Pressing Fast-Forward (Part 2)

Carrington Training Base.

Dark clouds hung over the pitch as a fine drizzle fell.

"Some places are leaking. They need to be fixed before Li returns."

"A lot of the old equipment should be replaced too."

Several Manchester United veterans made suggestions to the staff.

The television indoors was playing highlights from Li Luo's recent matches.

Rooney could not help sighing. "Li changed his style of play in the Bundesliga. It's harder for him to get injured, and harder for opponents to foul him."

Carrick nodded. "No matter where he went, he shone like gold."

"I even suspect..."

"Suspect what?"

"I suspect Li changed his style in the Bundesliga because he was wholeheartedly working toward Manchester United's revival."

"Huh? Van Gaal makes huge adjustments to the starting lineup every match, especially in the midfield and defense. When the time comes..."

"Shh!"

No one continued the discussion.

Manchester United's own situation deserved even more attention.

They had lost another Premier League match last night. What they needed to do now was review the game.

Assistant coach Giggs slowly approached, looking troubled.

He had heard the players talking. A revival? Then they had to fight for a UEFA Champions League spot next season. At the very least, that would give them another path toward revival.

"What are you talking about?"

Van Gaal straightened the red tie at his chest and strode over.

He was still holding a tactics board.

Brimming with confidence, he said, "I've found Manchester United's way out."

"First, our fluid formation needs to become a circle..."

Lower Saxony, Wolfsburg.

Li Luo finished training.

After taking a shower, he returned to his room and quickly typed away at the keyboard, finishing yesterday's diary entry.

It was no longer as long or complicated as before. Its main purpose was to summarize how to solve the problems posed by high-pressing systems like Leverkusen's.

A moment later.

He closed his laptop.

He thought:

Wolfsburg's teammates are not weak. Their reactions are quick, and their tactical understanding is solid. They can cover up a lot of my problems. At least for now, I can gradually establish myself in the Bundesliga.

But what about the Asian Cup?

My midfield style can improve Wolfsburg's overall attack and defense, but is it suitable for the China National Football Team?

Hopefully, I can draw more simple and brutal modules next. If I reach the perfected peak level of a Chinese Super League foreign star, perhaps I won't expose too many weaknesses and can solve a lot of problems?

With several question marks hanging over his mind, Li Luo left the desk and lay down on the small sofa.

Suddenly.

A mechanical synthesized voice rang out.

[National Team Main Quest Triggered: Asian Summit.]

[Quest Description: Put on that jersey, carry the dreams of countless compatriots, and write your legendary chapter with the China National Team. You must lead the China National Team to the summit of Asia.]

[Quest Reward: International Tournament Stars Blind Box.]

[Redemption Cost: 1,000,000 Shock Value.]

[Any reward from this blind box will grant you a substantial improvement.]

Hall of Fame stars?

Li Luo looked closely and discovered a preview screen featuring card characters. Was it a preview of the prize pool?

Maradona in Argentina's jersey.

Pelé of Brazil.

Beckenbauer of the Germany National Football Team.

Cruyff of the Netherlands National Team.

Baggio of Italy.

And stars such as Zidane, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and more, all wearing their national team jerseys.

National team limited editions?

As long as he won the Asian Cup, he could obtain the ability modules of these legendary stars? And his own strength would receive a "substantial improvement"?

"The rewards are great, but the difficulty is high."

"There are still several months until the Asian Cup."

Wolfsburg sporting director's office.

Allofs picked up several reports, grinning from ear to ear.

"Li's jerseys and related merchandise are selling so well in China? Unbelievable!"

"What a pity we don't have commercial operations like Manchester United. Otherwise..."

"A glorious loan spell!"

A staff member added, "Boss, that's not all. Other players who have assisted Li are also very popular in China."

"Mhm, mhm. There's an old Chinese saying."

"If you love someone, you'll also love the birds resting beneath their eaves."

"Chinese fans like Li, so they also like Wolfsburg teammates who work well with him."

Everyone burst into laughter.

The entire Wolfsburg club loved everything the Chinese youngster had brought them.

The most tangible thing was the win bonuses.

The days that followed seemed as though someone had pressed the fast-forward button.

Wolfsburg had no time to catch its breath and immediately faced four matches in one week.

Bundesliga, Round Five.

At home against Hertha Berlin.

The latter was one of the founding members of the German Football Association in 1900 and had enjoyed a brief spell of glory at the beginning of the last century.

Their strength was average.

They loudly proclaimed their goal of reaching the top five in the Bundesliga, but their actual results were mediocre.

At this stage, they were among the weaker sides in the Bundesliga.

"Zhuangdian'er TV! Zhuangdian'er TV!"

"The match has been very dull."

"It has been completely one-sided."

"Hertha Berlin chose to use physical confrontations to turn the match into a fragmented mess tonight."

"But they can't capitalize on their transition opportunities."

