Divine Walker Jeffrey.
He was sprinting at full speed, surpassing Mach 2!
Jeffrey also noticed soone catching up from behind, and with a glance back, he saw Ji Xinghuo with a flashing gaze and then he accelerated.
However, Ji Xinghuo quickly approached the forr Global Marathon champion Heavenly King and surpassed him.
As Ji Xinghuo overtook Jeffrey, a sound wave entered his ears.
"Good luck!"
Ji Xinghuo turned to look, and in the other’s dark eyes he saw encouragent and admiration, without a trace of malice over his own defeat.
This was a display of pure competitive spirit.
Although the two were from opposing nations and might be enemies in the future, at that mont, on the Global Marathon track, it was only about competition and struggle, temporarily transcending the boundaries of nationality and stance.
Ji Xinghuo returned the look with gratitude and then pulled away from Jeffrey.
It wasn’t long before he reached the northernmost edge of the Red Sea, crossed the Suez Canal Bridge, and continued along the east coast of the East Middle Sea.
There were less than 3,000 kiloters left to the finish line.
Ji Xinghuo ranked second, with only the Sun King ahead of him who was more than 1,400 kiloters from the finish line, able to complete the race in less than an hour.
The screen showed that the Sun King would reach the finish line a minute faster than he would.
"I must accelerate."
Ji Xinghuo felt that his Star Power could last over an hour, and his physical strength could endure even longer, so he accelerated again.
Boom...
With a frenzy of sound, his speed reached 1,300 ters per second.
"Ji Xinghuo has accelerated!" the comntator exclaid excitedly, "He’s only 2,925 kiloters from the finish line and has started sprinting!"
"Unbelievable, he’s gotten even faster!"
"My God..."
At this ti, due to the intense speed competition between Ji Xinghuo and the Sun King over the past two hours, the race had beco suspenseful, drawing countless viewers. Even those who were not interested in the Global Marathon or thought the outco was decided started to tune into the live broadcast.
The number of viewers skyrocketed, exceeding 5 billion!
This broke the record of all previous Global Marathons and surpassed the record of any comrcial competition.
And the number of viewers was still rising.
"Dear viewers!" the host declared passionately to the cara, "Today, you will witness one of the most exciting Global Marathons in history. If you miss this race, you may regret it for a lifeti..."
On the live screen, the Sun King also accelerated, faster and faster, trying to overtake the predicted completion ti.
However, Ji Xinghuo was also accelerating in sync.
He held nothing back.
"The Sun King can’t go any faster!" the audience realized as the Sun King’s acceleration suddenly halted around 800 ters per second.
Even laypeople could tell that the Sun King had reached his speed limit.
If it were a short-distance speed competition, Ji Xinghuo far surpassed the Sun King.
"Miracle!"
"This is a miracle!"
An expert shouted hoarsely, "If it were the Sun King at his pri, we all know how fast he could be, with a short burst capable of reaching Mach 10. But the Sun King just went through an iteration and might still be adapting to his great strength, temporarily unable to unleash his full power."
"As a Super Mutant, Ji Xinghuo has managed to outdo the Sun King."
"It’s definitely a miracle!"
"Even if he loses the race today, he has created a speed record that is unprecedented and likely unrivaled in the future."
This expert, a citizen of the Asia-Pacific Community, was spitting with fervor in front of the cara, lavishing praise on Ji Xinghuo without holding back.
However, the audience in front of the screen didn’t see any problem with it.
Ti ticked away by the second.
Ji Xinghuo’s speed surpassed Mach 4, reaching 1,400 ters per second.
He could go no faster, and even if he could, he wouldn’t do so, for he needed the Star Power to last until the finish line.
On the Wanxiang Star Pupil interface, the Star Power value was plumting fast.
Intense physical exhaustion made every inch of his body ache, testing his willpower, longing to stop imdiately.
More than twenty minutes later.
Ji Xinghuo ran back to the Anatolian Peninsula. Yesterday, he had set off heading north, but today’s return journey took him along the southern coast of the peninsula.
