In America, the winner takes all.

Chapter 172 Southern Brotherhood; I choose to speak with my fists

"It seems like I might be the last person to know about the ΔΚΕ fraternity?" Ethan stared at Mary. Whether it was Mary from the admissions office or the school security guards, these school workers seemed to be particularly familiar with this fraternity.

"There is no doubt that it is. This is the only national fraternity that was established before the Civil War. The birthplace was the University of Alabama. There is even a historical monument of this fraternity in the school." Mary nodded with an expression on her face. Not pretty.

"But this fraternity is suspended in the very place where it was born?"

"That's right." Mary nodded again.

"This fraternity caused so much trouble for the school and caused so much reputational damage to the University of Alabama that we had to close it down and take back the fraternity lodge."

"What's the reason?" Ethan asked next.

"There are so many reasons. Everyone in the fraternity is a racist. They deny Brown v. Board of Education and believe African Americans should be expelled from Dixie. Just from the internal records of the school, the ΔΚΕ fraternity has There have been over a hundred cases of public discrimination and attacks against African Americans on campus." Mary frowned.

She used the term "African-American" instead of "black."

"In addition, it also includes a large number of misconducts against women. Public opinion has even formed a consensus that every member of ΔΚΕ has 'infringed on the reserves'..." Mary listed the things that have happened in history one by one, including the University of Alabama, and Includes ΔΚΕ chapters present on other campuses.

In fact, almost all Southern universities have ΔΚΕ chapters.This is a huge organization with tens of thousands of members and thousands of chapters.There's even a national headquarters - the Leifer Memorial Temple in Evanston, Illinois.A general meeting is held here every two years to establish the Supreme Archon, Deputy Archon, Treasurer, Supreme Herald and Chief Historian of the Brotherhood.

And the misbehavior incidents that Mary listed one by one no longer sound any different from criminal acts.

“Finally, the ΔΚΕ Brotherhood’s oath of initiation is too harsh and includes sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, paddling (beating with an oar), stress positions, mental oppression, forced drinking, body branding, forced consumption of spoiled food, and of course, beatings. , assault and bullying in every form and sense.”

"There are at least 20 people who died while taking the oath. Some were due to accidents during the oath, and some were simply brothers who took the oath too far."

"Due to pressure, the school indefinitely suspended the activities of the ΔΚΕ fraternity at the University of Alabama many years ago. Over the years, there have been occasional signs that this fraternity is still operating on campus. The most recent one was you." Mary said .

"We need your cooperation now to root out this fraternity chapter at the University of Alabama."

"How do I need to cooperate? Lead the other party out, and then the school security guards will swarm over and arrest the other party?"

Ethan did not show rejection. This fraternity had obviously gone too far and caused harm and trouble to outsiders.Including himself, he didn't want to be stared at by students hiding in the dark.

"That didn't have any effect. The school had carried out similar operations before and caught several members. But the other party did not reveal who the other members were, even under the threat of expulsion."

"Then these students were expelled in the end?" Ethan asked.

Mary shook her head: "In the school rules, participating in the school's unregistered fraternity will not lead to the student's expulsion. We can't write these in the school rules. And we can't find any evidence of the other party's out-of-bounds behavior, or in other words, There is no way to connect these individuals to the out-of-bounds behavior in the school and ultimately they are given demerits in the name of alcohol abuse on campus.”

"In other words, the fraternity that was unilaterally terminated by the school not only did not disappear, but completely disappeared in the dark. This made the behavior of the fraternity members become unscrupulous? It can be understood that way." Ethan said slowly.

"You are right to say that." Mary sighed, admitting the previous mistakes of the school management. At first, they only unilaterally cut off the fraternity from the school registration system, and clearly distanced themselves from the relationship, but did not Someone actually purged the fraternity, or rather, only partially purged it.This resulted in the ΔΚΕ fraternity remaining on campus and growing out of control.

