0049 The Coward’s Nemesis (Seeking Recommendation Votes and Continued Reading)

"Look at that, Deyan is my good brother, and he respects me a lot."

Mancini said with a smile.

"My brother is also my brother, but that doesn't stop him from being a football failure," Totti retorted.

Mancini: ......

"I am Roberto Mancini, I've already been called up to the national team, and I scored quite a few goals last season!" Mancini said, sticking his neck out stubbornly.

Today, he had to let this little punk know his true strength.

"Wearing the number 10 shirt and you've never even won the Golden Boot, and you still have the nerve to call yourself a forward? No wonder the national team doesn't want you," Totti mocked.

"I'm a trequartista, a nine-and-a-half, understand?"

"Then if you've got the guts, stop wearing the number 10. Besides, the national team would never give it to you anyway," Totti said.

Mancini was driving himself crazy; he tugged fiercely at his own hair and shouted, "If you've got the guts, stop bringing up the national team!"

"Fine. Without you, Sampdoria plays even better. That Salsano moves into space much better than you do," Totti said, pointing toward the pitch.

Mancini: ......

Though he, Roberto Mancini, was a man of unwavering loyalty, he was more than willing to make an exception for this brat.

Once this kid got a girlfriend, no matter how much money it cost or how much effort it took, he swore he would cuckold him!

Damn it!

Chiesa was already standing on the touchline.

Enrico Chiesa had a feeling that he was brought on solely to substitute Lu Deyang off.

Still, thinking about how he might be loaned out, staying with the team just to be a substitute wasn't a bad deal either.

Judging by the coach's current usage of Lu Deyang, he should get plenty of appearances over the course of the season.

The Roma players clearly had a mental breakdown.

Their passing speed had increased significantly, but they simply lacked the necessary technical quality.

No sooner had Giannini received the ball than he felt he couldn't control it properly.

Seeing this, Dossena rushed in and kicked it away instantly. Giannini instinctively tried to win the ball back, but it bounced off his leg and went out for a throw-in.

"Throw it, throw it quickly!"

Pari reminded.

Seeing this, Dossena sprinted directly to the touchline and snatched the ball right out of the ballboy's hands.

He threw it straight to Lu Deyang, who came over to support. Lu Deyang spun around and swung his right foot fiercely.

Bang—

The ball flew straight from the left flank to the right.

Roma's defenders still had their attention focused on Vialli and only now realized that Salsano had made a high-speed run deep into the penalty area.

Cervone instinctively rushed off his line and stretched out a leg, desperately blocking Salsano's poked shot just wide of the post.

"Coach, am I going on?"

Chiesa turned and asked, while the fourth official also looked toward Boskov.

"Wait a bit longer."

"Wait for what?" Chiesa asked instinctively.

"Wait for the goal!"

Boskov said directly, his eyes never leaving the Roma penalty area.

Dossena walked straight to the corner flag while players from both sides refused to give an inch inside the box.

Sampdoria had scored quite a few goals from corner kicks recently, and Roma certainly didn't want to concede another one.

"Give me some space, stop blocking my view!"

Cervone shouted, taking the opportunity to give Pellegrini a shove.

The kid was standing so close to him—was he trying to crash into the goalkeeper?

Pelligrini wanted to argue, but the referee quickly warned him.

Most leagues do not allow physical contact with the goalkeeper during set pieces; Arteta's Arsenal transplanted into this era of Serie A probably wouldn't even manage to secure a top-four finish.

Dossena took a run-up and swung in the corner directly.

Antonio Comi rose first at the near post, but he completely missed the ball.

Worse still, he obstructed the players in front of goal, causing a chaotic scramble of jumping bodies.

Sebastiano Nela hurriedly flung his head back to clear the ball away.

The ball flew straight toward the edge of the D.

Lu Deyang, who had been preparing to leave the pitch, lifted his right foot upon seeing the loose ball, cushioned it into the box with the instep, and spun around to accelerate immediately.

Mauro was a step slow in reacting. Lu Deyang had already adjusted his stride inside the box by the time players from both sides watched his right foot scoop underneath the ball once more.

Whoosh—

Clean and crisp.

The ball sailed over the heads of multiple players from both sides, dipping just under the crossbar right inside the post.

Roma goalkeeper Cervone remained frozen in a bent-over, ready posture.

Today, he was nothing more than the ultimate backdrop.

"Substitution, make the substitution right now! The Roma players are about to pull some dirty tricks!" Boskov rushed to the touchline immediately, shoving Chiesa forward and shouting.

The fourth official couldn't help but glance sideways.

Chiesa couldn't help feeling a bit aggrieved.

Wasn't he also a young talent?

Was he really brought on just to absorb the Roma players' wrath on Lu Deyang's behalf?

Still, needs must, and he had to go on.

Chiesa immediately began twisting his waist on the touchline, stretching properly so he wouldn't get injured easily when fouled.

If he ever had a son in the future, he would definitely tell him: better to be the big fish in a small pond than someone else's errand boy.

"Good luck, Enrico."

Lu Deyang patted Chiesa on the arm and walked toward the touchline.

"Go take a shower; the weather's getting cooler recently and it's easy to catch a cold," Boskov said, stepping right up to him.

Lu Deyang didn't refuse.

The weather in Italy had indeed turned.

