Chapter 43

Having unlocked the new badge, the Sun Flame, Su Feng almost blurted out in excitement, “I AM THE FLAME EMPEROR, XIAO YAN[1]”. However, he was immediately deterred from doing so by the thought of being taken away by a horde of Combat Grandmasters[2] on the back of horses.

At the Penn State Harrisburg Gymnasium, Hery Catholic High School attacked.

Michael Carter shot from the three-point arc with the help of his teammate’s screen. The ball went in, flipping the score to 2:3.

Early in the divisional matches, Carter’s three-pointers had caused huge trouble to Lower Merion.

Hence, after exchanging a look with Kobe, Su Feng had decided that he would be responsible for blocking Carter from now on.

After all, backing-down was never Su Feng’s way of solving problems.

Instead, he chose to confront the strong head-on.

Now Lower Merion attacked.

At that time, Kobe had completely transformed into Master Splinter. Calmly and steadily, he passed the ball to Su Feng, who had just sneaked from the baseline to the wing.

Su Feng stretched his legs, sprang into the air, and flicked his wrists without any more hesitation!

A true man never cares about the defensive opponents when he shoots!

Swoosh!

5:3!

The move petrified the small forward of Hery Catholic High School. He stopped where he was with a look of consternation on his face…

To be frank, Su Feng’s playstyle was absurd no matter when or where he played.

When Lower Merion retreated to defend, Su Feng suddenly made a suggestion to Kobe. “Kobe, you can be the main attacker from now on.”

Kobe was confused. He was having a fun time getting all the assists while wondering whether the scouts would compare him with Magic Johnson. So why the sudden change in plan?

As if he could read Kobe’s mind, Su Feng smiled and explained, “If I attack all the way, it’s pointless no matter how well you pass the ball to me.

“But if you attack, their main target to defend against will be shifted to you. When that happens, I’ll be able to find opportunities to shoot easily.”

If Su Feng hadn’t been so heavily targeted, he wouldn’t have wanted to waste the accuracy bonus offered by the Sun Flame badge when he shot from the hot zone[3].

Su Feng figured that he needed to amend his “Grand Sewer Stats Farming Plan” after this match.

“There are so many things to consider on the court!” Su Feng thought.

Su Feng realized that he had learned a lot from the High School Basketball League matches in the past few months.

After all, what you can read online are only theories. You have to put them into practice to know how to use the skills in real life.

Apparently, Kobe had been convinced by Su Feng AGAIN.

Kobe wasn’t stubborn. But he was not gullible either.

You’ve got to figure out how to persuade him.

Su Feng had found the trick. Firstly, he would try to reason with Kobe using facts and logic.

If that failed, he would use a sandwich.

If that was still not enough, a sweet tofu pudding it is.

Hery Catholic High School attacked. Su Feng swapped his position with Schwartz to defend against Carter.

Needless to say, Michael Carter had a cool name. He shared the same family name with Vince Carter, who’s also known as “Half Man, Half Amazing”.

Having realized that his opponent was now Su Feng, Carter had become more cautious too.

By that time, all the basketball players in Pennsylvania were aware of Su Feng’s extraordinary defensive skills.

After the previous match between Lower Merion and Chester High, the trump card of Chester High School, DeMarcus, made a famous remark during the interview at the end of the game. He said, “I’ll call him the Best Defensive Player in Pennsylvania.”

Kobe frowned a little when he heard it. But he figured that he shouldn’t be so jealous since Su Feng would skip college together with him to enter the NBA selection. After that, Kobe would have plenty of chances to compete against(crush) Su Feng in the NBA games.

Hence, even Su Feng himself didn’t know that Carter was secretly panicking inside when he appeared.

Although Carter had talked a lot before the game…

The person standing before him now was the famous junior Pippen whose name had been known across Pennsylvania!

Luckily, Su Feng couldn’t read Carter’s mind.

Otherwise, he would have shouted at him, “I want to be the strongest player in an NBA team! I’m not some Pippen! If you want to be Pippen, feel free to be him! Not me!”

That’s right. Entering the NBA was the first step in Su Feng’s ambition.

And the second step was to become a basketball superstar.

However, even if he became a famous basketball player, if he couldn’t be the best member in his team and dominate a part of the court, how would he be any different from a useless bighead carp?

Moreover, he was a die-hard member of the Mamba Army. If you don’t even have such grand ambitions as Su Feng, shame on you for calling yourself a fan of Kobe!

Certainly, though…

Su Feng understood that even if he had been selected by the NBA, it would take a few years before the time was ripe so that he could rise up to the top and seize the throne!

A draftee who doesn’t want to be a usurper isn’t a competent draftee!

Cough, back to the topic.

Carter was visibly nervous when he dribbled.

Su Feng seized the opportunity and tried to steal the ball at once. For some reason, he suddenly had an urge to show off to Kobe. He wanted to tell him, hey, see my long fingers and big palms?

He’d been fond of teasing Kobe this way ever since Joe Bryant had commented on his big hands last time…

Stay focused!

He had almost gotten distracted!

