boyutpedia Chapter 68 The Decisive Moment: How Steel is Forged
Chapter 68 The Decisive Moment: How Steel is Forged
00:32.4, Harbin Convention and Exhibition Center Gymnasium.
Time is like solidified amber, each millisecond heavy enough to suffocate you.
The shouts of 12,000 fans disappeared at that moment, replaced by a strange man.
Lin Hao stood outside the sideline, his sweat no longer flowing, but gushing down his lean muscles like a stream. The tear Fang Chengyun had ripped in the left chest of his jersey looked like a mocking mouth, revealing the bloodied and mangled skin underneath.
[Ding! Host's vital signs are critical: heart rate 206, minor muscle fiber tear, severe lactic acid buildup.]
[Mission countdown: 32.4 seconds until the end.]
[Current progress: 34 points, 11 assists, 5 steals, 0 technical fouls.]
[The S-rank talent "Iron Fortress" is locking the settlement channel...]
"Zero fouls..." Lin Hao murmured to himself, his tongue pressed against the bitten wound, the rusty taste stimulating his nerves. "As long as we don't get technical fouled, the championship is ours."
The referee handed the ball to Liu Wei. Liu Wei's hands were shaking, and his lips were trembling.
"Haozi," Liu Wei said, his voice hoarse, looking at Lin Hao, "catch it securely."
Lin Hao didn't look at Liu Wei; his gaze was like two icicles, fixed firmly on Fang Chengyun's face.
Fang Chengyun had already pounced on Lin Hao like a mad dog, his hands gripping Lin Hao's waist tightly, his nails even digging into his flesh. His knees were pressed against the back of Lin Hao's legs, a position ready to cripple Lin Hao's ankles at any moment.
"If you can't catch the ball, you lose." Fang Chengyun chuckled sinisterly in his ear.
"Beep—!"
The referee blows the whistle, signaling for the ball to serve.
Liu Wei raised the ball high, feinting to pass it to Lin Hao. Lin Hao immediately started moving, using an off-ball screen, cutting out from the baseline like a black lightning bolt!
Fang Chengyun followed closely, his hands clamping onto Lin Hao's arm like iron clamps.
"Beep—!"
The referee blew the whistle again.
"White Team (China) commits a five-second violation on the serve! Possession changes!"
"Fuck your mother!!!"
The stadium erupted. Twelve thousand people roared, and water bottles rained down on the field.
"That was a good shot! Lin Hao clearly caught the ball!" Zhao Dabao cried out in despair from the stands.
Coach Jiang Xingquan rushed onto the court, his face red and neck bulging as he roared, but was forced back by a cold gesture from the referee—"If you cause any more trouble, I'll give you a technical foul."
Lin Hao stood still, neither roaring nor shrugging.
He simply turned his head slowly, his eyes devoid of anger, for anger is the emotion of the weak. His eyes held only two wisps of eerie blue flames, deathly still and cold, as if he were looking at a dead man.
[Technical foul: 0/0]
He endured it. For the sake of that "steel fortress," he turned himself into a heartless, stubborn rock.
The South Korean team inbounded the ball, and Fang Chengyun called for Ha Seung-jin to set a screen. He then passed the ball to the wing forward who came up behind him and scored a two-pointer, which went into the basket.
86:86
Time: 00:16.1.
Liu Wei serves.
This time, Lin Hao didn't run. He stood still, letting Fang Chengyun stick to him like glue.
"Send it!" Fang Chengyun roared.
Liu Wei slammed the ball hard into Lin Hao's chest!
The ball was extremely fast, whistling through the air. Fang Chengyun's arm was tightly wrapped around Lin Hao's right arm, forcing Lin Hao to catch it with his left hand.
"Snapped!"
The ball hit his fingertips, almost slipping from his grasp! Lin Hao's left arm muscles bulged, and he forcefully pressed the ball firmly against his chest.
00: 15.3.
The ball is in my hands; it's a life-or-death moment.
Fang Chengyun pressed Lin Hao's knee relentlessly throughout the game, frantically trying to grab the ball with both hands, while his knees kept hitting Lin Hao's knee joints.
Lin Hao didn't dribble; he stood with his back to the basket, towering over Fang Chengyun like a mountain.
"Beep—!"
The referee whistle blows.
The entire audience felt disheartened.
The referee points to Lin Hao.
"White Team (China) Double Dribble!"
"This is fucking a contest for the ball!!!" The commentator slammed his fist on the table in the live broadcast room, his voice choked with emotion.
Lin Hao remained silent. He looked at the referee, but the lifelessness in his eyes made the referee instinctively avert his gaze.
South Korea takes a throw-in, and China presses the entire field.
Fang Chengyun received the ball, and Lin Hao defended him tightly, delaying his dribbling.
As the two bodies clashed, time ticked by, second by second.
Center Ha Seung-jin moved up to set a screen, and Fang Chengyun was mismatched against Battier. Du Feng abandoned the forward on the sideline and ran over to double-team him.
At this moment, Fang Chengyun saw that the open forward did not pass the ball, so he chose to retreat and use Ha Seung-jin's screen again, dribbling behind his back and running past the left corner.
Zhang Yunsong also ran over at this moment to join Bateldu Feng in a pincer attack.
"Oh no!" Coach Adijiang exclaimed, noticing three open positions on the court. "What are we going to do? Three open positions, oh crap!"
