"Dubian! Dubian!"

Xiaoquan Aonai watched the Pitcher Mound excitedly.

He was the true bearer of Goda's glory, the one she adored.

Amidst the cheers, Dubian Che lightly pressed down his baseball cap, his smile uncontrollably breaking through.

"Goda, my alma mater… so, Sansong, I'm sorry."

He raised his head, carrying the expectations of all Goda.

"This summer, even if Lady Luck doesn't look favorably upon Goda."

"Everything won't just end like this."

"All the promises of high summer, all that I don't want to end, I will fulfill them for you!"

"Fate, no matter what you had planned, now, reverse for me!"

Dubian Che raised both hands with the ball, lifted his leg, and swung his arm.

A powerful pitch.

The piercing sound of the wind.

"Bang!" The ball hit the catcher's mitt.

"Beep!" the electronic display, "165 km/h!"

"Strike one!" the umpire's lonely, hollow voice.

The stadium was as silent as a heavy snowfall.

Then…

"Ah—!!!" A prodigious roar from the stands.

Throats near to bursting, spit flying!

"165! 165! A new record at Koshien..." the commentator's voice drowned out.

"Do you see that! Do you see that!" Xiaoquan Aonai excitedly pulled at Akiko.

"I see it! I see it!" Akiko, while clutching her shirt that was slipping off, excitedly waved her inflatable sticks.

"Dubian! Dubian! Dubian!"

Their conversation, barely audible amidst Goda's fervent chanting.

"Ah—" On the field, the other eight Goda players roared at Dubian Che.

No words, no matter how excited or passionate, could express their feelings at that moment.

"Dubian—!" Kunii Shuichi's neck veins bulging with excitement, as if he wanted to rush over and land a solid punch on Dubian Che.

The camera focused on the young man on the Pitcher Mound.

The catcher approached him, speaking something.

He said nothing, just patted the other's shoulder, a simple gesture that excited the crowd even more.

He looked cocky, too cool, not enough like an athlete, devoid of passion, as if he didn't take his opponent seriously.

Yet, people still aspired and revered him!

That was the mark of a champion!

Born to bask in the cheers of the crowd!

After the outcry, the second pitch.

"Beep! 166 km/h!"

"Strike two!"

"Oh!" A unified gasp from the audience.

Anyone who knew baseball held their breath.

What did that mean?

A pitch at that speed couldn't be a breaking ball, but the sheer power itself was intimidating.

What is pitch power?

A fastball at 166 km/h straight at the head could result in a fracture, a hit to the head could lead to internal bleeding even with a helmet; without immediate medical attention, you'd likely die on the field.

Facing Dubian Che's pitching was not just a baseball game but a test of life and death.

That was pitch power!

"Heitian! Don't be scared!" the Sansong coach and players shouted to the batter.

Heitian glanced back at them, then at the man on the Pitcher Mound, and swallowed hard.

Was it worth risking one's life for a game?

...Worth it!

And if the ball hit him, it would be a hit by pitch! Safe on base for Sansong and another run scored!

Even if it meant a hospital visit, missing school, he couldn't dodge.

"Come on!" Heitian gripped the bat, screaming at the youth on the Pitcher Mound.

Just then, in the corner of his eye, Goda's catcher shifted his glove positioning, right below Heitian's arm.

If… if a ball at 165 km/h was aimed here… and it slightly missed control…

A hit to the arm, a bone shattering instantly;

A hit to the stomach, could it bore a hole through?

Or the jaw? Teeth flying out?

'What's going to happen? Can someone tell me!'

"Beep! 165 km/h!"

"Foul—!" In anguish, Heitian scolded himself; he hadn't swung, he'd dodged instead.

"Strikeout!"

"3 pitches! All above 165 km/h!" the female commentator lost her composure.

Then, the male commentator voiced everyone's thoughts:

"Monster!"

The Goda High School girls were ecstatic to tears.

Even though there was just one batter out, two more to go before the game ended;

Even though, even if this game ended, they were behind by three points, in a precarious position;

But, but…

As long as they saw that youth on the Pitcher Mound, looking down at everyone, as a member of Goda, they felt an immense surge of confidence.

Monster?

My senior!

My classmate!

My junior!

My student!

Spoken words with! Seen in the corridors! Been opponents in a sports festival! Passed out fliers together at the Cultural Festival!

He is ours! From Goda! That's Dubian!

"Dubian! Dubian! Dubian!"

At that moment, Dubian Che raised his hand, silencing them with a gesture.

Not just Goda, but thirty thousand spectators, the passing breeze, the lifted dust, as if everything came to a halt.

In the silence, Dubian Che swung his fist to the sky:

"Goda!"

The roar echoed to the heavens.

"Ah—"

"Goda! Goda! Goda!"

A tsunami of voices, the world shattering.

The wind began to blow, the sun fiercer, everyone stood up, and a single cry of "Goda" infected every soul present.

Even those who didn't understand baseball, who hadn't heard what Dubian Che said, were swept away by the atmosphere.

"Goda! Goda! Goda!"

"Beep! 164 km/h!"

"Strike one!"

"Beep! 166 km/h!"

"Strike two!"

"Beep! 164 km/h!"

"Strikeout! Two down!"

Momentum unstoppable!

"Too terrifying! Too terrifying! After pitching a ball at 165 km/h, the next still at 165! Monster! Monster! What on earth is his arm made of!"

"I can see the dark clouds over Koshien Stadium! That is Goda! That is this relief pitcher named Dubian Che!"

"His fastball, it will become the worst nightmare of all high school batters!"

"Sansong down to its last batter!"

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