That evening, an online video conference got underway.
It was organized by Soto.
The participants were former Serie A superstar Maniero,
one of Italy's top ten agents, Arthas,
Hans, a columnist for the authoritative Italian media outlet Live Football News,
and Lu Yang, a San Remo player.
Moric did not participate. That was Soto's decision.
Because Moric was the focus of tonight's meeting.
He had no idea of the danger he was about to face.
If he took part, it might affect his form.
Either he would be scared out of his wits,
or he would try to prove he wasn't afraid by actively seeking confrontation and causing trouble for himself.
There were plenty of real-life examples like that.
Provocation was a simple trick, even a child could recognize it, but at a higher level, it was incredibly effective—a mind game that struck straight at the heart.
Almost no one could remain unaffected by provocation.
Because the moment you heard what the other person said, it had already affected you.
Only Soto had the influence to bring everyone together and organize a meeting like this.
But Hans was a little surprised by Lu Yang's influence.
To be fair, Maniero hadn't been invited by Lu Yang. But what difference did that make?
Maniero had still shown up.
"So, you're worried that San Remo's key players will keep facing similar threats in future matches, or even deliberate fouls on the pitch?" Maniero summed up.
Soto nodded.
In fact, this sort of thing shouldn't have waited until now to happen.
Normally, a team's rookies, especially the ones performing well, would start facing this kind of treatment as soon as the second half of the season began.
Everyone looked down on rookies. Experience taught them to, just as most people tended to look down on their past selves.
And once a rookie started playing well, most of the people who had looked down on him at first would get angry, especially the opposing players.
They would use the nastiest words and dirtiest plays to punish him, to teach him that a rookie should know his place and behave like a good little lamb.
Likewise, it was only natural for a rookie to struggle at first against that kind of targeted defending, or even outright attacks.
That was why so many rookies hit a wall in the second half of the season.
If their form was poor, the slump might even carry over into their second season.
But there were exceptions. The trick was to show those who targeted you that the more they tried, the more they would pay for it! Score more goals, make more assists, dribble past more players, and so on.
Meeting challenges head-on was always one way to solve any problem.
But it was hard.
For San Remo, this had simply been pushed back to the end of the season, because Moric had only started playing halfway through it.
Now, he was finally facing the veterans' attacks in earnest.
The reason it wasn't Lu Yang was that Moric was the team's core, and since he and Lu Yang were on the same team, it was obvious who the softer target was.
"I've actually been through something like this," Maniero said, sharing his experience. "I never played particularly well on Italy's youth team. I failed to shoulder the responsibility of being the core, and this was why."
"Rough fouls, tough defending, double- and triple-teams. For a while, I was lost in a forest of enemy muscle. Until..."
Maniero looked at Soto.
Soto smiled faintly.
"Until this guy they called the Butcher was called up to the national team. My nightmare finally ended," Maniero said with a laugh. "He cleared every obstacle for me."
Soto laughed too. "So I often wonder if you saw my bodyguard potential from the start. Maybe that's why you had Hans come find me, build my reputation, and get the national team to notice me. You were waiting for me on the national team, weren't you?"
Maniero smiled without answering. He neither confirmed nor denied it.
"But that won't stop players from deliberately fouling Moric," Arthas said with a frown. "Lu Yang can sweep up on defense too, and he's a tough defender, but he can only ease the pressure on Moric tactically. He can't actually take all the dirty tackles for him, can he?"
"Who says he can't?" Maniero's expression changed. "Do you know how many yellow and red cards Soto picked up for the national team? Do you know how many deliberate fouls he committed? It was very different from how he played in the league. He was certainly fierce there, but he was rarely so extreme and brutal!"
Arthas froze. Come to think of it... that was true.
Hans had a say in this. He had helped make Soto both infamous and famous, and knew his record inside out.
"He did it for me! Without Soto, I'd have been crippled long ago!" Maniero said.
Everyone felt a shiver run through them.
The bond between the two men was suddenly laid bare.
Everything was crystal clear.
Anyone who aimed a dirty tackle at Maniero would face Soto's retaliation!
Anyone who deliberately crashed into Maniero would find himself on the ground the very next play.
Anyone who tried to ruin Maniero's career would feel the Butcher's wrath before they got the chance!
That was Italy National Team's match made in heaven.
Maniero, the brain, and his bodyguard, the Butcher, Soto!
Italy had other defensive midfielders, but no one could do it better or more ruthlessly than Soto.
He hadn't taken the field for Italy to play football. He had been there solely to protect Maniero!
That had cost him his sense of self, and his flair on the pitch had withered away. He no longer had any attacking ability. And yet, young Soto had once been a capable playmaker.
That style of play had even led Soto, who was three years younger than Maniero, to retire around the same time as him.
That was partly down to his style of play, partly down to Maniero, partly down to Gattuso's bad reputation, and partly down to his injuries.
He had sacrificed everything.
Of course, Maniero had never forgotten what Soto had done for him. He brought up Soto at every opportunity, always saying that Soto had been his lifelong rival, so Soto would never lose his place in history.
But no other pair could have worked together so selflessly.
No one wanted to lose themselves. No one wanted to become someone else's satellite. No one could believe their greatest rival in the league would ever stand beside them.
Likewise, no one would pass up the chance to utterly defeat their lifelong rival and trample them into the dust of history.
Except Soto.
And Maniero.
That was why, after retiring, they became the best of friends.
They had already trusted each other with their lives!
"I'll fight for Moric just like Soto did. I promise!" Lu Yang knew what he had to do. He wasn't Soto, but Moric needed someone like Soto right now.
Just as Moric didn't necessarily have to stay at San Remo, but was willing to stay for Lu Yang.
