The champagne smell of Community Shield's championship has not dissipated yet, United Kingdom's sports media has been overwhelmed by another incident.
"Čech: China guy bullies people! He insulted me! I even conceded 5 goals, and he even said that my throwing skills have improved!"
This news dominated the front pages of all sports pages at an alarming speed. Even Spain's "Marca" and "AS", Italy's "Milan Sports Newspaper", and Germany's "Bild" all reprinted this message.
Zhang Kuang saw this news when he checked his phone the next morning.
He had just completed a set of recovery training at Carrington. He was sitting in the locker room drinking water, and then opened Twitter. The first trending search was: #Čech accuses Zhang Kuang of insulting#.
When he clicked in and took a look, he was stunned.
"I sincerely praise him..." Zhang Kuang muttered and handed the phone to Rooney next to him, "Wayne, look, where did I insult him?"
After Rooney finished reading, his expression was shocked at first, then he suppressed laughter until his face turned red, and finally he couldn't help but burst into laughter:
"Hahahaha... Zhang, you don't know, to our United Kingdom ears, what you said does sound like you are mocking him. He conceded five goals and was praised as 'improved'. Everyone who heard this thought you were saying that he had conceded more goals before."
Zhang Kuang looked innocent. "But I'm telling the truth! He did save several must-goals yesterday! If you put aside last season's Čech, those goals must have been scored, he just saved them!"
Rooney laughed so hard that he slapped his thigh, "Then you have to speak clearly! Now everyone Europe thinks you are humiliating him."
Sure enough, after the routine training that afternoon, Zhang Kuang was blocked by reporters at the door of Carrington Training Ground, with more than a dozen microphones stretched out in front of him.
"Zhang Kuang, Čech said you insulted him, how did you respond?"
"Are you mocking him for conceding five goals?"
"Did you Community Shield swell after winning the championship?"
"..."
Zhang Kuang raised his hands and made a 'stop' gesture. "Wait a minute, wait a minute, let me make it clear. First, I sincerely praise the improvement of Čech's throwing skills.
Second, I didn't mean to insult him. Third," he paused, with a sincere expression, "you guys go back and watch the game video. Čech saved at least three must-goals today.
Without him, Chelsea might have conceded seven or even eight goals. What I mean by 'improvement' is that his ability to save those goals that must have been scored has improved. Is this wrong?"
The reporters looked at each other.
This explanation sounds... like it does make sense.
But once the direction of public opinion is formed, it is difficult to reverse it.
In the sports news that night, the headline was still eye-catching. "Zhang Kuang explained: I really praised him! But Čech's anger has not subsided."
Čech was still emotional when interviewed by Czech Republic media. "I don't accept this explanation. I conceded five goals, and then he said I've improved? It's like you were beaten up, and then someone praised you for getting stronger. Isn't this an insult?"
Zhang Kuang After seeing this news, he shook his head and turned off his mobile phone. "Believe it or not, I can't control that much."
He really can't care about that much anymore, because he has more important things.
On August 10, the third day after Community Shield ended, Zhang Kuang flew to Paris.
This was the itinerary he had planned during the offseason. Hengbart had obtained some rare training resources, and he needed to come over and eat them.
The summer in Paris is much clearer than that in Manchester. The August sun shines on the Seine River with sparkling waves.
Zhang Kuang picked up his car from Charles de Gaulle Airport. It was a low-key black Audi A6. He always kept this kind of car at the airport. It was low-key and he would not feel bad if it was lost.
After getting in the car, he drove along A1 Motorway towards Paris urban area.
As the sky grew dark, he turned onto the tree-lined avenue leading to the Sixteenth Arrondissement villa area.
The speed of the car was not fast, and the scene in the rearview mirror alternated between the on and off of the street lights.
Zhang Kuang didn't pay attention at first, but the cultivator's keen perception allowed him to quickly catch the anomaly. A dark gray Renault Clio followed him at a distance of about two hundred meters.
