The vast fields and scattered villages gradually disappeared from either side of the bus windows.
Wolfsburg's bus slowly entered an unbroken stretch of forest. Dense conifers covered the rolling hills, soothing the spirits and offering fresh air. This was Hesse, known as Germany's "green heart."
"Li, I really envy you."
"You're the Manchester United Crown Prince, and now you're Wolfsburg's midfield linchpin. Everyone treats you so well."
"You're handsome, too. So many girls like you."
"The media loves you as well. They always give you positive coverage."
"And your commercial value has been recognized. You make so much from endorsements..."
Malanda spoke sincerely, occasionally glancing down at his book.
Li Luo had been gazing out the window. He turned his head in mild surprise. "Since when did you get so good with words?"
"You told me to read more..."
Little Black Egg raised the book in his hands. Its cover read The Art of Speaking.
Realization dawned on Li Luo, and he offered some encouragement. "Study hard, and you won't end up broke after you retire."
"Yeah! Then I can drive you around every day and save you the cost of hiring a chauffeur."
"Haha."
Li Luo chuckled.
His life really was going very well at the moment.
But a major challenge was approaching: the upcoming senior international fixtures... He couldn't let the Chinese fans down too badly.
He hoped that after tonight's Bundesliga match, he could draw a module from the mystery box that would provide an immediate boost, preferably an attacking ability that let him take matters into his own hands and really explode.
Gradually, the scenery outside the windows changed again.
"We've entered the Rhine Valley."
"What a magnificent panorama."
Hecking couldn't help humming a nursery rhyme from his hometown.
He had been born in a small village on the Rhine. His parents were miners, and his whole family supported Schalke 04.
Through the windows, everyone could see historic medieval castles and vineyards.
It felt as though they had entered a breathtaking fairy-tale world.
"I heard an expansion for the Polish game series The Witcher is using this place as a reference next year. I think it's called Blood and Wine. The map they revealed is called Toussaint."
"There's a young Polish model called Nika Bey who keeps reposting Li's highlight videos on social media."
"Hehe, if I were Li, I wouldn't let any of those girls get away!"
"Those toilet-paper tabloids... They actually ran huge spreads of photos of Li and Morata. What a sick sense of humor. Even more ridiculously, The Sun came out to refute them."
Bendtner was getting carried away.
Everyone burst out laughing.
Li Luo held a tablet, watching match footage of their opponents, Mainz.
De Bruyne rose from the seat behind him and leaned over. "Their head coach, Tuchel, has a one-match touchline ban. We shouldn't be under too much pressure tonight."
At this stage, Tuchel could be described as a "tier 0.5" Bundesliga coach.
Mainz's results and tactical system had long since proved his ability.
For the moment, he was the only coach in history to have earned full marks on the German Football Association's theory exam.
German coaching theory focused on tactics.
Italy emphasized something different. Allegri's thesis, The Three-Man Midfield, barely differed from the textbook material. It was twenty pages long, largely discussing how to build understanding among three midfielders, resolve conflicts, and maintain their relationships. Sarri's thesis, Coaching a Club, ran to fifty pages and read more like a diary, covering things such as what players should eat, what they should practice, how long they should rest, individual conversations, whether to interfere in their private lives, and what to say to boost morale...
In short.
Mainz would be difficult to handle tonight. Even if Tuchel couldn't direct them from the touchline, he would certainly have laid his plans in advance.
Many media outlets believed that the practice of making weekly tactical tweaks and tailoring setups to different opponents in Europe's top five leagues... had begun with Tuchel driving everyone to work harder.
Bruchweg Base.
The Mainz players were doing some simple set-piece drills.
Assistant coach El couldn't resist complaining. "Boss, why did you have to fight the opposition last round? You've made directing tonight's match really difficult for us."
Tuchel countered, "That wasn't a fight. It was just a physical altercation."
He had an impulsive temper and didn't get along well with the club's executives.
But he was a decent man who treated his colleagues, players, and fans well.
