Chapter 423: Tom returned to Mancheng, but seems a bit changed

The New York Times Sports Department: Manchester United players were photographed preparing to board at the airport; Tom still has not appeared with the squad. The secrecy surrounding the players' activities in Los Angeles is extremely high, and currently there is no news related to Tom.

Except for The Sun successfully obtaining news of Tang Ye's transfer to Los Angeles, all other newspaper reporters' search efforts ended in failure.

In the nearly two weeks recently, Tang Ye's only movement was constantly liking posts on Ins for Man

United's official account and James.

Many fans asked Tang Ye what he was doing; to this, Tang Ye was very honest and directly said he was secretly training.

However, the influence of that Sky Sports program was truly too large.

Fans now only feel that Tang Ye is suffering from depression but wants to keep it secret, which is why this series of actions occurred.

Tang Ye prepared to continue explaining something, but was stopped by a private message from Ten Hag.

Hmm?

Looking at the text message Ten Hag sent on his phone, Tang Ye frowned.

【Tang Ye: Fans seem very worried; this isn't a secret, so I can just post a few photos to solve the problem, right?】

【Ten Hag: No】

【Ten Hag: I won't say fans will only praise our greatness if we make a stunning debut, but that is the fact. Don't you want to become a great person, Tom?】

"Hmm"

Tang Ye's eyes lit up.

Mr. Eric considers so much!

But...

Why does Mr. Eric use "we" instead of "you"?

Forget it!

Shaking his head, Tang Ye decided not to delve into the charm behind the language.

He only needed to become a great person in the fans' hearts, just as Ten Hag said.

That is enough!

Diario Sport — Villarreal's meritorious coach Escrivá's contract expires and he has not chosen to renew; rumors say the Spaniard's next stop will be Dortmund or Inter Milan.

The Sun front-page headline — August 4 afternoon, Manchester United prepares for the Manchester derby training; reporters did not photograph Tom on the training ground.

"Manchester United played an internal 9v9 friendly; new signing De Jong performed excellently, but reporters hiding in trees did not see Tom's figure on the training ground, even though reporters used high-powered telescopes."

Manchester Times — Manchester police arrested two reporters using telescopes to spy on the Manchester United base; the origins of these two reporters are currently unclear, but it can be confirmed that these two reporters will be fined by the police.

"No, you must believe me, we should give up the Community Shield!"

In the base meeting room, Ten Hag and several Manchester United executives argued.

In the view of Manchester United executives, Manchester United needs to strive for the derby against Mancheng and see if they can win the Community Shield championship.

But Ten Hag does not think this way.

"The Community Shield is meaningless; it is not important. What matters is the league and the Champions League, gentlemen; you should have seen the report written by Krag; Tom returning one week later is good for the team!"

Ten Hag pointed to the Premier League standings posted on the meeting room wall; the season has not started, so currently all 20 teams have 0 points.

"We should look further ahead! Only then can Manchester United revive."

Ten Hag spoke constantly about Manchester United's revival, which created great pressure on the leaders in the room.

Considering Ten Hag's excellent second-place finish in the league while leading the team, Manchester United executives ultimately chose to trust him.

As for Ten Hag's request to sign Dembélé.

The Manchester United executives were powerless regarding this.

The fact is, this summer window Manchester United indeed did not have much budget; even if they sold Martial and others, they could not gather the money needed to buy Dembélé.

"..."

Ten Hag sat in the chair, showing a look of contemplation.

"Installments?"

"Is Dembélé really that important? Although he won the World Cup championship, his performance at Barcelona last season wasn't good, was it?"

Ten Hag faced questioning from the executives.

"Alright, Eric, I need to tell you that Barcelona's attitude is very firm; the probability of us getting Dembélé is 0%. Unless..."

Ten Hag looked up: "Unless what?"

"Barcelona's people told me that if we are willing to put Tom into the deal, then we can pick anyone from their squad, pick anyone we want."

The leader nodded lightly: "Including Messi."

"Yes, of course; they need to conduct a psychological test for Tom first, because you know, recent news has made everyone a bit panicked."

"..."

Ten Hag stood up from the chair and walked out directly.

Fan Fan Dejiahe helplessly spread his hands to the side.

The leader obviously does not understand Ten Hag.

He wants to buy Dembélé precisely because Tom wants to play with Dembélé.

Yet you say we must sell Tom to get Dembélé.

Then is there any necessity to continue discussing this transfer?

"Damn!"

Sitting in a spot on the grass where the sun doesn't reach, Tang Ye drank watermelon juice from his cup in large gulps.

He thought Krag's appearance was his redemption, but unexpectedly Krag directly extended his sentence.

Because the training effects were so good, Ten Hag directly approved his stay until August 10th, the day before the new Premier League season begins.

Damn it.

If this were the past, Tang Ye would definitely have slipped away immediately.

But because he was too eager to show off in the new season, too eager to let the haters witness his powerful physical confrontation, Tang Ye chose to persist.

Hmm, let's take a look at his current panel.