"Although I am a student of Alabama, I have no obligation to clean up the mess of the previous school administrators." Ethan shook his head. After understanding the truth, he changed his mind.

"This is what the principal meant. He specifically chose you." Mary could only tell the real situation.

"Come on, why me again?" Ethan muttered in a low voice.

College fraternities almost never actively seek out a student to join.

It happened that this happened to both himself and Catherine.

"Because you are different from others. ΔΚΕ is very secretive. Only a few students have contact with it. These students have actively chosen to join. But you are different. Do you still remember the marks of the fraternity? This is the first time that the fraternity has actively chosen Recruit someone, maybe it's your style in football, maybe it's your behavior in private, no matter what, you are now receiving special attention from ΔΚΕ. The principal feels that you can break into the fraternity, become a leader, and get A detailed list of people involved in ΔΚΕ at the University of Alabama, and the next step is to resolve this once and for all.”

"Like an undercover agent?"

"Yes, it's like an undercover agent. Only the principal and a few people know about this." Mary nodded, and then couldn't help laughing.The whole thing sounds like something out of a Hollywood police movie, but the two sides are just a university and a group of trouble-making students. It's not as thrilling as in the movie, so generally she takes a more relaxed attitude. Talk about it.

"Tell the principal that I will get the list. Out of my respect for the school and my respect for the principal, the principal owes me a favor." Ethan shook his head.

"Very good, then let's talk about the plan to sneak into ΔΚΕ in detail. Has the other party ever sent you an invitation?" Mary asked next.

"No, not at all, except for the note with the name of the brotherhood, the other party did not disclose any information to me." Ethan continued.

"Then just wait quietly. Maybe it won't be long before someone from the Brotherhood comes into contact with you." Mary said.

·
"There are only two ways to deal with the dynamic coverage from COVER1 to COVER7. The first is to rely on team cover..." The expressionless Woody McCovey explained to Ethan next to him.

It was the team's routine training, and Ethan had already changed into his training jersey.Not far away from the two, the offensive team, defensive team, and special teams team were training separately under the leadership of special coaches. Head coach Eugene was patrolling back and forth with his hands behind his back.The huge indoor rugby field seemed a bit crowded at this time.

In the next game against the University of Southern Mississippi, Ethan will be on the court, and the offensive coordinator will describe to Ethan some tactical issues in college football according to the arrangements of head coach Eugene.

Listening to the words of the offensive coordinator, Ethan had a picture in his mind of the offensive team's continuous deception tactics at the beginning of the last game.

"High and low option passing, plus reverse screen running tactics?" Ethan looked at Woody McCovey beside him.

Woody McCorvey's pale face was stunned for a moment, and then he nodded.

"You're right. This tactic is very representative. You looked at it very carefully." Woody McCovey explained.

He originally thought that Ethan would not think of these details at all, but in fact Ethan was completely opposite to his thoughts. Not only did he observe carefully, but he also revealed the essence of the tactics. Without review, this required extremely strong observation ability.

This is certainly a talent. Aaron Rodgers can understand the 49ers' formation at the age of five. For some players, this takes a long time to adapt.

As head coach Eugene said before, Ethan has completely adapted to the rhythm of college football, and time... only one week has passed.

This even made Woody feel a great surprise. At this time, the paralyzed face gradually showed a slight smile.

"In the next three days, I will teach you several team running-in tactics commonly used by the Crimson Tide offensive team. You will have enough time to run-in before the start of the next game." Woody continued.

Ethan nodded: "Having said that, besides team tactics, is there any other way to break the dynamic defense?"

Woody only talked about the first method and ignored the other one.

Woody turned his head silently and made a mechanical voice: "The remaining method must be to rely on the players' personal abilities to make breakthroughs."

There is no absolute team sport in the world. In any team event, the role played by a key player cannot be ignored.

"Franco Harris' 'The Immaculate Reception' in 1972, Joe Montana's miraculous 'The Look Pass' in 1981, even the best in the world. The offensive coordinator and head coach are unable to arrange such tactics, which come from the players’ whims on the spot, and players with personal talents are always uncertain factors on the field.” Woody said his opinion.