"If we stick to the tactics we've laid out, Wolfsburg will struggle to leave unscathed."
He left the rest unsaid.
Tuchel felt that Mainz's defense... would struggle to withstand Wolfsburg's attacks.
There was a gap in the quality of their personnel.
Mainz's squad contained two South Korean players and one Japanese player.
The media had already begun building the hype.
<Korean media: South Korea's two heroes will give Li Luo the toughest battle of his career.>
<Japanese media: Okazaki, please do everything you can to stop China's qilin. We're counting on you.>
In the comments.
-[Those two Korean punks at Mainz are aggressive in the challenge, to put it nicely. To put it bluntly, they play dirty.]
-[Just don't injure Li Luo.]
-[Some people say Korean players haven't been as dirty since 2002? They must have watched too many Korean dramas.]
-[I think Tuchel's in-game management needs improvement. Mainz's strength is pretty much the same whether he's there or not. Tactical adjustments just depend on whether those assistants dare to take responsibility.]
-[My impression of Mainz is Gutenberg's fifteenth-century revolution. They copied movable-type printing from the Yongle Encyclopedia and then became famous across Europe.]
-[There's another view, too: they stood on the shoulders of giants and overcame different technical challenges.]
Night fell.
The Romanesque and Gothic buildings radiated a strange beauty beneath the lights.
The outline of the Coface Arena also grew clearer in the darkness.
Soft red lighting traced its sleek outer walls, building the atmosphere for the approaching match.
As a modern stadium that had opened in 2011, it boasted excellent facilities, especially an advanced underfloor heating system that constantly helped the staff keep the cold at bay.
The expectant fans in the stands sang their club anthem at full voice.
"Zhuangdian'er TV! Zhuangdian'er TV! Good evening, viewers."
"We're bringing you live coverage of round seven of the 2014-15 Bundesliga season."
"Mainz are hosting Wolfsburg."
"What sparks will fly between the Rhine artillery and Wolfsburg?"
"Mainz's style over the past decade has been exhilarating. Their two head coaches, Klopp and Tuchel, have instilled a wild streak in this club."
"Tonight could very well be another spectacular end-to-end contest."
In the players' tunnel.
Koo Ja-cheol and Park Joo-ho stared at Li Luo's back with complicated expressions.
The two Korean punks fought hard in the Bundesliga. In the words of the Korean media, "They occasionally failed to keep up with their opponents' tempo in previous matches, resulting in overly forceful fouls. They weren't actually dirty."
Shinji Okazaki wasn't as friendly as the Japanese players Li Luo had met before, either.
He didn't suffer from teenage delusions of grandeur, but he had a strange personality.
He would tease a teammate's wife in front of the teammate, saying, "It's only been a few days, but your ** have gotten bigger again."
Pat, pat, pat.
Mainz goalkeeper Karius walked up from the rear, patting his teammates' chests along the way, his expression confident. "With me here, Wolfsburg won't score!"
His voice rang out.
The Wolfsburg players all glanced over.
De Bruyne said seriously, "That guy really is good..."
Li Luo turned around and added, "Yeah, I've watched his footage. He's very good with his feet."
"..."
Karius happened to hear the Chinese youngster's assessment of him.
The corners of his mouth twitched.
You're praising a goalkeeper... for being good with his feet?
That praise hardly paints the full picture!
The referee team led both teams out of the tunnel.
The Coface Arena grew louder still.
A hot-air balloon bearing the Bundesliga logo slowly rose into the sky.
"Now, let's introduce the starting lineups."
"Mainz are lining up in a 5-4-1!"
"Goalkeeper: Karius."
"Defenders: Brosinski, Stefan, Bungert, Jara, and Park Joo-ho."
"Midfielders: Koo Ja-cheol, Soto, Geis, and Allagui."
"Forward: Shinji Okazaki."
"Tuchel's setup tonight is fundamentally still a three-centre-back system."
