Chapter 1 I Just Want to Forge

Chen Hero climbed up from the ground. He didn't know how many times he'd done this, and he was getting annoyed. The way the opposing defenders played was pure judo, and they were clearly well-prepared, committing fouls in very specific locations, making sure never to do it inside the penalty area. After fouling, they always apologized profusely, so the referee would only give a verbal warning instead of pulling out a card.

This time, after getting up, he walked toward the Saturn player who had fouled him, looking unfriendly.

His teammate Kerzhakov, who was arguing with the referee, quickly rushed over and stopped him.

"Don't fall for it, Hero! They're trying to provoke you!"

As if to prove his point, the Saturn player who had fouled him kept taunting Chen Hero: "Aren't you supposed to be strong? You fall down from such a light bump? Are you diving?"

"Diving your mother!" Chen Hero roared from behind Kerzhakov. He wasn't exactly a gentle, nice guy. If anyone offended him, they could expect him to retaliate... So seeing the opponent provoke him like this, he was even more furious and almost threw Kerzhakov aside to pounce on him.

Poor Kerzhakov, in front of the Northern Bear, was no match in terms of strength. He had been blocking Chen Hero, but after Chen Hero finished cursing, he ran behind Chen Hero and hugged him around the waist, desperately trying to hold him back... In reality, it looked like Chen Hero was dragging him forward...

Tymoshchuk quickly ran over and joined Kerzhakov in pushing Chen Hero aside. Kerzhakov almost burst into tears when he saw Tymoshchuk running over—a savior! Hero really lived up to his nickname "Northern Bear," with his brute strength, he was too hard to deal with!

"Arguing with them is a losing battle, Hero! Retaliate with goals!" the captain said, holding Chen Hero by the shoulders. "Retaliate with goals!"

Chen Hero thought the captain was right. Although he was still annoyed, he managed to calm down slowly.

Then Tymoshchuk pushed him out of the circle, and while Tymoshchuk was calming Chen Hero down, Arshavin, Anyukov, and Denisov, the three members of the "eating, drinking, and playing" group, surrounded the referee and protested.

"Did you see what they did to Hero? Foul after foul, and all they get is a verbal warning?!"

Their pressure worked. The referee turned around and beckoned to the offending player who had stepped away, then walked over and showed him a yellow card.

The Saturn fans in the stands booed, and now it was the Saturn players' turn to swarm the referee.

The referee waved them away.

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The game restarted, and Chen Hero was still closely guarded by his opponents. But the frequent fouling didn't happen as often anymore. The referee's yellow card was a warning to the Saturn players—if you keep fouling like this, someone will be sent off before the game is even over.

Unfortunately, Chen Hero was unable to score a goal by the end of the first half.

During halftime, Chen Hero heard from others that Pavlyuchenko had scored his twenty-third goal of the season.

At the same time, Pavlyuchenko also learned that Chen Hero had not scored.

"That's good news, Roman!" the substitute teammate who told him the news laughed.

"Two more goals and I'll tie him! Come on, let's get a hat trick!" Chen Hero's lack of goals clearly boosted Moscow Spartak's morale, letting them know that the war was not over.

They still had a chance.

In Zenit's locker room, his teammates were comforting Chen Hero: "Don't worry, Hero, there are still forty-five minutes left. He can't catch up to you!"

"That's right, unless he gets a hat trick in the second half..."

"The odds are too low."

Chen Hero clenched his fists. He wasn't worried about Pavlyuchenko anymore. After leading Pavlyuchenko by three goals, he no longer considered him his opponent. Now his only opponent was that slightly yellowed figure standing in front of him.

Oleg Veretennikov!

The record of twenty-five goals had been an insurmountable barrier since the creation of the Russian Premier League. After the turn of the century, the top scorers of each season seemed to have lost their drive, scoring fewer and fewer goals. Eventually, they couldn't even score twenty goals anymore.

But today, he would break this record.

He would re-establish a figure for posterity, one that they could only look up to and not easily surpass.

Even many years later, people would often mention his name.

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When Sharapova arrived at the stadium, she rested in the locker room. She wanted to know how Chen Hero's match was going. According to the time, it should be shortly after the start of the second half.

Had Chen Hero scored?

She was particularly concerned about this question.

Unfortunately, there was no one around her who could tell her, and she couldn't directly ask anyone else. Besides, even if she asked, they might not know—no one here would care about an ordinary Russian Premier League match.

