Chapter 345: The Champion

Chapter 345: The Champion

Triple the speed of sound!

Ji Xinghuo's speed had surpassed 1100 meters per second, a velocity he had never attained before.

Everything in his field of vision warped.

It was as if the entire world were moving in reverse. The air, usually intangible, now felt like a solid wall at such high speeds, impeding his progress. Each stride consumed a massive amount of stellar power and physical strength.

The rate of consumption skyrocketed, and when Ji Xinghuo checked the interface of his Myriads Star Pupils, he saw that his stellar power was fluctuating wildly.

And this was with the ether-conserving effect of his Sky-Traversing Shoes.

At the same time, his stellar power was rapidly regenerating.

The two ether resonances he possessed, along with an additional one from his Photosynthetic Ring, gave him a total of three ether resonances. This meant that even as he expended stellar power, it was already on its way to recovery.

Ji Xinghuo's Sky-Traversing Shoes made him feel the boundless energy in the surrounding space. Whenever he consumed stellar power and physical strength, this vacuum energy immediately flowed into his body and converted, replenishing his reserves.

This was the effect of his Star-Falling Foreign Species' "Vacuum Induction," augmented by an ether affinity and acceleration effect from his "Planet Ring."

Even so, his stellar power consumption still exceeded its recovery.

He watched the numerical changes.

Ji Xinghuo quickly calculated that at his current speed, he could maintain it for about five hours, and still have some left in the tank when he reached the finish line.

"I can go even faster."

However, he didn't accelerate further but maintained his speed for a while.

The host and guest experts immediately noticed Ji Xinghuo's insane acceleration, and the countless viewers in front of their screens were astounded, finding it hard to believe.

The live broadcast displayed Ji Xinghuo's speed in real-time: 1100 meters per second. It also provided his estimated completion time.

"He's exceeded Mach 3!"

The host exclaimed in surprise.

One of the experts wore an expression of disbelief, "Can Superhumans run at three times the speed of sound, too?"

"Most Kings wouldn't be able to reach this speed, right?" marveled another guest.

"He's definitely going all out now," a marathon analyst interjected. "Ji Xinghuo has been maintaining Mach 1 until now. He must have planned this, aiming for the championship."

"Impossible," the first expert shook his head. "I don't need to explain how much stellar power such a high speed consumes. Ji Xinghuo is only a Superhuman. I don't believe he can make it to the finish line."

"While Ji Xinghuo's speed is indeed surprising, I also don't think he can pull it off," someone chimed in.

The host eyed the data on the screen, "The Sun King will have to respond now."

At this speed, Ji Xinghuo could finish about five minutes ahead of the Sun King, and the Sun King hadn't even started sprinting yet.

True to the host's words, the Sun King soon increased his speed.

But he didn't accelerate by much.

The data showed that the Sun King would finish only about a minute ahead of Ji Xinghuo and then maintain this speed.

The host was about to speak when he noticed that Ji Xinghuo had accelerated again.

The two runners' estimated completion times flipped again, with Ji Xinghuo once more surpassing the Sun King, this time expected to lead by only 30 seconds.

"He sped up again!"

All the viewers were left dumbfounded.

However, before the host and experts in the live broadcast room could offer their insights, the Sun King's speed increased slightly once more, and his estimated time overtook Ji Xinghuo's again.

Within a minute, the two runners alternately increased their speeds, causing their estimated completion times to seesaw back and forth.

The changes were too rapid for anyone to keep up with.

At this point, Ji Xinghuo's speed had reached 1200 meters per second. At this velocity, he would ultimately lose by about 20 seconds.

But he didn't accelerate further.

Because he had already probed the Sun King's limits. A true powerhouse like the Sun King, the strongest man on Earth, wouldn't engage in such a back-and-forth if he could win with an absolute lead. He would have just gone all out.

This indicated that the Sun King's current strength was far from his peak. Either his stellar power was insufficient, or he hadn't fully adapted to his ability, and he was already nearing his speed limit.

On the other hand, Ji Xinghuo still had more to give. He could go faster.

With such a small gap, it would be best to wait until they neared the finish line to make their final moves. There was no benefit in cornering the Sun King now.

Ji Xinghuo maintained his speed as he sprinted along the northern shore of the Persian Gulf.

At this moment, his speed exceeded 4320 kilometers per hour, far surpassing the Sun King. It took him just an hour to enter the Arabian Peninsula, and following the race route, he ran through the peninsula and headed north, looping back to the Sinai Peninsula.