"The most advanced use of fullbacks moving into midfield originated with that bald coach at Genoa a few years ago. What was his name again... Guardiola then refined it. Tuchel is a great admirer of Guardiola's tactical philosophy, so he borrowed it and adapted it to Mainz's system."
"Wolfsburg are lining up in a 4-2-3-1!"
"Goalkeeper: Benaglio."
"Defenders: Sebastian, Naldo, Knoche, and Ricardo."
"Midfielders: Caligiuri, Gustavo, Li Luo, Malanda, and De Bruyne."
"Forward: Bendtner."
The coin toss concluded.
Tweet!
With a blast of the referee's whistle, the match officially began.
Wolfsburg had possession.
Bendtner kicked off by passing back.
Mainz's 5-4-1 was no parked bus. Instead, they pushed forward in numbers and launched a ferocious high press.
"They're so aggressive."
"Which side is supposed to be the pack of wolves here?"
The ball rolled swiftly across the grass and reached Wolfsburg centre-back Naldo's feet.
Shinji Okazaki closed him down fiercely.
Smack.
He disrupted Wolfsburg's buildup.
Fortunately, Gustavo had dropped into the defensive line early. He brought the ball under control in time and passed it back to the goalkeeper.
Enthusiastic applause rose from the stands.
"Shinji Okazaki is different from our usual impression of Japanese players. His technique is very rough, his shots often sail high, and his foul count ranks among the highest for Bundesliga forwards..."
"But his awareness off the ball is excellent. He's good at getting on the end of chances, and his commitment to defending and pressing..."
Coach Zhang cut short his assessment of the Japanese player.
Because he saw Wolfsburg's goalkeeper pass to Li Luo, who had dropped back, only for the South Korean player Koo Ja-cheol to slide straight at him!
"Oh no!"
Smack.
Li Luo played a one-touch pass.
Thanks to his spatial awareness, he found his teammate on the flank with pinpoint accuracy and spotted the Korean punk sliding toward him early.
He sprang lightly into the air.
He calmly avoided Koo Ja-cheol's sliding tackle.
Coach Zhang badly wanted to swear.
The duck-voiced commentator was also silently cursing the Korean punk as a fucking asshole who was trying to injure someone again.
"That was close..."
Before he could finish.
The next instant.
Li Luo landed on both feet and accidentally stamped hard on Koo Ja-cheol's back.
Wolfsburg's middle-aged assistant coaches let out long breaths of relief. What malice could there possibly be in a Chinese youngster who spent every day getting hacked down by the Bundesliga's hard men?
It had to be a coincidence.
The pitchside microphones picked up an agonized scream.
Everyone in the stadium was stunned.
Something this brutal right after kickoff?
The referee did not stop play. He raised both arms, signaling for Wolfsburg to continue their attack.
"Nothing wrong with that. If Koo Ja-cheol hadn't gone in so hard, how would Li Luo have stepped on him?"
Wolfsburg's attackers surged across the halfway line.
They spread out in a fan-shaped formation.
Shinji Okazaki shouted at Koo Ja-cheol.
"Get back!"
"You idiot! Stop arguing with the referee!"
By now, Li Luo and his Wolfsburg teammates had developed excellent chemistry.
He kept moving diagonally, releasing the ball with one touch.
It was as though he were weaving layer upon layer of a net.
Quietly dismantling Mainz's midfield barrier.
In the stands, Tuchel wore a complicated expression.
"Such fluid football!"
"De Bruyne... lovely control."
"No room to shoot. Mainz have switched back to a five-man defense."
"The plan is clear. Back to Li Luo to build the attack again."
"This is renowned coach Hecking's dual-playmaker system."
Before Li Luo received the ball.
He had already spotted Park Joo-ho charging toward him.
Another little Korean punk looking to chop me down?
But as a fullback, Park Joo-ho would not readily slide into a tackle in his own half.
At this point in football's development, it was understandable for midfielders and forwards to slide in, using every possible means to slow the opposition's attack.
Players at the back had to be cautious.
Maldini had once said, "If I have to make a tackle, then I've already made a mistake."
At that moment.
