Eel

Niu Zhihong's lackey let out a somewhat comical wail and slowly collapsed to the ground.

There was a reason for this slow collapse. Since he had just been exerting force, his muscles were still tense, making his fall look like it was in slow motion. Coupled with the overly clear "crack" from a moment ago and the look of agony on the lackey's face...

"Holy shit, what happened?"

"Bro, why did that bastard stick his foot under the guy? Is that really necessary for an inter-class game?"

Amidst the gasps, some sharp-eyed spectators had already noticed the lackey trying to slide his foot under the opponent... It was actually quite obvious. As long as you had the right viewing angle, it was easy to tell the difference between a normal defensive move and a dirty trick.

The miraculous part was that Su Bai, the intended victim of the dirty trick, was standing there with a calm expression, looking completely fine. Instead, the one who played dirty was the one lying on the floor.

The opposing team members quickly gathered around to check on their teammate's injury.

The scene became a bit chaotic.

The referee belatedly called a timeout and helped contact the campus hospital.

In theory, Jiangcheng University's campus hospital was classified as a Level II, Class A hospital. But that was only in theory. The students often joked that the campus hospital's medical standards were about on par with a damn veterinary clinic. Aside from prescribing cold medicine and vitamin pills, they practically did nothing useful.

So, when the lackey saw the referee calling the campus hospital, he hurriedly protested, "I'm not going to the campus hospital! I want to go to Jiangcheng Second Hospital!"

Referee: "..."

The helpless referee stood there awkwardly and looked at Niu Zhihong. Obviously, this guy was the core of the Economics and Management team. Judging by his sports gear alone, he was the biggest show-off on the entire team.

"I'll handle it. I know someone at Jiangcheng Second Hospital."

Even at a time like this, Brother Niu didn't forget to flex a little. This was Brother Niu's influencer mindset at work—truly living up to his internet-famous persona.

After sorting out the medical arrangements, Niu Zhihong turned to Su Bai with a self-righteous expression.

He had originally wanted to teach Su Bai a lesson, but the foot-sliding plan had actually failed. Instead, Niu Zhihong's most trusted lackey ended up getting injured by Su Bai stepping on him... Then again, was Su Bai's right foot made of steel or something? How could it be that ridiculous?

The one throwing the cheap shot got stomped into the hospital. What the hell was this? Niu Zhihong had been a sports student for years, and this was the first time he had seen such an absurd situation.

Well then, he had to change his approach.

He would hold high the banner of justice and extort Su Bai!

Soon, Niu Zhihong's expression shifted from slightly bewildered to righteous indignation. The speed of his face-changing was so fast that even Zhang Emo would have to praise the young man's acting skills.

"Su Bai..."

"I'm listening!"

Facing Brother Niu's gritted-teeth, ultra-deep baritone voice.

Su Bai responded with absolute confidence, his voice loud and clear, looking every bit the sunny, cheerful boy.

Then, Niu Zhihong stopped dead in his tracks in front of Su Bai.

Su Bai still had a faint smile on his face, seemingly not taking him seriously at all. Usually, when Niu Zhihong charged up to confront someone, the other party would be at least a little flustered. After all, Brother Niu was a sports student. Coupled with his thuggish aura, his height of over 1.8 meters, and his decent muscles, he was quite an intimidating presence.

But in front of Su Bai, that intimidating presence vanished. Su Bai was 1.85 meters tall, and having recently optimized his physical fitness, he had grown even a bit taller. Add to that his perfect physique, akin to an ancient Greek statue. If they took down the muscular statue at the entrance of the Academy of Fine Arts and replaced it with Su Bai, it would be an absolute upgrade.

While playing on the court, they could at least go head-to-head. However, at the thought of potentially getting into a physical altercation with this guy, Niu Zhihong's biological instinct to avoid danger made him stop in his tracks.

Hiss...

Did he really want to mess with him?

As Niu Zhihong stopped, the teammates following behind him also halted.

The scene became somewhat bizarre.

"Hey, everyone calm down."