Then, he crossed the Suez Canal Bridge and entered the African continent.

Ji Xinghuo ran upstream along the Nile River.

Wherever he passed, he stirred winds of at least level-8 intensity. His entire being was like a tornado, emitting deafening sonic booms.

During the previous hour, the Sun King had been near Lake Victoria.

Now, the Sun King had just left the border of the East African Kingdom and arrived on the east coast of Africa, heading north on his return journey.

After more than 40 minutes...

Ji Xinghuo had run the full length of the Rohini River and reached its source, Lake Victoria. He then turned east, sprinting across the plateau at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, startling countless wild animals and leaving a trail of deep footprints in his wake.

At this point, the distance between the two had shortened by another 2,000 kilometers.

As Ji Xinghuo reached the east coast and ran northward along the western shore of the Red Sea, it didn't take long for a figure to appear in the distance ahead.

The figure was tall and muscular, with dark skin and a gleaming shaved head that reflected the sunlight brilliantly.

It was Godwalker Geoffrey.

He was running at full speed, surpassing 2 Mach!

Geoffrey also sensed someone catching up from behind and turned to see Ji Xinghuo, his eyes flashing with a mix of emotions before he accelerated once more.

However, Ji Xinghuo soon drew close to this former champion of the Global Marathon and overtook him.

As Ji Xinghuo passed Geoffrey, a sonic boom rang in his ears.

"Good luck to you!"

Ji Xinghuo turned to see encouragement and admiration in the man's dark eyes, without a hint of ill will despite his own loss.

It was a display of pure sporting spirit.

Even though their nations stood opposed and they might become enemies in the future, at this moment, on the Global Marathon course, there was only competition and striving, a spirit that transcended the boundaries of nationality and allegiance.

Ji Xinghuo returned a grateful glance before pulling ahead.

Before long, he reached the northernmost point of the Red Sea and crossed the Suez Canal Bridge once more, heading eastward along the eastern shore of the Middle Sea.

He was now less than 3,000 kilometers away from the finish line.

Ji Xinghuo ranked second, with only the Sun King ahead of him. The Sun King was just over 1,400 kilometers from the finish line and needed less than an hour to complete the race.

The screen showed that the Sun King would finish just one minute ahead of him.

"I have to speed up," Ji Xinghuo said to himself.

He felt that his stellar power could last for another hour or more, and his stamina could hold out even longer, so he accelerated once more.

Boom...

With a violent roar, his speed reached 1,300 meters per second.

"Ji Xinghuo is speeding up!" the host exclaimed excitedly. "He's only 2,925 kilometers from the finish line and has started his final sprint!"

"Incredible! He's getting even faster!"

"Oh my..."

At this point, the intense competition between Ji Xinghuo and the Sun King over the past two hours had injected a thrilling element of suspense into the race, attracting countless viewers. Even those who were initially uninterested in the Global Marathon or believed the outcome was a foregone conclusion were now tuning in to the live broadcast.

The number of viewers skyrocketed, surpassing 5 billion!

This broke records for all previous Global Marathons and for any commercial sporting event.

And the viewer count continued to climb.

"My dear viewers!" The host exclaimed passionately into the camera, "Today, you are about to witness the most thrilling Global Marathon in history. If you miss this race, you might regret it for the rest of your life..."

On the live broadcast, the Sun King also accelerated, pushing himself faster and faster, attempting to overtake Ji Xinghuo in their predicted finish times.

However, Ji Xinghuo matched his acceleration step for step.

He held nothing back.

"The Sun King can't go any faster!" The viewers realized that the Sun King's acceleration had abruptly stopped at around 800 meters per second.

Even a layperson could tell that the Sun King had reached his speed limit.

If it were a short-distance sprint, Ji Xinghuo would far surpass the Sun King.

"It's a miracle!"

"This is truly a miracle!"

An expert shouted hoarsely, "If it were the Sun King at his peak, we all know how fast he could be, capable of reaching speeds of up to 10 Mach in short bursts. But the Sun King has just undergone an evolution, and he might still be adjusting to his newfound power, temporarily unable to unleash his full potential."

"Ji Xinghuo, as a Superhuman, is able to surpass the Sun King."

"This is absolutely miraculous!"

"Even if he loses today, he has set a speed record that will likely never be surpassed."

This expert was a citizen of the Asia-Pacific Community, and he spared no praise for Ji Xinghuo in front of the camera, enthusiastically lauding the runner.

However, the viewers saw no issue with this.

Time ticked by, second by second.

