New Beginning and Future

Chapter 82: Legacy in Motion

Summary: As seasons turn and empires evolve, victories give way to something deeper, families expanding, roles shifting, and the next generation stepping into a world made stronger by those who refused to bend. From courtrooms to championship stages, from whispered mentorship to fiercely guarded love, ZGDX remains overprotective as ever, and Chessman proves once again that when it concerns his girl, he is not a warning spoken twice, he is the line itself.

Notes:

⚠️ Author's Note: And life goes on.

Disclaimer: The Muse would like to remind everyone we do not own FIYS nor the beloved characters nor any dialogue from either the show nor the book...the Muse is very sad and not pleased with this continued reminder that they do not own them and never will!

Chapter Eighty

The years that followed unfolded not in a straight line but in waves of victory and loss, of roaring arenas and quiet retirements, of trophies lifted and seasons surrendered, and through it all the circle that had once been forged in the chaos of youth settled into something steadier and deeper, no longer defined solely by championships but by the lives they built alongside them.

Championships were won and lost with the natural rhythm of competition, ZGDX no longer the reckless young storm but the seasoned titan whose presence alone altered brackets, and though the roster shifted gradually as bodies grew tired of the relentless grind, the heart of the organization did not weaken; it evolved.

Lao Mao stepped away from active play first, announcing it in a press conference where he grinned far too widely for someone technically retiring, and when reporters asked what he planned to do next he clapped Ming on the shoulder and said, "I am not leaving, I am upgrading," before launching a structured fitness program within ZGDX that transformed the training regimen entirely, his once chaotic energy redirected into discipline that pushed the new generation harder than he had ever pushed himself.

Lao K followed not long after, though his departure from the stage lacked fanfare and instead carried quiet dignity, because he transitioned seamlessly into coaching alongside Ming, his analytical mind now shaping drafts and strategy from behind the monitors rather than in front of them, and during that same season he and Lao Mao stunned nearly everyone when they announced they had adopted a little girl, his niece, a child who had endured more cruelty in her early years than any child should have known.

The story behind it did not remain private for long, because when it surfaced that Lao K's brother and sister-in-law had been abusing the child, it was not merely family outrage that followed but legal annihilation, and when the case went to court, the opposing counsel learned quickly that stepping into that arena meant facing Lu Sicheng not as an ADC but as a licensed lawyer who had chosen to practice once more with the same precision he once brought to the Rift.

"I suggest you reconsider your plea," Sicheng had said evenly in court, gaze sharp and unyielding, and the sentence that followed left no ambiguity about permanence, because both abusers were sentenced to prison without hope of early release, and when the adoption papers were finalized.

Lao Mao stood in the living room holding the small girl awkwardly and declared through tears he did not bother hiding, "You are ours now,"

Lao K rested a steady hand on her shoulder and added quietly, "No one will touch you again."

Meanwhile, Li, Yue, and Lee Kun Hyeok had continued to defy every conventional expectation placed upon them, their relationship maturing into something solid and unapologetic, and when they disappeared for a week under the guise of a "team-building vacation," only to return with Vegas marriage certificates and identical, barely concealed grins, the explosion of reaction back home was equal parts shock and admiration.