Park Joo-ho closed in rapidly, ready to exploit the referee's blind spot and give Li Luo a nasty hit to avenge Koo Ja-cheol.
Then.
The instant Li Luo received the ball.
He gave it a gentle touch with the outside of his right foot.
Man and ball moved away, opening up space from the South Korean fullback.
"Elegant!"
"The pass."
"Wow! That pass... perfectly exploited the weak side of the defense exposed by Park Joo-ho pressing forward."
"Bendtner has drifted wide!"
"There's no sign of panic in Mainz's defense. Their Karius is an exceptionally gifted talent, hailed as the Li Luo of goalkeepers!"
Bendtner had played on the wing during his time with the Gunners.
A 193-centimeter giant out wide?
Back then, Arsène Wenger had thought highly of him. He believed that a prodigiously talented goalscorer needed positional interchange, flexibility, and an all-round game to fit into a fluid attacking system.
Simply put, Arsenal's manager at the time believed that wingers needed to learn center-forward skills, and center-forwards needed to learn winger skills, or the game would leave them behind.
"Wow, a brute with a delicate touch."
"Bendtner cuts past Jara."
"Coming inside..."
"Will he cut inside?"
"Ricardo is making an overlapping run. Play it to him."
Ricardo had good technique. One touch to control, another to push forward, and he burst into Mainz's penalty area, carrying the ball along the byline.
Gasps rang out around the Coface Arena.
Smack.
A cutback.
At the top of the penalty arc, a blond figure arrived right on cue.
De Bruyne.
He lifted his arm and swung his leg.
Everyone thought he was about to unleash a thunderous shot...
Instead, the pitchside microphones picked up the soft sound of a gentle touch.
"A through ball."
"Li Luo."
"How did he get into that position?"
After passing to Bendtner, Li Luo had immediately quick-stepped into an acceleration, slipping into Mainz's penalty area like an eel.
With his body turned sideways.
Facing the ball rolling toward him, he instinctively drew his leg back in a short swing.
75 shooting.
Peak grand completion for a Chinese Super League foreign signing.
No touch to control.
No adjustment.
Thump.
An elegant, composed first-time side-footed shot.
The two Mainz center-backs closing in to block and pressure him... looked horrified.
"Karius!"
"Oh no, he's made a mistake!"
The ball struck his purple gloves and deflected into the net.
0-1!!!
The whole stadium sighed.
Li Luo did not celebrate alone. He turned and ran back, exchanging a high five and a hug with De Bruyne.
Their Wolfsburg teammates came bounding over to join the celebrations.
"Too easy."
"Li Luo has fully integrated into Wolfsburg's system."
"He's even become an indispensable part of it."
"Spotting the gap in the defense."
"Ghosting into position, then delivering the killer blow."
"No need to worry about his finishing. It was already excellent when he played for the Manchester United Youth Team."
"That through ball from De Bruyne... absolutely exquisite."
"Two brilliant minds have combined to put Wolfsburg ahead."
The livestream chat.
-[My Li Luo is so handsome. An easy goal.]
-[Fucking awesome.]
-[Just his usual performance. Everyone, sit down.]
-[Karius got a hand to it. Maybe his hand positioning was wrong.]
-[Do you even need to check the odds for Li Luo's matches? All in on the first-half over at the opening line, all in on the full-time over.]
-[Don't celebrate too early. Mainz's attack is fierce. Wolfsburg might not hold out.]
Some were delighted; others were troubled.
Shinji Okazaki looked furious as he complained to his two South Korean teammates. "You picked the wrong moments to foul Li. You two are responsible for that goal."
"Knowing when to foul is an art!"
Koo Ja-cheol and Park Joo-ho did not argue, their expressions conflicted.
Karius rubbed his face in frustration, then stood up and loudly encouraged his teammates. "My fault. It's okay. We'll hit back. Wolfsburg aren't getting a second!"
He had started as Mainz's third-choice goalkeeper and gradually earned the starting position through his ability.
