Chapter 440: A Rat Crossing the Street

“While I’m not sure if it will take Mr. Davis months to complete his journey crawling on his knees to the Statue of Liberty, at least this offers a hopeful path to a resolution.”

Faced with the reporters’ eager attempts to provoke and instigate, Lu Ke remained unhurried, his face a mask of sincerity. He conscientiously offered his opinion, even expanding and adding to it, with what could only be described as… friendly advice from a dear friend.

“Fortunately, we live in an age with a highly developed internet. We have enough time and patience. Perhaps Mr. Davis could open a personal channel on YouTube to livestream the entire process of fulfilling his promise. Whether it takes a month or a year, Mr. Davis will see it through, teaching the younger generation a thing or two about how their elders keep their promises and always do what they say! He’ll be an example for all of us to learn from.”

The words, delivered with a smile as pleasant as a spring breeze, were cleverly phrased. It wasn’t about “carrying out a punishment,” but “fulfilling a promise.” Far from being aggressive, he piled on the flattery, as if Charles wasn’t his sharp-tongued adversary but a genuinely admired and respected elder, one he hoped would become a role model for the younger generation.

The reporters weren’t sure if Charles would be happy to be called an “elder,” but they were certain that after this round of seemingly friendly flattery, Charles was now in an impossible bind.

If Charles planned to continue playing the scoundrel and refuse to honor the bet, he would become a pariah for the rest of the season. While people might not be chasing him down the street, he would certainly be the focus of conspicuous attention everywhere he went.

It was a soft knife that killed without leaving a mark, forcing Charles to swallow his own broken teeth and suffer in silence.

Now, Lu Ke hadn’t just tossed the ball into Charles’s court—he had even built the stage and set up the lighting. Under the watchful gaze of the public, it was Charles’s turn to perform. This drama was only going to get more exciting!

The reporters began to stir. The explosive moment they had been waiting and waiting for was finally about to happen, and they were already dying to see Charles’s reaction. In any case, it wasn’t them who were in trouble.

But Jay, standing in the crowd, felt a sudden chill. A look of pity flickered in his eyes. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Charles Davis was about to lose all credibility late in his career. Lu Ke was absolutely not someone to be messed with. ‘I won’t start a fight, but if someone picks one with me, all bets are off.’

…

The Week 10 regular season game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants had concluded in dramatic fashion. The twists and turns in the final moments of the game were hailed as the biggest highlight of the season to date. Many commentators even insisted that, though the season was far from over, this game had already secured its spot as one of the best of the year.

The last-second offensive drive, in particular, was full of shocking twists. After multiple reversals, Lu Ke remained relentless, his accurate and bold reads and his clean, decisive throws firmly seizing the victory.

Even without the dramatic highs and lows of the final drive, the game leading up to it had been full of twists and turns:

The first half was entirely the San Francisco 49ers’ show, as they forcefully pulled away to a massive lead. But an unexpected injury led to a stalemate, after which the game entered the Giant Team’s typical comeback mode. Just when everyone thought the script was heading for a grand finale in Eli Manning’s style, Lu Ke successfully rewrote the ending.

Heart-pounding. This was truly heart-pounding!

The unpredictable direction of the game, the even more unforeseeable result, and the roller-coaster script allowed every fan to witness a truly exciting showdown. Moreover, both quarterbacks, Lu Ke and Little Manning, put on impressive, high-level performances, adding immeasurable brilliance to the contest.

Little Manning: 31-for-45, 355 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, a quarterback rating of 115.2, and a PFF grade of 1.1.

Lu Ke: 32-for-42, 333 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, a quarterback rating of 122.4, and a PFF grade of 1.4.

Both quarterbacks put on stellar performances. Even Little Manning, despite being hampered by costly interceptions, still had an eye-opening game, setting season highs for both his quarterback rating and PFF grade. He was evenly matched with Lu Ke, much like the game itself, which was a tight contest until the very last second when a winner was finally decided.

But comparisons can be brutal, and Lu Ke’s astonishing performance still made him one of the biggest stories of the week.

After the game, the chatter about Lu Ke competing with Aaron Rodgers for regular season MVP started getting louder. It wasn’t just about something as simple as his quarterback rating, but more so the stability and excellence of his overall performance—

It’s worth mentioning that through Week 10 of the regular season, Lu Ke had thrown for thirty-one touchdowns against only two interceptions. For any quarterback, this is an incredible, almost unbelievable achievement—no exception for even the four elite quarterbacks. Of course, this isn’t to say Lu Ke was comparable to an elite quarterback, but the outstanding form he’d displayed this season was astonishing and showcased his tremendous potential.

