The Killing Kid is Online, I've Grown!

San Remo Municipal Stadium.

San Remo hosted the league's fifth-ranked powerhouse, Catania.

The thirty-eighth minute of the first half.

The stadium fell silent.

Meanwhile, the Catania fans were cheering.

Catania took the lead, one to nil.

"As we can see, this wasn't a total mismatch in quality. Vedian had the ball stolen from him, which triggered a Catania counterattack. San Remo's midfield lacked chemistry and made a mistake, allowing the Catania midfielder to thread a highly dangerous through ball!"

"Lu Yang was defending two players at once. He did the best he could and actually managed to break up the attack, completing a perfect defensive play. But... San Remo's other center-back failed to win the initial header and instead teed the ball up for the pressing forward. A one-on-one, and he scores!"

"This was a goal full of coincidences. Lu Yang's defense was already excellent, but today, it seems God is on Catania's side."

The commentator sounded somewhat helpless.

This conceded goal was truly a matter of time and fate.

In all fairness, the arrival of Lu Yang and Moric had already brought a qualitative change to San Remo's defensive line.

In the first twenty rounds of the Serie D, San Remo had conceded a total of forty-six goals, an average of 2.3 per game.

That was an absolutely abysmal defensive record.

However, in the last two matches, San Remo had only conceded three goals in total, one of which occurred when Lu Yang and Moric were not on the pitch.

Furthermore, the post-match statistics showed that the interception numbers for both Lu Yang and Moric were quite spectacular.

Especially Lu Yang!

At his current efficiency, if he could stay healthy for the remainder of the season, he would actually be in contention for the Serie D season title for most tackles and interceptions!

How terrifying is that?

With such an outstanding player, the fans really couldn't bring themselves to blame him.

But... what the San Remo fans wanted was victory.

"Let's go, San Remo!"

"Let's go, San Remo!"

Just as the entire stadium had fallen silent, cheers erupted from the south stand of the San Remo stadium.

It was Brownie!

He was waving a homemade San Remo team flag.

Behind him, dozens of die-hard fans joined in the chanting.

This spirit of unwavering support in the face of adversity quickly infected the entire crowd.

"Let's go, San Remo!"

"Lu Yang, save the game!"

"Moric, we're waiting for your assist!"

"Vedian, break through, break through!"

The voices of the fans reached the players on the pitch.

The San Remo players found the motivation to fight again.

They hadn't lost yet; the match was far from over!

Sure enough!

Before the end of the half, Lu Yang repeated his old trick. Almost replicating the ping-pong passing from the previous match, he and Moric used consecutive wall passes to create a lethal opportunity.

More than thirty meters outside the penalty area, Lu Yang unleashed a thunderbolt that soared into the sky before dropping rapidly.

A perfect cannon shot, perfectly keeping the ball down.

This was Lu Yang's signature dipping shot.

However, the veteran goalkeeper for Catania was experienced. He had studied Lu Yang's shooting before the match and concluded that he was a player with genuine long-range ability, not just the "good luck" the outside world rumored.

Therefore, he had been fully prepared.

When making the save, he deliberately controlled his urge to dive, choosing instead to block from a half-kneeling position.

Before the ball dipped, it looked as if he had given up on the save.

Had the ball followed a normal trajectory, this save would have been impossible.

However, the ball dipped sharply.

It was blocked right into the path of the half-crouching goalkeeper.

The fans groaned in unison.

What a great chance!

What a pity!

Soto also took out a small notebook to record his observations from the sidelines.

He was focusing his attention on Lu Yang; in fact, he had his own ideas regarding Lu Yang's position. But before implementing them, he needed to conduct a comprehensive assessment of Lu Yang's various abilities.

As far as long-range shooting was concerned, Lu Yang's dipping shot was extremely stable. This style of shooting, which almost never sent the ball flying into the stands, ensured that as long as Lu Yang's aim wasn't too far off, the ball would always hit the target and create a threat.

This was far superior to those players whose shots were as erratic as firing a plane into the sky.

However, this type of shot was not without its flaws.

That flaw was that the arc of the dip was relatively predictable.

This wasn't caused by the dipping shot technique itself, but rather by a deficiency in Lu Yang himself.

His leg strength was not powerful enough, meaning his dipping shot had technique to spare but lacked raw power, which gave the goalkeeper time to react.

If Lu Yang's leg strength were sufficient and the speed of the shot fast enough, the goalkeeper would be unable to react in time, forced to rely on their initial instinct without the luxury of thought.

