Chapter 61: Power
The five selected individuals walked onto the competition grounds.
Everyone unanimously nominated Bai Mo, whom they believed to be the strongest, to fight the first match. According to the rules, it was highly probable they wouldn't even need to step onto the stage, securing a substantial profit simply by 'lying down' and winning.
However, he completely ignored their petty calculations. In less than ten minutes, the event he had foretold would arrive, and at that point, who went first or last would no longer matter in the slightest.
“Why is Captain Bai still carrying his suitcase?” Rong Jingya asked curiously from the side.
“I’m afraid I won’t have time to retrieve it later.”
“You’re really joking. What kind of situation would make it impossible to retrieve it?”
“Less than ten minutes now,” Bai Mo said, his words seemingly disjointed.
“What ten minutes? Are you talking about the event you foretold, the one Captain Ye mentioned to us this morning?” Rong Jingya still didn’t seem to take him seriously.
“Mm.”
“Just a few more minutes, everyone take care,” Bai Mo said, sounding like a charlatan discussing the end of the world.
“May I be so bold as to ask a question?” Rong Jingya asked.
“I’ll answer selectively.” He gave an ambiguous reply.
“Is precognition your ability?”
“Perhaps. It might be a recent development, but it could also be pure hallucination. Who knows?”
“Please step onto the stage.” The staff member below interrupted their conversation.
Bai Mo walked onto the stage and saw a middle-aged man wielding a sword opposite him. The man asked Bai Mo in broken English, “Sword... okay?”
“Whatever.” In Bai Mo’s view, as long as the opponent didn’t use an atomic bomb as a weapon, it wasn't a big deal. His own speed had already reached half the speed of a normal bullet, so dodging bullets was effortless since they couldn't turn. Cold weapons were even less of a concern.
Carrying his suitcase, he incidentally swept his gaze over the members of the Yamato team below the stage opposite him. He found that, just as Feng Dong’s report indicated, only this middle-aged swordsman posed any real threat.
“It seems they’ve chosen the same strategy: sending their strongest person up in the first round.”
“This is going to be a show. The opponent immediately sent that swordsman Yamamoto onto the stage. It definitely won’t be easy for Captain Bai to deal with him, and whatever he’s been holding back should all be revealed.”
“The suitcase... you don’t need to put it down?” The swordsman asked again.
“You carry a sword as your weapon; this suitcase is my weapon,” Bai Mo said crisply in English, not caring whether the other party understood.
“Ryūjin Jakka!” The middle-aged swordsman uttered in Yamato, and then, eerily, flames began to spout from his sword.
“Interesting.” Although Bai Mo hadn’t understood what the middle-aged man had chanted, he was still very curious about a sword suddenly spouting flames. Before this, every ability user he had encountered manifested their powers directly from their own bodies.
“Captain Chen, can you explain how that Yamato man managed to make his sword erupt with flames just by chanting a spell?” Wen Jian asked, perplexed, from beside Chen Bo.
“According to the confidential intelligence we’ve obtained, researchers on the Yamato side have tentatively found that these swordsmen, due to years of sword practice, with a small number of elites even reaching the state of 'man and sword as one,' have had their swords become like an extension of their bodies. After the appearance of Spirit Qi, their swords underwent Spirit Energy transformation alongside their masters, and can now be considered their Spirit Energy organs.”
“This Yamamoto looks formidable; he should be able to force out his hidden strength now.”
“Let’s wait and see.” Chen Bo refocused his attention on the stage.
After the perfunctory exchange of greetings, the battle officially began.
“Gōka no Ken!” Yamamoto muttered under his breath. With his words, the flames attached to his sword rapidly expanded, making it look as if he was wielding a five-meter-long greatsword.
Yamamoto, gripping the colossal flaming sword, unleashed the one-sword style he had painstakingly honed for years, charging towards Bai Mo at a speed exceeding eighty meters per second. Everywhere he passed, the sword qi and flames left a trail of devastation.
Many spectators in the vicinity were witnessing an Ability User battle at full power for the first time, and experiencing the searing heat emanating from a battlefield engulfed in flames for dozens of meters around.
“His body seems immune to flames. He’s standing in the center of the fire, feeling nothing even with flames underfoot. Captain Chen, it seems your heating ability has met its match,” Wen Jian quipped to Chen Bo.
“While his attack power looks terrifying, unfortunately, the swordsman’s body isn’t strong enough, and his speed is too slow. If I were to fight him in person, my speed would be about twenty percent faster than his. Just with that, I wouldn’t even need my abilities; I could take him out with my bare fists alone,” Chen Bo commented casually about Yamamoto on the stage.
“Don’t think that Ability Users are helpless when their abilities are countered. Our physical quality becomes more terrifying the higher we advance. The body is our most reliable weapon. Pure speed and strength, coupled with the ever-strengthening defense provided by the Life Field – these are the most important things. As for abilities, they’re just auxiliary powers that come from the deep enhancement of a single organ,” Chen Bo continued.
“Chen Bo, now that you mention that point, something just occurred to me.”
“What is it?”
“Is Bai Mo truly an Ability User who prioritizes body enhancement?”
Chen Bo froze for a moment.
“Probably... yes. Otherwise, his abnormal physical prowess would be very difficult to explain.” Chen Bo tried to convince himself not to think in another direction.
“But I saw in the Dao Academy’s documents that his other ability is related to his eyes.”
“Let’s not talk about that for now. Let’s just keep watching the match.” Chen Bo simply changed the subject.
In the eyes of most spectators below, the stage was now nothing but a constantly high-speed swimming fire dragon. Bai Mo’s slender figure was completely swallowed by the raging inferno. Even many from the Dao Academy side watched the stage with concern.
“No need to worry. While this swordsman’s destructive power is quite sufficient, he’s simply too slow,” Ye Zi stated, echoing Chen Bo’s opinion.
On the stage, Bai Mo, still holding the suitcase with one hand, effortlessly dodged the great flaming sword’s slashes while constantly using his ability to monitor his surroundings.
“Still no clue whatsoever. Forget it, I’ll take this guy out first, then think.”
Previously, Bai Mo had continuously moved on the field at a speed slightly faster than Yamamoto, giving Yamamoto the illusion that he could land a hit if he just pushed a little harder, constantly probing Yamamoto’s speed limit. This was why the battle had reached a stalemate.
But now, he changed his mind, intending to take Yamamoto out before the impending event. Thus, he directly burst forth with a speed more than twice Yamamoto’s limit, instantly circling behind him. In less than a second, he delivered over a dozen continuous hand chops, shattering the head of the fire dragon.
“Too slow.” Just as Bai Mo’s three words reached Yamamoto’s dazed ears, Yamamoto felt an unparalleled immense force strike the front of his body, sending his entire being crashing directly into the ground.
Because Yamamoto’s Life Field had dissipated most of the force from his opponent’s fist into the ground, a large section of the ground cracked around him, as if he had been embedded in it.
Yamamoto still struggled, attempting to rise from the ground, but Bai Mo, at this moment, had no intention of delivering a finishing blow.
“It’s finally here!”
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