"No particular reason, I just thought it looked cooler, so I did it," Ji Xinghuo looked at the reporter, "Please don’t read too much into it."
"Will Mr. Ji participate in the next Global Marathon?"
"It depends."
"Mr. Ji, many viewers want to see your true appearance. Do you have plans to lift the privacy protection?" asked a beautiful female reporter, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Ji Xinghuo.
Ji Xinghuo glanced at her and smiled, "I have no such plans for now."
"Why not?" the female reporter pressed.
"I don’t want to be disturbed in my everyday life," Ji Xinghuo paused, then added, "But I want to clarify sothing, those who say online that I must be ugly to not dare to show my face, give up on that idea."
"Regarding that, I can vouch for Mr. Ji," the female reporter couldn’t help laughing.
The surrounding reporters also let out a burst of laughter.
A male reporter from the Asia-Pacific Community suddenly asked, "Mr. Ji, there are rumors online that you fell in love with Sword Immortal lady at first sight, is that true?"
"It’s true," Ji Xinghuo nodded.
When it ca to gossip, the reporters took great interest, and the audience watching the live broadcast were also captivated. The male reporter imdiately asked, "Can you tell us a bit more?"
After so thought, Ji Xinghuo said, "Man Ying and I established our relationship the first ti we t."
"Wow..."
Reporters and the audience exclaid in unison.
"Mr. Ji, what’s it like to be in love with the global goddess?"
"Very happy, very joyful!"
"When you two confird your relationship, Mr. Ji, weren’t you just Heavenly Ladder’s first rank?" A reporter seemingly well-acquainted with the couple’s affairs inquired.
"That’s right."
"Sword Immortal lady really has an eye for talent!" the male reporter said with both envy and a hint of sourness. He wanted to ask more gossip, but Ji Xinghuo declined to comnt further citing personal privacy, leaving the reporter no choice but to ask other questions.
Ji Xinghuo’s responses were very brief, sotis even just one or two words, yes or no.
The reporters were initially not used to it.
But they soon realized that Ji Xinghuo’s straight-to-the-point, no-nonsense, and candid answers were actually more sincere and rare, very individualistic, yet quite likable, captivating the audience watching the live stream.
Subconsciously, everyone was reminded of the Sun King’s pre-race interview, filled with platitudes, starkly contrasting with Ji Xinghuo’s.
The two n’s personalities were like two extres.
Ji Xinghuo promptly responded to dozens of questions before the interview concluded.
He returned to the contestant’s rest area, but it was only staff from the organizing committee there. Both the Classic Marathon and Thousand Miles Marathon had ended, and the Ten Thousand Miles Marathon was still ongoing, but the fastest runner was still hours away from the finish line.
The chairman and senior officials of the organizing committee ca over one after another to congratulate him.
They were all elated.
Although the Sun King had not won the championship, which was different from what had been anticipated, this event had broken the record for the highest number of viewers, more than doubling the previous record, making a fortune for the competition.
Half an hour after Ji Xinghuo crossed the finish line, "Divine Walker" Jeffrey also reached the end.
His ti, within 24 hours, also set a new record, and he would have certainly been the champion in any previous event, but today he could only rank third.
Luo Ying, who was originally in fourth place, had withdrawn from the race.
The fifth and sixth place runners were still over ten thousand kiloters from the finish line, and it would take them six or seven hours to complete the race.
The organizing committee did not make the winners wait; as per tradition, they held the award ceremony in advance for the top three finishers.
In the city square at the finish line, the award podium had been set up early on.
However, only Ji Xinghuo and Jeffrey were there to receive the awards. Millions of viewers who were looking forward to it did not see the Sun King appear. Runner-up in the Global Marathon was a high honor for any mutant, but for the Sun King, it seed like a disgrace, and Earth’s strongest apparently did not want to be second-best.
The podium looked sowhat awkward with one person missing.
Ji Xinghuo appeared nonchalant.
After all, the awkwardness was for others; he was the champion, rely there to accept the cheers of victory.
To the host’s spirited voice, Ji Xinghuo ascended the champion’s podium.
Suddenly, the tens of thousands of spectators on-site and the ten billion viewers worldwide let out exclamations of admiration and applause. Especially the citizens of the Asia-Pacific Community, many of whom were even more excited than Ji Xinghuo himself; this championship held a special significance.
