Rewards! Get Stronger!

"Congratulations on winning the game. Tell us, what do you want our Kate to do for you?" Kate's best friend—the birthday girl tonight—said with a playful smile.

"Lily..." Kate shot her best friend a reproachful look.

"Zhou, Zhou, make her agree to go on a date with you."

"Have dinner with her, then go watch a romance movie afterward, and finally you can hehehe..."

"Did you bring that thing?"

Andrew Bynum leaned close to Zhou Ze's ear, acting as his military adviser as he explained the foolproof pickup methods he had used back in high school.

Luke Walton, standing beside them, even gestured that he had plenty in his wallet and could give Zhou Ze some whenever he wanted.

But...

The Kate before them was a Hollywood actress, the female lead of Underworld, not some teenage high school girl. She would not be so easily sweet-talked.

Kate's beautiful eyes were fixed on Zhou Ze as well. She was curious about what request this rookie who had just entered the NBA would make of her.

Would his request be too excessive?

Zhou Ze smiled faintly before turning to offer his wishes to the birthday girl.

"Happy birthday."

The white girl—one of those foreign beauties in the eyes of Chinese netizens—was stunned for a moment before saying excitedly, "Thank you."

Then, Zhou Ze looked at Kate and said with a light smile, "Miss Kate, I'll tell you once I've thought of something."

With that, he left with Andrew Bynum, Kwame Brown, and the others.

The three of them were utterly bewildered.

Especially Bynum, who was currently in his mating season.

He could not help thinking, Is my bro stupid? She's the sexy goddess in countless men's dreams. Even if you can't become friends with benefits, you should at least kiss her once. But you? You don't want anything at all... Idiot...

"Hold on!" Kate's voice rang out behind Zhou Ze.

Kwame Brown quickly grabbed Zhou Ze.

"Zhou, this is my private contact information, so you can let me know once you've figured it out." Under everyone's watchful eyes, Kate handed Zhou Ze her personal business card.

Having spent many years in the entertainment industry, Kate was no longer a shy little girl. Yet at that moment, she still felt as if countless deer were crashing wildly against her heart, and a faint blush appeared on her fair cheeks.

Fortunately, with her slight buzz and the dim lighting of the nightclub, it was not easy to notice.

"Okay," Zhou Ze replied politely.

At one in the morning, Zhou Ze and the others finally left the nightclub.

However, compared to when they had arrived, their group was now missing a few people.

Such as Devin George, Lamar Odom, Aaron McKie, and the Lakers' starting point guard, Parker.

Well then!

Those guys would be having a wonderful night tonight.

"Zhou, you're something else."

"That move of yours was incredible."

"Kate actually took the initiative to give you her contact information."

Andrew Bynum, who had suffered repeated defeats in nightclubs, was green with envy.

"Zhou, when are you planning to ask her out? Want me to lend you a car?" Kwame Brown offered enthusiastically.

As the first overall pick, Kwame Brown's first NBA paycheck had naturally been the highest among the rookies in his draft class, and he had long since bought a luxury car.

They were both big men, and Kwame was even five centimeters taller than Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze naturally would not feel cramped driving his car.

"I'm not interested in that for now." Zhou Ze shook his head.

The three of them laughed speechlessly.

Bynum rolled his eyes in exasperation and complained, "Zhou, if you didn't keep sneaking glances at the sexy, hot cheerleaders, I'd seriously question your orientation."

Zhou Ze liked beautiful women.

He liked them very much.

But his principle remained the same: he did not want to spend the effort taking the initiative to pursue them, nor was there any need to.

After returning to his place that night, Zhou Ze received the system reward that had arrived late.

[Task Reward (Team-Building Event): 300 Peak Points]

[Task Reward (Standing Up for a Teammate): 300 Peak Points]

[Peak Points: 658/2758]

With less than 2,300 Peak Points to go, Zhou Ze could load another player's template.

For talent potential caps, the system chose the better option.

For example, if the next Player B had a better three-point talent than his current one, the higher three-point talent cap would be selected. Otherwise, the existing one would remain.

At this pace...

At most, Zhou Ze would be able to load a new player template in another month.

Thinking of that, Zhou Ze was filled with motivation.

He exchanged 600 Peak Points for three chances at the random draw.

He obtained 3 random attribute points.

The system dumped them all into [Steal], raising it to 53 (70).

The increase in the [Steal] attribute meant an increase in steal awareness.

Combined with Zhou Ze's newly acquired [Ball-Handling Steal Master (Bronze)], it might produce unexpected results on defense.

The next day.

During the Los Angeles Lakers' internal practice, Zen Master Phil Jackson and Kobe wore dark expressions the entire time.

None of the players were in form.

Not only did Lamar Odom play like a noodle-legged weakling, but he also kept zoning out on the court.

Phil Jackson and Kobe could easily guess that quite a few players had indulged themselves wildly the night before.

Of course, as athletes, their hormones were naturally stronger than ordinary people's, so it was barely understandable.

After practice, Phil Jackson sternly told everyone to get a good night's rest. They would be facing the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow.

At noon.

Zhou Ze, along with his management team, officially signed with a Los Angeles-based chewing gum company.

The endorsement deal was worth $2.1 million over two years.

Besides filming commercials and promotional posters, he would also need to attend certain offline events organized by the company.

The main purpose was to interact with fans and raise the brand's visibility.

After signing the contract, the system notification sounded in his mind once more.

[Ding. Congratulations, Host, on signing an endorsement contract. Reward: 500 Peak Points.]

[Peak Points: 558/3258]

"Not bad. More than I expected..." Zhou Ze had originally thought Peak Points would be awarded as a certain percentage of the contract value.

Zhou Ze exchanged for another two drawing chances.

He drew 1 random attribute point, which was added to his jump speed, raising it to 77 (115).

He also obtained an [Armspan Booster] that could add 2 cm to his total wingspan. Zhou Ze's wingspan was currently 213 cm. Because his shoulders were so broad, he still gave off a bit of a Tyrannosaurus vibe.

But if he could add another 2 cm, never mind the other benefits—at the very least, it would no longer look short.

The Lakers' second opponent of the week was the Philadelphia 76ers. Though they were not an especially strong team, they had a superstar scorer on their roster—Allen Iverson.

In the 2005-06 season, he averaged 33 points per game, second only to that season's scoring champion, Kobe, who averaged 35.4.

Iverson in the East, Kobe in the West!

Two standouts from the Golden Generation of '96!

Both were high-volume scorers, but Iverson was less efficient and also lacked defensive ability.

It was worth mentioning that superstars of this era were almost uniformly two-way players.

Not long after the game began, Iverson used one of his signature crossovers. The exaggerated feint shook Parker into a wooden stake, leaving him frozen in place. Then, like a gust of wind, he burst to the basket and, facing Zhou Ze's rim protection, used the timing difference to hit a leaning banked layup.