Chapter 1 Denisov, Anyukov, and the Shenanigans of the St. Petersburg Branch

Denisov and Anyukov, as members of the drinking and merrymaking gang’s St. Petersburg chapter, joined the party. The players, who had been at each other's throats on the field, were now arm in arm, drinking and hugging the girls, looking as close as if they were on the same team.

If this scene had happened before the game, the media would have had a field day, speculating whether Zenit St. Petersburg was involved in match-fixing.

But everything happened after the game, so even if the media knew that some Napoli players were drinking and eating with Zenit players afterward, they could only report it as a side note, rather than sensationalizing it with alarming headlines to attract attention.

As the victor, Chen Hero was treated to an expensive meal. However, the group didn't go too wild. They simply enjoyed a hearty meal together, then went to a nightclub for more drinks and cuddled with some girls, but no one suggested going out for a one-night stand or partying all night.

They ended their brief gathering at half past midnight and returned to their respective hotels.

The next day, the entire Zenit St. Petersburg team flew directly back to St. Petersburg.

They would soon have another chance to meet. Two weeks later, on November 4th, Napoli would travel to Zenit for an away game. For the entire Napoli team, who were used to the warm winters of southern Italy, this was undoubtedly a severe challenge.

So, early the next morning, Chen Hero was awakened from his sleep by the notification sound of a text message on his phone. He struggled to get up and saw a provocative message from Denisov: "Don't get cocky, Hero. We have a second leg, and we will warmly welcome you in the snow of St. Petersburg!"

Chen Hero retorted without hesitation: "Don't forget, I also came from St. Petersburg!"

Denisov laughed heartily: "You did, and Arshavin did too, but what about your teammates? Are they?"

Chen Hero was speechless.

This was indeed a tricky problem. He knew firsthand how terrifying Zenit St. Petersburg's home stadium was in the winter. Last year, Villarreal fell victim to the icy and snowy conditions of St. Petersburg in the UEFA Cup.

He didn't think his team could ignore the weather conditions. He didn't know what the coach would do, but he thought he would remind his teammates to pay attention to the weather's impact.

Chen Hero threw his phone aside. These were not issues for him to worry about. Anyway, that day was still two weeks away. Right now, there was only one thing he wanted to do, and that was… to continue sleeping!

※※※

The Chinese media had truly witnessed the passion of the locals in Naples. Logically speaking, it was normal for the locals to celebrate after winning the first home game, and it was understandable to call it a "great victory." However, another home game came quickly and they won again, but the celebration momentum of the Napoli fans didn't diminish at all, which surprised the Chinese media.

"...This city seems to have inexhaustible passion. They treat every victory as if it were the team's first..." wrote one Chinese media outlet in a report sent back home.

Because of Chen Hero, many Chinese media outlets paid more attention to Napoli than even the traditional powerhouses. In the sports sections of major Chinese sports media and portal websites, news about Napoli was always the most watched.

The news of Napoli defeating Zenit St. Petersburg at home made the front page of the sports sections of major portal websites the next day. No one expected Napoli's first step back into the Champions League to be so easy. They hadn't lost in three games, drawing with Liverpool at Anfield and defeating Lyon and Zenit St. Petersburg at home, their form was unbelievably good, completely different from their fluctuating form in the league.

It was clear that Mazzarri had put a lot of effort into the Champions League, even willing to sacrifice the domestic league for it.

The Italian media were worried that Mazzarri's one-sided support for the Champions League might eventually lead to the team's league ranking being insufficient for them to qualify for next season's Champions League - obviously, Napoli was unlikely to win the Champions League, so they couldn't qualify for the Champions League with the Champions League title.

The Chinese media weren't worried about this, they seemed very happy. The status of Serie A in the hearts of Chinese fans had declined. Being surpassed by the Premier League was not a big deal, but even La Liga was bullying them, which was very frustrating. But the status of the Champions League was still high, and Chinese fans were more interested in Chen Hero's performance in the Champions League.

So Chinese fans were very excited about Napoli's excellent performance in the Champions League.

They had seen Chen Hero's outstanding performance in the UEFA Cup through television broadcasts. It felt great for Chinese players to show their strength in the UEFA Cup. But the UEFA Cup was a sideshow after all, how could it compare to the Champions League? If a player wants to become a world-class superstar, he must prove his ability in the Champions League.

Moreover, by playing in the Champions League, Chen Hero would have the opportunity to meet those super clubs, and compete with those long-established superstars.

On the Chinese internet, there were already discussions like "Who is better, Mad Bear Winnie or Messi and Ronaldo?" but so far there was no conclusion. One thing, however, was not too controversial. "I don't know who is more awesome, but I know who is more of an idiot!"

※※※

After playing the game against Zenit, Mazzarri continued to rotate the team. This time, he didn't even start Chen Hero. Even if Chen Hero didn't want to, there was nothing he could do. The coach was the boss of the team. Even if he was De Laurentiis' godson, it wasn't worth going to the club president specifically for this...

Although he really needed jingyan (experience points), he could only accept the substitute arrangement.

Napoli, with a large rotation, lost 0:1 to Fiorentina away. Their league ranking dropped from sixth to seventh. Chen Hero came on as a substitute in the seventy-third minute, but failed to contribute to the team. Although they were only one goal short, Napoli still lost the game.

