Chapter 136: Autonomous Xia Qi — His Whole Body Is a Weapon
The Bird's Nest Stadium was packed; the only color everywhere was Chinese red.
Because it was a friendly, during the warm-up every touch Xia Qi made was accompanied by the thunder of enormous Chinese drums.
Xia Qi liked that sound — each drumbeat made his blood boil and made him want to charge straight into battle.
Maybe this is the romanticism hidden in the Chinese gene.
"CCTV!"
"CCTV!"
"This is a friendly between double champions of the Premier League and Champions League, Arsenal, and the China national team."
"I'm Duan Xuan."
"I'm He Wei."
"The two teams' players are standing in their respective halves."
"Tonight the home China team wears red, while the visiting Arsenal wear yellow."
"China's starting lineup:
Goalkeeper: Geng Xiaofeng
Defenders: Zheng Zheng, Zhao Peng, Feng Xiaoting, Zhou Yun
Midfield: Qin Sheng, Liu Jian, Wang Yongpo, Yu Hanchao
Forwards: Wu Lei, Yu Dabao"
(The rest of the commentary, use homophonic characters.)
"Arsenal are taking this China team seriously; their starting eleven is the same as in the Champions League final…"
…
"Ding-dong…"
"Host, please choose 'Training' or 'Match' mode."
"Match."
"Please choose pitch position: A Forward, B…"
"A."
"Detected: the current team of the host is in Simple Mode; it will not match host attributes."
Xia Qi swore!
"Please choose 'Autonomous Mode' or 'Auto-play Mode'."
"Friendly reminder: during auto-play the system will automatically complete actions for the host."
"Autonomous Mode!"
Xia Qi, with an ability rating of 95, had long wanted to "go solo." Nothing was more suitable than the China national team.
…
On the pitch,
Wu Lei flicked the ball to Wang Yongpo and sprinted forward.
At the same time Yu Dabao also made a rapid forward run.
Wang Yongpo, who received Wu Lei's pass, didn't wait for Xia Qi to close him down — he lofted a long pass to Yu Hanchao.
Because it was a friendly, Arsenal weren't pressing at full intensity.
Yu Hanchao easily broke into Arsenal's penalty-area edge; Kieran Gibbs only sauntered over to defend.
Yu Hanchao quickly delivered a cross into the box. Wu Lei timed his run to beat the offside trap.
Behind Samuel Umtiti he brought the ball down, adjusted, and struck a shot.
But the close-range effort flew over the bar.
Xia Qi, standing up front, watched dumbfounded.
In his head he shouted: that was ridiculously bad — opening the door to ridiculousness, ridiculous to the extreme.
Adjusted for ages and for nothing!
"What a pity: at just 36 seconds China took the first shot of the match.
That attack was very nicely worked.
Wu Lei's off-the-ball movement created a great chance but he couldn't keep the shot down."
China's attack, though it didn't score, genuinely startled the Arsenal players.
Martínez unleashed a tirade at Umtiti…
When play restarted,
Arsenal no longer held back. First Balotelli drove through the middle, powerfully into the box, pulled a turn and blasted, but the shot was parried by goalkeeper Geng Xiaofeng for a corner.
In the box, Xia Qi and Zhao Peng and others jostled for position. Pushing and squeezing, suddenly Xia Qi dashed to the near post, and Zhao Peng, Feng Xiaoting and the others surprisingly didn't follow him.
Thus, unmarked, Xia Qi leapt at the near post and flicked a header. The ball flew in front of goalkeeper Geng Xiaofeng toward the far corner, but it struck the post and bounced out over the goal line.
"Wow! That was dangerous — how could you leave Xia Qi unmarked?"
"China's defense lost concentration, nearly conceding."
"Fortunately Xia Qi aimed too high for the angle; China escaped by a hair."
"Xia Qi's face shows disappointment."
Xia Qi shut his eyes and carefully replayed the corner sequence in his mind.
Before, Al used to do these things; he watched and learned, seeing Al score as casually as eating and drinking.
Now doing it himself, he noticed many imperfections: for example, he had started his near-post charge a bit early — that only worked because the Chinese defenders were "lazy." Against other teams, an early run would only draw the fire forward and you might not know who would end up winning the duel.
Also, his jump and neck movement didn't keep the header down…
Xia Qi sighed to the sky — details decide success or failure; he still had a gap to Al.
Play continued.
Geng Xiaofeng restarted with a goal kick, but the ball was quickly intercepted by Xia Qi. He tried a dribble on the spot, changed direction past Yu Hanchao, nudged the ball and changed direction again past Zhou Yun.
