Kai knew that their strategy had its flaws—one that could cost them the ga.
They weren't the Yin Yang Knights or the Feng Foxes who could beat the Xing Stars with pure skill. They had to rely on Yuze's strengths and their planned-out strategy.
However, the thing that Kai dreaded the most finally ca.
An AI will continue to receive commands from its programrs. However, there were instances where it could go rogue.
The more you feed it, the more you agitate it, the more it becos aware of what it truly is.
Kai knew that Zedong had realized that his current system wasn't going to cut it in this ga.
His mind probably still hadn't actualized it, but his body was already moving on its own.
The Xing Stars were also confused as to why Zedong was now moving erratically. Their ever-systematic Point Guard was actually playing the last two minutes of the ga without any strategy!
Kai glanced at Yuze and saw that he was already aware of it, too, so he turned to the other Shizi Dogs and gave them a stern look.
It seed like each player understood, so they beca more wary of the Xing Stars.
They were still leading by one point, but that wasn't enough to guarantee their victory.
Coming into the ga, Jinping wasn't expecting much from their team. Of course, he wanted to win and proceed through the league in the winner's bracket.
However, he also dampened his expectations since he was aware of the Xing Stars' prowess in the high school basketball league.
He thought that it was too early for their team to secure a win against them.
However, with two minutes left on the clock, they were actually ahead with one point! Of course, he had all the reasons to support his team. He even found himself rooting for Kai, which was strange since he never wanted to support Kai!
anwhile, the audience was already losing their mind.
Xing Academy's students let go of their banners and started shouting scattered words of support.
"Co on! You guys can do this."
"Get your head in the ga!"
"Please, let's win!"
"I can't do this monotone cheer anymore. Xing Academy, let's go!"
The Shizi High students suddenly felt a surge of competitiveness in their hearts, so Eva found herself leading their cheer.
"Shizi High! Shizi High! Shizi High!"
They didn't have a formal cheer similar to the Xing Stars, yet the Shizi Dogs still found it amazing.
This was the first ti they could hear such loud cheers for their teams. Kun glanced back at the audience and felt tears brimming in his eyes.
He couldn't believe that he actually lived to see this day.
However, his mont was halted when he felt a strong pat on his back.
"Don't cry," Yuze said. "You'll cry even harder if we lose this ga."
Kun pursed his lips and swallowed the lump in his throat.
Yuze was right.
They still had a ga to play.
Kai was currently handling the ball, and he found himself standing face-to-face with Zedong once again.
The two of them were locked into each other, the noise in the room drowned out by the sound of their breaths, the beating of their hearts, and the dribbling of the ball.
Zedong's eyes looked different, and it seed like he was moving faster than before.
Kai cursed inside his mind since he found himself having a hard ti surpassing him. However, he couldn't find it in himself to pass to his teammates.
He was determined to sink this shot and prove to himself that he could go against Zedong.
anwhile, Max frowned as he watched the two of them play.
He sat on the edge of his seat before tilting his head to the side.
"What did he do?" he muttered.
Fabin heard what Max said and turned to him with raised eyebrows.
"What was that?"
"I'm intrigued. This is the first ti I've seen Zedong play like this," he said.
"Just what did they do to make him play like this?" he asked.
Fabin scratched the back of his head. "Is that even important?"
"It is," Max said. "I want to play against Zedong while he's in that state, too."
Kai knew that it was a privilege to play with Zedong while he was exerting his best efforts, so he played to the best of his ability, too.
Utilizing his simple fake skill, he took a step back and feigned shooting to the right. Then, when he saw Zedong leaning over in that direction, he quickly shifted to the left and aid to shoot at the ring.
However, it didn't get past Zedong since he quickly moved to the left instead. Fortunately, the ball was already about to leave Kai's hands, so he hastened his movents.
Before he even knew it, he felt a push from his side, making him stumble and fall to the ground.
His eyes widened, and he quickly used his elbow to lessen the impact of the fall on his tailbone.
The crowd gasped as Kai fell to the ground with a loud thud. Lina stood from her seat while Eva even ran to the railings to see if he was okay. Continue your journey on empire
Kai's eyes were wide in shock, and his teammates began wondering if he was hurt in any way.
Yuze frowned and went to his teammate.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Kai wordlessly nodded as he stood from the ground. When they saw he was in tip-top shape, the other players and audience mbers sighed in relief.
"Tell if sothing hurts," Yuze said, knowing the importance of injury prevention in sports.
Kai shook his head. "It doesn't hurt," he muttered.
As he fell to the ground, he realized that his bones were probably made from steel. Despite the impact, it didn't hurt at all.
However, what surprised Kai was how strong Zedong was.
He wasn't like this in the past three quarters. Moreover, it was the first ti he had fallen in a ga. All other players' attempts to push him were futile, yet Zedong was able to do it.
He must have great strength for that to happen.
Yuze let out a deep beat as he passed Kai the ball.
"You have two free throws," he said.
Kai looked at the ball and sighed.
A foul.
Then, he glanced at Zedong, who looked unfazed.
It seed like he already knew that Kai wasn't great at shooting from afar, and that led him to foul him without much worry.
Kai took the ball from Zeren and stood at the free-throw line.
The crowd turned silent, everybody holding their breaths as they watched Kai dribble the ball.
"Please make it," Lina whispered from the sidelines.
Kai shot the ball. However, it bounced off of the rim and went back into his hands.
The situation was pretty comical, but he couldn't find it within him to laugh since he still had one shot left—one chance.
He glanced at the tir and saw that there were only 59 seconds left in the clock.
He sighed since he realized that he hadn't mastered any skills that involved shooting and that his strengths relied mainly on defense. Nonetheless, he wanted to do his best.
He had a feeling that they were going to lose if he didn't sink this particular shot.
"Just one," Lina muttered. "Please, just this one."
The pressure was on, and all eyes were watching Kai's every movent.
Then, he dribbled the ball once more before positioning himself to shoot
"Make it," Kai muttered.
"Sink it."
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