On the Myriads Star Pupils interface, his star power was in freefall.

The intense physical exertion left his entire body sore, testing his willpower, and he desperately wanted to stop.

Twenty minutes later...

Ji Xinghuo had run back across the Lesser Asia Peninsula, taking a more southern route on his return journey compared to his northward path the day before.

With just 1,000 kilometers to go, the distance between Ji Xinghuo and the Sun King was down to only 570-plus kilometers.

With each passing minute, the gap between them narrowed by over 36 kilometers.

The live broadcast data showed that the time difference between Ji Xinghuo and the Sun King crossing the finish line would be extremely close.

The predicted gap in their finishing times was within 10 seconds!

Such a minuscule gap had never occurred in the history of the Global Marathon, and over ten billion viewers worldwide were on the edge of their seats.

At that moment, anyone who wasn't asleep or occupied with other matters had tuned in to the race's live broadcast, pushing the viewer count past ten billion.

Eight minutes later...

Ji Xinghuo was only 200-plus kilometers behind the Sun King.

Both runners were now on the west coast of the Lesser Asia Peninsula, skirting the Aegean Sea, and the coastline was extremely winding. The number and placement of signposts had increased, requiring them to turn every few kilometers, which affected their speed.

The final 100 kilometers...

This stretch of the route was the same as the outbound path, and Ji Xinghuo could now see the silhouette of Ivangela on the far horizon.

He sprinted at full speed and finally spotted a figure ahead of him, with red and black hair and a cape bearing the stripes of the United States of America.

It was the Sun King, John Anthony!

John Anthony also turned and saw Ji Xinghuo, his face expressionless.

On the highway, the distance between the two rapidly closed.

In the sky above, dozens of drones and numerous low-orbit satellites captured their pursuit from various angles, showcasing their speed and form. The host was in full commentary mode, speaking so rapidly that the viewers' hearts were pounding with excitement.

With over a hundred billion viewers worldwide watching, Ji Xinghuo caught up to the Sun King.

The two runners were side by side for only an instant.

Ji Xinghuo remained cautious and didn't get too close to the Sun King, maintaining a distance of about a hundred meters. However, one drone captured the precise moment he overtook the Sun King, and the high-speed camera froze that frame, creating an iconic image.

In the photo, both men were expressionless.

However, Ji Xinghuo appeared more relaxed, while the Sun King's eyes revealed a mix of frustration and annoyance.

Despite his best efforts to conceal it, his sense of helplessness was clearly captured.

Ji Xinghuo had overtaken the Sun King and was now in first place.

"Wow..."

At that same moment, from the Asia-Pacific Community to the American Federation, from the Arctic Circle to South America, on the synchronous orbit space stations and the lunar base 380,000 kilometers away, countless people simultaneously exclaimed in astonishment.

At this point, Ji Xinghuo was only 40-plus kilometers away from the finish line.

He needed just 30 seconds to cover that distance.

The finish line was set up in a vast city square in Ivangela, which had been cleared of people, with hundreds of thousands of spectators packed around its perimeter.

In the center of the square stood a triumphal arch-style finish line, with the number "40075" written on the ground, representing the distance of the Global Marathon. In the sky above, projection screens displayed Ji Xinghuo's progress.

"He's here! He's here!"

"He's about to cross the line!"

Among the excited shouts of the on-site spectators, a human-shaped lightning bolt appeared in the distance on the wide street leading to the square.

One second it was still a kilometer away, and the next, it was right in front of them.

Hoo...

Just before the finish line, Ji Xinghuo suddenly slowed down and came to a stop, allowing those around him to get a clear look at his face.

From his departure the previous day to the present, Ji Xinghuo had been running for exactly 23 hours and 22 minutes, covering a distance of 40,075 kilometers, the equivalent of circling the Earth's equator. During this day and night, he had run through wilderness, plateaus, deserts, and cities, climbing mountains and fording rivers. Yet, his body was immaculate, without a trace of dust or mud, as the high speeds had flung them off, leaving only a sheen of sweat.

In fact, Ji Xinghuo wasn't even out of breath, and his entire being exuded relaxation.

However, just a few steps from the finish line, he suddenly stopped!

As everyone watched in shock and confusion, Ji Xinghuo turned around and faced the direction he had come from, looking towards the Sun King, who was still running towards him, over three thousand meters away.

Ji Xinghuo spread his arms wide.

He slowly backpedaled, as if taking a leisurely stroll, and in the Sun King's gaze and the shouts of the global audience, he crossed the finish line backward.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end