Chapter 410: Terrifying Eastern Demon

Amid the whole arena's Chinese fans' fierce, resonant cheers, Fan Xi quietly lands, and he calmly walks back.

When James Ha Deng walks over, his eyes are full of resentment. Being directly stolen from and knocked to the ground by Fan Xi is the greatest humiliation of his life.

Fan Xi ignores James Ha Deng; he merely calls on his teammates to set up defense.

James Ha Deng quickly carries the ball across half‑court.

Then he forcefully launches a charge, seeking to regain his face. The provocation he received from Ke Le Ka Dai Shan is driving him to lose his mind; he knows great expectations are placed on him, and he believes he can achieve a win‑win between dealing with Fan Xi and helping the team.

Fan Xi watches his fierce charge; he does not block, but leads him inward. Harden darts into the paint; although he cleverly leans on Fan Xi's body to gain enough space, when he jumps and releases, Zhang Zhaoxu rushes from the side and slaps Harden's racket away.

Zhang Zhaoxu has played in the NCAA; although his skill level is not great, his height and wingspan are his advantage.

Wang Zhiji reaches out and grabs the basketball.

The China team's height is a bit greater than the U. S. team's.

At that moment, Fan Xi suddenly shouts, "Fast break!"

Immediately, he leads the squad to sprint toward the frontcourt.

The scene surprises the national team's coaching staff; they had agreed to block the shooting lane before going up, so why the sudden acceleration? Are they planning to fire the bullet themselves?

Because Fan Xi realizes the Dream Team here is not a pure defensive lineup. Spending energy defending them is less effective than attacking them.

The best defense is offense.

Although this is a fallacy, this time, when weighing offense against defense, Fan Xi chooses to devote his energy to the offensive side.

Fan Xi darts to the frontcourt like lightning, and with two meters still beyond the three‑point line, he suddenly executes a bizarre crossover, using a body‑ball split to get past Wei De, then he drives straight into the paint, with Du Lante chasing him relentlessly from behind.

But Fan Xi's basketball flies straight to the corner; Wang Zhiji receives it there, while Kevin Lefu's defense is like a headless fly… he lost his man.

Swish!

Wang Zhiji hits a three‑pointer.

This fluid, flowing offensive wave from the China team makes the arena audience boil again.

And even more boiling are the domestic viewers across the ocean.

Whether fan or non‑fan, seeing such powerful, sharp offense, they all shout praises loudly.

Fans marvel that the China team finally sheds its clumsy image; they can now launch fierce fast breaks like a super‑strong team and finish, and they do it right over the Dream Team.

Non‑fans see a pure visual feast: Damn, those Americans have to be hit punch‑by‑punch like this!

Fan Xi is really damn impressive.

In an instant, Fan Xi and his national‑team teammates attract countless fans.

In China, basketball players who can truly break out of the circle are very few; perhaps only Yao Ming is known by every man, woman, and child. Fan Xi's public base may still be a bit lower than Yao Ming's, but after this Olympic Games, Fan Xi's fan base will no longer be just young people and basketball fans. He will surely become a genuinely household‑name national super star.

And the national‑team teammates beside him will each break through their circles and become bigwigs in the domestic basketball scene.

The China team strings together consecutive attacks.

Coach Old K and his staff stand up at the sideline and shout the tactics several times; he does not want the Dream Team to be led by the China team like a puppet.

He is angry.

After sitting down, he still complains to the Dream Team players: "Just these few unknown foot soldiers, not even NCAA level, and following Jie Ke Fan can beat us like this? We are a group of superstars with contracts worth tens of millions of dollars."

His criticism is like a sharp bayonet, harshly scraping the players' pride.

Old K is good at using this method to rouse the superstars, making them understand what it means to know shame and then be brave.

The players sitting beside him each have a pallid complexion, their expressions solemn.

James and Chris Paul whisper to each other; Paul says softly, "Even so, we cannot rush it."

