"Damn it… Ochi-senpai and Mōri-senpai's movement paths are being completely predicted by the opponents! This is really bad!" Inui Sadaharu said gravely from the Japan Team's bench.
"Bertie Borisovich Volk, an active professional player. Calm personality, specializes in doubles. He graduated from a top German school at thirteen years old. Rumor says his IQ is as high as three hundred! He's extremely good at collecting all kinds of opponent data and materials, then using that data to reason things out and create coordinated strategies, letting him take the advantage in matches," Yanagi Renji said directly, listing the data he had gathered.
"IQ three hundred?! Is he even human?" Kirihara Akaya stared at Yanagi Renji in shock, completely unable to believe what he had just heard.
"That's why Bertie has a famous nickname in Germany—AI! It's recognition of his intelligence that far exceeds normal people~" Mitsuya Akuto chimed in at this moment.
While they were discussing Bertie's intelligence, on the court Bertie had already fired off his third high-speed serve. This time, Mōri was receiving. He quickly flashed to the landing point, then turned sideways and unleashed a backhand shot.
The ball flew toward the Germany Team's half with clear backspin. Once again, Dankmar stepped forward to intercept it. Don't let his bulky build fool you—his overall defensive coverage was huge, and he almost always appeared at the most suitable spot to intercept the ball.
It was obvious that their pairing was one offense and one defense. Bertie focused on seeing through the opponents' movements and launching targeted counterattacks, while Dankmar handled intercepting most of the balls, buying Bertie time to collect data.
Mōri's backspin shot failed to achieve the expected effect. Dankmar was a professional player. Even though he specialized in doubles, he had no obvious weaknesses in technique, so ordinary spin shots were useless against him.
Soon, the two sides entered a fierce back-and-forth rally. Anyone with a keen eye could tell that most of the time, it was Dankmar returning the ball, while Bertie stayed in the backcourt observing Ochi and Mōri.
But whenever Bertie moved in to return, it often dealt a deadly blow to Ochi and Mōri, as if any tiny opening would be infinitely magnified in Bertie's eyes.
"30–15!"
"40–15!"
"GAME! Germany! 1–1!"
Just like that, Dankmar and Bertie took the second game. However, neither side's players showed much reaction by the court. They all knew the four players were still probing each other and hadn't gone all out yet.
The third game was Mōri's service game. After reaching the baseline, he took a deep breath, then tossed the ball high and smashed it hard with his right hand. The ball shot off at extreme speed and instantly slammed into the left back corner of the Germany Team's court.
Just as the ball was about to bounce out, Bertie arrived in time. He extended his racket forward, and after the ball struck the strings, it used the rebound force to soar back high into the Japan Team's half.
In the next instant, Ochi's figure leapt up violently. He smashed the incoming ball with full force. When two nearly overlapping impact sounds rang out, the ball had already bounced out past the Germany Team's baseline.
"15–0!"
Bertie calmly watched the ball outside the baseline, while his mind continuously calculated various data points. Dankmar, on the other hand, looked completely used to this, standing silently to the side. It turned out that the earlier return that looked like a mistake was done on purpose by Bertie—he wanted to measure the speed of Ochi's smash.
Mōri quickly tossed the ball again. It was another high-speed diagonal serve. This time, Bertie easily reached the back corner. His right arm drove the racket in a quick swing, and after tracing a large arc through the air, the ball flew toward the left sideline.
"Is that… Kaidō's Snake?" Fuji Shūsuke said uncertainly from the sidelines.
"To be precise, it's a powerful topspin shot. The ball combines centrifugal force and rotation, creating an extremely exaggerated curved trajectory. You could say it's the prototype of Kaidō's Snake," Inui Sadaharu explained.
Luckily, a curve of this level was no problem for Mōri. He quickly turned and chased the ball, then used his sprinting momentum to swing backhanded in reverse. The ball passed under his ribs and shot straight toward the open space on the right side of the Germany Team's court.
Seeing this, Dankmar immediately shifted laterally to the right. He reached the best hitting point as the ball landed and returned a crosscourt shot without hesitation. The ball carried strong momentum as it flew straight toward the right back corner of the Japan Team's court.
However, Ochi, who had been hovering near the baseline, quickly flashed forward to the ball. Before it even touched the ground, he swung and struck it directly. The ball turned into a streak of light and shot toward the Germany Team's half, but just after crossing the net, it was stopped by a racket.
Bertie had appeared at the net at some point without anyone noticing. After intercepting the ball, he lightly twisted his right wrist, and the ball flew back at a small angle, instantly slamming onto the left sideline before bouncing out.
"30–0!"
Ochi and Mōri exchanged a glance, both seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes—though how Mōri managed to see Ochi's eyes was anyone's guess. When Mōri served again, the two of them focused completely.
Dankmar quickly moved to the landing point, gripped the racket with both hands, and viciously smashed the rebounding ball. The ball brushed past Ochi and flew straight toward Mōri, who was charging forward to the front court.
Seeing the ball rushing at him, Mōri stayed calm. He also held the racket with both hands and met it head-on. The weight transmitted through the racket made his brow crease slightly, but he still managed to return the ball.
Bertie immediately shifted to the right and intercepted the incoming ball at the net. Just as he was about to hit a down-the-line passing shot, he suddenly felt an extremely cold gaze. Bertie instinctively looked up and met Ochi's indifferent eyes.
In that instant, Bertie felt as if his entire body stiffened. His motion warped, and the ball was struck awkwardly, flying straight forward and quickly sailing past the Japan Team's baseline.
"OUT! 30–15!"
After losing the point, Bertie stiffly moved his body a bit, then looked at Ochi thoughtfully. Combined with what he had just experienced, he formed an initial understanding of the "mental assassination" described in the data.
"You okay, Bertie-boy~?" Dankmar walked over and asked.
"I'm fine. The Japan Team's players are really interesting—every single one of them has such a strong personality," Bertie replied, a curious smile appearing on his face.
After that, whenever Mōri finished serving, he and Ochi would quickly switch positions. One specialized in net interception, the other in baseline counterattacks. It was an unusual but perfectly complementary pairing.
On the Germany Team's side, Dankmar still handled most of the returns, with Bertie assisting from the side and occasionally launching key attacks. Unfortunately, against the now-serious Mōri and Ochi, the two of them seemed to be struggling a bit.
"30–30!"
"30–40!"
"GAME! Japan leads! 2–1!"
The match entered a break. Dankmar and Bertie returned to the Germany Team's bench with relaxed expressions. Clearly, they didn't care much about being behind, as this had always been their style.
"How's the overall data analysis on them? Any major deviations?" Ken asked Bertie softly.
"Neither of them has gone all out yet, but the general data is mostly analyzed. Ochi Tsukimitsu's mental assassination is indeed troublesome, but as long as we guard against it in advance, it's manageable. As for the Mach Serve, cracking it actually isn't that hard," Bertie replied after a moment's thought.
"As long as you have a plan. Then what about the other first-year player? What do you think?" Ken nodded and asked about Mōri.
"Mōri Juuzaburō? Let's just wait until he falls asleep first~" Bertie smiled and said no more. Not long after that, the break quietly came to an end.