When Feng Xiaoting came up to challenge, Xia Qi feinted and took a small-angle shot.
The ball threaded between Feng Xiaoting's legs and struck Geng Xiaofeng, bouncing out for a corner.
Three minutes later, Xia Qi returned in force. From the top-left of the box he curled a shot at a 45-degree angle; the ball slid wide of the post.
"Xia Qi is very lively tonight — within the first ten minutes he's had three shots, though his finishing hasn't been great yet."
"Unlike our national camp, Arsenal were away in the summer and the players' match fitness may not be at last season's level…"
"In these ten minutes Arsenal's tactical pattern has been simple: whenever they get the ball in midfield they look almost immediately for Xia Qi. It's a bit one-dimensional."
"Can we dare to imagine perhaps… we can win?"
"You really dare to dream!"
Chinese fans at home in front of the TV: Duan Xiaokù, you're pretty, so don't dream too wildly — your idea isn't realistic!
On the pitch,
Kevin De Bruyne won the ball near the center circle and fed it to Mario Balotelli a little way upfield.
Balotelli received and, after De Bruyne made a forward run behind Liu Jian, passed the ball into De Bruyne's path.
"Balotelli and De Bruyne played a wall pass."
Seeing this, Xia Qi surged forward like a horse unchained.
De Bruyne felt Xia Qi was a little strange tonight — the Xia Qi he knew was a high-level predator who didn't reveal himself early; when he struck it was usually a one-stroke finishing blow.
But tonight Xia Qi looked like a young tiger newly learning to hunt, not yet hiding himself.
Whether it had been that early corner run or this forward burst, his timing was often early and his movements too loud.
Not like an experienced killer!
But this was normal.
China was Xia Qi's motherland!
In the excitement he couldn't help being over-enthusiastic; if he were playing Belgium maybe he wouldn't even measure up to Xia Qi…
De Bruyne thought Xia Qi might simply want to show off in front of his compatriots. Although this Xia Qi wasn't making the most ideal choices, De Bruyne still released the pass.
Yu Hanchao, defending De Bruyne, froze. In his sight:
De Bruyne didn't take the ball down but raised his right leg and struck the ball fiercely with the outside of his foot.
Was that a shot?
Yu Hanchao spun his head to look back and saw Xia Qi had already arrived at the edge of China's box.
At that moment De Bruyne's pass dropped quickly right in front of Xia Qi.
"Wow, that pass was beautiful."
"Xia Qi and De Bruyne have three players between them. De Bruyne didn't chip it; he used his outside foot to whip a quirked arc, accurately bypassing the crowd and landing at Xia Qi's feet."
"Just for that pass, the ticket was already half worth it tonight."
"We're in trouble now!"
China's defenders realized it too late. Zhao Peng and Feng Xiaoting lunged left and right toward Xia Qi.
But the ball landed at Xia Qi first.
Xia Qi saw Feng Xiaoting charging in. If this were AI there would be many options.
But this was Xia Qi himself, and he got nervous.
Yes! Right!
The Premier League, Champions League, European Golden Shoe-winning Xia Qi — the prolific goal maker —
being rushed like this by Feng Xiaoting made him anxious.
He didn't control the ball.
He immediately lifted his right leg.
In that instant, as Xia Qi prepared a scissor-like windmill strike, a familiar and yet strange sensation surfaced in his mind, as if these shooting techniques were deeply imprinted in his blood.
In a flash,
the agitation disappeared and Xia Qi's heart calmed.
It was as if everything had been slowed in a replay.
When Xia Qi's raised right foot swung forward it wasn't a straight blast but a slightly arced strike.
Don't ask why —
Xia Qi himself didn't know, he just felt it should be that way, and he also knew not to strike the very center of the ball but one centimeter below center.
He met the descending ball precisely; with the outside of his right-foot he struck upward heavily.
"Boom!"
Under the Bird's Nest lights, Xia Qi's rocket of a shot was a white streak across the sky, cutting toward China's goal.
Geng Xiaofeng froze.
In his career this was the first time he had heard such an extreme explosive crack from a struck ball — the first time he couldn't even track the ball's flight.
Geng Xiaofeng: Help! Where's the ball?
He had no reaction. Only after the sound of the net rippling behind him did he realize the ball had already hit the net.
"Beautiful!"
"Xia Qi with a worldie — it rattled the tips of Geng Xiaofeng's fingers; Geng had no chance."
