The Derby

Li Chen didn't stay in the locker room for long. He left Staples Center again and returned to the Training Gym.

Back at the Palavela Training Gym, Li Chen eagerly opened the Functional Store and spent $1,000 on a bottle of Functional Drink.

A tiny bottle, about the size of a vial of oral medicine, appeared in his hand.

Li Chen turned it over and examined it for a moment, then opened it and downed the whole thing.

He smacked his lips. It was sweet and sour, and pretty tasty.

After drinking the Functional Drink, Li Chen exercised for a while. He felt his exhaustion slowly fading, and his mind gradually clearing. Delighted, he thought, This stuff is amazing.

Thinking about it, he decided to stock up on more. But when he opened the Functional Store, he found that the Functional Drink icon had turned gray.

At the same time, a countdown of 23 hours and 55 minutes appeared before him.

Li Chen couldn't help feeling disappointed. No wonder the system had said he could only drink one bottle a day. So that was the catch.

As his thoughts wandered, Li Chen picked up a ball and continued practicing.

Meanwhile, as Li Chen trained like crazy, the Los Angeles city derby continued to heat up.

So far in the 2002–2003 season, the Lakers had won two games and the Clippers one. Would the Clippers be able to turn things around this time thanks to the miraculous young player from the East?

Li Chen's chance prediction against the Kings had been dubbed Eastern sorcery. It made for a good publicity stunt.

The hottest topic on sports shows was the Los Angeles derby. Although the subject had everyone fired up, a whole host of retired legends agreed that the Clippers didn't stand a chance.

The media had even interviewed Boss Joe, who had just returned to the game.

Boss Joe naturally backed the Lakers. After all, his successor was on that team, wasn't he?

In terms of stats, results, and the players' pedigree, the Clippers were simply no match. Though the standings weren't far apart, that couldn't hide the undeniable truth.

January 21, 2003, afternoon.

Li Chen's Open Three-Pointer skill had reached B-rank, with 10,580/30,000 experience.

As for passing, Li Chen hadn't improved it because it cost too much. He couldn't afford the upgrade.

Besides, he didn't want to play point guard. He could work on his Passing Ability during games.

Actually, the skills awarded by the system could be improved with training as well as money.

Just then, the system's notification made Li Chen pause.

[Notice: Congratulations, host. Your diligent training has greatly improved your basic attributes.]

The system's sudden notification came as a pleasant surprise, but Li Chen was also a little puzzled.

Then he remembered the effect of the Functional Drink and understood.

He eagerly opened his personal attributes panel.

[Shooting Ability: 65]

[Dribbling Ability: 51]

[Passing Ability: 59]

[Rebounding Ability: 45]

[Defensive Ability: 50]

[Speed Ability: 70]

[Strength Ability: 75]

[Intelligence Ability: 85]

[Physical Fitness: 99]

Holy crap, my attributes went up that much?

Li Chen's shock was understandable. His attributes had increased by about ten points on average.

Li Chen's eyes widened. He couldn't help letting his imagination run wild. At this rate, will I reach max level soon?

Thinking about it, Li Chen couldn't help laughing at himself. Where would I find such a good thing?

It was probably because this was his first time drinking the Functional Drink. It had merely unlocked his body's potential.

He put aside his growing restlessness and continued practicing. Around seven that evening, he drank that day's Functional Drink.

That way, he could keep performing at his best.

At eight o'clock that night, Staples Center was packed with noise and excitement.

It was much livelier than when the Clippers played at home, and the attendance was beyond anything the Clippers could match.

The Lakers' starting lineup tonight was:

O'Neal (Center)

Kobe (Shooting Guard)

Fisher (Point Guard)

Rick Fox (Small Forward)

Samaki Walker (Power Forward)

The Clippers' starting lineup was:

Andre Miller (Point Guard)

Li Chen (Shooting Guard)

Corey Maggette (Small Forward)

Elton Brand (Power Forward)

Michael Olowokandi (Center)

The Clippers hadn't played well in the first quarter, but neither had the Lakers, because Kobe was ice-cold tonight.

Li Chen gaped as Kobe kept clanging shots off the rim.

At that moment, he couldn't help thinking that the name "Blacksmith" was well deserved.

But the Big Shark, O'Neal, was playing very consistently.

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers had outscored the Clippers 28–18.

Li Chen looked up at the scoreboard, feeling a little frustrated.

The S-rank skill he'd gotten today was called Miracle Shot.

Its description said that when he drove and shot, he had a 70% chance of making the basket.

That was, of course, assuming the shot hit the rim.

Li Chen had thought that probability was already outrageous, but he never would have guessed...

All right, he had to admit it really was outrageous. He'd made only one shot out of the 70% chances.

Now he wondered if Kobe had infected him. Thinking about it, Li Chen cursed inwardly. Damn, you really are contagious!

After the Clippers' players returned to the bench, coach Alvin Gentry began laying out their plan for the second quarter.

Alvin Gentry wasn't very happy with Li Chen's performance tonight.

After all, Li Chen was matched up against Kobe, and O'Neal was guarding the basket. Why was he driving into the paint? His strength was on the perimeter, with the three-pointer!

But Alvin Gentry had already come to regard Li Chen as one of his trusted players, so he was much more tolerant of him than of the others.

Odom had been delighted when Li Chen played terribly in the first quarter. But even though the quarter had ended a while ago, Alvin Gentry still hadn't scolded him.

That ruined Odom's good mood. Now he felt like a child living with a stepmother—so lonely and helpless.

A little while later, Alvin Gentry finished explaining the plan.

It was simple: speed up the pace and make the Big Shark O'Neal run until he was exhausted.

That would quickly drain his stamina and greatly weaken his offense.

As for Kobe, they didn't need to worry about him tonight. He'd already turned into Blacksmith Bryant.

The whistle blew to start the second quarter. On the court, Andre Miller passed the ball to Elton Brand.

Brand charged toward the basket like a dog off its leash, but, as expected, O'Neal swatted his shot away.

Elton Brand was frustrated tonight. The game had been miserable, and he couldn't get into the paint at all.

At that moment, he wondered why Li Chen wasn't playing point guard anymore.

Fisher grabbed the rebound for the Lakers.

The Clippers hurried back on defense.

Fisher passed the ball to Kobe, who had already brought his passing button back down.

Li Chen quickly moved in close to defend. Kobe immediately launched into an elegant fadeaway jumper.

But the elegance was sharply contrasted by the clang of the ball hitting the rim.

Li Chen knew Kobe would miss. He grabbed the rebound and took off on a fast break.

But the Lakers got back on defense quickly. Four of them, led by Little Blacksmith, reached the frontcourt, while O'Neal was still lumbering toward it.

Li Chen's gaze hardened. He decided to stick with the strategy from the first quarter and keep driving.