"Theoretically, these players can even completely dominate the game. For example, in the semi-finals of last year's Rugby World Cup, Jonah Lomb of the New Zealand All Blacks broke through the heavy defense of England Rose four times in a row, almost single-handedly. It took the All Blacks to the final."

"Although it's still a little early to mention you alongside these people, I think I can see that day." Woody's dark pupils reflected Ethan's face.

In Woody's pupils is the tall Ethan, with a hint of light in his eyes.

"Perhaps, even you yourself don't know what this means." He shook his head and sighed. "What are you two talking about when you get together?" A familiar voice came from behind Ethan.

The source of the voice was Ron Middlebrook, the recruiting coordinator and second-line defensive coach. He was also tall and must have exceeded 1 meters by visual inspection.

His voice seemed a bit thick and thick, just like his face, giving people a feeling of loyalty and honesty.

"'Miracle catch', 'Review pass' and other miracles on the field." Ethan responded with a smile.

"Ignore the wonderful scenes that Woody always talks about. In fact, if you ask these players, even these players themselves can't answer why they made that choice at that time. This is just a coincidence. The right time, the right place, the right players. In other words, this is simply a small probability event. Whether it is a coach or a player, it is a situation that will occur in most situations during training." Ron Middlebrook approached the two people.

Compared with the offensive team with offensive constipation, at least the current defensive team, especially the second-line defensive players, rarely make mistakes and perform very stable most of the time.

In addition to the two cornerbacks Fernando Bryant and Deshae Townsend, who are top-notch players in the entire SEC and even the top five leagues, Ron's tactical support is also indispensable.

When Ethan started to adjust with the offensive team, Ron stood aside very relaxedly and cheered for Ethan.

"I heard that you completed Danny Pillman's test. He is not easily satisfied." During the break, he walked to Ethan.

"You don't really take this thing seriously, do you?" Ethan raised his head and drank the sports drink.

"Of course, otherwise why do you think I'm hanging around you today?" Ron said matter-of-factly.

"Compared to Danny Pillman's three hundred yards rushing, my test is much easier. I will arrange a special training for you." Ron asked.

Ron recounted in detail that he was going to hand over the coverage of the second-line players to Ethan in the dynamic defense.

This is his special skill, knowledge that only second-line defensive players need to master.

"But once you fully understand the essence of the second-line defense, you will be more comfortable with high-altitude bombing long balls. Combined with your ability to throw ultra-long-distance balls, you will be beaten directly by the South Mississippi Golden Eagles!" Ron Full of reverie.

It can be said that Ron is the one who has the most contact with Ethan among the special coaches. It can be heard that he is ready to reveal to Ethan what he has at the bottom of his box.

"As long as you can master it skillfully, the test will be completed." Ron said with his arms crossed.

Ethan made an appointment with him for extra training. On weekdays, study and training already took up most of Ethan's time.With little space left, Ethan would choose to take the members of the Crimson Girls or Ellie for a drive.

So Ethan could only make temporary adjustments, and the two made an appointment to meet at Ron's apartment off campus three nights before the next game.

And just after today's training, Ethan returned to the locker room and was about to take a shower in the single shower room. He found that the special ΔΚΕ symbol appeared again, still a note, from the door of his closet. Tuck it in.

You must know that this is the team's locker room, and no one else can enter except for players and some staff.

The football team is the core asset of this school, and there are surveillance cameras everywhere in the corridors. In other words... there is a traitor among this group of people.

Ethan immediately looked at the defensive coach Ron Middlebrook who was communicating with the players, and then saw the expressionless Woody sorting out his personal belongings. The other players were also doing their own things. It seemed that everyone It's possible...

·
In the following two days, Ethan never saw the symbol mark of ΔΚΕ again. During training, the cooperation between him and his teammates became more and more tacit. At least in terms of tactical execution, he was able to equal Freddy Kitchen. Knowing that Freddie spent three years in the team to reach this level, Ethan needed much less time than that.

