Chapter 1

There were still three hours until the match started. Phil Gibbs and his two companions, along with other fans, gathered at a café outside the stadium, sipping drinks and waiting to enter.

Bored, their only entertainment was playing games on their phones or browsing the internet.

"Oh my God! No way!" Phil Gibbs, who was browsing Twitter, suddenly exclaimed.

"Did you get bitten by a zombie again, poor Phil?" Tom teased from the side.

"Liverpool is having internal strife?!"

People around him gathered around after hearing this.

"What's going on?"

"A rumor, probably!"

"Really?"

Everyone surrounded Phil Gibbs, chattering.

"The Turkish media is saying..."

"Tch, that's definitely a rumor!"

"Yeah, yeah, the enemy is using it to disrupt our morale!"

"But… it's been confirmed by many people… I follow a guy who's close to the club, a fan leader, and he just posted on Twitter. He didn't say it explicitly, but anyone can tell what he's talking about…"

Phil Gibbs said, and everyone fell silent.

After a long while, Tom Jackson forced a smile and said, "It can't be that bad, right?"

"It's all over the internet… even the British media is reporting it…"

"This is really bad… what's going on? What's the specific situation, Phil, do you know?"

"They say Hero and Suárez had a conflict…" He said here, and even he felt a little strange.

The expressions on the faces of the others were also strange—the relationship between Hero and Suárez was clear to everyone. These two were best friends; "iron brothers" would not be an overstatement.

These two were usually so close they could wear the same pair of pants. How could they possibly have internal strife?

"Hero and '龅牙' (Bao Ya, buckteeth) can have a conflict? What's happening to this world!"

"We're done for. If those two are having internal strife, I think this might be a big deal…"

…

In the twilight, three hours before the game, Liverpool fans gathered in a small pub, suddenly feeling pessimistic about the match.

※※※

While the outside world was spreading rumors about a conflict between Chen Hero and Suárez, the two Liverpool stars were completely unaware of it.

They soon hooked their arms around each other, and Suárez was even "humbly" asking Chen Hero for advice on what method he used to create such a heavy-flavor big killer.

But this scene was not seen or photographed by reporters; otherwise, the internal strife rumor would probably not have spread.

When they were about to get on the bus to the stadium, Chen Hero and Suárez walked outside, chatting and laughing.

Martin O'Neill glanced outside the door. Although he couldn't see anything yet, he was sure that there would be many reporters gathered near the bus outside. Maybe there weren't so many originally, but since the news of internal strife spread, many people would come to verify it or get first-hand information.

If Chen Hero just went out with Suárez like this… all his efforts would be in vain!

He frowned.

"Hero!" He called out to Chen Hero.

The two stopped and turned to look at him at the same time.

O'Neill clicked his tongue in his heart—these two really deserve to be good friends; their steps are so consistent. I called Hero, why are you turning around, Luis! People might think I'm calling both of you…

He said to Chen Hero: "Um, I need to talk to you about something." Then he waved to Suárez: "You go to the bus first, Luis."

Suárez saw that the coach wanted to talk to Chen Hero about something, so he didn't stay. Maybe it was a private conversation and he didn't want others to hear it…

Suárez nodded and left.

Chen Hero stayed behind, confused. He didn't know what the coach wanted to talk to him about.

"Um… so, what do you think about this game?"

"What do I think? I don't have any thoughts… just like usual."

Martin O'Neill didn't expect to communicate with Chen Hero about anything. He was purely making small talk to delay time, so his answer was a little absent-minded: "Very good, very good!"

"What?" Chen Hero was even more confused. Could this answer deserve the evaluation of "very good, very good"?

"Uh, I mean, like usual is very good, which shows you have a normal mindset. The most important thing in this game is a normal mindset. You have to know that this is in Turkey…"

"I know, boss, isn't this what you asked me to do? I promise I won't actively cause them any trouble…"

"Not even passively!"

"Haha, I promise I'll only cause them trouble by scoring goals."

O'Neill breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he also saw Suárez walking out of the door and getting on the bus waiting at the door.

He then patted Chen Hero on the shoulder: "Okay, it's nothing, just confirming something."

