Chapter 1826 - 939: Moat

Something's not right!

Something's been overlooked!

Shi Ran clutched his chin, staring intently at his silhouette, realizing there was a crucial condition that he'd left behind and hadn't noticed.

Until the battery pack on the one in first place lit up with a warning red light again, he seemed to have been electrocuted, a momentary spark flashed across, and finally he realized with a slam of the armrest how stupid a mistake he had made!

"...You've really outdone yourself!"

Shi Ran's face twitched with admiration, but he was utterly awed by the realization.

And right there, under the eyes of the crowd, with everyone watching, at the final kilometer... the leader's battery pack was completely drained!

But at that moment, no, the second before, he finally smiled.

Such excitement.

It's like... the knife emerges when the map is fully shown!

Snap!

In the frenzy, the latch loosened, and the battery pack everyone held dear fell off him... soon followed by sounds of breaking.

As he snapped the steel wire wrapped around his wrist, the motor, transmission, and everything else became inactive, completely detached from his legs!

It was as though he discarded all burdens!

He took the most irrational strategy, exhausted all battery life, just for a brief lead, putting himself in a position where he couldn't finish the race.

At the edge of that final kilometer, with no battery life left, he unexpectedly cast aside all auxiliary structures.

Relying on the remaining primitive mechanical transmission structure and force feedback configuration, using his own power, he lifted his legs again, sprinting towards the finish line, so close!

Giving every ounce of effort!

In a moment of dead silence, a shout like a sea tide broke out from the site, from the park, from in front of every screen in the live stream, the audience experienced nothing but an electric shock and shiver bursting from their spines...

Because he was running!

Ignoring the opponent rapidly closing in from behind, relying on his imperfect legs, facing the gusts, he opened his mouth in a voiceless laugh.

His widened eyes were filled with a burning light.

Towards the nearing finish line, once more...

Speeding up!!!

Using himself as the source of power, placing his last hope on this pair of simple yet timeless prosthetic designs that had accompanied him for countless times!

"Unbelievable, in the final 300 meters, Mumao makes an unexpected decision, he chooses to believe in himself!!!"

The commentator's raspy shout nearly breaks: "Can he succeed? Su Su, coming from third place, surpasses again, heavens, it's catching up, can it really catch up?"

No, he's still accelerating...

Thirty meters! Twenty meters...

—Cross the line!!!!"

Amid thunderous cheers and shouts from all the on-site audience, just before the finish line, with the last two steps, the man with detached prosthetics threw himself across with all his might!!!

Bang!

He grabbed the finish line, fell into the dust, rolling awkwardly, with blood oozing from the seams of his prosthetics, almost trampled by the followers.

But on the twitching, twisted face, the smile grew even brighter, like it was aflame.

"Won!"

The commentator gazed at a slow-motion replay from the high-speed camera on the big screen, the moment just before the second-placed woman completed the surpassing, his hand had crossed the line first!

"Won!!!"

Even the originally mournful VIP seats erupted with applause and cheers.

"Amazing."

Shi Long nodded approvingly, even though it's been ages since he exercised, witnessing the whole thing still makes him feel thrilled.

People were already standing up and leaving constantly.

The post-race interview segment, which everyone was focused on, now held no appeal for the peers on the VIP grandstand, having witnessed the practical application of the Paradise interface, they couldn't wait any longer.

Instead, Shi Long and his brother remained in their seats, watching the subsequent program, even seeing the promotional projects of the sports event over the next six days.

Javelin, discus, long-distance swimming, basketball, and football, even...

Boxing!

On the screen, two contestants in medium exoskeletons attack each other, sparks flying, punches landing, igniting cheers from the audience once again.

Seven days, one event per day.

No worries about not getting tickets, live streams have been opened within the current world.

But what grabbed Shi Ran and Shi Long's attention was a line of small text in the lower right corner of the video... All these shots are from the elimination round's live scenes.

"Smart connectivity."

Shi Long said slowly: "According to President Ji's statement, Coast Technology will fully cooperate with Coastal Industry next to explore the new generation of wearable devices and human-machine interaction...

See that, Ahran, we're already falling behind."

Shi Ran remained silent for a long time, flipping through the guidebook in his hand, recalling all he had just seen, finally asking: "Is this the Paradise implant interface mentioned in the brochure that has been preliminarily commercialized?"

Shi Long shrugged: "According to rumors, this is already the second generation, and what's currently released is just the test version, the completion of the formal version will only be higher."

"Is it that outrageous?"

Shi Ran was momentarily stumped, asking: "I remember we also have similar projects?"

"That's right, and not just Chong Hui, any major military enterprise has considerable technological accumulation in this area, but so far, in this regard, Central City's military labs have the most patents in the current world, with the best results.