For two centuries, the unbeatable Sun King, who lood over all of humanity like a dark cloud, had finally been defeated!
Even if, this Sun King was only the third generation, having just inherited the power.
This wasn’t his peak strength.
But victory was victory, and failure was failure; there are no excuses in the world of the Mutants. Today, the Sun King had lost once, breaking his undefeated myth, psychologically demystifying him. The next ti soone defeats the Sun King, the pressure won’t be as great.
The appearance of Ji Xinghuo had ignited a glimr of hope in the citizens of the Asia-Pacific Community.
Ji Xinghuo was, at present, a Super Mutant.
When he ascends to the rank of Heavenly King, everyone believes, given his displayed talent and rate of evolution, he will undoubtedly be the Sun King’s toughest opponent in the future!
Under the watchful eyes of thousands, Ji Xinghuo accepted the championship trophy, with thunderous applause ringing around the square.
Then the national anthem was played.
After the award ceremony, Ji Xinghuo shook hands with Jeffrey, the "Divine Walker" next to him, congratulating each other.
"Congratulations," said Jeffrey, his deanor calm, his dark gaze serious and full of fighting spirit, "I have not tasted defeat in a long ti. I hope you can participate in the next event so we can asure ourselves against each other once more."
Ji Xinghuo held respect for this black Heavenly King in his heart.
When Jeffrey was still a competitive Mutant, he had uttered a famous saying: I can accept failure, but I cannot accept giving up.
Ji Xinghuo nodded, "The next event is four years away. If I have the ti, I will certainly co to accept your challenge."
"Challenge..."
Jeffrey savored the word, "It’s a promise."
He didn’t say anything else and flew away.
Ji Xinghuo watched as the other’s figure disappeared from view; with their opposing stances and the current international situation, it was inevitable that they would cross paths on the battlefield, not just on the competition ground, so it wasn’t appropriate to say much more.
"Mr. Ji."
The chairman of the organizing committee, who had just presented him with the award, spoke eagerly: "The championship prize money will be transferred to your account today, and now you can choose other prizes."
"Alright," Ji Xinghuo readily agreed.
The most important reason for participating in the Global Marathon was the prizes.
Those prizes, provided by the Star Realm Departnt of the New Roman Empire, had been brought to the venue before the race and were stored in a vault beneath a building next to the square, guarded by the Roman Imperial Guard.
Ji Xinghuo followed the chairman of the organizing committee into the building and ca to the vault’s external door.
Luo Ying also followed.
"Please, Mr. Ji, select three prizes," the chairman of the organizing committee activated the projection screen, displaying dozens of prizes.
Ji Xinghuo had already seen them all.
The champion could choose three first, and when he saw the crucial "Star Fla Pulse," he imdiately tapped the screen three tis, picking out the three prizes he wanted, including the Alien Star Fla Pulse.
The other two he chose were "Star Tears" and the "Electric Potential Battle Blade."
The market value of Star Tears was around 500 million Ya Yuan, yet they were typically inaccessible despite having a price—acquiring it often required pulling strings and expending social capital.
It was much simpler to obtain from the competition’s prizes.
The last item, "Electric Potential Battle Blade," was a weapon of the Superpower Three Stars and was the most valuable of all the prizes this ti.
This weapon was a proud creation of the New Roman Empire’s Advanced Technology Departnt, using extrely precious and rare materials, with only one piece in the entire world, imnsely powerful, considered among the top weapons of the Superpower Three Stars.
The "Master Workshop" that forged the Electric Potential Battle Blade had originally been reluctant to part with it.
But to attract enough Mutants to participate and to enhance the image of the city of Ivangrad through the event, the Steel Emperor personally decided to include the "Electric Potential Battle Blade" in the prize pool.
Ji Xinghuo had wanted it when he first saw it.
This weapon of the Superpower Three Stars, whether in weight, size, or the Ability it ca with, t all his needs.
"Please wait a mont."
The chairman of the organizing committee ordered the Imperial Guard to unlock the vault.
Soon after, the three prizes were placed on a trolley and pushed in front of Ji Xinghuo.
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