Chen Hero nodded, but he was still quite confused in his heart—did this need to be confirmed? He continued to walk towards the bus in a daze, frowning and considering what his boss meant by leaving him alone? Was it just to say these few words to himself? He had told himself about the topic of calmness countless times…

※※※

The reporters waiting outside the door saw that Suárez was the only one who got on the bus, and Chen Hero, who usually had a good relationship with him, was not with him.

This seemed to indicate that the two had a conflict and were no longer on speaking terms.

But there was still not enough evidence. After all, this could be a coincidence and didn't explain anything.

However, when Chen Hero walked out with a frown and a worried look, many reporters' eyes lit up—that's right, this should be the expression someone has after having a conflict with a good friend! Worried! Why is he worried? Obviously, his mood was affected by the argument in the morning!

That's right! There must have been a conflict between Hero and Suárez! Otherwise, why didn't they even get on the bus together? They deliberately kept their distance; isn't it because they are no longer as close as they used to be?

Then Martin O'Neill also walked out of the hall with a frown, which made the reporters even more convinced—as the head coach, Martin O'Neill was obviously also troubled by the conflict between his two main forwards.

※※※

"The players are on the bus… but Suárez and Hero are deliberately keeping their distance…" Phil Gibbs was still refreshing Twitter, hoping to find other news to overturn the fact of internal strife. But almost all the news he found was bad news.

Now, the photos and tweets sent back by reporters from the hotel gate were even worse because they proved that the two really had a conflict…

He gave up, threw his phone aside, and painfully covered his face with his hands. He became even more pessimistic about the upcoming game.

Before such an important game, with Gerrard not even sure if he could play, the team was relying on you two, how could you have internal strife?!

The people around him were also in low spirits. This sudden bad news made many people feel desperate and pessimistic about the game.

The previously noisy café suddenly became quiet.

The owner of this café looked at the depressed British people and felt some sympathy for them. The owner was of course also Turkish, but why would he sympathize with Liverpool fans? Because he was a Fenerbahçe fan, and Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş are deadly rivals. The enemy of your enemy is your friend, so he was willing to open his doors to Liverpool fans from England, and sympathizing with them was normal. Because he also hoped that Liverpool would teach Beşiktaş a good lesson.

Now it seems that there is probably no hope?

※※※

An hour before the game, Liverpool's bus arrived at the stadium, and the fans began to enter one after another.

The security for this game was indeed very strict. English fans and Turkish fans entered from opposite ends of the stadium to ensure there would be no direct contact to avoid conflicts.

There were about eight hundred away fans, and they were concentrated at the top of the stand behind one goal, where a small area was fenced off with wire mesh, which was prepared for the away fans.

Apart from one exit, this stand had no way to connect with other places, so as to ensure that the fans of both sides would not have direct contact as much as possible.

However, it also meant that the away fans could not cheer for their team at close range, isolating them and preventing them from causing trouble for the home team.

This is how many teams arrange it. But it is only in Turkish stadiums that you can see that area fenced off with wire mesh…

The stadium was not yet full, and the deafening music was being played on the live broadcast. Just listening to the music would give you the feeling that "I am in hell." The singer was shouting hoarsely, and no one could hear what he was singing. Anyway, it was a series of roars, which sounded like the shrill cries of those being tortured in hell.

The music gradually faded, and the scene became the world of the home team fans.

They began to cheer and shout the names of their team's players, creating a very warm atmosphere.

Of course, using swear words to attack the opposing players is also a good way to create an atmosphere.

So all kinds of swear words came out.

As Liverpool's most famous and threatening player, Chen Hero was naturally the focus of everyone's attention. So there were the most swear words about him.

"fuCk Hero! fuCk Hero!"

"Die, Chink! Turkey doesn't welcome you!"

"Be careful not to pee your pants, Chinese idiot!"

Some fans were also shouting the name of a Chinese province. Many people in Turkey support East Turkistan terrorists in causing trouble in China, and there are naturally such scum among the extreme fans.

While they were shouting, the players from both sides came out to warm up.

First were the Liverpool players.

Suddenly, the scene was like a pot boiling over, with all kinds of boos and curses rising and falling, deafening.

This sudden momentum startled many Liverpool players, and they stopped and looked at the stands.

The stadium wasn't even full yet, and there was already such momentum.

What would it be like if it were full…