The June weather in New York was a little hot.
A fiery red Chevrolet pickup truck was rocketing across the Hudson River at 100 miles per hour, hurtling toward Cosworth, New Jersey.
Eminem's latest album was blasting from the car's speakers. Reggie Williams, in the driver's seat, and Dennis Scott, in the passenger seat, were rapping along with gusto. The two brawny Black teenagers were hyped up, waving their arms and legs around wildly. They looked like a couple of grunts from a gangster flick—the ones who show up at the beginning to kick off the story and are promptly taken out.
The handsome Su Xi, wearing a baggy Syracuse University basketball uniform, sat in the back seat. He had his seatbelt on and kept repeating, "Hey, Reggie, slow down, slow down!"
"Damn it, are you two high or something?" he said irritably.
A voice came from the front: "We're just doing what any normal Beautiful Country black man should be doing, Jack!"
"Honestly, you should try some too!"
Reggie didn't slow down; he was on a high. He even turned his head back to tease Su Xi, "This is a game for the brave, you gotta go wild! Show them the might of the Three Musketeers of Cosworth."
Su Xi quickly told him to watch the road and find a place to pull over. He said, "I don't want to show off any might, I've got a damn great future ahead of me. Once I find my talent, I'll be set for life!"
"Stop looking, bro. Reggie will take care of you after he gets into the NBA." Dennis Scott, in the passenger seat, clapped Reggie on the shoulder and said, "Right, Reggie?"
"Of course, I have to take care of my Little Sheep Su Xi," Reggie chuckled. He then started teasing, "But your compatriot Yao is pretty uncool. The media says he's actually trying to steal my number one pick. Hey, Jack, you got his number? I need to have a talk with him."
Reggie Williams was getting carried away and starting to talk nonsense.
Reggie Williams was Su Xi's childhood friend; they grew up together. He was currently the best college player in the United States from the class of 2002. In high school, he was Mr. Basketball of New Jersey.
Across the entire non-NBA basketball world, the only ones in the United States who could be discussed in the same breath as him were two high school students: LeBron James and Carmeron Anthony.
But neither of them would be entering the draft this year, whereas Reggie Williams had already declared.
Reggie was extremely loyal. Last year, after entering Syracuse University as a five-star high school recruit, the first thing he did was use his special privileges as a star player to pull Su Xi, who had been formally accepted into the Syracuse University business school, onto the school team, taking up one of the roster spots.
Su Xi's basketball skills were actually quite good. He had solid fundamentals, and his dribbling ability was phenomenal. However, his physical attributes were mediocre, so he never got any playing time.
Because Reggie was looking out for him, the team still gave him bonuses and stipends. Furthermore, having "school team experience" on Su Xi's resume would be a great help when he started looking for a job in the future.
Reggie didn't have to worry about finding a job. This past March, Reggie Williams had led Syracuse University to the NCAA Final Four. Throughout the entire month, he made more basketball headlines than even the superstars of the NBA.
In May, he announced his entry into this year's draft and signed with an agent. Photos of his tryouts with various teams sparked all sorts of media speculation. A picture of him in Orlando seemingly leaping out of nowhere to kiss the rim caused his draft stock to skyrocket. Everywhere he went, he was met with the flash of media cameras and the screams of fans.
More and more people predicted he would become this year's NBA number one pick, the first overall pick of 2002.
Sitting next to Reggie Williams was Georgetown University's power center, Dennis Scott. He was also one of the Three Musketeers of Cosworth, having grown up with them. He had the body of a bull; rumor had it his biological father was a football player. In his senior year of high school, his bench press already exceeded 280 pounds, and after entering the NCAA, his muscle mass increased to an even more exaggerated degree.
In the future, he too would enter the NBA, becoming a super blue-collar player like Ben Wallace.
"Seriously, Jack, what are you going to do after we both make it to the NBA? NBA teams aren't as easy to sway as college teams. They won't just give you a contract because I pressure them," Reggie said, a note of concern in his voice.
Su Xi closed his eyes. Something was loading in his mind... 'Basketball God's Little Elf.' It had been loading for five years and was about to reach one hundred percent.
"Me? I'm waiting for my talent..."
Su Xi said seriously.
Su Xi came to the United States with his grandfather at the age of nine. At twelve, his grandfather passed away in an accident. He received a settlement and had been living in Cosworth ever since.
When Su Xi was thirteen, during a basketball game, an opponent struck him on the bridge of his nose. Blood dripped onto the red birthmark on his chest. Later that night, Su Xi felt his body begin to float. Then, a voice appeared in his mind, telling him: You have been chosen. You will become the new God of Basketball.
At the time, Su Xi thought it was all a dream.
Two months later, on June 5th, he was caught alone in a thunderstorm during a hike. He was pulled into the sky by a bolt of lightning, and for a full 23 minutes, countless bolts struck him relentlessly. The pain was beyond excruciating.
But in the end, it was not a success.
He only heard a distant voice: "Lacks talent. Poor physical constitution. Cannot be directly crowned the king of basketball."
From that day on, an icon appeared in his mind. The icon read: Basketball Elf loading.
And from that day on, Su Xi waited every single day—waited for talent, waited for the Little Elf.
"Waiting for talent? Don't be ridiculous, Jack."
"You'd be better off praying to God to have him give you a bit of our talent. With your dribbling skills, you'd definitely make it as an NBA player," Scott said from the side.
DING!
Just then, Su Xi heard a voice in his mind: Basketball Elf activated.
The icon in Su Xi's mind began to flash.
Then, it emitted a voice only Su Xi could hear: Supreme explosive power talent detected. Supreme strength talent detected!!
Su Xi was about to ask the Little Elf a question with his thoughts.
From the front, Reggie added, "If Jack had my explosive power and Scott's strength, he could even become an NBA star..."
Just then... BOOM!!!!
The vehicle was rocked by a violent impact. Everything went black for Su Xi, and his consciousness began to fade instantly.
In his last moments of awareness, he heard a voice.
"Lost supreme explosive power talent and supreme strength talent captured. Acquire?"
'Yes!'
Su Xi gave the command with his last shred of consciousness.
Immediately, Su Xi felt two streams of power surging into his body.
Then, he lost consciousness.
…