Even Freddy himself knew that sooner or later Ethan would replace him, it was just a matter of time.

Three days before the next game, Ethan came to Ron's off-campus apartment as agreed.

This place was more spacious than he expected, and there was not only Ron alone in the room, but also six other young people.

"Let me formally introduce myself. I am the governor of the Alabama chapter of the ΔΚΕ Brotherhood. The people around me are the main members of the ΔΚΕ Brotherhood." The honest expression on Ron's face disappeared. It's like a different person at this moment.

Ethan didn't seem particularly surprised, but just a little confused. In other words, Ron's acting skills were very good, but he had deceived him.

"I thought it was just rugby skills training." Ethan looked at the people around Ron, but he didn't recognize any of them.

"Kerothen Philoi Aei!" one of them said in Greek.

"It means 'friends who always come from the heart'" Ron said, then opened his arms:

"Welcome to ΔΚΕ!"

"So, we will all be relatives from now on?" Ethan thought back to Mary's words not long ago.

Sorry, gentlemen, none of you can escape.

"No, no, no, before the oath ceremony, you were only noticed by us, not one of us." Ron shook his head immediately.

"I refuse to do those boring pranks." Ethan refused without hesitation. Thinking carefully about Ron, as a coach, he stayed with the players all day long, and his own movements were naturally fully controlled by him. Most of the previous marks were caused by He ordered others to stay.

"This is not a boring prank, but a kind of verification that you are a real man! This is how each of us come here. For example, I didn't close my eyes for five days. After the oath ceremony was completed, I , I slept for two days and three nights." Ron said.

"And me, I ate Mexican devil peppers! My sense of taste didn't fully recover until half a year later."

"I stayed with a chicken 24 hours a day, including going to class and sleeping. This situation lasted for a whole month."

They are all meaningless things. In fact, they are designed to create a psychological effect of "forced dependence" among members, as if the rewards obtained after paying a huge price will make the organization closer.Of course, there are also factors where young people want to show their "masculinity". In any case, the oath ceremony of a fraternity is much more stringent than that of a sorority.

"Actually, we once set an intelligence test for you. Those notes were put together to form a map. Through this map, you need to complete a series of decryptions in school, but... you didn't discover the mystery at all. I also threw away all those notes, so I had to meet you in this way." Ron told the real situation.

Is it possible that I'm not as boring as you?
Ethan just wanted to end this quickly.

"ΔΚΕ's oath ceremony is divided into many forms. Some test intelligence, some test courage, some test patience, and some test physical fitness. However, considering that you are about to compete in a competition, in order not to put a burden on your body, we will Delete all tests related to physical fitness, and add additional content that requires a lot of time to complete. You have about five choices..." Ron made a very "humane" arrangement.

"To be precise, there are six choices, and there is an additional warrior ritual." A member suddenly interjected.

"Oh, shut up." Ron stopped the other person immediately.

Ethan was immediately interested in "The Fighter."

"It's very simple. With seven original members present, as long as you can knock down all seven original members, you can directly complete the oath."

"You will regret it." Ron whispered, and it was too late to stop him now.This is one of the traditions within ΔΚΕ. He originally didn't want Ethan to know this because he didn't want to be beaten.

"That's it." Ethan nodded and looked at the six people except Ron.

This way of speaking with fists is undoubtedly very suitable for me.

"Okay, all seven of you come together, I'm in a hurry."

　No more today.In addition, let’s talk about fraternities. Historically, fraternities have indeed caused many deaths (more than three digits), but the vast majority of the fatal cases were due to alcohol.As for the phenomenon of fraternity hazing, it does exist. Many universities in the United States have suspended fraternities.The ΔΚΕ Brotherhood in the article is a fusion of the real ΣΑΕ Brotherhood and the ΔΚΕ Brotherhood.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)