Chapter Three: A Goal Made by Seven

For the first time that season, the net moved at Qingzhou's home ground. Two-one. Only two hundred away supporters were present, but they made the entire stadium hear the words “Cape City.” Golden text unfolded before Shen: [Condition complete. Echo duration: six minutes.] More important, eight players had touched the ball from Zhou to Luo. No miracle and no Echo had breached the fortress. They had done it themselves. At halftime, Shen did not send Gu on. “They expect him to rescue us,” he told the room. “For a while, so did we. But that goal proved Gu isn't a lifeboat. He's a spark. In the second half, we swim first.” It remained two-one at the hour. Cape City survived wave after wave, and Zhou made two close-range saves.