Prince of Tennis: The Emperor's Eye

Chapter 489: Chapter 168: Everyone Plays Their Trump Card

Based on his understanding of the original story, Akashi accurately picked out a key trait in Dankmar that couldn’t be ignored—those special eyes of his. They weren’t just visually unique. They represented a kind of breadth and depth of vision that went beyond normal understanding.

The human eye is one of the most complex organs in nature, and the potential hidden inside it is far greater than what people usually show. Our visual system is completely different from mammals that rely on a single visual neuron to perceive the world. It’s intricate and refined, able to catch tiny changes in light and turn the colorful world into images and understanding inside the brain.

Yet most people go their entire lives without fully tapping into this gift. The utilization rate of the eyes is as low as the tip of the iceberg of the human brain’s potential. If the power of the eyes were fully unlocked, the result would be unimaginable, just like Atobe and Irie from the Japan Team.

If you push this comparison to the extreme, you’ll realize that even the best modern DSLR cameras, with pixels reaching fifty million, still fall far short when compared to the human eye’s nearly six hundred million pixels.

This isn’t just a difference in numbers. It’s a massive gap in information capture and processing ability. This extraordinary capability of the human eye allows people to instantly grasp every detail in their surroundings, whether it’s the outline of distant mountains or dewdrops on nearby petals.

And Dankmar, a particularly special player in the original story, seemed to be an outstanding example of this gift. His field of vision wasn’t limited to normal ranges. It was almost supernatural, even far surpassing the wide vision granted by the ZONE state in the black-and-blue world.

This kind of vision let him fight on court as if he had a god’s-eye view, taking in his opponents’ movements, his partner’s position, and even the flow of the entire match at a glance. It also gave Dankmar that breathtaking interception ability.

Compared to Akashi’s Emperor Eye, Dankmar’s vision focused more on spatial control. If Akashi’s Emperor Eye was the ultimate fusion of dynamic vision, insight, and neural reflexes, then Dankmar’s vision was more like an invisible net, covering the entire court and even the rhythm of the match.

While Akashi was thinking about all this random stuff, Ochi and Mōri on the court had already fallen into a hard fight. Dankmar’s massive body and unbelievable strength made every return feel like it was challenging the limits of physics.

Dankmar’s presence was like an invisible shackle, locking down Ochi and Mōri’s freedom of movement. Even Mōri’s instinctive counterattacks while asleep now felt strained, every swing coming with subtle deviations in angle.

Suddenly, Dankmar advanced toward the center line like a moving fortress. His huge hands gripped the racket tightly, as if ready to crush anything in his way. With a deafening roar, the moment the racket met the ball, a dazzling yellow beam of light tore through the air and blasted straight toward the Japan Team’s half.

Mōri stood at the net and charged forward on instinct without hesitation, but the next second, the terrifying impact erupting from that beam slammed into him like a giant wave, sending both him and his racket flying. His body traced an unnatural arc through the air, and only because Ochi rushed in to catch him did he avoid even more serious injury.

”30-40!”

’Looks like the Colossus ability isn’t just an advanced illusion. It also boosts his five attributes to some extent, especially strength. At this point, both Ochi and Mōri-senpai are probably going to struggle against Dankmar’s shots,’ Akashi thought as he recalled the image of Mōri being blown away.

After all, in the original story, Colossus-form Dankmar had once blasted Duke away with a single serve. Akashi found it hard to imagine how Ochi and Mōri, with strength stats barely at five, could handle this.

When Mōri picked up his racket and returned to the front court, he didn’t dare fall asleep again right away. If Ochi hadn’t grabbed him in time just now, the consequences would’ve been hard to imagine.

Still, Mōri wasn’t without a plan. He had already started figuring out how to activate his most special state, the one between sleep and wakefulness. That state was clearly better suited to the current situation, but entering it was extremely difficult. So far, he had only managed it three times.

