[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca":3,"chapter-emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-2":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1555789,2020,"Chapter 2: Bastia","emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-2",2,"\u003Cp>Bastia\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An old French club, though they had been struggling in lower divisions in recent seasons. They had only been promoted to Ligue 2 last season.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, the club wouldn't have gambled on signing De Rocca.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ligue 1 clubs already knew everything about De Rocca, and all scouts believed he had no future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bastia was located on the famous island of Corsica.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Corsica held a special place in French history—Napoleon, who nearly conquered Europe, had risen from here to the pinnacle of his power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Corsica was far from mainland France, and its residents had strong separatist tendencies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The players here also shared Napoleon's short but sturdy build. On the football pitch, they were ruthless, strong, and gave many visiting opponents severe headaches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When De Rocca entered the youth academy, everyone who saw him couldn't help but stare in surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They seemed to be saying, \"How is he here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether it was his past or current notoriety, De Rocca was very famous at Bastia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After his imprisonment, the staff had lamented that this was another huge loss for the club's recruitment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The former French genius had already fallen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, he was nothing more than a troubled youth with psychological problems and obsessive tendencies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the label everyone at Bastia gave him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone who would argue and fight at the slightest provocation, even with teammates—this gave the team quite a headache.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julien ignored the stares and walked straight to the locker room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The original Julien had no friends here, which made things somewhat easier for him. Without interpersonal relationships, it was easier to integrate into his new life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when he reached the locker room, he frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His locker was gone. The team had removed his locker from the changing room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two Bastia teammates were inside: Vincent and David.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They looked at him but didn't say much. Apart from knowing the general situation, they weren't particularly familiar with each other and saw no need to talk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, both were considered \"veterans\" of the team. Vincent was 19, a Bastia youth product currently used as a rotation midfielder; David was 32, a main striker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bastia, as a Ligue 2 club, had no money and no excellent youth development. They either picked up young talents hoping to strike it lucky, or signed older players who had essentially been abandoned by top-level clubs on free transfers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julien walked straight out of the locker room toward the reserve team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When in Rome, do as the Romans do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two men in the locker room watched De Rocca's departing figure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>David shook his head. \"Worthless kid.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vincent said nothing. He had heard about De Rocca, but it was just another story of a talented youth destroying himself—such stories happened many times every year in football.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>David spoke in a lecturing tone: \"Don't be like him, ruining your own future.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vincent pursed his lips and said nothing more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he had De Rocca's talent, he would want to live in the training ground every day, then achieve success, fame, and fortune!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't match even a hair of those geniuses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>David walked to his locker, preparing for today's training, continuing: \"I've known about him for a long time. I just think it's a pity—he could have become a player like Ronaldo or Ronaldinho, but he's finished now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both men finished packing their training equipment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just before leaving, Vincent suddenly frowned and murmured to himself: \"He seems somehow different from before.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did feel something was different. When De Rocca first came here, his eyes were full of rebellion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But today he seemed quite calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reserve team and first team training grounds were separated by just a line—a wire fence that divided the two sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This arrangement allowed reserve players to see the first team, giving them a goal—a goal to cross that wire fence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, some people could never cross it in their entire lives, while others were born destined for the spotlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>De Rocca came to the reserve team training ground and greeted coach Tavenot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tavenot nodded. \"Go to the locker room and change. Your locker has been prepared.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mm.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julien left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, many noisy voices arose from the reserve players on the training ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He actually came back. I thought the club would terminate his contract.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"After all, they spent money on the contract—it's not so easy to get rid of him. I heard he still has to return to prison for monitoring at night.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can't believe he's going to play with us. Two years ago, he was already playing for Chelsea. Things really change.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Someone like him can't protect that kind of talent.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tavenot heard some of the chatter but showed no reaction. At Bastia, not many people liked De Rocca.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Top-tier talent that he didn't cherish—in the eyes of anyone who loved football, this was an extreme waste.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a coach, Tavenot believed De Rocca's professional career was almost over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>De Rocca quickly returned to the training ground and trained with the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People could whisper behind his back, but no one said anything to De Rocca's face. After all, De Rocca really would hit people!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before training, everyone ran laps to warm up. Julien joined them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after running one lap, his eyes suddenly widened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some phantom numbers appeared before his eyes:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Running Recovery Training: 400m\u002F20km]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Dribbling Recovery Training: 0 hours\u002F10 hours]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Shooting Recovery Training: 0\u002F1000 shots]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[When all three basic attribute training progressions are completed, the system panel will open and physical condition will be restored to previous peak state]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Hmm?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julien was only slightly surprised initially, then quickly calmed down. If he could accept transmigration, there was no reason he couldn't accept a system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The few short lines were very clear in meaning—time to train!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His current physical condition wasn't at its peak. Over the past two or three years, he had declined too severely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At an age when he should have been improving, he was living off past achievements—not even stagnating, but declining!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Exhale!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julien maintained his composure and continued running, watching the recovery training progress accumulate. He was somewhat excited about what the final system panel would look like.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the two-kilometer warm-up ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While others stopped to prepare for the day's training, De Rocca walked over to Tavenot and said: \"Coach, can I skip team training today and just run on my own to recover my fitness?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing De Rocca's words, Tavenot pursed his lips, thought for a moment, then patted De Rocca's shoulder: \"Fine, but don't think about slacking off. I'll be watching you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>De Rocca nodded, then continued running. This behavior made the others even more negative toward De Rocca.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They all thought De Rocca was too antisocial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But De Rocca didn't care about others' opinions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others chased stardom, while he was chasing his former self!\u003C\u002Fp>",1143,"2026-06-06T07:35:05.902Z",1,"novelbin.me","d42ec71080ece69d8c15a0a38de5a1191c9b611994388baefc9cfbc453b104ab","emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-3","emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-1",628,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Femperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-cover.jpg"]