There was nowhere else like San Remo, where both of them could be starters at the same time—especially in a higher division.
So Lu Yang and Moric both knew that the moment they left San Remo would be the moment they said goodbye.
When they met again, they would be playing for different teams, facing off against each other.
"But that's not enough!" Lu Yang said. "I don't have Soto's reputation—or infamy. Serie D matches also aren't like national team matches, which draw countless eyes and are scrutinized by everyone."
"I need more influence, at least before the next match!"
Maniero fell silent for a long time. He could tell that Lu Yang cared more about Moric than the team's results.
Maniero also hoped his good friend Soto could achieve a miracle of his own in his first year as a coach.
For that old rooster and the young one, he had to do something.
"I hear Carlisle's injury is almost healed," Maniero suddenly said.
Carlisle was Fiorentina's starting striker in Serie A, a superstar forward known as the King of the Violets.
His powerful right-footed shots could pierce any defense. They were his trademark.
He was 31 and still near the end of his prime.
Normally, the end of a player's prime was when his influence, draw, and fame were at their peak.
Carlisle had been injured this season. He could walk normally now, but it would still be some time before he could train. There was no rush for him to return this season, since Serie A was nearly over anyway.
When he was young, Carlisle had played for Juventus. At the time, Maniero had just become one of Juventus's core players and stars.
Carlisle's time at Juventus had been a disaster. The fans had mocked him mercilessly, and at one point he'd wanted to give up football and go home to inherit his family's fortune.
Maniero had saved his career.
Maniero had told Carlisle that he had a powerful shot. All he lacked was the body to hold up long enough to get a shooting opportunity. It wasn't a matter of physical strength, but of balance, generating power, and core strength.
After that, Carlisle trained his balance and core relentlessly. Once he transferred to Fiorentina, the Viola, he began his incredible rise and forged a legend! His greatest weapon became his ability to unleash a powerful blast past two or three defenders.
That was why Carlisle and Maniero were close friends.
"Tell your chairman to prepare the best seats. Carlisle and I will be at San Remo Municipal Stadium for your next match," Maniero said. "The reason is that there's a young player on your team who reminds me a lot of the young Carlisle!"
Everyone's eyes widened.
The young Carlisle?
A future superstar striker?
Who?
Hans suddenly had an idea. "There was a report that Carlisle started out as a center-back in the youth system?"
Soto and Arthas looked at Lu Yang.
A center-back!
A striker!
This...
"San Remo's Viola Crown Prince. Don't make me look like a fool in front of Carlisle at the next match, all right?" Maniero said with a smile, looking at Lu Yang.
Lu Yang nodded solemnly.
The next day, Italian football was in an uproar!
Hans, the Live Football News reporter who often broke major stories, had recaptured the feeling of shaking up the football world.
His article, titled "Violets, I've Found Your Crown Prince!" landed on the front page of Live Football News.
Other football papers quickly reprinted it.
The article had plenty of substance.
"This season, Carlisle's injury has robbed the Violets of their sharpest weapon, and they dropped out of the title race early. Surely Fiorentina's management has seen the problem: the team doesn't have a single reliable backup striker."
"To put it more bluntly, after recovering from his injury, how long can 31-year-old Carlisle remain at his peak? It's time for the Violets to find their crown prince—and I've found him for you!"
"Perhaps many people don't know that Carlisle started out as a center-back. At Juventus, they converted him into a striker, but the transition was a complete failure."
"Thanks to Maniero's guidance and Carlisle's hard work and discipline, Carlisle finally found the right way to play after transferring to Fiorentina. He went on to become one of Serie A's greatest forwards."
"This season, not long after Carlisle was injured, a center-back named Lu Yang stepped onto the Serie D pitch in San Remo, the sunny city on the coast of northwest Italy."
"Thirteen matches, twelve goals, nine assists! What position do you think those stats belong to? I'll tell you: they belong to a center-back!"
"Lu Yang needed just thirteen matches to become Serie D's undisputed best center-back. He averages 6.3 tackles and 4.6 interceptions per game, and by season's end, he could well be crowned Tackle King and Interception King!"
"But what's frightening isn't the defensive talent he's shown in Serie D. On the contrary, it's his attacking talent that caught my eye. His long-range shots are explosive. They may not be exactly like Carlisle's, but they can break a deadlock just as well."
"I don't know if he has the potential to become a superstar striker, but his story is so much like Carlisle's! So much so that... even Carlisle wants to see the player he once was!"
"According to reliable sources, on the 15th of this month, in Round 34 of Serie D, San Remo will host Potenza. The King of the Violets, Carlisle, and Juventus's midfield brain, Maniero, will both be at San Remo Municipal Stadium!"
"Will the crown prince emerge? We'll find out when we see him! On the 15th, tune in to San Remo's Serie D match!"
It was an extremely stirring and persuasive article.
And it was packed with information.
Unless you were a longtime fan, you wouldn't know Carlisle used to play center-back.
Unless you followed Serie D, you wouldn't know about Lu Yang's incredible stats.
And outsiders clearly couldn't know where Maniero and Carlisle would be.
At least ninety percent of Fiorentina fans who read the article would watch the match, since it concerned them directly—and their king would be there too.
And Fiorentina were one of Serie A's top clubs. How could the other teams react when their crown prince emerged?
Who could resist their curiosity?
Who would dare not take a look?
What if he really was a once-in-a-generation talent?
The early bird catches the worm!
For a time, the name Lu Yang once again flooded Serie A.
Soon, everyone realized that the top two contenders for this year's Puskas Award so far had both been created by Lu Yang.
One was a shot like a lumberjack's axe, the other an astonishing 33-meter bicycle kick!
That made the claim that he was the Viola Crown Prince seem even more credible.