"Their head coach, Strunz, is extremely expressive on the sidelines. He practically wishes he had a remote control in his hand to manipulate his midfielders, hahaha."

"Hehehe, Strunz? He was a very good player in his day."

Japanese media heavily promoted this match.

Because Hertha Berlin's starting lineup contained two Japanese players: Hajime Hosogai and Genki Haraguchi.

<Will Demon King Li Luo continue his Bundesliga winning streak? Japanese players in Europe will give everything to stop him! Only by challenging stronger opponents can one become stronger! Only by giving everything can one touch the summit! Hosogai-san, Haraguchi-kun! We're counting on you!>

Unfortunately, Genki Haraguchi was still developing and had yet to adapt to Hertha Berlin's tactical system, leaving him with few opportunities.

As for Hajime Hosogai, Hertha Berlin had positioned him as a midfield workhorse tasked with all the dirty work.

In the 24th minute.

Hajime Hosogai carried the ball forward.

Li Luo intercepted laterally.

The Japanese player had no time to move the ball on.

He decisively chose a one-on-one duel.

He tried hard to calm himself, observing and predicting the shifts in the Chinese youngster's center of gravity.

Born in 1986, Hajime Hosogai had loved passionate sports manga since childhood, including Captain Tsubasa. He had not been corrupted by the shut-in culture that emerged later.

A genius midfielder like Li can't possibly be that simple.

Now, it's time to prove myself. I was the number ten of Maebashi Ikuei High School! I was the soul of Urawa Red Diamonds! I'm not just a defensive workhorse with no dribbling ability!

There was no earth-shattering battle of shifting centers of gravity.

Smack.

Li Luo casually poked the ball away, leaving Hajime Hosogai in utter disarray.

"Wolfsburg's transition attack!"

"Li Luo sends a diagonal pass to De Bruyne in the half-space."

"De Bruyne crosses it in."

"Dost."

"Yes!"

"Breaking the deadlock."

1:0!!!

The Volkswagen Arena erupted in thunderous cheers.

The Wolfsburg players embraced one another in celebration.

Hecking remained utterly calm.

In the 35th minute.

Hertha Berlin launched an extremely simple, practical counterattacking move.

"Cameroonian fullback En Zhen receives the ball on the wing."

"He charges all the way forward."

"His style is very old-school."

"His teammates have opened up a little space for him."

"He reaches the byline and crosses."

En Zhen's cross was excellent, its trajectory making things difficult for Wolfsburg's goalkeeper.

Coming off his line was not suitable.

Staying on the goal line was not suitable either.

A dark figure burst into view.

"Kalou, header!"

"It's in!"

"Hertha Berlin equalizes."

"I bet plenty of old fans in front of their televisions are thinking, Kalou is still playing?"

"Back at Feyenoord, the attacking trio of Kuyt, Kalou, and Castelen was famous for a time."

"Kalou also set a record. He holds Chelsea's record for the most appearances as a substitute."

"In 2006, Van Basten even wanted to help Kalou apply for Dutch citizenship so he could represent the Oranje at the FIFA World Cup."

Without realizing it, the commentator had drifted back to the subject of naturalized players.

Instructor Zhang chuckled beside him without offering an opinion.

World football was not opposed to naturalization: Brazilian Pepe had been naturalized by Portugal, Brazilian Diego Costa by Spain, along with Oliveira, Deco... and many other naturalized stars.

The China National Team was also working hard to naturalize foreign players from the Chinese Super League.

In the 78th minute.

Wolfsburg entered a settled attacking phase.

Li Luo had pushed up to the very front of the formation, running parallel with Dost.

One fast, one tall.

"De Bruyne."

"A cross from a 45-degree angle."

"Wow, Hertha Berlin's penalty area."

"Li Luo's header!"

Smack!

The spectators had no idea when Li Luo had made his diagonal run to the far-post position.

The ball had already been hammered into the net by his header.

2:1.

Li Luo rubbed his forehead, then turned around excitedly and ran toward the Corner Flag Area.

Livestream chat.

-[Scoring in consecutive matches, awesome.]

-[A midfielder farming goals? Lampard, known as "Little Li Luo."]

-[Someone should tell Li Luo not to keep heading the ball all day. Scientific studies have shown that frequent heading can leave lasting effects.]

-[Tottenham Hotspur legend Kinnear, Manchester United great Nobby Stiles—their dementia was caused by heading.]

-[Jeff Astle's cause of death: brain trauma from long-term, frequent heading.]

-[Alan Shearer also said his memory was poor now.]

-[Is it really that exaggerated? Only frequent heading during adolescence causes serious aftereffects. The Football Association issued regulations on this long ago. Li Luo must have only started practicing headers later, so it won't affect him.]

-[Don't worry. Looking at Li Luo, he doesn't seem like the type who trains especially hard, just like Hazard and Neymar.]

The rest of the match became very simple.

