Cobham Training Base.

Tender green leaves glistened with crystal clear dewdrops, the dewdrops reflecting the figures sprinting across the training ground.

A football rolled out of bounds.

Li Kang watched Buffon approach from a distance, clad in Chelsea training gear.

The system notification quietly chimed.

[Detected that this teammate's friendliness towards you has reached its limit! It has overflowed!]

[Blue Bond established: Dragon Vein Curse Lv3!]

[Introduction: In February 2012, at the San Siro stadium, Buffon severed Milan's dragon vein.]

[Curse effect: When fighting alongside Buffon, the Rossoneri soul within you will become exceptionally enraged. When any AC Milan legend modules are triggered, Buffon will briefly possess the reaction arc and ground speed of 2012.]

Li Kang: "..."

This curse is amazing.

After a significant decline in physical reactions, Buffon has transitioned in recent years. He now relies more on defensive positioning and anticipation to defuse dangerous situations. Fans rarely see him make spectacular saves anymore.

The highlight reel of De Gea's saves from a few games could take Buffon an entire season to match.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries.

Clap clap clap.

Buffon clapped his hands, summoning Chelsea's defenders and goalkeepers.

Čech smiled as he spread a large tactical board on the floor. He wasn't wearing his tank helmet today, and probably wouldn't need to wear it again.

"We don't need to tear down Chelsea's defensive system and rebuild it."

"You don't need to adapt to me."

"I will adapt to you."

"We just need to unify our defensive thinking in terms of details."

"Like this, this, and then that."

"..."

The group discussed animatedly.

Buffon's voice was particularly loud, almost skewing Rüdiger's accent as he spoke.

Tuchel stood aside, stroking his chin with a look of pleasant surprise.

That damned possessiveness had vanished without a trace.

So fragrant.

Dino was taking notes diligently, feeling like a sponge, eagerly absorbing Mourinho's imprints, Conte's framework, and the defensive philosophies of the Apennine Peninsula.

Čech occasionally offered his own opinions.

Captain Cahill constantly moved the magnetic flags, actively harmonizing the differences in defensive concepts.

The former top defenders seemed to be constructing a "fortress."

By lunchtime.

Buffon had become a respected elder brother in the eyes of the young players.

"Your idol is Ronaldo? I played against him many times. We were both young back then."

"Don't rush, I'll tell you those stories slowly..."

"Zidane again? Doesn't anyone idolize me?"

"Yes, yes, yes, if I had married earlier, I could have given birth to a Li."

A joyful atmosphere filled the cafeteria.

The key was that Buffon even knew sign language, accurately relaying the thoughts Li Kang wanted to express.

"Did you see that?"

"Li's idol is me!"

Li Kang shook his head with a smile.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

September 10th.

Li Kang and his little assistant headed to Loughborough to complete enrollment procedures.

Chelsea made a large-scale rotation, arriving in Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.

The Jack Army fans greeted Hazard with a chorus of boos.

The story began with a League Cup match in January 2013:

Hazard's "violent kick" of 17-year-old Swansea ball boy Morgan shocked Europe.

He apologized specifically afterwards, earning the forgiveness of the young ball boy and his parents.

But whenever the two teams clash, Swansea fans would bring up the incident to tease the Blues star.

The match was hardly suspenseful.

Swansea launched an offensive against the in-form Chelsea.

Not stubbornness.

Romance.

In the Premier League, including during their time in the Championship, the Jack Army always insisted on playing beautiful, pleasing football, regardless of their opponent.

In 2001, Swansea was on the verge of bankruptcy. The fans crowdfunded £200,000 to buy 21% of the club's shares, making Swansea a club owned by its fans.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last.

Last summer, two American businessmen acquired 60% of Swansea's shares, launching sweeping reforms that injected the club with American football management philosophies.

The fans' trust organization's shares were also eroded.

They had money, but their investment in new players was even less than during difficult times.

Here's an example:

Swansea used to be frugal, eating three meat dishes and one vegetable dish every day, working hard, slowly repaying small debts, and things were getting better. But one day, two Americans appeared. They helped you pay off that small debt, and then made you eat shit every day. All the money you earned from working had to be handed over.

Due to long-term malnutrition, you couldn't meet performance targets. The "Premier League" wanted to fire you, demoting you to the "Championship."

At the beginning of the 2017/18 season, Swansea, drained of its resources, had an overall strength equivalent to a mid-table Championship team. In the star-studded Premier League, the hope of staying up was so slim.

Liberty Stadium.

As Hazard, Diego Costa, and others scored goals, the Jack Army crumbled.

The Chelsea coaching staff also gradually substituted players around the sixtieth minute.

Finally.

The referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the match.

Chelsea completed a four-game winning streak at the start of the Premier League season!

Livestream.

-

[Buffon's strength is just so-so. He just happened to be standing in the path of the opponent's shot, standing there in a daze and hugging the ball. His number of saves isn't even as good as Caballero's (doge emoji)]

-

[Fake match, why are Swansea's forwards always shooting into his arms?]

-

[Seriously perverted. Chelsea's defense and goalkeeper have a very unified defensive mindset, looking like a mobile fortress, and they've liberated Kanté and Bakayoko.]

-

[Endgame lineup.]

-

[Don't speak too soon, Chelsea hasn't met a real strong team yet. I'll jinx them first, come on Chelsea!]

-

[See if they can defend against Barça in the Champions League. The "300 million" attack line led by Coutinho, Suárez, and Dembélé has already scored 10 goals this season!]

Post-match press conference.

The media reporters were more concerned about the Champions League group stage opener in a few days: Barça vs. Chelsea.

"Barça has invested nearly 400 million in transfer funds in the past two seasons. Is Chelsea confident in escaping Camp Nou unscathed?"

Tuchel answered without hesitation:

"A bunch of... Valverde has completed the transformation of Barça. They've signed a group of dazzlingly talented stars. Chelsea will face a difficult match."

"The Stamford Bridge massacre? Perhaps something similar won't happen again."

"Chelsea is confident in resolving all difficulties through victory."

Dino was equally confident: As long as Chelsea wasn't hit by a bus bombing like Borussia Dortmund, they wouldn't fear any opponent at all.

Barça first team training base.

Conference room.

The coaching staff members looked at the projected Chelsea starting lineup on the big screen, and a hint of despair couldn't help but arise in the depths of their hearts.

Valverde remained calm.

Having coached mid-to-lower-tier La Liga teams, he had already been honed into a resilient and powerful heart by clubs such as Barça, Real Madrid, and Atlético Madrid.

"Iniesta, Rakitić, and Messi are all in perfect physical condition."

"Camp Nou has always only instilled fear in its opponents."