Chapter 239: Legendary La Liga Loot Box Opened

"They just kept kicking at me."

Tang Ye walked back in from outside, placed his MVP trophy beside his spot, and then sat down.

"But it was useless! I still won the MVP!"

"Haha, so Tom, how does your ankle feel now?"

Musacchio sipped his drink; a 3-0 victory over Atlético Madrid was an absolute crushing win, and the Yellow Submarine players were generally in high spirits.

Tang Ye quickly shook his ankle in front of his teammates: "It only hurt a bit when he tackled me; by the time I took the free kick, I couldn't feel anything anymore."

"You still need to be careful; I was like that before too—no feeling on the pitch, but once my body cooled down, the pain suddenly hit hard."

"Catch!"

Bruno tossed a drink to Tang Ye, who reached out and caught it effortlessly: "Bruno, my situation was different from yours that time; I truly felt nothing at all. I jumped away before he could fully step on me; my speed was too fast."

"You really don't engage in any physical confrontation at all."

Finding Tang Ye's answer somewhat amusing, Mateu came over and patted Tang Ye.

"Mateu, aren't you going with Mr. Ferran to do the interview?"

Tang Ye gulped down the drink in his hand.

He had been in a terrible mood during the match, but after winning, Tang Ye immediately regained his good spirits: "When I went to collect the trophy just now, that reporter asked me how it felt to win this match. I told him I felt really awesome. Mateu, you should tell the reporters the same thing."

"So it seems you can now handle interviews with ease?"

Tang Ye shrugged: "It's just answering a few questions; this stuff is too easy to learn."

Saying this, Tang Ye, prompted by Rodri, unlocked his phone.

Originally, Tang Ye had intended to check the assist standings after Round 34, but his attention was quickly captured by the league table instead.

"Rodri, there's only a 4-point gap between us and Barcelona now!"

Speaking of the league table, all the Yellow Submarine players in the locker room gathered around. Tang Ye operated his newly bought phone while counting aloud: "It's currently Round 34, with 38 rounds in total, so we have four matches remaining..."

"Actually, you can just open the schedule; just tap the team crest."

Aleix reminded him, and Tang Ye immediately followed the instruction.

After the match against Atlético, the Yellow Submarine had four La Liga matches left.

"Among them, this one is the most crucial."

Rodri pressed his finger onto Tang Ye's screen.

May 6th, 17:30, Barcelona vs. Villarreal (La Liga Round 36).

"Correct."

Mateu agreed with Rodri's words: "After being eliminated from the Champions League, Barcelona shifted their full focus to the league. If we want to push them down, we must win in Round 36."

"We've already beaten them once, but that doesn't guarantee we'll win a second time."

Tang Ye expressed an optimistic attitude, even though he knew Barcelona would not be an easy opponent to handle.

In the Copa del Rey final, the Yellow Submarine had exacted revenge on Barcelona.

Now, the Barcelona players and coaches must be thinking about how to exact counter-revenge on the Yellow Submarine!

They absolutely will not give up their second-place position in the league!

"There aren't many matches left..."

Bruno sighed inexplicably, and subsequently, the Yellow Submarine players who had gathered around all looked at Tang Ye simultaneously.

Huh?

Tang Ye paused for a moment, then realized what they meant.

"Phew..."

Bruno patted Tang Ye's shoulder and then walked away.

Logically speaking, players should be happy as the season nears its end, since they will soon welcome a month-long off-season break.

But for some reason, Bruno always felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart.

This season's Yellow Submarine was special.

The results were excellent, yes, but it was about more than just good results.

He glanced at the phone screen.

Hmm...

By this time next month, the La Liga season will be over.

This is also the time when Tang Ye's contract with the club expires.

After the crowd dispersed, Rodri patted Tang Ye on the back: "Do you have any results yet on where you're going next season? I remember you told me two weeks ago that you still didn't know."

"I still don't know..."

Tang Ye shook his head.

La Sexta—A 7-1 sweep over Osasuna; freed from Champions League constraints, can Barcelona complete a reversal against Real Madrid in the final four league matches?