James nods in agreement.

However, on the court Kevin Du Lante activates chaos mode, forcibly taking the ball from James Ha Deng's hands. Then, with a stride he steps inside the three‑point line, pulls up for a clean jump shot, not even caring about his teammates' positions.

Swish!

It hits.

Du Lante is a lethal weapon on the international stage; his shooting is superb, he possesses an unsurpassable release height, and he also has excellent ball‑handling and first‑step ability.

In terms of scoring damage alone, no one on the Dream Team can compare with Du Lante.

But in the first second after his basket, the China team completes the inbound.

Fan Xi remains like an indestructible blade; he slashes into the paint, and young top pick Anthony Davis immediately crouches, intending to give Fan Xi a surprise block, but Fan Xi simply halts abruptly, feints, and tricks him… his experience is too poor.

He still needs the long baptism of preseason and regular season before he can unleash his talent without reservation.

This high‑level matchup now is not one he can partake in.

Fan Xi tosses the basketball from behind his head, Zhang Zhaoxu leaps effortlessly, slams it with both hands... Boom!

In terms of talent, ten Zhang Zhaoxus are still inferior to Anthony Davis.

But Davis lacks the support of good teammates.

"You're a coward, Jie Ke, you don't dare to face my defense head‑on."

On the way back to half‑court, Davis even trash‑talks Fan Xi.

Fan Xi nods slightly, indicating he heard it.

James Ha Deng finally scores, quickly reaching the frontcourt, performs a high‑pick‑and‑roll with Kevin Lefu, then steps back and hits a three‑pointer.

After scoring, he is very proud, raising three fingers and shaking them toward Fan Xi.

Fan Xi has no time to trash‑talk him; he quickly receives the ball and launches a fast break.

He and Wang Zhiji set a high pick‑and‑roll, then enter the paint, and he finishes with a floater.

Both sides trade blows.

The Dream Team's offensive efficiency gradually rises, with Du Lante, Lefu, Wei De, and Ha Deng each adding points.

Compared with the Dream Team superstars thriving in the fast pace, the China team relies more on Fan Xi's ability to thread the needle; Fan Xi drives the team mad in the rapid tempo amid the chaos!

The U. S. team gains no advantage.

This completely exceeded the National Team's expectations, and also completely exceeded the domestic fans' expectations, but they were watching extremely, extremely excited.

In the words of the CCTV commentator: "This may be the first time in history that a team has tied the Dream Team in a head‑to‑head offensive battle. In the Dream Team lineup, aside from Anthony Davis, everyone is on a max contract. One number‑one pick, one number‑two pick, one number‑three pick, one fourth‑overall, one fifth‑overall."

"The China Team playing like this, Fan Xi is immensely meritorious. The China Team players' fighting spirit commands respect!"

The CCTV commentator, excited, could not say any more.

From the condition of both sides' players, one can see that the Dream Team's super‑geniuses run without flushed faces or breathlessness, whereas the National Team players, except Fan Xi, are all panting and clenching their teeth while sprinting.

Given the National Team players' stamina, running like this is already a miracle.

"It's like taking a rifle against someone's tank cannon. We still won!"

The CCTV analyst's comment was spot‑on for this match.

Even Fan Xi praised the China Team's spiritual strength.

The second quarter quickly entered its closing stage.

Both sides engaged in a quarter of back‑and‑forth offense.

"We didn't manage to overturn the score, but we at least drained their stamina. In the second half, the players who can still play will be even better."

Coach Lao K said, "Jieke Fan is indeed very smart, his grasp of tactics is also brilliant; he can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, making a group of average players match us. However, he overlooked the most important factor: stamina! Or rather, talent."

"Can his teammates endure past the second quarter? The third? The fourth?"

Coach Lao K remained very steady.

And soon, he received positive feedback.

With 21 seconds left in the first half, Anthony Davis finally seized the chance. He leapt explosively in the paint, snatched the rebound from above Zhang Zhaoxu's head, and using his tremendous talent, leapt again to slam down a devastating dunk over Zhang's head.

