Song He Takes the Court!

A Brain Institute player failed a dunk and crashed down like a shot-down fighter jet. His ankle twisted violently when it hit the ground, and he immediately sat there clutching it, his face twisted in pain.

A player was injured!

The referee immediately blew the whistle. Players crowded around at once, followed by students from both institutes rushing onto the court.

Song He and Xi Yanfan rushed over too. He heard the onlookers saying the player had sprained his ankle. The School Hospital staff, who had been munching sunflower seeds by the sidelines, swiftly brought over a stretcher and hurried the injured player away. An ambulance waiting outside took him on board and immediately wailed off toward the School Hospital.

The referee clapped his hands and called out, "Everyone, be sure to stay safe when you play! You spend every day attending class and soaking in labs, with barely any exercise. Don't push yourselves too hard!"

"Now that a Brain Institute player has been injured, the two teams need to decide what to do! Should we pause the match and continue another day, end it here, or have the Brain Institute send on a substitute?"

Today, the Brain Institute team was led by Teacher Zou Jianzhang from Class C.

The Rocket Institute team was led by the messy-haired You Deyi, who walked over looking embarrassed. "Teacher Zou, sorry about that!"

"It's not your responsibility. Getting a minor injury while playing is perfectly normal." Zou Jianzhang waved a hand.

"What should we do next?" You Deyi asked. "We'll follow Teacher Zou's lead."

"There's no point in continuing another day!" Zou Jianzhang glanced at the scoreboard. The Brain Institute was already thirty points behind. "But ending it now would be too unsportsmanlike. We'll send on a substitute and finish the remaining time!"

You Deyi nodded repeatedly. "All right, all right!"

The coach looked around. "Which Brain Institute substitute is going on?"

"Who are our substitutes again?" Zou Jianzhang looked around.

Several Brain Institute substitute players stood among the crowd. Their faces all went pale at once, and they hurriedly shouted that they were going to the hospital to check on their classmate before running off without a shred of backbone, fleeing faster than rabbits!

Song He looked around, sighed, and helplessly raised his hand. "I'll go, Teacher! But I need to look up the basketball rules first!"

Everyone present froze upon hearing that. They had expected the substitute to be bad, but this bad?

The coach's face twitched. "Fine! Due to the special circumstances, we'll take a ten-minute break!"

"Look at that Brain Institute substitute. He's learning basketball rules from his teammates right now!"

"No way, seriously? He doesn't even know the rules? He's a complete beginner!"

"The Brain Institute really has no players left. They're terrible beyond belief!"

"But honestly, that substitute from the Brain Institute is pretty handsome!"

"Not only is he handsome, he's insanely rich too. You know Chenghuang Company? I heard he started it!"

"Holy shit, that's Song He? I heard the School-Level Excellent Student award might go to him?"

"Impossible! Isn't it supposed to go to Xie Yuanxun?"

The entire audience buzzed with discussion, all eyes focused on the edge of the court. Four Brain Institute players surrounded the newly subbed-in player, pointing at the white lines on the floor and explaining the rules in detail.

Song He learned seriously. For someone whose mind could store tens of thousands of papers, a few basketball rules were child's play.

But theory alone was not enough. After going through the court rules once, Song He began practicing dribbling while the break had not yet ended.

His dribbling motions were incredibly stiff. The moment he tried to run, he lost the ball, drawing a wave of quiet laughter from the stands.

In the resting area, several Rocket Institute players were drinking water and nearly spat it out.

"Don't laugh, don't laugh!" Xie Yuanxun covered his mouth with one hand. "We need to have some class! Mocking your opponent is fucking low-rent! And our opponent is Song He! The one or two million in research funding you guys fight tooth and nail for? This guy could get that by farting. Think about that—can you still laugh?"

Xie Yuanxun carried considerable authority, and perhaps Song He's status was having an effect as well. The Rocket Team players beside him immediately calmed their expressions.

"This game is basically over. For the rest of it, let's ease up a little. Don't let the gap go over fifty points—that would look too ugly!" Xie Yuanxun said in a low voice. "The Brain Institute is one of our school's flagship institutes too. Let's do them a favor!"

The players all nodded in agreement. The court was not just about fighting; it was also about human relations.

Although there was still plenty of time left in the game, the substitute the other side had sent on was a complete beginner. The situation was effectively five against four—no, even six against four. The Brain Institute had no chance of turning things around. The Rocket Institute could win with their eyes closed.

On the court, Song He practiced dribbling for a long time, sweating profusely.

A teammate patted him. "All right, River God. Practice shooting next!"

Song He raised the basketball and was just about to shoot when a shrill whistle suddenly rang out!

Break time was over!

The players from both teams returned to the court. The stands began chanting Xie Yuanxun's name again, the coach briefly reiterated the safety reminders, and the game resumed!

The Rocket Team launched an unstoppable attack. Song He tried to block Xie Yuanxun, but before he could react, he was fooled by a lightning-fast feint.

He was horrified!

Being on the court really was different from sitting in the stands. Everyone else fought using muscle memory built over years of playing, while he had none at all. Forget stealing the ball—he could not even react in time!

The system did not have any basketball-related items either. With no other options, he swallowed two Mental Arithmetic Capsules. At the very least, they could make his mind react faster!

Xie Yuanxun had already rushed beneath the basket, leaped up, and scored!

The players from both sides instantly battled for the ball in a tangled mass, their flailing arms resembling martial arts masters in combat!

Amid the chaos, the ball suddenly flew out of the crowd like an out-of-control cannonball, shooting straight at Song He's face!

He instinctively raised his hands and caught it. Two Rocket Institute players had already drifted before him like ghosts, both reaching out to steal the ball!

Song He was alarmed. With his rookie skill level, there was no way he could mount an attack. He instinctively wanted to pass the ball to a teammate, but his view was completely blocked. Helplessly, he could only turn around and raise his arms!

The Mental Arithmetic Capsules happened to take effect!

That brief instant was stretched incomparably long by the furious speed of his mind! The entire court seemed to enter slow motion as massive amounts of environmental information flooded into his brain!

Originally, Song He had only wanted to throw the ball farther away and buy some time.

But the instant he raised his arms, a strange sensation exploded from the depths of his mind and rapidly spread through his entire body! He became like a precision instrument. From his fingertips to his toes, the force in every muscle meshed tightly like gears!

At the same time, the distant Rocket Institute basket suddenly became incomparably conspicuous. The horizontal distance appeared, followed by the vertical distance from the floor to the hoop. His brain automatically completed the calculation, and a perfect parabola formed out of thin air!

Song He hurled the ball with all his strength!

Before the eyes of hundreds of spectators, beneath the stunned gazes of every player, the basketball traced a soaring arc, whistling across more than half the court and flying straight toward the Rocket Institute basket!

"Bang!" The ball struck the rim, bounced up lightly, and fell toward the basket once more!