According to the rules, he should have stayed on the bench eating sunflower seeds with his teammates, but rules could be bent—would an injured player sit on the bench anyway?

He had already communicated with Boskov, so the Italian media shouldn't be able to spin up headlines like "Deyan Subbed Off Early, Storms Back to Locker Room in Anger."

After taking a shower, Lu Deyang remembered Mancini sitting in the stands.

After searching for a long time without finding him anywhere, he had to borrow the stadium's telephone.

"How on earth did you end up in the home fans' stand?"

Lu Deyang asked in a low voice after sitting down.

That was a bit too thrilling.

"I just wanted to challenge them," Mancini said.

"He probably bought the wrong ticket," Totti remarked.

"Shut up!"

Mancini scolded.

Totti sneered, "Deyan, if you want to win everything, the first thing you should do is stop being teammates with a guy like this."

"It seems you two have already met,"

Lu Deyang said with a smile.

He hadn't expected the Prince of Rome to be quite so sharp-tongued.

"Earlier you said you'd introduce me to Marco Lanna. Isn't he a defender?"

Totti changed the subject, fearing Mancini might actually hit him—after all, Mancini was a grown adult.

"Forget it, you two are different,"

Lu Deyang said.

Lanna was an absolute simp; he belonged at the same table as Lamine Yamal, Joao Felix, and Mauro Icardi.

Totti merely had the misfortune of being cuckolded thousands of times without knowing it; it wasn't like he asked for it.

"I've thought about it, and I still want to stay at Roma,"

Totti said.

His whole family were Roma fans.

"Nobody wants you to come to Genoa," Mancini mocked.

Totti kept silent.

"Then stay at Roma. If you run into any trouble, remember to let me know, and I'll help you out." Lu Deyang smiled and patted Totti on the shoulder, silently mourning for Daniele De Rossi in his heart.

In the end, he still couldn't escape his destiny.
Ah, there is no such thing as a permanent vice-captain.

In the end, Sampdoria won the match 5-0 in a crushing victory.

Roma accumulated 5 yellow cards and 2 red cards.

By the time the match ended, it was already past midnight, and the entire team returned to the hotel together.

With a journey of over 500 kilometers, they would still have to take the team bus back tomorrow.

Unable to sleep, Lu Deyang opened the system and immediately saw a notification.

[Your brother Francesco Totti has received the gift of destiny.]

This kid—treating King Lu like a brother the very first time they met, trusting people so easily. No wonder.

Fortunately, King Lu was a good person.

He continued reading.

[Totti ultimately chose to stay at Roma; after all, this was the city where he was born. As your devoted fan, Totti gradually mastered more than two playing styles on the pitch, making him even harder to guard against.]

[Off the pitch, the handsome Totti became the pursuit of countless fans, both male and female. However, he still failed to follow your advice to study hard, and Totti jokes became a staple commodity in the newspapers.]

[Just like the Totti jokes, Ilary Blasi still appeared in Totti's life, and the Prince of Rome fell head over heels once again. A high-tier green tea bitch was no match for the protagonist of jokes, and he inevitably became Ilary's prey. That television host became the object of envy for most women in the Apennine Peninsula.]

[However, thanks to your prior warning, Totti quickly discovered the problem. Although he wasn't bright, he knew who the good guys were. Acting on your advice, Totti didn't cause a scene right away. Instead, he took precautions to prevent being manipulated through children. At the same time, pretending he had won an overseas travel grand prize from a Monica burger promotion, he took the opportunity to have you help him install advanced and discreet surveillance equipment at home.]

[Upon returning home, he acted as if nothing had happened, even gaining another romance out of the grievance. Having deeply absorbed your true teachings, Totti didn't rush to end the marriage, but quietly kept collecting evidence all along.]

[Finally, one day, Paris Hilton's leaked tape making a fortune gave Totti an inspiration. Since he had already worn so many green hats, why not profit from this ordeal? Besides, with so many involved parties, this kind of thing would be exposed sooner or later. Through a middleman, Totti sold all the home surveillance footage, netting him over 20 million US dollars in profits.]

[Because of the tape scandal, Totti's divorce proceedings went extremely smoothly, and Ilary left practically empty-handed. Just when everyone was sympathizing with the Wolf King, they were shocked to discover that this symbol of Rome had been spotted strutting high and proud down the street with a woman. Even more astonishingly, the two of them were accompanied by a child of around ten years old. Calculating the timeline, the child's birth date was less than two years after Totti's wedding. The entire Apennine Peninsula gained a whole new appreciation for this low-literacy Wolf King.]

[One day, Mancini, who had already become a coach, led Inter Milan to a victory over Roma. Instead of celebrating wildly as expected, he charged straight toward Totti with his fists raised, moving even faster than he did in his youth. Just as the Roma players were about to rush in and help, they heard their captain shouting as he sprinted: "Calm down, calm down! I'm your brother-in-law, for crying out loud..."]

[Obtained Skill: Coward Slayer]

Coward Slayer: Where there is martial virtue, there are no cowards. Those who have experienced betrayal will quickly pull themselves together under your persuasion, and find it much easier to achieve success in other fields.

???

What kind of skill was this?

Could it be that from now on, King Lu was destined to be the emotional counselor for cuckolded football players worldwide?