July 2, m.

  In the swelteri of summer, even before the sun rose, the air was already growing thick with heat.

  Gao Shen woke up early, had breakfast, packed his belongings, and stood at the interse. After waiting for less than a minute, Lucas pulled up in the car to pick him up. Together, they headed toward Fort Volturno.

  Today marked the beginning of Napoli's summer training camp.

  Iy, the pyers had already beguing the day before, where they underwent physical examinations ducted by Bueura and the team's medical staff. The results, while not surprising to the coag team, were less than ideal.

  These young pyers had clearly let loose during their break.

  But this wasn't ued.

  Very few pyers have the extreme discipline or strong willpower to keep training rigorously during the offseason. Most of them, being regur people, tend to rex as soon as they're given time off.

  The coag staff was fully prepared for this. The more these pyers eheir break, the more intehe uping training would be.

  For the summer training, Gao Shen had scheduled three sessions per day.

  ---

  The coag staff arrived at Fort Volturno an hour before the pyers.

  Upon their arrival, they quickly vened for a short meeting.

  The training pn had already been carefully studied in advance, and a solid strategy had beeablished. Now, it was time for execution. Gao Shen's main requirement was that the team be in top form before the Coppa Italia in mid-August. At the same time, they o build a strong physical foundation for the two-front battle in the uping season.

  In addition, several pyers proo injury like Thiago Motta were to be closely monitored. Gao Shen specifically instructed Bueura and the medical team to keep an eye on them a any s immediately.

  "Alright, everyone!"

  At the end of the meeting, Gao Shen stood before the coag staff and support team for a final rally.

  "Last season, we reached the Coppa Italia semifinals, but I ersonally dissatisfied. I don't believe that was a true refle of our capabilities, especially the 3-0 loss to Inter Min that was a shame I 't fet!"

  "I'll say it again: we have only one goal this season, and that is to win the Serie A title!"

  "I hope all of you are ready to fight alongside me. Together, we'll recim the honors we missed out on st season. The matches we lost—we will win them back this season!"

  Gao Shen's words were met with enthusiastic appuse from everyone present.

  Whether it was his core coag team or the staff at Fort Volturno, after w with him for a season, they had developed great resped admiration fao Shen.

  He had earhat respect, game by game, throughout the previous season.

  ---

  The first training session of the new season is always a bit ceremonial.

  Gao Shen and his coag staff stood by the entrao the training ground early, watg the pyers emerge from the locker room, ughing and chatting as they walked toward the field, all in high spirits.

  "Lorenzo, seeing them like this, don't you feel a little guilty for what's ing?" Gao Shen asked with a smile.

  Bueura g him and muttered, "As if you didn't help pn it."

  Everyone nearby chuckled.

  While Bueura had drawn up the training pn, all of the specific requirements and instrus had e from Gao Shen himself.

  So, who was to bme?

  "They don't realize they're about to face a disaster," Carlo joked, shaking his head.

  The training program Bueura devised articurly brutal.

  "Boss!"

  "Good m, boss!"

  "Hello, boss!"

  One by ohe pyers greeted Gao Shen as they approached, shaking hands and hugs.

  Gao Shen responded warmly, ag as though he had no idea what awaited them over the month. He smiled, enced them, and exged pleasantries, all while keeping their spirits high.

  This se made both Carlo and Bueura exge gnces, shaking their heads in disbelief.

  Gao Shen had a way with the pyers, and his standing among them was incredibly high.

  How high?

  Well, believe it or not, when the pyers started pining about the difficulty of training, the first to take the bme would be Bueura, followed by Carlo.

  Why?

  Bueura was the fitness coach, and Carlo was the assistant coach responsible for overseeing the training sessions.

  Those two were the most obvious targets. Who would dare bme the head coach?

  Gao Shen, after all, was overseeing the big picture. He often stood on the sidelines during training, hands on hips, occasionally a few encing words or making decisions that seemed to favor the pyers.

  How could someone as friendly and kind as Gao Shen be responsible for their misery?

  Even if he had approved the pn, surely it was Carlo and Bueura's suggestion!

  And, believe it or not, this was exactly how the pyers thought.

  Carlo couldn't help but smile bitterly.

  Sometimes, he wondered if Gao Shen had asked him to be his assistant coach just so he'd have someoo take the heat.

  ---

  "Everyone!"

  Once all the pyers had gathered, Gao Shen stepped forward to give his pre-training speech.