Losing the game and not scoring made Chen Hero very depressed. He was not only depressed that the team lost, and that he didn't score, but he was also depressed that he was missing out on experience...

After these days of hard work grinding, he was still 270,000 experience points away from successfully buying Inzaghi. If he could win the game, the daily task experience of winning a game alone would give him 100,000, and he could buy Inzaghi after another night of hard work.

Now his plan was delayed. He hoped to be able to successfully complete the plan before Napoli's home game against AC Milan.

For this reason, in these days, he had to return to the days of not going anywhere, except for grinding instances.

Bodyguard Christine Cabrealla was used to Chen Hero's irregular life. She still didn't know what Chen Hero was doing behind closed doors, but as long as he was safe, that was all that mattered to her. She had no intention of inquiring about other people's privacy. Even if he was jerking off behind closed doors, it was none of her business.

※※※

Chen Hero collapsed on the grass, sweat streaming down his face like a stream, down his neck, onto his chest, and then down the contours of his muscles, eventually seeping into the grass beneath him.

His chest rose and fell violently like bellows.

"You've been working hard these past few days." Standing next to him was his only friend in the instance, Paolo Maldini, who was even more awesome than in his prime.

"Do you know... why?" Chen Hero asked him, panting.

Maldini shook his head. "I know nothing about the outside world. Do you have an important game?"

Chen Hero thought for a while: "There really is an important game, but it has nothing to do with this." He had rested enough, rolled over and sat up, supporting his body with his hands behind him.

"Hey, Paolo, does the you here inherit your relationships and emotions from your time at AC Milan?"

"Basically, yes."

"What's your relationship with Inzaghi like?"

"Not particularly good friends, but pretty good. He's more familiar with Bobo."

"Bobo?" Chen Hero didn't realize who this person was.

"Vieri."

"Ah..." Chen Hero suddenly slapped his forehead and realized. "Well, are you lonely here alone?"

"When you don't summon me, the world doesn't exist for me. When I exist, I'm definitely training with you." Maldini replied, speaking mysteriously, with a philosophical flair.

Chen Hero didn't care what he was saying, he said directly: "I'm going to find you a partner, you wait..."

After saying that, he activated his divine sense and directly exited the training base, arriving at the player supermarket.

Here, he saw Dracula again: "Huh? Why are you here too?"

"This is just a copy of me, it's always here. It's so that if you have any questions, I can answer them for you." Dracula said.

Chen Hero was stunned for a moment before he realized - it was a multi-shadow clone.

Since it was a copy, he didn't bother talking nonsense with this Dracula, he went straight to Inzaghi, and beckoned to him: "Come with me!"

Inzaghi looked wooden, posing, without responding to him.

"Eh?" Chen Hero saw that Inzaghi didn't move, and thought that he wasn't being respectful enough to this legendary player, so he changed his tone, and his attitude looked much more respectful. "Mr. Inzaghi, please..."

The other party still didn't respond.

"Damn it!"

Chen Hero cursed.

Dracula next to him stepped forward: "You want to buy someone?"

Chen Hero said angrily: "Nonsense, what am I doing here if I'm not buying someone, drooling over a bunch of stars and fantasizing?"

"Then look for me." Dracula said.

Chen Hero turned to look at him.

"If you treat these people as... goods, then I'm the salesman." Dracula pointed to his chest and reintroduced himself.

"You didn't say so earlier!" Chen Hero thought to himself that he was wasting his precious time.

"You didn't ask me..." Dracula spread his hands, looking aggrieved.

Chen Hero thought to himself that a fake is a fake, without any discernment, what would he be doing in this damn player store if he wasn't buying someone?

"Who do you want to buy?"

"Filippo Inzaghi." Chen Hero pointed to the person in front of him who was ignoring him and wearing an AC Milan jersey.

"That requires paying three million experience points, do you want to pay?"

"Nonsense! Do you have anything for free here?"

Dracula didn't respond to Chen Hero's sarcasm, he stood there with a commercial smile on his face. Chen Hero then heard the sound of a cash register working in the space, and then a "ding" sound, and all the sounds disappeared.

A ray of light suddenly appeared on Inzaghi's position. The light enveloped Inzaghi from top to bottom. Chen Hero could see a particularly bright white light scanning down from his head, scanning his entire body. As the white light scanned, Inzaghi seemed to come alive, with vivid expressions appearing on his face. His shoulders, arms, fingers, waist, and legs... moved in turn.

Finally, he... disappeared.

"Eh?" Chen Hero was very surprised. He originally thought that after the scanning was completed, this person should walk off the stage and come to him.

But he didn't expect...

Dracula nodded: "Okay, the transaction is complete, the goods have been sent. Now you can go and receive the goods."

Chen Hero was confused: "Receive the goods, what receive the goods? Where to receive the goods?"

"Of course, go to the training instance, intelligent players can only appear in the instance."

"You didn't say so earlier!" Chen Hero thought to himself that he must call Dracula and ask him to improve the AI of his clone. It's too difficult to talk to this kind of program!

He rolled his eyes and quickly exited the store system, then re-entered the training instance.

Then, he saw a Filippo Inzaghi wearing a Napoli jersey next to Paolo Maldini!