He speeds up, and the car speeds up too.
He slowed down, and the car also slowed down.
"Interesting." Zhang Kuang looked at the rearview mirror and whispered playfully.
He did not react immediately, but continued to drive slowly until a small fork in the road leading to the riverbank appeared in front of him.
This is a dead end road that almost no one takes, leading to an abandoned dock next to the Seine River.
Zhang Kuang turned on the turn signal and turned into the fork in the road.
Two seconds later, in the rearview mirror, the dark gray Renault also turned in.
Zhang Kuang The corners of his mouth raised slightly.
He confirmed one thing: these people did not install a locator on his car. If they had, they would not need to follow him so closely and could wait until he reached his destination before taking action.
The other party's hurried reaction when he turned the corner just now showed that they were tracking his position in real time and must have remote monitoring methods.
The speed of the car is getting faster and faster, and the road ahead gradually narrows under the illumination of the headlights.
Renault followed closely behind, closing the distance to less than a hundred meters.
Zhang Kuang suddenly turned the steering wheel, the Audi tires made a sharp squeal, and turned into a narrower dirt road.
This road leads to a row of abandoned warehouses next to the dock, overgrown with weeds and without any lights around.
He stepped on the brakes and the car stopped in the open space in front of the warehouse.
Turn off the engine, open the door, and get out of the car all in one go.
Then he quickly walked into the shadow of the warehouse and disappeared as if he melted into the night.
Three minutes, just three minutes, the Renault drove into the open space and stopped.
The car door opened and four people jumped out.
They are all muscular men with dark complexions and wearing dark sports coats.
One of them was holding something in his hand, which shone with a cold metallic light in the night.
While they were scanning the surroundings warily, they were talking in low voices in an unintelligible language, as if they were trying to determine the whereabouts of Zhang Kuang.
"What are you looking for?" A voice came from the darkness behind them.
The four people turned around suddenly, but their vision was already dark. Zhang Kuang's movements were so fast that they exceeded the reaction limit of normal humans.
A hand knife struck the nearest person on the back of the neck, causing him to fall to the ground.
Then came the second person and the third person. In less than two seconds, the three of them lost consciousness one after another.
The fourth man reluctantly turned around and ran for two steps, but the back of his neck went numb and he fell to the ground. The steel pipe in his hand fell to the concrete floor with a clang.
Zhang Kuang stood among the four 'corpses', flicking his wrist with a calm expression.
"Even though I'm here, someone has to tell me why I'm here."
When the first person woke up, he found that he was tied to an old iron chair in the warehouse, his mouth was sealed with tape, and his limbs were firmly fixed with nylon ties.
There was only a dim emergency light on in the warehouse, and the light fell from above his head, making it impossible to see anything else in his field of vision.
Zhang Kuang walked out of the shadows and sat on a wooden box three meters away opposite him.
"You're awake." Zhang Kuang's tone was as relaxed as chatting, "Then let me ask. Who sent you?"
The man stared and didn't answer.
Even with his mouth sealed with tape, he couldn't answer.
Zhang Kuang walked over and took off the tape on his mouth.
The man took a deep breath and spat out a string of accented English: "I can't say anything! Kill me if you dare!"
Zhang Kuang was stunned for a moment, and then said happily, "Oh, it's quite tough. Okay, let's start with something simple. Where are you from?"
The man looked away.
Zhang Kuang Don't be in a hurry.
He reached out and took out a mobile phone from his pocket and shook it. "This mobile phone was found from you. Guess what I found? You are using the Russian system and there are two time zone focus points. So, you are from Toklan?"
A trace of panic flashed across the man's expression, but he still gritted his teeth and said nothing.
Zhang Kuang leaned down and got close to his face. "I knew it even if you didn't tell me. Your expression betrayed you. I have figured out a lot of the logic. You are the predecessor of Ukraine Azov Battalion... named Patriot Organization, right?"
