Chapter 461. The Obsession with the Sextuple

Chapter 461: 461. The Obsession with the Sextuple

Check out advanced Chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari

----------

"I’ll come back to see you."

"Just focus on your thesis. I have people taking care of me here, it’s very comfortable!"

"It seems you still prefer the beautiful nurses, don’t you?"

"No, no, no, how could a beautiful nurse compare to you?"

"Heehee, that’s more like it."

Amidst a reluctant farewell, Chloe, who was on a short break, left hurriedly after visiting Lance.

In the massive Madrid mansion, Lance was alone again. Of course, there was the butler, the cook, the caregiver, the gardener, the bodyguard team... but with no one to talk to, Lance was still alone.

Ms Hanna Müller had been busy lately handling public relations regarding his injury, dealing with various media outlets and social platforms to avoid false statements or malicious smear campaigns.

As for the agent’s assistant, Harry Kane, he had also been actively contacting brand partners these days, communicating with them about postponing advertisements and commercial activities.

With his left leg crippled, it was no longer convenient for Lance to go out for shoots.

After being discharged from the hospital ward, Lance had been recovering in the mansion the entire time.

Every day, a rehabilitation therapist would come to his home to assist Lance in trying to regain mobility through the pain.

Although the surgery was successful and he could slowly stand up with crutches, there was still a long way to go before he could resume running and the intensity of professional competition.

"Lance, don’t rush. Based on your recovery, if you want to return to the field, it will take at least another three months."

"Then wouldn’t that mean... missing the Club World Cup?"

"That’s right, Lance. The Club World Cup is indeed a major loss for the team."

Simeone’s expression was very serious.

"But if your injury doesn’t heal, leaving hidden issues in your knee, that would be an even greater loss!"

"You’re only 19, kid. You’ll have countless opportunities in the future! Take the long view..."

Lance argued his point.

"But I can work hard to shorten the recovery period."

"I’m seriously advising you as a friend: relax a bit. You’ve worked hard this past season, and you deserve a holiday now."

"..."

Simeone, Atlético Madrid’s manager, had come specifically to visit Lance and leave his sincere advice.

The coaching staff unanimously agreed that Lance needed a break, even if it meant missing the Club World Cup in mid-December.

Even though Atlético Madrid’s performance had plummeted.

Having lost Torres and Griezmann, and now temporarily losing Lance, the current Atlético Madrid was no longer a T0-level powerhouse in Europe, no longer the treble winner that swept through the continent.

Atlético Madrid was just a mid-table La Liga team, even inferior to Sevilla, Villarreal, and Athletic Bilbao.

With no wins in the last three rounds, Atlético Madrid’s points had dropped to 8th place, only 1 point ahead of the newly promoted Alavés!

They were even worse than the Atlético Madrid of the original timeline!

In the original timeline, they at least had Griezmann and Torres!

Now, after developing "Lance dependency" over the entire past season, the whole team didn’t know how to play football without him.

October 1st, National Day.

Lance was alone in his mansion with nothing to do.

After undergoing physical therapy and rehabilitation in the morning, he lay on a sun lounger by the pool, wearing headphones to listen to an audiobook while soaking up the sun.

Lance’s dream from his school days had already come true.

Owning his own villa and mansion, having a private pool, sunbathing by his own pool, with Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Bugattis, and many other supercars in the garage not far away, he didn’t need to go to work, it wouldn’t matter even if he retired right now, the money he had earned was enough to last him the rest of his life.

The passive income from his investments was enough for Lance to continue living a life of luxury and indulgence.

"Why is it so boring, of all things?"

What did he need? Women? Gourmet food? Entertainment?

Lance couldn’t understand it. Coincidentally, over the next two weeks, Atlético Madrid defeated PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League and won two consecutive La Liga matches, accumulating a 3-match winning streak within two weeks! The gloom of poor results was temporarily swept away.

Lance took the initiative to host a barbecue party at his mansion.

The entire Atlético Madrid team came to the backyard to join the fun, and everyone brought different supermodels to the scene.

He invited the world-renowned European DJ and musician, David Guetta, to serve as the private live DJ for the party.

