Reincarnated As A Wonderkid-Chapter 527: Adaptation.

"Mr. Finch," Mrs. Darwin asked. "Can you give me an example of an adaptation?"

Alex looked up.

"Camouflage, Miss," Alex said. "Hiding in plain sight. Looking like something you are not to deceive the predator."

"Excellent," Mrs. Darwin beamed. "The art of deception."

Mark sat next to Alex. He was wearing a hat made of leaves and twigs.

"I AM A BUSH!" Mark whispered loudly. "NOBODY CAN SEE ME! I AM INVISIBLE TO PREDATORS!"

"Mark," Alex whispered. "You are sitting in a classroom. We can all see you."

"That is what you think!" Mark argued. "I am blending in with the potted plant in the corner! I am nature!"

"You are a fire hazard," Alex sighed.

The bell rang.

Alex packed his bag.

Adaptation. Camouflage. Deception.

He would need all of them.

Tonight was the FA Cup Final. Arsenal vs Chelsea. Wembley Stadium.

Chelsea had a new manager. A tactical chameleon. He changed his formation every game. Nobody knew what to expect.

Alex walked out to the car park.

Milo was waiting.

Milo was dressed as... a Chameleon.

He was wearing a suit covered in multicolored sequins that changed color when he moved. He had a party blower in his mouth that curled out like a lizard tongue.

"I AM THE LIZARD KING!" Milo screamed, blowing the party blower into Alex’s face. PFFFT. "ALEX! I AM SELLING CAMOUFLAGE KITS! INVISIBLE PAINT! IT IS JUST WATER! BUT IT MAKES YOU FEEL INVISIBLE!"

"Milo, you look like a disco ball," Alex said.

"I AM ADAPTING TO THE ENVIRONMENT!" Milo yelled, spinning around. "LOOK AT ME SPARKLE!"

They drove to Wembley.

The stadium was split. Red and Blue.

Steve, the manager, was waiting in the dressing room.

"Chelsea," Steve said. "They are unpredictable. Last week they played 4-3-3. The week before, 3-5-2. Today? Who knows."

He looked at the team.

"They will try to confuse you. They will change shape during the game. Do not let them confuse you. Stick to your principles."

He looked at Alex.

"Professor. Read the game. If they change, we change. Evolution."

"Survival of the smartest," Alex said.

Wembley Stadium. The Final.

The atmosphere was tense. A London Derby in a final was always spicy.

Alex stood in the tunnel.

Enzo Fernandez stood next to him. The Chelsea midfielder.

"We have a surprise for you," Enzo whispered.

"I like surprises," Alex said. "Is it a cake?"

Enzo frowned. "No. It is a nightmare."

The whistle blew.

The game started.

Chelsea’s surprise was... weird.

They didn’t play with a striker. They played with six midfielders.

It was a "False Nine" formation, but extreme.

They swarmed the midfield. Caicedo, Enzo, Gallagher, Nkunku, Palmer... they were everywhere.

Arsenal couldn’t get the ball. Every time Alex tried to pass, a blue shirt was there.

In the twentieth minute, Palmer got the ball. He drifted into the space where a striker should be, but wasn’t.

Saliba didn’t know whether to follow him or stay back.

Confusion.

Palmer turned. He shot.

Raya saved.

"They are shapeshifters!" Rico yelled. "I don’t know who to mark!"

Alex stood in the center circle.

He analyzed the chaos.

Problem: Midfield overload. 6 vs 3.

Solution: Bypass the midfield. Evolution.

"Mark!" Alex shouted. "Go long! Be the predator!"

Arsenal restarted.

Alex stopped trying to play through the middle. He started hitting long, diagonal balls to the corners.

He turned Arsenal into a long-ball team. A primitive strategy. But effective against the modern clutter.

Thirty fifth minute.

Alex got the ball deep.

He didn’t look up. He knew where Mark was.

He hit a sixty-yard pass.

It flew over the congested midfield.

Mark ran onto it.

He was one on one with Disasi.

Mark was faster.

He pushed the ball past Disasi.

He was in the box.

Sanchez came out.

Mark looked at the goal.

He remembered the camouflage lesson.

Deception.

Mark shaped to shoot across the goal. His body language said "Far post".

Sanchez dived to the far post.

Mark stopped his foot at the last second. He dragged the ball to the near post.

A "No-Look Finish".

The ball rolled slowly into the net.

Goal.

One zero. Arsenal.

Mark ran to the corner. He covered his eyes with his hands.

"I DIDN’T SEE IT!" Mark screamed. "INVISIBLE GOAL!"

Alex ran over. "Deception!"

"I am a chameleon!" Mark yelled. "Now you see me, now you don’t!"

Halftime. One zero.

Steve was happy.

"They tried to be clever," Steve said. "They overthought it. You went back to basics. Keep hitting the space."

Second half.

Chelsea changed again.

They took off a midfielder and put on a big striker. Nicolas Jackson.

Now they played long balls.

"They are evolving!" Alex thought. "Fast adaptation."

The game became a physical battle.

Sixty fifth minute.

Jackson bullied Gabriel. He won the header.

It fell to Palmer.

Palmer volleyed.

Goal.

One one.

The Chelsea fans roared. Blue is the Colour.

The game was tied.

Alex looked at the clock. Seventy minutes.

He was tired. The season had been long.

But he had one more lesson in him.

Eighty fifth minute.

Alex had the ball on the wing.

He was double-teamed. Cucurella and Caicedo.

He couldn’t pass. He couldn’t run.

He looked at the corner flag.

Milo was there (how did he get past security?). He was waving his sparkly chameleon suit.

Alex looked at the pitch.

He saw a pattern.

Chelsea were aggressive. They thought they had him trapped.

Alex put his foot on the ball.

He rolled it backward.

He looked like he was giving up.

Cucurella stepped forward to take the ball.

Alex exploded.

He did a "Reverse Elastico".

He flicked the ball behind his standing leg, then pushed it forward through the gap between the defenders.

He escaped the trap.

He ran into the box.

He saw Rico.

Rico was free.

Alex squared the ball.

Rico controlled it. He danced around the goalkeeper.

He tapped it in.

Goal.

Two one. Arsenal.

Eighty eighth minute.

Alex ran to the crowd. He pointed to his brain.

"Adaptation!" Alex shouted.

Rico jumped on him. "You escaped the cage! Houdini!"

"I just changed the shape!" Alex laughed.

Chelsea threw everything forward. But it was too late.

The final whistle blew.

Arsenal 2. Chelsea 1.

The FA Cup Winners. Again.

The Double. Premier League and FA Cup.

Alex fell to the grass.

He looked at the sky.

Another trophy. Another Chapter.

Enzo walked over. He looked frustrated.

"You changed the game," Enzo said. "We had the plan."

"Plans change," Alex smiled. "Survival of the fittest."

Milo ran onto the pitch. His sequins were falling off.

"THE DISCO KING!" Milo screamed. "WE DANCED ON THEM! ALEX! THE TROPHY! I AM SELLING CONFETTI! IT IS BIODEGRADABLE! MADE OF OLD HOMEWORK!"

"Milo, did you shred my homework?" Alex asked.

"IT WAS FOR A GOOD CAUSE!" Milo yelled.

They walked up the steps.

Alex lifted the trophy.

It felt lighter this time. He was getting stronger.

Mark stood next to him. He was wearing the lid of the FA Cup as a hat. It looked like a silver UFO.

"Hey Professor," Mark said.

"Yeah?"

"I think I evolved."

"How?"

"I used to be fast," Mark said. "Now I am fast... and hungry."

"That is not evolution, Mark. That is just lunch."