He is one of the most controversial players in world football. His achievements on the field are obvious to all, but at the same time, his impulsiveness and arrogance make him widely disliked. He shoves referees, provokes opponents, and starts brawls...

"Getting booked is just routine for him. Do you think a yellow card can warn him? Haha! That’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard!"

He gives referees headaches, he gives opposing defenders and goalkeepers headaches, he even gives both his own and the opposing coaches headaches...

"What do you think about the hero frequenting nightclubs, Mr. Advocaat?"

"Let’s change the question, Miss Reporter..."

He drives the media into a frenzy, because as long as he’s around, there’s never a shortage of news—on or off the pitch.

He delights fans with his goals.

His countless romantic scandals with all kinds of women make people jealous.

"...As long as you have money, anyone can sleep with those bitches, it’s no big deal... Really, I’m not jealous of him at all!"

He is a mix of angel and devil—the more some people hate him, the more others like him.

As "France Football" put it: "He is the most unique big man on the modern football field!"

But Ethan Brooks doesn’t think any of this is a big deal, so don’t make a fuss.

"Who do you think I am? I am Ethan Brooks!"

Watch out! Ethan is on the loose!

Volume One: The Northern Bear

Prologue: Going to Russia

"Bang!" With a loud noise, Ethan Brooks slammed his fist onto the public telephone in front of him. There was even a faint fist mark on the metal casing of the phone...

"Damn it!" he cursed.

His father, Owen Brooks, was sitting on the curb, staring absentmindedly at the traffic passing by.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn—" Ethan Brooks kept pounding the phone, cursing in rapid-fire succession.

"Ethan..." his father, sitting on the curb, finally spoke.

"What?" Ethan Brooks replied, his tone harsh.

"If you break public property, you’ll have to pay for it, right?"

Ethan Brooks was speechless.

He stopped venting his anger on the public phone, then walked over and squatted down next to his father.

"So what now? Even if we try to find him, we can’t. That damn scammer!" Ethan Brooks cursed bitterly.

Just three minutes ago, they realized they had been scammed.

They were tricked by an Italian con artist who claimed to be a scout for Udinese, losing a full one thousand euros!

That’s not a small sum.

The reason was that the scammer claimed he could introduce Ethan Brooks to Udinese, but needed a little "introduction fee"...

Before this, Ethan Brooks had just been rejected by Atalanta for a trial, and his father, desperate for a solution, ended up believing this scammer.

By the time they realized what had happened and called the number the scammer left, they found it was a fake!

That’s when they knew they’d been duped.

A thousand euros is ten thousand yuan—that’s no small amount.

And the money was borrowed...

Hearing his son say this, Owen Brooks sighed. It was all his fault for being so anxious... But how could he not be? They had been in Europe for over half a month, supposedly to find a way for his son to play football, but everywhere they went, they were turned away, looked down on, and ridiculed. For him, it was like a drowning man suddenly grabbing a straw, desperate to reach the shore...

So he believed the scammer and gave him a thousand euros as an introduction fee.

"Ethan, do you think your dad is useless?" After a long silence, Owen Brooks suddenly asked.

Ethan Brooks knew what his father was thinking. At this moment, he was afraid his father would have such thoughts, so he quickly shook his head and denied it: "How could I? I’ve never thought that. Actually, I’m already grateful that you brought me to Europe, Dad..."

Ethan Brooks then remembered what his father said to him back then.

※※※

Three months ago, "prospective professional player" Ethan Brooks was released from his club, just one month and five days before his eighteenth birthday.

The reason for his release wasn’t a lack of ability—he was still a regular in the youth team of this China League One club.

The reason was that he got into a fight with a teammate during training—a teammate who was a direct competitor tried to take him out with a dirty tackle. Enraged, Ethan Brooks launched a flying kick, hitting the other’s chest. The poor guy collapsed and couldn’t get up—after all, who could handle being double-footed in the chest by someone who’s 1.92 meters tall and weighs 93 kilograms...

But that wasn’t the end. After knocking the guy down, Ethan Brooks straddled him and rained punches on him, beating the dirty player straight into the hospital.