Just then, Xia Lin, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly stepped onto the basketball court.

Usually, when students got hot-headed and started a conflict, a mere female counselor stepping in to mediate wouldn't carry enough weight.

But this was Xia Lin. Forget the basketball court—even if she suddenly walked into the principal's office, the principal would have to smile and ask what she needed.

"I recorded everything just now. It was your Economics and Management player who made an inappropriate move. The injury was an accident, so don't blame it on our Computer Science student."

With just one sentence, Xia Lin defined the nature of the incident.

Niu Zhihong was unwilling to accept this: "But..."

"Oh my, getting injured during a basketball game is perfectly normal. Two years ago, during the inter-departmental tournament, someone from our department also got injured and was sent to the hospital."

Xia Lin accurately brought up an old score, and specifically, the old score from the Computer Science vs. Economics and Management game two years ago.

After all, having been at this school for four years, when it came to digging up old history, all the players in Su Bai's class combined couldn't compare to Xia.

"That makes sense. Once the ambulance takes him away, let's continue the game," the referee said with a cold-blooded expression.

It wasn't that he was truly cold-blooded. Xia had already settled the matter. He was just a lowly pawn sent by the Campus Basketball Association, so it was pretty clear whose side he should take.

Although the amateur referees from the Campus Basketball Association had poor dynamic vision, at least their brains weren't filled with water.

Thus, the Economics and Management players had no choice but to dejectedly accept this outcome.

But soon, their fighting spirit was reignited.

No way! Since their dirty trick backfired, they absolutely had to win this game!

They were inexplicably fired up.

The game resumed, and Economics and Management scored consecutively.

On Su Bai's side, Lord Shanghai and the local guy took turns tossing up bricks.

"Bro, I can tolerate Lord Shanghai being weak lately because he's been spending too much time with his girlfriend, but Brother Xue, why are your hands so soft too, let me ask?" Su Bai trash-talked Xue Tao.

Xue Tao looked wronged. "Ahem, it's an accident, an accident... Old Chu hasn't even booked a room with his girlfriend yet, but I've already done the deed with Liu Yuanyuan!"

Su Bai: "..."

Fine, whatever you say.

Su Bai couldn't be bothered to expose him. Xue Tao had been asking Su Bai for fitness advice every few days recently. However, according to Wang Haoran's firsthand account, the local guy claimed to do morning exercises every day but frequently ended up sleeping in.

He was all talk, but when it came to actual practice, he was a total mess.

Since his teammates were unreliable, Su Bai had to rely on himself.

And even if his teammates were reliable, Su Bai still had unfinished business to take care of.

The lackey trying to slide his foot under him was one thing, but the mastermind behind it had yet to receive an elbow strike from Su Bai.

When it was Niu Zhihong's turn to personally defend against Su Bai, a warm smile suddenly appeared on Su Bai's face.

It made Niu Zhihong's hair stand on end.

"Brother Niu, honestly, there's no bad blood between us."

"Huh?"

Su Bai muttered this sentence, and while Niu Zhihong wore a bewildered expression, he dribbled the ball forward, executing a pure bulldozer-style breakthrough, with a slight suspicion of traveling.

This technical move, as if he were possessed by LeBron, made it very difficult for Niu Zhihong, forcing him to retreat again and again.

Until he retreated under the basket.

At this moment, the defenders were clustered under the basket, and Su Bai was surrounded... It looked like he was surrounded, but in reality, none of them had any confidence.

Sure enough, Su Bai was completely unafraid. He raised his massive elbow and forcefully took off!

Under the cover of the opposing team's numerous defenders, he covertly delivered a solid iron elbow right into Niu Zhihong.

Bam!

The spectators on the sidelines didn't see clearly what happened. They only saw Su Bai dunk the ball, and then Niu Zhihong collapsed with a look of agony, clutching his ribs.

"...Bro, seriously, is this even a basketball game anymore?"

"Whoa! A ball game with a bonus martial arts show! I could die right now and it'd still be totally worth the price of admission, hell yeah!"