Diamond Ace's Passionate Swing

"On the field, just show them your strength."

"Ah Zhe!"

Izashiki looked at Yuki Tetsuya with excitement, as if he had seen a savior.

"There's something extraordinary emanating from you!"

Miyuki Kazuya stroked his chin thoughtfully, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

"The only company that can rival them is probably Inashiro Industrial..."

"They seriously underestimate our Seido pitching roster..."

"However, this is for the best; at least we are now prepared."

Kazuya Miyuki's lips curled up slightly, revealing a confident smile.

"I will show them the price of disrespecting us!"

Lin Xiao chuckled to himself, thinking: These guys are really easy to provoke.

However, this is good too; having fighting spirit is better than having no fighting spirit at all.

"Since that's the case..."

Lin Xiao paused, his eyes sweeping over his eager teammates.

"Yuki-senpai, Isashiki-senpai, Masuko-senpai, how about we have a three-day simulated combat match to see who wins against me?"

"My jetpack should come in handy."

"Wait...wait a minute!"

Miyuki Kazuya's voice suddenly rose, tinged with disbelief and shock.

"What?! A jetpack?! When did you learn that? Are you a monster?!"

"I just thought about it in my spare time; I guess I have a knack for learning!"

Lin Xiao scratched his head and covered it up with a "hahaha" laugh. He couldn't very well say that he had a system, could he?

"We simulated the batting order against the pharmacy high school."

Lin Xiao continued, his tone becoming serious.

"Miyuki and I will lead the second team against your first team's batting lineup. Ideally, we should crush their pitchers in the first inning."

"You want to compete with us? You've got some nerve!"

Jun Isashiki grinned, revealing a smile full of fighting spirit.

"I'd love to welcome you! But I can't go easy on you, especially..."

He gestured with his chin towards Yuki.

"This one over here!"

"I know."

Lin Xiao took a deep breath, his gaze resolute.

"Please show us your true strength."

"good!"

Yuki nodded, his words concise and to the point.

"There's still an hour before practice starts, let's begin now. Anyone who's free, go on defense."

"yes!"

The surrounding teammates responded in unison, and the atmosphere instantly became lively.

Miyuki Kazuya looked at Lin Xiao with a complicated expression.

"We've been making adjustments with the goal of playing against the City University. We're worried that Lin Xiao won't be able to hold his own against a truly strong opponent."

"It seems like everything's fine now. The rest depends on his pitching form..."

"In a simulated battle, defense is still necessary, right?"

"Leave the defenses to us!"

Members of the Second Army volunteered one after another.

"It's okay if he gets hit, Lin Xiao!"

"Left field defense is my responsibility!"

"Let's start with three balls to warm up, Lin Xiao."

Miyuki Kazuya put on his protective gear and crouched behind home plate.

"Show it to me."

"It's coming!"

Lin Xiao stood on the pitcher's mound, feeling the scorching sun, his fingertips gently stroking the stitching on the baseball.

When Kazuya Miyuki crouched behind home plate, he keenly noticed that Xiao Lin's grip on the ball was different from usual.

The index and middle fingers are not flat against the sides of the suture.

Instead, it's stuck at the protrusion of the third seam, like pulling a trigger.

This subtle adjustment caused Miyuki Kazuya to subconsciously tighten his catcher's gloves.

"Hey, hey..."

Miyuki Kazuya's goggles reflected the red clay kicked up when Lin Xiao lifted his leg, and the sunlight gilded the pitcher's right shoulder.

"This isn't the normal grip for a shotgun."

As the first ball broke through the air, it emitted a hissing sound like a viper spitting its tongue.

When the white ball had traveled two-thirds of its length, it split into a blur and fell to the right at a high altitude.

Although Kazuya Miyuki's glove caught the ball, his forearm was thrown back half an inch by the residual spin.

"Snapped!"

Miyuki Kazuya looked down at the baseball inside his glove, which was slightly smoking, and the burnt smell of leather still lingered between his fingers.

"The displacement just now..."

The sound of a metal bat hitting the ground came from the direction of second base.

Kominato Haruichi remained frozen in place, maintaining his bat-swinging practice posture.

"Is it a spinning ball?"

Lin Xiao looked at the ball he had thrown, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

This is practically an upgraded version of the Jetball—the Spiral Jetball!

Rei Takashima stood aside, observing silently.

"They defeated the City University's Pharmacist High School team by simulating the pitching of the Pharmacist High School pitchers. There is very little information about them; they are a very strange team."

"Indeed, the key to victory lies in whether Lin Xiao can withstand the attacks from the opponent's attacking line."

Coach Kataoka looked at Lin Xiao with a hint of approval in his eyes.

"It seems he's ready for battle."

The second ball came even more fiercely.

Lin Xiao's right arm lashed past his ear like a whip, and the baseball spun rapidly the moment it left his fingertips. The vortex created by the stitching cutting through the air left a spiral trail behind the ball.

As the ball approached home plate, Kazuya Miyuki's pupils suddenly contracted.

The ball changed direction three times in mid-air, like a puppet controlled by invisible threads.

"Snapped!"

The moment he caught the ball, Miyuki Kazuya was stunned by its power, and he shook his numb wrist.

Both Coach Kataoka and Rei Takashima wore expressions of confusion and shock.

"A new type of ball?"

Miyuki Kazuya looked at Lin Xiao, his heart filled with turmoil.

"This kid's strength has increased quite a bit again."

He compared Lin Xiao with the talented pitchers he had encountered before and found that none of them seemed to be able to compare with Lin Xiao in front of him.

"Hello!"

Seeing Lin Xiao warming up with two balls, Jun Izashiki couldn't help but shout loudly.

"Are you throwing a baseball or a cannonball, kid?!"

"Where did this freak come from?!"

The surrounding teammates also exclaimed in amazement.

"Even a ball that's just been practiced can be used as a fighting asset!"

"Terrifying!!!"

The third goal.

When the third shot was taken, the entire stadium fell silent.

Lin Xiao's pitching motion was eerily slow; the clay particles kicked up when he lifted his leg hovered in the air, as if someone had slowed down the flow of time tenfold.

But the moment the ball broke through a certain critical point, everyone's retinas were left with the burn marks left by the comet piercing the sun.

"boom--"

When Kazuya Miyuki caught the ball with his glove, it created a shockwave, and a cloud of dust rose behind home plate.

"That ball was so fast!"

"The man who did the beating must have been scared half to death!"

"A powerful jet of air shot straight at my chest, and it was incredibly fast!"

The team members were buzzing with discussion, their voices filled with shock and disbelief.

"To be able to throw the jetball that fast, that's beyond the limits of an intermediate-level pitcher."

Coach Kataoka and Rei Takashima exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and relief in each other's eyes.

"If it's anything interesting, please count me in!"

Sawamura's voice suddenly rang out, breaking the silence on the court.

"Sawamura!"

Izashiki turned his head and glared at Sawamura.

"If you want to go up to the mound, I'll play with you! I'll grind you both into mincemeat!"

"Meat...meat sauce..."

A look of horror appeared on Sawamura's face.

Izashiki walked to home plate, his eyes fixed intently on Lin Xiao.

Izuki is not afraid of the ball's speed.

"Come on, Lin Xiao!!!"