Chapter 304 - 192: I’m Actually Alright
The moment the cabin door opened, Li Wei walked down the airstairs with his backpack. Before he even stepped onto the shuttle, he saw the local Dallas media swarming outside the airport’s chain-link fence.
A battery of camera lenses flashed furiously, and microphones were practically being shoved through the gaps in the fence.
"They’re not here to make friends," Li Wei said, turning to Don Quixote behind him. "Such a poor attitude towards me."
"Let’s be clear about the situation," Don Quixote said, glancing at the media outside. "You’re the one who’s ’not here to make friends’."
Li Wei glanced at Don Quixote’s tense expression, smiled without a word, put on his noise-canceling headphones, and boarded the shuttle bus.
Since they were at the home stadium of the Giants’ arch-rivals, Head Coach Dabor had strictly forbidden Li Wei from going off on his own. They would all depart together once the entire Giants team had assembled.
It wasn’t until the Giants’ team bus approached AT&T Stadium that Li Wei realized just how much the Dallas Cowboys fans despised them.
As the bus slowly drove into the Arlington district, a constant stream of brawny rednecks in blue and silver jerseys flipped off the Giants’ bus.
In the main plaza outside the stadium, a group of rabid, die-hard Cowboys fans were gathered around a massive steel drum.
Li Wei gave it a casual glance, then did a double take, his eyes snapping back to the drum.
A fire roared within the barrel. A Li Wei jersey, printed with his Giants number, was held aloft on a long pole. It had been doused in gasoline, and fierce flames now erupted from the barrel, wantonly licking at the jersey and burning the synthetic fabric to a blackened crisp. The surrounding crowd burst into cheers.
’Boring,’ Li Wei thought, completely unimpressed. ’A fire this size could probably do little more than keep me warm.’
In the fire’s glow, several fans held up a massive cardboard sign, a line of large words scrawled on it in thick, black marker:
"This is Texas. Welcome, Giants, come suck the Dallas Cowboys’ big cock."
Meanwhile, high up in the panoramic broadcast booth of AT&T Stadium, the live national broadcast of the Fox Sports pregame show had just gone on the air.
Fox Sports’ star commentary duo, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, sat before the cameras. Between them was the program’s special guest: Troy’s former championship partner, the Dallas Cowboys’ Hall of Fame wide receiver, Michael Owen.
Owen was dressed in a dazzling, custom-tailored, dark-red pinstripe suit, the pocket square folded immaculately in his breast pocket.
His commentary was just as fiery as his outfit.
"Welcome to the Fox national broadcast. I’m your old friend, Joe Buck," Joe Buck said with a smile. "Today’s highly anticipated, nationally televised game is about to kick off. Joining me in the booth are three-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys, Troy Aikman, and his star partner from those Dallas days, Michael Owen."
"Troy, Michael, we have to admit, we can’t avoid the topic of Li Wei," he said, turning to Troy Aikman and Michael Owen. "Michael, what’s your take on his reception here in Dallas?"
"Oh, I’m afraid I feel the exact opposite, Joe. The exact opposite," Michael Owen said, speaking rapidly. "I can’t stand his arrogant attitude! Football is a man’s game! It requires heritage, it demands respect! But him? Does he think he can just do whatever he wants on the field just because he’s talented?"
He turned to his old captain, Troy. "Troy, you know what I mean, right? Who does he think he is? Some Broadway clown just trying to grab headlines with cheap stunts? This is Dallas! This is the home of America’s Team!"
"Be that as it may, Michael," Joe Buck said, "you have to admit his arrival has been a shot in the arm for the entire NFL Alliance. Director, put the pre-game stats we just received up on the screen."
The broadcast feed switched, and a chart filled with data appeared on the right half of the screen.
"Look at these numbers, Michael, Troy." Joe Buck pointed at the screen. "We’re just in the pre-game show, and Fox Sports’ live viewership has already surpassed 38 million. It’s projected to hit over 45 million by kickoff, which shatters the regular season viewership record set back in 2014."
"On StubHub, the official secondary ticket marketplace for AT&T Stadium," Joe Buck continued, reading off the data, "the cheapest standing-room-only tickets in the upper deck have been scalped for 1,850 USD. Front-row seats in the lower level are selling for as high as 12,000 USD. This is the most expensive regular-season ticket in Dallas history."
"And according to the data we just got, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has opened up all standing-room-only sections today. The final number from the on-site ticketing system is—"
Joe Buck’s face was flushed as he roared, "108,713! That shatters the all-time NFL record for single-game attendance in the regular season!"
"That’s the Li Wei effect," he said smugly. "No matter how much the Dallas fans hate him, they’re willing to empty their wallets just for the chance to see him fail in person. He’s the perfect supervillain."
"We’ll see about that! The Dallas Cowboys are going to make him spend every penny he earns on his medical bills," Michael Owen fumed. "We’re going to grind him into the dirt. The Cowboys’ defense is going to teach him some respect."
"With all due respect, Michael."
As Li Wei’s number one fan, Joe Buck pressed his advantage, twisting the knife in the hater.