Hecking did not pursue a slaughterhouse scoreline and instead chose to see things through steadily.

Wolfsburg controlled the tempo.

They patiently built up their attacks.

In the 86th minute.

Fullback Ricardo took a speculative shot from outside the penalty area.

The ball went in again.

3:1!!!

"There's no suspense left."

"Wolfsburg are infinitely close to victory."

"Hertha Berlin probably don't have the ability to score two goals in the final few minutes."

"Hehehe, I remember an EFL Championship match where three goals were scored in three minutes of stoppage time."

In the end.

Beep! Beep-beep~

The referee blew the final whistle.

Wolfsburg 3:1 Hertha Berlin.

"We're Singing Green!"

"We're Singing Green!"

Volkswagen Arena echoed with the impassioned team anthem.

Another victory had arrived, and the home supporters were ecstatic.

Li Luo was very busy.

He was busy checking his Shock Value.

[Shock Value gained: 102684]

Was the opponent too weak?

He had only gained a little over sixty thousand Shock Value tonight.

But it did not matter.

It was enough to exchange for one blind box reward.

[Consume 100,000 Shock Value to exchange for a Bundesliga Stars Blind Box?]

[Exchanging...]

Rumble!

A giant card suddenly rose before him!

Within the card, a familiar figure slowly appeared.

[Blind box opening...]

[Congratulations, you obtained: Matthäus "Heavy Cannon" module.]

[Wow! Such incredible luck!]

[Overwhelming power! Nothing can withstand it!]

[At the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, Matthäus's Heavy Cannon shots shocked the entire world.]

[This module has a 100% compatibility rate with the template! Bonus attribute increase: Shooting +10!]

What?

A Matthäus template? A Matthäus module? A 100% compatibility rate would provide additional attribute boosts?

His shooting attribute had already exceeded 70 points!

In a daze.

Li Luo saw scenes of devastating Heavy Cannon strikes.

Long-range shooting put a tremendous strain on the body.

Many Heavy Cannon specialists in football history had been tormented by illness after retirement.

Some had even asked doctors to amputate their limbs.

Time continued to race forward.

Wolfsburg, fighting on multiple fronts, were exhausted yet exhilarated.

Two days later.

Bundesliga, Round Six.

With another consecutive home match, Wolfsburg welcomed Freiburg.

In the fans' minds, the latter seemed very "young."

In truth, Freiburg had been founded in 1904. They had spent a long time in regional leagues and did not first enter Germany's second division until 1978.

"The Bundesliga schedule is so bizarre?"

"How are there matches on consecutive days..."

"Because the German Football Association needs to make up fixtures, many teams have to face the problem of fatigue."

"After this match, Wolfsburg can properly prepare for their second Europa League opponent, Inter Milan."

The home atmosphere was thunderous.

The team anthem sung by Wolfsburg supporters seemed to give the players a whole pile of BUFF bonuses.

"Hecking has given Bendtner another chance."

"There's no choice. The bench isn't deep enough."

"If this were another major powerhouse, they might have simply discarded Bendtner. A player like him is far too unstable off the pitch."

"Right. What if he gets arrested again someday?"

The match was somewhat terrifying.

Not long after kickoff.

Freiburg forward Philipp suddenly exploded, dribbling past three men, breaking through Wolfsburg's defensive line, and scoring in one swift move.

0:1!!!

Wolfsburg goalkeeper Benaglio stood frozen in place.

He had not even processed it yet.

Fortunately, the rest of the match held little suspense.

Freiburg were weak as well.

They had no real prospects this season. Their goal was simply survival.

In the 34th minute.

"Knoche's long pass."

"Bendtner has his back to goal, holds his position, and lays it back to Li Luo."

"Hm?"

"Wow!"

Li Luo instinctively wanted to try Matthäus's "Heavy Cannon."

Bang!

The close-range audio equipment picked up an utterly terrifying sound of boot meeting ball.

The football turned into a cannonball.

It howled into Freiburg's goal.

1:1!!!

"Brilliant!"

"A world-shaking long-range strike from Li Luo."

"Powerful and forceful."

"It helps Wolfsburg level the score!"

"Wow, absolutely spectacular. Let's wait for the Bundesliga's official data later and see just how high the speed of that Heavy Cannon was."

Li Luo staggered forward two steps.

A tearing sensation came from his thigh, followed by searing pain.

The referee was experienced and immediately signaled for the medical staff to enter.

Hecking and the assistant coaches did not immerse themselves in the joy of the goal. Instead, they worried anxiously. "We're afraid Li Luo might be like that Premier League guy... one Heavy Cannon, and he messes up his lower body."

A few minutes later.

Li Luo bounced up and down a few times on the grass without any trouble.

Everyone let out a long sigh of relief.

In the end.

The referee blew the final whistle.

Wolfsburg 2:1 Freiburg.

The fans were thrilled.

They looked forward even more to the Europa League match a few days later.