Chapter 28: Hoodwinked Himself Into Lameness
The Etihad Stadium fell silent!
I thought Lü Bu was already invincible in the world, but I didn't expect someone even more ferocious!
To make matters worse, that person was a former "boyfriend" — the Etihad went sour, went crazy, and seethed with hatred...
On the substitutes' bench, Mario Balotelli twisted uneasily, muttering to himself, "What to do? Three goals is too many, I can't catch up…"
Balotelli was helpless and near tears; if only he'd known, he would have told Xia Qi to hold back and play at eighty percent. Now the hole Xia Qi had dug was a bit too big — Balotelli feared he couldn't fill it.
Arsène Wenger and Pat Rice were already convinced Xia Qi had the potential to become the next Lionel Messi.
But Xia Qi could also become the next Cristiano Ronaldo.
How to choose?
The two were torn!
They felt the same as Balotelli at that moment.
Damn Xia Qi! Only digging, never burying!
Soon after play resumed, the referee blew for halftime.
Manchester City players hung their heads and hurried back to the dressing room.
Before the match they expected a hard-fought game, but they never imagined such a fragile collapse.
At the away dressing room door, Balotelli was skulking about peeking in; sharp-eyed Kieran Gibbs spotted him and ushered him in.
"Mario, what are you doing here? Don't tell me some sleazy reporter tricked you again?"
At Inter Milan, Balotelli had once, under the prodding of reporters, put on an AC Milan shirt and shouted to the cameras, "I love Milan."
Not wandering into the opponent's dressing room during match time is an unwritten rule, and also for the sake of fairness… Xia Qi assumed Balotelli had been lured here.
If someone leaked it, there would be an investigation.
So Mikel Arteta left the dressing room to keep watch.
"No, I snuck in. Xia, the second half will be tough. Your teammates are…"
Xia Qi quickly clapped a hand over Balotelli's mouth and pinned him hard against the wall.
Balotelli's intent was obvious: he wanted Xia Qi to tell him Arsenal's on-field weaknesses.
Damn,
close call!
Arsenal had been stabbed twice by Cesc Fàbregas and Robin van Persie; their nerves were fragile and they weren't as tolerant of traitors as City might be.
This winter window, Xia Qi still didn't want to become the captain.
"What? Mario, are you here to beg us for mercy?"
Balotelli struggled furiously and shook his head, but Xia Qi held him down.
"You disappoint me, Mario. Do you know? You used to be my idol, the idol of our whole U18 team. You should rise to the challenge and beat the strongest."
Not being in an automatic "away" state, Xia Qi didn't have Balotelli's strength.
Balotelli finally pried the hand off his mouth and, after a few deep breaths, said:
"It's too hard, three goals."
"No, you're strong. You have speed, strength, and the heart of a winner."
"Mario, that's the Reaper — his small skills are outstanding, crush him. That's Vincent Kompany — he's tough defensively, crush him. That's Per Mertesacker — resilient and dogged, crush him…"
"You can do it. You can crush everything. You are a god, you are me, you are the god in everyone's hearts…"
"..."
Balotelli drank Xia Qi's psychological chicken soup and left happily.
Inside the away dressing room, after Balotelli departed, everyone laughed together.
"Shall we tone it down in the second half? They already came begging."
Xia Qi replied with righteous seriousness:
"No, don't forget Istanbul."
"Xia Qi's right — now is not the time to pop champagne."
The second half began. Manchester City made personnel changes: Mario Balotelli replaced Scott Sinclair, switching from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3.
Arsenal didn't change their lineup.
No sooner had the whistle sounded than Balotelli and Edin Džeko both lunged at Xia Qi; Xia Qi laid the ball back in a triangle and passed to Mikel Arteta.
Balotelli saw even the formidable Xia Qi making others step back, and his confidence soared. He turned and chased Arteta.
Arteta glanced at Balotelli, looked up into the distance, and intended to wait until Balotelli closed in before passing the ball.
But he misjudged Balotelli's speed.
During the sprint, Balotelli actually accelerated a second time, and before Arteta could react Balotelli was right in front of him.
Flustered, Arteta could only continue to play the ball backwards.
Balotelli realized speed really paid off, his trust in Xia Qi grew to a new level.
A voice chanted hypnotically in his head: crush them, crush them.
Under that voice's suggestion, a strange power filled Balotelli's entire body.
His speed didn't fall; it rose again as he chased the ball.
At this point the ball was like a ticking bomb.
Santi Cazorla judged he wasn't faster than Balotelli; he couldn't let Balotelli carry the "bomb" into the box.
So he committed a foul and earned a yellow card, bringing Balotelli down just outside the area.
Only two and a half minutes into the second half, City had a free kick on the edge of the box.
Balotelli stepped up to take it himself.
He took three steps back, muttering, "Power, power, power…"
At the whistle he ran up and struck a thunderous shot; the ball traced a perfect rainbow and dipped into the net.
The angle wasn't extremely acute, but the ball's speed was blistering.
Vito Mannone was helpless!
City pulled one back, now trailing 1–3.
After scoring, Balotelli didn't celebrate with his teammates; he stormed toward Xia Qi.
But Xia Qi remained icy, only his eyes betraying awkwardness and helplessness.
"Xia, I scored. Your method really worked."
Balotelli didn't care that Xia Qi didn't respond.
In his mind, if Xia Qi were completely normal, would they be friends?
Xia Qi's eyes could not speak, otherwise they would tell Balotelli: "Your whole family's messed up; I just think you're interesting..."
Balotelli's behavior of course drew criticism, but he was famous for being world-class under his skull.
So City fans did not blame their "son" for being lecherous; they blamed Xia Qi, calling him a "siren."
They tore into their former hopeful star with venomous words.
Anything ugly to say, they said it.
In the end, even Roberto Mancini, Edin Džeko, and Yaya Touré couldn't stand it and made quieting gestures.
…
The match went on.
Balotelli became even more active and reinvigorated City's morale.
Arsenal's possession, after a few passes, was intercepted by Yaya Touré.
David Silva received the ball and chose the strongest explosive outlet on the pitch — Mario Balotelli.
At the instant Silva passed, Balotelli pivoted and made a forward run.
At the same time, a chime sounded in Xia Qi's head: "Ding, host detected in trouble, [Jinbian Luo] attribute activated…"
Xia Qi was startled; the AI's thinking differed from humans' in that it even involved [Jinbian Luo] in defense.
What a waste of talent!
But on second thought, it wasn't wrong.
"Targeting precise objective…"
"Ding, target locked."
The voice in his head had barely finished when Xia Qi darted toward the ball.
On the pitch,
two bolts of different-colored lightning surged forward.
They were evenly matched in speed, but at the crucial instant before touching the ball, Xia Qi suddenly powered through and forcibly shoved Balotelli aside.
City fans gasped and immediately sent Xia Qi a full-family set of insults.
However, egged on by the "speed, speed…" mantra, Balotelli exploded again with primordial force. He closed in from behind Xia Qi and, as Xia Qi was about to boot the ball out of bounds, hooked his leg around to defend.
His left leg wound around Xia Qi's body and reached the ball first, nudging it to Sergio Agüero without ever fouling Xia Qi.
That was a Fabio Cannavaro-level interception!
"Wow!"
"Beautiful!"
"Long live Balotelli!"
City fans shifted from fury to ecstasy; Balotelli's name shone over the Etihad.
In the first half the mighty Xia Qi had been suppressed by pure physicality; City fans felt their excitement was justified.
Xia Qi had hoodwinked himself!
He had conjured a god out of thin air!
(END CHAPTER)
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