As for the sleepwalking state, Mōri wasn’t considering it for now. That state was even harder to control than full sleep. At the very least, until he figured out how to deal with Dankmar’s shots, he wasn’t going to enter sleepwalking.

So, Mōri began adjusting his breathing and focusing his mind, trying to guide himself into that delicate balanced state. However, Ochi had already fired off another Mach Serve. Just like before, Dankmar planted his huge racket in front of the ball and blocked it, letting the ball rebound back on its own.

Watching the scene on court, everyone on the Japan Team clearly realized one thing: Ochi’s Mach Serve had been completely broken, and from now on, the service games were no longer an advantage for the Japan Team.

Even though Mōri was deliberately trying to find that special state, whenever a ball needed to be intercepted, he still rushed forward without hesitation. Thankfully, Dankmar hadn’t fired off another one of those terrifying power smashes just yet.

However, because both of them were overly focused on Dankmar’s presence, their defense against Bertie loosened slightly. Bertie seized that opening, using Dankmar’s massive body as cover, and unexpectedly took the first game with a sharp crosscourt drive.

”GAME! Germany leads! 0-1!”

When the second game began, Bertie clearly saw through Mōri’s intentions. Seeing that Mōri still hadn’t entered his sleep state, he immediately targeted him with all kinds of tricky passing shots at sharp angles, while Dankmar stood in Germany’s half like pure intimidation.

Ochi looked at the ball rushing toward his feet. Feeling frustrated, he could only force a scooping return, but the instant his racket struck the ball, even the usually expressionless Ochi couldn’t help but change expression.

The ball wasn’t sent back right away. Instead, it spun briefly on the tip of the racket before sharply rebounding toward the net. The trajectory was obviously too low, and as expected, it slammed straight into the net.

”FAULT! 15-0!”

The following points went much the same. Whether it was Bertie’s Data Tennis or Dankmar’s overwhelming advantage in both size and strength, everything made it hard for Mōri and Ochi to deal with.

”GAME! Germany leads! 0-2!”

The third game came with Mōri serving. Although he still hadn’t found the trigger to enter that special state, Mōri clearly knew that if things continued like this, their side would have no chance to fight back.

Next, Mōri and Ochi exchanged a glance and nodded at the same time. When Mōri stepped up to the baseline, a faint but unusual fluctuation began to spread from both him and Ochi.

At the edge of the court, Volk’s gaze suddenly sharpened. He was extremely familiar with this kind of special fluctuation. After all, both of Germany’s doubles pairs had mastered this ability, and he himself had awakened it not long ago.

Mōri tossed the ball high and immediately smashed his serve. Just as Bertie focused fully on preparing to receive, the sound of the ball hitting the court suddenly came from behind him.

”Ability Synchronization—Teleport!”

”ACE! 15-0!”

”When did Mōri-senpai learn the Mach Serve too?” Shiraishi said in shock from the Japan Team’s bench.

”That’s not a Mach Serve... it’s their Ability Synchronization—Teleport,” Atobe said directly, his eyes fixed on Mōri. After all, he had personally experienced this move together with Sanada before.

”But isn’t Ochi-senpai the one who’s supposed to have Teleport?” Kite frowned and asked.

”No. Techniques born from Ability Synchronization can actually be used by both people in the resonance. It’s just that Ochi-senpai has better compatibility with Teleport,” Chitose explained. He was, after all, the first middle schooler to experience Ability Synchronization.

”ACE! 30-0!”

At that moment, Mōri used Teleport again to take another point. Bertie’s eyes narrowed unconsciously, and even Volk at the side of the court showed a serious expression.

”Looks like we really underestimated you. But Ability Synchronization isn’t something only you have~” Bertie said slowly, staring at Ochi and Mōri.

As Bertie’s words fell, the entire court was instantly covered with countless grid lines, and at the same time, Dankmar’s and Bertie’s eyes both took on a strange color.

”Ability Synchronization—Satellite Perspective!”