After the score, the young prodigy shouted loudly, pulling the rim as he crouched and let out a long, sky‑ward howl.

He was very excited.

He pounded his chest, unabashedly.

The scene left the CCTV commentators speechless; faced with Anthony Davis's swagger, they could only say, "He is this year's NBA draft number one, his talent is immense, hailed as a once‑in‑twenty‑years super interior player from the United States."

With that introduction and Anthony Davis's arrogant celebration, viewers at home felt stifled, as if something were blocking them.

They could only mutter a curse under their breath.

Or they lifted a glass and took an irritated sip.

Fan Xi walked over to soothe Zhang Zhaoxu, and had Wang Zhiji pass the ball to him; he intended to steady the tempo for the final attack.

At this moment, the China Team led 58–56, up by two points.

Fan Xi dribbled forward slowly, still blocked by James Harden in front of him.

Coach Lao K used Harden for the entire quarter; in this quarter he made only two substitution adjustments: swapping Kevin Love for Carmelo Anthony, and swapping Dwyane Wade for Andre Iguodala.

The China Team was even more decisive, keeping the lineup unchanged and giving Fan Xi full authority.

Fan Xi reached the frontcourt, slowly varying his dribble rhythm under his hips while counting down the time.

During this process, Iguodala indicated he would switch defense with James Harden.

Iguodala is a renowned defensive player who entered the league in 2004. Though he lacks the fame of other NBA superstars, he is very smart, his defense is strong, his personality modest, and he has done extensive financial planning to ensure he lives better after retirement than most superstars.

That probably explains why the Philadelphia 76ers once preferred to trade away Allen Iverson to build a core around Ben Wallace.

But he is still not James, even though he possesses a body and physical qualities as strong as James's.

He is gradually becoming an excellent team player and defender.

He has helped the U. S. team a lot in this lineup.

Using him to guard Fan Xi is indeed a good plan.

But James Harden decided to give Fan Xi some color in this possession.

No one knows where his confidence comes from.

Fan Xi was very calm, like a time‑controlling magician; even with the clock counting down below ten seconds, he remained composed.

Until the second hand was about to tick from 8 to 7, Fan Xi stepped forward, like an assassin's lethal strike, fiercely taking his first step… He resembled a shrewd, seasoned swordsman; his step was small, barely crossing a true boundary.

But James Harden had to retreat half a step.

In that half‑step of Harden's retreat, Fan Xi made an inconceivable move.

He was like a mysterious robot defying ergonomics, precisely calculating two perfect trajectories; his body snapped left, while his right hand flicked the ball backward… whoosh!

Fan Xi's body, like a whirling top, sliced through Harden's defensive line.

Bang!

The basketball shot violently through the gap under James Harden's hips; at the moment it struck the floor, Harden's shoe sole even felt the vibration.

Harden's defense, layered with those two bizarre and opposite moves, lost its most basic judgment… He was like a marionette whose strings had been cut, standing there innocent and bewildered until Fan Xi and the ball vanished before his eyes.

He quickly turned around.

It was already too late.

Iguodala didn't catch up.

Iguodala had been trailing on one side, believing that as soon as Fan Xi attacked, he could rush in to block, forcing Fan Xi into a forced shot.

But he didn't expect Fan Xi to bypass Harden in this manner.

He couldn't catch up.

Fan Xi surged straight into the free‑throw line and drilled into the paint.

After entering the paint, Fan Xi hurled the ball hard against the backboard.

He then sprinted forward, leapt up with a fierce thrust.

Under the basket, Anthony Davis was thrilled; from the moment he saw Fan Xi charge in, he was extremely excited.

When Fan Xi tossed the ball toward the backboard and it rebounded, he forcefully shook off the "trash" he saw behind him.

He faced Fan Xi head‑on and leapt up.

