Chapter 120: Facing the Ace

The three towering players blocking Geng Haoshi froze for a moment when they saw him suddenly crouch and leap, but they quickly jumped up in unison. Yet, they were still a bit too late.

“Bang!”

With a crisp sound, Geng Haoshi, like Guan Yu wielding his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, slammed the ball into the Wuyan University of Technology’s basket! At the same time, the three opposing players were sent crashing to the ground by Geng Haoshi’s force!

“Beep—”

The referee blew the whistle and signaled a “blocking foul.”

Initially, if those three Wuyan University players had leapt before Geng Haoshi, it could have been called an offensive foul on him. But no one could have anticipated this small player right before their eyes would actually slam dunk so brazenly. By the time they realized Geng Haoshi was going to dunk, they had already lost the chance to block him. Not only did they fail to stop the dunk, but they also committed a blocking foul.

In the National Sports Stadium of the Eastern District of Huaxia, across five venues labeled A, B, C, D, and E, ten teams were simultaneously competing in the finals of the 2017 National University Basketball League.

At this moment, cheers and shouts rang out intermittently in venues A, B, D, and E. Only in venue C was there an eerie silence, broken solely by the referee’s whistles.

Everyone present in venue C was stunned by the unbelievable dunk Geng Haoshi had just executed.

“Well played!” Zhu Di was the first to snap out of it and shouted loudly.

Hearing Zhu Di’s roar, the other players from Tiancheng Polytechnic University snapped back as well, clenching their fists and cheering loudly.

This was Tiancheng Polytechnic’s first basket after falling behind by nine points less than a minute into the game, and it had drawn a foul from their opponent. The players, who had been beaten down and frustrated until now, finally found an outlet to vent their emotions.

On the coach’s bench, Yu Manman’s lips curled into a slight smile as she recalled the wager she had made with Chen Zhi, CEO of Feizhi Group: “This kid might actually help me win this bet.”

***

A year ago, Chen Zhi, CEO of Feizhi Group, approached Yu Manman, who was coaching a club team in the United States, proposing a wager. The terms were challenging, but the temptation was too great for Manman to resist. She accepted and soon took up the coaching position at Tiancheng Polytechnic University’s basketball team.

The core of the wager was simple yet daunting: “Lead Tiancheng Polytechnic University’s basketball team to win the National University Basketball League championship.”

Yu Manman had researched the team and knew full well that Tiancheng Polytechnic had been at the bottom of the league standings for years. Getting a bottom-tier team into the finals was already a monumental task; winning the championship seemed like a fool’s dream.

Yet Chen Zhi’s offer was too enticing to refuse. The agreement promised that if Tiancheng Polytechnic won the championship, Feizhi Group would invest heavily in the “Vegetative State Awakening Project,” a scientific initiative aimed at restoring consciousness in patients in a vegetative state.

This project held profound personal significance for Manman: her boyfriend had fallen into a vegetative state years ago after an accident. He was now lying in a top hospital in the United States, kept alive by intravenous treatments.

So when Chen Zhi presented the wager, Yu Manman signed on without hesitation.

***

As the Tiancheng Polytechnic players cheered loudly, the crowd erupted in excitement.

“No way you can fake a dunk like that!”

“With that height, his explosive power must be incredible!”

“No wonder they put him in—the secret weapon!”

“He first stole the ball from Wuyan’s star player, and then slammed it down right in front of three players all at least a head taller! Looks like he’s Tiancheng’s ace.”

“His talent might even rival Wuyan’s.”

Hearing these comments from neutral spectators, supporters of Wuyan University bristled and shouted back, “That kid can’t be compared to Wuyan!”

“I’m not so sure.”

“Exactly. He can dunk—can Wuyan?”

The neutrals quickly chimed in.

At that moment, Wuyan’s fans fell silent, because Wuyan indeed could not dunk.

On the court, the three Wuyan University players who had been knocked down by Geng Haoshi stared at him in disbelief. They were baffled by how this small player managed to leap and dunk in such a short time and narrow space—such explosive power was something only NBA professionals typically possessed!

Even in the NBA, there are small players who can soar past towering opponents to dunk, but even there, such players are rare.

In the stands, a middle-aged man with a small mustache stroked his chin, murmuring to himself, “Didn’t expect him to actually do it... Heh, this is getting more interesting.”

Nearby, some “professional” scouts whispered among themselves.

“What do you think?”

“Fast, explosive, very talented. Just a bit short.”

“That’s true—most pros are tall, so it’s tough to make a mark in a league full of giants.”

“But that dunk just now definitely proves his high caliber!”

“Should we approach him then?”

“...Let’s wait a bit longer.”

Standing near the three-point line on Tiancheng Polytechnic’s half, Wuyan’s number one player, Wu Yan, was speechless, stunned by Geng Haoshi’s dunk.

After a few seconds, Wu Yan actually smiled. “Now this is interesting.”

The game resumed. Wuyan’s number two passed the ball to Wu Yan.

Seeing Wu Yan with the ball, Geng Haoshi immediately stepped forward.

This was the highest order from Yu Manman to Geng Haoshi—only by stopping Wuyan, their star player, could he continue playing on the court.

Geng Haoshi spread his arms wide, eyes locked on Wu Yan...