"Fifth batter, Shirazawa!"
One out, no one on base.
Shirazawa stepped into the batter's box, and the players and supporters of Seibō High School were still shaken by the previous at-bat.
Zhou Hao's clean, overwhelming strikeout of their cleanup hitter had carved fear deep into their hearts.
Facing this terrifying first-year pitcher…
Did they really stand a chance of getting a hit?
Of scoring runs?
Everyone already knew the answer deep down.
It was difficult—extremely difficult.
Even the ordinary fans, who didn't know the details of the matchup, felt the desperation. For the players who fully understood what had happened, the impact was even heavier.
Oishibashi, who had just stepped down from the batter's box, still looked blank.
How strong was Zhou Hao's pitching?
He had known from previous data that Zhou Hao would be a difficult opponent.
But he still had hope.
He believed that once the game began, they might find a chance, however small, to get a hit off him.
Now, that hope felt incredibly naïve.
Zhou Hao's pitch wasn't just tricky—it was evolving.
The Zhou Hao they knew from before… was already outdated.
The Zhou Hao standing on the mound now…
Was stronger. Faster. Scarier.
And worst of all…
He was still growing.
Zhou Hao didn't stubbornly challenge hitters head-on.
He used whatever method, within the rules, that secured an out.
And that unpredictability made hitting him even more impossible.
In Seibō's Dugout
"How was it?" the coach asked, rubbing his rosacea-tinted nose.
It was already the fifth inning.
Whether he wanted to admit it or not, their chances were dwindling fast.
"No matter what… we can't retreat now," Oishibashi said bitterly. "We can only go all out."
Of course he didn't believe those words.
But he couldn't say anything pessimistic in front of the team.
If he did, their already slim chances would collapse entirely.
The Seibō coach fell silent.
He knew Oishibashi's strength better than anyone.
For him to say something like that…
It spoke volumes about how terrifying Zhou Hao truly was.
But they had no choice.
They couldn't back down.
They could only fight Seidou to the very end.
Back on the Field
Shirazawa stared intensely at Zhou Hao.
Besides the coach and Oishibashi, he was the one who understood their confrontation best.
"Using a breaking pitch as bait… then switching to a normal four-seam to deal with Oishi? You really are a hard kid to read."
He lowered his center of gravity, tightening his grip.
What pitch would Zhou Hao throw next?
A Spiral Ball?
Something else?
Zhou Hao moved—smooth, fluid, seamless.
Shirazawa's pupils contracted.
It's coming.
His most feared pitch—
The Speed of Light Beam.
On the surface, it resembled a fastball.
But he knew better.
He himself could throw this type of pitch—
A fastball that was two to three kilometers faster than a normal four-seam.
A pitch that somehow created a slight, unnatural movement.
He used to think it was a quirk of his own special talent.
But now…
Zhou Hao replicated the same pitch perfectly.
"Pop!"
"Strike!"
149.5 km/h.
The crowd barely reacted.
They'd already seen his Spiral Ball break 150.
But Shirazawa froze.
Zhou Hao's fastest fastball before this was 148 km/h.
He was already faster.
Already stronger.
Same motion.
Same speed.
Same terror.
"Whoosh!"
Shirazawa didn't swing.
"Strike!"
The Seidou supporters roared.
"He didn't swing!"
"Even Shirazawa's scared!"
They laughed—but the truth was clear.
Shirazawa did look shaken.
Shirazawa gritted his teeth.
A pitch near 150 km/h was beyond his comfortable range.
But he was Seibō's ace hitter.
He couldn't back down.
Zhou Hao delivered.
"Whoosh!"
Shirazawa swung with everything he had.
"Buzz!"
But the ball was already past him.
"Pop!"
"Strike! Strikeout!"
The stadium erupted.
Shirazawa stared at the scoreboard.
151 km/h.
His breath caught.
It increased again?
What kind of monster was this?
Seibō's sixth batter stepped up.
A strong hitter, but not on the level of Oishibashi or Shirazawa.
If even they couldn't touch the ball…
What hope did he have?
Zhou Hao didn't care about his despair.
He just pitched.
"Whoosh!"
The sixth batter saw only a flash of white—like a laser beam.
"The Speed of Light Beam…?!"
He barely reacted.
"Pop!"
"Strike!"
Then another.
"Strike!"
Zhou Hao didn't stop.
He threw the third pitch.
And even he felt something strange.
"Boom!"
The batter swung desperately.
But the ball was already in Chris's glove.
"Strikeout!"
The scoreboard lit up—
152 km/h.
Silence.
Then explosive cheers.
The Seidou dugout went wild.
"152?!"
"He broke through again?!"
"Zhou Hao is insane!"
Shirazawa watched from the dugout, his pupils trembling.
It increased again…?
How…?
At the same time—
Ding!
The system notification rang in Zhou Hao's mind.