Everyone in the dressing room liked him and was happy to talk to him.
That was why he played with such confidence during this period.
He wanted to take responsibility and hoped to become a leader for the team.
On the touchline.
Hecking clapped excitedly.
"We can't let up."
"The match has only just started. Mainz's defending is mediocre, but we need to watch their attack."
His assistant nodded earnestly. "We'll defend in a low block now."
On the other side.
Mainz's assistant coach, El, paced anxiously back and forth.
What was he waiting for?
A little note from Tuchel up in the stands...
[Shock Value +1!] [Shock Value +1!] [...]
After the celebrations, Li Luo watched the numbers steadily rising on the system panel.
After tonight's match, I have to draw a module that can help me right away...
Senior international matches.
They certainly would not be as easy as Wolfsburg's Bundesliga routs against weaker opposition.
Of course, Mainz were not weak.
Their squad was simply weaker than Wolfsburg's on paper, their defense was average, and their head coach happened to be serving a touchline ban.
Play restarted from the center circle.
The roar inside the Coface Arena grew louder and louder.
Mainz's supporters were not disheartened by falling behind. If anything, they were brimming with confidence.
They believed in their team's attack.
"To put it in internet slang, their tactics... their style of play really wins fans."
"Everyone piling forward!"
"An all-out attacking battle!"
"Kill or be killed."
"Hehehe, the 5-4-1 has become a 2-2-6! This is madness!"
"Karius is standing on the halfway line, just like Neuer."
At this point in his career, Tuchel was still developing too.
Players were not the only ones who needed time to develop. A head coach's abilities also needed time to improve.
Aggressive football always made time seem to fly for the spectators.
Wolfsburg parked the bus.
Mainz's attacks against their set defense flowed beautifully.
The armored, plump wolf came under fierce bombardment from a line of Rhine artillery!
In the eighteenth minute.
Wolfsburg got a golden chance to counterattack.
Caligiuri received the ball out wide and burst into a sprint, only to make a mistake in the forty-meter stretch of his own half.
Koo Ja-cheol successfully won the ball.
The next moment.
In his field of vision... a dark figure appeared.
Malanda.
Smack.
The South Korean player went sprawling.
Little Black Egg bent over, tried hard to force a "vicious" expression onto his face, and said, "You tackle Li, I tackle you!"
That was also the instruction Hecking gave him before every match.
Koo Ja-cheol rolled around in pain, clutching his ankle.
I didn't even fucking catch Li Luo with that tackle! Is this black bastard's brain lagging? Or is he holding a grudge? It hurts so much, damn it!
"Nothing wrong with that."
"Malanda got the ball first, then brought Koo Ja-cheol down."
"Throw-in to Mainz."
"Oh dear."
"Park Joo-ho and Li Luo shoved each other a couple of times, then Knoche knocked him down."
"Things are getting a little out of hand. Players from both sides have crowded around."
Of course, the Wolfsburg players knew what had caused it.
Those little Korean bastards keep trying to hurt our bonuses... pfft, pfft, pfft! Our Li!
We've got to teach them a lesson!
Boos rang out from all four stands of the Coface Arena.
In the livestream chat.
Comments flew across the screen.
-[I told you, the Koreans are still dirty. They just don't dare be as blatant about it as they used to.]
-[Li Luo is so crafty. In a free-for-all... there's no way he's coming off worse.]
-[Bendtner's moves are way too obvious. What a brute!]
-[He's the meat shield!]
-[Wolfsburg and Mainz aren't bitter rivals or anything. It's mainly those two Koreans trying to disrupt the linchpin of Wolfsburg's midfield, so they keep going after Li Luo.]
-[De Bruyne's about to stamp his feet!]
-[In a brawl like this, De Bruyne looks like an outraged model student.]
A few minutes later, the chaos subsided.
After speaking with both captains, the referee signaled for play to resume.
During the commotion, Mainz assistant coach El had also received a little note from Tuchel and quickly relayed the tactical adjustments to the players on the pitch.
Before you continue