He wants to press Fan Xi straight onto the floor.

This young prodigy has an unrivaled paint‑area destructive power in the NCAA, and his block statistics top the leaderboard.

He thinks blocking Fan Xi is as easy as crushing an orange with one foot.

But the instant he leaps wildly, he seems to hear Kevin Durant's voice: "No!"

He doesn't think further; he just puts all his strength into it.

Then Fan Xi comes charging straight at him… he only feels a fierce black shadow like a bomb.

Pfft!

Afterwards, a muffled thud explodes inside his chest, and massive pain and an uncontrollable spreading sensation radiate from his thorax to his whole body. He had prepared fully for the block, but now he finds his outstretched hand dropping uncontrollably backward, while Fan Xi's figure rises higher and more imposing in his vision… He regrets it.

His body loses balance in the air, and Fan Xi, like a roaring fighter jet, knocks him down directly.

Pfft!

He is slammed onto the ground, the intense pain in his back makes him roll on the floor, emitting a harrowing sound.

This young kid is enduring a brutal beating in his basketball career.

Boom!

Fan Xi slams the basketball into the hoop with both hands.

Immediately, a red light behind the hoop flashes, and a rapid electronic buzz sounds.

The first half ends.

The referee extends his hand, two points count.

If Anthony Davis's wailing on the floor weren't so ear‑splitting, he would even consider drawing an offensive foul.

Meanwhile, the Zhongguo fans in the arena have erupted with the loudest cheers of the entire game.

The Zhongguo team's commentator shouts excitedly: "What is a deity descending? What is might that cannot be bullied? What is the Finals MVP?"

"This is Fan Xi! Anthony Davis is too young; he pays the price for his youthful recklessness. He can dunk on Zhang Zhaoxu, and when he roars in arrogant celebration, he should remember that Fan Xi will never be satisfied, and Fan Xi never lets any player who provokes his opponent get away."

"This is the MVP! This is the boss!"

"Look at Zhang Zhaoxu and Fan Xi embracing; this is the most beautiful and powerful moment for Zhongguo's men's basketball. Those self‑righteous foreign prodigies who thought that grabbing a front‑court rebound and executing a one‑on‑one dunk in the paint could conquer an Asian team's history are now gone forever!"

The CCTV commentator speaks with great passion.

But the excited shouts in front of the TV have long drowned out his commentary, and the pent‑up anger that was blocked in his chest bursts out.

Moreover, as the TV repeatedly replays Fan Xi's front‑on dunk over Davis, his mood becomes increasingly exhilarated.

Across the mainland, countless night‑market stalls erupt with excited voices: "Boss, pour the wine!"

This shot is a thrill to watch.

Fan Xi returns to the bench amid a crowd, and the Zhongguo team maintains a four‑point lead at halftime.

And the Dream Team's team doctor had to go up to diagnose that young prodigy; although their preliminary diagnosis is optimistic, the youngster may simply have his qi and blood surging, and a bone bruise.

But to be cautious, the young prodigy still requests to leave the court.

He doesn't want his professional career to be ruined in London before it even starts.

Though he feels humiliated now, he is more fearful.

Fan Xi's looming front‑on shadow circles his mind, and the intense pain still circulates through his body.

He no longer wants to face Fan Xi.

He needs time to forget this incident.

Anthony Davis is helped off the court.

This young prodigy originally came to be gilded, but now he must spend a lot of time forgetting this journey.

The espn commentator erupts with a fierce scream at the moment Fan Xi flips Davis, shouting: "Devil! Devil! Jieke Fan is a devil; he is destroying Anthony Davis's career, and this inhumane dunk should be banned!"

He shouts loudly.

The Reggie Miller beside him even uses this dunk to compare it with Vince Carter's legendary dunk at the Athens Olympics.

Of course, they won't glorify Fan Xi so much.

They will only describe Fan Xi as a terrifying Eastern tyrant.

Moreover, this is a devil's dunk!

…