Within Russia, whether Chen Hero could break the record had become a hot topic of speculation and discussion, but in Europe, it didn't even cause a ripple.

Because she didn't know if Chen Hero had scored, Sharapova was a little restless. She knew what this meant before the final, but she couldn't calm herself down. She was always thinking about this...

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Chen Hero stopped the ball with his chest, but under the opponent's impact, the ball bounced a little far. He quickly rushed forward, and the opponent's center-back also charged out to clear the ball before him.

Chen Hero saw the opponent's center-back coming up, and behind him, there was another Saturn player. He knew that it would be almost impossible to control the ball under such a double team, but... why should I control the ball?

While running, he took a slight step to the left, so that his body was not heading directly for the ball, but at a slight angle...

Logically speaking, a player of his size shouldn't be very fast, but everyone must not know that Chen Hero had mistakenly spent a talent point, so his speed was definitely not slow in the world of soccer, and could even be considered "fast."

So when he reached the ball a step ahead, he could even see the astonished expression on the opponent's center-back's face...

He didn't stop to admire the opponent's expression, but slightly turned his body to the outside, and then swung his right leg...

A half-volley!

From twenty-five meters away from the goal, he took a long shot!

The Saturn center-back never expected Chen Hero to take such a resolute long shot when he was being blocked in front and chased from behind, so when the ball flew past his face, he didn't even react...

With a "thump," when Chen Hero's foot hit the ball, the air seemed to vibrate, and dust and grass clippings flew everywhere. Then, with a whoosh, the ball flew towards the goal!

Faced with such a sudden and rapid long shot, the Saturn goalkeeper didn't even make a save. He had just prepared to jump when he saw the ball flying in front of him...

"Goal... Goal!!!" Sergeyevski was stunned for a moment, and only after confirming that the ball had really flown into the goal did he shout.

"Yes! Yes! This ball flew into Saturn's goal! A beautiful long shot! Chen Hero scored his twenty-sixth goal of the season! This is a historic moment! He has become the player with the most goals in a single season in the Russian Premier League!"

Everyone on the Zenit Saint Petersburg bench jumped up after the goal, as if they had been hit by the ball. They raised their arms and cheered.

The league title belongs to Zenit! The league's golden boot belongs to Zenit! The league's scoring record also belongs to Zenit!

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After completing the shot, Chen Hero almost lost all his balance and fell to the ground. But his eyes were always fixed on the ball. After seeing the ball fly into the goal, he jumped up from the ground and ran to the camera at the corner flag. He lifted his jersey, but didn't take it off, instead letting everyone see what was written on the vest inside...

"This is my era!"

How arrogant, how flamboyant...

But at this moment, no one could voice any criticism.

In the face of such facts, all criticism was insignificant. The criticism about him going to nightclubs, the criticism about his eccentric personality, the criticism about his arrogance and flamboyance... What did they matter in the face of the new record?

Twenty-six goals, he surpassed the original record and created his own record. From now on, whenever people mention the top scorer in the Russian league, they will say his name—"In the 2007 season, Chinese player Chen Hero scored twenty-six goals, setting a new record..."

His teammates rushed up and surrounded him.

"Congratulations, Hero!"

"Congratulations!"

"Haha, well done, Hero!"

"Twenty-six goals, that's amazing!"

"Hey, you have to treat us to a meal now!"

"Treat! Treat! Treat!"

"That's right! Treat! Treat!"

"Treat! Treat!"

"Treat!"

"Treat, treat!"

Everyone clamored.

Faced with this group of teammates taking advantage of the situation, Chen Hero smiled happily and waved his hand: "Back to Saint Petersburg! My treat!"

The group cheered and then dispersed.

※※※

News of Chen Hero's goal quickly spread throughout the Russian Premier League stadiums.

Luzhniki was no exception. The coaches and substitute players of Moscow Spartak all knew that Chen Hero had broken the league scoring record. However, Pavlyuchenko on the field did not know. He was still trying to score goals.

In reality, this action was meaningless because Chen Hero's goal had widened the gap between the two sides to three goals. It was obviously impossible for Pavlyuchenko to score five goals in one game... Dynamo Moscow was not a team that could be easily slaughtered.

Coach Cherchesov looked at Pavlyuchenko, who was working hard on the field, and thought it was better not to tell him the truth. Let him continue to fight with a goal in mind...

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