American Football: King of the Bay Area

Lu Ke was now standing on the twenty-yard line on the right side of the field, the exact same spot where Kevin had started his throw. ’But what on earth is going on with Logan? He’s crossed midfield and is still running? Did he run the wrong route, or has he lost his mind? Does Logan actually believe Lu Ke can throw farther than Kevin?’

’This… this is just ridiculous!’

Just then, Logan finally stopped. He was at the forty-five-yard line on the left side of the field, five yards past midfield. That put him about thirty-five yards away from Lu Ke.

The hearts that had jumped into the throats of the watching players slowly returned to their chests. This position seemed much more reasonable. If Lu Ke’s throw lacked power, Logan could always run back to catch it. It might even be a surprise tactic to trick the defender—no one believed Lu Ke could surpass Kevin’s previous passing stats.

No one.

Lu Ke stopped moving, weighing the football in his hands. The entire field was abuzz with noise. The starters were chattering amongst themselves, not one of them paying attention to Lu Ke’s throw. No one believed he could complete a pass, let alone a thirty-yard one. At this moment, they were just watching a joke, a circus act—comical and foolish.

However, Lu Ke’s mood wasn’t affected in the slightest. His focus narrowed as he thought about the football, about the arc of the pass, about the target location. His fingers instinctively traced the ball’s surface, feeling its shape, weight, and leather texture—in a word, its feel.

Lifting his head, Lu Ke looked at Logan’s position, then glanced at the defender’s. He gave a slight nod of his chin, signaling he was ready, and began to adjust his footwork. Suddenly, without any warning, Logan took off in a sprint. He burst forward at an incredible speed, but the problem was, he was sprinting toward the other end of the field, continuing to increase the distance between him and Lu Ke—

The defender was completely stunned, having never anticipated such a turn of events. By the time he reacted and started to give chase, a full two seconds had passed. It wasn’t just him; all the players on the sideline were stunned too. The chatter was cut off in an instant, and the field fell into a dead silence. Every eye was filled with shock, bewilderment, and alarm.

Lu Ke adjusted his footwork, tracking Logan with his peripheral vision. Without any hesitation, he raised his arm and threw the football. The ball spun like a shuttle, stable and fast, carving a beautiful arc through the air. It was like the legendary Crescent Moon Saber, tearing through the sky as it flew unerringly toward Logan’s position.

’What is Lu Ke trying to do?’

The question barely had time to surface before Anthony Jefferson’s mind went blank. Out of pure professional instinct, his eyes locked onto the football as it whistled through the air. The gorgeous parabola allowed him to make an instant judgment: this was a massive deep pass, the kind that could change the outcome of a game. But what about its accuracy? Anyone could throw a ball, even a long one. Just heaving it downfield was easy. The real question was the landing spot of that parabola. Would it be accurate?

It passed the thirty-yard line on the right side of the field, then the forty, then midfield... and its momentum didn’t decrease. It crossed the forty-yard line on the left side, then the thirty... heading straight for Logan, who was standing on the twenty-yard line!

With the defender nowhere near in position, Logan calmly adjusted his stride, turned, and fixed his eyes on the football. What was even more astonishing was that the ball seemed to have a mind of its own, falling precisely toward Logan’s position, with a margin of error no greater than three steps!

Its descent suddenly seemed to accelerate as the ball lost a bit of momentum, starting to wobble. The stable, shuttle-like spin became unsteady, causing a slight deviation in its landing spot. Logan took a large step to his right, extended his hands, and with no difficulty at all, easily and securely gathered the ball into his arms.

Incredible!

That was the only thought in Anthony’s mind. His mouth fell open, his face a mask of bewilderment. His brain had short-circuited; his jaw nearly unhinged. This... was simply too astounding! You had to remember, Lu Ke threw the ball from the twenty-yard line on the right side of the field. In other words, a distance of sixty yards.

Sixty yards! A full sixty yards!

On the football field, the long pass is a crucial tool in a quarterback’s arsenal. In the final moments of a game, when time is limited, a quarterback’s ability to deliver a game-winning deep strike is invaluable.

In the current Alliance, the average long pass for a top-tier quarterback is around forty or forty-five yards. The elite quarterbacks, like Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, and Ben Roethlisberger, could hit sixty or sixty-five yards in their prime.

In terms of pure throwing power, there are plenty of quarterbacks with cannon arms who can casually toss the ball seventy or eighty yards, even pushing the limits of human ability. But being a quarterback isn’t just about throwing. They also need precision—to deliver the football to the exact spot with the right amount of force and the proper technique, landing it right in the receiver’s hands.