Tang Ye (40 years old)

【Ball Control: 87; Passing: 90】

【Shooting: 78; Heading: 56; Set Pieces: 79】

【Speed: 77; Stamina: 75; Physical Confrontation: 84】

【Defense: 73; Vision: 97】

Overall Rating: 85

Speed, Stamina, and Physical Confrontation—these three attributes had all improved significantly.

It had to be said that a talent of the 【Unparalleled】 level was truly formidable; Tang Ye felt that the gains from one day of training now were comparable to twice the gains from one day of training before!

Carefully feel his current state.

Return to England on August 10th.

Hmm, he should have a chance to grind Physical Confrontation up to 85 before going back?

"Hey, don't drink anything cold!"

After finishing in the toilet, the coach ran over to Tang Ye: "Spit out that drink quickly, you still have three 200-meter sprints left to run!"

"Holy crap."

Clutching his head with both hands, Tang Ye felt he was not far from death.

The Evil Altar granted the Villain King much, much power, while simultaneously absorbing much, much of the Villain King's vitality!

On the day of the Community Shield final, the number 10 jersey that fans hoped for did not appear in the squad list announced by Manchester United.

New signings De Jong and Ye He were both on the list, yet the star player Tom still hadn't returned.

After the squad list was announced, Manchester United's odds plummeted, and unsurprisingly, they ended up losing to Mancheng with a score of 0:2.

"Fuck you! Give us our money back!"

Outside Wembley Stadium, Manchester United fans were now furious.

Although the Community Shield title wasn't important, handing it over to Mancheng on a silver platter was too much.

Originally, the pressure should have fallen on Tang Ye at this time, but perhaps because Tang Ye's impression in the hearts of Manchester United fans was too good, after the loss, the fans all targeted Ten Hag and the club hierarchy for criticism, believing that Manchester United had failed to protect their player properly.

"Is it that hard to find a good psychologist for Tom? London has so many good psychologists, why must he go to America?"

"Fuck you! Give us our money back!"

Several Manchester United fans being interviewed by Sky Sports were now seeing red.

Losing one Community Shield wasn't worth fans getting this angry.

What the fans were worried about was the upcoming Premier League.

If the Premier League proper started and Tang Ye still hadn't returned to the team, what should Manchester United do this season?

Get played with like a toy by their neighbors at Mancheng?

After the Community Shield final concluded, the Thai cartoonist justtoonit posted a new season Premier League poster on his personal Twitter account.

The poster featured three cartoon characters: Guardiola grabbing Ten Hag, slapping Ten Hag's butt with his hand as if scolding a child.

In the corner stood Tang Ye, dressed in a hospital gown, with rain falling from the sky above his head.

The center of the poster quoted Ten Hag's famous line.

"You have someone to save you, I do not!"

【Ridiculous】

【If he doesn't come back soon, something really bad will happen】

【My Tang Tang Qiuwang said he was doing extra training, why don't you believe it?】

【Extra training shouldn't mean missing the Community Shield, did Wu Lei missing that one-on-one shot raise my Tang Tang Qiuwang's blood pressure?】

Manchester United fans blocked Ten Hag as he drove to the training base for work.

"Ten Hag!"

"Where is Tom?"

"Which hospital is Tom in? I'm a psychology major, I can save him. Don't trust American psychologists, trust me!"

Ten Hag quickly wrote autographs for the fans.

"Calm down, calm down."

"I guarantee to you, Tang will appear at the appropriate time; you have my promise, ok?"

"..."

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: With only 3 days remaining until Manchester United's first league match of the new season, Tang Ye has still not appeared.

【Speed: 77→78】

【Heading: 56→58】

Although he hadn't practiced heading, Tang Ye's Heading attribute still increased by 2 points.

According to Tang Ye's deduction, this should be an indirect improvement brought about by enhanced core strength.

"Hey, Tom!"

James walked in and fist-bumped Tang Ye in greeting: "Brandon 【Ingram】 said you've gotten much darker, haha, but I think it's not that bad."

"I also think it's not that bad, but my club coach told me I've gotten much darker. But it doesn't matter; I feel being a bit darker makes me look more intimidating."

Tang Ye voiced his opinion.

His skin quality was excellent; if it were too fair, he would appear too gentle.

This did not match Tang Ye's personality.

King Tom was extremely brutal, and a brutal person ought to look fierce!

After resting well, Tang Ye stood up, preparing for his second set of bench presses: "By the way, LeBron, don't you guys start competing in September? Why are you back so soon?"

"One can start preparing for the new season; only disciplined people can become the GOAT!"

"Wow."

Tang Ye took a deep breath and nodded slightly to express his agreement with James's words.

"I feel I need to learn from you."

Tang Ye said sincerely.

He also wanted to experience what it felt like to be the GOAT, while knowing full well that this was no easy feat.

"Haha."

James patted Tang Ye's arm and turned to head toward the locker room.

"By the way, Tom, I have a party tonight; do you want to come along? The kind where you can make money."

"Oh, forget it; I've been sleeping quite early lately because I need to recover my muscles."

