category, had significant fan overlap with Xiaoyuan—so her viewer count was only a pitiful few tens of thousands.

Unsurprisingly, many overlapping fans abandoned Warm Baby for Xiaoyuan.

After all, Xiaoyuan had been with them for years, while Warm Baby had only been popular for two or three months. So, for many beauty and anime fans, the choice was quick and easy.

Soon after the fans came in, a wave of Douyu’s noble ranks—emperors, kings, dukes—poured in, the backbone of the “Hongmen” guild’s elite patrons.

When Xiaoyuan saw this batch of members—especially the most dazzling name among them, Guan Zong—she let out a small breath and smiled more brightly.

Yes—this peak group of Hongmen’s most powerful patrons, led by Guan Zong, was exactly why she had the confidence to bypass screening and evaluation, and challenge Leng Hao’s Warm Baby in an all-or-nothing showdown.

And Guan Zong’s presence in particular filled her with a sense of safety and certainty of victory.

Perhaps Guan Zong’s influence within Hongmen didn’t match Leng Hao’s stature in “Worldly Splendor,” but he was still the founder of a top-tier team on Douyu—a man who had once gone head-to-head with “Money God” and triggered a dark-gift storm on the platform.

So when Xiaoyuan saw him personally backing her, she felt sure—she would win this first showdown.

What Guan Zong probably didn’t expect was that this sudden, unplanned, all-or-nothing duel between his Xiaoyuan and “Worldly Splendor’s” Warm Baby instantly ignited an already tense atmosphere on the livestream page after the rookie contest had just ended.

And then—before that glaring red system banner had even faded—one after another of the same blinding banners surged across the page, making it seem as if the entire livestream was being flooded by system announcements.