Pang!

Carter couldn’t stop Su Feng from stealing the ball.

He had almost been driven crazy by the pressure Su Feng had exerted on him during the defense.

“So… he’s the Best Defensive Player in Pennsylvania? Sss!” Carter drew a cold breath as he watched Su Feng dribble away.

Clang!

Su Feng ran across the court on his own and accomplished an awe-inspiring 360-degree turn and a windmill dunk… No!

That’s Su Feng’s own imagination.

“The height of the jump was just normal, and my dunk was mediocre too. But…”

Following behind Su Feng, Kobe looked sulky. “Why didn’t you pass the ball to me?”

Su Feng understood it at once!

“I was wondering what was missing. So it was the Sewer vibe that was missing!”

Su Feng nodded. Luckily, Kobe wouldn’t hold on to this kind of grudge for too long since they were good friends now.

Hmm…

In the worst case scenario, Kobe would only hold on to it for his entire life.

7:3.

Hery Catholic High School attacked, but Carter was still very nervous.

Su Feng had undergone harsh training under Kobe. When he thought about the days in which he had been crushed by Kobe’s unbeatable slam dunks, Su Feng felt lucky that his failures had not been recorded.

After all, he would never admit that he had been such a loser in the past. Nevertheless, Su Feng had decided that he would secretly record his winning moments with a video tape when he could finally defeat Kobe in the future.

Then he could brazenly tell the world that he had been much stronger than Kobe ever since their high school days.

That’s a cheeky move, really.

But somehow…

A wisp of sorrow crossed Su Feng’s mind.

Su Feng looked at Kobe and made a vow to himself. “Rest assured, I’ll make sure that you’ll never ride that damn helicopter this time.”

Pang!

Just when Su Feng was fantasizing how he would defeat Kobe in the future, Carter threw the ball to his teammate out of fear for Su Feng’s unbreakable defense…

But Carter’s teammate was no more confident than him, because Kobe was the one defending him!

Not surprisingly, Carter’s teammate’s attempted shot was blocked. Moreover, it was the most cruel and cold-blooded type of block on the court—

Kobe had literally snatched the ball away while it was in the air!

This time, Su Feng didn’t try to vie for attention against Kobe.

As if to avenge Su Feng forgetting to pass the ball to him, Kobe didn’t even bother to look at Su Feng when he drove in to score.

Clang!

A perfect 180-degree dunk!

Kobe’s slam dunk ignited the whole stadium at once.

“WAH! A REAL TALENT! THIS IS OUR LOWER MERION!” The Lower Merion fans cheered excitedly.

“That’s a real dunk,” Kobe told Su Feng smilingly yet bitterly when they retreated to defend.

Su Feng shook his head…

Couldn’t help it. That’s how Kobe was.

A man you could never understand.

Just like what O’Neal once said, one should never expect Kobe to pass him the ball.

You’ll have a higher chance to fight for the rebound in the front court.

Pang!

Hery Catholic High School had been thwarted again during their attack.

Carter’s attempted shot was blocked by Su Feng.

After all, Su Feng had been blessed with an above-average arm span and huge hands!

Stewart retrieved the ball and quickly handed it over to Su Feng, who was running past.

This time, after Su Feng had dribbled the ball across the half court, he passed the ball to Kobe and shot him a look.

But Kobe pretended to not take the hint.

He dribbled with his left hand and leaned to the left. After he had successfully deceived his opponents, he suddenly pulled back and drove in to the right.

This was…

Shammgod!

Everyone present around the court was astounded.

Just when people were wondering what fancy move Kobe would use to end this round of attack, he pretended to be shooting but suddenly threw the ball backward with his right hand.

He’d just passed the ball back without even looking!

“Haha, you’ve been tricked!”

Su Feng would never have expected that Kobe had been meaning to pass the ball to him this way.

Moreover…

He could already foresee the miserable ending for him if he failed to score this shot.

Therefore, after a deep breath, Su Feng steadied himself and shot a three-pointer.

Swoosh!

“Kobe! Su! What ball passing was that? Ladies and gentlemen, tell me, are we watching the Lakers Showtime?”

The announcer had almost lost himself.

So had the other fans.

In March 1995, all the fans at the Penn State Harrisburg Gymnasium that evening had the same feeling.

They felt that one day in the future, they would see Kobe and Su Feng together in the NBA.

At that time, what would happen when they competed against each other?

Bam—,Bam—,Bam—!

Bang!

After Su Feng had scored a three-point short, Kobe and Su Feng did a standard “give-me-five”.

When Su Feng and Kobe were celebrating, the other three members of Lower Merion were shedding tears of joy.

Hmm…

At that moment, they were sincerely happy for the opportunity they were given to fight alongside those two…

…

[1] In Chinese, Yan means “flame”. Xiao Yan is the main character in the famous Chinese fantasy novel Battle Through the Heavens

[2] Also translated as Dou Zong in another translation. They are the fourth highest rank in the martial arts world in Battle Through the Heavens

[3] An area where the shooter has the highest goal percentage