Chapter 789: Dream Start! Domain Skill: Stabilizer! Stepping Stone to a Superstar! Arsenal's Strategic Opportunity

“We shouldn’t need a center-back right now, should we?” Wang Shuo asked again.

“That’s exactly the problem at the moment. After his comeback, Vermaelen is in great form. Koscielny and Subotic are both available, which means we currently have three center-backs. Having Djourou and Squillaci as the fourth option is also barely viable.”

Djourou had been famous for years, but in reality, he was only twenty-five years old. Koscielny and Vermaelen were both twenty-six. Subotic was the youngest, at just twenty-three.

The most intensely contested position within the Arsenal squad was actually the goalkeeper. There was Szczeny, Fabianski, and the Argentine goalkeeper Martinez. All three possessed impressive abilities, but at present, Szczeny had firmly established himself.

This goalkeeper was quite interesting—highly inconsistent and prone to flashes of erratic brilliance. When he performed well, he was an absolute titan, but when his form dipped, he was exasperating enough to make people want to strangle him. However, that was basically the case for most goalkeepers. Joe Hart, De Gea, Reina, and even Cech after his injury were largely the same.

“We lost our away game against Fulham in the last round, and this round is another away game. We cannot afford to lose again,” Wenger instructed Wang Shuo with a solemn expression. “Manchester United is playing Bolton at home this round, and there is a high probability they will win. If we suffer a two-game losing streak, the pressure on us will be immense when we host Manchester United in round twenty-two.”

Wang Shuo nodded. “Don’t worry, I understand.”

***

When Wang Shuo returned to the locker room, the rest of his teammates had not yet arrived. He tidied up a bit, sat down in his spot, and entered the Ball God System.

After he received the 2011 FIFA Golden Ball Award, the Ball God System had sent him a notification. The system rewarded him with a choice between a World-level Passive Skill Card or 750 Passive Value points. Wang Shuo was certainly no fool; he directly chose the 750 Passive Value points. Because he was the first player from Asia to win the Golden Ball Award, the system granted him an additional 50 Passive Value points as a bonus.

This brought the total to 800 points. Previously, after Wang Shuo had upgraded Insight and Inverted Foot to the Intercontinental Level, he only had 3 Passive Value points remaining. Now, he had a grand total of 803 Passive Value points.

He wondered whether he should save up a bit more to reach 1000 points and upgrade one of his Passive Skills to the Legendary Level first, or if he should elevate another Passive Skill to the World-level and unlock an additional Domain Skill.

After considering it for a few days, Wang Shuo decided to upgrade Breathing to the World-level first. There were two reasons for this.

The first was that Breathing primarily focused on recovery, which would play a massive role in the second half of the season. Since there was no winter break, Wang Shuo wasn’t entirely sure if he could endure the physical toll of the latter half of the campaign. Especially with the Champions League reigniting soon, coupled with the FA Cup and the Premier League, he had to think ahead.

On the other hand, upgrading Breathing would indirectly make Swift’s Domain Skill, Hunter, and its variable-speed corridor faster and stronger. This meant that upgrading one Passive Skill would simultaneously enhance two different aspects of his game. Therefore, Wang Shuo immediately chose to upgrade Breathing.

“Congratulations, you have successfully upgraded Breathing to the World-level and officially unlocked the Domain Skill: Stabilizer.

“Stabilizer: The Domain Skill obtained after Breathing advances to the World-level.

“When the body is under long-term high stress and high consumption (such as two matches a week or after long-haul flights), or in extreme environments (such as high temperatures or high-altitude away games), the internal metabolic environment automatically optimizes to the extreme, forming an absolute steady state.

“Recovery speed is vastly improved, maximizing resistance against negative effects such as food poisoning and acclimatization issues, while adapting to harsh match environments including high altitudes, severe cold, extreme heat, humidity, and aridity.”

When Wang Shuo saw this message, he was completely stunned.

Was the Domain Skill: Stabilizer incredible? Absolutely! Needless to say, just reading the text description made it obvious that it was unbelievably overpowered.

The only issue was that this Domain Skill was far too passive. It stood in stark contrast to Foundation’s Domain Skill, Blasters. One was practically an Active Skill, while the other was entirely passive.

As the name implied, the Domain Skill: Stabilizer was definitively his secret weapon for maintaining form during a grueling schedule. It would be his greatest reliance when conquering various extreme away games, and it was also the foundational bedrock for sustaining his peak condition throughout a long career. It provided the endurance guarantee for long-term, sustainable, and consistently reliable high-level performances!

He found it rather interesting when he thought about it. As his two most important physical Passive Skills, the Domain Skills for Foundation and Breathing had developed toward two completely opposite extremes. However, with the blessing of the Domain Skill: Stabilizer, Wang Shuo felt even more confident about the second half of the season.

***

On the afternoon of January 15, during the twenty-first round of the Premier League, Arsenal played an away match against Swansea.

The match entered the fast lane right from the opening whistle. Just forty seconds into the game, Swansea captain Ashley Williams delivered a penetrating through ball. Midfielder Augustine carried the ball forward. The moment he charged into the Gunners’ thirty-meter zone, he couldn’t wait to unleash a long-range shot that nearly pierced the goal defended by Szczeny.

This instantly sounded the horn for an end-to-end shootout!

Just two minutes later, the Gunners responded in the midfield. After a successful interception, Matuidi passed the ball forward to Hazard. The young player from Belgium received the ball in the left half-space, consecutively shaking off the harassment of Rangel and Augustine before sending a through ball right to Wang Shuo’s feet.

Upon receiving the ball between the two center-backs, Wang Shuo accelerated in a flash, piercing through Swansea’s defensive line. He broke into the right side of the penalty area and executed a chip shot.

The football sailed over the onrushing goalkeeper Vorm and dropped into the Swansea net.