171: Final madness! The Emperor's call

Kobe Bryant!

Lin Feng's gaze, like two burning red branding irons, was fixed immovably upon that man!

He knew.

Everyone currently on the court had reached their limit.

The effect of [Pseudo-ZONE] on stimulating their potential was rapidly diminishing under high-intensity confrontation.

Conventional weapons could no longer slay this frenzied beast, led by the two monsters, Durant and Westbrook!

He needed a true, peerless weapon capable of killing with a single blow!

And looking at the entire Los Angeles Lakers, no, looking at the entire league!

There was no sharper, deadlier weapon than the man right before him!

Kobe sensed Lin Feng's gaze.

His hawk-like, piercing eyes also looked toward Lin Feng.

Their eyes met.

No words were exchanged.

But Kobe understood everything from Lin Feng's bloodshot eyes, which were strained from excessive mental exertion!

He understood the trust being placed in him!

He understood the confidence!

And he understood the final frenzy, belonging only to kings!

Kobe slowly clenched his hands, which had been resting on his knees, into fists.

The long-dormant, bloodthirsty black mamba blood within his body...

...began to boil once more at this moment!

...The second half, the third quarter, continued.

Roar!

Westbrook, like a completely enraged bull, used a nearly savage change of direction to forcefully break through Nash's defense!

Then, challenging Howard's help defense, he used an extremely exaggerated reverse layup to send the ball into the hoop!

After scoring, he fiercely pounded his chest and let out a defiant roar toward all the Los Angeles Lakers fans!

The Thunder's counterattack had begun!

They stopped worrying about Lin Feng's mysterious passes!

And they no longer cared about the damned script that seemed to be controlled by God!

Durant and Westbrook, the two top scorers in the league, had completely activated their most primal, most unreasonable, individual attack mode!

Durant received the ball.

Facing Artest's Death Grip defense, he simply used a pull-up jumper that was simple yet impossible to guard!

Swish!

The ball went cleanly through the net!

Westbrook had the ball.

Facing Nash's defense, he used his speed to blow right past him in one step!

Then, ignoring all defense, he charged into the paint and drew a foul!

They intended to use their purest, overwhelming talent to destroy everything the Los Angeles Lakers stood for!

Meanwhile, on the Los Angeles Lakers' side.

Under the pressure of high-intensity physical confrontation and the terrifying individual abilities of the thunder duo...

...the status of the role players began to show a clear decline!

Lin Feng's passes were still accurate!

He could still use the Eye of the Heavenly Emperor to see the perfect shooting opportunities for his teammates!

However!

After Gasol received his pass, a seemingly certain layup was deflected wide of the hoop by Ibaka's tough interference!

After Nick Young received his pass, the three-pointer that had seemed divinely assisted in the first half now smacked heavily off the front rim!

The effect of "Pseudo-ZONE" was being rapidly weakened in the face of their declining stamina due to the high-intensity confrontation!

The lead was being chipped away, point by point!

12 points!

10 points!

8 points!

The cheers that had once been like a mountain roar in Staples Center gradually faded.

Replacing them was a tense, suffocating atmosphere that made hearts pound.

On the court.

Lin Feng's face grew paler.

He felt as if two steel needles were violently drilling into his temples!

The court in front of him began to appear in intermittent double vision!

He knew.

Conventional orchestration could no longer restrain the two Thunder aces who were playing with murderous intent!

A change had to be made!

Beep—!

Lin Feng raised his hand and signaled a timeout toward the scorer's table!

The Los Angeles Lakers called a timeout!

The players walked back to the bench, one by one, disheartened.

The hard-won lead was being rapidly swallowed up.

That feeling of helplessness once again enveloped their hearts.

D'Antoni held his clipboard, anxiously trying to set up the defensive strategy for the next possession.

However.

Lin Feng didn't look at him at all.

Nor did he look at the clipboard.

He walked through the crowd, heading straight to the far end of the bench.

He walked up to the man who had been sitting there quietly the entire time.

Lin Feng's chest was rising and falling rapidly.

He looked at Kobe and spoke in a tone that was almost a command, brooking no argument.

Boss.

Get ready to warm up.

This single sentence instantly silenced the entire bench.

Everyone looked at Lin Feng with disbelief.

Kobe?

Put him in the game?

What kind of joke was this?!

His torn Achilles tendon injury had only just healed!

Putting him in now, facing the level of intensity the Thunder were bringing, wasn't that sending him to his death?!

D'Antoni was also stunned; he opened his mouth, about to say something.

But.

Kobe smiled.

He looked at the young man before him, whose face was as pale as paper, yet whose eyes shone like two stars.

He smiled.

He smiled with a bloodthirsty, frenzied fighting spirit!

He didn't answer.

Nor did he ask any questions.

He simply stood up slowly.

Then.

Under the extremely shocked gaze of tens of thousands of spectators in the arena...

...he reached out and ripped off the Los Angeles Lakers logo practice jersey he was wearing!

Revealing the purple and gold number 24 jersey underneath, which was soaked with sweat and clung tightly to his body!

In that instant!

The entire Staples Center seemed to have been muted!

Everyone held their breath!

What were they seeing?!

That man!

The man who had taken this city to the top of the world five times!

The man who insisted on completing his free throws even with a torn leg!

He was going into the game!

Kobe ignored anyone.

He simply rotated his wrists and stretched his neck.

His joints let out a series of "crack, crack" sounds.

His eyes changed.

He was no longer the gentle, elegant team leader sitting on the sidelines.

Instead, he had reverted to the coldest, deadliest creature that struck fear into the hearts of all opponents on the African savannah... the black mamba!

Beep—!

The buzzer signaling the end of the timeout sounded!

The Los Angeles Lakers substitution!

When the arena DJ screamed out that name in a tone filled with endless passion...

Kobe Bryant!!!

The entire Staples Center...