  "Wele to the summer camp of the future Serie A champions!"

  The pyers erupted into appuse, some cheeriedly. David Luiz, always the , nearly broke into a samba dao celebrate.

  Even though the team's atmosphere was known for being lively, some of the newer pyers were still taken aback.

  Was it always this lively?

  "Before st season ended, I told you all that we have three goals for this season. First..."

  "Champions!" Several pyers shouted enthusiastically.

  "Sed..." Gao Shen raised two fingers.

  "Champions!" the pyers echoed again.

  "And third..."

  "Still, champions!"

  "Exactly!" Gao Shen ughed, praising the pyers for their enthusiasm.

  "Last season, we won Serie B as a newly-promoted team. This season, we're once again a newly-promoted team in Serie A."

  "A lot of people out there are saying that the best finish a newly-promoted team has ever achieved in Serie A history is fifth, like Del Neri's Chievo, which they called a miracle. But I think that's too small."

  "Is finishing fifth really a miracle?"

  Many of the pyers shook their heads.

  In the Bundesliga, Kaisersutern had wole as a newly-promoted team. That was a miracle!

  Greece winning the European Championship was a miracle!

  Fifth p Serie A? That wasn't a miracle.

  "This season, we're going to show them what a real miracle looks like. Let the doubters, the ones who think we're just fighting to avation, watch closely!"

  "We're going to do what no one has done before. The title we missed st season, we're going to win it. The games we lost st season, we're going to win them back!"

  "We're going to face down every doubt, every challenge, and show the world what we're capable of!"

  "I believe in ead every one of you, and I know you won't disappoint me, our fans, or yourselves!"

  The pyers were instantly fired up.

  Although Gao Shen had repeatedly warhem that summer training would be tough and they o be mentally prepared, the young squad, full of energy and ambition, wasn't deterred.

  They couldn't wait to get on the field, prove themselves, and fight for the championship.

  ---

  Goalkeepers: Handanovic, Gennaro Iezzo, Matteo Gianello.

  Defenders: Bonucci, Vargas, David Luiz, Paolo avaro, Lichtsteiner, Dossena, Domizzi, Gyarics.

  Midfielders: Rakitic, Biglia, Vidal, Hamsik, Thiago Motta, Parejo, Nainggon, Pastore, Montervino.

  Forwards: Pelle, i, Sanchez, Callejon, Di Maria, Mertens, Antonio Valencia.

  Teeraining with the first team: Verratti and Insigne.

  Gao Shen took great pride in the fact that his team's average age was just 21.82, making them the you squad not just in Serie A, but across all five major European leagues.

  They were even youhan Van Gaal's famous Ajax team.

  If you only looked at the starting eleven that Gao Shen trusted most, the average age dropped even further to 20.54. That was youhan the reserve teams of both Real Madrid and Bara.

  Yet here he reparing to lead such a young team into the petitive enviro of Serie A.

  More importantly, Gao Shen had the fideo guide this team to success.

  Their stelr performa season had already demonstrated their strength and potential. All he o do now was tap into that potential, squeeze out every bit of ability from his pyers, and elevate the team to the level.

  This summer, Napoli had strengtheheir squad, but so had their petitors.

  Juventus had spent over 50 million euros, signaling that they were not to be taken lightly.

  Inter Min had brought in pyers like Chivu and Suazo, further bolstering their squad. Although they missed out on Emerson, which meant they couldn't reuhe Emerson-Vieira midfield duo, Inter's overall strength had definitely increased.

  A and Roma had also signifitly improved.

  All of this was expected and was factored into the pns Gao Shen had preseo De Laurentiis.

  He khe challehat Napoli would face if they wao wile. Yet, despite the odds, he set this goal and was determio achieve it.

  Not only did he want to push every pyer to their limits, but he also wao challenge himself.

  He could have set a more modest target, like seg a spot in European petitions or even qualifying for the Champions League, and that would have been more than enough.

  In fact, meeting those goals would have fully satisfied the expectations he had set with De Laurentiis.

  But that wasn't Gao Shen's style. Instead, he boldly decred their aim to win the Serie A championship.

  Whether before or now, he had always believed that people often uimate themselves.

  If you don't push yourself to the limit, you'll never know how far you go or what you're truly capable of achieving.

  Now, the goal was set, the challenge id out, and there was n back.

  It was time to go all in.