"Since he started playing, Li Wei has maintained a perfect winning record. What you’re describing has never once happened."
"..."
In the locker room. The visitors’ locker room.
The New York Giants players were making their final pre-game preparations. On the TV screen hanging in the center of the room, Joe Buck was busy mocking Michael Owen.
Li Wei sat in front of his locker, methodically taping up his hands.
Beside him, the [Chattering Court Jester’s Skull] bobbed up and down, unleashing a tirade at the television.
[Behold this gladiatorial match between foolish heavy-armored Knights and a legion of southern barbarians!]
A dialog box flashed wildly in Li Wei’s vision, filled with the jester’s trademark vitriol:
[All this talk of ’practicing virtue,’ ’honing the self,’ ’defending the honor of the domain’! Just listen to that sanctimonious, hypocritical drivel! Strip away that ridiculous armor, and what are you? You’re just smashing each other’s bones and bleeding out in the mud, all so those fat, bloated royals in the luxury boxes have something to chat about over their fine wine! Gladiators bleeding for the amusement of Gold Coins and scepters, and you have the gall to speak of ’heritage’?]
’Shut up,’ Li Wei thought, stuffing the Jester Skull directly into his system’s equipment slot.
His vision instantly cleared. Li Wei stood up and put on his helmet.
Amidst a chorus of boos that shook the stadium, the game officially began.
The New York Giants had possession to start the first quarter.
"And we’re underway! Troy, Michael," Joe Buck said, beaming, "what kind of strategy do you think the Dallas Cowboys will employ against Li Wei today?"
"Pressure, without a doubt. Extreme pressure," Troy analyzed, speaking as the former Quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. "Against a monster like Li Wei, who combines mobility and power, Dallas has to bring their heavy linebackers to the line to deny him any chance to rush."
"More than just pressure!" Michael Owen roared. "We need to sack him! Viciously! Let this so-called ’yellow-skinned God’ get a taste of the Texas meatgrinder! Make his mouth kiss the Arlington turf!"
On the field, Li Wei stood behind his center, lined up in the shotgun formation.
At the snap count, the football flew perfectly from between the center’s legs into Li Wei’s hands.
In that same instant, the Dallas Cowboys’ defense lunged forward like a pack of rabid—no, like a pack of rabid dogs let out of their cage.
The core of the Cowboys’ defense, a 250-pound, Texas-born, All-Star linebacker, completely ignored the Giants’ receivers.
He only had eyes for Li Wei.
Using his teammates as a screen, the star player got within two yards of Li Wei and then made an extremely dirty move. He deliberately lowered his body, abandoning any attempt to go for the ball. Instead, with a kamikaze-like determination to take Li Wei out of the game, he launched himself straight at the side of Li Wei’s knee.
"Is he insane?! That’s a malicious, career-ending foul!"
Joe Buck cried out in shock.
Beside him, Troy and Michael stared at each other, stunned. They had been retired for over fifteen years and were just talking trash, but they never imagined the coach was actually willing to have his players commit malicious fouls just to take Li Wei out.
The live feed played on the big screen, and many Dallas Cowboys fans had already risen to their feet.
Faced with a devastating hit that could tear an ACL, any normal Quarterback’s only option would be to immediately hit the deck to protect himself. But Li Wei merely took a placid glance at the charging player. He didn’t retreat. Instead, he abruptly dropped his center of gravity, met the player’s trajectory head-on, and leaned into the hit with his own shoulder!
THUD!
The star linebacker felt like he’d just crashed into a steel-reinforced, load-bearing wall.
Li Wei didn’t budge an inch. The linebacker, on the other hand, looked like he’d been knocked unconscious as he slammed heavily onto the turf.
He writhed on the ground in agony, clutching at a bone that was now visibly and grotesquely bent out of shape, unable to even scream.
TWEET!!!!!
The referee’s frantic whistle blew, and the game was immediately paused.
Not one of the 108,713 fans in AT&T Stadium, nor the tens of millions watching on their TVs and phones, expected the game to be stopped by the referee just moments into the first quarter.
It was as if the stadium had been neutered. A deathly silence descended, and everyone watched as the Cowboys’ medical team rushed onto the field to provide first aid.
In the commentary booth, Michael Owen, who had been flush with excitement just moments before, now looked like a 4’9" schoolgirl on her porn debut meeting five huge Black men. His mouth hung open, utterly speechless.
Troy looked even worse, as if he’d just lost his parents and his wife all at once. He collapsed into his chair, his face deathly pale.
"It’s over..." he muttered. "A Quarterback just broke a linebacker? The Cowboys are finished. Not only did they get hit with a malicious foul, but they’ve also completely lost the heart and soul of their defense."
"Yes, that’s right, Troy," Joe Buck said, practically glowing with schadenfreude. "The Dallas Cowboys are in big trouble now. We’ll have to wait and see if this keeps them out of the playoffs. By the way, Michael, are you okay?"
"I’m actually fine," Michael said reflexively.
He looked fine. In reality, his soul had already left his body.