Chapter 740 - 136: Comeback! Four-Goal Haul! No. 9 God! Epic Derby! Fight, or Crawl? Biggest Scoreline in History

"If you ask me what my goal is, I can tell you with absolute certainty that we only have one goal: victory!

"To win at all costs, fearing no opponent!

"No matter who our opponent is or how strong they are, we must win. Otherwise, we’ll be crawling out of Stanford Bridge like dogs!

"If you ask me, what gives us the right? What gives us the right to take a victory from here, at Stanford Bridge?"

Wang Shuo’s gaze swept across everyone in the locker room like lightning. He clenched his right hand into a fist and pounded it heavily against the team crest on his chest, producing a dull THUD of flesh and bone.

"By our boiling blood! By the fact that we will bleed every last drop of sweat over the next forty-five minutes!

"Now, I ask you."

Wang Shuo stepped forward into the middle of the players, making eye contact with every single one of them.

"Are you going to be like brave warriors, holding your heads high, stepping onto the pitch to tear our opponents apart and claim this victory?

"Or are you going to be cowardly, stray dogs, shrinking your necks and shivering in cold, dark corners until the ninety-minute match ends, only to crawl and roll out of Stanford Bridge while everyone continues to laugh at us?"

By the time Wang Shuo finished speaking, his fists were tightly clenched. His entire body was like a fully drawn crossbow, ready to fire.

Subotic abruptly stood up from his seat and took a step toward Wang Shuo.

Alexandre Song also stood up and took a step forward.

Aaron Ramsey, Arteta, Koscielny, Walcott, Hazard...

Eventually, everyone stood up, forming a tight circle around Wang Shuo. They all had their fists clenched, their faces filled with resolute determination.

They had all been ignited!

"Tell me, are you going to fight your way out of Stanford Bridge with a victory like men? Or are you going to crawl out like dogs?

"Fight, or crawl?" Wang Shuo roared with all his might.

"Fight!"

"Fight!!"

"Fight!!!"

Frantic roars erupted in the locker room. The booming shouts torn from the throats of a dozen men sounded as though they were going to blow the roof off Stanford Bridge.

At that exact moment, the referee’s bell rang through the locker room, signaling them to take the field.

The second half was about to begin!

***

The opening whistle of the second half blew, and the smell of gunpowder once again permeated the air at Stanford Bridge.

One by one, the Arsenal players charged at the home team, Chelsea, with ferocious glares.

Alexandre Song trailed right behind Wang Shuo and the others. He was responsible for sweeping the area around the midfield line and the thirty-meter zone of Chelsea’s half.

However, his eyes were fixed far ahead on Wang Shuo, who was sprinting toward Ivanovic as the latter took possession of the ball.

He was incredibly grateful to Wang Shuo.

Not just because Wang Shuo consistently sent things to his family and gifts to his two sons after joining the team, but more importantly, because Wang Shuo had never discriminated against him!

From Ligue 1 to the Premier League, Alexandre Song had always known that many of his teammates, while saying nothing to his face, secretly looked down on him—especially because of the horde of poor relatives trailing behind him.

And rightfully so. Those relatives were absolute bastards!

For example, one of his cousins had asked to borrow fifty thousand euros. They called it a "loan," but if he handed it over, he would definitely never see it again. Besides, he truly didn’t have the money at the time.

As a result, the cousin spat out vicious threats to burn down his house.

Other relatives had completely emptied his house of its furniture. Then there were those who constantly stirred up trouble, even alarming the police in London and Cameroon.

Alexandre Song had heard about Adebayor’s situation. To rid himself of his relatives, Adebayor had even kicked his own birth mother out of the house. But Alexandre Song couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing.

His father had left him with five mothers, seventeen sisters, and ten brothers. But he was the only one who had made something of himself!

That day, Wang Shuo had come to see him and asked him a question. "How much do you have in savings right now?"

Alexandre Song couldn’t answer, because he didn’t have any money.

He had two sons. The eldest, Nolan Song, was already six years old and training at the Arsenal youth academy. The second child, Kylian Song, wasn’t even three years old yet.

He hoped both of his children could follow in his footsteps and embark on a path in football. It was the best way of life he could imagine for them.

But Wang Shuo told him, "Let’s put aside whether your kids can become excellent professional players like you in the future. Even if they can, with this massive extended family behind you, you have to take care of so many people right now. Then your sons will have to take care of these people and their descendants. The pressure will be even greater.

"You can endure it yourself, but are you going to make your two kids endure it with you?"

Alexandre Song was left speechless.

He actually knew that things couldn’t go on like this, but he had never been able to harden his heart, even though he truly loved his children.

Wang Shuo was right!

Wang Shuo had also told him something else.

"According to authoritative statistics, from the Premier League to the NBA, about sixty percent of professional players go bankrupt within five years of retirement.

"Do you think, given your current situation, you’ll even last five years?"

Alexandre Song shivered all over when he heard that, because he knew that if he retired right now, he wouldn’t even last until next month.

This situation absolutely had to change.

For his own family, for his closest loved ones, he could not keep going on like this! He had to make a change!

So, he had promised Wang Shuo that he would give his all to play for Arsenal.

And Wenger had personally promised him that in the summer of 2012, based on the team’s performance, he would be given a lucrative contract.