Marca Front Page Headline—Barcelona thought that focusing all their energy on the league would allow them to reverse the situation against Real Madrid, but they were overthinking it; on May 6th, they must play the Yellow Submarine at home, and Barcelona is no match for the Yellow Submarine.

COPE Radio: Barring any surprises, the La Liga Player of the Month for April will be decided between Messi and Tom. Originally, Messi was favored by the fans, but Tom's assist hat-trick in the match against Atlético reversed the situation.

These were all very normal reports; neutral newspapers published their neutral viewpoints, while non-neutral newspapers published their biased viewpoints.

Three hours after the match between the Yellow Submarine and Atlético ended, a piece of news quickly surged to the Twitter trending list.

AS Front Page Headline—Barcelona is attempting to establish a cooperative relationship with the Shandong Shandong Luneng Taishan Football School; the club hopes to obtain training data regarding Tom from the Shandong Shandong Luneng Football School. If the Shandong Shandong Luneng Football School agrees to cooperate, Barcelona will have to pay a "data fee" of 500,000 euros.

"They (referring to Barcelona) want to figure out the secret behind Tom's two-footedness, thereby applying this special training method in the La Masia academy. The key point of the research has been confirmed to lie in the youth academy where Tom once stayed."

"Barcelona's senior management holds a pessimistic view on this deal, as they do not believe the Shandong Shandong Luneng Football School would be willing to share this secret with them for a price of 500,000 euros."

AS Editor-in-Chief Romeró: A price of 500,000 euros is not even one percent of Tom's market value; Barcelona is being too stingy.

【What is the Shandong Luneng Football School?】

【The season is almost over and only now are they thinking of studying their techniques; could the Barcelona board move any faster?】

【Tom's footwork skills are indeed worth learning, as is his one-touch passing.】

【La Masia has been relying on templates to manufacture players in recent years; the midfielders they train have zero vision. Only now do they realize the importance of midfield vision?】

【Hurry up and learn their advanced Chinese training concepts; at La Masia's current rate of producing talent, they probably won't cultivate the next Messi.】

【My suggestion is to just buy Tom directly; Barcelona certainly has the 110 million.】

That very evening happened to be Barcelona's home match against Osasuna, and after the game, a reporter from Spain's Channel Six conducted an interview with fans at Camp Nou.

"Yes, I think this approach is excellent; learning the methods used by Tom's football school to cultivate him and applying them within La Masia will help Barcelona develop more talent."

The interviewed fan, wearing a Barcelona scarf around his neck and excited at being selected by the reporter, said: "Solving the problem fundamentally is definitely better; it's far superior to simply buying Tom. We Barcelona don't need geniuses from elsewhere; our La Masia can cultivate our own geniuses!"

The reporter nodded, pulling the microphone closer to himself: "So your meaning is that Barcelona doesn't need to spend 100 million euros in transfer fees to buy Tom?"

"Uh..."

The fan's face turned red: "Solving the problem fundamentally is a matter for the future."

"Tom is still worth buying."

That evening, he rushed excitedly back to his apartment.

Slap!

He squeezed out some facial cleanser and carefully washed his face thoroughly.

Because he was in such a hurry, the clear water hadn't rinsed the foam off his face completely, but Tang Ye had no intention of washing again; he simply grabbed a Mao Jin to wipe away the foam near his chin.

He sat down in his favorite gaming chair!

【Open La Liga Chest · Legendary?】

【Yes】

The method for opening League Chests and Club Chests was very different; the moment Tang Ye clicked on the La Liga Legendary Chest, a card appeared before him.

He squinted to look closely, but no matter how Tang Ye looked, he simply couldn't make out the content displayed on the card.

At this moment, the card slowly moved closer to him.

Clues were slowly revealed!

1. Left Winger / Striker.

Hmm!

It's a striker template!

Tang Ye clenched his fists tightly.

His luck was quite good; he had pulled a striker template from the Legendary Chest.

His very first legendary striker template!

2. Real Madrid.

Wow?

3. Portugal.

Wow!

Tang Ye sat stunned in his chair, struck by such joy that he couldn't utter a single word.

!!!

I, I damn well!