As he spoke, he carefully observed the other person's pupil reaction, and his pupils shrank suddenly.
"Well, you guessed it right again?"
The man's expression changed.
Zhang Kuang straightened up and took two steps in the warehouse. "Then everything is logically consistent. You were ordered to have a layout in Hong Kong, and then I recently put your layout at risk of being exposed.
So, you were assigned to come here to find, tell me, why are you looking for me? You don't have to answer, but I believe your teammates will answer. Of course, you will die by then."
As Zhang Kuang said, he pointed a cloth-wrapped pistol at the Tooklan people and shot him. The Tooklan people almost turned into Ukraine people.
The Birdclan screamed.
The tied up Klansman: "I said, I said, because of what you said on China social media last time, we received instructions to break your legs so that you can't kick the ball, and then warn you!"
Zhang Kuang nodded. "Just break my legs? Not kill me?"
Bird Clansman: "It's not the right time to kill you now because your reputation is too great. We can pretend to be a gang and accidentally break your legs during a robbery."
Zhang Kuang: "Very good, a very good plan. First, let me gradually escape from the public's sight, and then kill me quietly."
The man's lips trembled. "Yes... yes..."
Zhang Kuang:"Very good, then I understand."
Early the next morning, the France police received a report and found the bodies of four men near an abandoned dock near 16th arrondissement of Paris Seine River.
Apparently the four of them were involved in a gunfight, and all four of them were killed with one shot.
And after 7 hours, Hong Kong.
At four o'clock in the morning on August 12, the door of a mansion on Victoria Peak was pried open silently.
Li Moumou walked out of the bedroom in pajamas and saw two figures standing in the living room. Just as he was about to open his mouth and call someone, one of them had already moved.
It all ended in thirty seconds.
At six o'clock in the morning that day, Li Moumou's assistant discovered that her boss did not get up as usual. After opening the bedroom door, she screamed.
At eight o'clock, housekeeping staff discovered something unusual in Chen Moumoumou's residence. When the police arrived, the person was already dead.
At nine o'clock, in the church office of Chen Moumou, when the cleaner opened the door, the mop in his hand fell to the ground, and the pastor died.
In addition to these four people, three foreign 'consultants' operating in Hong Kong were found dead on the same day. These people are extremely low-key on weekdays, almost never appearing in public, and only 'guiding' work behind the scenes.
In one day, seven cases.
Hong Kong The police held an emergency news release meeting at noon to report the situation, but the wording was extremely cautious:
"We are fully investigating. The preliminary judgment is that it is an organized violent crime. We do not rule out various possibilities. No suspects have been arrested yet. We are also collecting useful clues from the whole society. Those who provide key clues will be rewarded with 1 million Hong Kong dollars."
Zhang Kuang was raided by the police at France Paris's villa. Zhang Kuang was chatting with several women in his arms. The police asked some questions as usual and then left.
These messages were aggregated and sent to some offices located at Washington and London. While someone answered the phone, the phones in the offices outside were ringing one after another.
Later, in a building located at Virginia Langley, an emergency meeting was held that afternoon.
The meeting lasted four hours, and an internal memo leaked after the meeting read, "It is recommended to suspend all operations involving Hong Kong and assess security risks! The other party's information coverage exceeded expectations."
In a gray building next to London River Thames, another meeting was held simultaneously.
Several files were quickly filed and marked 'on hold indefinitely'.
Someone whispered on the phone, "If the other party can accurately clear every node of our Hong Kong, it means that all our layouts are under the other party's surveillance."
This is no ordinary opponent. This matter... cannot be expanded. Once the cloud of mutual assassination arises, no one can end it in the end. Think about the horror of global mutual assassination during World War II and the Cold War.
The key is that we currently can't find any useful information to point out who the target is. In other words, we are under the surveillance of others, but the other party is as invisible as a ghost.