"Believe in Lin Hao," Coach Jiang Xingquan said, clenching his fists in frustration.
Just as the three men came to sandwich Fang Chengyun, Lin Hao quietly moved towards Heshengzhen, judging that Fang Chengyun would pass the ball back.
"Snap!" Sure enough, the ball came, and Lin Hao intercepted it.
Before he could even steady his dribble, Ha Seung-jin reached out again to try and take the ball back, but he poked it out of bounds.
"Beep!" South Korea's ball goes out of bounds, China gains possession.
The system message reads: [Technical Foul: 0/0].
Lin Hao turned around, passed the ball to Liu Wei, and then started making runs.
00: 05.5.
Lin Hao used Battier's screen to cut out from the strong side.
Fang Chengyun squeezed through the cover, but Batel's huge body was like a wall, blocking Fang Chengyun two meters behind him!
Lin Hao catches the ball!
00: 03.8.
Lin Hao receives the ball and feints to break through to the right!
Fang Chengyun reacted extremely quickly, moving laterally to block the attack.
Lin Hao gathered the ball, pivoted on his left foot, and turned!
It was an extremely awkward turn because Fang Chengyun's hands were gripping his jersey tightly, stretching it out of shape and making a "ripping" sound.
00: 02.9.
Lin Hao jumps.
Fang Chengyun also jumped up, spreading his arms wide, like a large net covering him.
But Lin Hao did not shoot.
He made a move that surprised everyone – a bounce pass!
The ball slammed into the floor and bounced towards Battier under the basket!
"We've been tricked!" Fang Chengyun was startled and quickly turned around to cover Batel.
This is Lin Hao's trap.
00: 02.1.
Just as Fang Chengyun turned around, Lin Hao slid past Fang Chengyun like a ghost!
He caught the ball that bounced off the ground!
This was a perfect fake drive and split-up!
00: 01.5.
Lin Hao has the ball, facing an empty space on the strong side of the penalty area.
South Korea's center, Ha Seung-jin, came over to cover, spreading his arms wide like a wall of flesh.
Lin Hao did not slow down; he pushed off the ground, took off, and hovered in the air.
His body twisted completely in mid-air, like a fully drawn bow. Sweat flew out in an arc, glistening under the light.
Hesheng Town leaped up to cover it, its enormous hand blotting out the sky.
Lin Hao stared at the shadow, his eyes unwavering. He forcefully contracted his abdominal muscles in mid-air, raising the ball overhead, and then—
Lean back.
Extreme backward lean!
That was Jordan's move, that was Kobe's game-winning shot.
Lin Hao lost his balance in the air, but he still managed to push the ball out.
"Whoosh—"
The basketball traced a high arc, passing over Ha Seung-jin's fingertips, passing over Bang Sung-yoon's despairing fingertips.
00: 00.5.
The basketball went through the net cleanly.
Clang!
The net tumbled and made a crisp sound.
The final whistle blew deafeningly at that moment!
China 88: South Korea 86!
Lore!
00: 00.0.
The entire room fell silent for a second.
Immediately afterwards, the red ocean exploded completely!
Twelve thousand people jumped up from their seats, waving red flags, tears and sweat flying together.
When Lin Hao landed, he knelt on one knee, his hands braced on the floor, panting heavily. His vision blurred for a moment, and his muscles were spasming violently, but he managed to hold on and not fall.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the ultimate mission: Single-core championship!]
[Mission Rating: SSS-level (A dramatic comeback victory despite being heavily targeted by the referee, teammates absent, and the player severely injured)]
[Rewards being distributed: The S-rank talent "Iron Fortress" has been activated!]
[Effect Description: Host's career path is locked in—no major injuries or illnesses. Permanent immunity to devastating injuries such as cruciate ligament tears and fractures. Physical endurance is increased to the human limit.]
A warm current instantly flowed through Lin Hao's limbs and bones. The tearing pain and the aching from the lactic acid buildup vanished in that instant. He felt as if his body was forged from refined steel, indestructible.
"Haozi!!!"
Batel charged like a mad bull, his massive body knocking Lin Hao to the ground.
Immediately afterwards, Du Feng, Zhu Fangyu, Liu Wei, Li Nan... everyone rushed forward, more than a dozen people piled together, like a human mountain.
"We won! We won!" Zhang Yunsong cried out in the crowd.
Lin Hao was pinned to the bottom, but he didn't struggle. He looked at the lights on the stadium's dome, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Yao Ming," he murmured to himself, "I brought the championship back."
In the stands, Yao Ming took off his baseball cap, tears already streaming down his face. He stood up and bowed deeply to Lin Hao on the field.
Zhao Dabao played the suona from the stands. This time, it wasn't the mournful "Crying at the Fifth Watch," but the stirring, passionate, and deeply moving "General's Command"!
"Beep beep—da—beep beep—da—!"
The sound of suona horns pierced the sky, accompanied by a chorus of tens of thousands of people in the audience:
"Facing the wind, charging forward, we are invincible heroes!"
Lin Hao crawled out of the crowd, shirtless, revealing his torn number 7 jersey. He walked to the scorer's table, where the West Asian referee had already cowered under the table in fear.
Lin Hao did not cause him any trouble.
He simply picked up a marker from the sidelines and wrote two large, blood-red characters on his left arm—
Invincible.
The night sky over Harbin was lit up by red fireworks. At this moment, Chinese basketball had a new champion.