【You have obtained the Cristiano Ronaldo Knuckleball Free Kick Template (Legendary)】

【Minimum Attribute Requirement: Physical Confrontation 76】

【Current Attribute: Physical Confrontation 75】

Ronaldo's Knuckleball Free Kick!

This was an absolutely top-tier free kick template; for Tang Ye, who currently possessed almost no direct free kick ability, it was truly a gift of snow in winter!

However, this Knuckleball Free Kick thing had huge requirements for the Strength attribute, and Tang Ye's current Physical Confrontation attribute was indeed insufficient to unlock it.

The good news was that Physical Confrontation wasn't like Ball Control; improving it was very fast.

Especially since Tang Ye possessed the +2 Chicken Breast bonus!

Looking at his computer screen before him, which remained unopened, Tang Ye fell into deep thought.

He wanted to unlock the Ronaldo Knuckleball Free Kick template because he knew just how cool it looked when executed.

But Tang Ye also knew that if he wanted to unlock the Knuckleball Free Kick template before the match against Barcelona in May, he would have to dedicate some of his own time to extra training.

Strength training was what Tang Ye needed to do now!

Amidst his hesitation, Tang Ye turned on his computer, calling upon Dembélé and Neymar to play a few games; he wanted to temporarily cast the matter of the free kick to the back of his mind and ignore it, but this was clearly impossible.

While browsing news during matchmaking intervals, Tang Ye quickly saw the long article published by The Athletic.

《Tactical Analysis: Why Didn't Escrivá Let Tom Play in the Penalty Shootout? 》

"..."

This article analyzed the situation of the match at that time and the penalty-taking abilities of players from both sides, but this was not what Tang Ye was focused on.

Tang Ye's mind was now entirely filled with the scenes from that penalty shootout.

He hadn't gone up to take a kick; his five teammates had carried him to victory in the match against Beşiktaş.

"Phew..."

He let out a long sigh.

Being carried by teammates felt great, but everyone in a team should be equal; you cannot be carried by teammates forever, as that is inappropriate.

!

Tang Ye was carried by his teammates in the penalty shootout, his weak point.

Then he would carry his teammates in open play and set pieces, his strengths!

This is the correct way to unlock a top-tier team.

"Tom?"

"Tom!"

"You haven't bought the armor yet!"

"Oh oh oh, Osman, I'm here, I'm here!"

Check Dongqiu Di match preview: At 2:45 AM on April 29, Villarreal hosts relegation-threatened Gijon Sports. Can Tang Ye lead the team to secure the final match of April?

With less than two days until the match against Gijon Sports, Villarreal players are conducting their afternoon training session.

"Forward, forward!"

"OK, I see you!"

Snap!

【De Bruyne Low Cross Lv3: Simulate】

Proficiency: 251/400

Tang Ye's cross precisely found Aleré in the penalty area, and the latter's tap-in steadily put the ball into the net.

"Beautiful!"

Escrivá clapped for the players.

Although he didn't give the players a holiday after the match against Atletico Madrid, Villarreal's players were still very supportive.

They are maintaining excellent competitive form!

Whistling to signal the players to rest, Escrivá began chatting with Martí beside him: "Martí, relax. Looking at this, our match against Gijon Sports won't be a problem."

"They are weak, we are strong."

"Haha."

Martí smiled and shook his head: "Ferran, you know, I'm not nervous about that match, but the one after that."

"Barcelona?"

Upon mentioning Barcelona, Escrivá's expression involuntarily grew serious.

At this moment, Tang Ye suddenly appeared in front of the two from somewhere.

"Wow!"

Martí was startled and stepped back a pace.

"Tom, your positioning is good. When did you get over here?"

"Haha!"

Escrivá placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder: "Your form is very good; your passing is getting more accurate."

"Wasn't I always accurate?"

"Of course you were always accurate. I mean you've become more stable. Before, you would make one mistake in every three passes, but now it's one mistake in every four passes. This will greatly improve our overall possession rate."

Tang Ye could almost be said to determine Villarreal's possession rate in matches, which is why Escrivá cares so much about his passing stability.

"Um, I wanted to ask, can I stay behind in the gym for a while in the evening for the next few days?"