Though curious about the money-making party James mentioned, Tang Ye currently had little interest in earning money; he only wanted more rest time.

His daily training exhausted him to death; if not for the 【Kante Hot Chocolate Milk】, even twelve hours of sleep might not be enough for his recovery.

August 9th was Tang Ye's final day training at the Lakers' facility.

Having paid a sufficient price, Tang Ye finally obtained what he desired.

His Physical Confrontation attribute successfully broke through the 85 threshold as hoped, and even the notoriously difficult-to-improve Stamina attribute received another boost.

Tang Ye (Age 40)

【Ball Control: 87; Passing: 90】

【Shooting: 78; Heading: 59; Set Pieces: 79】

【Speed: 78; Stamina: 76; Physical Confrontation: 85】

【Defense: 74; Vision: 97】

Overall Rating: 86

Hiss!

Sighing with emotion over his gains, Tang Ye looked down at the muscles on his shoulders, which had been tanned somewhat red.

It seemed like a sunburn, but it didn't matter.

A super 85 in Physical Confrontation!

This value represented a very respectable level even in the Premier League.

Although he couldn't overpower those Premier League center-backs standing over 1.9 meters tall, Tang Ye could absolutely hold his own when colliding with defensive midfielders, full-backs, and the like.

Tang Ye could already imagine the scene of him crashing into people all over Old Trafford!

Opponents would no longer be able to win possession from him through physical confrontation!

"Your recovery is truly astonishing."

The coach sat on the sofa opposite, his face written with "surprise."

"You must be the fastest-recovering athlete I've ever seen; even players using growth hormones don't recover as fast as you."

PS: Growth hormones can accelerate recovery speed and are not easily detected, so they are used by many NBA and NFL stars.

"You really should go to the Academy of Sciences for an autopsy study; I feel you must be one of those people naturally high in growth hormones, very suited to be an athlete."

"Provided you are willing to work hard, only then can you unleash your talent in physical recovery."

The coach said with a smile.

"Haha, I think so too."

Speaking of which, Tang Ye felt somewhat guilty.

【Kante's Hot Chocolate Milk】 was a purely super-tier item, yet Tang Ye had never fully maximized its effects.

"Zhu Ni Cheng Gong, Tom!"

The coach fist-bumped Tang Ye, then encountered James, who was preparing to clock off.

"Really not coming to the party, Tom?"

"Haha, thank you, LeBron; I'd love to attend, but I'm leaving tonight."

"Alright then."

James shrugged, then walked over and shared a hug with Tang Ye.

Tang Ye, who had just grown to 1.80 meters, only reached James's chest.

Check Dongqiu Di Match Preview: At 3 AM on August 11th, the first round of the new Premier League season, Manchester United hosts Leicester City at home.

Manchester Airport.

"Mr., this way please; your pickup car is ready."

The airport staff led Tang Ye toward the private jet terminal, where the latter noticed the keychain in the staff member's hand bore the Manchester United crest.

"Wow, are you a Manchester United fan?"

Tang Ye suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

The staff member picked up the keychain: "Oh, oh, you mean this? Haha, yes, I'm a Manchester United fan, but as you know, our situation this season won't be too good; Tom still doesn't know when he'll return due to some mental illness—people living in the UK are too prone to falling ill. Mr., watch the step."

"Haha, why would you think I have a mental illness? That's ridiculous."

"Because..."

"... Hmm?"

The staff member turned around and looked Tang Ye up and down; the latter realized he had misspoken, so he pulled down his face mask.

"O, oh, shit!"

"I just felt this voice was a bit familiar, shit shit shit!"

The staff member grew somewhat excited: "Damn, I never thought I'd talk this much with you. Wait, why have you gotten buff? And... did you go to the beach?"

"Haha, I just wanted to say I don't have a mental illness; I'm doing very well now."

Having escaped the hellish Los Angeles, Tang Ye felt as though he had been reborn.

The airport staff member stood in place, watching Tang Ye get into his pickup car.

"Wow..."

"What's going on?"

The Sun's headline, Tom Disappearance Special Report Team: A Manchester Airport staff member reported seeing Tom with his own eyes, confirming he returned to Manchester on August 10.

"The two had a brief exchange; the airport staff member reported that the Tom he saw seemed a bit strange, but not as if he were suffering from a mental illness."

"I don't know if it was because we were standing too close, but Tom's body seemed to have gotten broader, and he was also a bit tanned; at first, I didn't realize it was Tom. Hmm... I don't know why, but he gave me a feeling that although he hadn't participated in the warm-up matches, he was ready for everything; the old Tom wouldn't have given me this feeling," the airport staff member said.

PS: Tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock, there will be one update first, then a second update before 23 o'clock at night.

Because I've been continuously writing over 10,000 words daily, my hand has been hurting badly these past few days; I rested for two days, and now my backlog of drafts is used up—I'm truly very sorry.

Updates will definitely come; I'll adjust as soon as possible to three updates at 10 o'clock.

(End of Chapter)