But currently, the opposing goalkeeper clearly had time to think.

For a moment, the theory of Lu Yang's true and false talents echoed in Soto's mind.

Did leg strength fall under the category of trainable attributes?

That was the question.

"GOAL!"

Tom suddenly jumped up beside him.

Soto looked toward the pitch; the ball was already lying inside the Catania goal.

Vedian was running toward Lu Yang, celebrating wildly.

The score was level!

"Oh! Vedian, it's Vedian again! He lives up to expectations, scoring on the rebound!"

"Lu Yang's shot was incredibly tricky; the goalkeeper had no way to secure the ball and could only parry it. But Vedian had been charging resolutely into the box from the moment Lu Yang took the shot, and his efforts were rewarded."

"According to Serie D rules, Lu Yang has been credited with another assist!"

"And Vedian has successfully caught up to Arnold's goal tally, tying him for first place on the Serie D top scorer list!"

"Of course, we cannot ignore the massive role Moric played in this goal; his combination play with Lu Yang completely tore through the Catania defense!"

In the second half, both sides improved their defensive work.

As regular time ended, the score remained one-to-one.

Even without securing a win, the San Remo fans were not dissatisfied.

After all, Catania was the fifth-ranked team in the standings, and they had even scored first.

Equalizing was no easy feat.

There were two minutes of stoppage time in total.

San Remo earned a corner kick opportunity.

But everyone noticed that Lu Yang, who usually did not participate in corner kick attacks, had run up from the backfield and entered the opposing penalty area.

Lu Yang was not tall, standing at one meter seventy-eight.

Therefore, during corner kick attacks, it was usually his center-back partner, a one-meter-ninety giant, who went up to contest the header.

Lu Yang was fast and a good defender, staying back to intercept any potential counterattacks.

This was a sound arrangement.

But this time, Lu Yang had come up.

This did not conform to the tasks the team had assigned him.

However, considering that the match would likely end after this corner, no one felt that Lu Yang's behavior was wrong.

In the final corner kick opportunity of a major match, sometimes even the goalkeeper would come up to contest the header and join the attack.

Come to think of it, there really had been goalkeepers who scored in such situations; Sevilla goalkeeper Palop and Inter's Toldo had both created similar miracles.

And the most recent instance was Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson's header, which preserved the team's theoretical possibility of playing in the Champions League the following season.

Entering the box, Lu Yang headed straight for the near post, began wrestling with the opposing center-back, and gave Moric a look.

Moric was stunned.

Did Lu Yang mean for him to cross the ball to the near post?

But... could he even receive the ball?

After all, the opposing center-back next to Lu Yang was one meter eighty-five, possessed a height advantage, and looked significantly more robust than Lu Yang.

Not to mention whether Lu Yang could jump under the opponent's pressure, even if they both jumped, Lu Yang still wasn't as tall as him.

For some reason, Moric suddenly recalled that leap Lu Yang made to defend a corner kick in the final moments of the previous round.

Had his jumping ability and physical resistance seemingly improved?

Moric thought to himself, his resolve hardening.

BANG!

The corner kick was taken, a high ball to the near post!

"Oh, Moric has actually chosen the near post for this corner, catching Catania off guard. They have more than two men marking the tall San Remo center-back in the middle, leaving only one defender at the near post."

"Lu Yang is battling with the opposing center-back; he shouldn't be able to jump, he's being completely suppressed."

"What? Lu Yang has jumped!"

"An aerial duel, Lu Yang and his opponent are still grappling!"

"What is happening? How is Lu Yang higher than his opponent? He actually won the duel!"

"A pity, both Lu Yang and his opponent jumped too early. The ball hasn't arrived yet, and they are already descending."

"As expected, the opposing center-back is already dropping, and Lu Yang is also... What! He isn't falling!"

"Hang time! Lu Yang's hang time is incredible! It's as if he's defied gravity! His physical conditioning is absolutely beyond everyone's imagination!"

BANG!

"A beautiful diving header! The ball is in!"

"A last-minute header! Lu Yang has done it!"

"GOAL! Victory! Lu Yang has brought the team another win!"

"Good heavens! For three consecutive matches, Lu Yang has scored the winning goal! He is simply the King of Last-Minute Goals!"

"No one has ever put on such a crazy display! Who would have thought a 1.78-meter center-back could have such heading ability?"

Lu Yang, Moric, and Vedian celebrated wildly together.

From the South Stand came cheers comparable to a thousand people, though in reality, there were only two hundred there.