Huh?

Martí and Escrivá exchanged a glance, and the latter sized Tang Ye up and down: "No way, Tom. The transfer window is opening, and you're trying to build a persona now, right?"

"Tom, it's useless. All the top clubs know you like playing video games. Building a persona now is useless."

"No, no, I just need to train my strength a bit. The previous strength training gave me a huge improvement. If I continue training, I can become even stronger!"

Seeming to realize what Escrivá was worried about, Tang Ye added: "Mr. Ferran, I am already 18 years old. If I train extra now, you won't go to jail."

Martí leaned his mouth close to Escrivá's ear: "He is telling the truth."

"Of course I know he is telling the truth."

Escrivá rolled his eyes at Martí, then shifted his heavy focus back to Tang Ye: "Tom, to be honest, I see your changes, but this has nothing to do with going to jail or not. Our upcoming schedule is very dense, so I don't recommend you do that."

"But my muscle recovery speed is much faster than others."

Martí leaned close to Escrivá's ear again: "This is also true."

"Of course I know!"

Seeing Tang Ye insisted on training, Escrivá stated he would consult Kyle on this issue.

Because in terms of physical training, Kyle is the professional.

"I need to ensure your training won't affect your match performance. However, there is another problem. You are training at night, but that guy Kyle gets off work at 5 o'clock. You'll have to find a physical coach yourself."

"Just Kyle is fine. He is very professional. I can pay him overtime fees."

Tang Ye blinked his eyes, his expression somewhat excited.

As long as Mr. Ferran agreed to let him train, no one could stop him!

"Ahem, ahem."

Escrivá's mouth twitched, and he quickly said: "... Forget it. I'll apply with the club. You don't need to pay."

Letting Tang Ye pay Kyle overtime fees for training?

If that group of football journalists found out about this, Villarreal would at least get cyberbullied for a month!

"Shocking: Tom must pay to train at Villarreal? Why doesn't a loaned player deserve the same treatment as regular players?"

【You purchased Ronaldo's Chicken Breast +2】

"Duang!"

He jerked the barbell off his shoulders and slammed it back onto the rack.

"Hmm, improving fast."

Kyle recorded Tang Ye's data: "Tom, you're the first person to make an impression on me on your very first day at the club."

"Why? Because I'm that good?"

Tang Ye wiped his hands with the Mao Jin, then picked up the water bottle resting on the bench press.

"Because you told me you were worried about failing the physical test, haha!"

"Damn, I didn't know any better back then; I thought the physical test was really hard."

"Anyway, your improvement is huge; last summer, there's no way you could have lifted this weight."

Kyle added another 2.5kg plate to Tang Ye's barbell: "We have a match the day after tomorrow, so don't overtrain; this is the final set for today. It's not too heavy for you, but keep your back straight, or you'll get injured."

After loading the plates, Kyle returned to his seat.

"By the way, Tom, are you planning to stay here next season?"

"Hiss..."

After a moment of silence, Tang Ye shook his head: "I don't think so; transfer fees are too high right now."

"But my Matty said we'd be rich by the Piggy Xia Chuang?"

Tang Ye shook his head again; Kyle had no idea what was going on in his mind.

"Forget it. Um... Tom, if you decide to leave, will you tell us in advance?"

"I'll tell everyone in the team ahead of time."

After resting, Tang Ye stretched his lower back, then walked over to the barbell rack.

"Duang!"

"Duang!"

【Physical Confrontation: 75→76】

【Ronaldo Axe-Style Free Kick Template (Legendary)】

Status: Activated.

【Physical Confrontation: 76→77】

【Set Pieces: 74→76】

What the hell?

I thought it would take a long time to grind Physical Confrontation up to 76.

Turns out I've been teetering on the edge of leveling up for quite a while!

"Hey, Tom! Watch your back!"

Kyle jumped up from the bench and pushed Tang Ye's lower back forward from behind: "You're going to get injured like that!"

"Wait, wait, let me adjust; I messed up just now."

Check Dongqiu Di Pinned Post: Yellow Submarine releases pre-match hype poster against Sporting Gijón, featuring Tang Ye solo.

(End of Chapter)