So, could Lu Ke compete for the regular season MVP? It was just a possibility. But could Lu Ke be considered a regular season MVP candidate? Without a doubt.

Across the entire Alliance, Lu Ke and Rodgers had already stood out, becoming the two most consistent and exceptional quarterbacks of the season. Their incredible form was making people take notice. It was absolutely mind-boggling, and for a moment, it was truly reminiscent of Kurt Warner’s first season.

At the same time, the San Francisco 49ers’ stock as Super Bowl contenders was steadily rising. Even if they weren’t necessarily favorites, they had become a competitor that could not be ignored. The entire landscape of the regular season had taken on a fresh new look, leaving people feeling both panicked and exhilarated.

Compared to the monotonous three-horse race in the American League, the “let a hundred flowers bloom” free-for-all in the National League was always filled with more surprises.

But beyond the game, and beyond Lu Ke, there was another, more sensational, more explosive, and more intensely followed news story that stole all the thunder. It wasn’t just the entire NFL Alliance; news media from other professional sports leagues and other industries were all turning their eyes to it:

Charles Davis had crashed and burned.

…

It was a nightmare, a nightmare he couldn’t wake up from.

Charles didn’t know how it had all happened, or how he had sunk to this level. He thought about it over and over, but still couldn’t figure it out. ‘It’s all because of that damned Lu Ke, every last bit of it is because of that goddamned Lu Ke! If it weren’t for that guy, how could I have become a pariah, where every minute in public is pure agony?’

“Hey, Charles, what’s up? When are you starting your crawling plan?”

“HO HO HO, Charles, the Great Wall or the Statue of Liberty? Well? Have you decided?”

“When does the YouTube channel launch? My friends and I are all following this very closely.”

“Charles, you still think that Chinese-American quarterback is a useless bum who can’t throw?”

“Hey! Hey! I’m talkin’ to you, Charles Davis! Yeah, you! You still think that undrafted player can’t throw? Or is this discrimination against the Asian community? Stop! You stop, let’s have a nice little chat! Shit! I oughta slap you silly! Run, you’d better run a little faster! Or I’ll make you see what Asian power is all about! Goddamn rat!”

This was just the tip of the iceberg. He only had to step onto the street, and it felt like every passing pedestrian was watching him. The noisy attention followed him like a restless spirit. This was a disaster, a complete and utter disaster!

This was Los Angeles, of all places! A few weeks ago, nobody in Los Angeles gave a damn about football. In this city, Hollywood was the absolute ruler. For sports, all the celebrities gathered at the Staples Center for the Los Angeles Lakers. Football? That was a barbarian’s game that no one paid attention to.

Now, people seemed to have gone mad; everyone had started talking about football. ‘Dammit! They don’t even know if a football is round or oblong, and they have the nerve to talk about it!’

‘They weren’t concerned with football, the outcome of the game, or the San Francisco 49ers. They were just curious about the bet, about the gossip, hoping to see a public figure make a fool of himself. That was all.’

‘Damned rat race! Goddamned rat race! This world once let Charles enjoy countless Auras, and now he just wanted to set it all on fire.’

Even just imagining it in his mind made Charles wish he could vanish into thin air. What’s more, all eyes from every street and alley were now focused on him. In a daze, he had the illusion that ‘the whole world is watching me.’ Those sharp, mocking gazes were excruciating, as if every inch of his skin was burning, ready to incinerate him in an instant.

“Damn it!”

Charles cursed again and rushed into the ESPN office building, hastily trying to hide himself. But the nightmare wasn’t over. Even the barely-there glances from the security guards at the door and a passing janitor felt like barbs, piercing deep into his skin and starting to rip their way out.

Shame. Pain. Humiliation. Anger. All these emotions burned fiercely in his chest, a fire that wouldn’t stop.

Just when Charles thought the nightmare would temporarily subside after he entered the studio, he unexpectedly found himself facing the ultimate challenge. In comparison, the stares and words from just now were merely a gentle prelude:

When Charles pushed open the door and stepped into the studio, in an instant, everyone stopped their work. All sound ceased. In unison, every gaze converged and fell densely upon Charles. All kinds of emotions were hidden within them as they looked him up and down. The eager anticipation in their eyes completely shattered his last line of defense.

Even his last shred of dignity had vanished.