It was almost like holding a small pool music festival in his own backyard.

Beautiful women in swimsuits, grilled food, music, and dancing... it looked like an upper-class party and should have been very enjoyable.

But while his Atlético Madrid teammates were all enjoying themselves, Lance just sat alone by the 5-a-side football field in the backyard, staring blankly.

"Lance, why aren’t you joining the fun? Everyone’s looking for you."

Koke was an honest guy. Seeing that Lance hadn’t been around for a while, he came over with a beer to talk to him.

"Looking for me?"

Lance glanced over the wall. Lights were flashing, music was thumping, and cheers were erupting one after another.

"They’re already having a blast. Who’s still thinking about me?"

Lance just gave a faint smile.

Koke looked a bit awkward:

"Is it okay? Do you still want to return to the field?"

"Of course. I dream about playing matches on the field..."

Lance knew the source of his sense of emptiness.

Even if he had realized his childhood dreams and could live a life of leisure, after experiencing the thrill of the stadium, after experiencing duels with Europe’s top stars, after experiencing the Champions League Final and the European Cup Final, who could completely let go of the field and all of this?

"Brother, I believe in you. You’ll definitely be back as soon as possible. We really do need you."

"During this time, I’ll have to rely on you to hold the fort."

"Leave it to me."

Koke nodded seriously.

To be honest, Lance was quite worried about Koke at the beginning of the season.

After winning the treble, this young man had also become a bit conceited.

His training attitude and his fighting spirit on the field had both significantly diminished, and he was even a bit slumped for a while.

Fortunately, because of Lance’s injury, there was no one in Atlético Madrid’s midfield or attack to take on the core role.

Under Simeone’s guidance, Koke had the courage to take responsibility and made many contributions on both ends of the field.

He was gradually regaining his form from last season, which was one of the reasons for Atlético Madrid’s recent 3-match winning streak.

Lance believed that with Koke there, Atlético Madrid wouldn’t fall into the relegation zone.

But competing for the title would likely be difficult.

Real Madrid and Barcelona were nearly 18 points ahead of 3rd-placed Sevilla!

And more than 23 points ahead of Atlético Madrid!

Even if Lance were a god of football, it would be hard to make up 23 points. He could forget about the La Liga title this season.

He could only hope his teammates would successfully navigate the group stage and get Atlético Madrid into the Champions League knockout rounds.

By then, once he recovered from his injury, he could continue to lead the team in the Champions League!

Atlético Madrid was in a group with Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven, and Rostov, advancing from the group shouldn’t be much of a problem... compared to the field, time on holiday seemed to pass at double speed.

In Lance’s mind, the pool party had only just ended, and in the blink of an eye, the cold month of December had arrived!

Now he had abandoned his crutches and could walk on the ground.

It was just that he still couldn’t run for the time being, and his elbows and knees still stung.

While wandering through the tourist areas, he could see many shops already starting to set up Christmas trees and festive decorations.

Club World Cup Semi-final, December 14th, Atlético Madrid vs. Club América.

Lance was destined to miss this match. Both the medical group and the nursing team stated that insisting on playing while injured would affect his career.

Club World Cup Final, December 18th.

If they could reach the final, their opponent would be either Kashima Antlers or Atlético Nacional.

Reasonably speaking, against such teams, Atlético Madrid should be able to dominate even without Lance.

But recently, Atlético Madrid had faced another 3-match losing streak, Gabi was out for the season with a serious injury, Koke was injured, ángel Correa was injured, Godín had a ligament tear... with the squad riddled with injuries, there might be no one left for Atlético Madrid to field.

Winning was really not a certainty!

Lance gritted his teeth and persevered every day, working desperately on his rehabilitation.

Just when Lance thought he had completely lost hope, chief team doctor Marcus Rodríguez found Lance in secret.

"Lance, do you want to play?"

"Of course, does that even need to be said?!"

"Very well. Based on my assessment, it’s possible for you to recover early. However, you’ll have to endure pain that ordinary people find unbearable these days, and you’ll have to risk a certain chance of relapse... are you willing?"

"Of course!"

Lance was decisive and did not hesitate!

Nothing could stop his sextuple! Not even injury!