Dubian Che caught the ball thrown back by the catcher, searched for a comfortable footing on the pitcher's mound with his foot, and glanced towards the stands.

The two young ladies are safe, Madam...

"Dubian! Dubian!" When had she joined the Goda cheerleading squad?

Cheerleading squad?

It finally dawned on Dubian Che that there was such a group of people. His eyes skimmed over them, then immediately averted his gaze.

The skirts were short, but they all wore safety shorts like bloomers.

'At this rate, baseball will soon lose its charm.' Dubian Che eyed the third batter from Qingshan High School.

As the opponent got into position, he was about to start his pitching motion when the catcher, who wasn't wearing a glove, made inexplicable gestures at his groin.

Dubian Che: "..."

He could guess they were signaling, but signals were inherently not meant to be easily understood by laypeople.

'Got it?' the catcher shot him an easy-to-understand look while slightly shifting his position.

"..." Dubian Che shook his head.

The catcher's movement halted, then he quickly gestured again at his groin.

Without waiting for him to finish, Dubian Che immediately shook his head.

Not understanding meant not understanding.

Even if he was the top pitcher in the country, he couldn't possibly grasp what the other was trying to convey.

"..." The catcher returned to the original position and placed the mitt right in the center of the strike zone.

Dubian Che lifted his leg and pitched.

The piercing sound of the wind rang out again.

Because of the previous experience, although the catcher did not know how good Dubian Che's control was, he was at least sure that Dubian had some control and didn't have to worry about being hit.

He watched, with eyes wide open, the ball that he estimated was traveling nearly 160km/h based on his years of catching experience, shot into the mitt like a cannonball.

A slight numbness in his palm increased.

"Strike one!" the umpire called.

'The speed of the two pitches is almost the same...' thought the catcher as he threw the ball back.

'Baseball is kind of boring,' Dubian Che thought as he mechanically threw the second pitch.

"Strike two!"

The catcher threw back the ball, Dubian Che's third pitch at an unchanged speed.

"Strike three! Three outs! Change sides!"

"Dubian! Dubian!"

After shouting, they all cheerfully sang the school anthem in unison.

"Over Shibuya Hills, where the crows fly past the school building, our alma mater, Goda!"

On the distant, large scoreboard, the score for the second half of Qingshan College: zero.

'Three batters out ends the game,' Dubian Che thought, unsure if the baseball rule was correct, as he walked toward the dugout.

"Dubian!" Kunii Shuichi ran over, "See how great I am? During training, all your balls got hit by me!"

"Qingshan High School is weak," Dubian Che removed his glove.

"That's part of it. Even with a fastball like yours, no matter how fast it is, I can hit it!"

"I only throw fastballs."

The catcher, who had been about to join the conversation, heard this and closed his mouth again.

The Goda cheerleading squad finished singing the school anthem and began to chant again: "Dubian! Fight! Goda! Number one!"

The opposing school didn't show weakness: "Qingshan! Fight!"

During the brief rest time, cheerleading squads from both sides shouted their hearts out across the fan-shaped stadium.

The support was tremendous; in the spacious stadium that could seat thirty thousand, their voices were all that could be heard.

"Mr. Dubian!" The female manager approached with a towel and water, "That was great! You completely overpowered the other team's lineup!"

"Luck," said Dubian Che.

"It's not luck at all! The velocity was very, very fast! Here, take the towel and water!"

"Thanks, I'm not thirsty, and I haven't sweat."

"Then let me massage you! You need to relax your arm after throwing fast pitches continuously!"

"Thank you, I'm not tired at all."

"No need to be..."

"Yuuzuki," said Kunii Shuichi, massaging his arm, "give me a massage, it hurts."

Kobayashi Yuuzuki glared at him with her hands on her hips: "You didn't do anything, did you? Mr. Dubian struck out all three batters by himself!"

"I... I clearly hit the second ball..."

"Is that as hard as Mr. Dubian's work? You caught just one ball! Mr. Dubian pitched three!" Kobayashi Yuuzuki looked down at Kunii Shuichi.

"...No."

While the second row argued, Goda's first batter was already stepping onto the field.

The coach looked towards the batter's box and asked the catcher, "How is it?"

"The speed is fast," the catcher replied.

"Can he play?"

The catcher glanced at the batter on the field, the ace pitcher of Goda, Uchida.

Uchida's speed wasn't as fast as Dubian's, but still not slow, with a record of 150km/h. In Koshien, that might not be called the fastest, but it was definitely among the top pitchers, capable of winning the championship.

Moreover, combined with strong hitters like Kunii Shuichi, the goal for everyone this year was the championship.

This was also why the baseball club dared to promise: "If we don't reach the finals at Koshien, we'll prostrate ourselves at the school gates for everyone."

Dubian Che, the school's star, was a member of the legendary Human Observation Department, a cultural club; he had only been seen in haste on the field a few times.

Even if the speed was really fast, just throwing fastballs... in the end, was his speed truly 160km/h?

Such monstrous pitching speed could dominate Major League Baseball in America!

Now that he had calmed down, upon reflection, maybe it was just an illusion due to the direct confrontation with a high-speed pitch.

A 160km/h pitch, he had never caught one before.

Not to mention Goda's pitchers, such speeds have only appeared a few times at Koshien.

Each time, it would cause uproar like tidal waves, making the commentators spit, with newspapers dedicating an entire page to the pitcher's photo.

Dubian Che, who had never trained, pitching such a ball? Impossible!

If nothing unexpected happened, their team was certain to make it into the top four this year.

The finals needed a bit of luck, the championship needed a bit of luck, and in such a situation, there was absolutely no need to risk letting Dubian Che, who never trained, take the field.

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