On the bench, Soto picked up his notebook to record the events.

Lu Yang's physical strength and jumping ability were both quite impressive.

Was he always this strong, or... was he growing?

Considering Lu Yang was only sixteen, Soto leaned toward the latter.

And if that were the case, then Lu Yang's talent was terrifying.

The only slight pity was Lu Yang's height.

1.78 meters was certainly not short for a normal person.

Even in football, it couldn't be called short.

But... the trend of future football was "tall football," at least in terms of defense.

This could be seen in the historical data regarding the height of defensive players in the midfield and backline.

In the past, being 1.82 or 1.83 meters as a center-back was perfectly fine, and 1.88 meters was considered very tall.

But now, the entry threshold for center-backs was approaching 1.90 meters.

Defensive midfielders were also required to be at least 1.80 meters tall, with 1.85 meters being ideal.

What was most frustrating was that many players over 1.85 meters now possessed excellent ball control, meaning the old saying that "big men aren't agile" was gradually losing its truth.

If you had two players with the same ability, one tall and one short, whether they were attackers or defenders, you would always choose the taller one.

Because on the pitch, height is an advantage.

"If only Lu could grow a bit taller," Soto wished sincerely.

"He will. He's only sixteen, even though he's already had one growth spurt," Tom said. "There's an Eastern saying that men keep growing until they're twenty. He'll at least reach 1.80 meters!"

Soto shook his head; 1.80 meters wasn't enough.

What could those two centimeters really do?

News of San Remo's three-game winning streak spread like wildfire through Serie D.

Everyone knew that San Remo was different than before.

And all of this was tied to that short Eastern center-back.

Three matches, four goals, two assists.

Two goal contributions per game!

Is this a center-back?

These stats would be hard to achieve for a forward or a midfielder, let alone a center-back like Lu Yang.

He was absolutely the most aggressive center-back in Serie D, bar none.

The achievement of three consecutive last-minute winners also successfully made it into the authoritative reports of Italian football.

Many people were stunned when they saw the news.

In the past, news was always about Serie A, and even Serie B was rare; how did news about Serie D suddenly pop up this time?

But upon closer inspection, everyone felt it was indeed worthy of the headlines.

After all, that was three consecutive rounds of matches decided by last-minute winners.

And the opponents were ranked 14th, 1st, and 5th in the standings, respectively!

Moreover, all three matches were won in spectacular fashion, especially the second one, where a stunning thirty-three-meter bicycle kick gained a certain level of fame throughout European football.

As for the Serie B and Serie C teams previously drawn in by the rivalry between Lu Yang and Arnold, they were even more eager for Vedian.

He scored again!

To be ranked first on the top scorers' list with fourteen goals while playing for a relegation-threatened team with a porous defense—this carried far more weight than Arnold's fourteen goals.

Bisceglie averaged two goals per game, but as a finisher, Arnold's share of those goals did not even exceed one-third, which was absolutely an unqualified statistic.

Conversely, Vedian had previously been responsible for seventy percent of San Remo's total goals.

Weak teams produce goalkeepers; strong teams produce stat-padders.

Vedian's goals were not padded in a strong team; every single one was earned through his desperate running.

Vedian was becoming increasingly hot on the transfer market.

After the match against Catania, Lu Yang only received a random gift pack, and it wasn't a match-play or victory pack, but a "Three-Consecutive-Last-Minute-Winners" pack.

This was enough to show that the system did not reward every match or victory.

It was extremely picky.

"Ding! You have received a special reward: height increased by three centimeters."

When Lu Yang looked at the reward, he was a bit stunned.

There was actually a height reward?

One had to know, height had always been Lu Yang's fatal weakness.

Don't look at him as only sixteen, seemingly still capable of growing.

But in reality, he had already gone through a growth spurt once.

The age at which normal people grow varies; some early, some late, but generally, after one major spurt, they don't grow much more. Jumping from 1.60 meters to 1.78 meters was already earth-shattering, and it saved Lu Yang's professional career.

Even if he were to grow further, it would be a slow crawl of two or three centimeters over three to five years.

Unless Lu Yang experienced a second growth spurt.

And people who experience a second growth spurt are truly rare.

But now, the system's reward directly brought Lu Yang to 1.81 meters.

Although he was still on the short side for a center-back, it was better than 1.78 meters.

Besides... there would be plenty of opportunities to open gift packs in the future; it wasn't impossible to pull another height reward.

For a moment, Lu Yang felt wonderful inside.