Chapter 181

Inside the car, which had barely managed to brake, Tom Jackson and Adam Smith, the red-haired young man in the back seat, were still in shock, cursing non-stop.

"FuCk! Phil! I'm never riding in your car again! Damn it!"

"Damn it, Phil, are you jealous of that chick I had the other day?"

Phil Gibbs, however, seemed not to hear their curses at all, just staring at them blankly. "Tom, you're not mistaken? Is he really the Hero?"

"Damn… I just thought he looked a little like him, do you have to get so excited?" Tom Jackson leaned back in his seat, touching his violently beating heart.

Just now, for a moment, he really thought his twenty-three years of life were going to end on this highway…

Phil Gibbs ignored his two companions and jumped out of the car.

"Hey, Phil!"

"Damn, Phil!"

The two men couldn't stop their companion with their calls and had to jump out of the car and chase after Phil Gibbs.

The three of them, one in front and two behind, almost ran towards Chen Hero—because Phil Gibbs was running, so his two companions chasing him naturally had to run as well.

Chen Hero was stunned as he looked at these three crazy people, and then he saw the young man in the lead shouting excitedly: "It really is the Hero! Haha! Really! Ahahaha! Damn it! I found him!!"

The two people behind him were also stunned. After taking a closer look, they also cheered and rushed towards Chen Hero to give him a hug.

But they were blocked by the guardrail.

Chen Hero also realized what was happening—he had been recognized by Liverpool fans. The Liverpool accent was very distinctive, and Chen Hero knew they were from Liverpool as soon as he heard it. As for whether they were Liverpool fans or Everton fans… would Everton fans be so excited and ecstatic to see him? They would probably turn around and give him the middle finger, then laugh and mock him before leaving.

So the three people who came were definitely Liverpool fans.

Since they were his own people, it would be easy to talk.

Chen Hero didn't plan to give them a chance to be starstruck. He had important business to attend to now.

"Hi, guys," he greeted the three people. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to give us a ride?" He pointed to himself and Cabrera next to him.

※※※

The five of them sat in the car, the three young men were overjoyed, and Phil Gibbs couldn't help but turn around and say a few words to Chen Hero while driving.

Tom Jackson and Adam Smith were obviously the happiest, because Chen Hero was sitting between them, and they could be close to their idol. That feeling was like all the flowers in the world were blooming for them. This experience, if they told others about it, they really didn't know how many companions would be envious to death.

But Chen Hero wasn't very happy.

Because Gibbs kept getting distracted, and the car wasn't going very fast…

He understood the feelings of the three fans, but he was in a hurry now.

He had to say something.

"Um… Phil, can this car go any faster?"

As soon as he asked this, everyone realized why Chen Hero was here.

He had to hurry to the game! Now was not the time to be happy about being close to his idol!

The group looked at the time, it was ten past one in the afternoon, and there were three hours and twenty minutes left before the start of the game. And they were still more than two hundred kilometers away from Liverpool…

"This…" Actually, Phil Gibbs now wished he was driving an F1 car instead of this vintage car from the 1970s.

"Phil's car is too old, it can't go fast. And… he hasn't had his license for long!" Tom Jackson blurted out.

Cabrera, who had been sitting in the passenger seat without saying a word, suddenly spoke, her voice with undeniable authority: "I can drive."

Chen Hero looked at her, and she nodded to Chen Hero.

That meant Chen Hero could rest assured.

Gibbs naturally wouldn't argue with Chen Hero's girlfriend for control, so he quickly found a chance to slowly pull the car over to the emergency lane on the side of the road.

After changing drivers, Cabrera tested the car's instruments, and they were working normally.

Without turning her head, she said in front, "Fasten your seatbelts."

Chen Hero, who had already switched to the passenger seat, quickly and obediently fastened his seatbelt.

The three people in the back seat didn't take it seriously. How fast could this broken car go? There was no need to fasten their seatbelts…

Cabrera didn't care what the three people in the back thought, she only needed to care about Chen Hero.

Without any warm-up, she slammed the accelerator to the floor. In the roar of the huge engine, she released the handbrake, the car's tires screeched against the ground, then it swung its tail smartly and roared away!

The three young men who hadn't fastened their seatbelts were suddenly pressed against the backs of their seats by the force!

"Wow!" They screamed in fright.