So, sixty or sixty-five yards—that’s a lightning strike on the field! To put it in soccer terms, it’s like kicking off from midfield and landing the ball precisely in the goalkeeper’s arms, not just inside the goal frame.

Just now, Lu Ke not only completed a massive sixty-yard deep pass, but judging by the ball’s trajectory, it was clear he had been aiming for Logan’s spot from the very beginning. The final deviation was merely a single step. That kind of power and that kind of precision were absolutely jaw-dropping—truly top-tier!

Of course, this was just a three-on-three passing drill. Lu Ke faced no pressure from defenders, and Logan had completely shaken his man. It was practically an uncontested, stationary pass. But even so, that ability was still enough to make everyone take notice! It was more than astonishing!

To be honest, the team currently had four quarterbacks—one of whom was a rookie who had just joined when school started in September—but none of them possessed this kind of ability. Kevin’s thirty-yard pass from earlier was pretty much his limit. His excitement and elation after the throw were the best proof of that. But now, Lu Ke had just completed a sixty-yard pass?

And here was the crux of it: Lu Ke was just a practice player, not even qualified to make the roster, yet he possessed an ability that none of the four current quarterbacks had. That was the most shocking part.

But Anthony remembered Lu Ke.

To be precise, Anthony had a very strong impression of Lu Ke. Because Lu Ke was from China. Because he had tirelessly applied to join the team for three consecutive years. Because he had joined the team as a practice player—something Anthony himself had requested from the coach. Because as a practice player, Lu Ke trained with a diligence that far surpassed the starters, making him a model of hard work in practice.

But therein lay the problem. Lu Ke was from China; or to be more specific, he was Asian. On the football field, Asian players were still a rarity—you could even say there had never been an official starter. There had only ever been one non-starting rotational player. Whether it was stereotypes or prejudiced discrimination, these things certainly hindered Lu Ke’s prospects on the football field. What’s more, Lu Ke’s physical gifts were truly nothing special; in fact, you could even say they were poor.

If Anthony remembered correctly, when Lu Ke first applied to join the team, the position he chose was quarterback. To the coaches, and to the other starters, this was a joke. No one took it seriously. The final tryout proved it, too. Lu Ke didn’t even have the ability to be a practice player, let alone a quarterback.

The only reason Lu Ke managed to become a practice player was because Anthony had been moved by his persistence and passion, and had convinced the coach to let him join the practice squad.

Looking at Lu Ke on the field, Anthony found he couldn’t quite recall what Lu Ke’s passing performance as a quarterback had been like two or three years ago when he had applied to join the team. He had no memory of it at all.

”WOOHOO! Bambi! Bambi! Bambi!” Logan pumped his arms forcefully, shouting at the top of his lungs. His wild howling was so ridiculous you couldn’t help but laugh. It pulled Anthony from his thoughts. A helpless smile touched the corners of his lips as he gently shook his head. He turned and saw the dumbfounded expressions on all the players’ faces, especially Kevin’s.

Kevin was completely frozen, unable to believe his eyes. Lu Ke hadn’t just completed the pass—it was a sixty-yard bomb! Precise, on target, and powerful! A throw that good... forget him, even the team’s current starting quarterback probably couldn’t make it.

’Luck. It has to be luck!’

’Lu Ke and Logan are really good friends. They practice throwing and catching together in private all the time. Lu Ke understands Logan’s receiving style, and Logan is used to Lu Ke’s throwing habits. Then, at just the right moment, with no wind to affect it, Lu Ke had a burst of inspiration, let it fly, and ended up with a result like this.’

’That’s the best explanation. It’s like... it’s like a one-in-a-million chance, and Lu Ke just happened to hit it.’

’But, even if it was luck! A sixty-yard pass is still insanely good! And didn’t his own thirty-yard pass have a bit of luck involved, too?’

Once he realized this, all of Kevin’s sharp edges and anger vanished into thin air. He stood there like a defeated rooster, dejected and crestfallen, his eyes vacant, barely able to stay on his feet.

It wasn’t just Kevin. The other players all stared at each other, unable to believe their eyes. They couldn’t even make a sound. The powerful shock and immense surprise had frozen all emotion. Silence. A heavy, oppressive quiet. The bustling, noisy scene from just a moment ago was completely gone, as if even the sound of breathing had been cut off.