Manchester Evening News:
"Manchester United fans stood up to the media and shouted that Manchester United are the best!"
Football Caesar:
"Optimistic about Manchester United! After Kai's 13th birthday, are Red Devils fans finally done pretending to be humble?"
"Manchester United's influence reaches far and wide — Portugal U15 superstar Cristiano Ronaldo raises the Red Devils' banner high!"
"As a Portuguese reporter, I recommend Manchester United invest in their youth academy: Cristiano Ronaldo and Kai!"
For a time, Manchester United fans began searching for information about these two youngsters.
If you didn't look into it, you wouldn't know.
Once you did, you'd be moved to tears.
When did these two kids become so blind with confidence?
No matter how die-hard United fans were this season, none of them dared to say the team could win either the Premier League or the Champions League.
Let alone a treble.
So… who the hell gave these two kids that kind of courage?
Love it.
Absolutely love it.
But compared to the wild excitement among "Man United fans,"
other English media were far less enthusiastic.
FourFourTwo:
"Treble? Ridiculous! This Premier League belongs to Arsenal! The Champions League belongs to Juventus, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, or Inter Milan!"
FourFourTwo showed professional restraint.
England's notorious tabloid The Sun, sitting at the opposite extreme, seized the opportunity:
"Cristiano Ronaldo lives in Kai's house. Boys at this age are still developing — excessive intimacy may affect their future sexual orientation!"
Boom.
Instant outrage.
Between these two reports, The Sun's article drew far more attention and quickly went viral.
Meanwhile, FourFourTwo was probably crying in a toilet somewhere.
Some media outlets even shamelessly asked Kai whether he still liked girls.
Kai's response was blunt:
"The word disgusting is the last bit of respect I can spare for your so-called journalism."
"Is The Sun's editor-in-chief an only child with no brothers? Or some wild species without a father or grandfather? I wonder whether his father, grandfather, or older brothers affected his orientation."
"Cristiano is my most reliable partner on the pitch. Off the pitch, he's my best friend in life. Our friendship will last forever."
Faced with such trash interviews, Cristiano Ronaldo never responded.
He focused entirely on training.
But Kai later discovered the interview page titled 'Chris Is My Best Friend' carefully cut out and pasted into Ronaldo's diary.
Kai shook his head.
I just said it casually… I never thought anyone would actually take it this seriously.
Later, Kai flipped through Ronaldo's diary himself.
It was filled with interviews about Kai defeating Ronaldo and dominating him.
Bro… you really need to work harder.
My future position in football depends on you!
…
On December 8, Sporting Lisbon U15 played a home league match against Casa Pia.
With Ronaldo scoring and assisting, and Kai delivering another assist, Sporting won 3–1.
On December 14, Sporting Lisbon travelled away to face Académica and crushed the hosts 4–0, taking all three points.
Ronaldo scored twice.
Kai delivered yet another assist.
At this point, Kai topped the Portuguese U15 League assist chart.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo continued his charge toward the Golden Boot, steadily widening the gap over second place.
The small Sporting Lisbon U15 squad suddenly boasted two monsters — a Hidden Dragon and a Rising Phoenix.
They gradually became one of the hottest topics in Portuguese football.
Kai also gained two blue-tier player skills after matches in Turin and Académica.
Scalpel Pass:
Your through-ball ability has slightly improved.
Wing Crossing:
Your crossing ability from wide areas has slightly improved.
Both were standard skills — useful for strengthening Kai's passing, but not enough to trigger a qualitative leap.
Kai had clearly entered a bottleneck phase, needing accumulation before transformation.
On a hazy training day.
Suddenly, chaos erupted outside the training ground.
Before Kai and the others could figure out what was happening, Maxa pulled Kai and Ronaldo aside and mysteriously led them through the locker room, down into the basement, and out of the training base.
Straight to Trigueira's house.
The television was broadcasting breaking news:
"Today, the Portuguese Anti-Gambling Authority cracked a major illegal betting case…"
"What was originally a routine investigation in a lower league has taken a new turn following the suspects' confessions…"
"…Cristiano Ronaldo, a rising star from Sporting Lisbon's youth academy and the top scorer in the U15 league, may be involved!"
"At present, the Portuguese Anti-Gambling Authority, the Portuguese Football Federation, and Lisbon police have launched a joint investigation."
"Madeira police have contacted Cristiano's brother Hugo to assist with the investigation. As for Cristiano himself, under Sporting Lisbon's guarantee, he will also cooperate."
Ronaldo froze.
One of the suspects shown on screen was the so-called "friend" who had once encouraged his brother to gamble.
Those people were complete cut-cock bastards.
If he ever caught them, he'd bite them to death.
"I need to know what's going on," Trigueira said grimly.
"Professional footballers must never have anything to do with gambling. Cristiano, I believe in your character."
"But something did happen."
"Kai, I heard you were present the day Hugo came to see Cristiano?"
Kai nodded.
Trigueira continued:
"One of the suspects confessed about Hugo colluding with Chris Dubal. The police have already located the original bettors and confirmed the chain."
"We're in a passive position."
"If the worst happens… we may have to give up on Cristiano."
Ronaldo's face turned deathly pale.
A player abandoned by his club under such circumstances would be finished.
The lesson of André Onana's youth-career scandal was still fresh in everyone's memory.
Cristiano didn't want to lose football at such a young age.
He wanted to repay his parents who had sacrificed everything.
He couldn't imagine facing his family if he lost his future.
He was the hope of the entire household.
He carried the future of a big family on his shoulders.
"I didn't do it! I really didn't!" Ronaldo cried like a child.
The last time Kai had seen Ronaldo cry like this was…
the future European Championship final, when he retired injured.
"It's okay," Kai said softly, holding him, then turned to Trigueira.
"Hugo did come to see Cristiano. He was trying to get information…"
Kai explained the entire incident in detail.
Trigueira and Maxa exchanged stunned looks.
Holy shit… this operation was actually insane.
If everything Kai said was true, Cristiano had zero responsibility.
At worst, Hugo might face a fine for illegal betting — nothing more.
No criminal record.
No career-ending consequences.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Trigueira's phone rang.
As he listened, his expression darkened rapidly.
"This is outrageous. Completely irresponsible," Trigueira snapped into the phone.
"If you want to target me, do it openly — why drag a child into this political fight?"
He hung up.
Sporting Lisbon had been plagued by internal power struggles in recent years.
Trigueira represented the traditional establishment faction.
But another group was aggressively pushing to seize control.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Maxa were both achievements of Trigueira's camp.
The opposing faction wanted to use this incident to wipe them out completely.
Their goal was simple: force the club to abandon Ronaldo.
Confirm his involvement in betting — truth be damned.
Pity?
No.
To them, destroying a genius who wasn't theirs wasn't pity — it was strategy.
Before the truth emerged, the head of Sporting Lisbon's Development Planning Department accepted a media interview:
"Sporting Lisbon has zero tolerance for this kind of behavior. We will deal with Cristiano seriously."
"Rest assured — not only Cristiano, but anyone who assisted him will face consequences. We will never tolerate this."
A massive wave of public opinion crashed down on Ronaldo.
The world around him seemed to turn completely gray.
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