The "Ball" Game

Su Ming walked to the basketball court next door and found that the situation was much better there - at least neither team was carrying weapons onto the court!

One player was seen holding the ball—his movement was absolutely a traveling violation. Like a rugby player, he clung tightly to the ball, which was clearly made of bone, and forcefully drove into the opponent's paint area.

"Oh well, these people only had a short practice time, it's understandable!" Su Ming comforted himself.

The attacker was quite agile. He shook off the last defender, then leaped high into the air, hovering gracefully before unleashing his full power and hurling the bone ball in his hand like a cannonball.

The move was certainly stylish, but the accuracy was ridiculously off. The ball whistled past without even touching the edge of the backboard, and slammed heavily into the support pillar of the basketball hoop, which was also made of White Bone!

Crack! With a crisp sound, the bone ball shattered, sending bone fragments flying! The basketball support frame also cracked. The "ball boy" quickly stepped forward, repaired the basketball frame, and reassembled the bone ball.

Seeing this, the referee immediately raised his hand and shouted, "Attack successful! Five points!"

"Huh? Why?" Su Ming was completely dumbfounded. The ball didn't even touch the rim, how could that be considered a successful shot?

And what kind of weird rule is this "five points"?

"His throw was incredibly powerful, causing significant damage to the basketball hoop!" Seeing Su Ming's confused expression, the assistant referee on the sidelines quickly stepped closer to explain, "Hitting the rim earns a basic score of two points; the ball completely shattered, so it's considered a powerful impact and counts as a three-pointer, making the total five points."

Su Ming was completely speechless and could only rub his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

Completely exasperated, Su Ming walked dejectedly to the edge of the soccer field. He scanned the field, making sure he didn't see any players carrying weapons, nor did he see anyone using the ball to smash the goalposts and then scoring points based on the amount of health lost in the goal.

He repeatedly confirmed with the assistant referee on the sidelines: as long as the ball rolls into the goal normally, it counts as one point; there are no fancy rules about scoring based on injury.

Su Ming immediately breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that at least there was one with a relatively normal style. Then he searched the green field for a while and found that all twenty-two players were present, each one eager to get started.

But what about the soccer ball used in the match?

What does it mean when there's no ball on the field during a football match?

"Aren't there players?" the assistant referee said matter-of-factly.

"I know there are players," Su Ming said, pointing to the empty center of the field, and pressed on, "But what are they going to use to play?"

As if to answer his question, the referee raised his hand, signaling for the ball to start from midfield.

A player responded and came to the center of the center circle, then squatted down with his hands around his knees. At the same time, his body flashed with light, and his entire body was instantly covered with magical armor of different colors, completely encasing him.

With a sharp, piercing whistle from the referee, his teammate stepped forward without hesitation and delivered a solid kick to his curled-up back! He immediately rolled rapidly like a large ball that had been kicked, landing precisely at the feet of another player.

The team immediately began passing the ball around, quickly setting up an attacking formation.

Su Ming's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and his jaw almost dropped onto the deck.

"Players, aren't they just taking turns being the ball?" The assistant referee, seeing Su Ming's shocked and speechless expression, explained with even more confusion, "When the two teams take turns being the ball, they also need to be careful to protect their own ball," otherwise if the "ball" gets kicked out or seriously injured and leaves the field, it counts as a point for the opposing team.

"Wait! I have a question," Su Ming took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, "Where's the standard meal competition rulebook I distributed?"

"We've all read them, we know them by heart!" The assistant referee patted his chest, beaming with pride. He then pointed to the dozen or so newly erected bone bulletin boards on the sidelines, "Elder Yin'er, out of consideration for everyone, personally carved them all so that everyone could easily access the rules at any time."

Su Ming looked up in the direction and found that although the bulletin boards were far apart, he could see every word on them with exceptional clarity, even the turns of the strokes were crystal clear.

Stacy was above, having fixed a spell that would last for several days. "Academy Spell - Proclamation for All to See".

This ensures that these announcements are visible to everyone on the deck, making it convenient for everyone to watch the game.

Above were Yin'er's vigorous handwriting:

The football field is a microcosm of life and death; Cuju (ancient Chinese football) is a strategy of alliances and counter-alliances.

The law now consists of twelve chapters, to demonstrate fairness.

The area is 120 paces long and 80 paces wide, bounded by an arcane firefly rope.

The four pillars stand at the corners, suspending the true eye of vision; any ball's shadow that crosses the line will be clearly visible, down to the millimeter.

Okay, now we have a magical version of VAR (Video Assistant Referee).

Su Ming shook his head, both amused and exasperated, and simply gave up struggling, resigning himself to appreciating the completely different style of the competition before him. Let's just consider it as Earth culture being localized in another world.

****

At noon, the first batch of fresh vegetables that Qiluo had painstakingly cultivated in the ship's greenhouse was finally put into the kitchen.

The long winters in the Northern Lands are already extremely lacking in leafy green vegetables, and after months at sea, all that's available is bean sprouts. For most of the people on board, this is the first time in months that they've eaten fresh, tender, and vibrant green leafy vegetables.

In an instant, the cafeteria was filled with noise, cheers, and excitement, a truly lively scene.

The sports meet lasted for three days. On the morning of the third day, the final round-robin matches that would determine the final rankings began.

The atmosphere on the entire ship was enthusiastic and high-spirited, with everyone waving various homemade banners and slogans, cheering and encouraging their respective teams.

Because the points difference between the teams was generally small, the suspense of who would win the championship remained until the very last moment. The most eye-catching match was the championship game in the football tournament, which took place between the POW camp team and the second team of the Final Bone Mad Machines.

On the field, the POW camp team clearly had the upper hand, especially one agile figure who, with a few flying kicks, sent the opposing player, who was playing the role of "ball," screaming in pain and scrambling back to the goalkeeper's close protection, no longer daring to attack easily.

Upon seeing this, the members of the POW camp watching from all sides raised their arms and cheered, the sound almost lifting the deck.

"Defense! Defense!" everyone shouted in unison.

Su Ming squinted and stared intently, and the figure that had stolen the show was none other than Jielusi! The girl had changed into a dashing jersey, and her signature pink hair was flying wildly in the wind stirred up by her intense running, making her exceptionally dazzling.

A black magical light appeared and disappeared in an instant near her feet.