Chapter 40: Intense Age of Empires 1v3

The next day, well into the morning, Zhu Yuanzhang slowly opened his eyes in bed, feeling thoroughly exhausted all over.

"Hiss~~~"

"That woman was way too wild last night. Oh, my poor lower back~~," Zhu Yuanzhang muttered, holding his waist and massaging it vigorously.

"No, this won't do. I need to die and come back to life as soon as possible. Otherwise, I won't be able to handle her demands in the future, and it will ruin my masculine pride!"

Remembering how his wife had looked unsatisfied and disappointed last night, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed with depression.

After a quick wash in the bathroom, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his aging face in the mirror, and his resolve to die once grew even firmer.

Still, this so-called bathroom was truly convenient!

Running water, a flush toilet, a bidet function, a shower with hot water available at any moment, and you could wash while standing up.

And what about this toothpaste, toothbrush, facial cleanser, and so on? Is the daily life of ordinary people in the future world really this luxurious?

Didn't they say that kid who brought them out is still renting a place to live?

Then how do you explain this grand mansion?

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but marvel. The more he understood, the more confused he became.....

Coming downstairs, the first thing that caught his eye was Chen Xiaolan cleaning the sofa, wiping it back and forth with a cloth.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. What a diligent girl.

He patted his stomach. Having consumed too much energy last night, he was feeling a bit hungry.

Entering the dining room, he instead found Empress Ma scolding their eldest grandson with a reproachful expression.

"Look at you, I told you not to play so wildly. Look, you wet the bed!"

Zhu Xiongying lowered his head, "It's all Chen Lin's fault. He gave me so much sweet water to drink last night. I haven't wet the bed in two years, it's all his fault!"

"Don't talk back. You're already eight years old. Don't you know by now that you shouldn't drink too much water before going to bed? You just wanted to keep playing and now you're trying to blame others."

Zhu Xiongying pouted, "Oh, Grandson knows he was wrong. Can Grandson go play now?"

"No. Sit right here and reflect on yourself."

With that, Empress Ma glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang, who had just tiptoed into the room. "Come over and eat already. Once you're done eating, we're heading back."

Seeing Empress Ma's deeply displeased expression, Zhu Yuanzhang knew she was holding a grudge because she hadn't been satisfied last night.

"Well, you see, my dear, give me a few days. Once I die and come back to life, I'll make sure to satisfy you properly."

Empress Ma's face flushed slightly. "Puh! What are you saying in front of the child? Sit down and eat your meal."

Very obediently, Zhu Yuanzhang sat down and took the bowl of millet congee handed to him by Empress Ma, along with a salted braised egg and a small dish of pickled mustard tubers.

"Where are Chen Lin and the others?"

"In the basement," Empress Ma replied, her tone still unfriendly.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't dare to say another word. Slurping loudly, he finished his meal in less than a minute, dropped his bowl and chopsticks, and slipped away.

"I'll go get them....."

Entering the basement, he looked around—nobody was there.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt a bit dizzy. There were too many rooms, and all the doors were closed, so he had to check them one by one.

The surveillance room: empty.
The billiards room: empty.
The card room: also empty.

Finally, when he pushed open the e-sports room, a thick cloud of smoke rushed out. He saw Chen Lin and his three foolish sons each sitting in front of a computer, biting on cigarettes, playing with rapt attention.

"Second brother, use the spearmen to block Chen Lin's cavalry, hurry!"

"Third brother, pull your skirmishers back, my cavalry archers are arriving right now!"

Zhu Shuang shouted, "Hurry up! Chen Lin's musketeers are way too strong, half of my spearmen are already dead."

Chen Lin chuckled, "You three newbies, under the firepower of massed musketeers, any unit other than paladins is going to die."

Curious, Zhu Yuanzhang walked behind Zhu Di, who was sitting closest to the door, and watched a squad of cavalry archers on the computer screen dashing rapidly toward the battlefield.

He then looked at Zhu Shuang, who was clumsily moving the mouse while managing the farmers farming in the back.

Next was Zhu Zhuo, whose operations were slightly more skilled, commanding skirmishers to inflict damage on the enemy's musketeers from a distance.