If we anger them again, no one knows what actions they will take. This is the most terrifying thing. Therefore, I suggest that we suspend all actions and find the other party first."
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long time, and finally a dull "agree" came.
--
Zhang Kuang doesn't know any of this.
After he enjoyed the training resources at Paris, he returned to Manchester and continued his football life.
As for what happened next, he was not interested in knowing.
All he knew was that he had never received any similar 'warning' since that day.
Public attacks on the Internet disappeared overnight. Some accounts that always used specific rhetoric suddenly fell silent. The smear posts that originally flooded major forums were deleted within a few hours.
It is enough for a football player to play on the field and win the championship.
Those who hide in the shadows and do things in the shadows should not appear in their work and life.
What he tied to is Football Championship Immortal Cultivation Leveling System, and it's not a system that kills enemies and explodes cultivation levels, so don't mess with it.
--
Manchester United's first game Premier League started immediately, which was a game against West Brom. Manchester United challenged West Brom away from home. On August 13, the Manchester United team arrived at West Brom in the northwest of Birmingham.
That afternoon, at the pre-match press conference, the coaches of both teams expressed their positions on the first game.
Ferguson: "Needless to say, our goal for the new season is to strive to win all the championships we can. Although the goal is set very high, we face every game very seriously and very carefully. It is not easy to win the championship in Premier League.
Now, we are fully prepared, and the team has only one goal: to get a good start and lay the foundation for defending the title. The new lineup needs to be polished in actual combat, and I believe they can deliver a wonderful performance."
Hodgson: "Manchester United is Premier League's top team. Their lineup upgrades and tactical adjustments this summer have made the team's offense even more unsolvable.
Especially the super China man Zhang Kuang. His creativity on the field is unique to Premier League. We must focus on guarding him. Even if it is difficult to guard, we must also limit his breakthroughs and passes from the wing. We know that the team's strength is at a disadvantage, but when playing at home, we will not passively defend.
Shane·Lang is fast and has excellent ability to grab points. We will seize the loopholes in Manchester United's new and old defense lines and use counterattacks to find opportunities to score. No matter how strong the opponent is, we will do our best to defend the honor of our home court."
In addition to the coaches of the two teams making tough statements to express their decisions, the media also went to take pictures of the training sessions of the two teams, and also inquired about some transfer news.
For example: Berbatov, one of Manchester United's tridents, I heard that the new contract negotiations between him and Manchester United were not going well, and it seems that there is a possibility of transfer.
So in the first Premier League game, will Berbatov play? Will Trident let Hernández take his place?
In this regard, many media are speculating on the starting lineup of Manchester United the next day.
August 14, the Hawthorns.
At 3:45 pm, in the player tunnel, Zhang Kuang stood at the front of the team, flanked by Rooney and Hernández.
Today Ferguson still arranged the 433 formation, but the most prominent position of the trident was changed from Berbatov to Hernández.
When all the media got hold of this starter, they all seemed to confirm something. It seems that Manchester United's frontcourt is also going to be unstable?
Ferguson stood at the door of the locker room and patted the shoulders of every player who walked out.
When it was Zhang Kuang's turn, he clenched his fist and punched Zhang Kuang's chest: ""I will give you free movement today. You can go to the left side and ribs. You and Hernández can discuss how to change positions, but remember..."
Zhang Kuang answered, "Don't mess up the formation, it must be orderly."
Ferguson nodded and smiled and said nothing more.
Hernández also smiled. His ability to start the first round was all due to Berbatov, but everyone also wanted to see if his cooperation with Zhang Kuang could be better than Berbatov.
If it can be better, then he can move up.
If he can't get better, he will continue to be a substitute!
So, needless to say, let's cooperate fully with Zhang Kuang! In the starting lineup, we must win. Manchester United's dazzling frontcourt must have a place for Hernández.
Ferguson: "Let's go, kids, get off to a good start!"