Chapter 232: Chapter 232: Fierce Competition

Hearing Natalie’s nasty insults and demeaning words, Jiang Qin, who hadn’t gone far, glanced back over her shoulder.

Yuan Ling stood there with a blank face, showing no trace of sorrow or joy, as if he weren’t the one being humiliated at that moment.

’Or maybe… he’s long since gone numb.’

Ni Jia carefully kept her distance from Jiang Qin, yet worried that she might make her fall, so she walked exceptionally slowly.

The pair of Jiang Qingfeng and Long Hao were currently in the lead.

Although they both hated having their legs tied together, and their movements showed a complete lack of coordination.

But they were able to keep up with each other’s movements, so they somehow managed to clear many of the obstacles.

Jiang Qin was stunned when she saw them clear a three-meter-high barrier in perfect sync, three-legged-race style.

To her greatest surprise, the pair of Denise and Kasha was also formidable.

Ni Jia explained, “Denise has taken many special potions, so her body is highly enhanced.

Kasha’s spiritual power is only average, but thanks to her unique racial traits, her physique has undergone a slight mutation.

Plus, she’s been an actress for years, so her physical agility is also quite good.”

The reality, however, was that Denise was threatening Kasha. “If you dare drag me down and cost me first place, you can forget about having a career in the Empire!”

Kasha knew that if Denise wanted to blacklist an actress, she could do so with ease.

So she was desperately trying to keep up with Denise’s pace. Before they started, she had even drunk a vial of a potion to stimulate her physique.

This kind of potion was typically used by Bounty Hunters. It could push the user’s body to its peak performance for a short period.

However, the side effects were three days of total-body weakness and an increased Riot Value.

Females rarely took such a harmful drug; she felt she had no other choice.

’It’s just this once, anyway. I can just rest and recover afterward.’

If she were blacklisted, everything she had now would turn to nothing.

So it was safe to say she was putting it all on the line.

The other tourists were just as competitive. After all, the event’s prize money was substantial, and the rewards included a new model of a housekeeping robot.

This robot had a market value of up to 300,000 Star Coins.

Winning this robot would be a huge boon, whether one used it themselves or sold it.

Combined with the 100,000 Star Coin prize for first place, that was 400,000 in total—a massive sum of money.

But there could only be one winner, so the competition was incredibly fierce.

Jiang Qin even saw someone deliberately shove the people in front of them, knocking them over.

If one person fell, both went down. By the time they got back up, they were almost in last place.

Fortunately, last place was already spoken for.

Ni Jia stayed close to Jiang Qin, walking slowly and being extremely mindful of her pace.

[At this point, that female from the Federation is the only one who remembers this is supposed to be a dating show.]

[Jeez, are the others even on a dating show anymore? This has basically turned into an athletic competition.]

[Speaking of competitions, the recent Mecha tournament has been super intense. The Federation Military Academy has a dark horse this year.]

[You mean that junior named Qin Lin, right? The guy who pilots a J-3 Wing Series Mecha.

He fought his way from the qualifiers all the way into the top 100. The way things are going, he’ll probably lock in a spot in the top ten.

If his Mecha wasn’t so outdated, he might have even taken the top spot today.]

[For real, in terms of skill, he’s incredible. I’m rarely this impressed by a male from the Federation. There’s Mo Chen, the Flying Car racer Bai Mufeng, and now him.

The Federation has produced a lot of talented young men in this generation.

And a lot of outstanding females, too.]

[I heard a female with SS-level power appeared in the Federation, but she’s being kept under wraps. No one’s gotten any reliable information on her yet.]

…

The discussion gradually went off-topic, shifting from the dating show to the Mecha tournament.

Only in Jiang Qin and Ni Jia’s livestream chat were viewers still discussing the pair’s interactions.

After all, Ni Jia was so attentive and had clearly shown her affection for Jiang Qin. Anyone could see the romantic sparks flying between them.

By the time the pair of Jiang Qingfeng and Long Hao reached the second checkpoint, Jiang Qin’s group hadn’t even made it halfway through the first.

Meanwhile, Natalie and Yuan Ling had simply quit altogether.

The two of them were still standing apart at the starting line.

The chats in both of their livestreams were in an uproar.

In Yuan Ling’s chat, people flaming him were already demanding the production team kick him off the show, threatening to boycott it if they didn’t.

In Natalie’s chat, however, many people were expressing their sympathy for her.

[I’ve never seen a female with S-level power treated so poorly. I don’t know what the organizers of this stupid little event were thinking.]

[To be honest, Natalie really is the least respected S-level female in the Empire. She has no real assets or power to her name.]

[Actually, I heard a rumor… some say the origin of Natalie’s S-level Spiritual Power… is suspicious.]

[What do you mean?]

[I can’t say more. I can only tell you it’s related to Dark Web experiments. Don’t you all know that there have always been people in the Empire’s high command with ties to the Dark Web?]

[Reported. Spreading rumors this openly… you really must have a death wish.]

[Forget it, let’s just drop it. Anyway, people like us will never be with a female with S-level power in our lives, and the ones who are don’t even know how to cherish them.]

[It’s just one little event. Just you wait, I’m going to buy it out and make them change the rules for Natalie!]

[Waiting for an update from the guy above. Hope you’re not just blowing smoke.]

[Waiting +1…]

[Waiting + Light Brain Number…]

The man who had posted it, who was currently leaning back with his feet on his desk while playing on his Light Computer, saw the replies and didn’t feel the least bit fazed.

’It’s just some minor event at a tourist trap on some planet. How much could it possibly cost?’

’Who knows, maybe this gesture of throwing money around to clear the way for a beautiful woman will be enough to win over a female with S-level power.’

So, he immediately had someone get the Light Brain Number for the person in charge of the event.

The second the call connected, he said, “I want to buy out your little event and change the rules. Name your price.”

The person in charge thought, ’…Is this guy nuts?!’

“I’m sorry, sir, but the competition has already started. It can’t be bought out.”

’Besides, for a small event like this, shouldn’t he be talking about sponsorship? What the hell is a “buyout”?’

’We don’t even own the venue; we just temporarily rented a stretch of beach and set up the course.’

The young man didn’t mind in the slightest. “Doesn’t matter. So it’s already started. I’m willing to take a small loss on it. Just give me a price.”

“One—”

“A million, right? Send me the Light Brain account for payment.”

The person in charge replied, “…No, sir. It’s ten million!”

“What? Why don’t you just go rob a bank?!”

“Sir, the prizes alone cost us one million.”

’The prizes alone cost a million, to say nothing of all the other expenses.’

’Trying to buy the rights to our event for just one million… what a joke!’

The young man thought, ’…Holy crap, a sketchy little pop-up event like this is so expensive?’

’My entire company is only worth ten million. How could I possibly have ten million in cash to blow on something like this?’

So, he didn’t say another word. He just awkwardly ended the call and promptly left the livestream chat.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep