Chapter 1 In Which Götze Reveals His Motives

As the referee Zwayer blew the final whistle, a chorus of boos once again echoed through the Allianz Arena.

Bayern Munich fans used this method to express their discontent and anger.

It was directed both at referee Zwayer for not adding more injury time, and at Bayern Munich for losing the game.

For two seasons in a row, they had been overturned by Borussia Dortmund in the final moments.

Which Bayern Munich fan could accept such a result?

Last season, Bayern Munich was overturned by Borussia Dortmund, at least at Borussia Dortmund's home stadium, where there were not many Bayern Munich fans in attendance.

But this time it happened right in their own home, in front of their own fans. Being beaten 1:3, who could swallow such humiliation?

If they were to lose the league title because of this, the disappointment and anger of the Bayern Munich fans would be unimaginable.

The Bayern Munich players who lost the game were dejected, some still wanting to argue with the referee about a series of unfavorable decisions, questioning his judgment.

But at this point, dwelling on what had already happened was pointless.

Meanwhile, the Borussia Dortmund players were celebrating their victory on enemy territory.

The boos all around did not affect their mood at all, and celebrating like this even seemed to be a display of triumph in front of the Bayern Munich fans.

Zhou Yi was celebrating the victory with his teammates when he was suddenly approached by Götze.

Zhou Yi was surprised—was Götze going to exchange jerseys with him?

He should be in a bad mood after losing the game, so how could he be the one to ask to exchange jerseys?

Sure enough, Götze didn't seem to want to exchange jerseys at all. He stood in front of Zhou Yi and said, "Do you know why I transferred to Bayern Munich?"

Zhou Yi was baffled, not knowing why Götze would ask such a question, but he still answered politely, "Because you've been a Bayern Munich supporter since you were a kid?"

Götze said expressionlessly, "No, I just hope to be able to defeat you on the field."

Zhou Yi was very surprised; this was the first time he had heard such a reason.

"I will continue to work hard."

With that, Götze turned and walked away, ignoring Zhou Yi's astonished expression.

Watching Götze's departing back, Zhou Yi tilted his head and pondered for a while.

He never expected that he would be the "culprit" behind Götze's departure from Borussia Dortmund to join Bayern Munich.

But there shouldn't be any hostility between him and Götze... They had been together since the youth team, and they had always gotten along well. Back then, the two of them and Mark were known as the "Three Musketeers" of the Borussia Dortmund youth team.

He didn't remember offending Götze in any way that would make Götze see him as an enemy.

He was a little sad that he had been so considerate of his friend, but his friend didn't consider him a friend...

Thinking of this, he suddenly lost interest even in celebrating.

※※※

The team defeated Bayern Munich on the road and snatched the top spot in the league from them, which made Mark Wagner very happy.

He hopped over to Zhou Yi to celebrate together, but found that Zhou Yi seemed to be preoccupied, so he curiously asked him, "What's wrong, Zhou Yi?"

"Götze came to find me just now," Zhou Yi said.

"Him? What did he want from you? To exchange jerseys?" Mark looked at the Borussia Dortmund jersey that Zhou Yi was wearing and added, "You didn't agree?"

"At first I thought he was here to exchange jerseys, but he wasn't," Zhou Yi said. "He suddenly asked me if I knew why he went to Bayern Munich..."

"Isn't it because he likes Bayern Munich?" Mark's answer was exactly the same as Zhou Yi's, which was also the most common explanation people could see in the media.

Zhou Yi shook his head, "No. He said it was to defeat me that he went to Bayern Munich."

Mark was stunned when he heard this. It was the first time he had heard such an answer.

"I can't figure it out. The three of us have known each other since the youth team, and we've always had a good relationship. I've always treated him as a friend, so why does he see me as an enemy, wanting to defeat me at all costs, even to the point of transferring to our sworn enemy Bayern Munich?" Zhou Yi voiced the question in his heart.

Mark also fell into deep thought.