In the final 1,000 kiloters, Ji Xinghuo was just over 570 kiloters behind the Sun King.
Every minute, the gap between them narrowed by more than 36 kiloters.
Live broadcast data showed that the ti difference between Ji Xinghuo and the Sun King crossing the finish line was neck and neck.
The gap in their scores was within 10 seconds!
Such a small margin had never been seen before in the history of the Global Marathon, and billions of viewers worldwide held their breath.
At that mont, anyone who wasn’t asleep or otherwise occupied had turned on the live broadcast channel, with audience numbers surpassing 10 billion.
Another eight minutes passed.
Ji Xinghuo was only a little more than 200 kiloters behind the Sun King.
Both had reached the western coast of the Anatolian Peninsula, which bordered the Aegean Sea. The coastline was very convoluted, with an increased number of signposts, and their positions demanding frequent turns that impacted speed.
The last 100 kiloters.
This stretch was the sa as the one they started on, and Ji Xinghuo could see the outline of Ivangrad on the horizon ahead.
He sprinted at full speed and finally saw a figure ahead, draped in a cape with the stripes of the United States flag, red and black intermingling.
It was the Sun King!
John Anthony also looked back and saw Ji Xinghuo, his face expressionless.
On the highway, the distance between the two n rapidly closed.
In the sky, dozens of drones and many low-orbit satellites were capturing the race from different angles, showcasing the speed and posture of the runners. The comntator had also gone into rapid-fire mode, pushing the audience to the peak of excitent with a heart-thumping narration.
In front of an audience of over ten billion viewers globally, Ji Xinghuo caught up to the Sun King.
The two ran side by side for only a mont.
Alert, Ji Xinghuo kept his distance from the Sun King, about a hundred ters apart, but a drone captured a precise shot of him overtaking the Sun King, immortalizing the mont with a high-speed cara, making it a classic.
In the captured image, both runners had stoic faces.
However, Ji Xinghuo appeared more at ease, whereas the Sun King’s eyes betrayed helplessness and annoyance.
Despite his attempt at concealing it, those emotions were clearly captured.
Ji Xinghuo had overtaken the Sun King, taking the lead.
"Wow..."
At the sa mont, from the Asia-Pacific Community to the Arican Federation, from the Arctic Circle to South Arica, from the synchronous orbit space stations to the Moon Base 380,000 kiloters away, countless people let out a gasp of astonishnt.
At this ti, Ji Xinghuo was only a little more than 40 kiloters from the finish line.
He needed only 30 seconds to complete it.
The finish line was set in a huge city square in the heart of Ivangrad City, which had been cleared in the middle, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of spectators.
A triumphal arch-like finish line stood in the square, with the large numbers "40075" written on the ground, representing the distance of the Global Marathon course. Screens projected across the sky displayed Ji Xinghuo’s image.
"Here he cos! Here he cos!"
"He’s about to break the tape!"
In the midst of the excited shouting from the spectators on-site, a human-shaped lightning bolt appeared on the wide avenue leading to the square.
One second he was a kiloter away, the next he was up close.
Whoosh...
Ji Xinghuo suddenly slowed down before the finish line, coming to a halt, allowing everyone around to clearly see him.
From the start yesterday to now, Ji Xinghuo had run straight for 23 hours and 22 minutes, covering a full 40,075 kiloters, enough to circle the Earth’s equator. In this day and night, he ran through wilderness, plateaus, deserts, and cities, over mountains and across rivers, yet not a speck of dust or mud clung to him; it was all flung off in the high-speed run, with only a trace of sweat visible.
Even so, Ji Xinghuo wasn’t out of breath and appeared very relaxed.
But just a few steps from the finish line, he suddenly stopped!
While everyone was shocked and puzzled, Ji Xinghuo turned around to face the route he’d co from, looking towards the Sun King, who was sprinting toward him thousands of ters away.
Ji Xinghuo opened his arms wide.
He walked backward at a leisurely pace, and under the gaze of the Sun King and the cries of the global audience, he crossed the finish line with his back.
Reviews
All reviews (0)