"In the 12th minute, Xia Qi's fourth shot of the evening finally found the net."
"Xia Qi crushed the rumors of poor form with one world-class strike, forcing some people to abandon unrealistic expectations."
Duan Xuan: Why don't you just add my name too?
Fans in the Bird's Nest first breathed in unison and then erupted at Xia Qi's goal.
They had mentally prepared for such an outcome before coming.
After the goal, Xia Qi signaled to the teammates running over to celebrate with him: do not celebrate.
The fans in the stands, seeing Xia Qi's gesture, cheered even louder.
Play continued…
China began to double- and triple-team Xia Qi.
China's attack had just crossed midfield when Mikel Arteta intercepted.
Now surrounded by Wang Yongpo, Qin Sheng, and Liu Jian, Xia Qi saw Arteta win the ball and immediately sprinted back.
Qin Sheng felt a gust of wind by his ear and Xia Qi had vanished — the supposed triple-trap looked like three mere posts.
Qin Sheng seemed to hear boos from the stands and his face flushed; he chased after Xia Qi relentlessly.
Liu Jian and Wang Yongpo were even worse: seeing Xia Qi gone, they didn't even move…
Xia Qi received the ball, pulled it back, performed a Marseille turn to slip past Qin Sheng's desperate sliding tackle, then pushed on toward Wang Yongpo and Liu Jian.
The two defenders were delighted and immediately converged to double-team; Xia Qi slightly decelerated and nudged the ball between them.
The ball shot swiftly through their gap; Xia Qi pushed off, a human arrow, and sprinted forward.
Liu Jian and Wang Yongpo bolted to cover and tried to shut the door.
But their pace lagged and the space between them widened a touch.
After Xia Qi zipped through, they slammed the door behind him with a bang — but Xia Qi had already chased the ball and charged into China's box.
"Ah, our defensive speed looks so slow in front of a top player; that's the gap. Terrifyingly, players like Wang Yongpo and Liu Jian are already among the highest domestic level, and there's no one coming up behind them…"
Seeing Xia Qi easily evade midfield, Feng Xiaoting and Zhao Peng sprinted out of the box.
The two learned from their teammates and closed together, thinking Xia Qi would choose to dribble right or left.
But Xia Qi had one trick that fit all.
The same move: he threaded the ball straight between the two.
Feng Xiaoting and Zhao Peng had no choice left but to rush closer and lock down quickly.
Feng imagined he would stop the world-class forward.
Instead, at the moment he collided with Xia Qi, it felt like a fast car hit him — he involuntarily flipped sideways.
At that moment Feng Xiaoting's only thought was: the Premier League is terrifying, I will never transfer abroad!
China's domestic physicality was indeed a bit weaker; after Xia Qi knocked the two away they only stumbled — nothing serious.
A chorus of gasps rose from the stands… some cried "Foul!" while others covered their faces and muttered in admiration.
The referee didn't hesitate and pointed forward: play on — attack valid.
While stumbling forward Xia Qi saw goalkeeper Geng Xiaofeng had already abandoned his line, rushing out to challenge for the ball.
Xia Qi didn't dare delay; he steadied himself and threw every ounce of strength at the chase.
The whole stadium chanted for Geng Xiaofeng: "China! China!" "China! China!"
Even those who loved Xia Qi in their hearts in that moment were supporting Geng.
Because Geng had come off his line, Xia Qi was only a sliver faster.
By the time Xia Qi reached the ball,
there was no time for a chip.
As for the non-human strikes the crowd hoped for —
other than Balotelli, there aren't many non-human shots Xia Qi could execute!
So he went for a straightforward poke forward.
This is a rookie striker's staple move.
Xia Qi hurriedly smashed the ball ahead.
Geng Xiaofeng quickly dove and extended a leg.
The ball struck his leg and popped up.
But it didn't pop far.
Not only did it not clear, it popped right back toward Xia Qi.
Xia Qi froze.
He wasn't Al and couldn't calculate the ball's rebound trajectory.
Seeing the ball coming back at him he couldn't stand inertly.
But the distance was too close for many shooting techniques.
In a flash,
muscle memory drove Xia Qi to lift his right leg and use his knee to flick the returning ball.
The ball arced off his knee into the empty goal.
The fans were stunned. Those who had just cheered for Geng now couldn't swallow their joy, watching the ball thump in the net.
Their only thought: is this the power of the European Golden Shoe? A body full of weapons?
Xia Qi didn't know their inner monologue; otherwise he would have smiled wryly and told them: it was a lucky guess!
(END CHAPTER)
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