Seeing that two of his teammates were frowning and looking preoccupied while everyone else was cheering and celebrating, Marco Reus also curiously came up to ask them what was going on.

Mark told Reus what Zhou Yi had just told him.

Unexpectedly, Reus laughed as soon as he heard it, "What did I say? I'm not surprised at all."

"Eh?" Zhou Yi and Mark were both surprised.

"Why does he want to defeat you, Zhou Yi? It's actually very simple. Götze doesn't see you as an enemy, he sees you as a rival."

"Rival?"

Zhou Yi repeated the word, pondering the different meanings represented by these two different terms.

Obviously, "enemy" and "rival" are not the same.

"You guys didn't spend much time as teammates with Götze in the youth team," Reus explained. "I've been training with him since we were in the youth academy. I know what kind of person he is very well. Mario doesn't show it usually, but he's actually a very competitive person. He's been competing with me ever since we were in the youth academy. Everyone says he has extraordinary talent, so he demands himself to be a super genius, striving to be the best in everything, always wanting to be number one, always wanting to be a winner."

Zhou Yi and Mark were captivated by the story, never expecting that there was such a story behind Götze.

"Later, the club wasn't optimistic about my future, so I chose to go to Rot-Weiss Essen, while Mario was the club's key player, hailed as the core of Borussia Dortmund for the next decade. In his competition with me, he was the one who had the last laugh." Reus continued, but when he talked about these past events, he didn't seem to have any resentment or unwillingness in him. Perhaps he was unwilling when he first left Borussia Dortmund, but after so many years of hard work and training, it had long been smoothed out...

"If it weren't for you, he might really have been the core of Borussia Dortmund for the next decade," Reus said with a smile, pointing at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment.

Mark looked at Zhou Yi, his face also showing a dawning expression, "That's right, Zhou Yi, you and Götze were promoted to the first team together, but you were the first to score a goal in the first team, and you immediately became the midfield core alongside Sahin, while Götze could only be a rotation player at that time..."

"Zhou Yi, you're too strong, you took a starting position as soon as you came. After Sahin left, you directly became the team's only core. Mario may not have said anything on the surface, but he's actually been competing with you all along. But unfortunately, he's never won against you, and to be honest, I personally think your strength is indeed stronger than his, so it's normal that he can't compete with you," Reus said objectively.

Zhou Yi scratched his head, embarrassed by the praise.

"Being suppressed by you in the team all the time, with the coach trusting you so much, Mario probably felt that there was no hope of getting ahead. As long as he's on the same team as you, he'll never be able to truly defeat you. At this time, when Bayern Munich extended an olive branch to Mario, it was only natural that he chose to join them, right?" Reus analyzed.

With this explanation, everyone understood.

Zhou Yi sighed, "I didn't kill Boren, but Boren died because of me."

"What does that mean?" Reus and Mark, being Germans, didn't understand what Zhou Yi was saying.

Zhou Yi had to put it another way, "I really didn't expect that I didn't have this intention at all, but Götze left because of me, and it even led to such a big news story last season..."

Reus patted Zhou Yi on the shoulder, "Take it easy. Geniuses never have to care about the opinions of ordinary people, it's not your responsibility. Of course, you and Mario are both geniuses, but there are also levels of genius... Look, I wouldn't want to compete with you, why would I compete with a 'wizard' who can cast spells! That would be crazy, hahaha!"

※※※

The conversation between Zhou Yi and Götze was naturally captured by the camera lens, but the commentators didn't know what kind of conversation took place between them. So they interpreted it this way: "Götze found Zhou Yi after the game, and they were the best players on their respective teams in this game... Although they fought fiercely on the field, everyone is still good friends after the game. I think that's the charm of football..."

That's not the case at all!

If these people knew the real content of the conversation between Götze and Zhou Yi, I'm afraid another big news story would be released...

《Shocking! Götze and Zhou Yi's Love Turned to Hate!》

《Why Did Götze Leave the Team? He Lost in the Battle of Geniuses!》