Yet the attack power of the skirmishers was too weak, and under the onslaught of the enemy's musketeers and trebuchets, they fell in droves.

Hiss~~~

This... this, can a battlefield be portrayed in this form?!

Zhu Yuanzhang hurried behind Chen Lin. He wouldn't have known if he hadn't looked, but looking gave him quite a shock.

Chen Lin's left hand danced across the keyboard in a clatter, constantly switching screens.

His right hand moved the mouse rapidly, changing the view with every single click.

Lumbering, mining, producing troops, building barracks on the front lines, commanding operations.

'Lumber-lumber-lumberjack!'
'Gold-gold-gold miner!'
'Affirmative.'
'Construction complete.....'

Along with Chen Lin's operations, various voice prompts kept playing. Zhu Yuanzhang pulled over a chair and sat down, completely engrossed in watching.

"I've arrived, where are your troops?" Zhu Di's voice rang out again.

Zhu Shuang responded, "Mine died ages ago. I'm building town walls right now to defend. His musketeers are almost dead too, he can't break through for now."

At that moment, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly flew into a rage, "What do you mean he can't break through? His cavalry have already appeared behind you and are ruthlessly slaughtering your farmers! Go back and defend right now!"

Zhu Zhuo was startled, "What the heck? I looked away for just a second, how did all the farmers die?!"

Zhu Shuang also cried out, "My castle! Where did my castle go?"

Zhu Di, however, said resolutely, "It's fine, I've managed to mass a squad of paladins. Hang in there, we still have a chance of winning."

Just then, Chen Lin took both hands off the keyboard and mouse.

"A chance of winning? My population cap of 200 is full. Even if I don't give any commands now, I can still beat you."

Just as his voice fell, under the fog of war, the advancing path of Zhu Di's paladin cavalry suddenly spawned a squad of halberdiers. Trading lives for lives, they quickly wiped out his expensive paladins.

At the same time, Chen Lin's two squads of paladins, positioned behind Zhu Zhuo and Zhu Shuang, had already blown up their town centers. Now only Zhu Di was left holding out.

Zhu Shuang and Zhu Zhuo threw down their mice and pushed away their keyboards, giving up.

Zhu Shuang looked utterly defeated, "We can't beat him, absolutely can't beat him. The micro-management is just worlds apart."

Zhu Zhuo nodded, "Our understanding of the game is also on a completely different level."

Yet Zhu Di refused to admit defeat, "You guys still have farmers outside, quickly find a spot to rebuild! Don't just surrender the moment you hit a difficulty!"

Zhu Shuang shook his head, "Easier said than done. Can farmers outrun paladins? Our production buildings and castles have all been smashed to pieces. Give up, there's no possibility of a comeback."

Yet Zhu Di kept playing, taking advantage of the fact that Chen Lin's main force was occupied at his two teammates' bases. He managed to squeeze out another squad of paladins, charging into Chen Lin's base to slaughter farmers. Even if defeat was inevitable, he wanted to go down looking good.

Who could have expected that as the fog of war slowly parted, Zhu Di's paladins, reaching Chen Lin's base for the first time, would be utterly horrified by the sea of dense castles filling the entire screen.

"Impossible! This is impossible! How could you possibly have this much resources to build castles?!"

Chen Lin stood up and stretched his arms. "Do you really think the three of you lasted this long because you're any good?"

"It's only because for the first half-hour I chose not to send troops to harass you. Otherwise, this game would have been over in less time than it takes to burn a stick of incense."

"To give you a better gaming experience, I didn't do anything for the first half-hour except frantically gather resources and build defenses, which is the only reason you even got a chance to field troops and fight me."

Zhu Di was completely convinced. He pushed his keyboard away and let out a deep sigh.

"I admit defeat. But that's only because you're more experienced than us. If you give me a few more days to practice, I could take you on all by myself."

Chen Lin pointed at Zhu Di, "Very well, I await your challenge at the summit of the mountain. That's that, you guys play yourselves, I have other matters to attend to."

With that, Chen Lin left the e-sports room. Zhu Yuanzhang finally snapped out of the intense combat he had just witnessed, and immediately planted himself in the gaming chair.

"Fourth son, hurry up and teach Your Old Man how to play this......."