※※※

Before, Tom Jackson and Adam Smith had complained that Phil Gibbs was driving too wildly, but now they had seen what "wild" really meant…

And they regretted not fastening their seatbelts very much.

Cabrera drove this 1975 Ford through the traffic, constantly changing lanes and overtaking. Although limited by the car's own capabilities, the speed wasn't too fast, but the "wildness" of Cabrera's driving made the three young men's palms sweat—the distance between the two cars was very close, and she dared to hit the accelerator and change lanes, then lightly tap the brakes to avoid rear-ending the car in front.

As long as there was a little gap next to her, Cabrera would maneuver the car through it, like an eel, darting back and forth in the traffic. It caused other drivers to honk their horns frantically, protesting against the restless old Ford.

Putting aside how much skill this required, just the courage alone was something these three young men didn't have.

A slight mistake could result in a car crash and death…

The three began to yell and look for seatbelts to fasten.

Chen Hero was secretly smiling in the front—he had already seen Cabrera's driving style.

After finishing his secret smile, he wanted to borrow a phone from the three to call O'Neill, but just as he was about to open his mouth, he remembered that he didn't remember the coach's phone number at all. Now everyone just saves them in their phones, who would bother to memorize them?

Helplessly, he could only hope that O'Neill wouldn't be too anxious and would remove his name from the roster…

This was truly racing against time, because Chen Hero didn't have much time left, he had to make it to the game before the game started—Chen Hero didn't want to come on as a substitute…

Although there were fewer people in the UK compared to mainland Europe, it wasn't so few that the highways were open for people to run freely.

So this road took more than two hours. After rushing as fast as they could, they finally reached the outskirts of Liverpool.

And as they got closer and closer to Liverpool, the traffic on the road became heavier and heavier, and there were signs of congestion.

The speed of the car also slowed down significantly. Even if Cabrera's driving skills were good, she was only a little better than other cars, but she wasn't much faster.

Seeing victory in sight, but time was passing quickly, which made Chen Hero anxious.

※※※

Logically speaking, the team should arrive at the stadium one hour before the start of the game. But Liverpool was actually an hour late before getting on the bus to Anfield.

Because Martin O'Neill insisted on waiting for Chen Hero.

Helplessly, after waiting until the scheduled departure time had passed, O'Neill still didn't see Chen Hero's figure.

If they waited any longer, the team wouldn't even have enough time to warm up.

Martin O'Neill could only sigh helplessly and wave for the players to board the bus.

He himself was the last to get on the bus. Before getting on the bus, he glanced at the hotel gate, hoping to see Chen Hero.

But he was disappointed.

Could it be that Hero really encountered some accident and couldn't come?

During this time, he had been calling Chen Hero. Even though he heard "The phone you dialed is switched off" again and again, he didn't give up, because maybe the next time he called, Chen Hero would have charged his phone?

But such fantasies had never come true.

There was no news from Chen Hero, as if a stone had sunk into the sea.

"Alright, let's go," O'Neill said to the bus driver.

Then he sat back in his seat, frowning, worried.

※※※

When Liverpool's bus arrived at Anfield a little later than scheduled, the reporters waiting outside the stadium were still guessing if they were waiting for Chen Hero, so they were a little late.

Who would have thought that when they were waiting at the door of the bus to count heads, they didn't see Chen Hero.

Chen Hero wasn't in the team lineup!

He hadn't arrived yet?!

The news spread quickly throughout the stadium. Whether it was the fans, the reporters, or the commentators in their respective studios, everyone knew the news.

"Hero is really not on the bus!"

"It seems that Chen Hero won't be able to participate in this game…"

"Liverpool is really unlucky this time. It was going so well, but it was affected by the Icelandic volcano eruption…"

For the Newcastle people, this was good news, but for the Liverpool people, this was definitely not a good thing.

It wasn't good for the Chinese fans either.

They were waiting in front of the TV and computer just to watch Chen Hero's game, right?

If Chen Hero couldn't play, the game would be boring!

"We currently have no information about Hero's whereabouts, so we don't know where Chen Hero is… We also don't know if he can make it to this game…"

The commentator said so much that he didn't know, which made the fans furious.

They all cursed: "You don't know anything! What kind of game are you commentating on!"

"The Chinese commentators are really bad!"

Of course, the commentator was just caught in the crossfire.

It was estimated that only Chen Hero himself knew where he was in this world…