Cao Baming grew increasingly angry. He had naively thought that the other guy possessed a system like his, but now that idea seemed utterly ridiculous.
Such a precious system wasn't something anyone could have the chance to possess, especially not that lunatic. Even if a system were to choose someone, it would never pick Max; he would never get such an opportunity.
But now, everything was clear. Max wasn't a transmigrator from some unknown place. He simply had an unknown twin brother, though it wasn't clear whether it was an older or younger brother.
All that was known was that the brothers shared a deep bond! One had willingly taken a brutal beating on behalf of the other, without a single complaint. This was something few people could do.
Furthermore, that person was the boss of a company. He pretended to be a football player, but in reality, his physical condition was likely worse than that of a true athlete. He must have been injured even more severely.
None of this mattered anymore! Cao Baming suddenly clenched his fist.
Fortunately, the guy was at Manchester United, so his whereabouts were currently known. Tomorrow night, he could send people to beat him up. The beating he owed, he would now collect, and it wouldn't be just a single beating.
Borrowed money accrues interest, and the same applied to beatings. So much time had passed; doubling the principal and interest wasn't excessive, was it?
Thinking this, Cao Baming immediately dialed Mike's number.
"Hello, tomorrow you find a few people, block the entrance to the Manchester United club, and find a way to beat Max up twice. Remember, twice. Give him a thirty-minute break in between, let him have some water and such..."
Mike listened, utterly bewildered.
"Again... beat someone up again?"
"What? What are you saying, do I beat people often?!" Cao Baming expressed his confusion.
"Just do as you're told."
"Received, but..."
"But what, is something wrong?"
"But I need Max for my current plan. There are many forces entangled in the acquisition of Manchester United. To maximize profits, the best scenario is to acquire the club after Cristiano Ronaldo leaves as a free agent. And..."
"And to make Cristiano Ronaldo leave, Max must stay. Moreover, he should maintain a relatively good condition and perform exceptionally well in matches, at least better than Cristiano Ronaldo."
"If he's beaten to a pulp, with broken arms and legs, then..."
As Mike spoke, Cao Baming, before he could even finish, understood the implication.
This immediately reminded him that Max had appeared in his system as well. Back then, when he became the big boss of Manchester United, although he hadn't seen Max in person, he remembered seeing his name on a piece of white paper.
So, Cristiano Ronaldo would be the loser in this battle. Max might truly win. Aren't they competing right now? Whoever leaves the team first is the loser!
"Since that's the case, let them fight! When they're bruised and battered, we'll step in and give them a couple of kicks. Remember to do it when Max is at his most triumphant! Absolutely remember!"
"Okay! Received!"
Mike agreed readily. It wasn't that he didn't want to beat people up; he just didn't want to disrupt his own plans.
As for Cao Baming, his intentions were simpler. Max had to take this beating; it was a matter of principle. However, he was too lazy to do it himself. This kind of thing was best left to others.
Meanwhile, the external news was still fermenting. Everyone was still confused about Cristiano Ronaldo exposing Max's false identity. While speculation was rife, the most discussed point was that the evidence itself didn't seem very convincing.
As everyone knew, Mendes was a notorious master of public opinion manipulation. He might even try to fabricate some evidence. Casually claiming someone's identity was problematic wasn't easy to substantiate.
Max himself wasn't nervous about this. He didn't even show the slightest bit of concern.
In fact, only Cao Baming knew more details of the matter, which was why he was so firm in his belief that Max had a brother. Why his football skills were so exceptional remained a mystery.
Max was still someone worth keeping an eye on.
As this news spread widely, another piece of news simultaneously circulated in the football world: the result of the match between Manchester United and Nottingham Forest.
Thank heavens, the final result was a draw. The Manchester United coach managed to keep his position, and the team didn't collapse.
Many had already predicted that if the team had continued to trail by a large margin in the final aggregate score, the team might have collapsed completely.
Max had scored three goals in his last three matches, while Cristiano Ronaldo had only one, which was even from a penalty.
This made Cristiano Ronaldo the target of fan criticism. People preferred to side with the stronger party. Whoever performed better between the two would receive more support.
This had always been the case, and both of them understood this very well.
Under Cao Baming's watchful eye, the public opinion was undergoing subtle changes, yet the shift wasn't significant. The biggest trend was that Cristiano Ronaldo's momentum was gradually weakening, placing him in the disadvantageous position.
These days, Cao Baming's eyes had barely left the news. Seeing Max's reputation steadily surpass Cristiano Ronaldo's, he was even a bit surprised himself.
The reason for his surprise was simple: Max's agent had virtually no experience and likely couldn't handle public opinion matters at all. In contrast, Cristiano Ronaldo's agent, Mendes, was a master of this, and their skill levels were vastly different.
Moreover, Max completely disregarded these matters, while Cristiano Ronaldo cared immensely, extremely so.
Was this situation solely caused by the difference of two goals? Cao Baming found it hard to believe.
As expected, upon inquiry, he discovered that all of this was being orchestrated by Mike. He was playing a much grander game than Mendes.
There's always someone better. Upon hearing this news, Cao Baming was extremely satisfied.
He had chosen Mike back then precisely because of his outstanding abilities, and Cao Baming had always trusted his judgment.