The soccer ball shot violently through the air toward Ethan Yi, streaking across the sky like a white flame bursting out from a fire!
Spectators close to the stands heard the howling wind overhead, their faces filled with shock.
On the pitch, Mason He and Liam Liu stared dumbfounded at the speeding ball as it blasted away.
Ethan Yi was still in place; his expression changed drastically as he spun around and started to run!
He ran like the wind, trying to leap over the opposite railing to dodge the raging ball flying through the air!
But before Ethan Yi had made it more than a few steps, the ball was already behind him. With a thunderous crash, it slammed straight into his back!
Bang!
The soccer ball hit Ethan Yi's back with a dull, explosive thud, then bounced away!
The force of the ball sent Ethan Yi flying. He tumbled a long way across the turf, unable to catch his breath before spitting out a mouthful of blood. His back burned with pain, making him look like a stray dog who’d just been kicked.
Almost at the same moment Ethan Yi was sent flying, the crowd saw the youth who had leapt high land steadily atop the railing, hands clasped behind his back. He stood there, face calm, looking down from above at Ethan Yi, who’d rolled far away.
After that strike, the soccer ball traced a beautiful arc through the air. Standing atop the railing, the youth casually extended his right hand, palm up, making no extra movement at all—yet the ball dropped perfectly into his palm!
It was almost legendary!
The spectators closest to Evan Lin were so shocked they couldn't even speak. Being nearest, they could truly feel the terrifying pressure when Evan kicked the ball just now.
“Lynn… what just happened with that shot?” The girls next to Lynn Chen still had blank looks on their faces.
“The person you said was even better at soccer than Ethan Yi—don’t tell me that’s Evan Lin!” One girl suddenly remembered what Lynn Chen had almost said earlier and cried out in surprise.
“He won first prize in the Math Olympiad, helped the police crack a multi-million case, and now just kicked Ethan Yi straight into the turf. This guy is seriously impossible to figure out. What do his parents even do? How did they raise someone like him?”
Listening to all the astonished voices around her, Lynn Chen bit her lip and stared at the youth standing on the opposite railing.
The railing was barely half a foot wide and curved, yet that guy just stood there, unmoving as a mountain, like he’d grown roots under his feet.
“Captain!”
“Captain, are you okay?”
The National Team Reserves snapped out of their daze and rushed over to Ethan Yi, surrounding him.
They lifted Ethan Yi off the ground, but his face was ghostly pale—clearly badly injured and unable to keep playing.
“Call an ambulance!”
Someone shouted frantically.
The remaining five or six Reserves spun around, glaring fiercely as they marched toward Evan Lin standing on the railing.
“Capitalview First High, huh? Can't win the match so you get someone to beat up our captain? Have you got no shame?” the Reserves yelled.
“He dared to mess with us—let's go beat him up right now!” others roared.
Mason He and Liam Liu exchanged a glance, both seeing shock in each other's eyes. When they looked back at Evan Lin, their expressions were hard to read.
“Are we getting involved?” Liam Liu asked Mason He quietly.
“Hell no. Ethan Yi's not some good guy anyway—he got kicked, so what. These Reserves are all Coach Peter's guys, and now Evan Lin's the one who hurt him, he won't get away with it!” Mason He sneered. “He loves stealing the spotlight? Let's see how he handles it this time!”
Mason He and Liam Liu quickly came to an agreement, blocking the Capitalview First High players who wanted to help, letting the Reserves close in on Evan Lin.
“You injured our captain—get down here now!” The Reserves stood below the stands, shouting up at Evan Lin.
“Come down now and apologize to our captain!” another player yelled.
The referee ran over, trying to smooth things over. He was a PE teacher from Capitalview First High, and Ethan Yi's earlier words had left him pretty annoyed. Seeing Ethan Yi get kicked down by Evan Lin, he actually felt a bit satisfied.
But because of his job, he couldn’t show it. Now, when he saw the Reserves about to attack Evan Lin, he tried to stop them—only to be shoved aside by several players.
“We’re National Team Reserves! We’ll be representing the country soon! Now your student has injured our captain—this won’t just blow over!”
Tempers flared below; the stands erupted, some people cheering Evan Lin, others backing Ethan Yi. The whole place was in chaos.
Evan Lin swept his icy gaze over them, his eyes sharp as blades. “With skills and character like yours, no wonder Chinese soccer has been mediocre for so many years.”
“Who do you think you are, talking about our skills? What do you even know about soccer? Just because you’ve got strong legs, you think you’re hot stuff?” the players scoffed.
“Guys like you will never understand what soccer really is!” someone else sneered.
Evan Lin glanced at them, then raised his head slightly and turned to look at the Reserves’ goal on the far side of the pitch.
At the Reserves’ goal, the keeper stood ready, like a predator waiting for prey. Even with all the chaos, he stayed at his post, loyal to his duty.
“I really can’t understand soccer played by weaklings like you—just like you’ll never realize how small you truly are.”
Evan Lin spoke in a distant, indifferent voice, shaking his head slightly. The wind lifted his bangs, black hair waving gently. Some people found the scene laughable, but others sensed a kind of lonely grandeur, as if he were standing at a height few could reach.
When it comes to soccer, having enough leg strength to deal with trash like you is already more than enough.
Evan Lin’s lips curled into a faint smile as he gently tossed the soccer ball up from his palm!